Happy B-day Jesus

after a quick visit from Santa - and opening a few presents ... we took time to remember the real 'reason for the season'

Merry Christmas

from our house - to yours!

10 days l8r

Well - it's been busy ... play play play ... is all I've been doing ... playing Christmas carols on a cornet that is! Lots of interesting stories that I would love to share - but I just don't have the energy to write them right now ... some day I will try and do just that. We've had some 'worse' days playing at the kettle ... but I will say - at least for me - Friday noon hour (plus a bit more) would be my 'best' day ... I'll share more on this story a bit later too - I don't think I'll forget too many of the details of it ... it kinda hit home. Days are getting fewer for my visit to Cowtown here ... and soon it will be Christmas day ... I keep checking my list and making sure I am on track ... so far so good I think ... but it seems - as soon as I cross something off my list I add something else to it ... it seems my life is one long list. Oh well, can't say I'm bored ... and at least with stuff on my list it's harder for me to get into trouble!

play time

So I had some play time, wiping up puke time, supper time, tv time, movie time, veg time ... good times ... today at the K household ... it's nice to just visit with no 'purpose' other than to spend some time together ... that's nice ... thanks Susan for letting me come over - even if you had to kick me out!

Kneel 2 Pray

Well folks ... the question is ... does God really hear our prayers whether we're kneeling or not? And how much gutts do we all have to stop whatever we're doing - wherever we're doing it - to just get in touch with God. I guess it's not so much that HE needs to hear us ... it's really whether or not we're at the right place to hear what he has to say to us. Today a friendly reminder was given to me while walking through downtown Calgary - that perhaps I need to take more time to pray - and yes - even in the 'hussle & bussle' of everything to pause when I can to 'check in' with God ... even if it is while waiting for a 'walk' sign on a street corner. And now that I'm thinking about it ... while we're waiting for a street sign to change ... perhaps somewhere in the midst of it all - it's a friendly reminder that in order for us to truly 'walk the walk' we need to keep a closer connection with God. Thanks for taking the time to 'kneel and pray to God' today Joshua - I might be 'older' now - but I too need gentle reminders now and then.

If I'm Right ...

And I usually am ...
So I saw 'The Nativity Story' tonight. I don't want to ruin it for anyone - just in case you don't know the story ... BUT ... I'd recommend to go and see it soon - it just might put you in the 'right' Christmas spirit ...
Today I also went to GT for the morning service (it was good to be back) ... and then to Cheesecake Cafe for lunch (none those around in my neck of the woods) ... followed by some good ol' Sunday rest time ... then off to the Max Bell Arena with the band where we split into two groups for a bit and played Christmas carols for an hour or so ... and then to start of their hockey game ... we walked out on the ice (just a smidge) and played 'O Canada' ...

Brrr it's cold!

Well how crazy is that ... I leave a place where it's PLUS 15 or so - and end up in a place where it's supposedly going to be 40 below (with the windchill).
I don't always start my day with a mission of 'making someone's day' ... but maybe it's something I should try and do will a little more effort - a little more often ... while playing at the kettle today our group was reminded that by playing a simple Christmas carol we 'made someone's day'. Those are the 'moments' that bring you back - and remind you of what's important ... it's not always what's under the tree ...
It could be as simple as have McDonald's with a 3-year old and his mother and younger brother. Or it could be being back with a group of people that have a faith in God and who's mission it is to minister to those around us. Yes, it's Tuesday - and last Tuesday I was commenting how I was NOT at practice ... well, given the circumstances - and since I'm Calgary for a couple of weeks I had the privilege of being back at 'practice' ... it was a great time of worship ... and a big thank you goes out to Susan and Pete for allowing me to join back in for the next little bit (as though I hadn't gone missing) ... it is good to be 'home'.

Bells R Ringing

So - we didn't ring bells - but I spent an hour or so at a 'kettle' today ... which is why I'm here in Cowtown ... I'll be doing that most days until I head back home. I wasn't ringing any bells but there's about a half-dozen of us that were playing our instruments. So - now for me the Christmas Spirit is about to get underway ... somehow 'playing' Christmas carols tends to get that ball rolling in me. So yeah ... here's to more days of playing 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas'.
Looking forward to seeing a few people I haven't seen for a few weeks tomorrow ...

4 Places @ Once

So, today ... well I started out in London (took some 'Christmas' pics of the boys) ... will post a few once I know which one is being picked for the actual 'card' ... wouldn't want to 'give it away'. Before I left a cousin (and his family) of mine dropped by (as they were in town for his sister-in-law's wedding) - so I saw them for a few minutes. Then I headed back home - picked up Scott - and he brought me to TO so I could catch a plane to Cowtown. That's right - a surprise for a few ... even a couple of days ago - a surprise for me! And yes - a ruined surprise in another way ... which I'll still probably feel guilty about for a while ... I'll share more later ... (perhaps in a week or so - you'll understand why then).
So I left the land of 12 degrees above and entered the land of 24 degrees below! Time to find some mitts ...

You Better Watch Out!

Santa Claus is here! I had the PLEASURE of going to the Santa Claus parade (SCP) tonight in London... with two boys that have never experience at SCP before. Don't think they were impressed - or quite understood why we would be sitting out on the street with a bunch of people we didn't know for an hour or more .. just waiting ... but ... when the bands started coming ... and the balloons went by ... there was no more explaining needed ... they were on cloud nine (well past their bedtime - but on cloud nine). A fun time ... and yes ... we did see Santa ... he was there ... I'm guessing he's got a lot of places to visit before he gets to my house in a month's time though!

TGIF

Not really sure why - 'cause it feels like just any other day ... the last couple of days I've been re-filing a whack load of files - seems to be a never-ending task. I've waited at home for portions of two days for the internet guy to come and replace our modem (yes - we only got the modem 3 weeks ago) ... honest - I didn't do anything to it - it hasn't been working from day one - and apparently it's a known fact for the brand that they gave us - so why'd they bother? I don't know ... but all I know ... is that in the midst of 'organizing' the office and moving the desk a bit here and there - and trying to get the mess of wires behind the computer all organized - if I moved the power cord to the modem at all - it would disconnect! ... I called the help desk - the customer service guy that I was talking with said he just spoke with someone that had the same brand of modem ... and while he was on the phone with them ... he could hear them BLOW on it ... and it would turn off the modem! Now, that is just crazy! Anyways ... they've finally come ... not only gave us a new modem - but actually gave us a different brand modem. But of course once that was done I had to wait for a few hours for it to 'click in' with the system before we were up and running again. All is well now I think.
Scott's been away since Wednesday and won't be back 'til Sunday - he's chartering a college football team from Quebec to Saskatoon (had to bring them there - and now has to wait there to bring them back).

Aside from that ... there's not much new - I've also been working on the CD cover for GT Band Christmas CD that they're hoping to get out soon ... lots of photoshopping in my world right now.
With that said ... to those of you that it would matter ... here's to TGIF.

No practice for me

I would normally be at 'songsters' & band practice tonight ... but since such is not the case ... I made a couple of calls - talked to some people as they were heading into band ... and then talked to a few others as they had finished 'songsters'. It was nice to hear their voices (I do miss you guys). I do hope, that in the midst of starting to busily prep for Christmas that they will find time for themselves to 'rest' and make memories for themselves that will truly mean a lot to them and the people around them. And that, despite feeling tired and exhausted in the midst of it all they will remember that to some people out they - they are the only ones that will have the privilege of showing them Christ this season ... and yes, for some people a season is a lifetime. Go do it folks ... show them Jesus!
As for me today ... I made a trip to TWO stores - that's right ... I figure that's my limit ... may as well spread things out ... so I can do something tomorrow ... returned a little something from a project that I was working on (with my dad) to Rona ... and picked up a couple of blinds that I had ordered for the patio doors - I mean 'french' doors I guess - in the kitchen ... Scott has taken care of hanging them ... but it's now up to me to attach the clips on the bottom of the blinds (to hold them close to the door - so they don't swing around when the doors open and close).

A Day In The Office

No I'm not employed by someone! I spent the day in OUR office and I did a bunch of organizing - there's still more to go - but I'll get at that another day (maybe even tomorrow). I did put - what I feel to be - a huge dent in the task today though. That's the majority of the news for today ... Scott's out flying to POP and back right now ... it's a real flight - to a real place - but from the little that I understand it's still a 'flight test' ... all a part of this yearly/return to Canada re-training thing. I think after today's trip his 'training' will be done for another little while. Like I said - there's not much new to report ... sorry for the boring post!

still alive

So we had roast, potatoes, some veggies, and DARK gravy (I know it's only color but I LOVE DARK gravy!) ... and we're still alive ... so not bad I guess ... went to church today ... came home got the rest of lunch ready ... vegged for the afternoon ... and went back out to church for 45 minutes or so of 'praise & worship' ... yes ... all church ... and all of life should be filled with 'praise & worship' ... but for ease of description I'll just leave it at that ... we then came home ... and vegged some more ... nothing too exciting. Oh yeah, that had 'shake & cake' after the service this morning ... so we were introduced to the corps members (along with a number of other people) and we had some cake too ... hence the shake & cake ... but I guess technically I didn't participate in it all ...I shook a few people's hands .. but I didn't eat any cake (I was waiting for roast beef!) ... speaking of which ... there were no yorshires to go with the meal today - we didn't have any eggs and I was too lazy to go get some ... but perhaps next time I'll be a little more prepared and venture at that ... mind you, it might not be too much of a venture - as I have attempted and succeeded at yorkshires before.
Here's to the start of week three - how crazy is that!

Saturday jobs

So - a few things were finished off today ... or even just started and finished ... or even just started and are still incomplete! Dad and I were up this morning finishing off installing a under-the-sink water filter (which we started at late last night when we got back from our visit to London). Then we put a phone line into the office - while I was out trying to find a plate that would hold both the cable and phone line, Dad and Scott were putting lights on the house ... that's right folks Christmas is only five weeks away. Nothing fancy with the lights - just enough to go around the front roofing area of the house - since our condo (that we live in before) was small etc there really wasn't much point in putting effort into hanging lights outside ... but this year is different ... they won't be 'turned on' just yet ... perhaps in December - but this way - if we get surprised by a dump of snow or something we're ahead of the game and won't have to do such an exciting job in the middle of a snow storm or something! Do worry - the interior decorations have not started to creek out yet! This evening I decided to get at all the wires behind the computer and get that organized (yes it's bugging me!) ... but I got side-tracked ... well - not really - just a minor bump in the road ... was about to install the wire-less router - and wanted to set it up securely etc ... but for some reason I put a password on the darn thing WAY back when - and for the life of me I couldn't figure it out ... so I was probably on the phone with tech support (yes I too have to call tech support every now and then) for about 1.5 hours ... just trying to reset the password. Anyways, that's now done - but my wires are still not organized ... by the end of the phone call my vigor for organization was all out! Anyways, that about sums up today... tomorrow is church and I just my try my hand at making a roast for lunch ... if I make it through - and still live through the meal - I'll let you know how it turned out!

Time 4 Church

So - with it being Sunday and all - we all got in the car and went to church today .. and by all I mean: Scott, myself and my folks. Ma was here all last week and will be hear for the rest of next week (helping to unpack etc) and pa was in town for the weekend he's actually doing business in Mississauga this coming week so he came a few days early. We took advantage of him being here and got him to fix the leaking pipe for the washer, and I got him to install a front door light timer. As for the rest of the day (after lunch at East Side Marios) - it was just a big day of putzin' around ... garbage will be put out once again tonight. Scott bundled all the boxes up this time according to the instructions that were left for us last week - let's hope the recycling people take them this time. Seems that these Ontario folks are quite the recycling freaks (which is not a BAD thing - don't get me wrong) ... just a little something to get used to ... especially since when we were in our condo we could just bring garbage to 'the bin' whenever we wanted to with whatever we wanted and however much we wanted!
... well, that's all I have to say about that ...

Happy Birthday

Happy Pre-Birthday to CJ & Kai ... went to London today for a birthday today - spent some time at Gymboree - a big room with big toys for lots of kids to run around - I think they had a blast ... I won't tell you that I got inside the barrel and rolled around a bit! Not to forget the cake - we had cake - and it was good too! Thanks for the invite CJ and Kai. Nothing but RAIN in this part of the country today - better than snow I suppose. No big unpacking session in the house today - guess there won't be any more big unpacking sessions as there's nothing big left to unpack. Just a few minor boxes to go and a few strategic placing of some nic-nacs ... and then the dusting will begin! Oh, the joys. I'll provide some pics from the party - soon - I'm just too lazy right now to add them.

TGIF

Well - not that that really matters to me any more ... since I don't have a M-F job - TGIF just doesn't seem to mean the same any more ... today the guys came to put to the pool table together - now that it's together it's making the rec room look a little more in shape ... I took Scott's car today to get some Ontario licence plates put on it ... so he too could look like a "Roman" ... did some more errand shopping (at Home Depot this time) ... getting a few jobs lined up for dad when he gets here. I concentrated on unpacking my boxes in the office tonight ... aside from organizing all that I unpacked (I basically poked everything in 'spots' for now) I just have 2 boxes left to unpack for that room I think ... and in general I think I can say with confidence the majority of the house is now 'livable' ... we have some boxes put in the basement for storage - those now need to get put in nice systematic / organized piles and we'll be good to go down there too! That's all folks!

IKEA

Today was a road trip to Ikea ... got some more chairs to go with the dining room table - I shall leave those for dad to put together when he's around ... came home from London in the evening ... not a bad getaway ... didn't feel like doing much tonight - so I didn't ... guess I'm in an extreme 'slacker' mode right now ... I'll swing out of it soon - not to worry ...

When in Rome ...

do as the Romans do ... so I figured while living in Ontario I'll do as they do - and get Ontario plates for the car ... and that's exactly what I did today ... have a trip to Canadian Tire to get the car inspected (which resulted in some extended browsing ... and for anyone who knows me - you'll know how much I enjoyed that) ... after that was a trip to the 'plate' office ... dealt with that ... came home - did a few minor things around the house and then left for an over-night trip to London in the afternoon ... had a fun time with 'the boys' ...

Costco

So the big events for me today was to get my driver's licence changed (which will now take three week before I have any photo ID again - agh!) ... and a grand shopping 'spree' at Costco ... the first of the bulk grocery shopping ... all of this was done in the pouring rain ... I don't think the clouds took a breather at all today ... just one constant down-pour.

A Little Slower

So things seemed a little slower today - but then again - more rooms seem to be taking more of a livable shape ... almost nearing the nitty gritty of it all now ... for the most part ... the things to come involve unpacking all those lovely boxes that you see in the previous post from the office, finding spots for a tonne of nic-nacs and of course deciding which pictures (and where) we'll hang them ... but all in due time ... grocery shopping still hasn't taken place ... but that will have to come soon I would think ... anyways ... some more help arrived today (from the west) ... and I will say for the record - she's not as good a cleaner as her sons - as you can tell from the snapshot here!