Thanksgiving Break!!

We had 5 days off, Thursday - Monday, for Thanksgiving. It was a break that was greatly needed. My feet did not want to go back into my boots, my body wanted to sleep past 5 or 6am, and my normal street clothes wanted to be worn. Now that Monday is approaching, I'm more than ready to get back to work and get things done for America.

On Thursday, turkey day, me and my teammates who were still here, went to The Gulf Coast Rescue Mission and served warm Thanksgiving meals to community members and volunteers. There were about 80 volunteers and we served over 3,000 meals.

I met a lot of great people while there. I met a person who worked at carnivals his entire life. He controlled one of those spinning rides. A good day for him was based on how many people threw up their cotton candy and hot dogs. His record was 34 people in one day. There was a family from Keesler Air Force Base with two kids. The kids, second and third grade, have already traveled all over the U.S. and have even lived in Japan. They showed off their language skills and counted for us in both Spanish and Japanese. We also met a group of college students from Denver. The leaders of their group have led over 9 groups down to the Gulf. We also met two TLs from the Iowa campus who are staying in Pass Christian, MS. Those are just a few of the people we met. The day was a great success. We served the less fortunate, were interviewed by the Sun Herald, ate a great meal, got ISP hours, and made numerous new friends. The rest of the day was spent eating pizza and watching Christmas movies.

On Friday we joined the masses and went shopping at several outlet malls. I had a blast and bought a sweater. Saturday was spent in the kitchen. We baked potatoes, banana bread, sloppy joes, tatter tots, and salad. It felt great to use a kitchen! Then on Saturday night we went to the Bellingrath Home and Garden. Bellingrath is a 65 acre garden in Alabama. Around this time of year they decorate the garden with over 3 million sparkling lights and over 835 displays. It was incredible. It finely felt like the holiday season had begun. Check out their website at http://www.bellingrath.org/. On Sunday Ali and I donated blood. The blood drive was held at a Starbucks and after giving blood, everyone received a free Starbucks drink. YUM!! Did you know that they take a pound of blood? We also got free t-shirts and bright pink band-aids. The rest of the day I slept, started a puzzle, and went with Renee to find her a new pair of shoes (with no success).

All in all this break was awesome. I had just enough time to relax and veg out, but not enough to get bored. Tomorrow will be filled with trips to the airport to pick up my teammates at various times throughout the day. Then its back to work on Tuesday.

T-minus 20 days until winter break.

Catherine