Are you looking for ways to make your Thanksgiving holiday more lively?  Do you want to begin new traditions?  We have 10 fun ideas to add spice to your Thanksgiving day:

1.  Work at a soup kitchen.  This is a hands-on opportunity for you to give back to others who are less fortunate, and also a great way to show your children it is important to sacrificially give your time to helping others.

2.  Play a family flag football game.  This always looks fun in movies!  If your family gathering is too small to build two teams, then head outside with the kids to toss a football while Grandma cooks.

3.  Get crafty.  Go on a leaf collecting hike, and then make cards from a leaf rub.  Send these cards to friends and family.  Another option is to create and display a gratitude list.

4.  Plan a Thanksgiving vacation.  If you have not been to Highway 30-A in Florida to communities like Seaside, Blue Mountain, and Rosemary Beach, you should experience that area of the country.   If the beach in November is not for you, plan a trip to a place of your liking.

5.  Bring three items to the table that represent why you are thankful.  This is a way to get to know your family more intimately.

6.  Visit sick or elderly neighbors.  This only takes a few minutes and brightens-up a lonely person’s life.

7.  Men do the cooking and women spend the night at the hunting camp.  Doesn’t this sound fabulous?

8.  Contribute to the thankful jar.  Family members and guests will write down reasons why they are thankful and place their comments in a jar.  The list can be read at your dinner.

9.  Play indoor games.  Choose games that the majority enjoys — cards, Trivial Pursuit, or Catch Phrase are entertaining and popular.

10.  Decorate the Christmas tree after the feast.

Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition? Post a comment and let us know!

How do you design a website that will achieve national recognition?  Call Donnie Bell Design.

In September, Donnie Bell Design launched The Tech Talk Online www.thetechtalk.org, Louisiana Tech University’s online edition of its student-run newspaper.  The paper’s online edition was one of only five recipients chosen for the Associated Press Pacemaker Award.  In total, there were over 250 online newspapers that were considered for this award.

According to the Associated Collegiate Press, recipients were selected based on content and coverage, breaking news, site design, interactivity, rich media and writing/editing.

Dr. Reginald Owens, chair of the journalism department, recognizes that students are going online in increasing numbers to obtain information.  Consumers are too.  Let us help you create a website that will gain recognition for your business or organization.  

To work or not to work, that is the question.  This is the ongoing battle for mothers.  I was faced with this dilemma six years ago when I was expecting my first child.

In 2005, I was employed as a pharmaceutical sales representative for a Fortune 500 company.  I had a satisfying salary, a company car, sufficient benefits, and I won trips across the U.S. and abroad.  By most standards it was a great job for a woman in her mid-20s living in North Louisiana.

Then, my husband and I decided that I should stay at home with our soon-to-be first born.  After our baby arrived, I shifted from wearing power suits and high heels to wearing elastic-waist pajamas complete with spit-up.  I had black circles under my eyes, and I was fortunate if I could work in a shower before 3:00pm.  The best way to describe my appearance was haggardly.