Who Says Mormons Aren't Funny?

A friend sent me this video clip from You Tube. It is from a church talent show and the men are doing a synchronized swimming routine. I laughed so hard when I saw it and I just had to share. Part of me is jealous of their creativity...

Facebook

All four of us have Facebook pages now. Dwayne and Dexter still refuse to be my friends, but I have found plenty of others who wish to be identified with me. It has been a fun way to keep up with friends and family and I have managed to get back in touch with friends from 20-30 years ago. I have gotten a little addicted to some of the games you can play on there. Kathy and I are probably a little too into some of the applications where you grow plants, adopt pets, decorate trees, send presents, etc. in that little make-believe environment. Right now we even have a George family scrabble game going.

Christmas is coming...

I managed to be too busy to deal with digging out the Christmas tree and decorations until this past weekend. The tree went up with only five days until Christmas. I hope I don't cut it this close in the future! We didn't have many presents sitting around, so there wasn't much pressure early on.

We have been hit by several snow storms recently. Most of them hit the west coast first, so Kathy and Rick have had to deal with them before we did. One of our storms hit Las Vegas first and Sharon was snowed in (ironic - Hell freezes over...lol). Monday's storm left at least 12 inches of snow at our house and Emerson had to help me dig out a spot to park when I came home from work. Our dogs have handled it well. They like jumping around in the snow and Scout seems to be searching for stuff by sticking her whole head in the snow. The snow is almost high enough to cover Shadow. I don't let them play in it for long since they aren't built for this kind of weather. They like basking in front of the heater as much as I do.

Let it Snow

It's finally looking like December around here. The snow is falling and is supposed to continue for about the next week. We're enjoying the snow, but we're a little on edge about Dwayne being out there and driving in it.

I thought I'd share some good news. Every year at our company Christmas party, they announce the Spirit of Heritage award winners. These are essentially the employees of the year and they receive a trophy and some cash. Emerson got this award about four or five years ago (much deserved). As involved as I am in so many projects at Heritage, I was sure over the past couple of years that I would get it. One of my coworkers even let me know she nominated me two years ago. Since I take things so terribly personally, I was crushed each year as I was passed over. The HR Director tried to make me feel better by telling me it was virtually impossible for me to receive the award since it would look like the executives were playing favorites. Unless people from many different departments nominated me, I was doomed to being recognized only within my department. I helped type up this year's awards and knew who was on the final list, only to have them surprise me and announce my name at the dinner. I won!! I have an amazing boss who always lets me know I'm doing a great job and that I'm appreciated, but it was so wonderful for him to tell the rest of the campus. I'm having a tough time facing my boss now without getting emotional (I'm such a cry-baby). The money will help me get closer to getting caught up on the money I'm paying to chaperon Dexter's choir trip to New York and I'm trying to figure out the best place to put my trophy.

Anasazi Foundation

The event I attended in Phoenix was for the Anasazi Foundation. They are a wilderness program for at-risk youth and they held a scholarship gala to celebrate 20 years of existence plus raise some money for scholarships. It was very fancy and had quite a few tearful moments telling of the impact their program has had. They had a silent auction with a lot of great items - gift baskets, jewelry, art, autographed sports and music stuff... I'm amazed at the support they have. My boss sent to to see how they run their fundraiser and get some ideas. I also met up with some others in the treatment industry who are hoping to coordinate fundraising efforts. We were treated to music from Brooke White (an American Idol finalist) and Nathan Pacheco (an amazing tenor who is touring with Yanni). Steve Young was supposed to be there but his wife just had a baby and he stayed with her. He just sent money (acceptable substitute).

Living the good life

My boss sent me to Phoenix to attend a fundraising event. I get to stay at the resort where the event is being held. It's a really nice place and I have the room all to myself. The bed is amazingly comfortable and I have a little patio with a view of the golf course.

Dexter as Pharaoh ("Elvis")

Thanksgiving

Sharon came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us this year. Since Dwayne had to be at work by 1 pm, we decided to eat at noon. Thanksgiving is the only day I really enjoy cooking and that's only because it's the only time people really seem to like my cooking. It's so rewarding!! The food turned out fine and no disasters to add to my list of cooking horror stories.

Black Friday was mellow by comparison to previous years. We hit JC Penney at 4 am to get the free Disney snow globe ornament and then traveled to WalMart for the 5 am sale. We usually avoid WalMart on Black Friday, but we got brave this year. Fortunately, the downturn in the economy kept the crowds to a smaller size. I did finally have to ditch the shopping cart in order to maneuver or else I would have ended up with a full blown panic attack.

Most of us have been enjoying having some time off (other than Dwayne). I'm going to be heading to Phoenix next Friday for an event my boss wants me to attend, so next week will be pretty busy. Dexter has some concerts next week and Emerson is finishing up some of his classes for the special education certification.

I'm dreaming of a manageable Christmas 2008

For the past 2 years, the George family has drawn names for Christmas gifts in an effort to keep the holidays happy. Each family has been randomly assigned another family to get Christmas gifts for. Sharon prefers to handle her gifts differently, so she will not be part of the drawing. There are no real limits on gifts, just do what you can for the family or for the individuals in the family. I'm going to list the assignments here. Let me know if there are any problems/concerns. So far things seem to be working other than the fact that I didn't remember to let you know this information until now this year.

Bill's family will be sending gifts to Rick's family
Rick's family will be sending gifts to Kathy's family

Karen's family will be sending gifts to Bill's family
Kathy's family will be sending gifts to Karen's family