Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. 

-Buddha 

      When I was in grade school my favorite time of year was the holiday season.  It started around Thanksgiving, and we would make turkeys from tracing of our hands and mom would put them on the refrigerator.  Then the time would come when the teacher would go around the room and ask everyone what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.  The common answer was usually family, friends, and the occasional household pet.  I’m now 20 years old, and I think every year I have a greater sense of gratitude and appreciation for family and friends. 

This Thanksgiving we were in Oakland, CA, for a tournament.  We left Thanksgiving, traveled all day, arrived in Oakland around five, and had practice at 6:30.  After practice we took the “scenic” route back to our hotel, and the only restaurant we could find that was still open was Jack in the Box. 

Friday we played Holy Names University, the host team, and Saturday we played Dominican University.  Both schools are NAIA DII, and we won pretty soundly both nights.  Having said that, Saturday night didn’t start out well, and we were tied at the end of the first half.  Coach gave us a few words of “encouragement,” and we came out fired up the second half.  We played without our starting two-guard Janeen Nelson due to illness.  But she is healthy again, and will be back with us this weekend.  However, Aundrea is back in action, and better than ever.

Saturday we were able to take a quick trip over to San Francisco and hang out at Pier 39 for a few hours.  We did get the chance to do a little site seeing before we left Sunday and spent the entire day traveling back to Lewiston.

When one thinks of Thanksgiving break, it probably doesn’t include a trip to Jack in the Box, getting lost in the dark streets of Oakland, and napping in airports.  But the thing is, it doesn’t get any sweeter than that.  I wasn’t one of the airport employees working on a holiday, or an employee at Jack in the Box knowing that mine is the only restaurant in town that is open, or a homeless person on the street of San Francisco with nothing to eat.