Oh There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays . . .

...but none of us will be home.  Our Thanksgiving celebration begins tonight with a family gathering at the nursing home where Dave's mom lives.  Then tomorrow we head to Hays, KS for Thanksgiving dinner with Mitch.  Once again, he's on call with his job, so we are taking the food to him - and to any of his fraternity brothers who also had to stay in town for jobs.  Amanda is headed to Kansas City to have turkey with her boyfriend's family - and then attend the Chiefs/Broncos game on Sunday.  Go Broncos!!

We will return home on Saturday and I intend to devote Sunday to Thankfully Reading Weekend sponsored by Jenn @ Jenn's Bookshelves.  

There are no rules to the weekend, we’re simply hoping to devote a good amount of time to reading, and perhaps meeting some of our reading challenges and goals for 2012. We thought it’d be fun if we cheered each other on a bit.  We’ll also be checking in on Twitter using hashtag #thankfulreading. Join in for the weekend or for only a single day. No rules, no pressure!  Once again this year, we will be doing some fun Thankfully Reading mini-challenges over the weekend.  Be sure to check back Thanksgiving weekend for more details! - Go to Jenn's blog to sign up.

Then I'll hit the ground running on Monday for a jam-packed December:

A multitude of gifts to make and wrap

14 days at work

12 dozen cookies 

11 Christmas movies

10 books to meet my yearly goal

9 people at our house on Christmas Day

8 pins for the Pin It/Do It Challenge

7 pounds to lose

4 weeks of Advent

3 trees to decorate

2 Christmas Concerts

1 Cross-stitch picture to complete 

1 office party

1 KSU football game
1 (wishful thinking) shopping trip
1 trip to my mom's
... And a Partridge in a pear tree.

But all are things I enjoy and I'll be loving every minute and humming Christmas carols as I go.

A Leapfrog in Times Square

You may remember the story of Navy Seal Lt. Michael Murphy who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.  Lt. Murphy was part of a four-man team caught in a firefight with more than thirty Taliban militia.  The Navy's summary of Lt. Murphy's actions includes these words:

Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates. Murphy, intent on making contact with headquarters, but realizing this would be impossible in the extreme terrain where they were fighting, unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his own life moved into the open, where he could gain a better position to transmit a call to get help for his men. 

Moving away from the protective mountain rocks, he knowingly exposed himself to increased enemy gunfire.  This deliberate and heroic act deprived him of cover and made him a target for the enemy.  While continuing to be fired upon, Murphy made contact with the SOF Quick Reaction Force at Bagram Air Base and requested assistance. He calmly provided his unit’s location and the size of the enemy force while requesting immediate support for his team. At one point he was shot in the back causing him to drop the transmitter. Murphy picked it back up, completed the call and continued firing at the enemy who was closing in.  Severely wounded, Lt. Murphy returned to his cover position with his men and continued the battle. 

You can read the entire summary here.  In recognition of Lt. Murphy's heroism, the Navy commissioned a guided-missile destroyer - the USS Michael Murphy - on October 6, 2012.  The week-long celebration in New York included a demonstration by the Navy Leapfrog  Parachute Team, who jumped into Times Square and posed for pictures with members of FDNY Engine 53.  Lt. Murphy wore the Engine 53 patch on his military uniform in combat.

Our future son-in-law, a member of the Leapfrog team, is second from the right in the front row.  We are so proud of his participation in this amazing ceremony.

Name That Novel . . .

Can you name the books represented here by their first lines?  There's no prize except smug satisfaction, bragging rights and a few minutes of entertainment.  Good luck!

Update:  Answers are now posted in the comment section.


Blatantly stolen from The Guardian.