Wishing you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day surrounded by family, friends and loved ones. May the Lord Bless you today and always!

HOW TO OBSERVE THANKSGIVING

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.
Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.
Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

~~Author Unknown.~~

*** "No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another. " ~~ Author Unkown

*** "In life, You always WIN experience when you can't get what you want."

<><><>> My interpretation of this: You are always a WINNER... :>) !!! ~~ Miss S.D. ;)

*** "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." ~~Wayne Gretzky (b. 1961), retired professional Ice Hockey Player."

*** "Every day is a new day of learning. We can excel and exceed our own standards by consistently upgrading our outlook and attitude towards those around us. Our position, our power, our status... nothing is permanent. What will remain in fond memories of those around us is not the altitude of our achievements, but our attitude, acts of kindness, and consideration towards others." ~~ CV Varghese

*** "Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon most inevitably come to pass." ~~ Paul J. Meyers

*** "There is nothing we like to see so much as the gleam of pleasure in a person's eye when he feels that we have sympathized with him, understood him. At these moments something fine and spiritual passes between two friends. These are the moments worth living. " ~~Don Marquis (1878- 1937, humorist, journalist

*** I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." ~~ Douglas Adams

*** " 'Stay' is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary. " ~~Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), novelist

*** "I would rather be able to appreciate things I cannot have than to have things I am not able to appreciate." ~~Elbert Hubbard

*** "Smooth roads never make good drivers. Smooth seas never make good sailors. Clear skies never make good pilots. A problem free life never makes a strong and good person. Have a tough but winning day ahead! Be strong enough to accept the challenges of life. Do not ask life, 'Why me?' instead say, 'Try me'."

~~ Author Unknown

*** "Whatever you do, do it with all your might. Work at it, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now." ~~ P.T. Barnum

*** "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~~John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th U.S. President

*** "It is good to have an end to journey towards but it is the journey that matters in the end."

*** "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~~Melodie Beattie; motivational author

*** "Don't give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half." ~~Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant

"For knowing that I have a place as I wake to a new day, For the right to speak my mind, or kneel quietly and pray... For the dreams I strive to reach, and the love I am free to give, For the laughter shared with dearest friends, a neccesity to live... For the security and peace of mind that all is safe and sound... For growing,sharing,hoping,caring- there's goodness all around. For all of this we're greatful for, whisper soft or loudly sing... Their duty and their sacrifice have let our freedom ring!"

Have a great Day of remembrance and giving thanks!

*** "It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things money can't buy."

*** "Nothing is as real as a dream. The world may change about you but your dream will not. It will always be the link with the person that you are today -- young and full of hope. If you hold on to it, you may grow old but you will never be old. And that ladies and gentlemen is the ultimate success." ~~Tom Clancy

*** "Strive to be first: first to nod, first to smile, first to compliment, and first to forgive." ~~Anonymous

*** "There is alway some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best." ~~ Joe DiMaggio

*** "Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart." ~~Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), minister, civil rights activist

:>) What takes longer, running from first base ...

"What takes longer, running from first base to second, or from second to third?

Second to third, because you have to go through a shortstop."

:>) Is There Baseball In Heaven?

Two old men had been best friends for years, and they both live to their early 90's, when one of them suddenly falls deathly ill. His friend comes to visit him on his deathbed, and they're reminiscing about their long friendship, when the dying man's friend asks, "Listen, when you die, do me a favor. I want to know if there's baseball in heaven."

The dying man said, "We've been friends for years, this I'll do for you." And then he dies.

A couple days later, his surviving friend is sleeping when he hears his friend's voice. The voice says, "I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that there's baseball in heaven."

"What's the bad news?"

"You're pitching on Wednesday."

:>) Future Baseball Star A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat, "I'm the greatest hitter in the world," he announced.

Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed.

"Strike One!" he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again,

"I'm the greatest hitter in the world!"

He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed.

"Strike Two!" he cried.

The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully.

He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more,

"I'm the greatest hitter in the world!"

Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed.

"Strike Three!"

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I'm the greatest pitcher in the world.

*** "The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt."

Frederick Buechner (b. 1926), educator, writer, theologian

*** "If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth."

Mitsugi Saotome (b. 1937), Aikido instructor, author

*** "You have to go understand that life and baseball is littered with all kinds of obstacles and problems along the way. You have to learn how to overcome them to be successful in life." ~~ Dave Winfield