Okay, I have been thinking most of the week about what to blog about today. I had several thoughts. For one, yesterday was Veteran's Day. And a BIG thank-you to all our veterans. What would America be without you?

Then I found a new hero. President Franklin Pierce. I haven't read a great deal about him, but a sketch I read raised him to the top of my favorite people list. If you don't know anything about him, well, he was the only President (so far) from New Hampshire. He held office from 1853 to 1857. Before that, he was a lawyer, politician in New Hampshire and a general during the Mexican War. But best of all, he was a Southerner in heart - for his sympathy and politics supported the Confederacy. Need to go finds some biographies about this guy...

Next I thought I could offer my readers a sketch of moving from a bedroom in the house in which I live to the back "staff quarters" which includes a huge bath, living area, bedroom and two closets (one which is practically a small office). For it was quite amusing. My few belongings were simple enough to move, one arm full at a time with the help of my housemate Haley and friend Jenny. But then came the moving of the bed. This took Jenny and I at least forty-five minutes as we went one way, then another, searched for tools, turned it around...and finally got it into the room. With all that, we decided to wait for Haley to return for the great move of the sofa. This went much smoother thanks to lessons learned from the bed. And Haley learned that many sofas have feet which come off so they can be moved. (One of those many tidbits of knowledge I have from now...let's see, 14 moves.)

But today brought the icing on the cake. For those of you who know about traveling home for the holidays, you know about the prices on flights. So, I opted for Christmas and decided to spend Thanksgiving in Texas (even though I didn't know what that would mean as far as who I would spend it with). I was discussing it with Laura, one of the new nurses who just moved down here from Pennsylvania. She's young, and newly married, and this will be her first holiday season away from home. (I found out a couple of weeks ago, she is the oldest of six.) After our chat, I went back to my desk and sat down to write some things on dead charts (the charts of patients who have passed away). My boss was at his desk which is directly across from mine in another office.

"Melissa, where do you fly into when you go home?" he asked.
"Indianapolis," I answered.
"Really..."
I thought the next question might be on geography, or things nearby, or whatever; but then...
"How would you like to go home for Thanksgiving?"
"Really?" (I am not a squealer, but I came close.)
"Sure," Mr. Harris said with a shrug. "These prices aren't bad at all. I'll pay for the flights. How does Monday to Sunday sound?"

And for the second time in my life, I jumped for joy. I wanted to hug someone, and dance, and scream, and shout.

I AM GOING HOME FOR THANKSGIVING!