Thanksgiving

Note: I writed this on Tuesday. If I had writed it today, my Cougs definitely would've been on there . . .

Here I am coming home from Lehi on a Nebo School District bus just enjoying a little Mormon Tabernacle Choir as I write this here note/web log entry. Our teams lost today. But that’s okay. They played hard and I didn’t feel like a complete idiot as a coach (which is kind of what I expected to feel like).

This week, as you may or may not know (you British people might be unaware at least), is Thanksgiving. I really, really like Thanksgiving; it’s easily my third favorite holiday behind my birthday and Christmas. Anyway, since it be Thanksgiving, I’ve decided to write about what I’m thankful for. My Mormonite leaders are always telling me to be more thankful so today I’m going to make an attempt. I hope you don’t mind.

My List of Thanks

- I’m grateful for my job. I realize I’m an average teacher and probably slightly below average coach, but when all is said and done, I love going to work and I don’t think I can ask for more than that. Plus, any job is a blessing in these times right.

- I’m thankful for Autumn. Summer’s too hot, winter’s too cold, and spring has too many allergens. Fall is perfect.

- I’m thankful for good movies. I added several to my list last week: Blindside, Night Crossing, and Sabrina (the old school version)

- I’m thankful for my mission. Nothing has affected me so deeply and so strongly. I will never be the same because of it and I would give anything to go back.

- I’m thankful for my brothers and sisters. As far as siblings go they ain’t half bad. And I guess my brothers and sisters in law are bearable as well.

- I’m thankful for sports. For one thing, they’re the reason I have a job. For another, they’re kind of enjoyable to watch/play. And I’m really thankful for Monday Nite Football. It provides one time per week that I can watch the NFL without feeling guilty.

- I’m thankful for Mormonite stuff.

- I’m thankful for sleep. It’s what I look forward to every day.

- I’m thankful for my A3 class. It’s the other thing I look forward to each day. They’re pretty dad-gum rad, even if a couple of them are obsessed with George Strait.

- I’m thankful for Christmas. Can you imagine how depressing winter would be without the Christmas season.

- I’m thankful for beautiful music. Right now I’m listening to “My Shepherd Will Supply” by the Mormon Choir. It definitely qualifies.

- I’m thankful for General Conference. It is quite possibly the only thing I look forward to more than Christmas.

- I’m thankful for my books. I don’t read enough. I need to read more. Any good book suggestions? (and if you suggest a book and it’s not good, I will rip all your toenails off, so beware)

- I’m thankful for great people who do great things. Like I said, this week I watched a movie called Night Crossing. How people ever get the courage to do such amazing things I will never know.

- I’m grateful for true friends. I don’t know that I have very many, but I couldn’t live without the ones that I do have.

- I’m thankful for all of my sweaters. I’m kind of the sweater king around these parts and I find that pretty cool.

- I’m thankful for the dinner that comes at the end of Fast Sunday.

- I’m thankful for my fantastic stake president Chad the Rowley and the fantastic stake president I had before him President Roy Silcox.

- I’m thankful for my missionary trainer Elder Stuart Russell. He was an amazing missionary.

- I’m thankful for heaters in automobiles.

- And last but not least, I’m thankful for my amazing mother and my great father. May God bless them both.

P.S. I’m thankful for a lot of other stuff too, but this is what came to mind.

Lists and More Lists

I kind of get excited for these posts where I don’t really know what I’m going to type. I just kind of start typing and see where it takes me. I’m always hoping that maybe something profound will present itself (of course that never actually happens, but it’s worth hoping right).

So, I have a couple of things to note.

One: Today is the ninth anniversary since the day I entered the empty sea. That’s right, on Nov 1, 2000 I left my beautiful Salem and journeyed to the faraway Provo. It was the start of some kind of crazy two years I can tell you. The four most depressing days on my mission were:
- The second day being in Switzerland. I was cold, tired, and we didn’t have one appointment all day (in fact, we didn’t have an appointment until I had been in the field five days).
- The day my sister got married (Have I forgiven my sister for getting married when I was on my mission yet? No)
- The day I found out my kicking coach died.
- The day I went home

Two: As I’ve said before, October is a great sports month. You’ve got the World Series, football, and the NBA starting so I think I’m going to list my five greatest sports memories of all time (in no particular order)
- UCLA beating Missouri in the NCAA basketball tournament in 1995. Edney drove the lane with four seconds and made a sweet layup. It was awesome.
- Me scoring a goal against Timpview my senior year. First time I had ever scored, first time we had ever beat Timpview (too bad I didn’t get my first kiss after the game, that would have completed it)
- Me pitching the winning game of the UBBA tournament in seventh grade. We beat the White Sox, I only gave up three runs.
- The Braves winning the World Series in 1995. I love Greg Maddux.
- The Spurs winning the NBA championship in 2003. I love David Robinson.

Three: The other day I went to visit my friend. She had just started to date this bloke and was wondering about what things should be deal breakers in a relationship (you know, we’re supposed to put up with imperfections, but some things just break the deal right there). Here are some of my deal breakers for any future prospect:
- She can’t accept my obsession with sports.
- She doesn’t get along with her parents.
- She’s not comfortable with silence.
- She doesn’t like the movie Shadowlands.
- She supports the University of Utah (really)

Four: This brings me to another topic, which is: what are the best chick flicks I’ve ever seen. This topic came to my attention the other day when I watched the movie Emma. I really, really liked it and have thus compiled my list. It is as follows (again in no particular order):
- Beauty and the Beast
- Emma
- Runaway Bride
- The Shop Around the Corner
- Becoming Jane
- Shadowlands
- The Lake House
- Wives and Daughters
- Casablanca

Five: Well, for this one I was going to put my list of favorite Apostles but I wasn’t really sure that was appropriate. So instead, I’ve decided to list the favorite books I’ve ever read (all scriptural texts excepted of course). This list is off the top of my head, so I might be forgetting some, but this will do for now.
- David Copperfield
- The Chosen
- The Hiding Place
- The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)
- Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites
- A Passage to India
- Dracula

And that's all