You have waited long enough - more garage pics

Ok - Ok..... I know you want to see more of the garage...... it is not quite done, - still tons more to put up (Stock car racing pictures, things on the pegboard, etc) but it feels a lot more like home to me than it did before (which - Sari says - is a good thing b/c it may become my home if I don't smarten up) :)


Note things hanging on the walls rather than being tripped over
Pegboard filled with stuff - for easy access (thanks to Carol Barnard - who gave me all the hooks from Stan's pegboard before she moved - that makes me think of him when I am out there now)
Looking toward the front - finally a home for my tools boxes - cabinets - etc
Across toward the door
Note the lockers on the side of this shelf - the Leisure Center was getting rid of a bunch of old lockers - they were in a dumpster - so after playing tennis one day I asked about them and the girl said "Take as many as you like" - I took four. The best part.... they were from the "Girl's locker room" - no sweaty, smelly boy stuff in there! :)
For more pictures of the garage...... please send $14.95 (plus shipping and handling) to my home address (Come on - you know you wanna!) :)

And they said it wasn't worth my time.....

Every week the newspaper sends a reporter to the stock car track to cover the races. While there, he or she takes a random shot of the crowd. From that random shot, they somehow choose someone - whom they circle - and print the picture in the paper. If you are chosen out of the 1500 or so people at the races that night and your picture appears in the paper, you win a free pizza. Check this out...........

Now there are several really good things about this picture.........

1. I win a free pizza (as previously mentioned)

2. I have not been to the races in over a month and yet this picture appeared last night (somebody likes me!!!!!)

3. The only other identifiable person in the picture is my buddy "Shady" Shane. I think it is really funny that he came that close to winning - but didn't (I have offered to share the free pizza with him)

So there you have it - I have spent countless nights freezing on the stands at the stock car track - not to mention hundreds and hundreds of dollars - and I get a $15 dollar pizza......... and to think... some of you thought I was wasting my time out there! Ha! :)

A Week in MJ and Buffalo Pound

At the end of August, we spent a week camping at Buffalo Pound and hanging out with everyone in Moose Jaw. It was really nice to see everyone and to get to spend so much time together. We even got to go tubing behind Lenny's boat (but we did not get pictures of that - even though he dumped me in the lake) - anyway - here are some of the pictures that we did take - just so you get an idea of what it was like.

Camp site.....
We did all the touristy things that we never get to do when we are there for like 2 days (this was Megan's favorite)
We climbed some hills (I can't tell you how many pictures I have of the lake from the top of this hill - one from every summer of my life almost - this one with my girls - one of them is taking the picture)Down by the lake....

Garage Painting

So I waited like 6 months since I finished sheeting the garage and no one has come to paint it - so I guess it is up to me. Here is the start of the primer coat... more updates to come (just for you garage update fans!) :)

As you can see there is much more to do - you have not missed all the fun yet - come on down!

Think about this

I will post some holiday pictures and things soon, but for now.... think about this:


"No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery." :)

Summer is Wonderful

Just in case you missed this

This video has been passed around a lot..... but you need to see it. If you missed it or if you just need a smile - click below. :)

A new twist on an old saying

"Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime...... take Sari fishing and she will catch all the fish and laugh incessantly when you slip off the rocks and step in the water, or when you stick yourself with the fish hook (twice)".


Our kids are at camp so we have been hanging out and having fun..... we ordered Chinese food and watched a movie the other night, went for a big walk and had a camp fire in the backyard last night and then (as I mentioned) went fishing at Rafferty tonight. Sari caught 2 fish - a good sized jackfish and a small Walleye.... I caught nothing! I may need a tetanus shot after all the hooks I got in me - but that is another story.


So we miss our kids (just thought I better throw that in there just in case they read this sometime) but we are having a nice week together. :)

You might need it someday....a letter to my man on our anniversary

Here I sit, wishing I was with you and wondering how that could still be after so many years...okay so 15 years isn't so many years in terms of history but we have done so much in so few years together. If I say it feels like my whole life or a long time, I mean it in the way that says I can't remember not having you in my life. When I think back, I know there were times when you were not there, but even then, I know God had you in mind for me. What an awesome thought to think that you and I were thought out before we even knew one another. Okay so maybe you think that is not a grown up way to think (yes I am projecting what you might think here) but I am truly in love with all of it. I am in love right now with the sounds of our girls as they "create" their breakfast in their grandparents kitchen. After much kibitzing back and forth Katie prances into the living room only to spill her EGGO all over the blonde wood floor and Murphy is at the ready waiting for the okay to lick up the syrup. "Okay!". He rounds the corner with such vigor that his back end slips out and he nearly breaks a leg to get to the syrupy mess. Good grief. Megan then says, "that is why I like my eggo dry"...as if to say, you would never have spilled that, if you were smart enough to have your Eggo without syrup...what a conclusion. I love that you and I have been given these two and that they are a reflection of us. Sometimes to our chagrin and most times to our delight. I like that word ‘delight’ - it is how I feel about you most of the time. I delight in your humour, your hilariousness, your mind, your integrity, and your growing and changing world. I forget to tell you and I forget to dwell in the loving-you-parts. I let you down and I disappoint you. I wish those things could change. I would love to be the person who never makes your life difficult and that I was always "agreeable" and then I remember that we would be so boring without our "bickerson" ways and the challenge of loving each other when we both think we are righter. Yes that is not a word..... You have given me more joy and more pain than any of the people in my world and for that I am thankful. You are a true best friend. I could not ask for more. Whenever we are not together it feels like the ship has lost its main sail and we are not sure how we will get there without the strength of that sail. We flounder around until we are home again and there you are the piece of the puzzle that was missing. Notice you are not the rudder....hee hee and neither am I .... I thought if I put in enough of a pause there you would think I was about to say I am the rudder....I am not thank goodness.. Thank you for loving things that are open ended adventures like canoeing, biking and hiking. These have turned into some of our best times for our family. The memories are too many to mention. If I could give you one gift I would give you the gift of finished scrapbooks....not because I have nothing better to do, but because to look back over where you have been, just for a moment, is such a blessing. We will not dwell in the past because it makes us sound old, with nothing left to do, but it is a great view into a life of adventures together. Thanks for the grand adventure and for the ways you fill many moments with unusual trivia and the way you with bother with the things I would never think of...someone must look after those details....right?!?!? Thank you for balancing me and for being a wonderful dad to our kids. They are full of goofiness and adventure...currently brushing there teeth at the same time over the same sink and singing at the same time...just because they can. Megan then tries to sit on Katie calling her "Santa" in her whiniest voice and Katie says "Santa is closed" and they both giggle and go on to the next thing which today will include riding bikes which were made a hundred years ago which grandpa just happens to have in his back yard. This also, giving heed to the ever popular saying "I might need this someday". So today when we are not in the same place I hope you will crack open your box of memories and bask in them and then keep them close, you might need them some day on a day when time no longer finds us together. Happy Anniversary to the man of my dreams. Thank you and I love you.
Love
Me

A week in our life

So I know that I have not updated this in a while..... so I thought I would just give you the summary version of our last week - then maybe you will understand why I have not written. We have.... been to a "fireworks" party in Bienfait for Canada Day, watched a rodeo parade, went to the rodeo, hooked up the unit heater in my garage so that I have heat in the winter (pictures to follow for those who love the "garage reports"), went for a Motorcycle ride to Lampman with Skip (got caught in the rain on the way home and got soaked), went to the Souris Valley Theatre (live professional summer theatre in town), went to "Rodeo closing night fireworks", canoed on the Souris river, went fishing (caught nothing), went golfing (had a nose bleed from the 2nd tee until I got home - not sure why - did not help the golf score), went to a friend's house to celebrate her b-day (and played pool in their basement) and worked on getting the camper ready to go for next week (painted the hitch and bumper, checked the water system, tried the furnace - it works).

Add into that: working every day, getting ready for lessons at Estevan's Weekend at Camp, the kids have been swimming in their pool every day (seriously 4 hours a day even at 21 degrees), we put a new salt water chlorinator on the pool this week, Sari and the kids have been biking every day..... and a whole bunch of other things.

Write back if you would like specific details about any one (or two) parts of this post! :)

Wild(ish) Hogs (aka: Paul and Tim's Excellent Adventure)

Sari and the girls went to Dauphin to see her dad for Father's Day, so I was home alone this weekend. However, I did not have to sit around doing nothing.

A buddy of mine from town was telling me about a motorcycle ride that he went on from Estevan to New Town, North Dakota, to Williston, North Dakota and then back home. He said the highways are nice. Scenery is nice. It is a good time.

When I told Paul Quilliams about this, he said, "You and I should do that sometime!" Sometime turned out to be this weekend. I had no choice..... Paul left 8 messages on my answering machine on Friday night saying, "Are we going to New Town???? Lets go! I will buy you a hamburger!!" Literally, 8 messages (but he never did buy me a hamburger).

We went from here to Portal, ND and then to Bowbells, over to New town, across the Missouri, over to Watford City, to Williston and back home. We left at 7 am and got home at 4 pm. We put on something like 540 kms (The most I had driven in a day before was 220 kms). It was great though - we just took our time - stopped lots - looked around - had lunch...... Paul even brought his camera so here are some of the 40 pictures


Bikes in front of Stanley, ND court house (While we were sitting there some middle age dude drove by - honked, shouted and waved at us as if we were rock stars - not sure why. Maybe he wished he could go too)
Paul just outside of New Town
Missouri River behind us
Watford City - more about this in a minute
We went so far we went back in time...... rest stop at the Pioneer Museum in Crosby, ND

So as we are going out of New Town I kept seeing signs for "Watford City" but nothing for "Williston" which is where we were supposed to be going. I turn to Paul, point at the highway and then shrug as if to say "Is this the right road?" He had no idea what I meant, so he just nodded "Yes" :) So we eventually ended up at this intersection in the middle of nowhere way south of Williston - added probably another 100 kms to our trip.

The best part - I went to the stock car races last night and ran into my buddy who told me about this ride. I told him that we got a little lost at New town, he looks at me and says, "So - you did not ride the 1804 highway?"

I said "No, we missed that part!"

Trevor looks at me and says, "THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE RIDE!!!! The rest of it is ok, but the 1804 is twisty and turny and up and down - right beside the river - it is THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE THING!!!! It is what makes the whole trip worth it!!!!"

Oops! Well - at least we have a reason to go again in the fall! :)

Relay for Life

The Canadian Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" has been going on in Estevan for 5 years now and we have not done anything with it. However, this year Sara's aunt and a few others organized a church team and it was a hoot!

Seriously - what could be more fun than staying up all night, eating, visiting, telling stories and watching grown men in dresses Belly dance? (Ok - that last part was part of the "Entertainment" - a "Mr. Relay" beauty pageant - and I use the word "Beauty" very loosely. It was very disturbing to watch - but terribly funny at 2:30 in the morning!) :)

The four of us made it all night without sleeping (It was over at 7ish so we did get an hour or two before going to church). I preached on no sleep and I think it went better than normal - maybe that should be my new strategy - I should write a book "Sleep Deprived Preaching - How an all night bender may help you connect to others!" (Actually - maybe the morning did not go so well - maybe I was so sleep deprived that I just think it was good - maybe that is why I am being called to an elder's meeting!)

Anyway - it was a good time. Met and talked with tons of people. I even got to do the Sunrise church service - it was great! I wrote a newspaper article about the whole night because it was so inspiring and good. Check it out here. As for the rest, a picture (or two) is worth a thousand words, right? (Warning: Happiness seems to wane from daylight to dark - but it really was not true. The night was the best part)

Katie - ready to roll
Bill and Mary - not sure what they are ready to do
Some of us were cold and trying to stay alert
Some of us had no problem "staying alert" thanks to the "candy and sugary snacks" table
Some of us were happy on the inside
And some of us got a chance to wear out "Aviator's hat" in public. Why? Why not? :)
Then there were those who looked like this most of the night (there is no "after" picture in church the next day though)
And then there are others that, if I posted their pictures, they simply would not be impressed - so lets just say.... a good time was had by all.

I am already looking forward to next year.

An Intellectual Moment

For those of you who may be confused. :)

Track and Field day

Track and Field is always a fun day..... for the parents anyway. Go to the school. Hang out. Visit. Eat too many hot dogs. Laugh as the kids work themselves silly...... it is a great time! Made even better this year by the fact that Sari works there, so we were "Insiders" (get to eat the good snacks in the staff room, crank music over the school's intercom just because). Too many pictures to post, but here are a few........



Half way through the day I hear the loud speaker saying, "Mr. Pippus, please report to the 100 meter dash". Turns out they decided to have a "Men's race" - all the teachers and whatever Dads they could talk into it. I won't tell you who won...... but let me just say, "HA! 40.... years.... old!!!! Take that!!!!!!" :)

Let me also say that my legs still hurt three days later. :) I always think, "Stretch!!??? I am too young to have to stretch!" Then after stuff like that I think, "Man I am so old! I should have stretched!"

Sari's office

I was at the school the other day so I took a couple of pictures of Sari's office - just for those of you who are too far away to come and visit her. :)

First, from the doorway....
Then looking the back.....

Megan's B-day

Just a couple of quick pictures of our birthday girl, some of her friends and her new bike.

A quick reminder

Please live in such a way as to make your funeral easy for your preacher!

I did a memorial service today for a man that I did not know. We know the family through our kids and so when they needed someone to say something about "Grandpa" they wondered if I would help.

Now I don't mind telling you that I hate calls like that! It is very difficult to say something nice, accurate and meaningful about someone you have never met. I have been to too many funerals where the preacher either...

1. Gets up and says a bunch of things that everyone knows was not true (I have been to a few where I wanted to lift the coffin lid and see if I was in the right place... "Are we talking about the same dude here?") or.....

2. Reads a bunch of sappy poems and silly things that really just fill in time, but say nothing.

Fortunately, this family had a lot of good memories to share, stories to tell and things to say. In fact, I took notes on our conversation and filled up three pages of paper - and I did not list everything that they talked about.

In the end, I think the service was really nice! I was really glad that I went and that I was able to help them.

"Larry" lived in a way that gave me something to work with and something good to say. By the way, none of those good memories and nice things had to do with how much money he made, what kind of house he lived in, what kind of car he drove or where he had been. Every good memory centered on people - relationships - times spent together.

So that is your (and my) reminder for the day...... Live this day (and all the rest of your days) in a way that makes your funeral easy for the preacher. I don't want to what to struggle to come up with something nice to say about you. :)

It is coming!!! (and "How Cool am I now?" - Read "PS" at the bottom)

Summer is coming..... and so is our back yard.

The back yard was completely destroyed last year in the "Garage Building Project" - so it is now in rehab (and doing quiet nicely I might add).

How do I know that summer is coming???? Well, by the appearance of the pool in the back yard. Our kids (and 1/2 the neighborhood kids) lived in this thing 2 years ago (it did not get put up last summer - see "Garage Project" above). The kids were so happy about seeing it again today that they started "swimming" in it when there was less than 3 inches of water in it (Yes - they are that desperate).

Our new, higher fence and the garage make it much more private than it was so that is nice too. Anyone wanna come by for a swim???????

(Not the best pictures - taken at the end of the day in the shadows - but you get the idea.... and I am sure this is not the last you will see of the back yard this summer)



PS. The air conditioning on my truck quit this past week so I re-charged it myself!!! Had to jump the "low pressure switch" (thank you internet for the info on how to do that) - added the refrigerant - everything works - $50 for the starter kit and $15 dollars for more stuff after that! You can't even get into a garage to have them look at it for less than $90 - and now I have the stuff to keep filling it till it dies completely!

If you have read previous posts and comments, you will remember that there has been a debate about how "cool" (or not cool) I am now that I am 40..... so how cool am I that I fixed my own a/c????? In my truck I am freezing cold (for $50!!!!) - that is how cool I am! :)

Something Cool! (?)

Monday night we were sitting around the fire pit in the backyard when I looked up and saw a light streaking across the sky. I have seen lots of satellites at night (especially at the camp) but this one was much bigger and much faster - so I decided to try to figure out what it was.

Turns out that it was the "International Space Station". How do I know? I looked it up on NASA's website. It has a listing of all the satellites, the ISS and any shuttles that may be overhead and when you can see them. All you have to do it go to this site.......

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Then go to "Real time data" at the top - click on "sighting opportunities" and then fill in the country listing on the left and follow the instructions. In the end, you will get a chart for every day - time, place to look, how long the pass will last, etc.

This month "Popular Mechanics" has a whole section dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, so I am getting excited about space stuff again. I have read several astronaut bios, etc, so I think the NASA site is very cool. Lots of stuff to see and learn. Go have a look.

PS. The ISS goes over Estevan at 10:37 tonight, so I am dragging Sari off to a dark location to watch it..... "Wanna see the Space Station baby?"..... who could resist an offer like that????? :)

The Mother's Day Present Adventure

Over the years, I have proven poor at buying presents for my wife (something about actually having to listen to her when she says, "Oooh - that is nice" so that I know what I should buy - or something like that - I was only 1/2 listening at the time). Anyway - many times my presents have been "ok" but not "great"....... However, this year's Mother's Day present topped them all!!

Every time we see a Red Willow bush growing in a field somewhere, Sari always says, "Those are so pretty! We should have one of those in the yard". So this year I decided that I would get her a Red Willow for Mother's Day (Unconventional, I know, but at least it was something she wanted, right?)

Unfortunately, our tree nursery closed down, so I was left to find a wild one to dig up. After talking to several farmers, I determined that most of them consider this stuff no better than a weed and that I could dig up whatever I found - so the search was on.

Last Friday (two days before the big day), I was off work and Sari and the kids were at school. I was going to do some work on my motorcycle, or on our camper, but it was -1 outside. Since it was too cold to work, I decided to go dig up a willow.

Willows like water, so I started my search in the Souris river valley. After driving for a while I came to a bend in the river that had a ton of Red Willow bushes, so I stopped the truck, got the shovel, ran down the bank and started digging. Surprisingly, the Willow came out very easily (muddy ground) so in no time I was done and ready to go back up. That is when things went wrong!

I told you that I was going to work on my Bike and camper - so I was dressed for that: work boots, big fleece coat, sweatshirt, etc. Unfortunately, I have had my work boots for 10 years and there is no grip left on the soles - worn completely flat - not a good thing on a muddy riverside!

As I started to climb back up the bank, with a shovel in one hand and a Red Willow in the other, I started to slip. By the time I threw the shovel and willow away, it was too late. I spun around and bellyflopped off the 4 foot bank right into the Souris River. Over my head - fully clothed - wallet in my back pocket - all by myself - 20 miles from home - at minus 1 Celcius!

I scrambled up the bank as best I could (think muddy and steep climb) - grabbed the shovel and the STUPID WILLOW - got to the top of the hill - checked to see if any cars were coming (b/c it would be embarrassing at this point to have to retell this story to a stranger on the road side) - got to my truck - peeled off as many clothes as decently possible (and then some) and started driving back to town.

On the way out I was thinking, "What if I have an accidental and die out here on the road? Sari will always wonder what I was doing going out of town this morning". How much more so if they found my truck abandoned by the side of the road and my body floating in the river a 1/2 mile away? :)

Anyway - got home - had a hot tub (b/c by now I am feeling a little hypothermic) - dried out all the important papers in my wallet and waited to show Sari this stupid willow....... and she LOVED it!!!! Seriously! One free willow was worth more than the hundreds of dollars of other presents I have ever tried to buy her. In fact, we planted it in a prominant spot in the yard just so that she can see it every day.

So the moral of the story: Learn to listen when your wife says, "Ooh - I like that" and then almost drown yourself in the process of obtaining whatever it was - and you will have the perfect gift! :)

I hate it when people do this....

So I went from a blog a day for 3485789347893476 days to nothing for almost a month. That is wrong! I hate when I go to other people's blogs and they have done nothing with them - so if you have kept coming back - thanks!

Needless to say, things have been a bit busy - I went to a conference in Caronport one weekend - then back to Moose Jaw for my Granny's birthday - then we went to Dauphin for Easter - the next weekend we went to Minot - the next weekend I organized a car rally - then my mom and Laurie came down here and then we went back to MJ for the Air Show last weekend (or something like that - it is all very blurry in my mind).

In there too - both kids have been in plays - Sari is swamped with year end stuff at work (scheduling field trips, getting purchase orders done, etc - all while learning a new computer system b/c they switched from Macs to PCs) - I have been working on my truck to install a brake controller for the electric brakes on our camper - I have also been working on the electric brakes on the camper so that they work (wires all broken - have to take hubs off etc) - I installed a new ignition switch on my motorcycle and I had a new front tire put on today. And that is just some of the stuff from the past 3 weeks. Here are some pics to fill in the details......

Car Rally winners in their "winning" hats (why give a trophy when you can make people look silly?)
"Play" people
Katie and all the grade 7 girls got picked up for the spring dance (one of the Dads drives a limo so....)

Mom and her husband Laurie