Thanksgiving

So, tonight was a very enjoyable family gathering. Just 10 of us. We have a pretty small family, but this is the group that gathers for all the major holidays. The food was yummy as usual. This was my first holiday since staring the diet, so I cheated just a little, but ate in moderation. I've lost 19 pounds in the first 6 weeks, so I don't want to blow it too bad. Tomorrow ends week 7, which means I weight myself again. With cheating tonight, I wouldn't be surprised if I lost nothing, but we shall see. Anyway... so dinner was nice tonight. The guys at one end of the table, the girls on the other. Their end had much chatter about cars and sports. While we chatted more about tv shows, movies, everyday life, etc. Always a fun time.

My cousin and his fiancee are going to Maui on their honeymoon. And they are staying at a resort I stayed at 20 years ago (geez... 20 years... blah). So I wanted to hunt down the photo album from when we went so they could see pictures. Then it turned into a walk down memory lane. I found the pictures from our family trip to Cancun and Chichen Itza, several of our Maui trips, a cruise we went on back in middle school that a friend tagged a long on, slumber parties, etc. I now gave my Mom the task of scanning a bunch of them for me so I have them, and to post on Facebook for all to see. It was fun reminiscing. Anyway, I hope everyone had a nice turkey day :-)

Busy week

I kind of realize that I don't blog too much anymore. And think it's mainly because of just commenting on FB and the like. Anyway... this is the latest...

"So... I have to take my Great Aunt to chemo tomorrow. Then Thursday is the typical Thanksgiving at my Moms. Then Friday heading to my Aunt's to help her decorate for Xmas. Her surgery if going to be on the 1st, so she wants to get some of it done while she is still able to help. Plus my Uncle just had unplanned hernia surgery last Friday... during which I went and dog sat for one of Danny and Savannah's dogs (Tanner) who was recovering from getting fixed the day before. Too much surgery stuff... ahhhhh!! :-) Then Sunday, my Mom, Savannah, Danielle (David's gf) and I will be going to my Aunts to make Xmas ornaments like these... http://www.ehow.com/how_5013336_decorate-glass-ornaments-paint.html"

Whew... that's this week.

Just help people out, and pay it forward...

So, I was just watching the video for Lady Antebellum's "I Run To You". Love the song, but never watched the video before. But it reminded me of a situation I witnessed maybe a month or 2 ago...

So, every week or so I have (don't mean that as a chore) to take my Great Aunt for the day to do something. It may be sitting with her through a 2-3 hour Chemo Appt, or just running errands with her like grocery shopping. Anyway... one day she and I had to go pick up one of her prescriptions from the medical office she normally visits. This was a prescription she couldn't fill before hand, so we had to come in, fill it and wait. They are often slow.

That being beside the point, there was an older woman who came in to ask about her prescription. I could hear this whole thing... The pharmacist said they checked with her insurance company and they were not able to cover her pain medication. She had her ankle wrapped up in ace bandages, but not sure if that was why she was there. The pharmacist asked if she wanted the meds anyway and said yes, as she rummaged through her wallet. He said it was going to be $17 for 10 pills. Seemed like they had a quiet exchange because they then discussed if she maybe wanted to buy 5 pills instead or something.

At the time, there was this other lady at the counter waiting for her prescription to be ready. Soon after she heard that last woman's exchange with the pharmacist, I heard her ask, "How much was that? $17?" and the pharmacist said "Yes". The woman pulled out a $20 and paid for the other woman's full prescription of 10 pills. The woman was very grateful and discreetly cried on her shoulder. It was a very moving experience, and I only regret that the idea hadn't come to me first.

Secret Santa

So this is the third year in a row that we are doing a Secret Santa on The NHL Arena. In 2007 I got a guy who lives in Calgary. I got him one of these green street signs that said Calgary Flames at the top and customized it with his name (I'd post a picture, but can't seem to find them online anymore). And I got the Hockey Night in Canada DVD game from... that's bad, I can't remember. In 2008 I got a Ducks fan a Ducks Mr Potato Head.

And I got a Saskatchewan Fire Fighter calendar (Yummy!), the same DVD game as the year before (Ooops) and a Team Canada jersey magnet.

I am a big fan of giving gifts, and even a bigger fan of finding something unique and personal, if possible. So this year what I came up with for my person was too cool, and very unique. So much so, that I hope someone didn't have the same mindset in the past and they already have it. I thought it was so cool that I got the same thing for myself. So I just hope all goes well with shipping and it goes off without a hitch. Of course I'll have to keep you all in suspense until after Xmas, since there is a decent chance that my person could read this :-)

Dream... about being in Iraq...

"I was in Iraq for some reason. And it was more forest like rather than desert. While I was there, there was some sort of uprising and a group of American's sided with the Iraqis and were against us. Myself and the people I was with were basically running for our lives. We had to sneak through forests, down strange paths, through marshes, etc, to try to avoid these people. All the while hearing gunfire and seeing people shot around us. We even ended up in some abandoned house with two abandoned dogs, until we were found out and had to run.

Then cut to me getting to some sort of refugee camp where they were evacuating people. The people were put in groups of people for each flight. One bus was leaving as I got there... and I kind of had an aerial view of their travel. The bus was going like a bat out of hell through the streets, avoiding cars and people, to get to the airport. Then two men with guns were running from a building taking about talking hostages. But, when they got to the airport, there was some sort of UN or Embassy escort and they were safe from there.

Back in my reality, I was sitting in the second group (to fill a plane and leave) at the airport. I saw someone get up and leave from the first group so went up to the front to see if I could get bumped up. And they checked my paperwork and said yes. At this point my Grandma was with me and she said she was feeling like she had low blood sugar, so went to a medic and thought she would miss the flight. I went up to the front to chat with the people about it in case she missed the flight, and Christian Slater (must be from watching 'The Forgotten' lately) was one of the guys working up front there now. But she was ok and back in time. Then my Mom and Aunt were there, and a couple of groups behind us, so chatted with them for a few.

My group ended up getting shuffled to the terminal and though security. I had to give up my 3 water bottles. I thought I was going to be able to buy one by the terminal but the shops were closed, and I only had US dollars too. When we got there, we received our boarding passes, and saw for the first time that we were flying from Iraq to Brazil to the States. And found out my Mom and Aunt were flying through Germany, and then home."

That's all I remember. I knew when I woke up for the first time I should have gotten up to write it down. By the time I got up, that's what I remember. And no, I didn't watch a war movie before bed. Strange how the mind works.