Five for Friday

1. My heart goes out to those affected by the shootings that happened yesterday at Ft. Hood. It's unfortunate that things like this happen anywhere in America, let alone on one of the nation's largest military bases. It is a reminder of the constant stress and danger that America's brave men and women in uniform face on a daily basis, both at home and abroad. As we come up on Veterans Day next week, my mind turns to the sacrifice that they and their families make on a daily basis, and especially to David, who continues to serve in the Air Force in South Korea. A special thank you today, and every day, to all the men and women who serve our nation.

2. On a lighter note, my Dad comes to visit this weekend for a short trip. It's always good to see him and I am especially excited for this trip when he plans on using his excellent decorating skills to help us hang our ridiculous amounts of art in our house! I promise to post pictures soon, as soon as we get the place decorated.

3. Have you seen the cuteness that has been going on over at Google.com the last few days? First of all, I love that they decorate the word "Google" on their homepage to fit a theme of the day. I think my dream job is to be the person who gets to pick out the theme and design for the day. Anyway, the last few days, they have been posting ridiculous cute Sesame Street characters - Big Bird was earlier in the week, Cookie Monster yesterday, Bert and Ernie today. This celebrates the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, which is coming up soon, and also to celebrate the first few seasons being released on DVD. Hmmm... I think I just added something to my Christmas list?

4. All this Sesame Street got us talking in the office the other day about shows that were great when we were kids and how today's kids just don't get anything nearly as good, especially when it comes to Saturday morning cartoons! I still have a soft spot in my heart for ThunderCats, Fraggle Rock, the Muppet Show, Punky Brewster and, of course, the original Looney Tunes (those links to the YouTube videos of the show intros. You may now sing along in your office.). Luckily, for those of us who are a bit nostalgic, many of these things are now found in DVD box sets. Hmmm... my Christmas list is just getting longer. Fraggle Rock marathon, anyone?

5. I noticed while I was walking to work today that the CVS by my office has Santa's in the window. Seeing as how it's the first week of November, am I wrong in thinking it's a bit early for that sort of thing? This may make me hypocritical, since I shared on Tuesday that I had ordered our Christmas cards. I think ordering and being prepared and actually decorating are two totally different things though, don't you?