Find out my thoughts on how a city government created a PR blunder with unmonitored accounting and a bad attitude. And guess who’s the victim: a 74-year-old blind lady!

I am also really excited because one of my favorite e-newsletter publishers, The Publicity Hound, read the post and commented! I feel like I’ve been visited by a celebrity.

Read all about it… and how you can avoid the same kind of mistakes in life.

As I got older, I took advantage of the time to update my photo album, and I’d often spend the entire day sticking prints into a book and making up clever comments. In recent years, I’d always have a big, stressful conference the week before Thanksgiving, so it was always a relief to collapse on the couch for a few days… and eat.

Oh, yes, eating… my parents have always fixed a feast that would feed many. My mom had her menu planned out by mid-October. Mom and Dad would spend several days in the kitchen, and amazing food was the results. Moist, tender turkey, dressing that was a delicacy in itself, fresh canned green beans from the garden, rolls, mashed potatoes, and whatever other dishes they dreamed up. Then there were the pies. We usually had 2 or 3, including my mom’s pumpkin, my dad’s mom recipe for Chess pie, and another random selection. Mom would prepare homemade crusts (and usually let me form the wavy tops). PIE!!!

But the thing I liked the most about Thanksgiving is that it is a day focused on being grateful. I always tried to honor this by writing about what I was grateful for and meditating on it all day long. We’d have great fun as a family. It was on Thanksgiving nearly a decade ago that I shared with my family that I’d been healed of  chronic sinus infections that had plagued me my whole life.

This has been an extremely hard year for me personally. I tear up when I think about it. Truthfully, I will be glad to see a new year and new beginning coming in 2009. However, even with the loss of Mom this year and the many physical ailments that have attacked my body, I am still  grateful.

God has been too good to me to feel any other way. I am still blessed. I am married to an awesome man. My family is still a great joy to me. Friends have shown up through the difficulties. I have been able to start a new career. The Lord is still providing for us. And, most importantly, Jesus makes every day new, with new hope, new faith, and new goals.

I am grateful.

What do you think?

The little seeds burst, leaving my hands looking like a murderous red-stained character from MacBeth (in case you’re wondering which character: it’s Lady MacBeth, you geeky English nerds). But Alton showed us that the fruit could be scored on the outside and popped open under water in a big bowl.

The little red seeds sink, while the white rind-like stuff floats to the top. No more red stains! No more mess. Plus it is a much faster method of getting to the anti-antioxidant goodness within the pomegranate. So last year, we ate about 24 of the giant fruits in a two month period. Healthy and good for you!

This year, we’ve already started out strong downing 4 in a week. So we bought 6 more yesterday. I thought I’d spend a half an hour opening them up after lunch today. After what seemed like an eternity (2 hours), my feet were aching and my hands were cold. I had divested the seeds from 4 pomegranates… and I gave up on the last two. So our new under-water method is faster, but still not quite as fast as I’d like.

But whatever it takes to get Brett to eat something healthy!

I am going to start posting my raw sermon notes from St. Louis Family Church on my other blog, PlanetSonia.com.

I’ve been taking digital notes since last year when I got my iPhone, and I type around 35 WPM, so I catch quite a lot of good info at church. All the scripture verses will be there, so that will at least be a good starting place for anyone wanting to study the Bible.

And just a quick reminder, if you want to read my writing, marketing, and business tips, check out ColemanUnlimited.com. I’ve been capturing some of my best time-savers there, and I have great intentions of eventually sending out a newsletter, but until then, get an RSS subscription through Google Reader!

The lamp is still buzzing, although it is a subtle, more quiet version of the buzz. Almost tolerable.

iPod headphones would definitely cover it up now. I can even make a phone call without embarassment!

I also have this lamp which I inherited from Brett. It is a nice black lamp with a cool extending adjustable arm: the only problem is that it is buzzes. Not a quiet buzz noticeable only to dogs. No, this is a loud irritating buzz that you can hear even over iPod headphones.

Sometimes it only buzzes for 15 minutes, but other times, like today, it’s going on 45 minutes. But eventually, the buzzing will stop. Then it’s this really great lamp again. And I forget that I hated it earlier!

So I guess the question is: how long can I put up with the buzzing? We’ve looked at other lamps in the store, but most of them are cheaper and not nearly as nice as my little black buzzer lamp. So I endure.

http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=370743&altf=Csfuu&altl=Dpmfnbo

Pretty cool, ehh? I would vote for him a heartbeat!

Brett passed along this link to share from SmashingMagazine.com. I checked it out this morning, and it is fun to see the amazing details that a macro photo can reveal.

A feast for the eyes! Check it out. This photo came from Wired Magazine’s Top 10 Macro photos.

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”
-  Virginia Satir

Are you getting (and giving) enough hugs? Remember, the hug goes both ways!

By the way, this photo is from a guy who made news for giving free hugs to make people smile.