Traveling Mercies

Do you like Thanksgiving? I do. I’m already counting down the days and looking forward to both the food and the company. But since Thanksgiving is about counting our blessings, this is a good time to reflect on 2009 and the bounty the year provided. During a time when so many people were losing jobs or were fearful of losing jobs, I was blessed to get a new job. I joined a company where I had worked before – but in a new position. Many of the pains of a new job I didn’t have to experience, I knew the people, I knew the culture and I knew many of the job skills that I would be expected to perform. The company culture fits me well, I have friends and colleagues I enjoy spending my time with and I’m intellectually challenged by my duties. If I had to write the perfect job description for me, this would be it. My career change definitely counts as a blessing. In a time of war, when many families are torn apart by deployments, serious injury or even death, I am surrounded by people I love a...

It’s finally beginning to feel like fall. Today, I’m wearing a sweater and boots, for me a sure sign of changing seasons. During this time of year, I’m sure that fall is my favorite season. I love how invigorating cooler temperatures feel and how deep blue the sky looks after a summer of baby blue softness. I love the robust colors – orange, burgundy and gold. In the fall, one of my favorite things to do is to go to a pumpkin farm and walk around admiring the hundreds of pumpkins plucked from the patch waiting for me to adopt and perch on my front steps. And while I’m walking around admiring the pumpkins and the fall mums, hopefully, I’m drinking apple cider or eating pumpkin ice-cream – a once a year treat. On Saturday, I’ll take my 7 year old niece Carly and 11 year old nephew Lane to the pumpkin farm and we’ll do all of this and more. There will be a corn maze, wagon rides and face painting. But my primary goal will be making memories. There will come a day when the pumpkin patch wo...