Happy Thanksgiving!

Did everyone have a great Turkey day? I had a nice one, thanks.
Thinking about thanks this week has actually been a great blessing. I was ready to post a message about how Congress should pass some law so that I don't have to look for work because it's not helping me in my pursuit of happiness. I know what you're thinking--I don't have to look for work. But the alternatives would result in an even greater difficulty toward my pursuit of happiness. So you're wrong. Ha! Nonetheless, I know I'm wrong too. As indicated before, the inclusion of opposition in our lives is all toward the end that many might have joy, so I am thankful for it on this week of thanks. I am also grateful for many more things. I have been greatly blessed during this time that my money dwindles and my need for employment magnifies itself in my daily life. I've had great friends helping me out not only with meals, but also with smiling faces and hugs and understanding, as well as expressions of appreciation for my talents and service. I'm also grateful for the Church. What a great blessing to be a member of it! To have a perspective on life that it offers me and to know about my Savior. But also for the temporal blessings they offer during financial struggles, and opportunities they provide to serve so that I don't feel as deeply in debt as I might otherwise. I also have an incredibly wonderful family--the best two parents on the whole planet, I would venture to say. There are at least seven people who would agree with me, but I think even more if they knew my parents. I'm sure Heavenly Father was wise to give them to me. And so, so many more things, that I can hardly even count. What are you grateful for?
(P.s. I would still be even more grateful if you know of work I can do and you pass it on :) )

All About Me

I'm not a big fan of Beaches, nor do I remember this line myself, but a friend of mine used to quote it, and I think it's cute and appropriate for today. When the girls are young and just getting to know each other, one of them, after speaking at length about herself, says, "Enough about me. What do you think about me?"

A couple months ago I bought this book I'm an English Major--Now What? And in the first chapter, one of the things the author suggests is that you have a meeting with your friends where they write down your qualities on a piece of paper to give to you. I think the idea is for anonymity or something.

Oh no! I just remembered--it's so that people don't influence each other. Well, I screen all comments before they post anyway, so if you don't see any comments that doesn't necessarily mean no one has--it just means I haven't accepted them yet. So we can maintain that.

So, anyway, of course, if I had friends all in the same room, we could actually talk at great length about me after the straw poll, or uh, paper thing. Fun, fun. But since many of my friends are hither and yon, and since gathering a meeting about myself even for local friends feels a little excessive, I'll shoot out the question on here--

what are my most marketable skills? And for good measure, go ahead and tell me something I could do to improve my marketability. I'm not looking for suggestions about careers, just skills.

This might look like an ulteriorly motivated post to see who's actually reading, but I really do want to know. If you want to post anonymously, that's okay, too. Thank you!

Veterans' Day

I have some free time! Of course I should probably be doing something else, but I have a tinge of a migraine and can't concentrate on too much else. Pictures are usually okay though. Last Tuesday, Veterans' Day, Carrie invited friends over for games. For a few hours, Irene and Ken were our only guests, so we got into a really long train game. It was lots of fun, even though I ended the game stuck at the end of a road that I didn't have enough money to continue building. It actually felt way too much like a parallel to my life, so I'm glad they called the game and it ended there. The nice thing about a game--next time I'll know better.

Happy Birthday to Kim!

I'm a few days late for this, but my big sister had her 37th birthday earlier this week. Wow. She's getting old. He he.

Some of my favorite memories of Kim include hanging out with her when she lived in Orem and I in Provo in the early 90s. We did fun things, too, but she was also there to let me stay in her apartment both to take care of me and to keep me away from noise and stairs in my own after my car accident in 93. Not too long after that, she met, started dating and married her husband, so I had fun getting to know him a little bit too. This is a picture from shortly after they were engaged, in my apartment at that time, 94.

Since then, I've also had good memories with Kim, and her kids. Most recently, she took me up to Alberta for my grandpa's funeral. It was great to spend time with her family on that road trip from SLC on up. She's a great big sister! Happy Birthday Kim!

Photo Tag

Thanks to Sarah Jarvie for this. I've been feeling bad about neglecting my blog. It's not exactly that I haven't had time. I have lots of time without a job. But in that lots of time I have, I like to be either looking for work, applying for work, working on my thesis essay or my novel. And if that's not enough to keep anyone busy, there's always the nagging Tetris game that just has to be played. Seriously. :)

But I do miss writing in here a little. And this was an easy tag, too. Curiously, it also happens to continue with the subject of my last entry: my brother John.

The rules are to include the fourth photo in the fourth file in your computer. And this shot with my brother watching some TV with his son Josiah happens to be that. Yeah John!

I tag anyone that wants to do it.