A Weekend of Good experiences (I have given up numbering these things because I am so far behind)

Our family does a lot of stuff together.  In fact, it is odd when we all go our own separate ways to do things.... so that made this weekend a little different - but good.

For example..... Katie stayed home by herself for the first time ever (at least for an entire weekend).  She has just started a new job and it was going to be hard to ask for time off, so she stayed and worked.  Many parents would worry about leaving a 17 year old home alone (parties, being irresponsible, etc) but not us.  We knew she would be a "grown up girl" and she was..... she even got up and went to church and herded all the little kids all on her own (That was not surprising given it was Katie.... but not normal 17 year old behaviour in many cases).  She was sad that she was stuck in town - and so were we - but she earned some cash for more fun things down the road.

The rest of us headed to Manitoba.   I was speaking at a youth rally/ski event(more about this later), so on the way we dropped Sari off to visit with her best buddy Laura.  It just so happened that Brandon was having a multi-cultural celebration thinger like Regina's "Mosaic", so they went and hit up the Scottish, Irish and German pavilions among others.  Seems that was not the only thing that got "hit up"..... apparently everywhere they went guys were talking to Sari, flirting with her, hitting on her...... when you got it you got it, right?  :)

Megan and I carried on to the youth event.  It was a lot of fun.  About 100 of us stayed in a hall in a small town near the ski hill.  Let me tell you, a large hall full of about 40 dudes sleeping is not a pretty thing to see or hear!!  I woke up at about 4 am both mornings to the sound of "snore.... wheeze.... sneeze..... cough.... snore..... snore.... cough.... snore......"   You get the idea.  But, other than that, we had a great time.  I did three lessons.... the kids were great.... I saw some old buddies that I had not seen in years (they brought their kids to the event)  Super fun!  (I have one good story to tell about this weekend but I will save it for coming days).

And Megan.... well she learned to ski this weekend.  Started off on the bunny hill looking like a baby giraffe walking on ice and by the end of the day she was flying down the hills.  It was incredible.  No real big wipe-outs and now she is hooked..... actually "now" she is sore..... but she will get over that.

Now that the weekend is over, we are all back home, safe and sound and together - as we ought to be.... but it was fun for each of us - though for different reasons.

Here are a few pictures from Megan and me..... Sari and Katie will have to post their own because I do not have them

(Ps.  Some of the pics are blue b/c my camera is frozen.... it was - 25 with a wind chill of -40..... and a much higher wind chill when speeding down the black diamond runs!)

One quick shot of the hall where we stayed..... set up for the next lesson.  Chairs and sound stuff were moved out of the way and this is where the boys slept (girls were downstairs).... if you look on the right you  can see some of the mattresses that we slept on..... about a 1/2 an inch thick!!!  Better than the bare floor.... but not much.  :)

Restoration Update (16 of 25)

Regular readers of this blog may remember that last Sept I bought a motorcycle as a winter restoration project.  I thought I would give you an update.

It started out looking like this......

And if you came by today, you would see that it looks essentially the same.  The seat is off, the tank is off, the carbs have been flushed a few times, I have even heard it run (sort of)..... It has run consistently on 2 of the 4 cylinders and intermittently on the other two.  I likely need to take the carbs off and clean them, but I am trying to avoid that because it is a huge pain.

I have spent about 15 - 20 hours on it and I have seen some progress, but mostly I have just filled the garage with gas and exhaust fumes.

That being the case.... my friend Dennis has suggested that I bring it out to his place.  He has an old Honda too and he also has a bike lift (which is very nice).  We have decided that we are going to start "Motorcycle Fridays" (since I have Fridays off).  We have not actually done anything yet, but we named it.... and naming it is the hard part right!  :)

I got thinking about all this because I got my new "Cycle World" today and Peter Egan has a column in there about restoring an old Norton motorcycle.  He writes...... "Friends have pointed out it's probably not economically feasible to restore an old Norton.... they tell me that I could find a nice one that already running for a lot less money... but I just shrug and say 'What fun would that be?'"

Spoken like a true restorer.  :)

Poor Old Girl (15 of 25)

 

 Did y'all hear that the British government has told Queen Elizabeth II to tighten her proverbial belt???  Cut backs are coming!!!  

Now, I really think that this is unfair!!!   I mean, the poor old girl had to get by on a piddly $51 million dollars last year..... $51 million!!!!  

Come on..... tiaras are not cheap you know!

And how is she supposed to fix up all her castles and travel the world on that ridiculous sum???  I mean, sure she could do one or the other, but that is no way for the Queen to live.

Next she is going to shopping at Dollarama or something..... "Hem, hem.... wouldst thou have the fake tuna in 15 litre barrels instead of the 10????  And where might one find the 'King Sized Kraft Dinner'?  And do you not think that should be relabeled 'Queen sized'?  I mean.... really!!!"   

You don't want that do you??

So here is the deal...... I am willing to double my taxes just so that she does not get kicked out of one of her 17 castles.  Not only am I willing to do this.... I think it is every Canadian's loyal duty!!!

Who is with me??????  

Full story here:  Cutback Queen.

So What? (Blog 14 of 25)

It is the end of January here in the beautiful Canadian prairies and last night it was -35 with a wind chill of -48 and do you know what I say to that...... so what?

I was at the coffee shop the other day and one of my buddies was telling me that he was getting on a plane the next day and going to Puerto Vallarta and do you know what I say..... so what???

Another guy at coffee then started talking about Hawaii and how nice it was there at Christmas time and do you know what I said.... so what????????

Then I went to Weyburn for a Bruins' game and I ran into a buddy from there and he and his wife were leaving the next day to go to Hawaii.  He had 3 tee times booked at 3 different courses and he had rented a Harley so he could ride around the island one day and I said..... SO what?????????????

And since then I have come across 6 other people who are either on their way to Mexico or the Southern States in the next week and I say...... SO WHAT???????????????

If I went somewhere nice and warm I would miss all the good exercise I get shovelling snow!

If I was laying around on a beach, I would probably get too hot anyway (I can't take the heat.... anything above 40 Celsius and I start to sweat a little bit).

Who wants to paddle board across the bay at Puerto Vallarta to go and get your vegetables at the local market and then paddle board back to your villa like my friend????   It takes him most of the day to do that.... how does he keep up with his Facebook account if he is not sequestered inside because of the latest blizzard?

White sandy beaches are not that different than my white wintry front yard, right?  From 200 miles away they look about the same.

So instead of going south, I am going to go speak at a youth rally/ski trip next weekend.  I have been watching the forecast drop over the last several days but I think it is only going to -3768943768786 with a windchill of 3287639487689437689347698496734 - so that will be nice.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am not jealous at all.  I don't even want to be warm, ride motorcycles, or try para-sailing, or anything.   I am SUPER HAPPY!!!!!!

Did I mention that I am a terrible liar, too???????   :)
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PS.  I am actually speaking at a youth/ski thing this weekend and I am really looking forward to it.  I love skiing and Megan has never tried it, so that will be a great time.

Most of the whining above was purely for comedic effect.  If you are going south or have ever talked to me about going south, don't feel bad.  I do not hold it against you or think you are a jerk in any way... mostly!  ;)

Well that looks easy (13 of 25 Blogs)

Anytime I go to a concert I think, "I should buy a guitar.  That looks like fun!"

 (More accurately, I watch the drummer and think "I should buy a drum set"..... unfortunately I can't buy "rhythm" to go with it.... that sort of hinders guitar playing too).

I did try learning the guitar at one point.  The guy who was teaching me wanted me to learn to play chords first so I did was sit and play "strum strum strum" then "brum brum brum"...... it was terribly tedious and boring.  I WANTED TO PLAY A SONG RIGHT NOW!!!!!!   And thus ended my "the next Justin Bieber" attempt.

The same applies to curling.

Every year I think, "I am not going to get sucked into watching curling" and then I see one end and I am hooked again.  Then I sit there and think "Look at them bounce that rock off the other one and tuck it in behind that guard..... how hard could that be?"

Very hard.... it turns out.
Sari's school had their Christmas party last night and we went curling.  I know the theory of curling.... I get the strategy.... I have a broom and a slider..... I have played in a bunch of funspiels and in a commercial league here in town for an entire year......  I just don't have the shots.   I can see them.  I know what to do.  I just can't do it.

Too heavy..... too light..... swept that one too much..... should have swept that one more...... aaarrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!

So the simply lesson of the day:  If something looks terribly easy to do - whether it is singing, teaching, organizing things, public speaking or anything else - you likely are not seeing the thousands of hours it took to make it look that easy. 

And that is unfair!!!   I want to be good at it now!!!

Oh well.  At least I won't have to worry about racing my Lamborghini down city streets and possibly being deported from the US either.  :)

PS.  You should have seen Sari play last night.  She was the "take out" Queen.  Playing on the other team she made a ton of shots that I thought that she could not make in 903689467876 years.   In fact, she admitted that she could not make those shots in another 6894386483968 years - but she made them once and that is what counts (though we still stomped her team).  :)

The Middle (Blog 12 of 25)

Normally, I HATE sit-coms!!!!   They usually are not funny.  Laugh tracks make me want strangle someone (1/2 the show is some actor waiting for the fake laughing to stop).  They are just terrible overall.  An insult to basic human intelligence.

However, last week Sari stumbled across a show called "The Middle".  I am not sure what made her stop at it, but we are hooked now.  It is witty.... it does not have a laugh track.... and it is not unlike our own life at times (it is scary!!).  We can even see some of y'all in it.  (Go ahead - ask if we see you in it and who you are..... I won't tell you anyway!!!)  :)

Has anyone ever seen this show before?  We are watching reruns at this point but they are still making it.   I don't know if you will like it or not, but we do.

Check it out and let me know what you think if you get a chance.
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You may have noticed that it has been a few days since I wrote last..... that is because I was in jail!

Now, if you were a member of the Moose Jaw Police Department and saw my last name, you would have believed that last line without question (My uncles and cousins are regular customers).

 However, it isn't true.  I wasn't in jail (this time). We have just been busy.  "Doing what?" you ask.  Well, nothing exciting.  The kids have been getting ready for finals so they have been hogging the computer.  I have been play squash and hockey.  Sari is working on stuff for a Ladies retreat she organizes every year.... all good stuff but not that interesting.

So there you go.  But come back tomorrow or the next day.... have I got some stories for you!! 

There must be some sort of shot for this, isn't there? (Blog 11 of 25)

My girls (all three) are sick.... they have it bad.....they have "Downton Abbey-itis"!!!

It is terrible!!!!   It makes them stare blankly at TV screens for hours at a time.  Other symptoms include random outbursts of laughter and speaking with a British accent.

The biggest indicator that they have this dread disease is that they always end up crying afterwards..... usually followed by a disclaimer like, "I am alright!!!  Stupid show!!!!"

Oddly, they also talk about the people on the show as if they are real...... I am not sure what that means.

I am nearing my wits ends...... they are watching it even as I type this and I can hear them yelling at the TV as.... if.... the ..... TV... can.... hear..... them (read that last part in a whispered voice - I don't want them to hear me!!!)

They need help, so I am starting a foundation called "The Downton Abbey separation and rehabilitation Society" (or the "TDASRS" for short). 

I think they can return to a normal life.... but they need your help.  Please send all donations to our home address..... thank you!

PS.  In fairness, if the girls were writing this they would probably have me point out that their condition is not unlike "hockey-itis" or "racing-itis" or "football-itis"..... but they are wrong.  Watching those things for hours, screaming at the TV during games and maybe even crying (if it was a really close game) are all very natural responses to real humans doing real things.  They are dealing with actors pretending to do things..... so that doesn't even make sense.

Besides.... I am writing this and they are not!   Please donate!!!  :) 

Just so you know (Blog 10 of 25)

Most of my blog posts are stupid (I prefer "silly" or "funny" but whatever) but once in a while when you come here you learn something.   Today is your lucky day.

On the way home tonight, I heard on the radio that Wikipedia is the 6th most visited site on the web.

That got me thinking.... "What are the top 5 sites then?"   Here is the answer......

5.  Baidu.com (a popular site in China)

4.  Yahoo.com

3.  Youtube.com

2.  Facebook.com

1.  Google.com

So there you go.... I was a little sad that "Pippus Days" didn't make the top 5.... work on that for me will you???  Thanks! 

Please do this!!! (9 of 25 blogs)

Below is a picture of my family having supper with some of our church leaders.

This is my "office Christmas party".


As silly as that sounds (since I work at my office alone), if you are part of a church group PLEASE DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR YOUR MINISTER!!!!

Most people get a company Christmas party (whether you like it or not is irrelevant.... you are offered one at least).  Most people get Christmas bonuses.  It sort of is assumed.

Most ministers do not get either of those things.  In fact, I do not know anyone else who gets taken out for supper by their leadership (I am sure it happens, but, if it does, I have not heard about it). 

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is to my family.... not because we need the free supper, but simply because it is a reminder that we don't just work here, but that we work with friends whom we love and who love us as well.

Part of our being here for 23 years (which is unheard of in many places.... 5 years is a long stay for most ministers) has to do with little kindnesses like this.

A little thoughtfulness goes a long way! 

Jailbreak!!!!! (Blog 8 of 25)

After weeks of -30 weather and wind chills of -50 at times (down to -59 one night), it was nice on Sunday afternoon (like right around 0).  Obviously the only thing to do then is to get out of the house, so we went on a two hour hike at Woodlawn.  The girls also bought their friend Tayler.  Here is some of the pictorial evidence of the day...

IT IS ALIVE!!!!!!... Well, sort of (Blog 7 of 25)

Some of you may remember that I bought a couple of old motorcycles to be my "winter project bikes" (If you don't remember but actually care, you can search for pictures of them in the Sept or so archives).

Anyway, I parked them in the garage with a vow that I would not touch them until I had our basement bathroom done.  With that now finished, today I went out to work on the 1983 Honda CB 1000C.

After draining the really bad smelling gas from the carburetor float bowls..... blowing air down the gas line to loosen up the floats that were stuck.... charging the battery.... hooking up a smaller gas tank so that I could work more freely...... taking apart the choke level/cable and verifying that it was bad..... I tried to start the old girl.

Rrrrrrrrr....... rrrrrrrrr....rrrrrrrrrr.....cough......rrrrrrrrr........rrrrrrrrrrrr (and on it went)

But the "cough" part was the important part..... it wanted to start!

So, I shot some starting fluid in it.

Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....... rummmmmmm bummmmmmm bummmmmmm bummmmm..... cough....... die

The "rum.... bum.... bum" part was the important part his time..... it ran for like 15-20 seconds.  I actually heard it run!!!!!

Then it did that several more times...... and then a buddy of mine was coming to get me to take me to the Bruins game in Weyburn..... so I shut everything down.

But it ran (sort of)!

Now there is a ton of work to do yet.... I am by no means out of the woods (and the fact that it was starting on starting fluid and not just gas is concerning)...... but it is potential!   And potential makes me happy!!!!

Either potential or the smell of all that gas in the confined space of the garage..... something was making me happy anyway!   :)

Time to retire? (Blog 6 of 25)

I went to noon hockey today.  I have not been on skates since October and before that it was likely March, so (needless to say) I did not think that I would feel that good.

However, I surprised myself.

First shift.... go down the ice.... get a pass.... make a pass.... get a rebound off the goalie.... put it in.  38 seconds back on the ice and I had my first goal.

After that, I didn't do much.  Made a few more passes. Checked a couple of dudes.... nothing spectacular.

Then it happened.

One of our guys took the puck down the wing, crossed the blue line and went down into the corner.  Seeing this, I decided to hang out at the top of the slot so that if he passed it to me I would have a clear shot on the net.  Sure enough, he turns and looks and fires the puck my way. 

Now the pass was a little off so I turned a bit to pick it up...... and got clobbered from behind!!  I mean, I got rocked.  Head snapping back rocked.  Not quite as bad as the picture at the side, but you get the idea.

So I gather myself.... get up.... look around to see who did this.... spot a dude with a ponytail and then realize........ 

DUDE WAS A GIRL!!!

Not only was dude a girl but she was like 100 lbs!!!!!!   Not only was she a girl..... not only was she like a pip-squeak..... but she didn't even say sorry!!!!!!

It kinda hurt my feelings..... and my pride!!!!


About 4 girls from the Women's team were out there today and because they were "girls" I was trying to be nice to them.   Apparently, that was a mistake!!!

I will tell you this thought..... she is lucky that she skated away quickly..... and that I am old and out of shape and could not catch her either.

Maybe it is time to retire.  :)

Wa? (Blog 5 of 25)

Did you see this?  Sort of makes the snowmen that we build look sort of lame don't you think?

Ice city in China........ check it out

Two Cuties (blog 4 of 25)

I was going through files on my work computer the other day (cleaning things out) and came across this from this from May of 2004. Filmed by Paul and Crystal Quilliams and I think it is there son, Bryson, at the end. Enjoy!! :)

What I have been waiting for (Blog 3 of 25)

I have been waiting for a sign.

Am I doing the right thing?  Should I be thinking about a different career or at least a different place?   Is church work really what I am supposed to do the rest of my life, or is there something else?

Then, last night, I got my answer.

Oddly enough, it came at the monthly meeting of the "Estevan Motor Speedway". 

I bought a membership..... and that is when I saw it..... the sign that was waiting for..... have a look at my membership number in the bottom right hand corner.....

000007!!!!!  That is like "007" times a lot!!!!!   In fact, by my calculation, three extra zeros makes me like two and a half times cooler than James Bond!!!

So there it is.... my answer..... I am supposed to be a super cool "spy-like" dude!!! (I wish now that I had paid more attention to the Bond movies.... I did not see any of them..... I guess I will have to contact some of my geek/nerd friends to find out what I am supposed to do next).

So there you go...... if you need me, ring the Bat-phone or something (Seriously - I did not watch any of those movies - so that part may be wrong)....  I am going out back to practice loading a hand gun (I don't have one of those yet, so I am just going to stand in the back yard with my air nailer for a while)

Oooooh - and I think this means I get to drive super nice sports cars too.

Just goes to show..... if you are patient, things work out!  :)

A Mid-winter's morning saga (blog 2)

Monday morning after the Christmas break and it is literally -59 with the wind chill.

SNOW DAY FOR THE GIRLS!!!!

Or so their mom says...  "Let them stay home.  No one else will be i
n class and it is too cold to go out".

No way says the mean old Dad and then starts talking about "the old days" when it was really cold.... before cars were invented..... walking 3469890438690 miles to school only to find that there was no school, etc, etc.

No snow day!  :(

Kids go out to start car and go to school only to find that the doors are frozen shut.

SNOW DAY FOR THE GIRLS!!!!

Only to have Dad come home and hand them the keys to the SUV that is sitting in the warm shop.

No snow day!  :(

As it turned out, Sari was right.... only about 1/4 of the kids showed up so b/c the teachers did not want to teach something today only to do it again tomorrow they got to watch movies or goof off in most of their classes.

So it was sort of like a SNOW DAY..... only without the comfortable onesy pajamas.  :)

25 blogs to start 2014 (20 + 1 + 4 = 25)

25 blogs to start the New Year...... here we go..... blog #1
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The older I get, the more I realize how little I understood what others were going through when I was going through it with them (That is an odd sentence.... poorly constructed.... let me explain).

I have sat with people as they watched a loved one die.  In fact, I vividly remember the look on one man's face as we sat by his wife's bedside.  I knew she was not going to come home again and so did he.  I tried to be there for him.... I tried to empathize..... but the fact is that I really did not understand.  I had only been married a few years and was immature enough to not really get what was really going on as he watched his wife of 50 + years leaving.  I did the best I could for him... I prayed and said what I thought needed to be said.... but I did not really get it.

Why am I thinking about this? 

Well, I am just starting to realize that I also have not understood - until now - how hard it has been for people to watch their kids grow up.  From the outside, it looks almost fun.  Kids are gone.  Husband and wife are free to do whatever they want again.  It is the natural order of things and it is good, right?

All that is true until it is your kid. Or I guess it could be true if you don't like your kids.  However, if you do like having them around, watching them grow up and thinking about them leaving is not easy.

When I left home at age 18 I was focused on what I was doing and I did not really think much about how it affected my mom.  She wrote me a super nice letter when I left (one that I still have) but I did not really think about how much that must have hurt. (I should have realized it.... it was ME that was leaving after all)  :).....  but I didn't get it.  I was too focused on what I was going to do next.

I have also watched Sari's parents worry about their kids and I have thought, "Come on, they are adults.  Let them figure things out on their own".... but I am realizing now that is a lot harder than it sounds.  As many people have told me (and I have not really understood), "Once a parent - always a parent".

So as this year opens with some big changes on the horizon for us and our girls..... graduation, jobs, new driver's licenses, possibly moving away from home, university and who knows what else...... I am just thinking that big changes are hard and I am sorry that I did not help others get through them better.

I would have - if I had known how those big things felt.

Generally we have looked forward to the next thing as being something good (high school for example was not something to dread but something to enjoy.... and it has been that way.... watching our girls mature, learn things, play sports and make friends has been great) and I am sure these new things will work out the same way...... it is just sort of sad to think about at the moment.

So - advice???  If you are further down the road than we are, what do you have to share?  What do you wish someone had said to you?  What did you learn?  What do we need to remember?

I am have a cold today and I don't feel great, so I am feeling a little sappy about my little family.... and I could use all the help I can get!   :)

A Christmas recap.... sleigh bells, hockey, eating and such

I was going to write a whole thing about our Christmas, but I realize that would be fairly boring for most of you, so here are some highlights from a week of having family around....

- One of our church members has horses down by the river so we convinced him to take us on a sleigh ride.  The weather was nice... the setting was nice... it was fun.  I will remember the kids riding in the toboggans behind the sleigh as well as running up the valley edge with Matthew and Emily (two of Kurt's kids).  The warmth of the warming shack afterwards was nice too.

- I will remember Grandpa playing floor hockey with us that night in the gym.  I have never seen Laurie run that much in his life.  If the NHL expands by a few more teams and needs some players, he may have a shot!

- When the Pippus' went home.... the Mullers arrived.  It was really nice having the entire extended family from this area over for coffee on Saturday night.  Somehow, though we all live close together we rarely get together so that was nice.

- I enjoyed playing all sorts of games over the week too.... crokinole.... Apples to apples.... darts in my garage.....

- After everyone had gone home, Sari, the kids and I went to Minot for a few days.  Along the way, we went and saw the movie "Saving Mr Banks".   I am not much for movies and I am not much for Disney stuff, but (without saying too much) this movie reminded me how precious our family really is.  Thinking about our girls growing up made me cry.... and say some things to my kids that I need to say.  I hate growing up!  :)

I could go on and on about various things, but you likely don't care and none of it means as much to you as it does to me anyway, so let me say this...... I hope you had a fun, refreshing holiday.  I hope it was filled with love and joy.  If it was - cherish that and keep it going the rest of the year.  If it wasn't (and not all of our Christmases have been splendid ones), I pray that you will find joy, hope and love throughout the New year.  Better yet, I hope you supply those things for others.

Time is ticking and these days will be gone before you know it.  We can't change that.... but we can make sure that we make good use of our time so that when we look back we smile at what we had instead of being sad about what we missed.

That is how I will remember Christmas 2013.

Happy 2014!

A Christmas tradition

It used to be that we would bundle the girls up at about 10:30 at night, throw them in car and drive a 1/2 hour to North Portal on the Canada/US border to see the "Canadian Pacific Railway Holiday train".

For those unfamiliar with the "CPRHT", it is a train that is decorated with thousands of Christmas lights.  It has a boxcar with a side that folds down revealing a stage from which various performers sing Christmas songs.  The purpose is to raise money and food for food banks (Admission to the show is a non-perishable food item).

Anyway, the train used to arrive very late in North Portal and (though it was sort of corny) it was a fun little outing.  Riding home at about midnight or 1 o'clock in a long stream of cars heading back to Estevan is one of my vivid memories of those nights as well.   The other big memory is of how cold we usually were..... it was always super frosty!!

In the last few years, the train as come right into Estevan.  Worse than that, it shows up at about 5 pm when the sun is still up.

The kids are older now and it is not a really big deal anymore.  The daylight and the fact that we don't have to make a trip out of it, changes it.

But it is still sort of corny..... and super cold (the girls could not feel there legs by the time it was done this year) ...... and it is still part of our Christmas tradition.   Here are a couple of quick pictures......

Ooops.... that ain't good!

To understand the following story, you have to understand three things......

1.  If you come to my (Tim's) office, you will find an old picture of our church members.  It was taken in about 1956 and I have it in my office to remind me that things were happening here long before I showed up (in other words, the world does not revolve around me).

2.  If you come to my office, you will also see an aluminum bat.  Why?  Because of "Crazy Santa" that is why!  My office is in the far back corner of the building and one day this old dude (who sort of looked like Santa) came in asking for money.  When I did not give him any he became quite upset and refused to leave.  Finally I threw him out (not literally.... he could have been the real Santa after all) and since that time I have had a bat in my office for just such an occasion (If he had stabbed me or something I would have laid there forever until Sari came looking for me so.....)

3.  You need to know that I NEVER sit down while I am on the phone..... especially at the office.  Why?  Well, if you keep moving the snipers can't get a good shot at you.  If you sit behind the desk and talk on the phone, they know right where to aim (Same reason you close your curtains at night..... don't let the snipers get a clean shot!!!!  Lessons learned in the hood!)

Put all three of those things together and you have today's lesson.......

My mom called this morning, so of course I got up to talk to her.  While I am visiting and walking around my office, I see the bat, so I pick it up and start throwing it in the air like a juggler would throw a bowling pin.

Somehow, which is very strange considering my massive juggling skills, the bat shot straight out of my hand..... flew about 10 feet across the room..... and smashed right into the middle of the 1956 picture of the church people.... smashing the glass into a million pieces.

Now, keep in mind, this is about the only picture in my office..... it was on the floor leaning against the bookshelf (because I had used it as an illustration of something in a class recently)...... and I am a very accomplished juggler (or so I tell myself).

The best part:  I acted like nothing even happened.  Just kept talking to my mom about Christmas like everything was fine.... started cleaning up the glass..... and then, while I am on my hands and knees on the floor I hear "hello" from behind me.   Here is a lady who used to go to our church.  She wants to drop clothes off for our clothing outlet and here I am talking on the phone, crawling on the floor, with a bat, cleaning up glass from the picture I just smashed (From the confused look on her face, I don't think she is coming back to worship with us any time soon).

The moral of the story:  I don't think bats like pictures of church people.

The question I am going to ask some of the old people at church from now on:  Why, in 1957, didn't people put glass in picture frames??????   This one doesn't have any!  :)

A Sari Picture

It was "Twin Day" at school so Sari and her buddy Melanie decided to dress alike in ugly Christmas sweaters.  When they could not find any that were "ugly" enough, they decided to make their own.  Hence a reindeer barfing Christmas stuff all over their sweaters.  Very nice!

As an added bonus, this sweater could be yours!!!   It could be your "parting gift"... stuffed in your suitcase or tossed into the back seat of your car only to be found after you get home!!!

Just another great reason to come and visit us this Christmas!!  :)

A bunch of pictures

Food safe course anyone?????? Christmas baking in progress

A look.... not sure what look but a look none the less

The traditional "Juggling of the Christmas tree ornaments".... a tradition that becomes more threatened with every passing year as there seems to be less and less ornaments for some reason

Write your own caption for this one (and include it in the comments section if you like)

The girls (one or the other) used to be the one to put the star on the tree and I used to have to lift them up to do it.... as you can see, that is no longer necessary

Another "look"

Random sky pic that Sari took

Now you may notice that there are no pics of Sari in this set.  There are two good reasons for that... 1.  She was taking most of the pics and 2. I have a really good picture of her to share - maybe tomorrow.  Stay tuned!!!  :)

I learned something today and a video

Today I learned that rocks are heavy (Not exactly a "scientific breakthrough" I know, but still something worth knowing).

Specifically, "1 inch thick Brazilian slate", as in the kind you find on a pool table, is heavy.

A buddy of mine bought a table and since I own him about 369048790 favors, I agreed to help him put it together today.

The first part was fun.... building the frame. Easy.... light.... nice!  The second part was good..... lunch!  The third part was where I should have left.

Who would think that it would take 4 guys (My buddy Dennis, me and two dudes who were at Dennis' house putting up a back splash in his kitchen) to carry a chunk of rock that is only 6 feet by 3 feet (the table is approximately 6 x 9 with the slate cut in 3 chunks), but it did!  Good thing it did not come as one entire sheet or he would have had to play pool in his garage (where the whole thing was unloaded by the trucker that hauled it to his house).

Many times I have said that Bible college should have offered courses in construction and furniture moving because I would have used those way more than I have used the Greek classes that I was forced to take.

That or at least they could have given us fake doctor's notes stating that we could not lift anything over 40 pounds..... one or the other.  :)
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Hey here is a song that I have heard on the radio a bunch recently but only just now looked up the video.   I like the words/idea of the song..... have a listen.

A Moment of Reflection

Christmas and the end of the year is usually a time of deep thinking and reflection for me.....

I hope the day never comes that I would be forced to choose between my family and potatoes.......I really like potatoes!   :)

(I don't really know what that means.... but I stole it from comedian Jim Gaffigan because I thought it was funny..... only I improved it..... I replaced "garlic toast" with "potatoes"..... a much more believable dilemma)

The Christmas tree adventure!!!????

On Monday night, I was out in my garage when Megan burst through the door and announced, "Mom says it is time to go get the tree!"

I assumed that meant that she and I were going to get the tree.  However, when I went inside the girls had their coats on too.

"We are all going?" I asked.

"Mom says we are" was the reply.

"What is wrong with you people?" the gentle mother of the family inquired.  "Of course you are all going!  Getting the Christmas tree is a family event.  It is tradition!!"

"Of course you know that we are just picking one out of a line-up and not happily marching through a beautiful forest in search of the perfect tree to cut down, right?" I asked.  "It is more like going to the police station and picking which guy stole your purse than it is some magical movie adventure."

"I know, but it is still tradition" she said and so off went.

On the way to the tree lot we discussed the fact that we ought to have cash with us just in case they did not take debit.  Since none of the females in my family carry cash and by default (because they steal all of it out of my wallet) neither do I.... we went to the drive through teller thing by Wal-Mart.

"This machine is being serviced" said the screen, so we made the trek all the way back across town to the bank (not that far in a small town but still......) and then back to the tree lot.

Did I mention that it was 8:30 at night and the temperature was -32 with a wind chill of - 84678943768943678467878436?????? 

So we jump out of the truck.  At the same time a guy from the Kinsmen comes out of his little sales shack.

"What do we need to know?" we ask.

"These are trees" he responds helpfully.

"How do we know which type is which?" we ask and begin to shiver.

"There are tags on the bottoms of them." 

This turns out to be true but terribly unhelpful information because at - 8463904869048360 no one is going to bother getting down on the ground to read anything that is tied to the bottom of a tree stuck in the snow.

At this point, because they are teen-agers and are allergic to warm winter clothing, the girls look only slightly warmer than the chickens in our deep freeze.  Fearing that they be frozen in place.... meaning that we will have to leave them in the tree lot until spring.... we decide to move things along.

Looking at the rows of trees, all bundled up and offering no clue as to their "fullness" or their "beauty", the decisive (and equally frozen) mother points at one tree and says, "We will take that one".

With that I grab the tree.... the girls run to the back of the truck.... Megan opened the door on the capper..... Katie opens the tailgate..... I come running around and toss the tree into the back like a mobster stuffing a body in the trunk of a car (I grew up in the hood remember)..... Sari paid the dude and away we went.

Tree shopping done in 38 seconds..... a new world record!!!!!

On the way home I asked why we did not buy a tree from "No Frills" (a "Superstore" subsidiary) because they were like $30 and we just paid $80.   Sari said that the ones at "No Frills" were only 5 to 6 feet tall.   The one we bought was 6-7 feet tall.

"So we paid $50 extra dollars for an extra foot of tree that will likely be too tall when we get the angel on it and have to cut it off anyway?"

"Yes!"

"Oh good!"

It is tradition after all!  :)