Happy 16th Birthday Megan!!!!

Sixteen years ago today our family was blessed with a second little girl.  Megan has grown into a beautiful young lady and I could say a lot about her..... she is smart.... she is funny..... she is creative (she likes to draw, she is a really good photographer and - believe it or not - she writes stories just for fun!!)..... she is responsible (and because of that a favorite baby-sitter with several of our friends)..... she likes to read and usually has several books on the go at once...... she is daring (she was one of two girls in her class that took "Electricity" and "Construction" classes this year and she loved both of them... and did very well in them too)..... she loves animals and knows way more about them than I ever will..... and she makes me like things that I would not normally like ("Dr. Who" for example).

As I said, I could go on and on..... but the one really outstanding thing about Megan is that she has a big heart (like her mommy).  One story stands out for me...... I was really close to my Grandma and a few years ago she was really sick.  I got thinking about the fact that she was going to die soon and I started crying.  The girls were going shopping and so they came to find me and say good-bye and there I was crying.  Megan did not say a word or ask me what was wrong - she just came over and gave me a great big hug..... that, to me, is Megan.

Happy birthday sweet girl!!!   We have been blessed by you!  :)

A Nice afternoon and a fish story

Sunday afternoon found us all with nothing to do at the same time (a rare occurrence these days) so we decided to get slurpees and go for a drive.

We ended up at the causeway on Rafferty Dam (north of Torquay).  We sat on the rocks and enjoyed the sun and the sound of the water.  Here are some shots......

Our pretty (weird) girls.....

Our pretty girls.....

Their pretty momma.....

Water (rare in southern Saskatchewan)

Megan found a fossil in the rocks of the rip wrap.  Very cool.....

And this is Katelyn..... she is holding a dead fish on a stick

Katelyn has always been "fishing challenged".  Every time we go fishing, everyone catches one but her.  One time she was helping me land a fish that I caught, hit it with the net and "released" it.  So she was quite excited to find a dead, half rotted, mostly head, scales and guts fish laying on the rocks.  It meant that she could catch it with a stick (but that is not the end of the story nor is it the story of this picture).

With great dramatic flair (if you can imagine Katie being dramatic - just try).... she announced that she was going to release the dead fish back into his natural habit.  Then she took the stick.... swung the fish around..... and heaved it toward the water..... only to have it get caught on the stick..... fly up into the air.... almost land directly in her hair..... and eventually fall to the ground wrapping itself around her leg.

The picture above is the result of Katie releasing a dead fish..... (ask her about the maggots sometime).  :)

Ahhh - the memories!!!

I Dare You!

I dare you to watch this and not smile.  Can't be done!

Graduation Celebration

One of the nice traditions at our church is the annual "Graduation Celebration" (not the official name - just what I am calling it.... I am sure if there was an official name it would be less corny than that one). 

Anyway, this has been going on for a long time.  In fact, since before my time here (I would say 30 years maybe).  It is a simply a chance for us to get together and say some nice things about someone who has accomplished some milestone in their life (usually high school graduation but we have celebrated people who have received advanced degrees in various fields as well). This year, the only graduate was Katelyn. 

It was nice!  Lots of people said lots of nice things about her (both publicly and privately).  One of the really cool things about the day was how many people said to her, "I remember the day you were born.  I came up to the hospital and held you!"   That sort of longevity is rare for preacher's family's.  Generally, preachers either move on or are fired every 4 or 5 years or less and that is really hard - especially on the kids.  So for us to have been here 24 years has been a huge thing for our family. That sort of "life stability" is virtually unheard of among those who do what I do.  Thankfully, we don't feel like we just work with this church, they really are like our family.  So celebrating with them was not only carrying on a tradition, it was the natural thing to do.

We were enjoying the day so much that we did not take a lot of pictures, but we got a few.  I am sure they will not be the last grad pictures on this blog.

PS.  Don't forget this guy..... seriously - he is gonna need a new home in about a month when he is done with his "makeover".   Speaking of that, message me now if you are interested and I can paint it any colour you like.... I will even have Sari paint your face on the tank so that you do not have any trouble identifying whether it is your bike or not (If the face in the rear view mirror matches the one on the tank - then you are on the right bike!).  This is a limited time offer..... indicate your interest now!!!

More stories and more big days coming up this week.... as well as more pictures.  Come on back!

A week of blogs - in bits

Ok - so lots has been going on in our lives.... I am going to blog about it in bits so that you do not get overwhelmed with a bunch of stuff.  So check back often..... here we go......

Last Thursday night Sari's school division had a big supper out at Lampman (a half hour away) so she decided it would be fun to rent a 15 passenger van and take a whole crew of people.  I drove and it was like the church joy bus only replace the screaming kids with laughing adults. 

We really had a lot of fun.  There were more people from Hillcrest there than anywhere else (or so it seemed anyway) and we were cheering for anyone from the school who did anything.... whether they got their 5, 10 or 20 year service award, or when they won a door prize, or even if they just found their way back to the table after going to the bathroom (it was a long way away) - we cheered and had a good time.

Sorry - no pics from this event - but a good time was had by all.  I like the Hillcrest people - they are fun!
___________
Then on Friday all the girls were in school and it was like 32 degrees outside.  The nicest day of the year so far, so what was the only logical thing to do?  Jump on my motorcycle and ride two and half hours one way to Moose Jaw for lunch of course.  I met my Mom, Step-dad, brother and sister. Why would I do that, you ask?  Why not????

It was super hot (I was all geared up in my jacket and riding pants etc) but it was a lot of fun.  Here are a few pictures.....

Of course this is the set of "Corner Gas" in Rouleau. This was as close as I could get because they were already started with renovations for the big movie that is being shot there, so they had signs up that said "Keep out" so I did.

This here is just another shot sort of looking back the other way - just because......

And this..... is another story.  A buddy of mine from Germany stopped by the other day and said, "Come see what I have for you".  When I went outside he said, "I haver come to for sale you my bike".  I told him about a year ago that I might be interested in it as a project bike and then he just showed up with it.  He seemed so happy about selling it to me that I felt like I could not say "no" so I bought it.

It was not running, but got it going the other day.  The front brake caliper was seized but I got that working tonight..... so it is coming along.  Give me a month and it will be ready to sell.  So, if you know of anyone who may be interested in a 1980 CX500 (it is old enough to be licensed as an antique.... $140 PER YEAR!!!) let me know.  It is going to need a good home.

So there you go.... round one of blogging.  I have lots more stories to tell, but I will save them for tomorrow night.  Check back then.  :)

Punctuation Matters :)

May Long Stuff

Our May Long has included several activities such as hanging out with Sari's parents, going to a 50th anniversary tea, some of us (Katie and me) had to work a bit, all of us got to hang out with some of our buddies (but not as many buddies as we would have liked) and some of us got to relax a little.

We did more than that, but I have pictures of a couple of the things that I got to do, so I thought I would share them.

First of all, on Saturday night the "Estevan Motor Speedway" held its first race of the year.  I volunteer as a track official out there and thought I would show you what things look like from my spot on the track.

My job is to stand at the end of the front stretch wall and wave caution flags.  I also help make sure cars are lined up and ready to go.  Here is a shot looking down the wall back to corner 4.

 My other job is to keep cars on the "staging lane" (where they sit after they leave the pits but before they go on the track) until it is safe for them to go out.  Here is a shot of the front of Allen Kent's Late Model.  These cars put out over 500 hp (maybe closer to 600) and cost in the $20 000 + range (depending on the parts and pieces you choose - could be cheaper - but the guys who run up front spend the money to do so)

Ready to go out......

Hot laps on track (basically a short practice - maybe 3 or 4 laps so the drivers get a feel for the track and to make sure that the cars are in working order)

Front stretch.... very wide... lots of options for passing

Late Models lined up for the start (You can see the flagman in the upper left of the pic giving them the "One lap to go" signal.... I should be doing that too but I am taking the picture).  We also communicate to the drivers via radio in their helmet... the big joke is always that it is "one way radio" only.... we can talk to them.... they can't talk back to us... which is fortunate at times)  :) 

  Hobby stocks taking the green flag

Looking back at half of the grandstand (it is intermission - that is why the seats are so empty)

I love hanging out at the speedway.... one of the best parts of living in Estevan.

Another nice thing for me is having a motorcycle and a family who allows me to just ride off into the sunset sometimes.  One of the best things about that is just exploring.  Yesterday, I found this old church building and yard out in the middle of nowhere north of Torguay.

It is called "Lac Qui Parle" (Lake that Speaks???) and it was named after a county in Minnesota where the settlers used to live.  The funny thing is that it was a Norwegian community... no one spoke French.... but they named the church was named after the nearby lake and then that name came with them to Saskatchewan.

The building was built in 1905 and many of the graves are from that time as well.  One of the things that struck me (as it often does in these old cemeteries) was how many babies were buried there.  One stone in particular said the name and then "our precious baby boy".  He was a year old.  We are fortunate to live in a time where most of us do not know what it is like to lose one or more children.

Anyway, there was no one around for miles (Except for the gopher that followed me around some and the snake that I almost stepped on - I thought of you mom)... it was really quiet and beautiful.  

 A little fun, a bunch of people, some rest and some fun stuff = good weekend.

Why We will not Deal with Sears Again

Sari needs room for a bunch of antiques and other things that she has been hauling home, so we decided to buy her a garden shed..... metal..... 10 x 8.... nice and useful.

They were on sale in the Sears flyer.... $100 off and you got the floor installation kit as well for free.  Sounded good, so we ordered one.  We were told that it would take 3 weeks to get here which was sort of dumb because we could have bought one off the floor at Canadian Tire that day, but whatever.... a $100 is a $100.

Today (16 days after ordering) I get an email that says our order was cancelled.  No explanation - just cancelled.

So I went into the Sears store here and of course they know nothing about it.  Look it up online - nothing.  Nothing they can do.

"Well, you know that this is the story I am going to tell about ordering stuff from you guys, right?" I ask them.

"Oh, we are different than the catalog" they say.  "If you had ordered through the store, we could have helped you.  The catalog stuff has nothing to do with us.  We just receive it for them".

"But the result is still the same for me, right?  I wait 3 weeks and I still don't have a shed when I could have bought one from Canadian Tire and had it set up the same day" I point out.

They say (again), "It isn't us".  Then they give me a "Customer service number" (in quotation marks because it is misnamed - as you will see)

"Hello, Sears Canada.  How may I help you?"

I tell the girl the whole story, she looks it up and helpfully confirms that yes indeed my order was cancelled.

"So how are you going to compensate me for waiting for three weeks for nothing and for you holding my money for that long?"

"One minute please" she says and then comes back and says, "Sir, I can offer you a $20 gift card"

I say nothing.

"Are you still there, Sir?"

"I am.  But I am not very happy.  So you are saying that I have no shed, you have had my money for three weeks and now you are offering me a $20 card to use on the online store that did not deliver the last item I wanted to purchase from you?"

"Yes!" she replied.  "And we will credit your credit card in 10-15 business days" (that was the wrong thing to say)

"So now you are telling me that you are keeping my money for over a month for something I did not even get?"

"Yes"

"Why would it take that long to credit my account?  When I purchase something with you, you take the money that second.... if you have to give it back it takes 10-15 days????  Seriously????? Does that make any sense to you?????"

"Well there are procedures"

"Does it make sense to you?"  (Go around in a circle with this conversation about 4 times - getting nowhere - before proceeding)

"You know that I am paying interest on that money while you hold it right?"

"Oh no sir!  You are not!"

"I sure am!  Every day it is on the card I am being charged.  What are you going to do about that?" (It is not that much money, so I don't really care.... at this point, it is the principle of the thing - and the fact that I was becoming a little less than happy with the "Customer Service Line" by the minute)

"Can you hold please" (3 minutes later) "Sir, if you will send us a copy of your credit card bill with the appropriate interest highlighted.... we will pay that portion for you" (Not a good thing to say!!!)

"So now I have to do more work to get my money back when it is your issue in the first place????  And how am I ever going to figure out exactly how much interest was charged specifically for your item alone???? That is ridiculous!!!"

"Can you hold please" (5 minutes later)  "Sir what if I offered you a $30 gift card to make up for your trouble and to cover the interest we cost you?????  That is the best I can do"

(Long silence again) "I guess I will take it if that is all you can do.  But you know that this is the story I am going to tell to everyone I see about ordering things from Sears, right?  I am even going to blog about it!!!" (Considering that she was sitting in the Philippines and could not really care less what I said about Sears Canada - what is it to her really right - this likely did not matter to her - but it made me feel better.... and here you are reading about it so.....).

I don't know about how things go where you are..... and I don't know anything about the new management in the Sears store in Estevan.... but I know this:  We will not order anything from them again.

PS. I told this story to my neighbour when I got home and he said, "We stopped ordering things from them years ago!   They used to be great but I can't stand dealing with them now".

Whew.... I feel better now..... where is my medication??????  :)

The icing on the cake:  As I was finishing the last line above, the phone rang.  It is an automated call from Sears Canada "regretting to inform me that my order has been cancelled. However, if you would like to place another order with us, you can call.......".   Oh - please - let -me!!!!!!

Customer service at its best!!!!!  :)

Add a Fonzi... subtract a Summer... throw in a university tour... something concerning.... and "this guy" = a summary of our week

 Random observations from the past week.....

1.  Add a Fonzi... subtract a Summer:  Megan got one step close to being a real driver this week as we put plates on Fonzi (her truck).  That also means that I had to park Summer (my truck)  Why is my tuck called "Summer", you ask?  Well - I don't know!  Why do people name their kids Blanche???  Actually, we bought her, in part, to pull our camper in the summer... hence "Summer".

I will be riding my motorcycle soon, so I don't need my truck.  When it rains, I will take Megan's and she can ride with her sister.  So we are all happy about this...


2.  University tour:  We did all the registration stuff with Katelyn and had a look around and now we all feel much better.  The university is not nearly as big as I thought (I had never really been on campus before) and it is well organized and easy to figure out. Signing up for classes was a bit of a nightmare as most classes are offered like 5 different times throughout the week, so you have to pick the ones you want and make sure that they do not conflict with other things you want.... it literally took us 2 hours and several tries to get it right.... but I think we are good now.


Katie is going to stay with our good friends Jen and Justin.... they were super good to us and we really happy that she is going to be staying at a place that has been a second home to us and to her since she was little.... that will make the transition a lot easier.... though she is a little concerned about Justin wanting her to call him "Your Highness" all the time.... I think it is a reasonable demand!

3. Something concerning:  Going into "A and W" the other day, I held the door for this dude who was coming in behind me.  He looked at me and said, "Hey, Tim!  How are you doing?  Staying out of trouble??"   I looked at him and said, "Hey..... ya sure!  How are you??"   I HAD NO IDEA WHO HE WAS!  So when I sat down with the guys, I asked if any of them knew him.  Nope!

Then tonight I decided to walk to Bible study (just because it was nice out) and I was standing at the corner by the Mohawk gas station waiting on a light when a guy yells out of a white four door GMC truck.... "Hey Tim.... wanna ride???"   I yell back, "No thanks!  I am good!"   I HAVE NO IDEA WHO THAT WAS EITHER! (I could not see against the setting sun...)

So, that leads to only one logical conclusion...... I HAVE ALZHEIMER'S!

If you can help on either count.... if you know who has a white truck and saw me walking.... or if you were stalking me and watching me go into the "A and W" with some dude.... well, wait, on that one - maybe don't tell me.  GET HELP!!!  My life is not interesting enough to have you following me around. 

4.  This is so gonna happen:    If my kids have a wedding dance.... this is so gonna be me.... only with WAY better moves!  You have been forewarned!!!

PS.  I saw several of these.... some of them started with the Dad and Daughter dancing to the old Motown song "My Girl"..... (I am not going to cry..... I am not going to........)..... Stupid song!

Have a good week!

Something weird just happened

Our youngest daughter just jumped in her truck and went driving under the supervision of our oldest daughter..... and it is all perfectly legal.

What is going on here?????

I thought we were registering them for kindergarten this week!!

Yikes!!  How can a young couple like Sari and me have such mature kids?????   I am confused. 

Amazing

I have not found a good place to say this yet, so I guess this is as good a place as any..... I am always amazed when people respond well to tragic circumstances.  I am always inspired when people "step up" and face difficult situations with courage, grace, care, love and strength.  I have seen it many times before and I saw it again this past week. 


When bad things happen (and they will in both big and small ways) we have a choice.... we can stare at the awful or we can see the amazing.

For a week, I saw a whole group of people living at their very best.... and I will never forget it. 

Megan's new ride

Thanks to some generous friends who gave us a good deal, Megan now has this waiting for her when she gets her license (Until then, Dad gets to rip around in it)  :)

In case you did not hear

In case you did not hear, click here

Today's events

It was spring cleaning day today..... sort of.

By that I mean that Sari spent most of the day in the yard cleaning things up from the winter mess.... I spent the day in my garage cleaning up my motorcycle and getting it ready to go (checking all the fluids, cleaning it up, lubricating things, etc).... Megan and her buddy Shana spent the day cleaning up our snacks and watching TV..... and Katelyn..... well who knows what Katelyn was doing because she is not here and does not seem to be communicating with us anymore (she is in Ontario with her boyfriend's family).

It has been a nice "Spring is almost here" day!

Quick Update/Random Thoughts

It has been a while since I have written anything so here, in no particular order, are some random updates.....

1.  My sister got married last weekend.  I will not post pictures of that yet (she has not done so yet, so I will wait) however I did get to drive the groom's truck from the church building to the reception.  Rule #1 of getting married..... NEVER GIVE YOUR TRUCK KEYS TO ANYONE!!!

Megan, Katie and I filled their truck with balloons (Sari was being "wedding photographer" with the couple so she did not get to participate in the fun).  We filled it so full that you could hardly close the doors.  Pictures below are of the work in progress

Fortunately for me, I am not getting married again.  Unfortunately for the girls, their aunt has a long memory and a fine tune sense of "Pippus revenge".... we will wait and see what happens.  :)

2.  Katie got her university acceptance letter.  If you do not know the what, where and why of this, write to me privately and I will give you the details.  Needless to say, she is excited.  Her parents on the other hand are trying to be excited. 

3.  Megan is approximately a month away from getting her driver's license.  She has done most of her driving times with the instructor so soon she will be on the road.  The search for a car begins.

4.  Both girls made the honour roll in the first semester and their mid-term report cards came today.... they are doing well.

5.  Sari is leaving me.... a few times actually.  She is going to a conference in May and she is also going to go pick up a big chunk of money that is being donated to her school program.  Very nice!

6.  Spring is officially here..... I just watched an entire playoff hockey game including 3 periods of overtime.  I love the first round of the NHL playoffs.... even if the Leafs and almost every other Canadian team missed it.

7.  Tomorrow is "Spring check-up day" for my motorcycle.  If it ever stops snowing, I may even get to ride it a bit.

8.  I am looking forward to the workday at "Estevan Motor Speedway" on Saturday.  First race = May 3rd...... woo hoo!!!!  

9.  If you want to see something really disgusting, take the trap off of your kitchen sink drain.  Sari and Megs dropped a Popsicle stick down there today so I took ours apart..... ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh...... iiiiiccccckkkkkkkkkk!!!!  (Fill in your own details here).  I am not even sure how some of that stuff got down there.

10.  Life is good.  We are happy and content with our little life.  We are thankful and are trying to enjoy every day.  We don't always do that last part well.... but we do it more days than we don't.  We just saw my family and this weekend we get to be with Sari's folks..... and it is supposed to be warm sometime soon (I keep telling myself that anyway).  Life is good!

PS.  Now that things are starting to happen around here again, I am going to try to blog more regularly.  Please check back and comment..... it is way more fun if you comment.  Ok?  OK!  :)

Wisdom for today

I think I just found some birthday/Christmas presents!!!! :)

Hey y'all

I know I have not been a very active blogger lately and I intend for that to change.  Come back after the weekend (like April 7th or 8th or so) and we will get back at it.  In the meantime.....

Some of you may know of my "HATE" for all things cellphone.  I have to carry one so that people can find me when I am out of the office, but if I can leave the thing at home I do every chance I get.

That being said: This video makes a lot of sense to me.