Happy Friday, RISERS! I hope this week has been good to you. My husband had an emergency appendectomy this week, so he\u2019s been at home \u201cresting.\u201d I say that loosely, because he isn\u2019t the type who likes to sit still. He\u2019s much better now, and we are so thankful we caught it before he entered the Danger Zone.<\/em>\u00a0I hope you have an enjoyable weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quote of the week<\/strong>: \u201cBe thankful for what you do have; you\u2019ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don\u2019t have, you will never have enough.\u201d \u2013Oprah Winfrey<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Movie of the week<\/strong>: This week I want to recommend one of the best holiday season-starting movies out there:\u00a0Miracle on 34^{th<\/sup>Street<\/em>, the Maureen O\u2019Hara version. It begins on Thanksgiving Day and takes you through Christmas morning. As with every person, the\u00a0head<\/em>\u00a0knowledge about things is often in conflict with the\u00a0heart<\/em>\u00a0knowledge. Let yourself enjoy this holiday classic and believe in miracles that at first seem like impossibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n}

Joke of the week<\/strong>: What happened when the turkey got into a fight? He had the stuffing knocked out of him.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nugget of Wisdom for the week<\/strong>: This week I want to encourage you to be thankful for the people in your life. When Thanksgiving Day comes and you gather with friends or family, hug those around you one more time. Listen to the familiar stories one more time. One day, that person you enjoy spending time with won\u2019t be there anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My paternal grandfather lived close to me when I was a teenager\/young adult. Before we got married, my boyfriend (now husband) and I would visit my grandparents on Sundays after church. My grandfather would always do the same thing: first, offer us a cold Coca-Cola in a glass bottle, then, tell us to make ourselves a sandwich, not forgetting the chocolate bars. Before we\u2019d leave, he would always tell a story. Since my grandfather was an Army veteran, he would go to the VA hospital for medical issues. Once he had to stay in the hospital overnight and asked the nurses if they knew how to make popcorn stuffing. Of course, they would tell him they didn\u2019t know how. He said, \u201cInstead of putting cornbread stuffing in the opening of the turkey, pour in popcorn kernels. Finishing dressing the turkey, and bake it in the oven until done.\u201d The nurses would ask how they would know if the turkey was cooked all the way. My grandfather said, \u201cYou\u2019ll know the turkey is done when the popcorn pops and blows the turkey right out of the pan.\u201d Though I heard that story many times, I miss having a chance to see him. He died 20 years ago. Be intentional, and love the people you are with. Happy Thanksgiving!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a great week. Remember, you are most awesome and YOU ROCK!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marion Rhines is a foster-turned-adoptive parent. She lives in Knoxville, Tenn., with her husband and five children. She has written and published two children\u2019s books as well as two foster-care-themed novels. She has a Facebook blog, Tips from the FLIP Side, and enjoys working with children of all ages.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week I want to encourage you to be thankful for the people in your life. When Thanksgiving Day comes and you gather with friends or family, hug those around you one more time. Listen to the familiar stories one more time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":3004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,25,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-for-teens","category-life-skills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3005,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3003\/revisions\/3005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riseupcooperative.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}