Happy Thursday!

Well ... I pulled an all-nighter last night! We're leaving for London, England next Wednesday and I decided we needed an itinerary since we're not sure what we're doing, when, and how. What fun searching the web for deals on this and that, looking at maps, deciding what we want to see, checking on transportation and pricing. At 2:00 I decided to try and get some sleep but I tossed and turned until 4:00 so got up and began researching again. I have to be over to the Junior High at 9:00 to help with a breakfast for the ESL classes. Then my daughter Lindsey is coming over for me to help tailor a swimsuit. Then ... it's off to another funeral luncheon. Sad, sad story... a young, married girl gave birth to a full-term still-born baby boy. It was her first birth. In her grieving process she doesn't want visitors, phone calls, hugs, and 'so sorrys'. We set up for the luncheon last night and will make sure that the food arrives before the funeral party arrives, and then we'll vanish to let them have their alone time as a family. When they're finished they'll call me and we'll go over to clean up. It's going to be a full day!

Well ... the company I interviewed for still hasn't called about the job. I did find out, however, that another person got the job. I'm totally fine about it ... not sad, not mad, not really anything ... because in reality, I don't want the job just now. I worried about telling a new employer that I had a vacation planned right after being hired and then a family reunion in two weeks, as well as taking some time off for some surgery. I decided two weeks ago to pursue the speaker's circuit so my goal is to build a website and get that up and running! Wow ... I'm excited for the possibilities!

Back to the cook book! Please encourage those you know to e-mail me their recipes, photo, and bio soon. Those of you who have sent your recipes have been entered into the free pass for the U Stamp with Dawn and Friends website. The drawing will be held tomorrow and I'll notify you of the winner. I received some marvelous recipes ... some for workshop night treats and others for fast and easy dinner meals. Here's my question: Would you rather have a hard-bound cookbook that would cost you more money, or a spiral bound soft cover for less money?

Here's a marvelous gem to think about for this Happy Thursday:

"President Gordon B. Hinckley believed in the healing power of service. After the death of his wife, he provided a great example to the Church in the way he immersed himself in work and in serving others. It is told that President Hinckley remarked to one woman who had recently lost her husband, 'Work will cure your grief. Serve others.'"Those are profound words. As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness."President Lorenzo Snow expressed a similar thought: 'When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated' (in Conference Report, Apr. 1899, 2–3). "In today's world of pop psychology, junk TV, and feel-good self-help manuals, this advice may seem counterintuitive. We are sometimes told that the answer to our ills is to look inward, to indulge ourselves, to spend first and pay later, and to satisfy our own desires even at the expense of those around us. While there are times when it is prudent to look first to our own needs, in the long run it doesn't lead to lasting happiness."Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 119–20

Isn't it wonderful being a woman? We have been born with the natural ability to want to help and serve others. May you brighten someone's load today while serving them and your load will become lighter!