Canada and Freedom

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Gallery+Soldiers+return+home/2264371/story.html


Whether or not you agree with Canadian troops being in Afghanistan, I'm sure you must agree that the sacrifices the troops and their families are making to do what they think is right are incredible. There's a photo in the slideshow (linked above) of a man who's meeting his daughter for the first time. I got a little teary just thinking about it!

On Remembrance Day, Dad and I went to the service at the Museum of the Regiments. Jim Prentice, an MP and cabinet minister, spoke and if you're interested, you can read his speech here... http://www.jimprentice.ca/EN/community_news/remembrance_day_speech_2009/

It was really good. The thing that stuck out the most for me was that at the battle he spoke of, "More than 27,000 Canadians joined the battle in Sicily and 562 Canadians died and 1,664 were wounded."

There were about 9,000 people at the service, which is their highest attendance to date, and I've been going there for about 8 years now. But only 9,000 out of a million people in Calgary. Fewer people then were wounded in this ONE battle during the Second World War.

It makes me sad that people have such a hard time taking a couple of hours, one day a year, to remember the sacrifices that others have made so that we can live in freedom, and not just us in Canada, because it probably would have taken Hitler a bit longer to get control of North America, but overseas as well. To sacrifice your own life for a nation of people you've never met - that deserves to be remembered.

My boss was in Europe this fall, and she went to one of the concentration camps, and told me about some of the stuff she learned, a lot of which I already knew from all my reading on the subject (I went through a few years as a young teenager where I read every book in the library on the topic) - but they were things that I was surprised to find aren't common knowledge for a lot of people. What do they teach in schools these days?

Did you know that Hitler didn't just have it in for Jews, he had it in for everybody who didn't toe his party line - Christians, people without white skin, transient people like Gypsies, homosexuals, handicapped people and elderly (who he had forcibly sterilized and/or imprisoned and/or 'put out of their misery')? The list goes on. There are suggestions that he wanted to set himself up as a god, and may have believe that he was the reincarnation of Woden, the god of war (who was worshiped by human sacrifice).

The man was a nutter, and without a whole generation of people who were willing to fight him, we could be suffering under severe lack of freedom in Canada. It seems like many people have no idea how good we have it, compared to how oppressed people were under Nazi rule. The scary thing is, the more we forget, the more likely it is that the warning signs of another Hitler rising will be ignored, and the more likely it is that history will repeat itself.

Neighbours - A Rant

So the worst part about condo living (other then condo association meetings, but those are only once per year) is having to share walls with other people.

On one side of us we have a nice family. Their kids are kind of noisy - playing, stomping up and down stairs etc - but that's normal kid noise so I try to not let it bother me too much. But their dogs! They have two Jack Russells, and they are noisy. Most of the time they have on these collars that squirt them with water when they bark, but when they don't have the collars on, they bark themselves into a conniption whenever we go into our yard. They were so agitated the other night, I thought they were going to try to get through the fence. When they do have the collars on, and they want back into the house, they will spend HOURS banging against the door. I don't know how the owners can ignore it, because it reverberates like crazy all through our house. Thump, thump, thump...pause...thump, thump, thump...for hours, literally. Also, they have a cobblestone yard, and they don't clean up after the dogs very often. GROSS!

On the other side, we have a woman and her teenage daughter, who also have a dog. A white, yippy rat of a creature. It's favourite hobby is to sit by the front window and bark at anything that even thinks about moving. So in the summer I go out to water my garden or even check the mail, and it has a conniption. I open the windows in the living room, someone goes by on the street, and the dog has a fit that sounds like it's in our house. And it will bark, bark, bark for hours when it's home alone. Trevor's mom was so annoyed by it when she was watering our garden while we were away that she sprayed it with the hose and barked back, which I'm very entertained by. And it's not just the dog barking...they have an alarm or something by their front door which buzzes every couple of minutes. The front yard faces south, so early this summer (our first summer in this house) I took my chair and book into the yard for a bit of reading. Between the buzzing and the barking, I went raving mad in about five minutes. I thought I'd try the back yard, even though it's not sunny, but when I went back there, the mom and daughter were having a fit in the kitchen with the window open! Oh, and there was the time I was watering the garden, and the daughter was in the living room on the phone freaking out at someone. I was trying to ignore her and water faster so I can leave, and then she comes over and slams the window shut, and glares at ME! Like I wanted to listen to her stupid phone call! And the mom's boyfriend comes to visit sometimes and brings his big yellow Lab with him, and doesn't keep it on a leash, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. Big dogs can be very dangerous.

So this week we got a new sound system because the old one crapped out, and tonight I watched Dead Man's Chest. Now, there are a lot of explosions, but I had the sound pretty low because Trevor has a headache. So it's about 9:15 (no where near noise curfew time) and they start banging on the wall! I'm really cross, because in general we do not make a lot of noise. Because it's a new system, the bass settings might have been a little loud, but no where near as loud as that stupid dog! Or that door they slammed really loud the other day at about 2am, which woke me up nearly having a heart attack from fright. One movie and they're freaking out! Loud people shouldn't bang on walls, because they might find themselves in a whole lot of trouble from people they've pushed to the edge...a YEAR of listening to them make all sorts of noise is just about my limit! One more button pushed and I'm going to be ready to complain to the condo board about them.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my window...leaves and shadows on the wall next door

I am thinking... about the crick in my neck

I am thankful for... a minute to sit down and breathe after the crazy hour or two I just had

From the kitchen... I need to go get a glass of water

I am wearing... skirt, top, cute brown flats

I am reading... nothing at the moment, but I'm going to start "Between the Plums" by Janet Evanovitch while I eat lunch

I am hoping... that the rest of the day isn't as crazy as this morning was

I am creating... a blog post haha

I am hearing... the server make lots of computer-thinking noises

Around the house... lots of dust kittens! Someone named Trevor needs to vacuum :)

One of my favorite things... sunrises - yesterday's was AMAZING

A few plans for the rest of the week... girl's movie night with Lauren, housework, errands...

Funny article

http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/comment/article/350308--carving-the-halloween-mangelwurzel

The author of this article hits on a few of the reasons why I don't 'celebrate' Halloween.

Getting old...

I had my biannual eye exam this weekend. It's only actually been a year since my last one, but my eyes have been bothering me, and I have a new health insurance plan, so I have coverage available. I complained about how I keep having to move my computer screen closer, and the optometrist recommended reading glasses. Reading glasses! Oy vey...granted, between working on the computer at work, working on the computer at home, and reading every spare moment in between, I probably spend 90% of my waking hours seriously using my eyes.

But still - I didn't think I was old enough to need reading glasses...and I bet you anything the next step is going to be loosing one of the pairs somewhere, all the time.
"Sorry, I can't drive - I think I left my long-distance glasses on my desk at work."

In other news, I was thinking it might be neat to go to university sometime in the next few years. I haven't decided or anything, but there are so many study options, and so much stuff I could learn. I could take an English degree, or even study archaeology! My biggest problem is that the university system doesn't seem very user friendly. What's your university experience?

I'm still here...

Even though it's been about a month and a half, I haven't abandoned my blog - it's just been busy. :)

August went so fast - mostly just with little day to day things, but we did take 5 days and get away to Trevor's parents' timeshare in Fairmont for a few days. I've never been out there before, and it's beautiful.
Photos here.... http://picasaweb.google.ca/michelleheumann

Last weekend my friend Teresa got married, and they had the reception at Heritage Park, which was super cool. They had the ferris wheel going, and the afternoon light was just beautiful. It was a lot of fun to see some people I haven't seen in a while, as well.

Things are work are going well, and we're gearing up for our grand opening open house. The biggest thing happening in September is that the 7th book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, An Echo in the Bone, is being released. I'm quite excited. :)

I'm starting to do research and plan for our Florida/Disney trip in May. If you've been there before and have some helpful hints to offer, I'd appreciate it!

Hello from Kelowna!

So for those of you who don't know, for the last couple of years I've been on the planning committee for the (deep breath) Lutheran Church-Canada Alberta British Columbia District tri-annual Youth Gathering. :)

After much planning and many meetings we (the committee) are on-site at the University of BC in Kelowna. Right now my youth group, and youth groups all over the district, are setting out to come here - check in starts at 3 pm.

This year we have just over 170 youth, leaders and other volunteers coming to participate in one of my most favourite things ever, and what is definitely my favourite thing about LCC - the Youth Gathering. Seriously, I think this is what heaven is going to be like, but without the two years of planning and work, and the registration fees! We get together, we visit with old friends, meet new people, play games, make music, listen to great speakers and presenters, don't get enough sleep...it's SO MUCH FUN!

Anyway, I've got about another hour before I really have to get up, so I'm going back to bed! (Which, being a dorm bed, is hard as the floor, and the pillow is so flat that even with a sweatshirt and a beach towel for added padding, my neck is still cricked at an unhappy angle. Urgh...)

Dig Nostalgia

There's a team in Israel right now, digging in my square...well, it's still pretty early in the AM there, so they're probably sleeping at this moment...anyway, I've been following this blogs, and this post made me pretty 'homesick'!

http://blogs.markschuler.com/digit/2009/07/breakfast-on-the-dig.html

Where did the last two months GO?

I can't believe how fast the time is going. It's been so long, is anyone still checking this thing?!

Last time I updated, we were heading off to BC for a trip to visit some family and friends. The thing that had been in the works for a while, which I couldn't blog about for 'security' reasons, is that the day before we left for our trip, I gave my notice at Foster Richmond, where I've worked for over three years now. Why? To go with my boss and her new business partner to their new firm! It was a big relief to give my notice and hit the road...

Our trip to BC was fabulous - the weather was good, we had a good visit with my aunt and uncle in Revelstoke, and had a blast at Chris and Kelsey's wedding. We saw a ton of people we don't see very often, and got to spend some time exploring Vernon's parks and beaches. And junk stores...we found some good deals!

May was super chaotic - wrapping up our practice at FR, working from home for a couple of weeks while rennos were done on our new office space, and then moving into the new office and hobbling along while furniture, phones and computers slowly got up and running. We also went to a Queen tribute at the CPO, which was a ton of fun, and I saw the new Star Trek movie twice - it's just THAT good! It's definitely on my Christmas wish list. :) I visited my friend Barb in Medicine Hat on the May long weekend, and we had lots of fun just relaxing and watching movies, which was muchly needed after the chaos of leaving FR.

Our new office is beautiful - it's a heritage era brick house in the community of Bridgeland, just on the east side of downtown. We have an awesome kitchen, two porches and a great back yard. It's taking me a bit longer to get to and from work now, but it's totally worth it. I have a huuuuge desk and lots of quiet workspace and co-workers I like - what more could you ask for in a job!?

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Tuesday - can you believe it? 7 years already!

The youth gathering is coming up so fast - less then a month away now. I'm hoping and praying that I haven't forgotten to do anything I was supposed to, although strangely enough I'm not too worried about it, which is very uncharacteristic of me.

And it looks like spring has finally come to Calgary - my little garden is flourishing and I'm really enjoying having a garden to poke around in again. Life is pretty darn good!

Road Trip!

April has been a super busy month, but it's finally about to slow down...we're leaving tomorrow morning for a week in BC! We're going to spend a night in Revelstoke with my family, and then six nights in Vernon, and we're going to Chris and Kelsey's wedding. I'm really looking forward to having a break. We've had to cancel our big trip to California, for a bunch of reasons, so this might be the only holiday we get this summer. Hopefully the weather is nicer in Vernon then it is in Calgary! I'm taking a huge bag of books, and I want to spend as much time as I can sitting outdoors and reading, even if I have to do it in a coat with a blanket - as long as it's not snowing!

Go Green, Save Green

Good book! Written by the wife of the guy who wrote "Serve God, Save the Planet" as a response to people who asked "how?".

http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/FirstChapters/978-1-4143-2698-6.pdf

Meow!

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2009/03/25/8874341-sun.html


Black cats not the cat's meow for adoption

By JENNA MCMURRAY, SUN MEDIA

Black cats in Calgary seem to be particularly unlucky these days.

The Calgary Humane Society has seen a spike in the number of black cats -- as well as black and white felines -- at the shelter and is concerned about their future.

"It's unusual to see so many black cats, but the prevalence of them is quite high at the moment," said Lindsay Jones, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society.

"We're concerned they might not get adopted."

The society has about 26 black cats, which Jones said is the highest number of that colour it has ever had.

"Black cats and black and white cats are the least likely to get adopted," she said.

"We're not sure why exactly because black cats are just as loveable as any other cat."

Dark cats still seem to be a last resort for most Calgarians looking for new pets, with light and multi-coloured ones being much higher in demand. "We'll have a roomful of kittens -- one will be black and he'll be the last to go," said Jones. "It may be due to superstition or just that (black cats) don't look as nice as the calico next door."

Quote of the Day

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."
by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Spring Fever

A few days ago I was walking home from work, and the sun was shining and the snow was melting and I could hear water running, and it took me right back to spring in NS when I was a kid. Making maple syrup, playing in the creek, hunting for mayflowers, getting cold, wet and muddy and loving it. When spring comes, I always feel like going and splashing in the creek. Sadly, spring comes so fast in Calgary it happens overnight, and there are no creeks in our condo development!

I follow a few blogs about life in the country, and they definitely don't help with the spring fever thing...I'm not a city girl, and reading blogs sure doesn't help. Maybe I should have given up blogs for Lent. :P

I re-read one of my favourite books last month - one that I now realize shaped my childhood opinion of what the season of spring should look like, an opinion that clearly lingers. It's a story of a poor little rich girl from London, and her mother sends her to live with family friends in the English countryside while she goes abroad, and the bulk of the story is set in the spring. It's beautifully described, and I can picture it so vividly it's almost like being there. I'd give just about anything to experience a 'proper' spring for real though! Maybe one of these years...

Enid Blyton

When I was about 10, I discovered the Famous Five - four cousins and their dog who adventured all over Great Britain, solving mysteries and eating lots. I'm collecting vintage editions of her books written for the 12-ish age group - the Famous Five, Mallory Towers and St. Claire's (British boarding schools) and the Mistletoe Farm series (six cousins in that one!). They're just light, fun, happy stories that make you feel better when you're done reading them. If you're looking to buy books for a child you know, I highly recommend them.

Recent story in a news magazine about Enid Blyton...
Good golly, Noddy’s back!

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Movies and Books

Recently I've seen Defiance, Passchendaele, Inkheart and Brideshead Revisited.

Defiance was really, really good. I actually read the book it was based on after seeing the movie, and was impressed at how well the movie portrayed the facts. There were differences of course, but I feel like the movie was an accurate portrait of the Bielski brothers and what they accomplished.

Passchendaele - well, it was really well done, and it was neat to see the scenes they filmed in Heritage Park. But I was super disappointed with the ending. I like happy endings and Passchendaele definitely did not have one of those! I guess that makes it even more historically accurate, but not as uplifting to watch.

I quite enjoyed Inkheart. I struggled when I read the book because it was so very, very dark, and I wasn't sure how the movie was going to turn out. I think the movie was actually less dark and more hopeful then the book was. There was a great cast and a happy ending and lots of fun little tributes to great works of literature, so I was really happy with it.

Brideshead Revisited was another one with an ending I didn't love. It wasn't an unhappy ending, exactly, but it wasn't the way I would have wanted it to end if I'd been the main character, that's for sure. It was a really troubled, layered, Very British drama with only occasional bits of humour and it made me very glad that I wasn't born into an upper class British family in the early 1900s!

For books (other then reading about the Bielski brothers) I've been working my way through a box of Mercedes Lackey books that I got for $30, "The Cat Who Saw Stars", and "Plum Spooky".

Mercedes Lackey...she's got an amazing imagination, and has written dozens and dozens of books. My favourites are re-workings of fairy tales which involve 'elemental' magic and the Valdemar series.

"Fire Rose" is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set just outside San Francisco, involving a rail baron who's been injured in a spell-casing gone awry, and a scholarly bluestocking he hires to be his research assistant. Many adventures ensue, and the story builds to the great San Francisco fire.

I've been having issues with her Valdemar series - some of them are really fun and enjoyable, but this one trilogy I read which is chronologically the beginning of the series is SO dark and the main character SO winy and SO tragic the first time I tried to read them I only made it partway through the second book. Since this trilogy was in the box of books I bought, I figured I'd take another stab at them, but by the time I was done I felt like I needed to clean out my brain with a pot scrubber. Icky!

"The Cat Who..." series by Lillian Jackson Braun is this fun bunch of 'cozy' mysteries about a supernaturally smart Siamese cat and his journalist owner and the murder cases in which they get embroiled. It's light, happy reading that makes me want to move to a small town somewhere, and get a Siamese cat. Which I'm sure Dax would not approve of, and Trevor definitely doesn't, so I'll put getting a Siamese on my list of things to do before I die and worry about it later. :)

"Plum Spooky" is a Stephanie Plum 'between the numbers' book. I've been reading anything written by Janet Evanovitch for a while now, because they're laugh-out-loud-on-the-ctrain funny. "Finger Licking Fifteen" is coming out this year sometime, and these books describe the adventures of Stephanie Plum, America's most accident-prone bounty hunter. I can't even begin to tell you how funny they are - often highly inappropriate, but hysterically amusing. "Plum Spooky" involves a monkey named Carl who plays Game Boy, a deadbeat brother recovering from being shot in the buttocks with a staple gun, a James Bond-like plot by a maniac to control the weather, a FTA resisting arrest in a produce wearhouse, and a mysterious guy named Diesel who calls himself an 'unmentionable'. It's good stuff!

Break Forth 2009

I was really excited to go to Break Forth in Edmonton this weekend. I haven't been in a couple of years, and now that TEC has petered out, I really wanted a chance to spend some quality time with God. And boy, did I ever... :) I also got to spend a lot of quality time with Trevor, which was really nice. Usually when we go to retreats we end up doing our own thing and don't see much of each other, but this time we had a few electives together, and were able to meet up for all of our meals as well, so that was really nice, especially considering that he left today to go to another conference all week - this one in Texas. (Where it's warm!)

It took me a while to get into the 'retreat experience'. We got there early for a change, and found good seats close to the front, and since there were only four of us together, that made things a lot easier then in the past when I've been organizing a big group. The first speaker was Erwin McManus, and he was a really good, funny, honest speaker. I'm actually not really sure what his overall theme was, but the part that stuck out for me was about dreams and it was really good. We're going to order the DVD to show the youth group. Brenton Brown led worship, but it was a bunch of songs that were all new to me, so it didn't really do a lot for me. Mercy Me did the late night concert, which I was looking forward to, but Break Forth had a new company doing sound this year, and it absolutely blew chunks. The bass was SO overpowering my jeans were vibrating, which was a really strange sensation. If I hadn't thought to bring ear plugs along, I would have had to leave. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it a whole lot!

Saturday morning started off with worship with Matt Maher, which was cool, and the speaker was John Eldridge. He talked about listening to God, and walked us through an exercise right there, involving asking God a question and then just waiting to hear what He would say. I couldn't relax enough to listen but I did ask "what?" As in what do you want, what next, what should I be doing with this year - just what. I didn't hear anything, but I wasn't too worried - God has this habit of popping up in my life and getting my attention when I least expect it. :)

Then Trevor and I booked it over to McDougal Untied, this gorgeous old church with stained glass and fancy pillars and creaky pews for a worship service with Brian Doerkson, which was good. Brian Doerkson has this thing for the psalms, and he did a lot of meditative-type ones. And it was just him on his guitar with a piano and some handheld percussion. It was really relaxing. Then we had lunch with Jennifer and that was cool - we haven't seen her since before she moved to Kelowna, and since we're not going to be out that way till May, it was really nice to catch up a bit. She was telling us how she was going to give up tv for Lent, and I thought that was pretty brave of her. Tv has become a big part of my life!

Then Trevor walked over to Mother's Music to buy me better earplugs then the cheap foam ones I'd been using (isn't he nice?), and I went to a session where they were supposed to be teaching the new songs that were in this year's update for the Break Forth music binder. Sadly, the leader of the session was pretty chatty, so we didn't get through many of the songs, and most of the ones she picked to go over were ones that I already knew. So at least I know now not to sign up for that elective next year!

After that, Trevor went to a guitar clinic with Doug Doppler (who he loooves, partly because Doug was taught by Joe Satriani, who's Trevor's Guitar Hero. :) For my elective I went back to McDougal United for a worship session with Brenton Brown and Matt Maher, which was totally awesome. It was less crowded then Brian Doerkson's session, so I was able to have some space to myself and write a bit. They were really funny guys, and had a good rapore. They talked about the song writing process a bit, and they were just really genuine and cool. They seemed like the kind of people it would be fun to hang out with. Anyway, I was scribbling down some lines for a new song, and Brenton starts praying that the people in the room would be blessed with songs and creativity and all these things, and I'm going "Thanks...it's not the creativity that's the problem, it's the lack of MUSIC skills that's the problem!" From the last 7 or so years I have about 40 songs in various stages of development, and nothing to do with them when they're 'done'. Sometimes the lack of a creative outlet makes me want to stop writing altogether, but like I heard this one worship leader say at Break Forth a few years ago, "When God speaks, you'd better get a pen". So I HAVE to write, but I sure wish I knew what to do with that!

The evening main session was with Paul Baloche (who wrote "Offering", which is one of my all time favourite songs) and the speaker was this guy from Hawaii named Wayne Cordeiro, who was SO funny. To be honest, I don't really remember what he talked about, I just remember laughing a lot.

After that, we went to another worship session with Brenton Brown. It wasn't very crowded, so we got near the front and Trev got some good photos. It was a really good session, and I finally heard God speak to me, and He said to cancel our cable subscription. This is something that Trevor has mentioned to me every once in a while since we got married, but I have my few shows I like that I haven't wanted to give up. But I had just spent all day pondering to myself about dreams and what I want to be doing and how to spend my time, and how to spend more time with God, and tv is definitely getting in the way of those things. So I turned to Trevor on a break between songs and said "God says to cancel the cable". Being very wise after 7 years of marriage, he didn't say anything like "that's what I've been saying for years!", he just said "are you sure?". Yup, I'm sure. The more I think about it, the better of an idea I think it is. It'll give me the time I've been craving to spend with God and write, and more time with Trevor, and more time to read. The shows I really like I can still get on DVD, a lot of them from the library for next to free (a $12/year library card is a lot less then a $60/month cable subscription!) and anyway, if I can't live without tv in my life, that's just pretty sad, especially considering I grew up without it. And so we've decided to save that extra $60/month and pray about how God wants us to spend it, which is pretty exciting. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Anyway, worshiping is about my favourite thing possible to do, so I could have kept singing all night. Brenton was trying to end the session, and people kept calling for more. Finally he was like "You Canadians...you like your winters cold and your worship sets long!" which made me laugh. He has no idea how long I'd like my worship sets! :) It was a lot of fun, and made me feel grounded in a way I haven't felt since I came back from Israel.

Sunday morning I went to a session on small group leading, and it was a real disappointment. The presenter started off by saying "If you don't have the spiritual gift of teaching, don't even bother trying to lead a group, because you won't be able to do it." I thought that was pretty harsh, and it went downhill from there. She talked alot about the way she does things, and her experience and what she thought was best, and talked about how you have to control things as a group leader and that you have to stomp out any spontaneous conversations about anything else, even if they look like they're going somewhere deep. And she didn't have any scripture to back up anything she said, so I was pretty cheezed and glad when it was over. I was hoping for resources and questions and things to help me be a better leader, not be 'law-d' at like she was doing.

Then I went to a really excellent session about making time for God in your life. The speaker (I wish I could remember her name - it was Connie something) talked about six ways to make more time for God, and guess what the second one was? "Turn off the tv"! :) The third one was to spend less time online, which I'm going to work on. Although this blog post alone has already taken about an hour almost solid, so...

The final session was supposed to be with Frank Peretti and Brian Doerkson, but sadly, Frank Peretti is in some kind of life threatening situation. They didn't elaborate, but it's really upsetting. Frank's books played a major role in my spiritual awakening, and while I know where he's going should he die, it would be nice to read a few more of his books before he goes! Anyway, Phil Callaway spoke instead, and he really is QUITE funny. He also talked about having less tv in one's life...are we seeing a reoccurring theme here?! Brian Doerkson did one of his new songs that's going to be in a musical he's writing about the Prodigal Son, and it was really powerful. It had a really driving drum beat, and it was sung 'by' the older brother character, lamenting the famine in the land and asking "how long Oh Lord" with just this really plaintive cry that actually made me think of the Israelites in captivity in Egypt. I'm really looking forward to hearing the finished product.

Then we had dinner with the friends with whom we stayed, and headed home, listening to the new Brenton Brown cd, which has both mine and Trevor's new favourite songs on it. We didn't get in till 9:30, and I'm SO tired, but it was an awesome, amazing, phenomenal weekend, really. I can't wait for next year! Yay God!

And now I really should get back to work...eep! This took way longer then I meant for it to, but I really wanted to blog about it while everything was fresh in my mind...

25 Things About Me

1. Yesterday was my 10th anniversary of living in Calgary. I moved here from Victoria in the middle of a snowstorm. When I went out the next day, my damp hair froze to my ears...definitely not something I'd experienced in Victoria!

2. I hate 'maple flavouring'. I often don't order pancakes when we go out for breakfast because I can't stand fake maple syrup. When I was a kid in Nova Scotia, we used to make our own, and I guess I got a little spoiled. :)

3. I love tea. Especially Second Cup's Earl Grey and Tim Horton's steeped tea. When I got to work today and opened my Timmy's cup, I realized they gave me a double double coffee, not tea. Sad day!!!

4. I have three floor-to-ceiling bookcases of books, and I have a big spreadsheet where I keep track of them all, especially the ones that are vintage editions. I love books!

5. In general, I don't find movie adaptations of books as good as the originals, but I think I might possibly like the recent Disney version of Prince Caspian better then the book. Mostly because CS Lewis wrote such wussy girl characters - not his fault, that's The Way Things Were, but I liked seeing Susan kick butt in the movie.

6. In 2003 I spent the summer on a VBS team, travelling around Canada on a Greyhound bus. If you ask me if I've been somewhere, often I can remember the bus depot, but not anything about the town itself.

7. My earliest memory is my first Christmas - I was just a few days away from being a year old, and I got an orange plastic tea set. I can also remember my first portrait sitting, but I'm not sure if it was before or after Christmas...I do remember thinking the photographer was crazy! Mom said he eventually gave up on trying to get me to smile.

8. When I was swimming in the Sea of Galilee last summer, a fish bit my toe and scared me half to death. I've never had that happen to me in any other body of water I've ever swam in.

9. I get excited when I think about going to Pearl Harbour, because one of my favourite Adventures in Oddessy episodes was set there.

10. My current desktop wallpaper is a shot I took of two plastic chairs watching the sun set over the Sea of Galilee.

11. I looooove to play Scrabble. Yay Scrabble! I also like Monopoly, Apples to Apples, Taboo and Balderdash.

12. I used to read the Encyclopedia Britannica for fun (the illustrated children's version, but still...)

13. Fruit is one of my favourite foods. Mandarins, pomegranates, kiwi fruit, grapefruit, watermelon, honeydew melon, plums, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blackberries, cherries, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes, blueberries, cantaloupe...sooo tasty!

14. My career goal used to be to open a cafe by Parliament Hill where all the MPs would come to eat lunch and gossip about politics.

15. I like to write. I write a lot. Mostly letters with big words for my boss, but also songs and stories. I have several books on the go - they always start out really well, and then I get a new idea and head off on a tangent. Maybe one of these days I'll actually get a book finished!

16. Gravy is my favourite comfort food. Gravy on potatoes, gravy on schnitzel, gravy on spatzle, gravy on bread (with meat!), gravy on meat, gravy on stuffing. Yummy!

17. When I was a teenager, I used to win blue ribbons at the country fair for my baking. My roses and my sunset photography won ribbons too.

18. Also when I was a teenager, I took French classes with a Welshman who learned to speak French in South Africa so he could teach agriculture. There was a lot of "your goat is in my hut"...

19. I parallel parked perfectly on my driving test, and haven't done it so well ever since.

20. I'm on the planning committee for the 2009 Lutheran Church Canada Alberta British Columbia District Youth Gathering. A long title for a job that involves trying to get more people involved so I can delegate stuff to them. :)

21. My favourite spot in all of Canada is Taylor Beach, in Metchosin on Vancouver Island. There are also lots of blackberries there, which also makes me very happy.

22. Trevor and I will have been married 7 years in June. That went really fast!

23. My pink and brown kitchen gives me much joy. When I get home from work, walking in the door makes me smile. I love my house!

24. I suck at Wii. Trevor's Mii does this really annoying happy dance all the time, which doesn't help. I need to play Wii with someone who's worse then me so I can boost my Mii's self esteem.

25. When I moved to Calgary, it was the first time in my whole life I'd lived somewhere landlocked. It still sucks - after 10 years I miss the ocean just as much as I did when I got here. I'm really looking forward to going to California this summer and seeing a bit of the ocean I haven't seen before.

Wow...this was really hard! Hopefully this was interesting enough that you persevered to the bottom. :)

Wild Roses

I've been watching this new show on CBC that's really growing on me, so when I got this message from the Facebook group, I thought I'd pass it along...

"I've sent this message along to help promote "Wild Roses", a new prime time drama that airs Tuesday nights at 9PM nationwide on the CBC. It's a great new show that is being described as the Canadian version of Dallas.
The CBC is making decisions about whether or not to renew the show for a second season based on the first FOUR episodes numbers so it's crunch time. I would like to help support the show so I'm sending this e-mail to those who I think will enjoy it!
Episode 4 airs on Tuesday the 27th at 9:00PM on CBC!!!
Can you please forward this message on to as many family and friends as you can and ask them to tune in?!
All the best and many thanks,The Cast and Crew of "Wild Roses"
CBC Website: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.cbc.ca%2Fwildroses%2F
IMDB: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt1239185%2F
You Tube: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3D%2522wild%2Broses%2522%2Bcbc%2Bdrama%26search_type%3D%26aq%3Df
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=44054161889
P.S. If you liked the show, make sure to let the CBC know!"

Stargate Lego

http://dvice.com/archives/2009/01/asgard_flagship.php?p=2&cat=undefined#more

Wow...really? I mean, I looove Stargate, but wow...

Although a Stargate Lego game would be super cool! I'm not a huge of of playing Star Wars Lego, but it is really cute to watch. It would be fun to see what they could do with Stargate.

Quote of the Day

"A pen in the hand is mightier then a bush."

-Oscar from Corner Gas

Don't ask me why, but that was about the funniest thing I've heard all week... :)

A Blustery Day

Despite the weather forecast calling for only 'light flurries' today, what's going on outside my window is definitely not what I'd consider 'light'! I really wish I hadn't worn a skirt to work, and I REALLY wish I was at home, bundled up with fleece, a book, a cat and something nice to snack on. It's just one of those days...

Trevor and I are planning our 7th anniversary trip...to California! We're going to go to Legoland, San Francisco, and Napa Valley. Have you been to California? Any 'must see' recommendations?

Back to work now...to dream about sunny California while the snow blows past the window...

Year in Review

I love these things, because they make me think about stuff I might not have otherwise. Here's a look back at what 2008 meant to me...not surprisingly, Israel features quite highly. :)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? Bought a house, went to Israel (which included too many firsts to list!), joined the District Youth Gathering Committee, got the car stuck in a snowdrift, played video games (I gave Trev a Wii for Christmas), hosted Christmas dinner for the family...

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't even remember what they were...probably to eat more healthily and get more exercise, which I did ok with, and hope to keep up this year

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? a couple of friends had babies

4. Did anyone close to you die? no

5. What countries/cities did you visit? Lots of travelling around Alberta and BC, as usual, and ISRAEL! And Jordan...

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? More time with God

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? July 1st...Canada Day in Israel! And September 23rd...the day we took possession of the new house.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Going to Israel, working my butt off in the dirt, and loving every minute of it. Buying a house was a pretty big achievement too - we've been working towards it for over 6 years!

9. What was your biggest failure? Getting sick at Christmas :(

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? See #9...

11. What was the best thing you bought? A house!

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? Trevor painted a pink stripe around my kitchen :) He actually worked really hard at doing all the things I wanted done to the house. It made me very happy!

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? That's a pretty dramatic statement...I don't tend to get THAT bothered about things!

14. Where did most of your money go? Travelling and house-buying

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Israel! New house! Having company in the new house!

16. What song will always remind you of 2008? My "Liberated Wailing Wall" cd I listened to a lot in Israel, and the songs from the Prince Caspian soundtrack

17. Compared to this time last year, are you…
i. happier or sadder? Happier
ii. thinner or fatter? About the same
iii. richer or poorer? Depends...we're more in debt, but we've got more invested!

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Digging in the hot sun

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Not trusting God

20. How will you be spending Christmas? I take it this refers to Christmas 2008...I hosted dinner for the fam, with my mom and bro from NS and the inlaws too

21. How will you be spending New Years? I was still really sick, and sadly I was in bed by 9.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008? With Israel!

23. How many one night stands? lol

24. What was your favourite TV program? McLeod's Daughters

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope - hating is highly overrated

26. What was the best book you read? I'm really enjoying the "Cat Who..." series...I don't think I read anything life changing or whatever

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? The Prince Caspian soundtrack

28. What did you want and get? A big trip overseas and a house - two major goals accomplished!

29. What did you want and not get? To work TEC :(

30. What was your favourite film of this year? Prince Caspian

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I had a few friends and some family over and had cake...turned 28

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I don't know what could have made it more satisfying!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? "Grubby Archaeologist" :)

34. What kept you sane? God!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Hummm...not really sure...I'm not super into celebrities.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? ARGH! What a year of absolute CRAP! ARGH! Canadian, Israeli and American politics all annoyed the HECK out of me....grrrr....

37. Who did you miss? my friends who don't live in Calgary!

38. Who was the best new person you met? I met lots of cool people in Israel...I met a few cool people in the Toronto airport on the way to Israel, too. :)

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. Stop fretting and trust God! We'll see how well that sticks with me this year... :)

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "This home...I've been searching for a place of my own...now I've found it...this is home"

41. Was 2008 a good year for you? One of the best, without a doubt

42. What were your favourite moments of the year? Having Chris and Kelsey over for a really good visit (I love quality time!), swimming the in Sea of Galilee, having Mom and Simon visit, our big housewarming party, house hunting with Trevor, swimming in the Banff hot springs with the youth and again with my family, going to Lauren's wedding with Heather, visiting Barb in Medicine Hat, seeing Petra, touching the Western Wall, moving out of the basement suite in the NE, the first time we walked into what is now our house, eating popsicles on the kibbutz after a day of digging, hiking Grotto Canyon with Trevor....so many of them!

43. What was your least favourite moment of the year? Dealing with the crappy internet connection at the kibbutz while trying to talk to Trevor, dealing with Israeli border security, getting my RRSP statement after the market crash, being sick on Christmas (I missed church on Christmas day for the first time in my LIFE!), Anne Marie telling me she was leaving DPS-ing

44. What was your favourite month of 2008? June to September

45. What was your favourite song from in 2008? "This is Home", I think it's by Switchfoot

46. What was your favourite record from 2008? The Prince Caspian soundtrack

47. How many concerts did you see in 2008? Quite a few...one with Trevor that I didn't love so much, and a bunch at the CPO. The most memorable one at the CPO was Natalie McMaster, although that was also the most recent one. :)

48. Did you have a favourite concert in 2008? My favourite concert is still the Starfield/Third Day/Chris Tomlin one I went to a few years back

49. Did you drink a lot of alcohol in 2008? Nope

50. Did you do a lot of drugs in 2008? I sure went through a lot of Advil Cold and Sinus! :)

51. Did you do anything you are ashamed of this year? I don't think so...although if I did, I wouldn't be likely to post it on my blog...

52. What was the worst lie someone told you in 2008? I can't think of anything

53. Did you treat somebody badly in 2008? Possibly...I feel that sometimes I come across as rude when really I'm just quiet, so I might have without realizing

54. Did somebody treat you badly in 2008? Not that I can think of

55. How much money did you spend in 2008? I bought a house and took a major trip overseas...it wasn't a cheap year!

56. What was your proudest moment of 2008? The day I carried two heavy buckets of pottery shards all the way down the hill all by myself, and at a decent pace, too!

57. If you could go back in time to any moment of 2008 and change something, what would it be? I'm not sure that I would change anything. It was a super good year!

58. What are your plans for 2009? Run a youth gathering, go to California with Trevor, maybe go someplace hot for Christmas if it works out, go to Break Forth, read lots of books, write, and cross some more things off the 'house to do' list

Israel Article

http://www.lutheranchurch-canada.ca/canluth/Nov08.pdf

It's on page 27

Funny

http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...if you live at the North Pole, anyway...

The weather here has been insane this past week! Last Sunday it started snowing while we were in church, and it snowed, and it snowed. And then it started getting cold. Last Thursday it took two hours to get to work, when normally it only takes 45 minutes. Friday afternoon it snowed some more, and traffic was backed up everywhere despite warnings to stay at home - the storm hit right around rush hour and it ended up taking people hours to get home. On Saturday we went to Australia (the movie, not the warm country where it's currently summer, unfortunately) and the normally five minute trip took quite a bit longer - either the snow was loose and slidey under the tires, or it was so packed down it was like driving on ice. The movie was pretty good though, and the theatre was mostly empty.

So if anyone not in Calgary is reading this, let me explain what I mean by cold. We're talking between -25 and -35 degrees...so cold that when you step outside and breathe, your nose hairs freeze together. If you try to breathe through your mouth to avoid that very weird sensation, you start to cough because your lungs can't get any oxygen out of the frozen air. If you put a scarf over your mouth and nose to try to help with the breathing, the patch by your mouth freezes and is really just gross as it thaws and re-freezes as you breath out and in. You have to plug in your car (technically the block heater which keeps the engine warm) overnight because if you don't, it won't start. If you're going to go through a drive through, you need to test your window first, because there's a good chance it's frozen shut. I don't open the curtains or the blinds in the house because the windows are so cold you may as well be outside. It's so cold that the switches for the trains freeze up and leave crowds of people huddling in poorly heated shelters while they try to get to work. In short, it's so cold that you'd be in danger of loosing small appendages by the time you got to work, if you didn't go out prepared. (Like the lady I saw at the train only wearing thin leather driving gloves...my down-filled MEC gloves rated to -30 were feeling not quite warm enough...I can't imagine how painful that must have been!)

Have I mentioned how much I love Israel and how nice and warm it was there??!!

My Mom and my brother got here from Nova Scotia yesterday, and it was a beautiful day - the snow was white and sparkling in the sun, and the sky was blue, blue, blue. It was also -30 with the windchill... I was kind of afraid they'd get back on the plane and head home to balmy NS where if it gets to -10 it's a cold winter. But Mom said it reminded her of when she was a kid in central Newfoundland, so they're still here. :) She came bearing seafood, and we had a yummy shrimp and rice thing for dinner, so it's a good thing they did stay!

Now I just have to survive a few more days of this, and then it's supposed to warm back up to -10 or -15, which will be great and we'll all be shedding layers and driving with the windows open. :)

Much Rudeness at the Firm

It was so weird - my boss isn't here today, so the receptionist called me and said there was someone here about one of our clients.

I went out to the front and this lady was there, and she said she was this client's mother and she came to pay his bill and take his file.

I said we hadn't heard from him in months, and if he wanted someone to pick up his file that was fine, but we needed something in writing from him before we could release his file.

She totally freaked out and started ranting about how she came from Airdrie and had ID (like that proves anything?) and if I didn't give her the file 'right now' we were never going to see our money, etc. She pulled out a piece of paper and said here's his number, call him. So I said I'd go try to call him from the number that's on the file (he lives in China, so I really didn't want to wrack up a phone bill, either), and she laughed and said that he has a new number now. (?)

I was starting to get a little worried she was going to attack me or something, so I said I'd have to go talk to the office manager. Loris could hear everything from her office because of how loud this woman was being and she told me to tell this woman that she could pay, have the client send us a message with the address where he wanted the file to do, and we'd send it.

I delivered the message, and she swore, pushed past me and stormed out. She also stopped to swear a bit and tell the receptionist I was rude.

I'm glad the office manager and the receptionist could hear and witness the whole thing, otherwise I'd be a bit worried that I had been inadvertently rude, but they backed me up really well.

I can't believe how rude she was and how mad she got. She didn't phone, we haven't heard from the client in months…and to go ballistic like that? She seems pretty unstable. I was feeling pretty unstable after that myself...my hands were shaking so badly I could hardly type. I don't do well with confrontation in general, but this was just so totally out of the blue. It's not an unreasonable regulation - any other law firm in the city would expect their bill to be paid and to have authorization to release a file, but this woman seemed to think that I should just kowtow to her. SO WEIRD!

Anyway, I'm very thankful I don't have to deal with that kind of hostility very often, that's for sure. I'm very much looking forward to going home in a couple of hours and having a hot toddy - I think I earned it today!

An Alberta Wife

Three men from Ontario were sitting together one day bragging about how they had given duties to their new wives.

The first man had married a woman from Quebec and had told her that she was going to have to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man had married a woman from Manitoba. He had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a girl from Alberta. He told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little bit out of his left eye - enough to fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher.

Christmas Preferences

So I've seen a LOT of those email surveys/questionnaires that go around, but this is the first Christmas one I've ever seen, but since Sunday is the first day of Advent, and my boss isn't at work today, I figured I'd post this here instead of swamping my friends with email. :)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift bags! They're less hassle, and since you can reuse them, they're more environmentally friendly.

2. Real tree or Artificial? I love real trees...nothing beats the scent of a fresh tree in your living room. And you can get one for $20 at Ikea, and they give you a $20 off a $50 purchase in January-March. Can't beat that deal!

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually around the second Sunday in Advent

4. When do you take the tree down? Epiphany...January 6, which is 12 days after Christmas, in case you were wondering!

5. Do you like eggnog? Sort of...it makes me a bit sick because of the egg yolks in it, so I haven't drunk it in years. Now that I've found a supplement that helps me handle eggs, maybe I'll try it again this year.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't know...I always got lots of books and chocolates for Christmas - my family was never into big, expensive presents. I have happy memories of spending Boxing Day eating my way through a box of those seashell shaped Belgium chocolates while I read my way through a stack of books.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Dad and my brother-in-law...neither of them really ever 'need' anything, so that makes it hard. I like to be creative, and I start to feel annoyed when I end up buying wine and movie passes every year!

8. Easiest person to buy for? Mom - we like a lot of the same things, so when I see something that I really like but can't justify buying for myself, I'll often get it for Mom. :)

9. Do you have a nativity scene? I have two - a plastic Veggie Tales one, and an olive wood one I got in Jerusalem.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? When I actually get around to doing Christmas cards, I send them by mail, and I write something personal in all of them, which I why I sometimes don't get around to mailing any!

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of any one thing, but definitely when I get stuff I don't need. And I'm ruthless about STUFF, if I get something I don't need, I put it in the box for Goodwill, not matter how I might feel about the person who did the giving.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I don't have one.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? This year I started in June, but that's just because I was buying souvenirs in Israel!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Often...

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Gravy with stuffing, and gravy with mashed potatoes, and gravy with turkey, and gravy on leftover turkey sandwiches...

16. Lights on the tree? Is there any other way!?

17. Favorite Christmas song? "Joy to the World" and "I Heard the Bells"

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? I like staying home, but I wouldn't object to travelling somewhere like Australia!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Not a chance

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Right now I have an angel, although I'm open to a star if I find one I like!

21. Open presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? Both...something on Christmas Eve after church, and then everything else on Christmas day after lunch.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The watering down of what the holiday is really about - it's CHRISTmas people, not a winter festival.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love sparkly stuff in blue, white and silver

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? This is a vague question...since I already said what my favourite food is, I'm going to assume the question is "place for Christmas dinner". I'm SUPER excited to have Christmas dinner in our own house this year - my kitchen is so up for it, and we have this awesome dining room table that seats 10!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I have a ginormous wish list of books...they're mostly vintage ones that I look for in used book stores. I also have a few movies and cds I want, but really, it's all about the books!

Tales from the Firm

I was reading this other blog which had a story that made me think of something that happened to me shortly after I started working at the law firm.

I answer the phone, and there's a very elderly man on the other side who proceeds to tell me that he's a war vet and he needs a lawyer. I ask a few questions and the conversation goes something like this:

"I want to sue my wife" he says.

"I'm sorry, we're a family law firm - we don't handle lawsuits".

"But she's my wife and I want to sue her. She's family!"

"Do you want to divorce her?"

"No - I just want my money back. She opened my mail and took a cheque for $20."

"I'm sorry, unless you want to get a divorce, you're going to need to find a law firm that specializes in litigation."

"Where do I find one of those?"

"You could look in the yellow pages..."

Meanwhile, I'm thinking that if I were billing for that phone call it would have cost $20, never mind that hiring a litigation lawyer is going to require a retainer of thousands of dollars...oy!

Tickets for Sale!

We bought tickets for a show at the CPO in January, before we realized it fell on the same weekend as Break Forth, so now we're trying to find someone to take them...it's going to be a fantastic concert - let me know if you're interested!

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra presents Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin hits performed by the Jeans and Classics band) on Friday, January 30, 2009, at 8 pm, at the Jack Singer - $70 for two tickets. Section UCLFT, Row A, Seats 4 &5 http://www.jeansnclassics.com/http://www.cpo-live.com/main/event_detail.php?event_id=363

Pictures of the house in progress!

Finally...only took me a month... :)

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=80772&l=39e9b&id=524866412

Arrrrrr!

A pirate walked into a bar with a paper towel on his head.

The bartender asked "What's with the paper towel?"

The pirate said "AAAR! I have a bounty on me 'ead."

I hear that Johnny Dep has signed on to do Pirates 4 - wooooot!!!

Well then...

I have taken a lot of 'before' pictures of the new house - but haven't had time to get them off my camera! Things are coming a lot more slowly then I thought they would, but we're enjoying setting up the place the way we want it. Hopefully I'll have a chance to get some pictures up soon.

I'm really tired today...I stayed up way past my bedtime to watch the election results roll in, and I was pretty disappointed with the result. I held out hope for a majority till about 10:30, and then I gave up in disgust and went to bed. I did feel kind of sorry for Dion - he looked so much like a kicked puppy! Jack Layton just annoys me though - he's like a yippy Jack Russell terrier that just runs around with small dog syndrome, nipping at everyone's heels. And don't even get me STARTED on the Bloc...and the worst voter turnout! What's up with that??!! I sure hope you voted....

Here's a really excellent article I just found...sums things up very nicely.
http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/article/119181

PM Stephen Harper deserves the full support of Canadians
October 15, 2008

Hunting season is a popular time for many hunters in this area, whether it be deer, moose or small game.

However, as our election day drew near, it seemed that Stephen Harper had become the target for many political critics. As I read the recent letters in the Forester, nearly everyone has been attacking Harper and the Conservatives. As I watched both the French and English debates on TV it was open season once again by the four opposing candidates against our prime minister.
I was personally appalled by the accusations, rudeness and vilification of Stephen Harper. An old adage says, “The boat lost in the fog makes the most noise.” There was a lot of noise and only Stephen Harper had poise and conduct befitting a prime minister.

The old rhetoric of Harper being scary or extreme right wing is wearing pretty thin. In two and a half years as prime minister in a minority government he has proven very competent and trustworthy. It seems that some fear-mongers are afraid of a majority government, but this is what traditionally had been used to accomplish the will of the people in Canada.

Since when has having a strong military become extreme right wing? If it wasn’t for the sacrifice of thousands of Canadians in the past we would not be enjoying our freedoms today. When has law and order, moral values, traditional marriage and protection of life (unborn and living) become extreme right wing? These values are not extreme right wing; they are just right.

When hugging trees becomes more important than hugging babies who can’t protect themselves, there is something systemically wrong with out value system. The Bible predicts a day when people will call good evil and evil good. Has that day arrived?

May we return to the values of our founding fathers, who used their freedom and faith to build our political framework and our nation of Canada. On the arches of our Parliament building in Ottawa we read what our founding fathers used as the basis of the name Dominion of Canada, taken from Psalm 72:8. “and He (God) shall have dominion also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth.”

In the final days before the election, with world economies struggling to survive an economic earthquake, it was noteworthy to hear our Canadian banking system was ranked number one by world economists. Why? Because the Harper Conservatives had been proactive and not reactive like the opposition parties and had taken steps to strengthen our banking regulations. This created stability for our banks and financial institutions which encouraged the Canadian electorate to have greater confidence.

In conclusion, remember this truth: a leader is a person who influences people to accomplish a purpose. Stephen Harper is this kind of a leader and is deserving of our prayers and support as he continues on as our prime minister.

-Stuart Silvester
Huntsville

Courthouse Rage

ARGGGGHHH! Seriously...if you ever see a headline that says "Legal Assistant Goes on Rampage at Courthouse with Bent Paperclip" you'll know it's me. Some people are freaking unbelievable!

Thankfully house stuff is going much more smoothly, thanks to my Dad and Trevor's mom...tomorrow is moving day though, and we still haven't finished packing. Ooops....

The Brick screwed up big time with my order, and only two things are being delivered, and on Sunday, not tomorrow like they were supposed to... We're getting the washer and the stove, which SUCKS, because the only thing we've been able to actually get rid of is the dryer!!! How's that for crappy timing?

I need chocolate now.

Fall already?

Where did the summer go??!!

So, the house is ours as of September 22nd. We're busy packing, calling to change utilities etc, having potential tenants come through our suite, deciding on rennos (what we want to do vs. what we can actually afford...) as well as the usual church stuff, regular chores, and trying to squeeze in visits with friends. Busy busy!

We did go camping on the September long weekend - Waterton is absolutely beautiful, and we had a really nice campsite. However, the wind on the second night was so vicious it kept pushing the tent into my face, and when the wind let up, the tent would spring upright again. We ended up 'sleeping' in the car most of the night, and it shook like a boat on the ocean every time there was a gust of wind. It was a very uncomfortable night, and we ended up coming home Saturday evening... I'd like to go back again someday, but to stay in a hotel this time!

What else has been going on? We went to a wedding, and ended up at the 'old married people's table', which was mildly disconcerting! We went to Trevor's work picnic at Heritage Park, which was fun - I won a jacket and our team won "Name that Tune". I bought a really nice antique table at the church garage sale, and I found a butcher block kitchen trolley on Craigslist - both of which are now residing in the middle of the hallway until we move into a place where we actually have room for them! I went to see Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2, which I quite enjoyed. And, I'm an aunt again - my sister just had her second girl, Aidah - middle name still TBA.

My mom and my brother are coming for Christmas, so I'm pretty excited about that. I can't wait to have our first Christmas in our own house! I'll actually have a kitchen big enough to cook a proper Christmas dinner in...

My first tickets of the season for the CPO are this Saturday night, for "Swing, Swing, Swing", so I'm looking forward to that. I also have tickets for a Natalie McMaster Christmas special, a Queen tribute, and the Arrogant Worms, so it's going to be a good season.

Counting down the days now to moving...house possession on the 22nd, followed by a week of cleaning and painting, and then moving on the 27th, followed by cleaning the old place, and lots of unpacking and organizing at the new place. Let me know if you're interested in helping! :)

Big Purchase

I haven't updated this in a while - I was doing really well there for a bit!

I have a good reason though...we're in the process of buying a house!!!! So exciting...we have a conditional offer in on a place in Silver Springs - the financing is in place, we just need a home inspection and a review of the condo documents. The inspection is tomorrow, and we're supposed to get the documents today - the deadline for all the conditions to be met is Monday, so we're almost there.

It's been so crazy these last couple of weeks, and the next week or so is looking pretty busy too. We need to get everything all squared away before we go on our camping trip for the September long weekend, and then hopefully we'll have a couple of weeks to pack, and then we'll take possession on September 22 and spend a week painting and such before fully moving out of our basement suite in the hood, and into a nice townhouse closer to all our friends and the church.

Hopefully I'll have good news tomorrow or Thursday, and then we'll be looking for good friends to help with the painting and moving... :)

A few random things

I found this really interesting news article about the son of a prominent Hamas member who has become a Christian..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1007462.html

He emphases how he hasn't been involved in terrorist activities himself, and talks a lot about how he hopes that one day he'll marry a Christian - maybe even a Jewish Christian, which would really be something else!

Then I found this article...
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=16809

The Israeli foreign minister thinks that giving the Golan Heights back to Syria is going to bring peace. HA!!!! Ok, I was digging in the Golan Heights. I read the book with the history of the kibbutz where we stayed. Syria used to attack the Galilee from the Golan Heights. The IDF took back that very hill where we dug because of it's strategic attack location. If Israel gives the Golan to Syria, that's going to spell the end of the Jewish nation. And I have no doubt that once the Arab nations have taken Israel off the map, they're going to move on to everyone else who doesn't believe what they do. The Arab leaders were buddy-buddy with Hitler during the war - that should give you an idea of where their priorities lie! I just find it so hard to believe that someone who's lived in Israel their entire life can think that peace can be reached with the surrounding nations. There isn't going to be peace there until Jesus comes back, and giving any ground away is just going to make the situation worse. Argh! I'd love to give that woman a piece of my mind...

On to something slightly more cheerful...I so enjoyed Prince Caspian when it came out this summer. I went to see it twice, and I've even joined a forum called Narnia Web. They're starting to film Dawn Treader early next year! Sooo exciting. Anyway, one of the other forum members did up this music video of Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and posted it on YouTube. It's really good...take a few minutes and listen to it! It'll make you think...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPKTc2rkmFw

Hope y'all are enjoying your long weekend!

Rant About Things that are Annoying Me

Warning:

I may seem quiet and mild most of the time, but if you hit on something about which I'm passionate, you could get an earful. Or an eyeful in this case...I'm usually careful about things I blog because I don't want to offend anyone, but there are a few things I'd like to get off my chest. So if you're sensitive about lawsuits, gay rights, abortion, big development, the religious jewelry debate, or infant baptism, you should probably stop reading now!

"Hasboro sees Scrabulous as a Risk to their Monopoly"
I saw this comment on one of the discussions under an on-line news article, and I quite like it. I went on Facebook to make a move in my games this morning, and I got a message saying the application was shut down. Hasboro is suing the two brothers who invented it for copyright violations or some such nonsense. There are arguments for both sides here, but I'm annoyed that Hasboro can't find some way to settle this without pissing off the thousands of people who apparently use the application on a daily basis, including me! Not only is it fun and a good mental exercise, it's put me in touch with some friends I haven't been in contact with in ages. Argh...

My brother made a comment on one of his friend's photos, and it showed up in my news feed. This particular friend was part of the gay pride parade in Halifax, and she took her toddler along. The toddler was carrying a desecration of the Canadian flag - the center portion with the red maple leaf on the white background had been applied over the rainbow gay pride flag. Our family has strong military heritage and we're all quite conservative, and so Simon commented on how while that flag might make some people feel welcome, it certainly offends others. Preach it little bro! It's one thing if members of the gay community want to have their own flag - that's their right, but when you start mucking around with our nation's flag, that's a whole 'nother matter. I have to say, I've never really been a flag-waver, and when I was in Israel and Quinn was marching around waving the flag on Canada Day, I thought he was a little crazy. But having seen that photo on Facebook, I've suddenly become a bit more of a patriot!

The Order of Canada - again, not something I've ever really thought a whole lot about. Until this announcement was made...
"Henry Morgentaler, Member of the Order of Canada
For his commitment to increased health care options for women, his determined efforts to influence Canadian public policy and his leadership in humanist and civil liberties organizations."
"Health care options for women" my butt! Baby killer, more like. I know there's a strong camp out there that says it's a woman's choice to do what she likes with her body. To that I like to quote my old youth pastor, Jerod. He used to say that you have the right to swing your arms around all you like, but the moment your arm comes in contact with someone else, that right ends. So yes, you have the right to do whatever you want to yourself, but when that right infringes on the right of an innocent baby to have life, your right ends. There was a picture of me in our local newspaper when I was about 6, walking a picket line with Mom, outside the hospital where my brother and sister were born, yet were babies were being killed. There were a lot of things I didn't understand then, but I understood that babies like my brother were dying, and I wanted to help. I still do...I sent letters to my MP, Art Hanger, to the PM, to the Governor General, and the committee that appoints the Order. I've heard back from all of them - a fairly personal email from Mr. Hanger, a form email from the PM's office, and a mass email from the GG's office, but nothing from the committee. Interesting, hey?

Trevor and I go to the Calgary Farmer's Market in the old Currie Barracks a couple of times a month for brunch and a little shopping. The lease the farmer's market has on the old hangar is expiring next year, and the company that owns the land is planning to tear it down and build a development there. I've written to my alderman and the development corporation asking them to save the farmer's market - it's important for a whole bunch of reasons and it shouldn't be ground to dust under the wheels of big business because they want to build expensive condos or some such nonsense. Urban sprawl is out of control!

I read a news article today about a Sikh schoolgirl in Britain who goes to a school with a 'no jewellery' policy. They're only allowed plain ear studs and watches - makes sense to me because it means no one is bringing expensive jewellery to school to show off or get stolen, and makes everyone a little more equal. This particular girl has a bracelet that she wears as part of her religion, and kicked up a fuss when they told her not to wear it, so the family took the school to court and won. The girl said "I'm so happy to know that no one else will go through what me and my family have gone through". Oy! But my burning question is would the Christian girls who go there be allowed to wear their crosses now? Or is it just freedom of religion for non-Christians, which is so often the case? Thankfully we have a religion that is based on one's inward appearance, not symbols which we wear!

Heading off to youth group tonight to talk about infant baptism...a subject which I feel much conflict over. If I had a time machine, I'd go back and ask Jesus to be a little more specific about exactly what He had in mind when He commanded that we baptize all nations!

Back to work...I also have a rant about people who come to work and don't do anything, so I should do my best to avoid being the topic of my own annoyance. :)

My Boss

I don't know if I've blogged much about my boss...her name is Carolyn, and she's awesome. We work really well together, and I like her a lot. Which is good, because some days I talk to her more then I talk to Trevor. :)

She's on holidays right now, or is supposed to be...she just emailed me to say her mother-in-law died last night. Her health wasn't good, so it doesn't come as a huge shock, but that doesn't lessen the impact either. I don't think any of them are "church people", but I'm praying for them anyway - that some good will come of this sad situation. if you could as well, I'd appreciate it.

Yay for Friday!

It's been a long week...I still haven't even finished unpacking! Somehow I feel like putting my suitcases away will really mean it's all over. :(

Actually, my biggest fear about the trip did come true...I was really worried that Israel and archaeology would get under my skin and I'd have this burning desire to go back again...oy...

We talked to a mortgage broker this week - it looks like we're going to go ahead and try to buy a house in the NW in the next few months. The market has changed quite a bit in the last few months, so we're going to try to get in while we can. Things could still change, but for now that's what the plan is. And my mom and my brother are going to try to come out for our first Christmas in our own house, which would be super cool.

The trouble with that is if we buy a house, that's where all of our money is going to be going, and the odds of me being able to gallivant off to Hippos for another season are pretty slim. And I want to go so badly! But I also really want to buy a house...argh... I know that if I'm supposed to go again, it'll all work out, but easier said then done!

Can I just say (maybe again!) that I LOVED my experience on this trip? It was fantabulous, and it's definitely changed me. I can't really put my finger on what exactly, but something has changed. Maybe it's because after the stress of border crossings in the middle east, the c-train ride feels like a picnic? :)

Anyway, on the agenda for this weekend is a whole lot of housecleaning, brunch with a friend, hopefully a hike on Nose Hill and I'm going to see Mama Mia with another friend. Should be fun!

Oh, we went to see Get Smart this week - SO, SO funny. There was one really, really, really gross scene that I really could have done without though - I seriously thought I was going to loose my dinner right there in the theatre! Aside from that though, I had no complaints.

Have a good weekend!

Major Update Part III (or Homecoming Musings)

So I’ve been home almost a week now, and on one hand it feel like only yesterday that I was climbing the hill before dawn, but it also feels like years ago. Flying is a funny thing – it always distorts my sense of time, like my internal balance can’t keep up with moving that fast.

I dozed for most of the first leg of the flight from Tel Aviv, just from sheer exhaustion, but after a few hours I was wide awake and my head was spinning with everything I’d seen and done in the last few days. I wanted to get out my lap top and blog, but the seat I was in didn’t have a power plug. So I thought maybe I’d read, but the reading light above my seat was burnt out. So I tried journaling a bit, in the dark, which turned out to be surprisingly legible when I looked at it in the morning! But it was a very long flight, and I got a little stir crazy.

When we got to Toronto, we had to go through customs, which was super straight forward, pick up our luggage and then check it in again on the other side of the terminal. Our group was down one after customs, as Jenn was driving home to southern Ontario from the airport. We prayed together, and then we were down to a group of 7. Once we were closer to the gates, everyone else went off to the Edmonton gate, and I went on alone to Calgary.

I found I was very lonely all of a sudden. After spending the last two weeks living and working and touring with the same bunch of people nearly every waking moment, it was almost disorienting to be all by myself. We’d gone from a group of 30+ to a group of 10 in Jerusalem, and then 2 left us to fly to the States, and from there we just got smaller. One of my concerns about going to Israel in the first place, without Trevor, was that I would be lonely. I’m very thankful that wasn’t the case, but it made that last few hours of solo travel very strange indeed.

By the time I got to Calgary, I was exhausted. And if you’ve known me much at all, you know the more tired and hungry I get, the more emotional I get. By the time I came through the security doors and saw Trevor, I was in tears over missing the group. But they were partly happy tears too, because I was coming home to Trevor. And then I saw that he had flowers and my Tim Horton’s steeped tea, and that really did it. :)

Thankfully all of my luggage made it, and we headed outside to the car park. We went out the door, and it was so incredibly cold, I started shivering right away. After weeks of 30+ weather, which was hard for the first couple of days because of the humidity, but which I got used to and enjoyed after that, coming home to a temperate half that was quite the shock. And it’s been rainy and gross ever since…brrrrrrr… I’ve been pretty jet lagged too – I did something at work on Friday that was so incredibly stupid I knew it was wrong even as I was doing it, but I was so dazed it was like watching someone else hit the button. (I did manage to fix it, but it took ALL afternoon…oy…)

I’ve been trying to digest everything that happened, and I’m not sure that even four days of reflection is enough time for that, and since I love making lists, I thought maybe a list or two would help in this situation.

Things I miss:
seeing the sunrise
the early morning hike up the hill
being warm
swimming in the lake
being grubby
fruit breaks
the excitement of finding something cool
living in community
devos by the lake
pottery washing
experiencing new things
the thrill of looking at something and having a corresponding Bible verse pop into my head
the humidity
watermelon
the fresh air
the view from the hill
lazy afternoons
tomatoes and cucumbers
the laid-back kibbutz lifestyle
seeing a photo wanting to be taken around every corner
the sense of accomplishment as I get physically stronger
the turkey schnitzel

Things I don’t miss:
the wonky internet connection
not getting enough breakfast
the hike back down the hill when I’m super tired
missing Trevor
not being able to put anything white in the wash for fear it will come back in worse shape
Touring at break-neck speed
Being too tired to stay up and see the sunset and the stars come out
Seeing all the poor starving kitties
eating a bajillion granola bars
always checking for my passport

Dr. Chambers sent those of us who went with the Concordia Edmonton group a little questionnaire he wanted us to fill out for their future reference, if they ever decide to send a group again, so I figured I might as well share it with everyone, in case you’re thinking of going now! :)

What were some of the highlights of the overall experience (the dig, the kibbutz, the various tours, etc.)?

Tel Dan was my favourite place we went. It was really cool to see an Old Testament site and try to fathom how long ago that all happened. It was so lush and green and different from any of the other places we went – I probably could have spent a whole day there, exploring.
I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the kibbutz, and how safe it was. It was a fantastic place to stay.

Other then enjoying finding large chunks of pottery, my highlight of the day at the dig site was always the fruit break. That was the best fruit I’ve ever eaten – not sure if it was because of the fruit itself or because of all the hard work, but it was one of my favourite things.

What did you enjoy, or grow from, the most?

I think most of my growth was physical – it was like one of those boot camps you see on tv! I came a long way in two weeks of digging – I still couldn’t haul a full wheelbarrow, but I could walk up the hill without needing a break, and I could carry two buckets full of pottery down the hill at the end of the day. I could also walk over 15 kilometres, when just a year ago I couldn’t walk more then 5 without extreme amounts of pain.

The thing I enjoyed the most was the feeling of community, safety and acceptance. I also really enjoyed being dirty – such a switch to get up, not shower or do makeup, and just pull on old jeans and a tshirt and be out the door. At home, getting ready to leave in the morning is a major production which involves finding clean clothes that match, struggling with pantyhose and makeup etc. It’s really freeing to not have to worry about all that stuff!

What in particular made these such rewarding experiences?

It’s very unusual for me to go somewhere and not have something I’m in charge of or responsible for. It was so, so nice to just be one of the crowd for a change, and be told what to do. It left me free to really relax and enjoy all the new experiences and things that were going on, and let someone else do all the head counting and worrying! I really appreciated that.

What parts of the overall experience did you find the most challenging?

Before I left on the trip, my biggest challenge was my own fears and worries about what might happen. But by the time I’d gotten to Toronto, I’d been able to leave that all behind me.
The humidity was also a challenge for the first couple of days, but because I grew up on the coast, I was able to adjust fairly quickly.

Were the greatest challenges you faced physical, spiritual, emotional...

Definitely physical! Working a dig is a million miles away from sitting at a desk all day, but even that wasn’t as hard as I’d feared. I think I was expecting more of a driven work ethic on the site, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out about water breaks and that the professional archaeologists realize that not everyone works that hard all, or even most, of the time.

What could be improved next time?

The only thing I really wished someone had mentioned was that we needed a different currency for the Jordan trip. I got so much information and so many lists, I didn’t think about the fact that I might need something that wasn’t included in there anywhere. It ended up working out ok, but not having any dinars did cause me some stress.

Sometimes the speed at which we toured was exhausting, and I'd almost rather see just a few things well then try to see everything quickly.

What words of encouragement and/or caution would you want to give to someone who was considering joining the dig in a future year?

I don’t think I would have any words of caution, unless they had some kind of physical ailment that was a concern, or major dietary restrictions.

What would you say to urge them on, if they were hesitating about committing to the trip?

You’ll regret it more if you don’t go!

What would you tell them to be prepared for, that you think they maybe wouldn't foresee?

I’m not sure if I have an answer for this one…everything went really smoothly, and other then the dinar thing, I didn’t wish for anything that I hadn’t packed. But then again, I brought everything except the kitchen sink with me. :)