My turkey picture (taken with my phone):

Oh, and it’s snowing on my blog. I love that. There’s a chance of snow this weekend! And roll tide roll. Ah I feel better.

So, I survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday 2009.  It is the week before finals where I work and is getting a little crazy. I am finished with one of my classes as of one night this week. They’re all a blur, who can remember? And my final project for the other class is due tomorrow night.  That class meets this weekend.  It’s a little strange because of the weekend format. We’re so close to the end of the semester, but since we only meet 4 weekends during the semester, I’m really only 3/4 of the way finished with it at this point.  Anyway, I’ll have a class discussion of observations of a teen program, a class discussion of current events, a class discussion of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a booktalk of a controversial book (in my case, Forever by Judy Blume), a booktalk of a professional book (in my case, Get Connected: Tech Programs for Teens), and a booktalk of my favorite book for which I had to write a review. Hmphf. Sigh. Let us pray.

“Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

(co-authored by Dean Timothy George)

I just finished reading Katie Alender’s debut novel, Bad Girls Don’t Die, for my Young Adult Literature and Services class.  It is one of the three books for which I will be writing a review.  My review will be positive and possibly will be posted on this blog and my blog later. Funny story: Part of the creepiness of this book has to do with a doll collection. As I’ve been reading the book, I find myself constantly looking over my shoulder. When I opened my mailbox yesterday, there was an American Girl catalog waiting on me. Creepy! Random. I have no idea why they sent me that catalog. And I wasn’t familiar with this company at all until a couple of years ago. Anyway I digress.

The thing that is amazing to me about the time in which we’re living is how you don’t just read a book and then be done with it. If you want to know more about an author, you can visit their website. And from there you can find their blog, twitter account, daily photos (of Ms. Alender’s adorable dog, for example), discussion guides, etc.  Many books have their own websites now. From Ms. Alender’s website, you can find “Alexis’s Darkroom” which has all kinds of multimedia goodies. Did you know that there are book trailers?! Apparently I’ve been under a rock and wasn’t even aware of this book’s trailer until after I finished reading it. I LOVE THIS CONCEPT!!! I have taken the “Which Bad Girls Don’t Die Character Are You?” quiz and am looking forward to listening to the Bad Girls Don’t Die inspiration playlist on iTunes later. Amazing!

I have enjoyed the holidays as long as I can remember. Thanksgiving is just around the corner. While I have so much to be thankful for, it is going to be a difficult day, I’m afraid. I can’t help but miss my Grandma G. This will be my first Thanksgiving since she passed into her eternal home in heaven. Thanksgiving is so closely associated with food, and she was the expert!

On a lighter note, I’m looking forward to Black Friday and have made my own version of this shirt!

Mood: teary-eyed

“The defecation hits the rotary oscillator.”

Is this becoming a blog on how to swear without getting caught? I certainly hope not.

Re: this post

After watching Elf last night, I have a new phrase to add to the list from yesterday’s post. That would be “son of a nutcracker!”

“The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

One of my vices lately is using swear words.  I think it’s more about the motive than the actual words. Some days my anger tries to get the better of me. Pair that with my natural gift of sarcasm, then well, anyway.

I don’t like when people flippantly use swear words. It seems as if they just need to increase their vocabulary. And there are plenty of circles in which I run that I just can’t use certain words without offending. I don’t know. Obviously this is something I’m thinking about and haven’t settled on the “answer” – so to speak. But I was driving down the road yesterday and was thinking about things you can say that make you feel like you’re swearing without actually using an official swear word. It made me laugh. Let’s see if I can remember them.

1. Asinine
2. Shed
3. Bashinsky
4. Sugar
5. Fudge
6. Lactating Bitches (found on a dog shampoo bottle, one of my favorites when talking about neurotic mothers)
7. Effin’
8. Women’s Theological Fellowship (this is a real (and wonderful) group with an unfortunate acronym)!
9. Bugger (I don’t really like this one.)
10. Crap

Please don’t be offended, dang it!