Sacramento, CA

Today (as I’m sure you are all aware) is Black Friday, otherwise known as the year’s biggest catastrophe for shopper’s wallets and a giant salve for merchants everywhere. Fortunately, I had to work at my real world job today so *alas* there shall be no shopping for me. However, if you’re not like Candy Hollowell over at Tulsa, OK or myself then I’m sure you’re already out and about instead of reading this. However, when you get back it’s still something you should know about as it’s likely to continue through the holiday season.

Anyway, this morning I heard on KCRA that Arden Fair Mall has greatly improved upon its security system. They have employed more security guards and, more importantly, also done some major technological overhauls to the previously existing system. The single biggest improvement is an increase from 19 security cameras to 128. Furthermore, many of these new cameras can rotate and zoom in close enough to read specific license plates. I am so exstatic about this taht it’s really not even funny! FINALLY they are doing something to deter thiefs who target holiday shoppers!!! All I can say is taht it’s about time!

Regardless of the improvements made, I would still advise you to be cautious when shopping at any big mall this season. The local paper where my parents live published some great tips that I thought I’d pass along.

1) Ladies, don’t carry around a big bulky purse. They are attractive to purse-snatchers as they know they can hold all sorts of goodies. Instead, just bring along a small handbag or carry a couple of cards in your pcket instead. Also, if you are carrying a purse be sure to wear it with the strap diagonally across your chest. It makes it more difficult to grab.

2)NEVER leave merchandise in the front seats of your car where people can see them. This is just asking for trouble. Instead, make sure that you put them in your trunk so that they won’t become a homing beacon fro crooks. Also, (and I’d never heard this before!) it’s better if you are willing to park your car somewhere else when you drop off a load of purchases. In theory, this deters anyone who is staking out your vehicle because they wil assume that you are leaving the mall and returning home.

3)Do not park far away from the mall doors if you will be out late at night. If you have to park in these areas, check periodically to see if you can move your car before it gets dark outside.

4)Many malls have secuirty guards who will walk you to your car if you are out alone after dark. Take advantage of them!

Feel free to add more if you know of any so we can pass them around and insure that everyone has a safe and happy shopping season!

Holiday Shopping, holiday shopping tips, Arden Fair Mall, mall security, holiday safety tips, holiday shopping safety tips

I know I haven’t written much of anything since Veterans Day, but it’s been one heck of a week. A friend of a friend was murdered in Dixon and I’ve been doing a lot of praying over that lately. She has two young sons who are going to be without their mother for the first time this Christmas and it’s really just too horrible to imagine. Anyway, if you could please remember them in your prayers this week–and especially today–that would be so very thoughtful and wonderful. I would be very thankful for the added prayers that her boys get to see justice served quickly and efficiently.

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving and feel free to add to my Thanksgiving prayer if you feel so inclined!

Dear God,

Thank You for giving humanity the idea of family. To know that there are those who will love you unconditionally is the most liberating thought that any of us can ever have. Thank You specifically for my family. We may not always get along–and we are certainly far from conventional–but there is no family in the world whose members love each other more. It may take a crisis for us to realize this, but we are as fiercely protective of one another as You could ever possibly have hoped for. On that note, thank You for also giivng us those who do not have family and the knowledge of families who aren’t as close. For it is these people whose desperation reminds us of just how blessed You have made the Springer clan in giving us one another.

Thank You also for the incredible friendships that You have allowed me to forge. More importantly, thank You for showing me that it doesn’t matter how many you have so long as you have one or two who have somehow crossed the line and become family. Some days I don’t think I would surrive if it weren’t for their support and love. Above these, thank You for those friendships which are not as solid. Whether they are new friends or merely those who have somehow become out of touch, these are the people who remind me to keep trying. They constantly illustrate that good things come to those who are willing to wait–yet, also, to those who refuse to wait forever.

Thank You for wonderful meal that my mother will be slaving over all day and that my father worked so hard to provide for us. There is no greater gift than a home cooked meal prepared in love. This is especially the case for one such as this which will be composed without so much as a thought to all of the stress and anxiety that holidays so often inadvertantly bring about. Thank You also for all of the million sof people who will not be enjoying such a magnificent feast this Thanksgiving. Their suffering is never far from mind during the holidays. Nothing more fully teaches the value of a meal than the plight of those who go without it. Furthermore, nothing else could be as poignant a reminder as this comparison to jolt us into the act of giving that You would have us all aspire to.

Thank You also for giving me the gift of an incredible church family. In particular, thank You for giving me such powerful role models as Shirley and Miss Bea. Their constant effort to bring the gift of Christ to those who do not know Him is beauitfully motivational. I can only hope to someday be able to spread the message of Your love as far and effectively as they have.

More than any of these though, I thank You for the gift of tragedy. Though I may not always understand Your reasons I do always come to appreciate the lessons that I gain from them. Though it is hard to admit sometimes there is no greater gift than the death of someone that we know and love. It sounds heinous even typing that, but it is true nonetheless. Nothing else in the world could possibly shout more clearly “LIVE, LIVE, LIVE!!!” So often in life we get too caught up in doing the things that keep us alive that we forget to truly live. However, when someone dies, the urgency is brought back and we realize that there are no guarantees for tomorrow, and that instead we must sieze each moment and cherish it as though it could be our last. To me, there is no greater way to honr the life AND death of a loved one than to allow it to breathe new life into you once more.

Always Yours with love,

Jenny

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and may God bless you and yours today and always!

Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving in Sacramento, Dixon woman murdered, holiday prayer, Thanksgiving prayer