Poor Debbie!!!! :(

If you have been reading the deluded comments at the end of my last post, you will notice that my nice, sweet sister Debbie (and Justin for that matter - though he is neither "sweet" nor my "Sister" - though I can see how you could be confused about the "sister" part) :) are convinced that the Flames are going to beat the Hawks... so much so that Debbie is going to appear on this blog wearing a Hawks jersey while burning her Flames one (ok - maybe not the last part but that would have been good to put in the bet too) :)


So we went to Minot yesterday. I dropped the girls off at the mall and then I hit (Literally) every motorcycle shop and Peavey Mart type place in town - it was the best shopping trip ever!!! :) I did not get much (no one really has anything in stock) but I did buy some riding boots - so that was nice. I also tried out a bunch of stuff that was overpriced (gloves and stuff at the Harley shop) that I can now order online from home.


And from the "Its a small world" department - we ran into our friends the Lawrences and the Davenports while there (well actually we heard the Davenports were there b/c they were coming back from Bismark so we planned to meet them) - then too we saw a bunch of other "Estevanites" that we recognized as well.


Anyway - check back to see a picture of Debbie wearing the jersey of a good team for once! Go Hawks!!!! :)

Go Hawks

Well - we just picked our family hockey pool. My sister and her husband are the big pushes behind this and it is a lot of fun - when I win - which I am going to do b/c I took at grand total of 6 Blackhawks in my 16 player pool (doesn't sound like much I know - but when 8 people are picking 16 players - to get 6 from one team is a lot).

The best part of this is that the Hawks play my sister's favorite team - the Flames - in the first round - so it will make that round interesting anyway. :) One of us will be happy at the end anyway!

I have sort of been a closet Blackhawk fan for years - I have a couple of jerseys - so it is time to "come out of the closet" so to speak and stand up and cheer for them.

GO HAWKS! (Booooo Debbie!!!!!..... and Justin for that matter) :)

Country Music - Wa?

So Sunday night I am cruising through the TV channels and I came across the "Academy of Country Music" awards.

Several years ago, after not listening to country music for a long, long time, I came across the exact same awards show and decided to watch it. That night I saw Keith Urban (singing "Days go By"), heard Sara Evans and got my first look at "Big and Rich" - and it totally blew me away.

That night made a country music fan of me again. In fact, it led to seeing Keith Urban live at "Countryfest" in Dauphin (still probably the best concert I have ever been to and one of the most fun nights ever) and to a whole summer of listening to "Selected" Big and Rich songs (Selected b/c some of them are too far over the line for me). In fact, I cannot drive through Montana without hearing the cool sounding harmonies of "Big and Rich" because they were the soundtrack to that entire vacation.

So I began watching the ACMs the other night with the same sort of anticipation - preparing to be blown away again ...... "Ooh - we are gonna hear something cool tonight!!!"

And I waited....... and waited....... and waited.......... NOTHING!!!!! NOT ONE GOOD, FUN, UPBEAT SONG IN THE ENTIRE THREE WASTED HOURS OF MY LIFE!!!!!! NOTHING!!!!! ZERO!!!!! SLOW - BORING - UNINTERESTING SONGS - BRUTAL LYRICS (and that was just the first two songs - it got worse from there)

The only 1/2 interesting song was "Shutting Detroit Down" by John Rich - a song all about the plight of the people who are losing jobs in the auto industry (Google that one - I really liked it). The rest of it was terrible!!!!

So needless to say...... I was not converted back to country music this night.

However, there must be some good stuff out there...... there has to be right??????? So - if you are a country fan, here is your assignment..........

Find me a good current country song! Just one or two. Anything from anyone. Send me a "Youtube" link or something.

That is it. Can you do it? Anyone????? Bueller? :)

Adventures with Animals

No the title of this blog does not related to Western Christian College's Homecoming (though - come to think of it....) :)

I am writing this at 9:11 am on Sunday and I have never seen everyone sooooo tired! We were at Homecoming in Regina and we did not have any "early nights". Friday night we hung out at Jen and Justin's and stayed up till 2 am and then last night..........

We left Regina at about 10 pm and started out for home. At about Corrine we came around a corner only to see something on the road - whether it was already dead or not I am not sure - but it was after we hit it. Skunk!!!!!! :( You know how you often smell a skunk and think, "Oohh - well it will go away soon"? Well this one just did not! The stink got worse and worse. Almost and hour later we stopped in Weyburn at 7-11 to get some snacks and as soon as I opened the door it smelled like we had dragged the skunk all the way from Corrine with us! The girls and I went inside - Sari sat in the van and she said it was so funny to watch people walk past - they would be talking and then "Eeeewww" and run away. By the time we came back out there was no one parked within 100 yards of us! :)

So we sucked it up and got going again - almost home - Sari and Megan are sleeping - it is getting to be about 12:15 am and I am thinking, "Well, we are almost home" and just then a huge buck (at first I thought it was a cow it was so fat) jumped out of the ditch and onto the road. So I slammed on the brakes - Sari woke up with a shriek (Seriously - I have never heard a sound like that before - I think the deer ran away not because of the van racing towards him but because of Sari's "Deer whistle" scream!). The kids screamed - junk flying everywhere - I am not sure what happened to the dog in the backseat - but we got stopped and the deer took off. So we took the last 10 miles or so a little slower and finally made it home.

When we went to get stuff out of the back of the van - I think we found the rest of the skunk! Somehow the smell was worse when we got home than it was in Weyburn! In fact, it was so bad that we did not even park in the garage - just left it outside so that it could air out. I have never smelled anything like that.

Speaking of never smelling anything like it.... did I mention that we saw some of our former classmates this past weekend? :) The reunion was fun - nice to see people again - but next time maybe we will go home in the daytime!

Now, if summer would just get here

This past weekend, we joined the "We own a camper" set.

Now before you think that I lost my mind or that Sari must have had some really good blackmail scheme against me (I have hated campers forever - love camping - think tenting is the only way to go), you must know a few things.......

1. We did not spend $30 000 on it (Not even .5 % of that) so it is not new

2. It is in really good condition (bought it from some friends of ours who said that it was good)

3. If we wanted to re-sell it, we could make some money (based on ads I have seen for similar ones)

4. If we are going to camp in bear country, we need a trailer (I have made Sari tent in the mountains of Montana with me - every time the wind blew at might she screamed thinking a bear was attacking us - fun times!!!!)

5. If we are going to spend more than a few days camping, a trailer is the way to go (even I will admit that)

6. Trailers are way more fun in the rain than a tent

7. We bought a "better" truck on the premise that we could use it to pull a trailer (so I had to get one)

8. My lobbying for a newer motorcycle was stopped by Sari saying, "You are going to get a better motorcycle when I still don't have even one trailer?" (If you heard her say it, you would not have been able to say "no" either)

9. I think there is a new motorcycle in the deal somewhere for me! :)


Anyway - good roof - decent shape for its age - tandem axle - everything works.... will make a good summer playhouse for the kids too. Good starter - just to see if we like it.

Camping here we come!!!! (If the snow ever melts so I can go get the thing!) :)

Granny's 90th

Last Saturday, we went to Moose Jaw to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday. It was a quick trip (up and back) and a long day, but it was fun. We laughed a lot and had a really good time.

As I kid, one of my big memories is going to "Bonanza" with Grandpa and Grandma. Even yet, when we are in MJ my mom plans at least one evening out there - so that is where we took Granny. About 27 of us gathered - some cousins that I have not seen in years were there. It was great.

A couple of pictures. I stole these from my sister in law Tracy. She was shooting them around the "real photographer" - that is why none of us are looking at her, etc. Her pictures were way better than the ones we took - yikes! :) Anyway.........

Me, Debbie, Kurt, Granny and mom


My family getting pictures with Granny

Going Downhill Fast!

So Tuesday things went really downhill for Katie and me (well as downhill as things can be in flat Saskatchewan) as she and I went skiing.

The grade 7 and 8 kids got to go on a ski trip to Mission Ridge at Fort Qu'appelle. They needed a couple of parents to go and Katie asked if I would be interested. It took some rearranging of my week but I got to go (I figured that it may not be long until having Dad go on the ski trip is not as cool as she thought it was this time - so I better take advantage of it and go).

Katie did really well - only fell twice. I had a great time skiing with her and her friends. To make things even nicer, I called my buddy Ian who lives in the Fort and he was able to take the afternoon off and join us - it was really nice to spend some time with him too. It was a long day (left at 6:30 AM and did not get home till 9:00 pm) but it was a great day. So much fun that we barely took time to take pictures - we got a few of Katie and her buddy Angela - imagine the rest. :)

Weekend roundup

Not much to report this weekend - too cold to do much. Sari stayed home from work on Friday - not feeling well. I went and did some wiring at the church building (fixing lights, etc) and then did some shopping (Peavey Mart, Can Tire, etc). Watched curling and just hung out that night.

Saturday we got watching a show called "The 10 best family vacation spots in North America" (or something like that), so that got us thinking re. vacation, buying a trailer, etc. We got the travel books out, went to CAA and got some more - talked about it for hours but really have not decided anything yet. Then we all went and got groceries and just hung out that night - watching hockey.

Today at church I told everyone that we were going sledding and that anyone who wanted to join us was welcome - so about 15-20 people showed up. It was cold (-22 with the WC) so Rhonda (who lives across the street from the toboggan ) invited us all over for hot chocolate, etc - so that was nice too. A couple of hours of exercise and visiting - good times. Now we are just getting ready for the week again - doing laundry etc. I know - sounds like an exotic and exciting life - but it is a happy one anyway.

Have a good week! :)

194

That is what my blood pressure was at when I went to give blood today - 194!!!! (For those who may not know - 120 is normal - 160 is high - 190 is pushing explosion or something).

To clarify - I don't mind giving blood at all. Needle - no problem. Blood - who cares? In fact, when I was done giving blood I could have jumped off the bed and left (but they make you stay for a cookie and coke, etc). I have given blood like 10 times - never fainted - never had a problem - always feel good during and after - but my BP is often high.

What I don't like is just the "getting there" part - all the sitting and waiting and then all the questions - poke your finger - go here - go over there - go behind this divider thing and sit at this table while a nurse asks you some very personal questions that will either be just embarrassing or borderline lewed and crude (either way - my Blood pressure is going up). :)

If I could just walk in, lay down, give blood and leave - I would be a superstar.

Anyway - as I said - rushing to get there - 90589034589 things to do - go through the process - 194! She asked if this has happened before - I said "yes - one other time I came to give blood" - told her about family history of BP problems - etc. She was really good. Said I could not donate in that state (the pressure would shoot the needle right across the room) so she said that she would ask the rest of the questions and then check it again - this time it was under 160 (so I could donate and I avoided being sent out to have a cookie till I calmed down - that would have been really embarrassing)

Anyway - I told her that I thought it was "spikey high"- normally I think I am in the "below normal range". I had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours a few years ago (I was having chest pains) and the reading all came back great - low pressure almost all the time - a few spikes.

She then told me that I should get a BP monitor for home and take it a few times per day - if it is still high go to the doctor. Oddly enough, Sari stole one from her parents one time (thanks Dave and Marilyn) and so I checked it at home - 123 over 60 - back in the "good range". So I am going to keep an eye on it and try to cut out some of the stressful things in my life - cut down on coffee - exercise more - etc.

Maybe I need a vacation - or a "paid stress leave" (as Lenny suggested). A hot holiday is good for lowering BP don't you think? The heat thins your blood I hear. If the church paid for it and I did not have to worry about that part I would be really relaxed. Alternately, I ran into a buddy at the hockey game tonight - a guy from the race track named Trevor - he and a bunch of guys are going the NASCAR Stock Car race in Vegas this weekend - Vegas would do something to my BP! :)

Any of the above options would be fine. I will send out the petition later in the week (if it does not stress me out too much). :)

Partying with Mumpy

Sari and Katie having been away since Wednesday (they are at Ladies retreat in Kenosse) so Megan and I have been partying.

Thursday night we went to the movie - "Hotel for Dogs". Megan was really excited about seeing it (she is a dog fan) and it was not all that bad - cute movie. Friday we went shopping, running around and visiting and then that night we went swimming. It was really nice - not too many people there. It was really cold outside and there was not much we could do outside, so it was nice to sit in the hot tub, goof around on the diving board, water slide etc. After that we went to 7-11 for Megan's first ever (though I did not know that at the time) "Big Gulp". Then home to make popcorn and just hang out.

This morning (Saturday) we made brunch and then went tobogganing for 3 hours. It was fun. We ran into our friends the Davenports over there, so I challenged their boys to go off the jumps with me, raced them down the hill, challenged them to surf their sleds, etc. I am sore tonight, but it was worth it. :) Then we came home and took Murphy for an hour long walk in the badlands behind our house. That was fun b/c the snow is so deep that he kept falling in the deep snow - 4 feet deep in some places - he had to jump to see and then he would run and fall - good times. We climbed hills - jumped off - slid down other ones - it was a good time.

So some of it cost money, but most of it was just the fun of hanging out together. We miss mom and Katie, but it is nice to have some time with just the two of us - though Megan may be happy to have mom's cooking back. ;)

Chick or Dude

So I am shopping downtown yesterday, come out of a store, look up and ask myself, "This person who is coming in - is that a chick or a dude?"

In my opinion, that is a bad question to ever have to ask, so I have a solution.

When I get elected Prime Minister, I am going to bring in a law that says that all women must wear "Elizabethan-type gowns" and high heels everywhere they go (they will get bonus points for long hair too).

Now, I have stated this for years and have had some questions thrown my way, so let me clear up the confusion before it starts.....

1. What about winter? Answer: What about it? Winter does not override the law. You still have to follow the speed limit - winter or summer - right?

2. What constitutes "Elizabethan type gowns"? Think "Prom dress" or some long bridesmaid's dresses (only nice enough that you would want to wear it again). Better yet, think "colourful Wedding dress" - that should get you started down the right path.

3. What about the guys? If women have to dress in gowns, do men have to dress formally too? My answer: Why not? With my job I am in semi-formal attire most of the time anyway and with my thinning hair a top hat may be a good deal - so I say "sure".

Think of how pretty everyone would look! Now I will grant to you that gowns and High heels may be difficult in snow like we had here last week (25 cm) but as the old saying goes, "Beauty is painful"! :)

One day you will never have to ask, "Chick or dude" again - thanks to me! :)

The Story of Gordon Lawrence

So it has snowed a ridiculous amount here in the past 24 hours.....

When I went to the office this morning, I barely made it. Instead of parking my truck, I basically abandoned it.... Just turned off the main road and plowed it into the snowbank at the side of the road because there was no where else to go. It was awful!

Then it really started snowing!! 20 - 30 cm in one day. No graders out - only big oil field trucks on the road. It was bad.

When I went to go home, I figured that if I could just get out on the main road I would make it. It had not been graded, but it was packed down enough for my truck to get through. The problem was getting to it. I got stuck 3 feet from the snowbank where I started... so I shoveled..... stuck.... shovel..... stuck.... shovel (you get the idea).

As I look up, I see an oil field truck coming. Rig pigs (I mean "gentlemen that work for oil field companies) are not always the kindest and most encouraging people in these circumstances. I have been given several lectures by them in the past when I have been stuck - and I was bracing for another one.

This guy spins his truck around and jumps out - as happy as could be. I tell him that if he would just pull me back to the side of the road that I would just leave the truck there and walk home. When he asks where I live and I tell him "all the way across town" he says, "Well, I think if you get off this street you will be fine. Tell you what - I will get you out then I will follow you home to make sure you get there".

Sure enough - that is what he did. I got home without too much trouble - did not get stuck again, but he was right behind me - just in case. I jumped out of my truck and asked him if I could give him something for helping me - he said "no". So I stuck out my hand, introduced myself and thanked him. He said, "My name is Gordon Lawrence - and you are welcome" - then he drove off.

So - if you ever meet a Mr. Gordon Lawrence.... be nice to him - just in case. He deserves it! :)

PS. On another note: I then spent 2 hours with my snow blower - I cleaned out the alley behind the garage - the parking spot so Lenny can use it this weekend - came around front and cleaned the walk for us and the neighbours - pushed the neighbour's car off the street - got the snow blower because he was stuck in the street again - pushed him again...... in short - I am glad for my free, good working snow blower.

However, I do have one complaint..... I have used it like 6 or 7 times and I have had to fix something on it 2 or 3 times. Today, a bolt came out of one of the wheel clutches and I had to repair it before I could keep going..... so here is the question..... "Is a free snow blower that you have to fix 30% of the time better than an expensive one that just runs and runs????"

I say "Yes it is" - what about you?

Working, Pools, Hockey and a Road Trip

Most of Friday and Saturday was spent working on the garage - fixing last little things that did not get done earlier - returning ladders and stuff to Skip - taking leftover wood to the dump - etc - etc. Nice to get some of that stuff done. Then Sari and I started organizing it, bringing stuff out of my work room in the basement (Apparently I have been buying stuff for a garage for years - I am going to need to build on to this one to get everything in). It looks really good and is starting to get organized and usable (as opposed to everything just being crammed in there) - I will post pictures later in the week.

Changed oil in the snow blower while it was nice too - so it is ready for the next big storm. Hopefully that is in like November. :)

Friday night we took the kids swimming - that was a lot of fun. Swimming is something that sounds like a lot of work to get ready for (somehow) and then none of us wants to go when it is cold outside - but we always have fun when we do it. Pool was a little packed, but it was still fun. I always like sitting in the hot tub looking out the windows at the snow - seems odd to me in a nice way (And I can still do a front flip off the diving board - so I am not OLD yet..... he keeps telling himself)

Saturday night I took the kids to the Bruins' game against Weyburn - it was bad. We took a ton of penalties and lost 8-2. Then today (Sunday) Shady Shane, Randy Bye (Kim's husband) and I went to Weyburn for the back end of the "home and home" series. Shady has been talking about wanting to do this all winter - so this was the day. It was fun - though the Bruins lost again (5-3). I had not been in the Weyburn rink for 20 years I bet. Lots of people from Estevan there and we made a lot of noise when the Bruins were up 3-1..... not so much after that! :)

Sari and Mumpy have been sick again this weekend - head and chest colds this time (as opposed to the stomach stuff last weekend). All night long one would cough, then the other. Finally at 3:30 or so Katie yells out "Will you two quit coughing already?????" The funny thing: She claims that she does not remember doing it! The other funny thing: I wanted to yell it myself, but restrained myself (for once). Hopefully, for their sake and ours, they are getting better.

And so ends another weekend..... looking forward to Lenny and his family coming down next weekend - and the Daytona 500 too! :)

Saskatchewan Highway Hotline - wa?

So we were in Regina on the weekend - I had a camp board meeting and it was a good opportunity to visit the Mooney Clan.

As people arrived at the meeting, the common theme was, "Man the roads are terrible! You can't see a thing out there" (We had gone up the night before so we missed that part). When the meeting ended around 4 pm, again we kept hearing how bad the highway was and how the visibility was so bad. Trinda even called back to tell us, "If you are going home tonight, you better get going now while it is still daylight because it is terrible out here". So, we waited, ate supper and played a couple of games of "John Madden Football".

At 9pm I checked the highway hotline: "Blowing snow, swirling snow, icy patches, reduced visibility" on every highway leaving Regina. We debated staying there until Sunday am and then coming back, but then decided that if we were going to go we better leave Saturday night b/c then if it takes 6 hours to get home at least we are not late for church (I was doing class, preaching and leading singing today so I figured I needed to get back).

Deciding that the highway south of Regina (#6) is always bad, we decided to try #33 (through Stoughton). Highway Hotline report at 9pm still said, "Blowing snow, swirling snow, icy patches, reduced visibility", but we decided to try it.

With crying children in tow (they were scared of heading out on the bad roads at night) we got to the ring road..... not bad. Turn on "Arcola street".... looks good. Out on Highway 33..... and it is beautiful!!!!

Not a patch of ice - not a snow drift - not a cloud in the sky - you can see for 904890348569348690 miles. Every once in a while a gust of wind would pick up some snow and make it hard to see for 4.3 seconds - but it was good winter driving conditions all the way home.

Now here is my question: "What were the Highway guys looking at when they made their 9pm report? Did they even go out there, or did they just guess?"

I can just see them sitting at their computer..... "Hmmm - lets say it is raining with 80% chance of a sand storm" - or whatever else they want to say. Maybe it is like a game show....... "I am going to take 'slippery sections' for 100 Alex".

I don't get it. Either someone somewhere isn't earning their paycheque, or they do not understand their job description. Something is wrong one way or the other.

PS. On a side note: We heard (and then bought) the Beyonce song "Single Ladies (Put a ring on it)". It is fun - we played it 18 times on the way home and then another 10 on the way to and from church this morning. All of us singing at the top of our lungs, minivan speakers distorting they are up so loud - "Aaaalllll the single ladies........" If you have no idea what I am talking about - Google it - you will like it - it is fun! :)

The Strangest Annual Meeting Ever!

In more than 18 years here, I have been to many meetings. Elders meetings, deacons meetings, elders/deacons meetings, camp, ministerial, congregational, individual, group and any other kind of meeting that you can think of.

I have seen people get so mad that they have walked out. I have heard things said that should not come out of the mouths of sane people (mostly they came out of my mouth - sorry about that!). I have seen people break down in tears of frustration and in tears of joy. But I have never seen an Congregational Annual Meeting like the one that I saw today.

We did the normal stuff. I did a devotional about hope and what God could do among us if we let him. Various ministry leaders got up and gave updates on their 2009 plans. Dennis gave the financial report and presented the budget. All normal stuff.

Then Calvin got up. Calvin is always a good elder and a good leader, but no more so than today. He gave an open, honest speech about what it is like to be an elder and where they would like to see the congregation going and growing in the next year. Then he told people that Ron Jacobs has agreed to let his name stand as an elder. I don't have the time to explain how nice it is to see someone "step up" and help out in this way, but lets just say that it has been a long time coming and that it is good news.

Ron gave a bit of a speech and then Bill Muirhead got up - gave some "thank-you"s (To young moms who bring their kids out faithfully, to the deacons for their hard work, to the "FriendSpeak" group) and then led the closing prayer. That is when the odd part happened........

People got up and started smiling and shaking hands as if we had just won the Stanley Cup. People (the women I mean - not us guys) were hugging. Pats on the back were seen. Nice things were said to one another. No fighting. No "issues". No upset people. No fretting. Just a family - happy to be together - glad for another year and looking forward to what may come. They even offered to let me hang around for another year.

It is interesting what happens when there is hope in air. I like it. :)

Getting things together (And Lanny MacDonald)

So far the weekend has been really nice (I say "So far" b/c this is only Saturday night - Sundays are usually good, but you never know right?) :)

I spent all day Friday goofing around in my garage. I had put the door openers up last weekend but I had not done all the wiring really neatly, did not put up the safety lights (just put them on the floor) - so I cleaned all that stuff up - did some rewiring - adjusting the closing force - little stuff that needed to be done. In the process of needing things, I also got to go hang out at Peavey Mart and Canadian Tire too - which is always fun! (I told one of the teachers at Sari's school that it is like going to Disneyland only cheaper!) :)

The kids and I then met Shady and Keith at the Bruins hockey game (-43 with the wind chill and we go out to a hockey game!). They beat the Melville Millionaires 14-0. I have never seen a game like that. Melville is way ahead of the Bruins in the standings but they got whipped. Lots of fights (like 10) it was fun!

Adding to the night was the fact that former Toronto Maple Leaf, Colorado Rockie and Calgary Flame Lanny MacDonald was there (The Bruins brought him in for a PR thing). That was sort of cool. Growing up a Leaf's fan, I really liked Lanny. Fun to meet him.

Sari stayed home and got some stuff done for Ladies Retreat which is coming up in the middle of February.

Today (Sat) we slept in - then had brunch - then went shopping. It was nice just hanging out as a family with nothing to do for a change. And since it was so cold, of course we had to go to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Back home and just hung out till the kids and Sari went to the movie and I stayed home to watch the NHL All-Stars competition.

So all in all it has been good. We got to do some stuff together. The big projects on my "To do" list that I had made for myself after Christmas is close to being done. We are planning to go out for supper tomorrow night to use up some of gift certificates that we got for Christmas.

Life is simple but good! :)

An amendment to the last post

One other thing that I hope I never forget ....... I am almost 40 years old and should not be trying to "surf" down the toboggan hill on the top of the sleds anymore. I wiped out about 10 times.... banged my head once..... then I gave myself whiplash the next time (trying to keep my head from hitting the ground again).

My neck is sore.

My back is sore.

My shoulder is sore.

But I "surfed" farther than anyone else!!!! So I can't retire yet! :)

Weekend

I hope I never get to the point of not being able to appreciate "little" stuff in my life. This weekend was full of good "little" things like......

- Putting up my garage door openers. I know that many of you have garages and door openers and never think twice about it, but let me tell you.... they are luxuries!!!! I spent a few hours Friday and a few more Saturday putting my openers up and it is like winning the lottery to pull up to the door and being able to drive in without getting out. Seriously - you don't use your opener for a month (especially when it is -40) and you will find out how nice it is to have one.

- Going to Calvin and Mary's for supper with Jurgen, Pia, June and Isabel. Good food, good visit, unexpected invitation - it was a nice way to spend a Friday night.

- Playing "Rockband" on the PS2 with Sari and the girls. Who knew that I was a good drummer????? 45 right "notes" in a row (On the easiest setting but come on!!!!)

- Going to the Bruin's game with Shady, Keith and all our kids. Good game. Good guys.

- Having a little German friend, named Bernice, stay with us all day Saturday while her parents went to Minot. She is fun and sweet. The girls were really good with her too - helped a lot.

- A good morning at church today.... good atmosphere, visitors, a buddy from town who has been there three Sundays in a row now. It was nice.

- An impromptu "sledding party" this afternoon with about 20-25 of our friends meeting at the hill for 3 hours of fun in the nice warm sun. What is better than getting 20 people that you like, sticking them on sleds, making a chain and then just about killing one another when you wreck 1/2 way down the hill????? One kid even bit his lip and bled all over the place...... good times!

- Then, to top it off, walking the dog after dark with Sari.

Just some of the "little things" that made this a really nice weekend. I hope it never forget to be thankful for things like this!

NOOOOOOO - NOT AGAIN!!!!

It has happened again!!!! I have been sucked in by "American Idol"!

I saw the ads for it all week long.... "Who cares?" is what I thought. Then, tonight, I am flipping through the stations after the news and what do I find???? So I call Sari and the kids (they like it) and I start to watch it with them..... now I can't wait till tomorrow!!!

I KNOW!!!! It is pathetic!!!! It is stupid!!!! But it is funny!!!!! :)

And inspirational at times (but mostly just funny - I usually lose interest after the first few weeks - after they get down to serious singing).

Oh well - what else am I going to do when it is -90 outside???? Read?????? HA!

Stop one leak - get another

For a few month, the cold water tap has been leaking in our tub. Actually, water comes out around the handle when the water is on. This is not a big deal really, but it is not right and it is annoying, so I fixed it today. That may not seem like a big deal, but these are reverse flow taps (not "Reverse flow" you say in horror - yes - REVERSE FLOW!!!!!) so they are different and hard to set and generally a big pain.

The good news: the tap leak is stopped.

The bad news: My truck's water pump started leaking today. Like not dripping but pouring. Leaking everywhere. Good times!!!! So that will be the next thing to deal with.

Good thing I can still drive the mini-van that has exactly "0" clearance. Did I mention that a buddy of mine got stuck on our street tonight...... in his Four wheel drive pickup! We has stopped to push out another dude in a 4 x 4 and after discovering that he was in too deep to get out, we got stuck. So I had to walk the rest of the way home to get some shovels so that we could dig everyone out.

Maybe I will just stay home tomorrow as we are supposed to get another 10 cm of snow tonight.

Anyone want to go on a "Hot Holiday" right now? I love winter, but getting stuck on city streets makes me wonder if they have this problem in Jamaica? Do you think they do?

Let's go check it out! :)