Thanksgiving...and Graduation

Tonight, I'll be finishing my course through the National Speakers Association's Northwest Speakers Academy. I've been taking classes through the academy since February, and am thankful for the opportunity to learn from professional speakers and trainers about how they do what they do. This class has helped to bring me more up-to-date on current trends in business (especially for the self-employed), and it has exposed me to many different business models and styles of presentation, from keynote speaking to workshops, on topics that run the gamut from accounting to comedy - and sometimes, even combine the two.

I'm giving my final speech tonight (I am supposed to memorize it, but that's not going to happen - I have it down to notes, because that's how I roll). Each one of us will be videotaped by a professional, in front of a live audience. (I might even post it, if all goes well...)

Here are a few fun photos from our visit to see my parents over the Thanksgiving holiday. It was wonderful to be with them - and with David - for a week! I hope your holiday was filled with the company of loved ones, the riches of gratitude - and very good food.

beautiful flowers - a welcome sight in November!

sunsets are breathtaking

girls' spa morning and lunch afterward

always plenty of good restaurants to visit

rooftop happy hour

playing tennis: the boys, ranging in age from 21 to 58 to 86

a last hurrah at our favorite palapa bar on the way to the airport

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes...
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior. 
O LORD, grant salvation!
O LORD, grant prosperity!
...The LORD is God, and he has given us light." - Psalm 118

 Thanks be to God.