Boycotting Black Friday

We stayed home all day and only went out to a grocery store for milk. It was pretty empty. We raked all the leaves for the leaf pickup next week, nice to live in a city that offers that service.

We also finally put together our photo album/scrapbook of our Hawaii trip. Lots of fun doing that. We are off to Chattanooga and Alabama tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Prayer

May we be thankful for all we have,
For the ability to love and laugh.
For the ability to cry,

For every bite we have to eat,
For life itself,
For each heartbeat.

For our shelter,
For warmth and heat,
For our children, who bring us joy.

For our soldiers, to come back home.
For peaceful results in lands far and near.

For those who have gone
To your Heavenly Home,
May our actions and words
Show our love for them has grown.

For God's promise,
For his perfect love,
For his kingdom here and to come.

For two strong legs,
For two strong hands,
For the capacity,
To understand.
For all that you have made us to be.

For hope,
For love,
For faith,

For all this and so much more, we are truly thankful. Amen.

Thanksgiving plans

We were invited to some friends' house for Thanksgiving, we know them from church and they live in our neighborhood, and Bogdan also works with them.

Making cookies, rolls, and cranberry sauce for the day to share.

The kids really want to go to the Unclaimed Baggage Store, but we're trying to convince them to go on Saturday instead of Friday...we'll see who wins out.

Where we want to live

Bogdan asked me this question, "If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live?"

I responded, "I want to live in the past, where everything in my world was right."

Happenings

Bogdan is home from his conference, with the news that ORNL no longer has the fastest computer in the world, now it's only number 2. China has the fastest and the 3rd and 4th.

Been playing lots of Kinect games lately. The kids love them. Now, Gabriel is obsessed with a new game called Minecraft. For its price ($10), he really is getting his money's worth of it. He has been playing almost nonstop since this morning.

We are all away!

Bogdan left for New Orleans for a Super Computing conference for the week.

Karen went to an overnight retreat for Girl Scout Leaders.

Anna went on a retreat with the church group.

Gabriel went to a Math team trip.

Marian went to her friend Scarlett's overnight.

I wonder if the fish missed us....

Back in the Swing of things

Well, after a long week, we are back in swing of things...

1. Lots of laundry done (and miraculously folded and put away!)
2. Gabriel getting thru a full blown asthma attack
3. Shocking cold weather (well, we're used to it being this cold in November, but no one else is)
4. A serious cold for me and a somewhat lesser one for Marian and Bogdan
5. Gabriel's last regatta of the season in the coldest weather (it's 35 today)
6. The Alzheimer's walk begins in an hour!
7. Getting the Xbox Kinect and now everyone will be over my house after school a LOT more.
8. Thinking about redesigning our living room for the above game...