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.

While You Weren't Sleeping

Chances are while you weren't sleeping, I was now that I have become a person of the night. Unfortunately, my body has resisted my circadian switch a little more than I had expected. So in the hopes of a better night (day) sleep, tonight I bought a foam memory mattress pad. I mulled over the decision in Walmart for about a half an hour, trying to decide between the generic pad and the more expensive one.

I eventually bought the higher quality one. I love that it does this:

This obviously isn't my hand but you get the idea. I am very excited to go to sleep. End of post.

Filling My Time

Well, even though I have a full-time job now, working three 12's a week still leaves me with quite a bit of free time between my shifts. I'm still getting used to not having to constantly study for exams in all my free time, although that is a very pleasant change. When I first moved, there was more than enough to keep me busy in getting settled in Seattle. Then my church calling as organist and hiking began taking up more of my time. But now that I am feeling more comfortable with the organ and it is getting too cold and rainy to hike, I have been looking for some other activities.

An evening with google, a few emails and phone calls later and here's what I've done.



My clogging shoes have sat quiet in my closet for far too long. I was so glad to find a clogging group here in Seattle. There are only about 6 people in my low-intermediate class but it was so much fun. We are currently preparing for a Christmas performance at Pike Place Market. Sweet!


I also wanted to find a good volunteer opportunity. There is a senior center not too far north of me that desperately needed drivers to deliver food through their meals on wheels program. So now Sheila and I will get to spend some more time together and make new friends.

Last week, I changed to night shifts so I am getting used to a new schedule anyway. And these acitivities should fit in just fine.