Today I am thankful for...

My goofy husband.

He cooks, he cleans, he never comments on my weight (even when I was really fat), he really is the best and I know I don't tell him that enough.

My Monster Baby

She is the world to me. Words cannot describe...

My Dad and Joann.

They watch Monster Baby for us every day. We are all so fortunate to have them.

My Aunt Pat.

She spoils Monster Baby and I, and she always has.

My best friend Stephanie.

The best friend anyone could ever ask for. I wish we weren't so far apart.

My Mother, My Grandmother, My Aunt Carol - I wish I weren't so far away.

My friends Elizabeth and Cheryl. They help me more than they know and make my workday better every day.

My boss, Dan and all of my other friends at work - Terri, Andrea, Todd, Frank, Jack and all of the other wonderful people that help me each and every day. They make work less "work".

My silly dogs, Guinness and Ginger. My home. My computer. My library. My opportunity to finish college. My weight loss. My "clean" cancer screens. My health.

I am thankful for my little world. And I am thankful to God for giving me so many things to be thankful for. God's presence in our lives isn't always visible, but I know he's there. I know what he's given me. And I am thankful.

Saying Thank You

A few weeks ago I had thank you cards made for all of the wonderful people I met during my journey with cancer. The text read "I'm often asked about my experience with breast cancer... and I always reply, I met the nicest people. Thank you for being one of those people." And it's true, I met some incredible people. I have the best doctors, they have the best staffs. And it made all of the difference.

Yesterday I had my quarterly visit with my Oncologist, Dr. Zafar. He and his staff all thanked me for the card and told me how much they appreciated it. I was glad I took the time to do it, because so often we don't properly thank the people in our lives who make the most difference. It's easy to take people for granted and I know I'm guilty of it, despite my attempts not to. (By the way, I"m still clean and healthy!)

So if you're reading this... Thank you. Thank you for caring. Thank you for allowing me to share little pieces of myself with you. Thank you for dropping in to see if I have anything interesting to say. Thank you if you laughed at any of my jokes. Thank you if I touched a small part of your heart with my stories.

On the topic of thank yous, my heart is touched by this one. The power of prayer is incredible. I have witnessed it personally and I'm happy to witness it from afar in this case. If you're the praying type, whisper a few words for the Nielson family and for two ladies named Deb who are struggling with cancer. I do several times every day.

Tomorrow I'll post about the other things I am grateful for. Today is all about you.

You won't believe this...

At about noon today my boss asked me if I'd mind leaving an hour early to drop someone off at the airport. I assured him that as a valuable employee, with only my boss' needs in mind, I would sacrifice one hour of my workday to do this task for him.

Am I a model employee or what?

Since I had some extra time, I stopped by Toys R Us on the way home. Dangerous territory. I went in there for one $5 item. I left $72 later. At least I remembered the $5 item - I've done that before, left the store much lighter in the pocket without the one thing I went there to buy.

Anywho, I saw this Cabbage Patch doll that is just too cute. Her name is Ingrid Esther (not a name I'd have chosen, but I honestly didn't look until now). When I was picking out the doll I noticed two different price tags, one for CPK Newborn for $19.99 and another for AA CPK Newborn $16.99. I didn't notice any difference between the dolls on the shelf. All Cabbage Patch Kids are different, that's the schtick, right? Other than that, no noticeable difference.

So Esther and I headed to the checkout. As I was finishing up at the register I asked the saleslady how much the doll was. She looked - $19.99. Was there a problem? I told her no, not really, but there'd been two different prices on the shelf and I hadn't been sure how much the doll was going to be. No big deal. She encouraged me to talk to customer service and headed off with my receipt, so I followed.

After the cashier and I explained the situation, the very nice lady at customer service desk called for a price check. When she didn't get an immediate response she suggested we head over and take a look ourselves, it wasn't far. I took her to the shelf and showed her the dolls. Another clerk was there, responding to her price check call.

The lady from customer service was as puzzled as I, grabbed two of the dolls off the shelf and scanned their prices. Both were $19.99. She seemed about to suggest she give me the different price when the other clerk, bless his heart, pipped up and suggested that the "AA" stood for African American.

The clerk, who was African American, and I were flabbergasted. Surely not. But sure enough, when she scanned one of the "brown" babies it popped up at $16.99. I could have stood there all day and that never would have crossed my mind, I commented. And truly, it wouldn't have. At that point we all seemed to feel a little embarrassed, so I thanked them for checking for me and made my escape.

Crazy huh?

I am torn over calling Toys R Us and saying something. I've determined that it's pretty insulting either way you look at it. On one hand I could be upset about paying a premium for a "white" doll, on the other hand, did the customer service clerk feel slighted that the "brown" doll was cheaper? Should anyone care? The dolls were identical, even the packaging, the only difference was the tone of the dolls skin.

All I know for sure is that the whole story is actually pretty laughable, Esther is awfully cute and I hope Angie likes her come Christmas morning. :)

Three Goals

Today's Writing Prompt: Write about three realistic goals you'd like to achieve in your lifetime.

I’d like to:

Finish College

Be a Published Author

Inspire People

Favorite Place

Today's Question of the Day

Where is your favorite place in your home?

My favorite place in my home would have to be Angie's room. I love the light lavendar color of the walls and the bright butterflys and lady bugs on the walls.

There's just such a sweet peace to be found in her room. I hope she loves it as much as I do.

This week's ethics questions

From my class...

Are you comfortable with relying on your gut feeling to do the right thing in your business environment? How do you respond when an ethical issue arises at work?

Is it ethical to rely on the excuse, “I’m just doing what I was ordered to do,” even when your own sense of right and wrong bothers you?

Today's Quote

Strong people don't need strong leaders. - Ella Baker, black rights activist

Is this true? It certainly contains some truth. Strong people will persevere through weak leaders and thrive under strong leaders.

I'm so glad the election is over. I'm ready to start moving forward again.

Random Thoughts on a Saturday Night

I did the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk today, hosted by the American Cancer Society. I walked with Cheryl, my friend from work, Angie, and several others I work with. It was nice. It's good for the soul to participate in something bigger than you from time to time. I'm not sure how many walkers there were, but it had to have been upwards of at least a thousand. I forgot to take my camera.. pooh.. (Update: there were more than 9,000 people there!)

As for the election, I'm over it. It is what it is and now it's time to move on. I'm hoping we can move forward together and get things back on track.

I'm saddened to see the Linens and Things that just opene up by me a few months ago is going out of business. And the Circuit City that also just recently opened is closing as well. It worries me and I wonder if these companies don't plan in such a way to be able to withstand changes in the market. I would think a good business plan would include making sure your company could remain strong, or at least in business, should something affect your bottom line for a few months or a year.

Oh, and I put on some old jeans this morning and they fit! I didn't even have to lie on the bed to zip them up. Woot! :)

On a lighter note

As I've mentioned before, Angie does not work with extras. As exhibited to the left, that includes Mom.

Poor tortured child. ;)

I hope we're wrong

I'm depressed. I am really scared about what's going to happen with a Democratic president, House and Senate. I don't want to be penalized for succeeding by people who don't want to work hard to succeed themselves. I've been poor. I've been on assistance. I've even been homeless. But I picked myself up and made a success of myself, even without a college degree. Now I'm working to get that degree. Why shouldn't I expect my fellow Americans to do the same? How can I support a "Spread the Wealth" mentality? You get what you work for, not what you demand from the mindset that you're "owed" something.

I hope I'm wrong. I hope we're not moving towards a Socialist society.

Happy Election Day! Let's Pray...

It’s Election Day, at long last! This campaign has been going on for well over a year already and it’s really getting old. For better or for worse, I’m ready to move on to the next phase.

Elizabeth told me yesterday that she heard on the radio that New York is preparing for riots. Riots! Can you believe that?! It’s frightening.

I predict that we’re going to have another really close vote, like when Gore ran 8 years ago (was it 8 years?). In fact, I was saying yesterday that it should all be over today… hopefully.

I pray that God leads us in the right direction as a country and that the best candidate is chosen. I don’t believe that candidate is Obama. Sadly, I don’t even believe that candidate is McCain. It’s disappointing that we have two candidates that so many people are struggling to get behind either of. I wanted Romney myself. I’d like to see a return to the ideals of family, God and working together – things I believe he brought to the plate.

Dear God, please watch over us today.

Quote for today: “Do you want to trace your family tree? Run for public office.” – Patricia H. Vance, Pennsylvania state senator

Boy, isn’t that the truth?!