give, live, love.

My friend Emily told me that when she was in preschool, she and her best friend Olivia despised two girls. The first was another girl named Olivia, obviously because her name was Olivia. The second was a girl who hated orange juice. Orange juice was Emily's favorite drink and she just didn't connect with the "just water" girl.

Recently, Emily ran into Just Water and apologized for disliking her in preschool. I've decided that Emily's apology is the perfect way to kick start this winter break. Not necessarily by apologizing to those we may have wronged in preschool (though I am sorry, Allie, that Becca and I gave you toilet paper to use for the Babysitter's Club Dolls and took all of the cute clothes) but just by rectifying the things in our life that might not be quite right.

Maybe you can give a few extra dollars to someone on the street. Or volunteer to help your mom in the kitchen. Or even send a holiday card to someone you've had a disagreement with recently. Why not just spread a little extra joy?

If you're not quite ready to confront the person, maybe you could do it anonymously, and someday, when the time is right, claim the good deed.

If I could (or had somehow wronged the people of Detroit), I might try to help out the automakers. Unfortunately, I don't really have this capability. Fortunately, though, I've not yet done anything to harm those dear automakers. We'll just have to hope that someone from above helps them out (Congress, God, Santa...anyone!).

Regardless of whether or not anyone bestows kindness upon Ford (Henry, not Tom, he doesn't need help) I'm willing to do my part to make the world a little bit better. I gave an extra dollar to St. Jude's today; next time I'll give five! Or maybe I will forgive someone for hurting my feelings or causing me pain. I might even send them a holiday card! Why not just spread love as much as possible? I mean, if Emily can forgive Just Water for hating OJ, I think I can forgive someone for a few harsh words and send a little extra love their way.

If Mufasa can, Britney can too.

I can safely say that one of my greatest downfalls is that I expect too much. I'm always confident it will be the best night, the best movie, the best vacation...ever!

And with such high expectations, a totally good time pales when compared to the great time I'd anticipated. I've been told, time and time again by my realist friend Jordan, that it would be better to expect the worst (or on her good days- just expect average results) than to expect the best. However, I continue to learn the lesson the hard way. Apparently, I'm a slow learner.

I'd like to say that I can't be blamed for this, though, as it seems to be a trend common among my family members, as well.

Over Thanksgiving break, we went to see the Lion King. Sam is undoubtedly the most avid Lion King fan I know. However, before the show, he admitted he was a little nervous for the musical, as he had such high expectations for Mufasa. Luckily, though, Mufasa's deep voice and broad shoulders fulfilled his expectations (other than his roar, as far as I can tell, Sam can roar better than Mufasa).

Although I didn't expect quite as much from Mufasa as Sam did, I did have high expectations for Thanksgiving this year. Such expectations were easily fulfilled with an amazing weekend with everyone in my family present, as well as Jim. Between tree decorating, a November birthdays celebration, Turkey trotting, and football (for the fellas) it was a weekend that surpassed all expectations.

Now, just two days later, I can only hope that Britney Spears will also surpass all expectations. Today, on her 27th birthday, her newest album ("Circus") drops. I plan on purchasing it this evening and my expectations are undoubtedly high. I expect as much from Brit as Sam expected from Mufasa.

Jim disagrees with me, saying that Britney is not ready to make the ultimate comeback (I saw him trash talk before football with my brothers this weekend, but I had no idea he was so eager to trash talk Brit, too...). However, I have faith. I'm not exaggerating when I say this really could be her best album yet. Jordan might advise me to expect something somewhere between "Blackout" and "In the Zone" but I have more faith in her than that. I've decided I'll just go with my instincts and anticipate the best we've seen from Britney yet...

...I told you I'm a slow learner.