A blog of thanks and gratitude

Hello,

First of all I'd just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas or whatever other tradition you may be celebrating this time of year.

Have a Happy Hanukkah: "also known as the Festival of Lights is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar." (Thanks to Wikipedia.org.)

Kwannza: "Kwanzaa is a week long celebration held in the United States honoring universal African-American heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as lighting a candle holder with seven candles and culminates in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Maulana Karenga and was first celebrated in 1966 - 1967." (Thanks to Wikipedia.org.)

and even for you "Seinfeld" fans Happy Festivus: "Festivus is a secular holiday celebrated on December 23 as "another way" to celebrate the holiday season without participating in its pressures and commercialism. It was created by writer Dan O'Keefe and introduced into popular culture by his son Daniel, a screenwriter for the TV show Seinfeld, as part of a comical storyline on the show. The holiday's celebration, as shown on Seinfeld, includes an unadorned aluminum "Festivus pole," practices such as the "Airing of Grievances" and "Feats of Strength," and the labeling of easily explainable events as "Festivus miracles".

Celebrants of the holiday sometimes refer to it as "Festivus for the rest of us," a saying taken from the O'Keefe family traditions and popularized in the Seinfeld episode to describe Festivus' non-commercial aspect. (Thanks as always to wikipedia.org.)

I woke up this morning to a quiet house, as I live with my parents. My kids live with their mother. It's just not Christmas without kids and their excitement in opening gifts. I'll be getting them later today, so I'll still have that experienced. I called them this morning and they've already received their first Christmas gifts. When they come to my parent's house they get another Christmas! Of course I'm going to try and balance that with what we truly are celebrating this time of year.

Today's blog is going to be a mix of some of the things I'm very grateful for, mixed with some of my favorite Christmas songs.

I'll start off with what I think is the saddest Christmas song there is. That's "I'll Be Home For Christmas". This is a great song, but the ending kills me every time. It's a Christmas song with a twist ending. It's the "The Sixth Sense" of Christmas songs. The following is the Carpenters version of the song:



Things I'm thankful for: first of all my parents. Without them I wouldn't be here obviously. Thanks to them for allowing me to live at their house as I go through this rebirth and emerge from a turbulent year. It's been a turbulent year, but it's a been a good year. My therapist pointed out how my life is better now than it was a year ago. The only thing I would change is that I wish I could have my kids more.

Thanks to J, L and Hank for the always generous Christmas (and birthday) gifts. I'm going to miss you guys when you go to Belgium. Hank, I hope you are enjoying all your Christmas presents from your Meads cousins!

Thanks to CC, for his influence on me in bringing me to the church I'm a member of. Although I still have my faults, I'm a much better person because of my activity in the LDS Church. I shiver to think where I would be without it's positive influence. Also thanks to my Mom for letting me join the church.

Here's Whitney Houston's "O Holy Night". What an amazing song and an amazing singer.



Thanks to my kids for all the joy and the challenges they bring into my life. I look forward to their excitement and joy later today as they open gifts with their childlike glee. Thanks to my oldest boy, he shares a love of reading and music with me. Thanks to my second boy who is just a huge sponge that soaks every thing in. I think he has remembered every TV show and historical event he has ever learned. Thanks to my daughter for her enthusiasm for things, even for her overwhelming love of all things Justin Bieber. Thanks to my youngest boy, for not being afraid to tell me that he loves me. Also for all the great hugs and all the massages he gives me. Finally thanks to the ex for having the strength to bring these 4 wonderful kids into the world.

Thanks to Verizon Wireless for firing me. That was a major turning point in my life and one of the best things that has ever happened to me. It got me out of a horrendous job, this time 1 year ago I was working an 8 hour shift at Verizon. I won't even go into how bad that was. Because I got fired from there I obviously started looking for another job. The timing was nearly perfect. I applied for a position with Ambassador College Bookstores and in a very pleasant surprise I got that job. I've been happily employed there for 8.50 months. Thanks Ambassador for the very generous Christmas bonus as well.

Here's Christina Aguilera's amazing "O Holy Night":



Thanks to all my friends from Dicks Market and how much joy and good times we've had. Thanks for my two very tolerant bosses, PW and SL, for putting up with me. It's sad for me to see a place I worked for to be sold to/taken over by a greedier more asinine Scrooge. They said Bah Humbug to their Layton, Utah employees by telling them just about two weeks before Christmas that many of them would be out of a job at the first of the year. That's typical of their corporate irresponsibility.

Thanks again though to my Dicks Market friends. I won't even try to mention all of you, there are so many of you that have had such a large impact on my life. I know I don't see many of you anymore, but you are still having am impact on my life. In fact it was two of my Dicks Market buddies that served as my references for my current job. Thanks again SBN and BMB! Thanks to TSB for helping me there each month!

Thanks Jesus for all you've done for all of us, after all you are truly the reason for the season. This is Anne Murray's "Away in a Manger":



I can never find a great version of "I Saw Three Ships", here's a good version:



Whitney Houston's amazing "The Little Drummer Boy", or as they call it here "Do You Hear What I Hear?"



themusicaddict