.: Thanksgiving & Christmas :.

This is easily my favorite time of year. Not necessarily Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day... but that time in between, affectionately known as "Christmastime." Highlights?

Wine Tasting with the Girls

(Cheryl, Ingrid, Sara, Gretchen, Me, & Brenda)

(Sisters)

(Gretchen's cute little house)

Thanksgiving with the Browns

(Andrew, Hilary, & Joshua)

Thanksgiving Family Camp at Mount Hermon

It was SO WONDERFUL to hang out with my Child Care friends and the kiddos - I miss them all!

(Bethany... I miss this lil girl!)

(Landon came to Child Care!)

(America - she's precious!)

The day after Thanksgiving - as tradition since I moved to MH - we decorated for Christmas!

(My Christmas Tree!)

(Home Sweet Home)

Probably One of the Sweetest Things Anyone Has Ever Done For Me...

After community night at my house this week, my AMAZING friends made paper snowflakes and tried to sneakily (I caught them) string them up in my window so I would see snow when I woke up in the morning - all because they know I really miss the snow! :o)

(Mark, Eric, & Heidi - my heroes!!)

(Snowflakes outside!)

(the next morning...)

Decorating Day at Mount Hermon!

A few of us were recruited to decorate a specific room/area at the Conference Center - I had Youth Memorial (meeting room where the continental breakfasts will be served during MH's Christmas Concerts & Buffets). Afterwards, we headed over to help Sara in the dining room.

(Youth Memorial Fireplace)

(Marci!)

(Me!)

(Youth Memorial Christmas Tree)

(Landon in his adorable hat...)

(Sara!)

(Rec Crew - Dan & Jon - stringin' up some lights?)

(This would be a good Christmas card - Jon (Recreation Supervisor) and Sara (Dining Room Supervisor), strung up in harnesses in the dining room. Fabulous.)

(Danny Kern - on the "outdoor lights" crew)

(Scotty Gullick - He made the majority of those white bows - he's a pro!)

(One of our trees in Ivy Dining... Fabuloso!)

All in all... it has been a great holiday season so far. I love Christmastime! :o)

.: Holy Buckets :.

(That's a phrase I have heard a lot of lately, and I really couldn't think of another name for this post.)

Now, please tell me, what is more ridiculous than this article you are about to read?

Thieving monkeys 'out of control' in northeast India

Sat Nov 17, 12:12 PM ET

Troupes of monkeys are out of control in India's northeast, stealing mobile phones and breaking into homes to steal soft drinks from refrigerators, lawmakers in the region have complained.

"Monkeys are wreaking havoc in my constituency by taking away mobile phones, toothpastes, sipping coke after opening the refrigerators," Hiren Das told Assam state's assembly.

He said the primates were "even slapping women who try to chase them".

"It is a cause of serious concern in my area, with more than 1,000 such simians turning aggressive by the day," fumed Goneswar Das, another legislator representing Raha in eastern Assam.

Assam's wildlife minister, Rockybul Hussain, said the state government has formed a panel to study the problem.

Because of shrinking forest cover, monkeys have increasingly moved into cities elsewhere in India as well.

Last week, around two dozen people were hurt after monkeys rampaged through a New Delhi neighbourhood.

Last month, the deputy mayor of Delhi died when he fell from his balcony after being attacked by monkeys.

Efforts to drive out the animals is complicated by the fact that devout Hindus view them as an incarnation of Hanuman, the monkey god who symbolises strength.

True story. From Yahoo! News. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071117/od_afp/indiawildlifeanimalmonkeysoffbeat_071117080843

.: New Blog :.

Not to be a traitor or anything but...

I have a new blog. Check it out -

http://carolanncallahan.wordpress.com/

.: Just a Ride :.

Apparently, the songs written by many different artist throughout the course of history (or at least the past 30 years) can pretty accurately describe my mood/outlook on life at any given moment. Seriously. Have you ever noticed that no matter what you are going through, there will be a song that totally sums up your feelings? It's kinda cool. Here's today's -

"Just a Ride" - Jem

Life, it's ever so strange
It's so full of change
Think that you've worked it out
then BANG
Right out of the blue
Something happens to you
To throw you off course
and then you

Breakdown
Yeah you breakdown
Well don't you breakdown
Listen to me
Because

It's just a ride, it's just a ride
no need to run, no need to hide
It'll take you round and round
Sometimes you're up
sometimes you're down
It's just a ride, it's just a ride
don't be scared
don't hide your eyes
It may feel so real inside
but don't forget it's just a ride

Truth, we don't wanna hear
It's too much to take
Don't like to feel out of control
So we make our plans
Ten times a day
And when they don't go
our way we

Breakdown
Yeah we breakdown
Well don't you breakdown
Listen to me
Because

It's just a ride, it's just a ride
no need to run, no need to hide
It'll take you round and round
Sometimes you're up
sometimes you're down
It's just a ride, it's just a ride
don't be scared
don't hide your eyes
It may feel so real inside
but don't forget it's just a ride

Slowly, oh so very slowly
except that
there's no getting off
So live it, just gotta go with it
cause this ride's, never gonna stop

Breakdown
Don't you breakdown
No need to breakdown
No need at all
Because

It's just a ride, it's just a ride
no need to run, no need to hide
It'll take you all around
Sometimes you're up
sometimes you're down
It's just a ride, it's just a ride
don't be scared now
dry your eyes
It may feel so real inside
but don't forget enjoy the ride