Sophie's Story

  It's been a rough year. People are getting shot everywhere. Terrorists are wrecking havoc wherever they can. Refugees trying to flee violence have nowhere to go. There's unkindness and hate just about everywhere.   Now it's Thanksgiving. It really doesn't look like there is much to be thankful for.   It's been truly hard for me to feel grateful for anything lately. We're training in new staff at work which means my short day is nine hours. I'm running at top speed  all the time and feeling like I get very little done. I came down with a head cold that just won't go away and I haven't had time to practice my instruments, get my summer clothes out of my closet or knit or crochet anything.   Can we just cancel this holiday?  I know the retail outlets wouldn't mind. Thanksgiving is just an impediment anyway. If we skip it, then we can so straight on to Christmas which is the more important holiday. Right?   Wrong. We really need to pause for

  The past few months I've noticed a couple of habits I have that I don't like. I decided I wanted to break these habits. I've got a lot of willpower. It's not going to be hard. Let me tell you how I'm doing.   The first bad habit I noticed is that I start many sentences with the word "so". I wasn't sure if this was just me or some sort of Midwestern thing. I posted the question on Facebook and several people replied that they have the same habit. It seems to be a Midwestern thing.   As a seasoned Toastmaster I know that the first step to getting rid of filler words is to notice that you say them. I had that part done. The next step was simple. Stop using the word "so" in front of a sentence.   It's not as easy as it seems. It kept coming out. "So what are you going to do this weekend?" "So this is how you do this...." So....when are you planning to take your break?" A line from "Sound of Music" kep

   About a year a go I decided that I wanted to knit a scarf for each of my stepdaughters. Since my stepson did not want a scarf, I knitted one for his wife. Each scarf was going to be in the owner's favourite colour. I bought all the yarn I needed and went to work. Now, a little over one year later, the last scarf is finished.   It's been an interesting exercise to make these scarves. I decided that I was not going to use a pattern. I was going to use several types of stitches and then randomly change them. Each scarf was going to be unique. The scarves I made for Denise, Carrie and Carmen were made from different colours of the same type of yarn. Mariah (my daughter-in-law) has a scarf made from a thinner variegated yarn. Elin's scarf is made from black and silver threads. Today I'd like to write about some lessons I learned from knitting these scarves.   It's all right to not use a pattern. This was something of a leap of faith for me. I've never made any

   A month or so ago I saw an ad on TV. Part of the Professional Football Hall of Fame was going on tour and stopping in Minneapolis. There would be displays, Minnesota Vikings players that had been enshrined in the HOF and games and activities for the children. At the bottom of the logo announcing the  tour was something I found a bit offensive. It said, "Honor the Heroes".   Now, a bit of disclaimer is in order. I enjoy football. I have been known to yell at the TV screen. I can sometimes be found wearing a Packer jersey and cheesehead hat rooting for my favourite team. I like the fact that it's kind of a human chess game with each side trying to figure out how to take advantage of the weaknesses in the other team. I do admit, I prefer games where my favourite team gains a comfortable margin and keeps it. I'm not a big fan of nail biters. (If neither teams is of interest to me then bring on the close games.)   That being said, I don't consider football play

   I enjoy listening to talks or sermons by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are a couple of reasons why I do this. The first is that these leaders are all very good public speakers. As a long time member of Toastmasters, I enjoy watching and learning from the example of good public speakers. I also like the messages of the talks. You don't need to be LDS to appreciate some of the topics. (although it may help to understand some of the references.)   One of the talks that I listened to lately was one by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland titled "Israel, Israel God is Calling". In this talk he tells a story about a young friend of his who played college basketball. The school he was playing for didn't really need his particular skill set so the young man didn't play much. The young man decided, with the support of his coaches, to transfer to another school where he could be of more use and perhaps be able to play more. A while later the yo