Last Trading Day

As I watched the stock market open down slightly, with CNBC hosts reflecting on the passing year, the thought occurred to me that I should trade old habits and ways, for better ones next year –or maybe tomorrow!  (Why not today?)  I also thought Sunday, our day of rest, the first day of the week and the new year, will be the perfect time to solidify positive changes in my life.  May we all thus find greater happiness in 2012.

A Birthday Remembered

Often lost in the last-minute hustle of Christmas shopping and parties, is the birthday of a modern-day prophet named Joseph Smith.  I quote from page 33 of the book by George Q. Cannon, published in 1888, titled The Life of Joseph Smith The Prophet: 
"The circumstances and surroundings of the elder Joseph were of the humblest, when unto his house was born, on the 23rd of December, 1805, Joseph, the Prophet of the Last Dispensation.  The family were still living in the little town of Sharon, in Windsor County, Vermont; and were, at the time, greatly impoverished.  Very early, therefore, was the future Prophet compelled to learn the lessons of labor, patience, and self-denial."

"Happy Holidays"

The imperative (for some) of the politically correct, inclusive greeting, "Happy holidays", and celebration of the winter solstice (certainly a "celestial event") have once again come upon us.  I don't have a problem with that.  A fast Google search yields more than a few results, as usual.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/.../winter-solstice-2011-
"The winter season will officially begin in the northern hemisphere on Dec. 22 with the annual celestial event known as the winter solstice."  "Shortest Day Of The Year ..."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice
"This article is about the astronomical and cultural event of winter solstice, also known as midwinter."

http://www.timeanddate.com/ › Calendar
"The December solstice will occur at 05:30 UTC on December 22, 2011. The December solstice is also known as the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere ..."

news.nationalpost.com/2011/.../winter-solstice-2011-
"Depending on where you are in the world, December 21 or 22 marks the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere: the official beginning of ..."

Time to Accept Change

My wife Kay, an English teacher by profession, seems to have accepted the new 21^st-Century English grammar;  I am still struggling to toss out some rules drilled into my brain during grade school and strictly followed ever since.  I’m just glad our family values and religious principles have not been “degraded”* like rules of English grammar have, according to common usage over so many years; (*that’s my opinion, anyway.)

Kay claims the Modern Language Association (MLA) is the ultimate authority on English language evolution.  Searching their mla.org website, I found no information to verify that, or examples to confirm any changes that have disturbed me for many years, especially in advertising and otherwise intelligent TV/radio talk.  The MLA organization is obviously for helping teachers and other professionals, and seems authoritative enough.  Don’t worry – I’m not losing any sleep over this; I just find it very interesting.  Maybe it's just me; (I'm accepting!) 

“Founded in 1883 by teachers and scholars, the Modern Language Association (MLA) promotes the study and teaching of language …”  -- www.mla.org

If you was me, what would you do?  There are lots of examples, and I may add another here.  As I’ve lamented before, “I guess this is us now.”  (Ouch!)  There went a fast lunch break.

Gratitude Attitude

A text message I received anonymously this morning started my day right:
"Happy Thanksgiving I am so thankful for all the amazing family and friends that I have” 6:52AM
--(perfectly understood without punctuation.)  Of course, I had to find out who sent it; so I searched my current NedNote (Notepad) file for the last 4 digits of the phone number, and found my young neighbor.  (I wish it were that easy to find certain other things in our home.)  I replied with thanks, and passed it forward to my close friend in St. George, Utah, and to family in Riverton.

Recalling my thoughts from two years ago (thanks again to Microsoft Notepad):

9:33 PM 11/29/2009 Sunday  ... Grateful to be alive after all these years!

[Previous] Thurs. Thanksgiving was a nice quiet day with Katie & Jared here; we all had a lot to be thankful for, including great food!  Sat. we hosted the whole family (except Angie & Chris.)  A family walk at GSL Shorelands Preserve was wonderful -just what we needed.

Watched with Quinn & family: "The First Thanksgiving" animated video from Living Scriptures; grateful for the Pilgrims' sacrifices and faith.

Teens Do Family History

How do you use the extra hour when we “fall back”?  I catch up on sleep and my writing.  It’s nice to have time returned which was taken from us last spring for daylight savings.  Thanks to a mobile phone being connected, I remembered this morning when my unconnected wristwatch and clock were clueless.

When I heard Elder David A. Bednar's 10/1/11 LDS General Conference talk on teenagers connecting with family history ("The Hearts of the Children ..."), I knew that was something our neighborhood teens should do.  A few years ago, I volunteered at the Ogden Regional Family History Center (ORFHC.org), mainly helping the youth get started using the old DOS program and converting to PAF.  They were excited!  Now technology is advanced and kids are even more skilled.  So I have been promoting the idea with our youth leaders and our teenage grandchildren since October conference.

On my first look at the November Ensign (a monthly magazine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), I started with the last page, and this news instantly got my attention:  

“New Site to Help Teens Start Family History:  The new FamilySearch Youth and Family History section of youth.lds.org (lds.org/familyhistoryyouth) aims to help youth discover family history and serve their ancestors by seeking out their records.  The site features resources that teach teens how to get started using FamilySearch. In five simple steps youth are taught how to research their family tree, make family records, and prepare names to take to the temple. The site also includes ideas on how classes and quorums can use family history as a means to serve others.”  --- http://lds.org/ensign/2011/11/new-site-to-help-teens-start-family-history?lang=eng

If teens can do family history, so can I.  As I improve my skills and get up to speed with this, maybe I can feel young again!

1st or 2nd Biggest Holiday?

On a quick morning break, I wonder if Halloween is the 1st or 2nd biggest U.S. holiday of the year.  Some of our fun-loving young neighbors apparently think it is #1, judging by graveyards, zombies, and other decorations set up in front yards.  I love to see it, but fortunately my wife and I are past that stage, so we can sit back and enjoy the work of others.

Google home page has a cute video of huge pumpkins being carved & lighted by the G team with costumes at headquarters, I suppose.  Then it automatically searched Halloween; (that’s spooky, like it somehow knew! (j.k.))  Here’s what it found (I’m sure everyone wants to know:)

"Halloween (or Hallowe'en), a contraction of All-Hallows-Eve (as in the day before 'All Hallows' or 'All Souls' Day), is an annual festival observed on October 31. ..."  -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

The stock market was spooked at the open this morning, with all major indices or averages down –scary! (except for my put-options trick, which just now covered our holiday cost.)

My favorite fast food today?  Halloween candy I expect would be left over when trick-or-treating is done tonight.  (With the huge growth of our young neighborhood since last October, I could be in trouble!)

Have fun and be safe!  Watch out for the little ones flying around!