dc temple 4:29 PM

I like to see the temple, but I love to go into the temple. Glad there's one so close to me. The only thing that would make the DC Temple better? If the chandlers made twinkling noises like the one in the Oakland temple does.  :)

this flowchart 10:33 PM

I love it.

you can buy it here

I don't think it's quite that simple, 

but the sentiment is right.

Day 2 8:38 PM

While I don't have biological family on this coast, I do have friends who are as good as family. They are my "East Coast Family". We are there for each other for the ups and downs of everyday life and celebrate the holidays together. Ashley puts up with me as a roommate, just like a sister would. To the Berget kids I am Aunt Camille. The Pattee kids invite me to all of their birthday parties. While I do miss my family all of the time, especially on holidays like this, I am grateful to have my "East Coast Family" in my life.

Day 1 11:01 AM

This morning I had a near miss. I was driving home from work on a curvy road I have taken 500+ times in sun and rain and sleet and snow. Because it was wet outside, I was driving slower than normal but on the first tight curve I lost traction and spun out. I ended up backwards in the other lane lane on an elevated embankment against some trees with only two opposing tires on the ground.

So why does this kick off the 40 days of thanks? I am fine. Unscratched. My car as minimal damage. This was nothing short of a Thanksgiving miracle. I am grateful for the hand that guided me safely through that spin.

It was a blind curve on a two lane road, so at any time during the event a car coming the other direction could have plowed into me without warning for either of us.

The trees that ultimately stopped my car left only the minimal damage you see above and a large scratch on the from bumper.

I thought my front tire had blown and I may have cracked an axle. I didn't think I was going to be able to drive home (let alone get off the elevated embankment I found myself on), but after a couple attempts at restarting the car it started and after a few good punches of the gas pedal I was able to self extricate the car and drive home.

This could have been so much worse, but it was not.

40 Days of Thanks 10:51 AM

Thought this would be a great thing to do over the holidays, as I have been given SO much and want for so little in life. I was going to start it on Thanksgiving and go through Christmas, but after my near miss this morning, I think it's appropriate to start today. I'd invite anyone else to do this too, it's a great way to celebrate the season. 

So I was seeing on blogs a "month of thanks" theme where they photographed a different thing they were thankful for every day and posted it (I think it was an Instagram thing). I thought it was a cool idea, especially given the holiday season and all we have to be thankful for. Needless to say I am following suit ... and I was wondering if anyone else wanted to join?

How great would it be if for the next 40 days (through Jan 1 2012) we could see photos from friends and family of things they were thankful for. I think it would lift spirits and enhance the holiday season. Just throwing it out there, no pressure, just a fun idea.

Love, Camille

and so it begins... 12:53 PM

They warned us it was going to snow. They are usually wrong. But today it went from rain to hail to snow in a matter of 30 minutes. The sky turned white and the heavens opened up. Crazy.

It piled up super fast and then the calls started coming in. (I was at work, probably should have mentioned that.) Ususally it's a slow day to be assigned on the Engine. But when things freeze all bets are off. We started by running a million calls for "wires down". The older side of our city has all their cable/phone/electricity wires up on poles instead of underground like most of us are used to.

When the wet snow caked on the wires they sagged over the roadways. And the cable lines, which were held to the houses by staples and thin wire, separated from the houses. So people called 911. Because we are the power and cable company? Sure. Why not. We tied them up around whatever was near, threw a piece of caution tape on them and moved on. Luckily I found the above moment of Zen.

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CAN ONLY FIX FIRES AND MEDICAL EMERGENCIES. That should be a PSA.

We got dispatched for a fire in a neighboring jurisdiction. The "fire" was no fire at all. One engine and a battalion chief SUV slid down the hill and got stuck in a ditch trying to get there. We made our way back to the station through this. Traffic. Cars were everywhere. That's a another thing people called 911 for "my car is stuck". Yeah. Call a tow company. People's commutes took 5-9 hours. It made me thankful to know I had a 72 hour kit with food and water in the car. Remind me to add TP to the kit.

With all the calls in the perilous weather I never felt worried about our being out on the road. Mike was driving; he is a good chauffeur. Did I mention that we were so busy that we didn't get dinner until 10pm. Around 9pm I was hypoglycemic and grumpy and there was no end in sight. So when we did get to the station for two minutes I ran to a) the bathroom and b) grabbed the bag of dried mangoes out of my work 72 hour kit. They saved us. It was a long night but we got to bed around 1am. And so the season of blizzards begins...