10 Unexpected Gifts to Give And Receive This Christmas

The title of this post is taking from an article written by the woman pictured below.

The article is a little long and a little too "fluffy" for me, but it is worth a look even if you only read the headings so that you get the 10 gifts. Then you can read more about the ones that interest you.

Something to think about. Click on the picture to go to the article.

No Half Measures

When our buddies Nathan and Melanie do things, they do them big.

For example.... "Come to the farm for a bonfire" means this.....

(Oh - and they had four of these on the go with three or four more to light up another day)

Well that was certainly..... something

We went to Sari's work Christmas party tonight and it was fun!  Nice people.... good food.... lots of laughs.

They did the traditional gift exchange (where you can either choose an unopened gift or steal an opened one from someone else and make them go back to the unopened pile).  As usual, someone of the gifts were good and some were gags.  Sari's were both "gag gifts" and they got the biggest laughs of the night - so that was fun.

All in all, not a bad way to spend an evening.

Our weekend

In a word, our weekend was..... full!

It started Friday night when Sari mentioned that the drain under the kitchen sink was leaking.  When I took it apart to check it everything fell apart!  The basket part was all rusted as was the pipe leading to the trap.  You could literally break it into little pieces with your fingers. A quick trip to Canadian Tire solved nothing as they didn't not have what I wanted, so it was off to Home Hardware in the morning.

Long story short, I ended up changing everything from the strainer to the drain (the trap, the pipes, etc),  I usually HATE plumbing.... I would rather do electrical or construction or anything thing else any time.... but this ended up working out well so that was good.

Megan's weekend mostly consisted of working..... and she would tell you that while it was "ok" and "good" it was not that interesting (No good stories to tell).

After the plumbing problem was fixed, Sara and Katie spent most of the day doing this.....

So that is nice!  Megan got home and helped and I contributed by eating cookie dough!

Then today after church we had a "Hot Pot Luck" meal and people were encouraged to invite someone who could use a meal or just some friendship,  Several people came out and it was a really nice time.

Then I jumped in a car and headed to Weyburn for a camp board meeting which turned out to be better than I expected.

Back home by 5:30.  Then we ate quickly and headed off to the "Rotary Carol Festival" which was really nice.  Here is our "Carol Festival Selfie" (We are much happier about being there than it looks.... I was trying to take the picture without anyone really noticing so that is what happy looks like when you are in spy mode).

So there you go!  A weekend in our life.  :)

I went to noon hockey for the first time this season and 20 minutes in I felt like....

Fortunately, it got better from there.  :)

Actually it was really fun!  We had 9 guys out there which is about right.  We could of used 3 or 4 more so you would have someone to switch with when you got tired - which for me - as I pointed out already was like three minutes into skating.  

Anyway, I hope to get to play a bunch more over the holidays since we are going to be home anyway.  My NHL dream is not dead yet (Unfortunately to me these days "NHL" stands for "No Hurt Ligaments" or "No Hemorrhaging Later" or "Need Help Leaving" or "New Hernia Limitations")  :)

Sara's HIllcrest Christmas store

Click on the picture to read a story from the paper about the Christmas store at Hillcrest

Tree Trimming 2015

This happened tonight.....

Hmm - Maybe we need to leave town more

So yesterday we went to Minot to shop.... I did not get to a bike shop.... I did not buy anything for myself..... I just went shopping...  and I did not get mad inside at all!!!!

No real grumping!

No hissy-fits!

Nothing!!

Either I am very proud of myself or I am very concerned!

I think it is a sign that I need to get out of town more when getting out of town to go shopping is ok.

Tear down continues

Yee Haw!!!

This came in the mail today.....

It is a cheque for Sari,  In fact, it is her first paying art gig cheque!  Her photography club had pictures on display at the local gallery and, initially, she thought that was all there was to it.  It was just going to be fun having others seeing her work.

And then the big money rolled in!!!

So I am currently trying to decide whether it would be better to travel North America in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari.  Opinions????  As well, how much notice do I have to give at the church before I quit (I have not reviewed that with them in a long time).... oh and I guess we will have to think about whether to keep this house as well as the new one in Italy or whether that is just silly.  We will see I guess.

Oh.... hang on..... I just looked more closely at the amount of the cheque.   Ummm - I guess I better hold off on the Ferrari and the job quitting for a while.....

But we are still proud of her and think that she is super talented!

Besides, baby steps are the first steps, right?  :)

Cool pictures from space

I know that I have posted pics like these before, but I still think that they are cool.

Western Europe (Italy etc)....

Florida and southeastern states.... 

Blog 30: Brain dump

So here we are.... at the end of another "30 blogs in 30 days" (it took me 34 days this time - give or take - I think).

Anyway, just to round out this round, here are some random thoughts.....

1.  A quote I came across recently....  "We used to be proud of what we made and could fix and now we are proud of what we consume"......  I think that is a step backwards.

2.  Coming up with something to write about every day for 30 days is hard!

3.  I need to find a new squash partner or a hockey team to play on or something.... It is gonna be a long winter if I don't!  Any takers????

4. Find me on Twitter at "@timpippus"..... I could use some more followers and some more people to follow

5.  This being December 1 means that today is the official start to the Christmas season in our home. There is a moratorium against Christmas lights/trees/music before this date!  Otherwise, it would be Christmas all year around here.

6.  I am not done blogging....  I don't want to commit to another "30 blogs" with holidays coming up, but keep checking back...... I will still try to write something every day or every other day till the end of the year.

Blog 29: Ummmm.... I am still not ok with a minivan!

For car guys, this may be sad, but the truth is the truth.  My brother sent me an interesting article. The title says a lot, but click on the picture to read the details.

Blog 28: Surf Music

It has been a busy Sunday.... but there is not a whole lot to report, so I thought I would share this....

For some reason (mostly having to do with the music that I listened to when I was growing up), I really like 50s music, doo-wop groups, surf tunes and (especially) the car music of the 60s.  I mentioned a while ago that I am a little addicted to this sort of music lately and that led me to looking up music and facts this afternoon.

In doing so, I came across this video from 1964.  I may have shared it before, but this is what you get tonight.  I like how they show the difference the separate pieces make and I am really impressed with how they just step up to the mic and sing the right notes... no hesitation.  And, yes, it is live.  Have a listen.

Blog 27: The Last Few Days

That there is the engine and transmission hanging in front of the old Mercury that my buddy Dennis and I pulled it out of yesterday.  He is redoing a 67 Mustang and needed a fuel injected engine for it so this car was written off in an accident and became the donor car.  That was part of my Friday. 

Today was mostly running around and then fixing things (sinks/dishwashers/etc, etc).  No pictures there b/c that is not that interesting. 

So there you go.... nothing funny.... nothing that interesting even.... just saying "hi".  :)

Blog 26: Throwback Thursday

I don't know why, but this picture always makes me smile.... from 2007.

When I look at it I always think..... "If Sara's Dad, her two brothers and I were every to make a Hipster record (think "Mumford and Sons" or something), I would definitely make this our CD cover picture".

Anyone want to name our band?  Our CD???

Blog 25: The Christmas Carol Rant (An Annual Tradition)

As I ranted last year, so I will rant again this year......

SOMEBODY.... ANYBODY.... PLEASE, WRITE A NEW CHRISTMAS CAROL!!!!

"The Little Drummer Boy" was written in 1941!!!!! (74 years ago!!!!).

"White Christmas" = 1940 (75 years ago!!!!)

"Holly Jolly Christmas" - 1964 (51 years ago)

"Frosty the Snowman" = 1950 (65 years ago)

"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" = 1949 (66 years ago).

BE SURE TO READ THIS PART (because I got in trouble with my mother last year over this rant..... Hi, Mom!!)........  I am not against Christmas..... Christmas Carols..... or even the songs listed above (In fact, one of my favorite songs from this time of year is "Sleigh Ride" written in 1950 and one of my favorite religious Christmas songs is "Silent Night" and it was first performed on Christmas eve 1818).

I am NOT against old songs!

But come on!  Are you telling me that no one has been able to come up with a decent song about winter, Christmas or family getting together during the holiday season in the past 50 + years??????

No - hang on - let me correct that.....  "Boney M" cracked the rotation and had a hit with "Mary's Boy Child" in 1978.  Other than the fact that.... (A) The song is completely inaccurate according to the Bible..... (B) The group that recorded in studio was not the "Boney M" group that toured and sang the songs (they had to create a group to go on the road)..... (C) Boney M has not performed together since 2010 and they never that popular in the first place.  Other than that - it is perfect!

I would love - one year - to hear all the old stuff that you have heard since your Grandma was born 267349674893790 years ago.... and then JUST ONE new song that had a reference to something more modern than  "Chestnuts roasting over an open fire" (who does that anyway?).   How about something that talks about how great it is to have "forced air furnaces" or "indoor plumbing" or a song about how the family gathers to watch the "World Junior Hockey Championship around the big screen while eating nachos"...... something to let future generations know that we did see some technological advances in our lifetime.

(Now - hang on....... Someone is going to write and argue that "open fires" are way more romantic than the "World Juniors" and that maybe all our big screens etc are a step backwards, not forwards.  I will grant you that point - in principle.  I agree that TVs, cell phones and computers are a plague on our society most of the time.... see my rants in the posts just below this one.  However, I do not think many of you will shut off the furnace or turn off the water so that you can experience the "old ways" just for "old time's sake".  Some things just don't make sense).

So there you go!   Your "Christmas Challenge"...... Go write the first decent, catchy, singable Christmas song for the first time since JFK was in the White House.

The subject gives you a ton of good stuff to work with..... Someone MUST be able to do something!!!!

PS.  I was ranting to my brother about this earlier today and so he told me to write one.  I told him that I do write and sing songs all the time..... but they are all about me..... and for some reason the girls will not sing them.  I think they are jealous!

Blog 24: I think we made it!!!

Sari got home tonight.  If I had to pick a picture to describe our last few days it would be this....

Megs and I survived on our own for like FOUR days!!!!  FOUR DAYS!!!!!

It was tough.... but we made it!!!!  We cooked for ourselves (didn't eat out once)!!  We kept the house relatively clean.  We even managed to do a load of laundry or two (part of that is because I spilled car polish on myself while playing darts in the garage.... don't ask!).

So there you go!  We did it!!!  

We may even be able to make 5 days!!!  Who knows what the limits are????  :)

Blog 23: Pictures

Yesterday, Megs and I took a drive to Rafferty.  It had been cold and windy the day before meaning that the waves from the lake splashed on to the shore and froze in cool patterns.  Here are some of the shots Megs took.

 Every winter Sari and I have a "Scrabble" tournament.  This year I think I am going to suggest that we expand that tournament and add other elements.... like darts!

I worked in the garage today and had the heat on anyway, so Megan and I decided to get a head start on training for the new competition. 

Bonus post

Someone sent this to me and I thought it was funny... so I am passing it on.  Have a good Saturday (or whatever day it is when you get around to reading it).
_________________________
Paraprosdokians are figures of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected and is frequently humorous. (Winston Churchill loved them).  Here are some examples...

(Editor's note from TKP......  I really liked numbers 2 - 4 and number 12)  :)

1. Where there's a will, I want to be in it.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you ... But it's still on my list.
3. Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up we only learn how to act in public.
6. War does not determine who is right, only who is left.
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
8. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
9. I didn't say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
10. In filling out an application, where it says, "In case of emergency, notify..." I answered "a doctor."
11. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
12. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice.
13. I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.
14. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
15. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
16. You're never too old to learn something stupid.
17. I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

Blog 22: Another reason Computers are Evil

You may have noticed that I have not posted anything on here in the last few days.

That is because nothing all that interesting or exciting has happened lately.

Well, other than that alien abduction thing, but I am not supposed to speak about that, so......

Sari is away on a "Girly weekend" and so it was just going to be me and Megan at home.... then Megan got invited to a buddy's house for supper.... and then texted to ask if she could stay for a sleepover...... so with Katie away at university...... I had the night all to myself!!

So what does a "single" (technically I am not single.... at least that is what Sari keeps telling me)..... "young" (technically I am not that young anymore.... at least that is what Sari keeps telling me) guy do on a free Friday night in a happening place like Estevan?????

Well.... I was going to watch a hockey game but then I came upstairs to look something up..... then I looked up something about "The Beach Boys"...... then I started listening to Beach Boys songs (they had a couple of successful ones - I think that they may actually go places!)..... and then I started reading articles about the Beach Boys.... and then I read a bunch of stuff about each member of the group..... and then I started listening to other "car song/surfer" groups like the "Rip Chords", "Jan and Dean" and "The Hondells" (a group of guys put together to sing about Honda motorcycles believe it or not.... one of whom - by the way - was Bruce Johnson who eventually joined the Beach Boys). Being a prairie boy from Saskatchewan, I can really relate to the surfing lifestyle....

And then it was three hours later and the hockey game was over.

So in a way, it was sort of like being abducted.....  without the examination!

Blog 21: Aaaaaaarrrrrgggggggg!!!!!!!!

I am not normally a violent person, but lately this has been my attitude toward computers.....

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!   I HATE THEM!!!!!!!!!!

First, a month or so ago, my church computer died.  No warning!  On a Saturday night!  Ended up taking my class notes and Powerpoint for Sunday morning to the great beyond with it (Thankfully my buddy Justin performed a resurrection or an exorcism or something on it and got my files back).

Then we have been having all kinds of issues with our home computer.  Well, one problem..... when I go to save an image - whether from the internet or from my phone or whatever - which I do a lot of when I am blogging - the whole thing locks up.  Reset it 987694876489367 times and nothing works.... then suddenly it works!   Grrrrrrrrr!!!  (I was gonna blog last night but could not post a picture b/c it kept going "unresponsive"..... sort of like some of the people in my classes on Sunday morning..... Ba dump bump!)  :)

Then today I get to the office and the church computer will not connect to the internet.  I call Sasktel and they tell me that everything from their side is working perfectly and it must be my issue.  AN HOUR LATER...... I suspect that my anti-virus program (for some reason) is not letting anything through the firewall...... delete AVG and "Ta da" the computer that worked perfectly when I left the office the night before suddenly worked perfectly again.

When I was in Bible college, home computers were just becoming popular and I had a prof who used to come to class almost every day and say.... "If anyone tells you that having a computer saves you time - don't believe them!   They save time doing ordinary things like printing papers, but you waste just as much time trying to figure out how to use them or fixing them when they don't do want you want them to do".

Amen, brother!

Blog 20: Cell phone warning

Generally, I am not an alarmist.  "Bah!" is my general response... especially to the "___________ could cause cancer" statements that we hear all the time.  Take any given substance and then look hard enough and you can find someone who thinks it is cancer causing.

With that said...... I am absolutely certain that cell phones are going to be our generation's cigarettes. You know what I mean.... 40 years ago everyone smoked and no one thought anything about it.... I bet that in 40 years we will look back on cell phones and say, "What were we thinking".

The biggest issue that I have with them is how people carry them.  Read the literature that comes with your phone!!!!!  Even the manufacturer says, "Do not carry cell phone on your person.... Keep phone a minimum of 5 mm from your body at all times" but I constantly see people carrying them in their pants pockets.... in a shirt pocket.... or even in their bras!

I HATE my cell phone!!!  Partially because I think 99.999999997% of things are not important enough to have me on "hotline alert standby".  Why do I need to be checking Twitter at the hockey game????  Answer:  I DON"T!!!!  I AM AT THE HOCKEY GAME ENJOYING MYSELF!!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!

Then there is the fact that you phone is actually RADIATING your body.  In fact, the World Health Organization has classified cell phones as class B carcinogens.   To read more about that, click here.

I  hate doomsday people!  I hate the attitude that says, "The sky is falling!!!"  However, I also hate the thought that we have been completely sucked in with the notion that you can't go anywhere or do anything without being "connected".

That is just stupid!

And - sadly - I think that we are going to pay the price for it down the road!

Blog 19: Grease

So the four of us went to this last night at the high school.....

A bunch of Megan's buddies were in it.  Lots of talented kids.  Great crowd.  Musicals are not really my thing, but it was something different.  A fun night out.

Blog 18: Not surprising

Oddly, when you buy a tire changer, this starts happening......

Blog 17: A New Toy

I am sure that most people will look at this and go.... "So what?".... but to me this is fun!  I got a new toy and tried it out for the first time today.

That is right..... it is a tire changer!!

And guess what I did with it????  I changed that tire!!!!

Again... "So what?"

Well, it will save me some money changing Megan's truck tires and it will allow me to run an Enduro car without having to pay someone $80 to swap tires for me and...... who knows what else????

I like to do things myself instead of paying others to do what I could do if I had the stuff to do what I could do, ya know????   So with this I can now do what I could not do before but can do now!

Blog 16: Well, that kinda worked.... and a Megan picture

Those of you who have been following this blog will know that the lock on our front door quit working (it locks but will not unlock with the key).  I bought a new one but then realized that the old one had a money back guarantee so I called the 1-800 line and was assured that they would replace it.

That was on Oct 23!

Today this came (November 10).......

The only problems.....

1.  It is not the same as the lock that we had (that matches the one on the back door and is keyed the same) even though I sent them a picture and gave them the exact name of their own product.

2.  It is not put together. In fact, the keyed part of the lock is not in the handle - it is in a bag.  I am not sure if this is supposed to allow us to key the lock ourselves or what (Shockingly - I have not read the instructions yet) so we will see.

All in all - it was sort of a win/lose.  A win in that I saved $50 and did not have to buy a new lock but a loss in that it is not a match and will not work the way I wanted so now we will have to at least add another key to our ever growing key ring.

I guess you get what you pay for.

(Have your say:  What do you think?  Did I win or lose here?)

In other news, look who was in the paper.....

This is picture was taken at her last (or maybe second last) soccer game of the year.

That is all I have for tonight.  Later!  :)

Blog 15: Speedway video

This video is sort of long (25 minutes or so) but it is really well done and it shows off one of my favorite places in town ... Estevan Motor Speedway.   Have a look.  I even make a couple of appearances.

Blog 14: Some pictures and an auction reminder

You may have noticed that I did not blog on Saturday. The good reason for that is that I basically was not home.

We had brunch and then I went to Weyburn for a Bible camp board meeting. It lasted longer than I expected and so I raced back home, changed and headed straight to the "Estevan Motor Speedway Awards Banquet". That was a lot of fun, but I did not get home from that until about 12:30 am.

To my surprise, when I got home Megan and Sara were still up.  Megan had worked all day, so we visited about her day some.  Sari had spent the night at a reception at the Art gallery in town.  She has a couple of pictures on display over there (I will post those later this week) and so she was over there mingling and telling stories, so we talked about that some.  By then it was almost 1 am and I still had to look over my lessons for Sunday morning (I had finished them on Thursday but I wanted to review them) so I did that and went to bed.

Therefore, no blogging.

Today, Megan worked in the afternoon so Sari and I went for a drive out around Torquay and Rafferty.  As usual, she took her camera, here are a few samples ......

As we were coming home, she said, "Look at that sunset" and told me to get the camera and take a few shots (she was driving because this was her picture taking tour)..... so this is my contribution to the day.

Lastly, an auction sale reminder:  Do not bid unless you actually want to own something.

As part of the Speedway supper they hold an auction to raise money for the track.  Last year, they had some door panels from race cars for sale and they went for about $400 - 600 each.  Just something nice to hang on the wall of your garage etc.

This year they had more of them.... like 7 or 8.  The first couple sold for about $300 - 400.  Then we took one up front that was from Wayne Johnson from Minot.  Now I don't know if it was b/c he was not a local guy or what, but no one was bidding.  Since I was helping with the auction and standing there anyway, I threw in the first bid thinking that someone just had to get the thing rolling and that someone would bid me up from there.......

So now I own this......

I figure that if I buy one piece every year I should be able to build an entire stock car in about 84 years!!!!!

Blog 13: Mustang

After talking about it for a long time, today was the day that my buddy Dennis and I started taking apart his 67 Mustang (Well, technically his daughter's 67 Mustang as the license plate indicates).

Hopefully it turns out better than the Durango (see previous posts... summary = we spent a lot of Fridays last winter rebuilding the engine in it and it blew up!)

Blog 12: Interesting

I am not dumb enough to think that everything that is posted on the internet is accurate or correct. However, I like outer space stuff and thought that these were interesting.... take them for what they are worth.

Earth, Jupiter, and Venus as seem from the surface of Mars (Just for clarification sake, I did not take this picture).  :)

Blog 11: A Gift.... or is it????

My buddy John gave me a gift tonight.... one that I was really thrilled with.....

It is a service manual for a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger and as you may know I just happen to be in process of acquiring a Dodge Dart Swinger that is in dire need of repair.

So the question is...... "Is this a great gift or a portal into hours and hours of confusion and frustration?"

Time will tell!!!

Either way, John's generosity put a smile on my face tonight!  :)

Blog 10: Ten seconds of honesty

It would be easy for me to come on here every day, make stupid jokes, tell ridiculous stories and let you think that we are all having all kinds of fun all the time over here (or maybe you read this stuff and simply wonder what it wrong with us..... either way).

The one thing that I HATE about the Internet (Facebook specifically) is the "Photo-shopped lives" that people put out there.  Before I boycotted Facebook two years ago (cold turkey!), I would read stuff and think, "I KNOW you!  What you are writing sounds NOTHING like you or the life I see you living!"

So..... in the interest of "full disclosure".... I didn't blog yesterday because there was nothing fun, funny or even happy to blog about.  Nothing terrible had happened... life was and is generally good.... but I woke up feeling like this......

And then it got worse from there.

Part of it was that I was running a fever and not feeling well physically, but more of it was mental.  I was just tired and grouchy and it was Monday morning and I was feeling like I was on the "hamster wheel" where you run and run and get no where.

In some ways, my job is like the movie "Groundhog Day" where Bill Murray keeps waking up to the exact same day over and over.... only mine is the exact same week over and over.  Sunday ends and Monday rolls around and I have to come up with a newspaper article and three new, fun, interesting, informative, inspiring lessons just like I did last week (At this point some will point out either (a) I have help that I do not see and I do not write these things alone or (b)  my lessons are not always inspiring, interesting, fun, or whatever.... but that is beside the point).

It takes a lot of energy to come up with that much new material all the time.  AND SUNDAYS JUST KEEP COMING!!!  THEY NEVER STOP!!!!!

Anyway, I was feeling more like hiding in my basement or going to Arizona and riding a motorcycle through the desert for a month or..... something.  I certainly did not feel like blogging.

Then I got a good sleep and today I feel better  (both mentally and physically) so maybe the lessons are.....

A.  It is ok to take a break once in while.

B.  Don't buy the "Everyone is having a happy and fun life except me because I see all the stuff they post on the internet and my life is boring" stuff that many buy.  Most people's lives are a mix of good and bad.... you get to choose which you want to focus on... but everyone has both.

C.  Everyone's job looks easy until it is your job - then you realize that maybe there is more to it than you know.

D.  The sun will likely come up tomorrow and things will likely look better then.

E.  I have more blessings than I can count and they include my girls, my job, my extended family and much more.  I am very thankful for all that I have been given.

That is your "10 seconds" of honesty about my life.  Tomorrow we will return you to our regularly scheduled nonsensical stupidity.  :)

Blog 9: Photography

Sari has had a few chances to get out and take some pictures lately, so I asked her to contribute a few to the blog. Here is what she selected......