A Wonderful Thanksgiving Week!

Although it was a shortened week at YISS because of Thanksgiving, it was a very busy week...and a very enjoyable one!  I will try to keep it as short as possible and use more pictures to tell the story.

It was a very busy week of After School Activities in the elementary school.  In addition to the regular after school activities, I was very busy working with current instructors as well as some possible new ones for Quarter Three.  I have been trying to get around to each of the activities to get some pictures and this week I will show a couple from Seoul Seekers, one of our largest groups in Quarter Two.  It is an activity for children in Grades K - 3 and run in the style of a Vacation Bible School.  There are over 40 children involved as well as over 12 high school students assisting in the program.  These high school students are getting training through Seoul Seekers for their service and mission trips over Spring Break.  The kids love the interaction from the high school students and it is exciting to see them involved and learning.

Above is one of our 2nd grade students working on an art project in Seoul Seekers under the direction of our High School Art teacher, Mr. Creech.

Some of our first and second graders working on an art project in Seoul Seekers!  They were having a fantastic time!

__________________________________________________

On Tuesday the PTO invited the YISS principals and assistant principals to a brunch for the volunteers who have been assisting with many of the PTO projects.  I always enjoy these brunches as it gives me the opportunity to meet many of the parents who are so active in volunteering for the many projects at YISS.

Some of the volunteers enjoying a delightful

appreciation brunch at YISS on Tuesday!

The brunch included a yummy array of breakfast taste treats!  Oh, they were soooo good!

Some more of the volunteers enjoying the brunch and 

program on Tuesday morning!  Everyone was having a great time!

_______________________________________________________

I was finally able to take two of my wonderful friends from New Harvest Choir to enjoy a dinner at Suji's on Wednesday evening.  Joseph and Rebecca have been so interested in my involvement at YISS and especially the Compassion Club with our elementary students.  They called and wanted to meet me to give me several bags of gently used warm clothing for our "Bundle Up" Christmas project with Compassion Club at Seoul Station on December 8.  We had a great time of talking about the many projects at YISS and our involvement in choir at church + we enjoyed a very yummy meal at Suji's! :-)

Mr choir friends, Rebecca and Joseph, enjoying a delicious meal at Suji's!  We always have such a great time together!

_____________________________________________________

Then on Thursday evening five of us from YISS had made reservations at Suji's for their American Thanksgiving Buffet.  Four of us went last year and we were excited about another tasty Thanksgiving at Suji's this year.  We had a great time of sharing thanks for people and things  that we are thankful for.  It was a wonderful evening of conversation and thanksgiving AND a delicious Thanksgiving buffet!

Clockwise: GGG, Kathy Charlton (HS English), Sharon Mince (MS Social Studies), Rachel Pallesen (Elementary Student Learning Center), and Terry Pallesen (HS Social Studies) enjoying a Thanksgiving feast at Suji's on Thanksgiving night in Seoul!

Above is a picture of Terry's plate, which includes Cornbread Muffins, Turkey, Smoked Turkey, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans with Mushrooms, Grilled Veggies, Filling (Stuffing), Cranberry Sauce, Garden Salad (almost buried), and Roast Beef (buried).  Soooo yummy!!

________________________________________________

Friday was a day off of school from YISS!  The Korean Foreign Schools Foundation, the group that provided the land and buildings for YISS in 2006, has offered a trip somewhere in Korea during the past three years.  The trip goes to an area of Korea that staff may not have the opportunity to visit.  This year's two-day trip wen to Jeonju located about 3 and a half hours from Seoul.  There is no charge to staff and the trips are always very special.  It gives us a chance to see a special place in Korea and find out more about the Korean Foreign Schools Foundation.  I was especially interested this year since Jeonju is the home town of Gunmo.  Jeonju is a former capital city of Korea and is famous for its food (especially Bi Bim Bop), Hanji (Korean paper), Hanok (traditional Korean house and village), and the gayakum (traditional Korean-type guitar/mini harp.  We also visited Saemangeum Sea Wall, the world's largest dike.  It was quite interesting!  It is one of the world's largest land reclamation projects and should be completed in 2030.  In addition to Bi Bim Bop, we enjoyed a Shabu Shabu (Boiled Seafood) lunch in Gunsan.

This is a view of the Hanok Village in Jeonju. We spent

about 3 hours here with a wonderful tour guide before 

having a traditional Korean dinner at low tables.  I thought

they would never stop bringing food out!  Our hotel was 

within walking distance of this Hanok Village!

Here I am preparing to eat Shabu Shabu in Gunsan with Min Ah, one of our awesome ladies in the YISS Business Office!

Here is one of the yummy "side dishes" that we were 

served before the Boiled Seafood was brought out.  I 

wish I could show you all of the pictures but this one

will have to do for now.  There will be more on FB.

____________________________________________________

I arrived back at YISS on Saturday evening just in time to have coffee and dinner with Gunmo and Benjamin Gavina at Los Amigos in Itaewon.  Ben is in Korea following three months of teaching English and Bible at SYME in Japan.  I met him through Gunmo at the Word of Life Bible Institute when Gunmo and Ben were studying there.  Ben is staying in my apartment during his visit in Korea from November 23 - December 3.  I know he would value your prayers as he seeks God's direction for the next part of his life.  Right now he will return to Chicago and go to spend time with his family in Mexico.  He will be making application to attend Moody Bible Institute to get a teaching degree.

GGG with Gunmo and Ben at Los Amigos for a Tex-Mex dinner on Saturday evening!  Please continue to pray for these two wonderful young men as they seek God's next steps for them.

__________________________________________________

It is hard to believe that this week is the final week in November.  The year has gone by so rapidly.  I trust you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving this past week.  I am very thankful for each of you and the abundant love, prayers, support, and encouragement you continue to send my way.  Thank you so much.

Love, Gregg

Another Busy and Exciting Week in Seoul!

Last week was our SEW (Special Emphasis Week) in the elementary school!  Mrs. Franck, our Elementary Chaplain, brought in a group of three ladies from Australia who are connected with the ministry group called Hillsong!  Since we did not have use of the auditorium (still in the process of remodeling), instead of having three large services Monday through Friday, we had four smaller ones from Tuesday through Friday.  Hillsong has some great worship songs for kids and our kids at YISS enjoyed them.  The ladies from Hillsong were so impressed with the singing of our students!  Our students loved the songs from Hillsong and loved the Australian accents of the three young ladies!  Mrs. Franck did a great job of creating a great atmosphere in a much smaller room for our kids.  Please pray that many of our children will take what they learned this past week and decide to follow Jesus!

Kindergarten and First Grade cherubs are singing with the Hillsong team!  ur YISS kids love to sing!

The Hillsong ladies brought some of the children up 

front to participate with the singing and the dance moves!

Nina in Grade 5A volunteered to do some singing and dancing during OASIS SEW assembly!

 Some of the  first grade cherubs following the lead of two

 of the Hillsong ladies as they sing and dance to the Attitude song!

A second grade boy is playing the part of the injured man in the Good Samaritan parable with the Hillsong ladies!

This is my buddy Francis in 5B performing as the 

injured man in the 4th and 5th grade version of the

same parable.

A group of 4th and 5th grade students joined the Hillsong ladies to lead the worship and dance songs in their Chapel!

_____________________________________________

It is very hard to believe that half of November is gone and this next week will be American Thanksgiving!  I have so much for which to be grateful.  At YISS we will have a day off on Friday so a small group of us will be going to one of my favorite restaurants, Suji's, on Thursday evening after school to enjoy their annual Thanksgiving Buffet!  I am getting hungry thinking about it.

It is also hard to believe that we completed our second full week of After School Activities for Quarter Two.  That means that I will begin working with full steam on Quarter Three activities this next week.  Eight of our fifth grade students were invited to join in a Middle School After School Activity called Scratch Computer Programming.  We actually had 16 express strong interest in it, but only 8 could go because of maximum size for the group.  Our fifth graders love it and we are probably going to add Scratch Computer Programming to our Elementary After School Activities in Quarter Three.  It is a wonderful program for students 10 - 15 years old through MIT's technology department.  The instructor at YISS is a certified teacher for the MIT program.  It has been exciting to hear the kids talk about all the great things they are learning and the programming they are doing.  I am particularly excited that Danny Song, last year a fifth grader, is involved with this activity.  The instructor is so excited about Danny's growth.  This type of activity is right up Danny's alley and he has been blossoming!

In the midst of everything else this last week, teachers had to prepare Progress Reports for the middle of Quarter Two.  My administrative colleagues, Mr. Lazor and Mrs. Birmingham, and I were busy checking these reports before emailing them to parents on Friday.

A highlight for me this week was my lunch with the winner of my raffle during the YISS FunFest at the end of October.  I offered lunch at a location selected by the winner for the winner and two of her/his friends.  Josh from Grade 5A was the winner and his mother told me that it was the only raffle he put his name in to win!  After Josh selected two friends and a lunch location, we received parents' permission to have the lunch with Mr. Garman on Friday.  Josh selected Alex and Nina to come along and enjoy lunch at KFC in Itaewon.  Yes, that would be Kentucky Fried Chicken!  It was his choice; not mine! :-)  We took a taxi and had a great lunch and then I gave them a bonus and took them across the street from KFC to Baskin-Robbins for ice cream!  They were thrilled...and so was I! :-)  I had so much fun learning more about these three delightful students.

I love these three fifth graders!  Josh, in the middle, was the winner of my raffle and he got to choose 2 friends to join him for lunch.  They chose my "brother's" store KFC in Itaewon.  Here they are checking the menu and deciding what they would like. Left to right: Nina from Belgium, Josh from the USA, and Alex from Korea and America.  Nina speaks French and English.  Josh only English, and Alex is fluent in Korean and English.

You knew I would have to show a picture of the food!

The boys selected chicken strips, Nina had the Shrimp

Burger set, and we are waiting for my Bulgogi Chicken

Burger set!

We had a really wonderful conversation during lunch with these very delightful and intelligent students!

 The girl at the KFC counter took this picture of all 

of us as we were leaving to go to Baskin-Robbins!

I had already made my usual choice of ice cream, Puss N' Boots (soooo yummy) but the three students had to examine each flavor and then make their choice.  After I took this picture, I was informed that I could not take any more pictures in Baskin-Robbins or I would have shown you the yummy ice cream selections!

__________________________________________________

Saturday I got together with one of the SYME teachers I had met back in 2010 when I was at SYME.  Her name is Bev Barner; the SYME students call her Grandma Bev.  Bev had returned to teach a term at SYME in Songtan and wanted to get together with former SYME students that we had the privilege of teaching.  We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the Insadong area of Seoul.  We started with 8 and ended with 10!

It was decided to go to Mr. Pizza near a famous street in Seoul called Insadong.  Here is one of the pizzas we enjoyed.  There was another pizza and a very tasty salad bar!!

Here are the eight who arrived in time for pizza and salad bar!

Clockwise: Grandma Bev, Kelly (I did not know Kelly, but Bev

did), Vicky (Kyoung Mi), GGG, Beth (Sang Mi), Joonso,

Daniel, (a student from Taiwan who will attend SYME in Songtan

for four weeks), and Kevin (Sung Jin). 

 We then walked through Insadong and finally found this unique coffee shop which was quite busy and had this great atmosphere.  You will notice that Sang Mi is to the left of my ear.  You will also notice our 9th and 10th visitors to the right of me: Jessica (Ko Eun) and Gunmo.

After our lunch and coffee time, Gunmo, Sung Jin 

and I had to leave.  As I arrived back in Itaewon, the

Hamilton Hotel had its Christmas lights up and I discovered

yet another coffee shop had opened in Itaewon - Holly's Coffee.

_____________________________________________

My acute sinusitis is nearly gone!  I am so thankful!  I may be able to sing in choir this Sunday for the first in a couple weeks!  I miss singing with the choir.  Thank you for praying for my health.  You are very special to me and I am so thankful for each of you and your encouragement, your prayers, your emails, and your love.  Please enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

Love, Gregg

PS #1:  I just received a joke from Matthew, one of the three sons of some excellent friends in Yardley, PA.  I hope you enjoy it!

Q:     How do you know it's been raining cats and dogs?

A:     You know it's been raining cats and dogs...when you step in a poodle!

PS #2: I want to leave you with a picture of Gunmo and some of his family.  They were celebrating his father's birthday in Seoul.  His father arrived 3 days after his second niece's 100th day celebration.  They had a wonderful time together.  I know Gunmo would appreciate continued prayer for his father. His heart is changing, but he is still not ready to receive God's gift of salvation.

Returning to "Normal": Is that possible?

The first full week of November helped all of us at YISS to return to "normal" - if there is such a thing in the life of any school!  The eight administrators returned on Monday!  Elementary After School Activities began in full force on Monday for Quarter Two!  My chest cold got better, but it went to my throat and I was enjoying (NOT!) a continued sore throat, headaches, and stuffed up nose! (I visited my good doctor, Dr. Kim, on Tuesday, when I took a sick day, and discovered that I had acute sinusitis.  After an injection, administered at the favorite Korean location for shots, and some medication and rest, I started getting better.  I am still trying to rest this weekend so that I can fully recover for the busy weeks ahead.)  Several teachers were sick during the week and I had the joy of subbing in the Library for the Elementary Librarian.  I loved being able to teach children in Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 1st grade, and 5th grade!

One of the other routine, and enjoyable, tasks I had this week was to assist our Community Relations Director, Mrs. Park, edit the quarterly newsletter that YISS publishes.  Mrs. Park does a great job and she likes to involve me in doing some editing for her  In my email announcing this week's blog you should have been able to download the YIIS Fall Newsletter should you want to take a look.  It gives a great snapshot of what has been happening in Quarter One and some of the things coming up.

As I mentioned, Elementary After School Activities began a full week of exciting activities for Quarter Two.  I am especially excited about two new activities - Taste of Legends and Mandarin Club!  The Taste of Legends is a cooking and baking class for elementary students centering in on French baking and Korean cuisine.  The kids had a great time in their first class.  Mandarin Club also began well as students had hands-on activities to introduce them to the Chinese culture!

I also love our after school activity called Compassion Club.  Two of our teachers, Ms. Weir and Ms. Ku, work with 15 students in teaching and applying acts of kindness and compassion and how the children can share the love of God to those who are in need!  The club's big project is culminated on Saturday, December 8 when they will travel to Seoul Station to distribute warm clothing and food to the many who sit in and around this very busy subway and train station.  It is a highlight not only for the children in Compassion Club, but for all of our children.  New or gently used clothing is collected and personally distributed to those in need on December 8.  My dear friends, Ken and Judy, in Delaware have given me the excellent news that Judy knitted so many scarves for distribution this year that they needed two boxes to ship them.  Pray for the safe arrival of these beautiful warm scarves that a wonderful couple has been praying over as the scarves have been knitted!

During my walks through YISS during this past week I noticed some new art pieces that the High School Art students have been working on!  I have not been able to communicate with Mr. Creech concerning the project, but I found them so interesting and so unique!  I am continually amazed at the excellent art pieces our students create.  Here are several that caught my eye!  I only wish I was a great photographer and had one of those really fancy cameras so that you could really see what I saw.  My trusty little camera will have to do for now!

_________________________________________________

Friday was a highlight for two of my Discipleship Boys!  Those students in grades 4 and 5 who have Discipleship as an After School Activity in Quarter One can sign up for Puppet Ministry in Quarter Two.   All three of my boys signed up and the two who are in grade 4 were the first to present a puppet skit during the three Chapels and one OASIS assembly on Friday!  They had only one week of practice.  I was so proud of them.  Both were so excited and they did a tremendous job of acting.  I was so amazed at the great expression both Joshua and Ethan expressed in their lines.  The children loved their puppet skit which centered in on the fruit of the Spirit - mainly "love" and what real love is.

I love these boys!!  Above are Ethan and Joshua following their first of four puppet shows during Elementary Chapels and Assemblies on Friday!  They were so excited about this opportunity.  They were given special passes by Mrs. Franck to come at 4 different times during the day to present their skit.  Often children forget to come, but these two were so excited that they showed me all of their passes and they were always on time for the puppet skit!  They learned about aching arms on Friday!  They discovered that working puppets requires strong arms and stamina + being able to recite your lines while making the puppets come alive!  They did great!

_____________________________________________

Would you pray for Gunmo especially this week.  He has been suffering with a nasty cold + he is having to do more travel within Korea for his present job.  Gunmo continues to be such a great friend to me.  Last Sunday when I was suffering with the sore throat and stuffed up head, he came to my apartment to cheer me up and talk.  We also enjoyed some yummy chicken which he ordered to be delivered.  Sorry, no picture, but trust me..it was very delicious! :-) The time together was very special!

If you can, I would also appreciate your prayers for another dear Korean friend, Ji Sang.  He is studying at Liberty and has many tests and papers right now.  I call Ji Sang - the Thinker!  He is such a thinker and sometimes I tell him he thinks too much! :-)  That sometimes causes him stress and he gets discouraged.  Pray for his studies and his future service for the Lord.  Ji Sang is also a great encourager to me!  When I most need a word of encouragement to keep on keeping on, I will get a text or an email from Ji Sang at just the perfect time!

Thank you for your many prayers, your great encouragement, your faithful love, and generous support on my behalf.  I trust you will enjoy a great month of November.  Why not list the many people and things that you are thankful for during this time of thanksgiving?

Love,
Gregg

Joy, Excitement, Stress, Unrest, and Satisfaction!

What a week at YISS! The temperatures were cooler this week.  In fact, I finally gave in and turned on the floor heat in my apartment!  I held out until November 2!  Still haven't turned on the heat in my office at school.  As you read from the title, this week involved many emotions!

As I arrived at school on Monday, I noticed a bulletin board that the school nurse had prepared.  It brought a huge smile to my face and made me laugh out loud. The Korean cleaning lady outside the nurse's office must have though I was crazy as I stood in front of the bulletin board and laughed and then shed some tears of joy and remembrance.  Here is what I saw:

You are asking what would make you laugh and cry about this?  My mother drilled into each of her four children (and our Daddy) that we should wash our hands frequently!  This began when we were children and continued until she went home to heaven.  When my parents dropped me off at Wheaton College in September of 1967, one of her last admonishments was, "Don't forget to wash your hands often!" :-)  (I won't tell you what one of her parting gifts to me was that year.  Some day you can ask me and I will maybe tell you.)  Throughout my adult life I would continue to receive clippings of "Ann Landers' Columns" and "Dear Abby" any time they mentioned the importance of washing your hands!  We would give my mother "good" grief about this but she said that we would thank her some day! :-)  I find myself washing my hands many times throughout my day at YISS!  I know my mother loves Ms. Han, our school nurse! I know my mother is telling Jesus, "Look a that good nurse!  She knows the importance of clean hands!" :-)  Thank you, Mother!  I miss you and Daddy!

Throughout this last week, I was filled with joy and excitement in many other ways!

1 - I received an email from one of our graduates from last May.  You may remember Eugene.  He graduated and went to Emory University, one of the world's leading research universities.  Its mission is to create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity.  Eugene was one of those who came to YISS as one who did not believe in God and left as a strong and growing Christian.  He wrote me a long email about his beginning as a freshman "international" student at Emory.  I am in the process of asking Eugene if I can share his writings with you.  I was so impressed with how God is using him and all that he is learning and experiencing at Emory.  He also wrote about several students from YISS who are not believers but how he has continued to Skype with them and how they "continue to be more inquisitive about God and Christianity."  Eugene was writing to me, as well as several staff members at YISS, to express his gratitude of our investment and encouragement in his life.  I am so full of joy and excitement concerning Eugene.  Would you pray for him as you remember him?

2 - Mrs. Franck, our elementary chaplain and coordinator of the Walk-A-Sock-A-Thon, came to my office and gave me the final totals for the Walk!  First, I need to tell you several things.  You need to remember that there are almost 400 elementary students at YISS.  They were only allowed to collect and save 100 Won coins for the Walk.  They were not asked to have anyone pledge so much for them.  They were to be creative and save 100 Won coins.  Now remember that a 100 Won coin is not quite a dime when compared to US currency.  One more thing!  Part way through the weeks of collecting coins, the PTO at YISS told the kids that for every 200 Won the children collected, the PTO would put in another 100 Won!  Here are the final totals:

Children:     7,724,300 KRW

PTO added:     3,862,150 KRW

Grand Total:     11,586,450 KRW (Korean Won)

We are thrilled with such a great total!  Kids are so excited that so much can be raised to help children without clean water in Nepal through such small coins!  The amount raised will provide 2 more clean water devices for the Mountain Child as they help the children of Nepal!!

3 - Harvest Fun Day!  One Wednesday each month we have a Fun Day at YISS in the elementary school where children can dress according to a theme for that day.  They love it and there is always a lot of joy and excitement!  October 31 was the Fun Day for October and it had the theme of Harvest Time.  Children could dress as those who are involved in reaping the harvest during any period of history.  I posted more pictures on my Facebook page, but here are some for your enjoyment:

_______________________________________

Along with the joy and excitement there seems to always be some stress and unrest!  This week had its share of that as well! :-)

1 - After School Activities:  This past week began the Swimming After School Activities and then on Friday the remainder of the After School Activities began.  It is always a bit stressful to make sure everything is ready and that all of students have returned their Liability Forms as well as paid for their activity.  So I was busy contacting parents for forms not turned in, making sure fees were paid, making sure locations were ready, and all the bus lists were correct.  God was working through it all and He brought great satisfaction at the close of the week and we had a great start to Quarter Two activities!

2 - I was asked on Wednesday afternoon if I would be willing to be the person in charge at YISS on Thursday and Friday since the following administrators would be away at a large East Asian conference for educators: the headmaster, High School principal, Middle School Principal, Elementary Principal, Elementary Assistant Principal, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Chief Financial Officer, and Admissions Director.  SO for two days I was Headmaster again! :-)  Stress at first since I found out on Wednesday evening that because of the SEOMUN (Seoul Model United Nations) conference for high school students from 6-8 international schools would be hosted by YISS Thursday through Saturday.  Plus the Sports Conference that YISS belongs to was having its Volleyball Tournament Thursday through Saturday and YISS was hosting the Girls' Volleyball from about 6 - 8 international schools!  This was all happening at a school which is limited in its facilities' use due to the expansion construction going on.  I learned that we would not have use of the Elementary Gym as well as two other rooms that we had arranged for After School Activities!

3 - Thursday evening I went to bed fighting a sore throat.  It was in full soreness on Friday morning and I did not have a very restful night!  Unrest and stress were in full bloom on Friday morning!  In the middle of the afternoon, I also was informed that one of our 4th grade students fell from the playground equipment at lunch recess and had to be taken to the hospital.  We discovered she had a broken arm.

Through all of the joy, excitement, stress, and unrest, I have learned (very slowly at times) that Jesus always brings satisfaction!  Through the hectic week, I look back and thank the Lord for the great satisfaction He brings through the mixture of joys and exciting things as well as the stress and unrest!  Our students did well at the SEOMUN conference!  Our girls; volleyball team is did very well at the tournament!  After School Activities went very well!  I received several comments from the instructors about the great kids and all of the instructors were so flexible and no one had any concerns with location changes.  Elementary teachers were amazing and so flexible and creative when we had to change arrival locations for Thursday and Friday mornings and ask for extra duty help!  The school nurse was amazing with the care of the student who broke her arm!  I am thrilled to see what is happening in Eugene's  life at Emory! I am still working on being satisfied with my sore throat and chest cold issues, but there will always be thorns! Joys, Excitement, Stress, Unrest, Satisfaction!!

Oh, a few more items that happened on Saturday brought me joy and satisfaction!  I had to go to the doctor who has been working on my toe problem for a check up on Saturday.  The weather was perfect - simply gorgeous!  I decided to walk home after my visit to Dr. Kim. (My toe is doing well!) On the walk home I was stopped first by a young man who had a small film crew with him.  He politely asked me if he could ask some me some questions.  I said yes and while his crew filmed us he asked me questions and I answered.  We had a great discussion and he was excited to hear about YISS and what I am doing in Korea.

Above is my new friend, Kim Jung San.  He is a Korean musical actor and had many questions about YISS and God.  Please pray for him!

I walked a few more blocks and was stopped by two boys who had clipboards and wanted to ask me some questions to practice their English.  They were so cute and kept smiling and writing feverishly on their papers on the clipboards.

Here are my two friends after our interview!  I am holding the two laminated cards they gave me at the end.  It had John 3:16 on one side and the Lord's Prayer on the other.  They told me about Jesus and they were excited when I told them that I put my faith in Jesus when I was 6 years old.  What a beautiful Saturday!

____________________________________________

Thank you so much for your encouragement, love, prayers, and support!  Please enjoy a great first full week of November.  I am praying for my many friends who suffered loss during the recent nasty Sandy storm.  Don't forget to get out and vote!  I sent in my absentee ballot about 3 weeks ago.  Happy November!  It's Thanksgiving time!  I want to learn to be more thankful each day - not just an official holiday!  Thank you for all you do for me!

Love, Gregg

P.S. - Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour (Thanks, Margie!).  Now we are 14 hours ahead of most of you!  Hope you enjoyed an extra hour of sleep!