The Feast: Quick Recap

To make this short and sweet, The Feast was a huge success!  

To put "success" in perspective, this is my before picture (happy, energized, ready to go!)

And here is my after photo (stuffed, uncomfortable, ready for a nap)

The Feast is Here!

(Photo courtesy of David Naugle)

Unboundary has a feast like none other to celebrate this time of Thanksgiving. Details and pictures to come, but while I'm here, I'll at least go ahead and say thanks to my wonderful family of co-workers. You make the day worth it!

Re: Seriously?

My friend and co-worker, Ashley, has a fun blog that is like a mini-"US Weekly" with updates on her life, thoughts, obsessions, etc.  Recently she made a post entitled "Seriously" about her thoughts on all of the craziness going on with our favorite TV show, Grey's Anatomy.  

There has also been lots of office chatter a

bout how everyone feels about it all - Meredith's blast from the past now being an intern, Callie and Erica, Erica's sudden departure from the show, and of course - Denny coming back from the dead?!  While I am NOT a fan of most of the new plot lines, I must mention one thing that I actually do appreciate about Grey's right now.  It's the Grey's writers' blog.  You are probably thinking that I am a little obsessed if I enjoy watching the show, only to follow with reading more detail about the episode on the blog.  But, I'm being serious here.  

For those of you who are not writers (me!) or become more emotionally involved in the show so as to miss certain things (me, again!), this blog clearly spells out the reasons for doing the things they do.  Each person who writes an episode then blogs about their take on why it was important for Christina and Owen to start over when he officially joins the team, even after they've smooched in a previous episode OR how the theme of detachment runs all through the Rise Up episode OR what the plan really is for Season 5.  

With all my support for these guys, I might have to agree with Ashley on some of the latest decisions.  Seriously?!  However I do feel a little better after I read this week's blog post, yet I just can't agree that they are not crazy with portraying Denny as real to Izzy when NO ONE ELSE CAN SEE HIM.  Hello?!  That was the question I kept waiting for her to ask.  Not, can I really feel you?  (P.S. The thought of her making love to a dead guy/spirit is a little much.)  Not, why are you here?  But, rather, why can't anyone else see you?  

Sigh.  I miss the good ole' days...

Back to the Basics

Can you have a passion for pretty handwriting?  Because I think I do.  I have always had good handwriting, and have been complemented on the way that I write in print and cursive.  My grandparents could probably be deemed the best judges on handwriting, and even they told me that I have beautiful penmanship.  I also have some "fonts" that I used to create to address fun cards (birthdays, congratulations, etc.).  All of those years doodling during class definitely paid off in some way (I could totally multi-task and still listen to the lecture/take notes)!

However, lately I've noticed that my handwriting is becoming worse and worse and that I'm having a tough time making some letters look right ("r" has always been a real struggle for me), or keeping my handwriting neat when I am in a hurry to jot things down.  I finally decided it must be that as you get older your handwriting fades and your penmanship becomes harder to read.

However, one of the ladies I work with has given me hope, as she has taken my handwriting obsession to another level.  Laura has the prettiest handwriting of anyone's that I have ever seen.  I have complemented her on it several times, and often ask her to label things that are going to be seen by many.  Every time I tell her how nice her handwriting is, she tells me that it is because she practiced (or maybe it's that she still practices).  I thought that was kind of funny, but the more people I have talked to about their handwriting (could I be a bigger nerd?!), the more people tell me that they either practice or are constantly writing things out - all in an effort to maintain their handwriting.  

So today I took out a pen and paper and had a practice session.  It was a little tough for me to slow down my writing style so that I could actually practice the correct movement, but I did it.  I think I'll actually move

on to lined paper next, so that I can work on writing in a straight line while I'm at it.  

One day, I'd actually like to be able to write like this ->

I think that will probably mean some calligraphy classes are in the future, but how fun!

Small Business Person of the Year (a.k.a. Dad)

My dad grew up on a small farm in Evans, GA, just outside of Augusta.  He milked cows before daylight, helped his daddy farm the land, and didn't miss a day of elementary school because both of his parents worked and couldn't arrange for him to be taken care of if he wasn't in school.  He worked hard throughout college to pay for school while earning his Building Science degree, married my mom, and they headed back to Augusta.  After working for a small company for a few years, he decided to pursue his dream of owning a construction company.  32 years later, R. W. Allen, LLC. is going stronger than ever.  

Today is Dad's 57th birthday AND it also happens to be the day that the Augusta Chamber of Commerce named him Small Business Person of the Year. 

Go Dad!  It is definitely well-deserved.  

You Can Vote However You Like

It's official.  Today is one of the biggest, most talked about elections in the history of our country.  And although it took me three hours, I can say that I have cast my vote and done my part in this historic day.  

As much as I do care about the outcome, I am breathing a sigh of relief that all of this is close to being over.  I am so tired of seeing advertisements, hearing negative talk, seeing pictures, having people assume that I'm voting for so-and-so.  In less than 24 hours it will all be over.  

That is why I found this video so amazing.  The first totally neutral piece on the 2008 Election.  And it came from kids.  Students from the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA created a rap version of T.I.'s song "You Can Have Whatever You Like."  If you haven't seen it yet, you really need to.  It's been featured on several news stations across the country.  

Leave it to the kids to give us the greatest, unbiased, most knowledgeable thing to come out of this election.  If you've never heard of Ron Clark, or his academy, you should check it out.  It's pretty inspiring.  

If you haven't already - get out and vote.  Go team U.S.A.! :)