Maggie

Since I tend to stay up all night anyway, I decided to take advantage of the after Thanksgiving sales and get the one thing that I really wanted- a GPS navigation system. I found awesome deals on two models- the TomTom and the Magellan. I got some feedback from the Petersons and Lincolns who both have TomToms and enjoy them. Customer reviews seemed about the same for each of them so I decided to follow the family trend and get a TomTom. I got to the store about 4:30 and there were only a few people waiting in line so I sat in my car and read for 20 minutes before venturing out into the cold.

Once inside the store, I got in the special GPS line. To my dismay, they only had 4 TomToms and the person in front of me got the last one. What could I do? It never occured to me that they would only have 4 of them. I grudgingly asked for the Magellan. I have named her Maggie in an attempt to form a emotional bond.

It's a Thanksgiving Miracle!

Yesterday we had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with 11 people in attendance including people from the ward, 2 sets of Elders and one of their investigators. Unfortunately, we only have dining chairs for five. So after checking with my Bishop, I went to borrow some folding chairs from the institute. These are a little fancier that your average metal folding chairs and also a little heavier.

After parking on the street close to my apartment, I was dreading carrying all those chairs in. That's when I noticed, nestled between the dumpsters, a shopping cart. It was perfect! I loaded up the chairs and headed across the parking lot. I did have one small mishap due to an uneven sidewalk that caused the shopping cart to tip on its side and all the chairs to fall out. Well, what are you going to do?

Forgotten Carols

Last night, I got to go to a performance of "The Forgotten Carols". I have loved this music for a long time but had never seen it performed. It didn't occur to me that the tour might come to Washington until a girl in the ward with an extra ticket sent out an email. I'm so glad that I got to go! It is a very sweet story- one that I first heard during our traditional "stories by the fire" when I was a kid.

My roommate also scored us tickets to the Nutrcracker in a few weeks. Now I just need to find a Handel's Messiah sing-a-long. I just love Christmastime!!

A few of my favorite things...

*KenKen

I spent many a hours in my BYU days working my way through the Sudokus in the daily newspaper. After graduation, I wasn't sitting through hours of classes and consequently stopped my daily tradition. Then the other night, I had my Reader's Digest at work during a slow period and discovered this super fun new puzzle. It is like Sudoku except the numbers in the shaded boxes have to make the number in the corner using the function indicated. Here is an example. Unfortunately, I have yet to complete one correctly but I get closer everytime.

*High School Musical on Ice:

Now this is just good clean fun. I totally loved the movies, though I have yet to see the third one. I saw this event advertised last week and somehow I convinced my roommate to come with me. We stuck out a little among the shrieking pre-teens and long-suffering parents but I had a great time! Go Wildcats!!!

Right now my favorite things do not include the following:

*Having to cross a picket line to get to church

O Christmas Tree

Okay, okay, I know that it is only one day after Halloween but I am already super excited for Christmas. It is undoubtedly my favorite holiday of the year. I love it all, from the music to the decorations to the sappy Hallmark made for TV movies about people discovering the true meaning of Christmas.

Tonight I was practicing the organ for tomorrow and I started playing Christmas hymns. This isn't the first time this has happened but since it is November now, I felt justified in indulging myself. I pulled out the fake Christmas tree and German decorations and went to work. My roommate had a few ornaments but we're going to need some more. Good thing I didn't leave this to the last minute.