1/2 God/people- Hehe of course this is the number one factor because without God, where would we be? nowhere. Christmas time is similar to Thanksgiving in that you really start to think about what you’re thankful for. You appriciate your friends and family  because you actually notice what they do for you. Especially your parents. They sacrifice so much and you should always remember to thank them. Thinking about God=Thinking about sacrifices

3. Presents - It’s crazy how people are when they are shopping for Christmas. Some start months in advance and some haven’t started. It’s really fun to wrap gifts in all the colorful paper and ribbons and bows. And it’s even more fun opening gifts. My favorite part about opening gifts is trying to get the ribbon off without using scissors. It can be very frustrating but in the end, it’s so rewarding.

4. Chocolate - I like to eat chocolate all the time so I felt like it needed to be somewhere on the top.

5. Stars - I don’t think I’ve ever had a star on my christmas tree.

6. Practice -  Even though there’s winter break, there is still practice. hmmmm….but there are also the tournaments to look foward to so it all evens out.

7. Santa - One of my favorite presents from Santa was this Dragon Ball GT coloring book. My favorite  thing  about Santa Claus is his sleigh. Who doesn’t love a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer? I remember when I was younger I would always try to stay up until Santa Claus came but I would always end up falling asleep. good times….

8. Christmas Carols - My favorite christmas songs are The First Noel and Angels We Have Heard On High. Yup, if you’re having a bad day, a Christmas song can cheer you right up!

9. I’ll think of more later.

Douglas, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Bad news, like gossip, spreads like wildfire. It’s amazing how the more you try to stop it, the more ears it reaches. In school, you can ace three tests and fail one. When you come home, your parents are only going to lecture you about the bad score, they aren’t going to waste time praising you about how well you did on the other three. Or if your a pitcher, people are going to remember when you walked the batters. They are going to remember the ones you struck out, but people always remember when you screw up.
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Most of the time, you can look back at your screwups and make a funny of it. They provide fun times for the future. “Remember that time when you tripped in the mud?” I look back at those times and laugh about it now but at the time, it was humiliating. And it seemed like everyone knew about it the next day. Why does bad news travel so fast?  I think it has to do with natural selection. When you find out a fault about someone, it makes you seem better. So, humans are programmed to look for bad news or qualities. It draws attention because people always look for faults.

someday at christmas there’ll be no word
what christmas is for
when we’ll learn what lives are really worth
there’ll be peace on earth

someday on christmas we’ll come to be
someday a world where men are free
maybe not in time for you and me
but someday at christmas time

someday at christmas we’ll see a land
where no hungry children no empty hands
one happy morning for people to share
a world where people give oh oh

someday at christmas there’ll be no tears
where all men are equal no man has fear
one shining moment one quiet way
from our world today oh, oh

someday we will come to be
someday when men are free
maybe not in time for you and me
but someday
-Someday at Christmas by B5

“As surgeons, there are so many things we have to know. We have to know we have what it takes. We have to know how to take care of our patients… and how to take care of each other. Eventually, we even have to figure out how to take care of ourselves. As surgeons we have to be in the know. But as human beings, sometimes it’s better to stay in the dark, because in the dark there may be fear, but there’s also hope.”- Grey’s Anatomy

I am also thankful for my family. I’m amazed that they still talk to me after all the times I’ve been a grouch. My parents deal with my ugly mood swings while my brother has to deal with my hogging of the computer. But, my sister is like the star of the show. When she went to the mainland for a weekend, I was sad. I immidietly noticed that there was no peppy little person in the mornings, or anyone to great me at the door when I got home from school. She always makes such a big effort to be helpful and supportive and I didn’t truly realize it until she wasn’t there. Now I make sure to spend time with her on the weekends and not just try and shoo her out of my life.

I’m also thankful for all the other people in life that I count on. My friends, teachers and coaches. I realize that they are very patient creatures who take time out of their lives to explain everything to me. True friends are always there for you and that’s what makes them so special. It’s amazing how you can feel so lonely when you’re lost in all your problems and frustations but when you talk to a friend, the troubles seem a little less scary. Problems are always easier to tackle with help.

So this Thanksgiving, I hope you took some time and just thought, even for a moment, of the little things in life. The big things in life are what matter, but the little things in life make it enjoyable.

“Maybe we’re not supposed to be happy. Maybe gratitude has nothing to do with joy. Maybe being grateful means recognizing what you have for what it is. Appreciating small victories. Admiring the struggle it takes simply to be human. Maybe we’re thankful for the familiar things we know. And maybe we’re thankful for the things we’ll never know. At the end of the day, the fact that we have the courage to still be standing is reason enough to celebrate.”-Grey’s Anatomy

If you believe everything you read, better not read. -Japanese Proverb

Gossip about a person and his shadow will appear. -Japanese Proberb

Grey’s Anatomy Quotes:

At some point, you have to make a decision. Boundaries don’t keep other people out. They fence you in. Life is messy. That’s how we’re made. So, you can waste your lives drawing lines. Or you can live your life crossing them. But there are some lines… that are way too dangerous to cross.
You know how when you were a little kid and you believed in fairy tales, that fantasy of what your life would be, white dress, prince charming who would carry you away to a castle on a hill. You would lie in bed at night and close your eyes and you had complete and utter faith. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Prince Charming, they were so close you could taste them, but eventually you grow up, one day you open your eyes and the fairy tale disappears. Most people turn to the things and people they can trust. But the thing is its hard to let go of that fairy tale entirely cause almost everyone has that smallest bit of hope, of faith, that one day they will open their eyes and it will come true.
At the end of the day faith is a funny thing. It turns up when you don’t really expect it. It’s like one day you realize that the fairy tale may be slightly different than you dreamed. The castle, well, it may not be a castle. And it’s not so important happy ever after, just that its happy right now. See once in a while, once in a blue moon, people will surprise you , and once in a while people may even take your breath away.
A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I’d have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you’re wrong? What if you’re making a mistake you can’t undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can’t pretend we hadn’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying.
Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we’re wired that way. Because without it, I don’t know; maybe we just wouldn’t feel real. What’s that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.
Intimacy is a four syllable word for, “Here’s my heart and soul, please grind them into hamburger, and enjoy.” It’s both desired, and feared. Difficult to live with, and impossible to live without. Intimacy also comes attached to the three R’s… relatives, romance, and roommates. There are some things you can’t escape. And other things you just don’t want to know.

I wish there were a rulebook for intimacy. Some kind of guide to tell you when you’ve crossed the line. It would be nice if you could see it coming, and I don’t know how you fit it on a map. You take it where you can get it, and keep it as long as you can. And as for rules, maybe there are none. Maybe the rules of intimacy are something you have to define for yourself.
I’ve heard that it’s possible to grow up - I’ve just never met anyone who’s actually done it. Without parents to defy, we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don’t go our way, we whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark, we look for comfort where we can find it, and we hope - against all logic, against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope…
Pain, you just have to ride it out, hope it goes away on its own, hope the wound that caused it heals. There are no solutions, no easy answers, you just breath deep and wait for it to subside. Most of the time pain can be managed but sometimes the pain gets you where you least expect it. Hits way below the belt and doesn’t let up. Pain, you just have to fight through, because the truth is you can’t outrun it and life always makes more.
Sometimes reality has a way of sneaking up and biting us in the ass. And when the dam bursts, all you can do is swim. The world of pretend is a cage, not a cocoon. We can only lie to ourselves for so long. We are tired, we are scared, denying it doesn’t change the truth. Sooner or later we have to put aside our denial and face the world. Head on, guns blazing. De Nile. It’s not just a river in Egypt, it’s a freakin’ ocean. So how do you keep from drowning in it?
I have an aunt who whenever she poured anything for you she would say “Say when”. My aunt would say “Say when” and of course, we never did. We don’t say when because there’s something about the possibility, of more. More tequila, more love, more anything. More is better.
To be a good surgeon, you have to think like a surgeon. Emotions are messy. Tuck them neatly away and step into a clean, sterile room where the procedure is simple. Cut, suture, close. But sometimes you’re faced to a cut that won’t heal. A cut that rips its stitches wide open.

There’s something to be said about a glass half full. About knowing when to say when. I think it’s a floating line. A barometer of need and desire. It’s entirely up to the individual. And depends on what’s being poured. Sometimes all we want is a taste. Other times there’s no such thing as enough, the glass is bottomless. And all we want, is more.
No-one likes to lose control, but as a surgeon there’s nothing worse. It’s a sign of weakness, of not being up to the task. And still there are times when it just gets away from you. When the world stops spinning and you realize that your shiny little scalpel isn’t gonna save you. No matter how hard you fight it, you fall. And it’s scary as hell. Except there’s an upside to freefalling. It’s the chance you give your friends to catch you.

The key to surviving a surgical internship is denial. We deny that we’re tired, we deny that we’re scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we’re in denial. We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can’t recognize the truth right in front of our faces.
At the end of the day, there are some things you just can’t help but talk about. Some things we just don’t want to hear, and some things we say because we can’t be silent any longer. Some things are more than what you say, they’re what you do. Some things you say cause there’s no other choice. Some things you keep to yourself. And not too often, but every now and then, some things simply speak for themselves.
Four hundred years ago, another well-known English guy had an opinion about being alone. John Donne. He thought we were never alone. Of course, it was fancier when he said it. “No man is an island entire unto himself.” Boil down that island talk, and he just meant that all anyone needs is someone to step in and let us know we’re not alone. And who’s to say that someone can’t have four legs. Someone to play with or run around with, or just hang out.

When you were a kid, it was Halloween candy. You hid it from your parents and you ate it until you got sick. In college, it was the heavy combo of youth, tequila and well, you know. As a surgeon, you take as much of the good as you can get because it doesn’t come around nearly as often as it should. ‘Cause good things aren’t always what they seem. Too much of anything, even love, is not always a good thing.
Communication. It’s the first thing we really learn in life. Funny thing is, once we grow up, learn our words and really start talking the harder it becomes to know what to say. Or how to ask for what we really need.
There’s no hard or fast rule, but brain injuries tend to pile up around the holidays. Like our friend here. Folks fall off their roofs while they string up lights. Or they go skating for the first time in a decade and break their heads open. And every year people drive through blizzards to get to parties where they kiss germ-infected strangers under poisonous mistletoe. And then they get so drunk that they smash their heads through their windshield on their way home. Like I said, there’s no hard or fast rule.

            But, has it had negative effects in our society?

            When you blog, you are typing words into a computer. This is quite similar to a regular journal in that many people use it to organize their thoughts. It’s one of the few things that can be easy to keep a secret. But another benefit of writing in a journal is that you can vent out your emotions through the writing process. It has a lot a feeling attached to it. I don’t think you can get the same benefits from a machine.

            Today, we rely on so many electronics. It was made more obvious to me when there was a temporary power outage.  I wasn’t able to use my phone, computer, t.v., or cellphone. I wasn’t even allowed to open my ice box! But as the day went on, I realized that I was able to enjoy life without those things. I just sat in my house with my family and we talked and played games. After that life changing incident, I started to think more about how I spent my time. Although I enjoy fooling around on the internet, I try to spend less time on it and do other things like learning a new instrument. It’s a fun challenge! You feel alive after doing hands on activities. Staring at a screen can really mess with your head, physically and mentally.

             Blogging is just another way to get addicted to the internet. I feel that many people who spend a good amount of time on personal pages become superficial.

            This is not an attack on anybody. With Myspace and Facebook, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t owned some sort of page. But, it is the people that spend every day on their pages that scare me. The people who take pictures just to put on their pages. Slowly, they become obsessed about everything that goes onto personal pages and they incrementally spend more time on it. It adds unwanted stress to their daily lives which can affect school work.

            So, just watch out. Start spending time with your family. Because before you know it, life will have passed you by while you were online for four hours.

At a glance, the Lion King seems like your ordinary wild animal movie. But, it you look closely, it has a lot to teach. When Simba is a young cub, his father is murdered before him. He goes through a depression when Timon and Pumbaa come along and teach him that life is what you make of it. “Hakuna Matata” means no worries for the rest of your days. It teaches kids the value of life and that you should never give up hope. Even when it seems like the world has turned it’s back on you, you’ve probably turned your back on the world. And, in the end, Simba returns back to his home, Pride Rock.

In The Little Mermaid, we meet Arial, a mermaid who isn’t satisfied with swimming around all day. She wants to dance on two feet and feel the warmth of a fire. Ariel sacrificed everything to have a chance to be human and this was an excellent portrayal of how you should follow something you truly believe in. If you feel strongly about something, you should embrace it, only then, can you be “happy.”

Dumbo can explain itself. With huge, floppy ears, Dumbo didn’t fit in with the other elephants. You see how he was ridiculed as a child, which turned him into an extremely shy soul. Throughout the movie you could tell Dumbo wanted to be just like everyone else. But, when he embraces his differences he gets a huge ego boost. Having something different is what set him apart from others and differences are a good thing. It’s what makes life interesting. Mulan, was an excellent girl-powered film. After Mulan had dishonored her family, she was ashamed of herself. She then realizes that she has to make up for it somehow. Knowing that her father wouldn’t be able to handle another battle, she went to war in his place, aware that if she was discovered, she would be killed. At the training camp, Mulan not only did things that the men were doing, she surpassed many of them using her quick wit, proving that girls can do anything boys can do. Lately, Disney has come out with some intresting films but their originals will never be forgotten. Hopefully the next generations and the next will still be watching these timeless classics and realize that learning morals can be fun.