Spreading Holiday Cheer on Black Friday

Hello friends! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoy lots of good food and quality time with family and friends.
There are probably some of you who are ready to get a head start on your holiday shopping by taking part in the annual madness known as Black Friday. If that's one of your traditions, I hope you enjoy it. I would just like to give you a few suggestions on how you can start your holiday shopping while spreading some holiday cheer to the people around you, specifically, the store employees.
1. DON'T START YOUR SHOPPING ON THANKSGIVING! For the love of all that is good, if you're going to go Black Friday shopping, wait til Friday. Companies start their sales Thursday evening because they know you'll come. This pulls innocent employees away from their family holiday celebrations. If we don't shop on Thanksgiving, stores will not need to be open.
2. Be patient. It's the busiest shopping day of the year. There are going to be lots of people, which makes for very long lines. Just relax and be patient. The cashiers are doing their best to get everyone out in a timely manner.
3. Don't complain to the cashier about things like wait times and prices. First of all, by taking the time to complain to your cashier, you are holding up the line. Second of all, cashiers can't control these things. Honestly, cashiers have no control over anything. Complaining to them is pointless. Plus, whatever you're complaining about is nothing compared to the hell these cashiers are experiencing.
4. Don't push or trample people. Almost every year there is at least one story of a Black Friday shopper, or occasionally a store employee, getting severely injured or killed in the rush. Believe me, whatever deal you're trying to get is not worth hurting and/or killing people.1

These are just a few of the things you need to keep in mind when doing your holiday shopping. For more suggestions, visit hownottobeajerk.tumblr.com.

65 Things to be Thankful For

It's November and it's almost Thanksgiving! I know a "what I'm thankful for" post seems super cliche, but I was inspired by a friend of mine. My friend, Kendall, is currently working on a 10,000 things to be thankful for project. She posted on Facebook asking everyone to list the things they're thankful for so she can compile a list of 10,000 things. Now, I'm not going to list 10,000 things, I don't have that kind of time, but I am going to list 65 things (in no particular order), just in case you're having trouble creating your own list this year.
1. My family
2. My friends
3. My loving boyfriend
4. My friends
5. My dog
6. Belmont Abbey College (where I went to college)
7. The St. Joseph Adoration Chapel (at Belmont Abbey)
8. Immaculate Conception Church (where I go to church)
9. My job
10. My students
11. My co-workers
12. Music
13. Books
14. Coffee
15. Sunshine
16. Rainbows
17. Flowers
18. Snow
19. Parks and Recreation (my favorite show)
20. The Sound of Music (my favorite movie)
21. Ladybugs
22. Christmas
23. Food
24. A place to live
25. Theatre
26. Soft blankets
27. Taylor Swift
28. Sunsets
29. Mountain views
30. Peanut butter
31. Marvel movies (RIP Stan Lee)
32. Disney everything
33. Muscadine wine
34. The color of the leaves in the fall
35. Living in the south
36. The Catholic Church
37. Dolphins
38. Turtles
39. Campfires
40. The internet
41. Thrift stores
42. Spontaneous adventures with friends
43. Glitter
44. Musicals
45. Julie Andrews
46. The ocean
47. Seashells
48. Stars
49. My education
50. Past teachers
51. Arts in education
52. Holidays
53. Paid holidays
54. Time off from work
55. No longer working at the grocery store
56. Sleep
57. Lotion (my hands get so dry this time of year)
58. Coats
59. Scarves
60. Gloves
61. Heat
62. Air conditioning
63. My home
64. My car
65. My life