Thanksgiving Humor

Recently I received a parrot as a gift.

The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

I tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else I could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, I was fed up and I yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. I shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

So, indesperation, I threw up my hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.

Then suddenly there was total quiet.

Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that I'd hurt the parrot, I quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto my outstretched arms and said,

"I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

I was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude.

As I was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued,

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I received this in an email from my Dad.

Thanksgiving is next week...

I've been trying to think of ways to spice up our Thanksgiving. It's usually just a lot of food and good conversation, but, I guess, I've been longing for something more.

So...I hit the Internet to find some ideas. I only found three that I really liked.

1. I don't really like the tradition of everyone going around the table and saying one thing they're thankful for, so I liked this twist on that old game. Name Exchange: Toss everyone’s name in a hat, then have each person draw one name. Allow some time for thought, then have everyone take a turn finishing this sentence, “I’m thankful for _[name drawn]__ because ________.”
2. Even though it will probably be extremely cold here in MN next week, I though this idea was very fun as well. Take a photography walk — burn off the extra calories from your feast, yet pause long enough to capture the beauty of late autumn on film. I discovered a great trail near my parents house (where dinner will be) that I will definitely bring my camera and suggest this activity. The dogs will love it, too.
3. StoryCorps. The Day after Thanksgiving is the first annual national day of listening. There is a link at the top of my website for more information. Basically, they're encouraging us to interview someone about their life or remembering someone who has died. They even have a question generator to help decide on some good questions. I don't know if I'll actually do this, but I thought it was a very intriguing idea!

If you have any fun, unique ideas that you do on Thanksgiving, please share! I'm especially interested in ideas for families who don't really like ideas. :-) Sitting around yapping is what we do best! Oh, and eating lots of pie!!

Photo Tag

My friend Lara tagged her sister, Kristina, (and apparently me, too, but I first saw it on Kristina's blog today. Sorry, Lara!), and Kristina tagged anyone who'd like to do it. I thought it sounded like fun, so here is my 6th photo from my 6th album.

This is from my good friend's wedding in Aug 2004. Don't they look incredibly cute and happy and in love?? He's from Mexico, so they had a mariachi band at their reception. Very fun!

Exhilaration

Yesterday, I taught for the first time in a high school.

I was SO nervous!

BUT...

when I stood up and was teaching and interacting with the students, it was exhilarating!

Of course, I still have a lot to learn to become a great teacher, but I could see the beginnings. Plus I had a wonderful dialogue with my St Thomas supervisor. She helped me recognize my strengths. We talked about things I would do differently. It was very, very helpful...and just the confidence builder that I needed.

This experience combined with what I'm learning in my courses is making me even more excited about my future career.

(My lesson was introducing an Urban Geography unit to a class of 9th & 10th graders. I taught my lesson twice.)

Adjusting...

Sallie was welcomed into our home on Saturday, September 13th.

She is 100% adorable, and I love her so much. I have never, ever described myself as a dog person--or even a pet person, but Sallie has captured my heart. She is one-year old, and she does the cutest things.

• When she is excited or begging, she stands on her back legs, with her front legs up close to her chest.
• I love her floppy ears that don't flop in the same way.
• I love her cute little face, and sometimes she puts both paws over her snout.
• I love to watch her sleep--sometimes curled into a ball, sometimes all stretched out.
• I love it when she cuddles up next to me on the couch or the bed. Yes, we've even broken down and let her sleep with us.

It's amazing to me how quickly I came to love this little sweetheart.

• I talk to her all the time. (I used to make fun of my dad for doing this.)
• I try to take her for a walk twice a day.
• I hold her.
• I miss her and feel bad when I have to leave her in her crate for a few hours while Jeff and I are at school.
• I worry about her, and get pretty nervous, when she plays with the big dogs. My parents have a Mountain Ker mix and a Black Lab mix. They adopted the lab the same day we got Sallie, so there are some dominance issues, etc.
• I always want to protect her a keep her safe.

All that being said, I'm having some serious difficulties adjusting to life with Sallie.

• We kept her in the crate the first few nights, and I would worry about her when she was whimpering. Now that she sleeps with us, she stretches out and kicks me out of my spot. :-)
• We were told that she was not housebroken, so I feel like I constantly need to keep my eyes on her and know where she is and what she is doing at all times--especially since we are not in our own place, but staying temporarily with my parents. It's exhausting being on high alert all the time.
• She wakes up earlier than I'd like to at times, and I need to feed her and take her out to do her business.
• She yelps and whimpering when she plays with the big dogs, and that makes me nervous that she might be getting hurt or that they won't know when to stop.

Of course, all the loves that she gives me makes up for everything! She is definitely a welcome addition to my life!!

My Own ABCs

My friend, Lara, listed this on her blog, so I thought it would be fun to post it to mine as well!

A-Attached or Single: Attached
B-Best Friend: Jeff
C-Cake or Pie: Cake (except at Thanksgiving)
D-Day: Sunday
E-Essential Item: Cell phone
F-Favorite Color: Orange
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: Gummie bears
H-Hometown: Alexandria, Minnesota
I-Indulgences: Facebook, chocolate
J-January or July: July
K-Kids: Not yet
L-Life is incomplete without: Jeff
M-Marriage Date: December 21, 2004
N-Number of Siblings: 11 (1 sister, 2 brother, 2 half-brother, 3 step-sisters, 3 step-brothers)
O-Oranges or Apples: Apples
P-Phobias or Fears: Falling in the shower, Failure
Q-Quote: Nothing's jumping out right now...
R-Reason to Smile: My new home--closing on Sept 30!
S-Season: Autumn
T-Tag Three: Marla, Elizabeth, Jill
U-Unknown fact about me: I share WAY too much information, so I can't think of anything.
V-Vacation destination of choice: Dubai or London
W-Worst Habit: Procrastination
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: X-Rays.
Y-your favorite food: Grilled Pizzas
Z-Zodiac Sign: Leo

Wanna Bet?

Isn't it nice to know that there are people out there who know your values and help you to uphold them?

I don't remember what it was in reference to, but yesterday, my boss started to make the comment, "Wanna bet?" He stopped himself when he remembered that I was LDS, and we don't gamble. He quickly followed his question up with, "Wait...you can't do that [gamble]?

It was a nice gentle reminder that others are aware of who we are and what values we try to uphold. Sometimes it is easier to withstand temptation when others surrounding us encourage us rather that provoke us.