My Word and Goals for 2026

 

I wasn't sure that I was going to have a word to focus on this year.  In the past, I have had a word of focus some years, but not all.  After looking back at posts in my blog, I found that these are the words I have focused on in the past.

2017 - Go and Do

2020 - Intentional

2021 - Strong

2022 - Continue

2025 - Hopeful

It was interesting to recall what was going on in my life during these years and how each word corresponded with that. 

After giving it some serious thought over the past few days, I decided that my word for 2026 is PROGRESS.

Why did I choose the word PROGRESS?  This year promises many changes for me and for my family.  We are buying another house and will be moving there, and selling our current house in a few months.  Josh will be moving out and into his own place.  I will be retiring from teaching at the end of the school year in May, and we will be going through all of the financial changes that come with that.  As all of these changes come, I feel that I need to move forward one step at a time, doing what is right for me and my family in the eyes of God. That, to me is PROGRESS.  

Now onto some of my 2026 goals.    My goals for 2026 are simply to do better than I have in the 2025 in these areas:

Physical - I want to continue being healthy in 2026.  I lost a little bit of weight in 2025 and would like to continue and lose about five more pounds in 2026.  To do this, I plan to watch/limit my calories and exercise every day.  My goal is to walk at least two miles, or exercise for 30-40 minutes a day 5-6 days a week.  

Mental  - I want to find better ways of dealing with stress, anxiety, and depression. I need to respect my own limits and boundaries, get enough sleep, eat healthy foods, limit caffeine intake, and exercise.   I will deal with depression through building strong and healthy relationships, praying, and being grateful for my blessings.

Spiritual  - I want to continue reading the word of God in scripture every day, and attending church and the temple.  I will continue to pray daily, and also whenever I need help or inspiration, or just want to talk to God.   I need to be willing and able to follow inspiration that comes from the Holy Spirit. 

Relationships - I want to continue to build strong relationships with important people in my life - my husband, children, grandchildren, mother, cousin and friends. I want to spend time with these important individuals, and make sure that they know how much I love them and how important they are to me! I want to perform daily acts of kindness whenever I can, and continue to make family my #1 priority.  I also want to make some new friends in my new community when we move this coming summer. 

Finances -  This is a big area for me because I am going to retire at the end of the school year.  We want to sell our current house and clear enough to pay off other properties.  I need to find and enroll in good supplemental Medicare insurance.  I need to apply for Social Security and my state pension.  We need to pay off any excess debt and keep our expenditures in line with our new retirement income.   I want to be debt free (including mortgages), as much as possible, by this time next year. 

Career  - I want to retire at the end of May!  I also want to find out how to retain my teaching license in retirement, in the unlikely event that I decide to do a little substitute teaching to supplement my income (which at this time I am not planning to do). 

Personal Growth - I want to continue reading every day.  I hope to read 1-2 hours every day in retirement.  I would like to surpass the number of books I read in 2025 (67) in 2026.  I would like to get a piano and try to regain musical skills I once had.  

Of course, I will adjust my goals as circumstances deem necessary.  What about you?  Any goals for 2026?  How about a special word for the year?

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"The secret of progress

is to get started."

~Mark Twain

On My Mind - Keeping It Real

I won't pretend that I haven't been very much affected by the horrible church shooting and burning that took place in Michigan yesterday, because I belong to the same denomination, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am borrowing the text of today's post from an excellent post I read on Facebook yesterday, in the interest of spreading some light and understanding about the Christian church that was attacked.

Hey friends- in light of things going on in the world today, I have read lots and lots of comment sections (bad plan) and seen lots and lots of confusion, and I feel led to make this little post about my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, to refer to us most respectfully, but commonly known as "Mormons." Not the same as FLDS or RLDS) in case anyone wants some clarifying info.

First off- We believe in Jesus Christ! We worship Him! He is our Lord and Savior! We have a modern, living prophet lives in this world today, and we believe our prophet receives revelation from God for the people of the world, just like the prophets in Biblical times did. He is the prophet of the world, and the President of our church. Our now-previous prophet, Russell M. Nelson, died last night of (presumably) natural causes at the age of 101. He was not killed in the shooting in Michigan. (Major misconception I've seen several times.) We love him and mourn his loss, but believe that he will be reunited with his family gone before him and our Lord, Jesus Christ, in joy and peace that he truly deserves. We will sustain a new Prophet in a worldwide meeting next weekend (coincidentally- this is a meeting that takes place twice every year in April and October, not a meeting specifically due to the death of President Nelson) called General Conference.

It is heartbreaking for these two events to have occurred within hours of each other, but at the moment, there's no evidence of a connection or lack thereof between this attack and the death of our Prophet.

Next, some terminology I've seen causing confusion. Our church is very well organized. We attend weekly Sunday meetings in geographically-divided groups called "Wards." There are several Wards in a Stake. Most of our church buildings house anywhere from one to four Wards, depending on the population density in the area. When more than one Ward attends meetings in the same building, they are generally on either reversed, staggered, or overlapping schedules, to use the building most efficiently. These buildings are separate from our Temples, which we reserve for our most sacred worship.

Our main Sunday meeting, comparable to communion or Eucharist, is called "Sacrament Meeting." It's an hour long, and we partake of bread and water in remembrance of Jesus Christ's Atonement and the promises we have made to God. Our Sacrament is passed by boys ages 11+ (deacons), prepared by boys 13+ (teachers), and blessed by boys 15+ (priests). All members of the ward attend Sacrament Meeting together, from newborn on up.

During our second hour, where we divide by age for our Sunday School classes. The children's Sunday School is called "Primary," and serves children from 18 months to 3 years old in a Nursery, and 3-11 in groups divided by birth year (and sometimes combined). The meeting that was attacked today was a Sacrament Meeting, meaning that all ages of one Ward were together in the chapel of the meetinghouse at the time.

Our Wards are led by Bishops, who have counselors, and together make up what we call a "Bishopric." They are lay ministers, meaning they are volunteers who devote their time to leading the congregation without payment. In most cases (unless they're retired) they have full-time jobs and families just like the members of the congregation. Bishops do not "preach" in our Sacrament meetings- they preside over the meeting, but we (Ward members) take turns speaking during our meetings. All Sunday School teaching, music, maintenance, etc., is facilitated by members as volunteer services.

You may hear/read rumors that this was "Primary Program Week," which I have seen posted in many places and may or may not be accurate. A "Primary Program" is the one week of the year that the children ages 3-11 take over Sacrament Meeting and share the Gospel of Christ in song and spoken word under the direction of the Primary leaders. This (fall/Q4) is the time of year that Primary Programs traditionally take place, and they tend to be some of the best-attended Sacrament Meetings of the year.

We have a lot of terms that are used in other religions, but don't quite mean the same thing, and like I said I'm already seeing tons of misunderstandings in response to media reports (and frankly just a lot of reporters doing their absolute best in an awful situation that don't know quite the right terminology). If you see something that confuses you or sounds strange, please feel free to comment here or send me a private message and I'll be happy to do my best to clarify. That goes for jargon, doctrine, cultural references, anything.

I believe the better we know each other the easier it is to love each other, so I'm happy to offer an opportunity for you to get to know Latter-day Saints, "The Mormons," a little better here, if you'd like. Heaven knows we desperately need more love in this world.

I'm not sure who to give credit to for this explanation, but it is true and correct as far as I am concerned. I love my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ - all who are trying to believe in and follow Jesus, no matter what their denomination. I love the church I have belonged to all of my life. It is where I have come to know and love Jesus. I pray we can all come together as Christians and seek and spread the love that Jesus taught instead of divisiveness and hate.

Until next time,

💔Deb💗

7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; 

for God is love.

~I John 4: 7-8

First Weekend of April and an Honest Sunday Stealing

Here's a little about what happened this weekend in my world.

If you read my last post, you know that our big Saturday event was going to Little Women with our daughter and four of her five children. It was a wonderful play and we all enjoyed being together and experiencing a great production.

When we got home from the play, we had a delicious deli pizza and a green salad. It was very good.

This weekend was our church denomination's worldwide General Conference, which is broadcast on TV and the internet. We were home all day Sunday watching the conference sessions.

We watched the Conference and loved all of the wonderful messages. I took lots of notes.

Sunday dinner was another ham and cheese roll. I had some ham and cheese in the refrigerator which I needed to use, and we enjoyed the ham and cheese roll last time I made it, so I decided to make it again.

I also made a special treat for dessert for our Sunday dinner - something that I don't do often. Charly had bought this Reese's Coffee Cake Mix last time he went shopping, so I decided to make it Sunday afternoon. It was very good.

Weekend gratitude:

• Seeing Little Women with our daughter and grandchildren.
• Listening to wonderful messages in our church conference.
• Enjoying sunny, blue skies and warmer temperatures.
• Having the entire week off next week for Spring Break!

Praying for:

• Safe travels to Josh's graduation.
• Success for Josh in his post-graduation job search.
• Healing for our son-in-law's knee after surgery, and for my broken foot.
• Our nation, our economy, and our society

That's about it for our weekend, so I decided to answer the Sunday Stealing questions, so here we go.

1) What's the longest you've gone without sleep

I have had a few completely sleepless nights, usually brought on by anxiety.  I usually go to bed early or take a nap the next day and that helps, but it takes a few nights of good sleep to really feel better. 

2) What was the highlight of your last week?

The highlight of my last week was attending the play Little Women with my daughter and grandchildren. We had a great time at a very well-done production. 

3) You have to give a 10-minute speech to a group of high school students. What's your topic? 

As a high school teacher, I get paid to give “speeches” to high school students.  Mostly, I instruct about the subject matter at hand - reading, writing, grammar etc., but I do give advice on occasion. If I had the opportunity to say whatever I wanted to, without the fear of some parent trying to get me fired, I would tell my students “Get off your phones and off the internet, and live life!  Move out of your parent’s basement as soon as you can!  Be social. Date, get married and have a family.  Get a skill or education that you can use to make a good living. Stay out of debt!  Think long-term!  You really won’t want to be alone without a family when you are 60 or 70 so get married and have children.  Make life work for you!  Be kind and be happy!” 

4) What is the single best decision you've ever made in your life?

Hands down, the best decision I ever made was to marry my husband.  I was only 19 and Charly was 23 when we got married and I do not regret marrying young at all!  The second best decision was to have children.  Honestly, I wish I could have had more, even though there are always definite challenges and even heartache involved in raising a family. It is still well worth it!  I wanted six but I ended up with four.  The third best decision was going to college.  My college degree has paid for itself again, and again and again and is still doing so.  Statistics show that college-educated people even have better health and longer lives, in addition to better jobs and incomes. 

5) If you could ask a coworker, friend or family member a question and be guaranteed an honest answer, who would you choose and what would you ask?

I would ask family members who are mad at us and don’t speak to us, what we have done wrong, and what we can do to make relationships better.  Then, I would repent, ask forgiveness, and try to do better. 

6) Do you cook for yourself when you're home alone?

I’m not home alone much, but if I am, I fix something easy.  Grilled cheese sandwiches are a personal favorite when it’s just me. 

7) Do you most often access the internet from your computer, your phone, or your smartwatch?

I have an old MacBook and a desktop PC.  Right now, I am using the desktop because I have noticed my old (2015) MacBook is starting to cause me some eye strain.  

8) Do you have more email addresses or phone numbers?

I have no idea which I have more of.  I usually communicate through text, not email, but I rarely make phone calls. 

9) What's the biggest source of anger in your life right now?

I’m not really angry, but I am concerned and worried about many things. There are very concerning things going on in our nation right now - things on both sides of the political spectrum. I worry about what is going to happen to our economy under Trumpism 2.0. That being said, I will be completely honest here about what I believe is an even greater danger to our society. I believe that radical ideologies, like "queer theory", "radical feminism", and other evil ideologies that include abortion and transgenderism are destroying our families and our society.  I see this every single day in the public school where I teach.  When our families are gone, our society will follow.  Anyone who doesn’t like the current administration must realize that many people voted for President Trump as a reaction to radical left policies and ideologies. It’s very concerning.

10) Mondays make me feel…

...a bit down because I have to deal with the things I deal with for another week.  I am hoping this changes once I retire.  I would like to feel energized and renewed on Monday. 

That's all for this Sunday. Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy the week ahead. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

~I Corinthians 15:58

My Honest and Candid Thoughts About the Election

I think that we have all been thinking a lot about the election this past week. Some are upset about the results and others are ecstatic.  Now that we have all had a few days to sit with and process the results of the election, I wanted to post some of my thoughts about many of the things that impacted the 2024 vote.  I will be honest, I did not vote for the winner of the election.  I am currently a registered Republican, but after January 6, 2021 and the election denial that followed, I vowed I would never vote for him, and I did not.  An interesting thing happened however, as I listened to the cases made for each candidate, especially the one I planned to vote for. I realized that the Democrat candidate, (Kamala Harris) and her side of the political divide did not represent me, my views or interests any more  - probably less than the candidate on the other side (Donald Trump).  I tend towards the middle ground and don’t see the extremes on either side as helpful.  The extremes, both right and left,  are, from my perspective, dangerous.  Apparently, some of the things that became issues for me this election, were also issues for others, no doubt affecting the election outcome.

My faith shapes my world view and opinions, so I cannot agree with abortions at any and all stages of pregnancy - especially when the procedure is for convenience and not medical necessity.  I was an “unplanned” baby myself and I am eternally grateful that my birth mother did not consider me disposable for her own convenience.  Adoption is an infinitely better alternative than abortion. 

Gender is an immutable part of who God created us, as individuals, to be and  it cannot be changed.  I refuse to go along with the lie that females can become males and that males can become females.  I won’t use pronouns that affirm or validate something that is untrue and I believe the surgery and other hormonal treatments to “affirm” gender dysphoria are simply wrong. Men should not unfairly compete against women in sports just because they have changed their “gender identity.”   Similarly, men and boys, even those who “identify” as female, should never have access to restrooms and locker rooms where women expect privacy and are at their most vulnerable.  

I know that those in the LBGTQ community/Pride movement are very concerned in light of the election.  I get it.  I have family members in that category, but I will always stand firmly for traditional marriage and family.  No one should experience discrimination or mistreatment, but our society is stronger when we have strong traditional families.  Children need BOTH a mother and father.  I agree 100% with Biblical principles of marriage and family, even as I love and care about those not in such relationships. 

We are a country of immigrants and that is and always has been one of our strengths.  That being said, we need major reform so that our doors can be open to those most in need, while establishing and maintaining the rule of law. We simply cannot take in everyone who wants to come, all at once.  I am not sure at all how to do that, so there needs to be a lot of compassion, compromise and fair limitations.  

As far as the economy is concerned, prices have gone up - a lot. We have all seen it. My hope for the economy is that Trump will be able to sustain economic growth increasing affordability. The stock market had a robust week after the news of Trump's win, so hopefully that is a sign of good things to come.

I won’t pretend I don’t have concerns about the incoming administration.  I do.  I have disagreed with many things Donald Trump has said and done over the years.  I would very much have prefered another candidate on the Republican ticket.  However, I feel a sense of peace about the election that I did not expect to feel.  I am glad that the voting was decisive and that we can move forward without multiple court cases and false claims of voting fraud.   I expect that the transfer of power back to Trump will be a return to the American tradition of peace and goodwill. I hope that I am right and for that, I am extremely grateful.    Still, as I examine the policies and philosophies of each party, I cannot help but feel that I no longer align with an increasingly leftist Democratic party. 

My paternal grandmother had a picture of John F. Kennedy in her kitchen, and I was definitely raised in a family of Democrats.  The Democrats my parents liked espoused the values of the working-class American family. As I have thought about the choices of this election, however, I realized that the current Democrat party has gone so extreme that it has left many Americans behind. I am among them.  I believe that this is a big reason that the election went the way it did.

It is not my intent to offend anyone with this post.  I acknowledge that others don’t see things the same way I do.  I respect that and hope that we can always make room for other views without weakening our own.   As we enter a new era in America, I am praying for our country, all who lead it, and all of us who love this land.

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

“There is nothing wrong with America

that cannot be cured by what is right with America.”

~Bill Clinton

Rainy Memorial Day Weekend and a Few Thoughts About the Last Two Weeks

Three day weekends are always nice, especially after stressful, hectic and heartbreaking weeks like this last one has been.  Memorial Day is the final holiday weekend of the school year.  We have three days of school next week, and then we are finished for the school year, and summer vacation 2022 begins on Friday, June 3. 

Because classes were over early on Friday, we were able to come home from school early with the principal's permission.  I brought home the plants I have had in my classroom this past.  I have two nice east-facing windows in my classroom and the plants have flourished.  I hope they do as well in our office this summer.  Friday evening, we visited family graves to take flowers. 

Saturday morning dawned cool and cloudy.  Charly and I took a walk in the morning.  The clouds hung low in the mountains. By late morning, it was raining. 

At 12:30 p.m., we met friends for lunch.  The food was good and we always enjoy getting together with this couple that we have been friends with for over 43 years. 

After lunch we returned to one of the cemetery where we went on Friday night. We wanted to find Charly's grandparents, and didn't know where their graves were.  We decided to go back Saturday afternoon,  get more information on the location of the graves and take flowers there.    Fortunately, by mid-afternoon, the rain had stopped and we could do just that.  We are grateful that we were able to visit and take flowers to the graves of both sets of parents and all but one set of grandparents. 

Sunday morning, we woke up to more clouds and rain. Charly and I went to church in person.  Josh stayed home today and watched the service on Zoom.  He hasn't been feeling the greatest.  After our main service and Sunday School, Charly and I met with our bishop (Pastor) to discuss some family issues and concerns.  Our meeting was very good and the counsel we received was just what we both needed. We left out bishop's office feeling uplifted and encouraged.  Our bishop is such a kind and inspired man.  The painting above is on the wall just around the corner from our bishop's office in the church. I was looking at this picture as we were waiting.  It filled my soul with peace and hope - something I really needed.   

After church and lunch, I indexed some military and tax records over at familysearch.org   I also took a nap. The rain stopped just a bit after church and the sun even came out, but by late afternoon, it was raining steadily again.  The rain prediction is for about 1 inch of rain here in the valley this weekend and 12-18 inches of snow in the mountains.  It is late in the year for mountain snow, but the moisture is needed, so we are grateful for it. 

We had a good Sunday dinner of beef and broccoli over white rice, with Sesame Asian Salad on the side. 

At Charly's request, I made another bread pudding for dessert.  He is becoming as big a fan of bread pudding as I am. 

The rain stopped for a while after dinner so Charly and I went for walk.  I wore a flannel shirt and my winter coat on the walk, and I was not too warm.  It felt more like mid-March than the end of May. Everything is lush and green outside with all the rain we have been getting and the rain started up again before we had finished our walk, so we had to cut it short. 

When we got home, we watched another episode of The Chosen. 

After The Chosen, I relaxed and read. I am reading these two books - Setting Boundaries with Negative Thoughts and Painful Memories by Allison Bottke (nonfiction)  and Sign and Wonders by Philip Gulley (fiction). 

On my mind tonight are the horrible events of the past two weeks - in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas.  Among the calls for additional laws and restrictions, and politicization of tragedy, there seems to be no real hope that anything we come up with can significantly change the trajectory of our society. I am a mom, a grandma and a teacher of young people close in age to those committed these heinous crimes.  I am brokenhearted about the relentless horror of the world we live in, and yet I am not surprised.  Our world and our society is broken.  Our families are fractured and young people are growing up without strong family connections, listening to strangers on social media sites as they form their values and ideas of right and wrong, good and bad.  We are more concerned with being able to do ANYTHING than with doing the RIGHT thing.  For too many, life has little value, people and relationships are throwaways and there is no right or wrong.  I have no idea what the solution is, or if there is ANY solution that our world and society would accept.  I just look around and see that our world, our society, our country has changed in a dark way, and I don't think that many even want to see the light.  Personally, I look to God for help, answers and peace.  I believe that our society would be better if more people lived the Ten Commandments and followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, moms and dads were married, emotionally present and involved in their children's lives, families worshipped together, and our society wasn't awash in guns that have no purpose other than killing innocent humans. Nothing I think or say will change the brokenness of our world.  That is something only God can fix. I just try to be kind, love those around me and offer encouragement and help to whoever I can.  

Weekend Gratitude:

• All those who have given their lives for our freedom
• Rain
• Visiting family graves with Charly and Josh
• Lunch with friends
• Friends I have made in our church congregation family
• A good Sunday worship service
• A wise and loving bishop
• Counsel from our bishop
• Opportunities to help someone in need and give encouragement this weekend
• My toe is still bruised and tender, but the infection is much better
• Monday off
• Summer vacation is close!

Coming up this week:

• Monday - Memorial Day - day off!
• Tuesday - Back to school for the last three days of the year.
• Thursday - Final day of the school year
• Friday - Summer break begins 😊

That's all for now. 

🙏💙Deb💛🙏

A Weekend of Thankfulness - First of the New Year!

It was a pretty normal, typical weekend for us.  As we all went about our business, doing what we normally do on a weekend, I thought about how really blessed I am, and I am thankful for the good things in my life. 

For example, Saturday morning began for us with a trip to the grocery store.  We all go to a place similar to this at least once a week, and yet it is actually pretty amazing that we can buy just about any kind of food we want here, whenever we want it.  Fruits and vegetables, meats, and all kinds of fresh, frozen, canned, preserved, even cooked and convenient foods are available and affordable to most of us - and usually only a few minutes drive from where we live.  When we get the food home, we have refrigerators and freezers to keep the food good and stoves, ovens and microwaves to help us cook it.  It is all very ordinary and pretty amazing when you think about it.  

Later, we went to the mall to walk.  Didn't buy anything, but oh the things we could have purchased if we needed or wanted to - clothing, technology, food - all kinds of things right there at our fingertips.  Another amazing thing in our society is that the vast majority of us can afford the stuff there is available to us.  It isn't that way everywhere in the world, nor has it always been that way here, but it is right now - at this moment in our history.  

We went to get gas at a place that looked a lot like this.  Again, fuel for our car was abundant and affordable - although we do sometimes grumble about the price of gas.  Same thing when I went to Walmart later in the day.  Walmart is NOT my favorite place to go on a Saturday, but I quickly found everything I needed and then some.  We live in a land of plenty and for that I am thankful.

Saturday afternoon, I went here to the Draper Temple.  I had not been to this temple before.  It is a beautiful building set high on a mountainside in a community south of where we live, where there is a beautiful, commanding view of the entire Salt Lake Valley (that I did not get a picture of because I was in my car coming down the hill).

Going to the temple is one of my favorite things and I am happy, and thankful to have several temples literally within a few minutes of my home.  

Our Sunday worship services for us now begin at 9 a.m. instead of 11:30 a.m., so its up and at'em early on Sunday mornings.  Even though Josh gets up early and is out of the house headed to work by 6:15 every work day, he did not sleep in this morning, but was ready and attended early church with Charly and I.  I am thankful that Josh lives his faith and always attends church.  I am very proud of him and the choices he is making in life.  I am proud of all four of my children.  They are are all good human beings, and I only mention Josh by name because he still lives here with us and I see how he lives his life every day. 

After church,  Charly and Josh both received a little more information about their new callings as Activity Day Leaders for the little boys ages 9 and 10 in our congregation.  Charly and Josh will basically be in youth ministry and will be planning and supervising biweekly activities that will take the place of the BSA Cub Scouts activities that our church used to sponsor.  I am grateful that both Charly and Josh are willing to serve in this way. 

Sunday afternoon, we had some snow.  If you look closely in this picture, you can see big white fluffy flakes coming down.  Most of our snow this year has been in the mountains and that is my favorite place for it.  We need snow in the mountains to keep our water supply up for the coming summer.  So far Utah has a heavier than normal snowpack in the mountains, which bodes well for our water needs.   I am thankful for that.   Later in the evening, the snow stopped and Charly and I were able to take our 2.33 mile walk outside.  It was a brisk but pleasant walk.  I am thankful for my daily walks that help me stay happy and healthy and connected with my husband.

Dinner tonight was ham, cheese and potato casserole, made with leftovers from our New Year's Ham.  Around here, this dish is affectionately known as "Funeral Potatoes" because it is often served at family after-funeral luncheons.  It is also one of my favorite comfort foods.  I am so thankful for having more than enough good food to eat.  I am thankful that I know a little about how to prepare tasty good food for myself and my family.

After dinner, I did some records indexing.  Tonight, I was indexing Civil War records.  I am thankful for all those throughout history who have put their lives on the line for freedom and liberty here in this land. 

That, then, is my weekend from a spin of gratitude.  Tomorrow, it's back for another full week of school - the end of first semester.  I am thankful that I have a job I enjoy (most of the time) where I am, able (hopefully) to make a positive difference for some teenagers. Last week, I received an email from a mom thanking me for working with her son to help him go from an F to an A- in my class.  The young man did all the work.  I just encouraged him, showed him it was possible, and told him I was proud of him when he did it. The email from his mom was icing on the cake for me.  Knowing that I helped a struggling young man move forward toward high school graduation is really what it is all about.