SUNDAY NIGHT BLUES

Is the weekend seriously over already?!?

LIFE IS SWEET

We're heading on two sappy posts in a row, but tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so making a list of things I appreciate seems like the right thing to do. Following is a hodgepodge of 50 things I am thankful for (in no particular order of merit):

• family
• opportunities to travel
• comfortable bed
• books
• temple
• friendship
• car
• job
• emails
• sunshine
• walks
• prayer
• mountains
• computer
• shoes
• cereal
• telephone
• lip gloss
• hope
• chocolate
• white Christmas lights
• warmth
• mascara
• love
• joy
• listeners
• plans
• good advice
• bubble mint gum
• laughter
• pen & paper
• photographs
• ice cream
• journal
• gospel
• games
• homemade raspberry jam
• light
• vision
• decisions
• tulips
• support
• nieces & nephews
• winter hats
• music
• piano
• solitude (sometimes)
• safety
• guidance
• dreams

This list certainly isn't all-inclusive, but when I look at it, I can't help but think that life is pretty darn sweet...

BOO RADLEY

I have long loved Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Not only is the story interesting and well-written, but it contains powerful messages about human relationships and strong moral character. Most of you are probably familiar with the part of the story when Jem & Scout receive guns from Atticus. He says, "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Scout wonders why, and her neighbor says, "They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us."

I think these lines parallel the story in multiple ways, but I specifically like how they apply to Scout's severely reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley. Boo keeps to himself, usually, but comes out of his comfort zone to save Scout's life one night.

A couple of weeks ago, we were out raking leaves for 4 hours when I was reminded of this principle of service/compassion.... We had somewhere to be that evening and ran out of time to finish the job, so had to leave all 40+ bags of leaves out on our lawn with the intention of of taking them to the dump the following Monday. We have a neighbor who is semi-reclusive (not to the same extreme as Boo, but who is fairly reserved nonetheless). Although he has always been kind, we have probably not been as friendly to him as we ought. As we were heading out the door, he came over and offered to haul our leaves to the dump for us. We declined, explaining that we felt badly that we couldn't help, so it wouldn't be right for him to do it by himself. We left. When we arrived home, the bags were gone. Despite the fact that we have not been the best of neighbors to this mockingbird, he still made the effort to come out of his comfort zone and help us.

Incidents such as this make me realize that I have a long way to go in learning to truly love and serve others. I need to be a kinder neighbor and friend to all. I was grateful for this life lesson. Perhaps it's time for me to read the novel again....

IN CASE YOU CARE...

Semicolons and ellipses are far and away my favorite punctuation marks; they make almost any sentence more interesting...

RUNNING TO STAND STILL...

A few of my siblings love to run, for some reason unbeknownst to me. We're talking about the crazy kind of runners who think 26.2 miles of misery is a blast.... I cannot relate.... BUT... a few months ago I decided it would be a good idea to exercise, as it is supposedly a healthy habit. Also, I wanted a physical outlet for my wild and ever-changing emotions... something to calm my body and soul. So I decided to run. I don't go long distances, but I have made a point to go consistently, and am even enjoying the experience (in a masochistic way). My sisters have been very supportive of my efforts; they are willing to come with me almost any time, which helps!! And my pink shuffle makes it better, too...