My Thanksgiving ABC's

I am thankful for...

A- Adoption. A miracle for families.
B- Blogs. I find keeping one very therapeutic, and reading others very entertaining.
C- Crayons. My favorite way to go back to childhood.
D- Diet Coke. Yum. And Davin, of course. :)
E- Our Environment. We all need to do our part to preserve it for our children.
F- Friends, Family, and Faith.
G- Green grass. It is a sure sign of spring!
H- Home. I am thankful to have a warm bed to lay my head each night.
I- Imagination. I love to drift off into daydreams.
J- Juno. My favorite movie to date.
K- Koivisto’s and Kangas’s. Our two loving families.
L- Laughter. It does the body and mind good.
M- Music. Yet another therapy for myself.
N- Noodles & Co. Their mac n’ cheese is outta this world!
O- Organ donors. Are you one?
P- Personalities. What makes each of us unique.
Q- Quilts. They keep us cozy warm.
R- Rainbows. God’s beautiful promise to all of us.
S- Sunshine. Possibly my favorite thing in the world.
T- Target. Shopping therapy. Hm, I need a lot of therapy, don’t I? :)
U- Understanding. Something we can all strive to be better at.
V- Volunteering. A fulfilling way to spend my time.
W- Wishes. I make on every time I see 10:26 on a digital clock. Wanna hear that story? :)
X- X-rays. They found Davin’s blood clot.
Y- Yin and Yang. A balance of all life.
Z- Zoos. Who doesn’t love monkeys?

Wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!

WARNING: Babbling about Vegas!

Vegas is not typically the place to go to relax. Far from it, in fact. There are lights, noise, and endless action. But if you want to escape from reality and turn your brain off, so to speak, it may be the perfect destination. And, if you stay at a luxury hotel, you can even fit in some of that ultimate relaxation when you need it. My destination: The Bellagio. Aaaah. The place is unbelievable! Talk about guest luxury! Even as the lowest ranked guest (me), I still felt like I was living like a millionaire. Although, when I think about it, I am sure millionaires only stay in full suites with a bowling alley or a basketball court. Or is that just celebrities? Either way, that's over-kill. But cool. Really cool... Back to my low-level status at The Bellagio. Here are some points worth mentioning. Most I hadn't experienced or seen before, some I have, but either way, it pretty crazy:

*I was always greeted as Ms. Kangas, whether it was at the front desk, calling house keeping, or passing the elevator guard.

*Yes, there was a man at the elevator lobby to make sure only guest used the room elevators.

*There were many sets of elevators. The set for my floor included six elevators for 11 floors. Do the math- I never had to wait for more than a few seconds.

*The drapes were electronically controlled. How lazy is that? You just lay in bed and open or shut the drapes.

*A HUGE soaking tub, and a walk in shower that could fit five people. If you really wanted it to...

*The bathroom alone was as big as my bedroom at home.

*The fully stocked mini bar. Oh, funny story. I was nosing through the mini bar, picking stuff up and looking at them and putting them back. I was putting back a first aid kit (I think $12 for a couple bandaids, 1 ibuprofen, 2 aspirin, and alcohol wipes), when I felt a click. Turns out the entire mini bar is on a sensor, and any time you take something out your room is automatically charged. Oops. I called the front desk (answered, Good afternoon, Ms. Kangas. How may I help you?), and they cancelled all the charges I accidentally made. I roughly totalled it up- well over $100 it would have cost me for the few items I looked at. Again, oops.

*Nightly turn down service. Sweet. Nothing like coming back to your room to have it all cleaned (and I thought I had kept it clean!), you bed turned down, relaxing music playing, and a mint on your pillow. Now that's what I'm talking about!

I'm sure there is more I'm forgetting right now...

The botanical gardens were, as always, amazing. I have this one picture. Either you will find it cool, or, like me, you will find it disturbing. While making your decision, keep in mind that the dude's eyes moved and blinked. And his eyebrows moved up and down. Eew! Oh, and there were TWO of them.

What else is there to tell??? Other than losing money, of course. The first day I sat in the sun by the pool. LOVED that! I did a lot of shopping at Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood. And by shopping I mean looking at stuff and wishing I hadn't wasted my money in the casino. :P Oh, the second day I sat in with a focus group. We watched a potentially new (never gonna make it!) television show. About a deep sea fishing competition. SO much fun! :P Then the other ladies and I got to talk about how incredibly boring it was, and say that we would never watch it. Except one girl said she might because one of the guys was cute- but only if he took his shirt off. After about 90 minutes of being there I walked out with a $85 check- YAY! That was my way of redeeming my casino loss. :) By last night I was Vegas-ed out so I took a bath and watched TV and went to bed at 9:00. Nine o'clock in Vegas- just when people are getting ready to hit the town. Hey, I had to get up at 5:00 a.m. Plus, a girl can only take so much Vegas.

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Now I am sitting in Salt Lake City on a three hour layer over. I know I've been really babbly, but I haven't been on here since Saturday- that's a LONG time for me. I could have gotten on at the hotel, but they charged $13 for the Ethernet cord. Ha!

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Okay, you can wake up now. I'm done. :D

My sweet sister!

Last night Davin came home from my parents with a gift in hand from my little sister, Mary (age 9). This is what the attached note says:

Dear Laura & Davin

I am very depressed that happened to you but I am glad it is over with. Here is something that will warm you up Hot Cocoa. I made it at lady-bugs. It has how to make it on the tag. You can make in the winter time if you want or right now.

Love, Mary

How sweet is she? (:

Later I talked to my mom and she said that Mary was worried about Davin coming to help my brother with is math. She said, "But how will he get in here with a wheelchair?" When my mom told her Davin was feeling good and could walk Mary said, "Oh, that's a relief." I love her! :D

Today I am thankful for...

*Davin not having to give himself injections anymore- he hates needles! He had a doctors appointment today, and although there will be a lot of monitoring for several months, he feels good, and can go back to work. (He goes stir-crazy at home) Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

*Sisters. Thank you, Leanne, for the card and cd. I think this music is going to become part of my life. For sure.

*My healing elbow. No more physical therapy appointments! I will continue doing my exercises and add weight as my arm strengthens.

And two more very important things:

*Peggy's blog, and

* the Ted Danson Hot Name Game
Between the two I have laughed more in the past day than I have in months! Although Davin doesn't check out the blogs, he is also thankful for them- he says he is happy to hear me laugh again. :)

My all-time favorite youtube video!

Charlie Bit Me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM