A plain, bright orange tee-shirt with white lettering.
On the front it says:
I AM STRONG.
.
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Or do you think it would be better as:
I’M STRONG.
.
.
(I’m designing the girls camp tee-shirts for our ward…the camp theme is ‘Forever Strong’ and our colors are bright orange, royal blue, and white since we are the SHSU Bearkats Rugby team)
Let your vote be heard in the comments!
***Updated Post****
Here’s a design example:
My mom posted this picture on her blog today and it invoked some feelings worth blogging about.
(First, though, for anyone here in Dallas – I’m going to shamelessly advertise for a photographer friend at church. This photo reminded me of her recent blog post saying she’s offering mini-shoots in the bluebonnets and I love her work!)
This photo makes me happy and more specifically proud to be a Thompson. My name may have changed, but I still carry with me everything that these two are and are called.
Recently my dad reached out to me and WE to ask for some family advice. Not that I was surprised….but He’s still the patriarch (even though we’re all grown up and gone) and still considering the needs and desires of every last one of his kids. There are certain times when you pause for a moment and see your parents for who they really are - the people that sacrificed everything to get you to where you are today. Seeing this picture for some reason was one of those moments for me.
Last Thursday, WE and I went to see the Phantom of the Opera at Fairpark. I had forgotten how creepy the storyline is and we spent the whole drive home joking about manipulation tactics… “I’m here inside your head”
Somehow all these years, the Phantom lives on (only because of the great music) and I couldn’t believe how packed the theater was that night. The music brought back memories from 7th grade when we sang the Phantom medley in choir and how I didn’t get the Christine solo 
Well, it’s not like anyone really needs anymore reality TV shows to watch. But WE ran across this show – Undercover Boss - and I think it’s a pretty cool idea. The premise is that a high-level exec (so far, it’s usually been the CEO) in a large corporation grows alittle facial hair, grabs a cap, and heads for the production line.
They get to see for themselves what it’s like to do the real work. Most of the entertainment comes when the boss can’t hack it or when they simply get put doing the really dirty job. (This CEO of Waste Management actually got fired his first day by the trash picker-uper manager because he wasn’t gettin’ er done fast enough). I don’t know how they’ll be able to keep everyone’s attention for more than a season since it seems that each episode seems to pretty much be the same thing. But it is pretty fun to imagine your CEO on the show.
Actually, they’ve almost all been Dallas based companies on the show so far so it’s not out of the realm of possibilty 
With all my wishing and hoping for a pet dog, I thought that today I’d blog about the most common backyard companion in Texas…
When I first moved to Dallas, someone asked me if I wanted to sell Kolaches at our next United Way fundraiser at work. I asked them, “What the heck is a Kolache?” They went on to describe a tasty treat in exquisit detail and as it turns out it was in fact…
Thanks to WE, TLS, Big Chief, FavUnc, Rambo… and Jerry – it was such an AWESOME time.
And, of course, thanks to the team for such an exciting and BIG win. Not gonna forget that anytime soon! Go Cougars!!!
This week Scotland released a convicted terrorist from prison on ‘compassionate grounds.’
Also, this week in North Dallas news it was announced that Lake Lavon has been infected with zebra mussels – an Eastern European species that is taking over the continental US. These harmful aquatic, hitch hikers are wrecking havoc on food chains and ecological systems. They colonize on anything in the water and can clog tubes, pipes, and boat engines.
Here’s where they were known to exist in 2000:
Notice, that then Texas wasn’t yet affected. Well, apparently now we are.
Zebra Mussels will colonize and destroy any available surface in water. They have no known predators and prey on anything irregardless.
They are invading my territory and I have no compassion for them whatsoever (even if they did originate from my well-beloved part of Europe and have cute little zebra stripes!) I say do whatever you have to to get rid of them!
So, my point is that terrorists are like these little pests. They won’t stop. They have nothing to stop them. They blasphemously ‘colonize’ in the name of religion and attack with no regard for human life. We’ve already showed compassion by civilly trying them in judicial courts and sentencing them to relatively safe and comfortable prisons. We haven’t blown them to shreds, dropped them from burning airplanes, decapitated them, or sliced them with shrapnel. Yet this is what they have done to us.
Ya know what Scots, you are real gentleman and there is something to be said about maintaining culture and values. So sure, release him from prison to die in peace. I’m fine with that. I’m even fine with notifying his family so that they can come visit his bedside. But come on, don’t publicly send him back home to be heralded a terrorist hero!
We do have to forgive, but we don’t have to be stupid.
I’m just sayin’.
This weekend WE and I went on a Stay-cation with my parents. We met up in Austin on Friday night and then went the rest of the way down to New Braunfels to go to Schlitterbahn. Neither of us had been before and since the river is flowing so slow right now, we thought that it would be more fun to visit the water park.
We packed up our cooler, slopped on the sunscreen, and joined the thousands of other families standing in line to buy an incredibly overpriced plastic wristband. And wow, that’s exactly what we had coming – LINES and more LINES.
We even had to stand in line just to ride the bus from one section of the park to another. Our only saving grace was the fact that the weather was really great and at least it wasn’t burning hot as we stood in line. I think that in the 7+ hours that we were there, we rode a grand total of 5 rides (that couldn’t have lasted more that 20 minutes in combined duration). Wow, next time we go I’m definitely NOT going on a busy Saturday!
Now, so as to avoid leaving the impression that I’m complaining about this weekend – here’s what was priceless about our Stay-cation:
1) Not being in a cubicle all day!
2) Chattin’ with the parents about anything and everything from lot loans to the recession
3) Loose livestock in Dripping Springs
4) Chocolate chip waffles at the B&B
