You have to watch this

I know nothing about this guy... no idea who he is or what his story is (I may look him up later if I get a moment).... but I stumbled across this today and just had to share it.  Dude has something to say.

Some good news and some good advice (Day 27)

My "Cycle World" motorcycle magazine came today and that is good news for several people....

1. Me (For obvious reasons)

2. Dennis (As he gets to read them after I am done with them)

3. Sari (Because she no longer has to listen to me whine... "Where is my 'Cycle World'?" every day)

4.  The mailman/woman/person (I was about to start frisking the letter carriers to see if they were hiding my magazine from me - and that may have been a little awkward)

5.  Katelyn and Megan (Because it may be hard for them to survive without their Dad being around during their teenage years because he is locked up as a result of the fight that would have most certainly broken out after the "frisking" bit).

So - as you can see - it is a good thing the magazine showed up today.  The entire course of our collective lives my have been changed had it not.
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I was not going to share this bit of good advice.  In fact, it is completely against my better judgment.  However, Sari said I ought to blog it as it may help others.  So, feel free to take the advice and try the idea.  Results may vary.....

Sari was sitting on the couch at lunch and she could not stop coughing.  She asked if we had any "Halls" or something (as if I would know).

I said, "No, but I saw a stand-up comic one time who recommended taking laxative``.

"Why?  What good will that do?" she asked.

"Well", I replied, "His theory was that if you took enough of it you would be too scared to cough".  :)
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See - better judgment should have ruled there.  Oh well!  Have a good night!  :)

Huh! (Day 26)

So Megan and I were the only ones going to church from our house this morning.  Katie was at a sleepover and was driving herself to church from there and Sari was down and out with a head cold thing that she has been fighting for over a week.

So Megs and I got out to the garage..... I go to the driver's side.... she goes to the passenger's..... I open the middle row door of the SUV just as she opens the one on her side.... I throw some stuff on the seat at the exact same time as she throws stuff on the other seat...... we close both doors at the exact same milli-second....... then we both open the front doors at the same time.... jump in and slam them at exactly the same time.

Megan says, "THAT WAS FREAKY!"

I say, "Naaaaa naaa naaaaa naaaa naaaa..... you are just like your Daddy!!!!!"

To which she replies, "Or you are just like a teenage girl!!"

Where do kids get this stuff and why are they so mean and hurtful???????  

I blame her mother!  :)

Megan goes Crazy... a Road Rage incident... And the day I almost started a fight at a Junior High Basketball tournament (Day 25)

 

Megan is very nice..... too nice sometimes.... at least when it comes to basketball.  Sometimes she is so nice that she allows girls on the other team to take the ball right past her and shoot until they score.  She does not want to upset someone by fighting for the ball.

So before her last game of the day in Weyburn we told her that she had to get a foul....  at least one.... that fouls are not all bad.... that you are allowed 5 in a game because it is assumed that if you are trying you are going to run into people... you are going to grab their arm instead of the ball once in a while..... and generally you cannot be super nice and win.  Not that we wanted her to be mean.  We just wanted her to compete.

So - whether it was our talk or her own competitiveness coming out.... she went nuts!  She pushed people around on defense..... she rebounded and fought for the ball.... and she ended up with three fouls.  We created a Monster!!!

It was great!

That was her best game ever!  She competed for the ball and it was good to see.

Way to go Megan!!!!
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On the way home, we look up and there is some bonehead passing a semi, but he does not have enough time, so he is in our lane - coming right at us - and there is no way he is going to make it.

I slow down a little bit to give him a second or two more to complete the pass and he just barely gets back into his lane just in front of the semi and just before we crunch him, so as he went by I laid on the horn..........

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNKKKKK!!!!!!!

 I hope he hears that sound in his ears all night.

 It is no wonder people die on highway 39 every other month..... no patience, no judgement and everyone has to get to where they are going RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

HHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKK!!!!!
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With a few minutes left in the last game today, one of the girls from the Yorkton team had a hissy right on the court and right in the middle of the game.  She was trying to dribble and just screeched at one of our girls,"Watch your hands!"

It was very unsportsmanlike - especially considering the fact that our girl was not called for a foul.  This other girl just did not like being guarded so closely.

Anyway, the play went to the other end and then came back right in front of us when.... "TWEET!!!"......  the "screechy girl" got called for "reaching in". 

Without even thinking (which can be a problem for me sometimes) I yell at her.....

"WATCH YOUR HANDS!"   :)

Now I am not normally one to heckle opposing teams - especially 14 year old girls..... and apparently Sari and Katie thought it was a little odd because both of them looked at me like I had just kicked a puppy across the court.

Katie turned to me and said, "YOU CAN'T SAY THAT!"

"Why not?" I asked.  "I am just repeating what she said.  It is good advice!"

Then I started thinking, "Hmmm.... I wonder if this is going to start a 'Brazilian Soccer Brawl'"..... but, unfortunately, it didn't.   :(

I was ready though..... I am pretty sure that I could have taken that kid!  :)

Don't throw that away!! (Day 24)

Thursday is the start of my weekend (I can hear it now.... "How do you preachers know when your weekend starts when you only work one day a week?"   Ah ha ha!!!) 

Actually, come to think of it, I have only rarely heard that comment in this church and that was many years ago (Which just proves my theory..... If someone makes a stupid comment like that.... then they suddenly go missing.... it deters similar comments).

Anyway.... my self-imposed rule is that all sermons and classes MUST be written and done by the time I leave the office on Thursday.  Two good reasons for this......

    1.  Finishing early gives me at least a couple of days to roll the ideas around in my own mind.  This helps to clarify them even more before I have to try to communicate them and it helps with transitions between points/smoothness of delivery etc.

     2.  More selfishly, if I don't get them done during "office hours" then I have to work on them on my own time - which I do not want to do.

Why am I telling you all of this?   Well, I had blocked off most of this afternoon for a "Webinar" (a web-based seminar) that I had signed up for and when it was done a little early I had nothing pressing to do because I was already ready for Sunday. 

So, as I was going to check the mail, I walked past one of the vacuum cleaners in the back room.  When I saw it, I remembered someone telling me that there was something wrong with it.  The strange thing was that it was almost brand new, but it did not work at all.  So I decided to take a look at it ("Household appliance repair" is not something you are taught in Bible, but maybe it should be as I have fixed a lot of stuff around there.  Bible colleges should also include classes too about furniture moving and roof shingling as I have done a lot of those activities too).

Anyway, I took the thing apart and, after checking a few things, I suspected there was a blockage somewhere.  Took out three screws.... took the hose off.... tried to blow through it.... nothing!   Took a broom handle..... tried to run it through the hose..... would not go!   Started beating the hose against the floor while trying to push the broom handle through it..... and suddenly this huge, hairy mass of stuff comes out.  It looked like at rat!(It wasn't, of course, but it was about that size and shape).

Put it all back together and it works like a charm.

Now, I am not telling you this to brag (who can't take a hose off of a vacuum cleaner and beat a furry mess out of it?), or to say, "Oooh - look at what I can do" (Because, it is not that impressive.  Ok - it is not impressive at all).   But here is my point......

People give up too easily!  

That vacuum had been sitting there for more than a month.... and it likely was not working that well before it was finally "parked".   All it took was ten minutes, a screwdriver and a broom handle to fix it and yet there it sat.  (By the way - this is not a shot at the "Maintenance people" at the church.... they would have fixed it had they known about it... they do lots of good work and I don't want to get on their bad side).

One time a guy gave me a VCR and asked if I would take a look at it and see what was wrong.  I took the top off and there was about 16 inches of tape wrapped around the play head.  I pulled the tape out, put the top back on.... in three minutes it was fixed.

Another time a guy gave me a lawn mower that would not start. When I got it home, I decided to check the spark plug and see what it looked like.... the spark plug was so loose it almost fell out in my hands.   Tightened it up and it ran like brand new. 

So, here is the thing..... if it is broken already, why not try to fix it???   You can't make it worse and, sometimes, you may end up actually figuring out what was wrong. 

As one of my buddies likes to say, "I can wreck a lot of things for the cost of paying someone else to fix it!"  :)
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So - one more day of finals...... and everyone will be glad when it is done.  It will be nice for the kids to have finals behind them.  It will be nice to get out from the pressure of having to study.  It will be nice for the parents to not have to re-learn all this stuff so we can help them study.... it will just be nice.

Ok - more pics and stuff to come.... but for now I am done.  Thanks for reading!

If you like hockey (day 23)

Generally speaking, I do not like Rogers Sportsnet.  Too gimmicky.... too weird.... too much basketball..... etc, etc.  In fact, I don't watch it at all, because I like TSN so much better.

However, I may have just found a new favourite show - and it just so happens to be on Sportsnet.

It is called "On the Edge: the road to the Mastercard Memorial Cup" and it is a behind the scenes look at the Western Hockey League`s Saskatoon Blades.

Now I will warn you, the language is not great (as you may expect in a behind the scenes look at a hockey team).... there are lots of ``beeps`` per show..... but if you have ever wondered what life is like as a junior hockey player - this is your chance to find out.

I have only seen one show so far, but if you like hockey at all, I think you will like this show.  Check it out.
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As well - day 1 of ``Finals`` is in the books.  Kids both feel like they did well on their exams today and are working hard on the upcoming stuff. 

Whoa!! We are in High School again (Day 22)

Dude!  Not only are the girls doing finals this week, so are Sari and I.

Tonight saw both of us studying with the kids.  As we did last night.... and the night before that.... and the night......

I don't think I studied this much when I was IN school.

Who said that you would never use Grade 9 algebra again?????  :)

A Question... a Review... a Story (Day 21)

So the NHL is back.  Are you watching or boycotting? (Or did you not care or watch before the lockout?)

I have to say that I did not think I cared whether they came back or not.  I kept saying that I did not miss it..... but I also have to say that I really enjoyed watching the Leaf game last night.  I watched a bit of the Canucks/Oilers game tonight too..... I am glad that they are back. 

I am not going to spend several hundred dollars to go to a game,but I would rather see hockey on TSN instead of Poker!
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Today was a good day at church.  Good discussion in class.... everyone seemed very "visity" and in good moods.... I thought the sermon went well..... but the best part was that this was the Sunday for our "Annual General Meeting".

Using the AGM is terribly uninteresting.... mostly a legal requirement to go through the budget and vote on it.  Sometimes there are a few questions.... a few suggestions.... a couple of years (long ago) there was some "heated discussion" about whether to support this or not support that..... but over the last few years there has been very little discussion.

So what made the "AGM" so good this year?

Some brainy person decided that we were going to have a hot turkey lunch because it was AGM Sunday.  It was like Christmas dinner there today.... Yummmmm!!!!! 

After the budget was presented, I made a motion that we have a huge turkey dinner every Sunday... How much work could it be????  I mean, I contributed this time by taking a bag of frozen peas to the church building and sticking them in the freezer...... if I can do my part certainly others can slave away cooking turkeys, making stuffing, etc, etc, right?

I am going to start looking for more "legal requirements" that we have to fulfill!   :)
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Other other day, Sari and I were coming home from somewhere and we heard on the radio that 1 in 5 people sleep-walk.

Do you believe that?  1 in 5????  Doesn't that seem high?

I guess maybe not..... the stat in our house is at least 1 in 4.

When I used to play Rec hockey and come home at 12:30 or 1 am, Sari used to wake up freaking out.... like screaming as if someone was trying to kill her.  Of course, her screaming in the dark house would freak me out.... then I am screaming..... it was a mess.

Other times she will jump out of bed and end up 1/2 way down the hall before she wakes up.  When I ask what she is doing she just says, "Shut up!"  :)

So the other night, I decide to roll over.  As I do, Sari sits straight up in bed and practically yells, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT??????"

I reply, "Yes..... well other than the fact that my ear drums are broken now".

To which she says, "WHAT????"

Thinking, "Well she is awake now" I ask..... "Hey did you turn off the space heater downstairs?" (We have a little heater in the family room downstairs and I could not remember if I had left it on, so I wondered if she got it).

She replies, "WHAT?????"

"Did you turn off the space heater?"

"Space heater??????  What is a space heater?????"

I say, "You know.... little oil heater.... in the basement...."

"WHAT?????"

"It is white..... throws heat.... space heater.... basement..... YOU bought the thing, remember?????"

"WHAT?????"

"Sari...... the space heater in the basement.... did you turn it off?"

Suddenly, she comes to and it all makes sense to her......... "SHUT UP!!!!!"

Be glad if you don't have a "1 out of 5" in your house!   :)

Basketball (Day 20)

We spent a good share of this weekend at the gym.  Junior girl's tourney at the school.  I have more pics to post, but I have not had time to download them yet, so I am borrowing these from a friend (Thanks!  The cheque is in the mail)  :)

Megan's team came in third, but more importantly she had a great weekend hanging out with some good buddies (and so did we).

 There are two "freshmen/junior" teams this year..... here is a combined photo.

 Best buddies for a long time and still.  :)

A Smashing Day... and a terribly Gut-wrenching movie (Day 19)

As many of you will know, Sari and I have had a couple unfortunate incidents with the city backing raw sewage up into our basement (If you do not know these stories... use your imagination.... make it 10 times worse.... then double that.... and you will be getting close).

In light of this, our insurance company sent us a letter say that we had to put a "backwater check valve" in our main sewer line... which means chopping up the floor.  I have been putting this job off for a long time, but today was the day.  With the help of my good buddy Dennis, a jackhammer and a sledge hammer we now have several big holes down there (We roughed in where a future bathroom would go as well.... since we had the jackhammer all day anyway, why not right?)

Anyway, I am glad that part is over and I will try to post some pictures tomorrow (Pictures of holes in my basement.... this is quality entertainment here right kids?)

As well... we went and saw Megan play her first high school basketball game today too.  They won and Megs scored the first basket and several others as well.  It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to tomorrow's games.

Lastly..... until tonight I had never seen "Braveheart".  I know.... how did that happen?  Well.... I am not sure.  However, we sat down and watching it tonight (with a couple of "ff" episodes) and you know what........ I HATED IT!!!!

How on earth could anyone have liked this movie??????  I will give you that (a) it was really well shot.. the filming of the battle scenes in particular was really well done and (b) it was somewhat real-life (with some alterations to the facts to make it more cinematic I am sure)...... but YIKES what a depressing movie!!!  I would not that stupid show again if you paid me!!!  Good thing I never remember movies..... I can't wait for that one to fall out of my memory banks. 

Usually I am all into history and what-not.... maybe it was a bad night/wrong mood..... but I was not happy about it at all.

So there you go.... two thumbs down on that one from me.

Other than that.... it has been a great day.  See you tomorrow.

BLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH (Day 18)

No that is not how I feel tonight...... it is what I just heard outside.

I was walking Murphy and I kept hearing something that sounded like the word above.  I thought, "That sounds like a Moose!" so I went to the edge of the valley to investigate.  

I could not see him, but I heard him over and over again.

Came home, went on the internet and listened to recordings of moose calls and guess what.... exactly the same sound!

I have seen and heard a lot of weird things in this town..... a moose is a first though.

So it is no wild 50 foot Chicken..... but pretty impressive none the less, no?

Wa? I think I am in trouble (Day 17)

To those who live in larger centers, this is going to sound stupid but to us prairie bumpkins it is weird. 

We are getting a 2nd area code.

Not only will Sask be "306", it will also now be "639".

So, I was wondering how they are going to do that... will they split the province into north and south regions and then assign one area code to each? 

Nope!

From the Sasktel web site........
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Who gets the new 639 area code?

Once 639 is introduced, the 306 and 639 area codes will be assigned to new phone numbers interchangeably throughout the province. (For example, a customer's home phone number may have a 306 area code but that customer's new cell phone number may have the 639 area code. Or a customer's new next door neighbour may have a different area code.)
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That  does not sound confusing does it?????  Why create two zones so that you know that when you are calling Moose Jaw it has to be a "306" number?????  Why not make it as random and as confusing as possible????

Here is the thing:  I have "Phone Number Remembering Deficiency" (PNRD).   My PNRD is only somewhat rivaled by inability to remember anything from most any movie I have ever seen (Sari and I can watch a movie and the next day I can't remember the lead character's name.... meanwhile the girls are quoting 3/4 of the lines verbatim). 

My PNRD is so bad that there are some people who I call almost every week.... who have been here since day one of my time in Estevan (22 years +).... and I still have to look up their number or ask Sari every week. 

In fact, sadly, I have no idea what my daughters' numbers are.  If they were not in my "contacts list" on my phone, I would be hooped. 

(Oddly, though, if you and I have had a conversation - whether on the phone or in person - in the last year, chances are that I remember most of it.  Thus, Sari and I could be a new "Super hero team".... she dials and I talk and remember...... we would be invincible!!!   Now we just have to come up with a cool name..... suggestions??????)

So what I am saying is this..... When the new calling system comes into effect this spring, you will likely never hear from me again. 

Or, maybe you will hear from me more as I randomly dial numbers and just talk to whoever answers the phone.  :)
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Two more things.....

1.  I had a super funny story to tell you today.  I was composing it while driving down King street at about 4 pm..... and now I can`t remember a word of it. (See I should have told it to someone and then I could have remembered the conversation).

This is a problem all writers have (so I am told).  You get a good idea.  You think, ``I will never forget that`` and then you promptly forget it.  Good writers (so I am told) carry a small notebook and pen for just such occasions.  I carry one.... it is filled with sermon ideas and illustrations, but no ``Funny`` stories.

So - you have to supply your own for tonight........  (Please place story here)...... (laugh now)...... Thank you!   Come again!   :)

2.  To SRL (in the comments on yesterday`s post).... I did see the sunrise today and it really was beautiful.   Much more so than a 50 foot chicken.
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Ok - that is all for tonight.  

Interesting (Day 16)

Longer post coming soon, but for now have a look at this interesting video.  Caption says.....

" A solar ballet of sorts is captured by NASA. The four-hour eruption on New Year's Eve extended roughly 20 times the diameter of Earth".

Impressive that stuff like this is going on all the time all over the universe and we see only a very small part of it.

Think about that!  :)
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More personal stories about our "exciting" lives coming in the next few days (even if I have to start making stuff up.... Did I tell you about the 50 foot tall Chicken that I saw out by Boundary Dam????).  Please keep checking back.  

A Cold Winter Saturday = reading (Day 14)

So it was cold today and that meant that we were mostly huddled up inside the house (I did get out for a while snowblowing but that was about it).

So I was reading and I thought I would pass on two things to you.

1.  I just finished reading this......



I have been looking for an old bike to restore and this book has helped tremendously.  In fact, it has given me a step-by-step procedure to follow......

   a.  Talk to everyone you meet and mention to them that you are looking for an old motorcycle
   b.  Go look at every old bike that you hear about, even if the guy says, "It is in really bad shape" (you may find something rare and collectible)
   c.  (Now here is where I start to get confused).... Take out a big pile of cash and give it to the owner of the bike.  Even if the bike is rusty and crusty and only about 1/905885 there, he will want a lot for it, so be prepared to pay.
   d.  Then take your "new bike" to some other dude and pay him an even larger pile of cash to do all the work for you (even more confusing)
   e.  Wait about six months to a year until you get a phone call to say that the bike is finished.
   f.  Collect said bike and then brag about how "you" restored it from a barn find, rusty mess to this beautiful work of art (even though you have no idea even where the air filter is located).

Don't get me wrong, it was a fun read.... I liked the stories.... I liked reading about the bikes.... it was inspirational and made me really want to find a bike to work on...... BUT I think these dudes are a little out of my league cash-wise. 

In fact, my real plan of attack looks more like......

   a.  Talk about old bikes to everyone I know
   b.  If I hear about one, go look at it and beg the guy to just give it to me (b/c I can't afford to buy the bike and restore it as well).  Maybe play the "preacher card"... I am a nice guy.... it is cool that a preacher rides a motorcycle and is interested in working on an old one.... cry if I have to!!!
   c.  Take bike home and spend years saving money to do anything with it until Sari becomes so fed up with my cheapness that she ups my allowance and tells me to stop being such a penny-pincher and buy what I need.  I then proceed to buy only what I can't reused, remake, rewire or do myself.
    d.  Ride my "sort of restored" bike around town.... and if someone says, "Dude that thing looks like it was painted by a chimp that  has no  thumbs" reply.... "Well, I found it in a barn!"  (As if  that somehow explains something) and then ride away before they can get an even closer look at it.

So..... anyone know where I can find an old bike - cheap?????  :)
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On a more serious note.......

I was also reading an article today by a lady named "Bronnie Ware" (yes "Bronnie" is the proper spelling - add that to your list of future baby names).  She wrote a book called, "The Top Five Regrets of the Dying- A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing".   It is a memoir of her work doing palliative care and what she learned/observed.   The top five regrets.......

1.  I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me
2.  I wish I didn't work so hard
3.  I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings
4.  I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends
5.  I wish that I had let myself be happier

So there you go.  Something to think about while you can do something about it. 

Who would have thought that you would get something serious to think about on this blog, hey?  Don't worry.  It likely will not happen often.  :)

Some Pictures Day 13

Thanks to sister-in-law Amy, here is what it looks like when we go for a sleigh ride at -25 (with a wind chill of -35) in Dauphin....... 

It was cold, but fun!

And here are some tobogganing pictures - just for fun

A good time was had by all.... 

Mailing it in on Day 12

I have done "30 blogs in 30 days" before and I realize that there are days when blogging just does not come to the top of the list.... so you need to be able to "mail one in".... in other words, post something sort of interesting that does not take a lot of time.

Did you know that a Canadian is in charge of the International Space Station????  Chris Hadfield also likes taking pictures.....  enjoy some of his shots here and  here.

See you tomorrow!  :)

This is worth a minute of your time (Day 11)

I don't even have anything to say about this...... :)

Being a Preacher is No Joke... but it sort of is too (Day 10)

Sari sent me a link to this video today and I thought it was interesting because there are lots of parallels to preaching.

Watch the video and I will comment more on it below......

A couple of interesting things......

1.  I like how he talks about working to get just the right phrasing.  A couple of years ago, I saw a documentary about how he comes up with new material and he will literally work on one joke for months.  He will walk into comedy clubs and ask for 5 minutes to try out some new material.  If it does not go quite the way he wants, he will shave a word out here or there, or he will reverse the order of things until it "feels" right.   If you are creative at all, you will get that idea of something "feeling" right.  You just know it when you have got something.  Preaching is a little like that.  I don't work from a manuscript, but I always try to have a couple of phrases that everything else hinges on.... and, somehow, you know when you have them.

2.  I like that he writes all his jokes by hand and with the same kind of pen.  Odd fact:  Did you know that every sermon that I have written in my 23 years in Estevan has been written by hand with the exact same mechanical pencil??????   There is something about writing out an outline that makes it stick in my mind better than when I type it out.   Why the mechanical pencil???  I am not sure.  :)

3.  I like how he talks about doing most of his stuff "behind the scenes" and that it much of it looks like "nothing" to people.  Preachers always get the "Must be nice to work only one hour a week" thing (though I have not heard that in years), but no one sees the hours of study, discussions etc.  And - here is the best part - whether it is a comedy routine or a sermon - if it comes off looking "easy" and "like nothing" then you know that you have done your "behind the scenes" work well.  It should look "easy" if you actually have created something worth saying.

We saw Jerry in Regina last year and I was impressed with his ability to walk on stage with nothing but ideas and hold an audience for over an hour.

The good news in preaching is that you actually get to talk about important things instead of just stupid things.... and if you are lucky, you get to be a little funny at the same time.

The creative process.... it is fun!  :) 
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In other news, there really is no other news.  It was a normal day, doing normal things.  A good day, but not a blog-worthy one (At least there was not anything interesting enough to spend the time making a good story out of it so.........).

Come back soon and I will fulfill my promise to tell the story of how I know that anti-freeze is both sweet and toxic.

I am still working on some of the phrasing for that one so........  :)

Good night!

Blogger day 9

Well, this is one of those days where there is not much to report..... lots went on.... I got lots done on newspaper articles and classes.... the kids and Sari had good days at school..... it was a good day, just nothing much to report.

Since it seems that no one is going to guess the Dempster's commercial song (at least not in the comments section - I did get a right response via text), I will give you the answer......

It is "Sweet City Woman" by "The Stampeders" (They are originally from Calgary ya know?).

And what was weird about the way they played the song?????? 

The lead instrument is a banjo (no surprise if you listen to the lyrics of the song), but the interesting thing is that they don't "pick" the strings (as you usually do with the banjo).... instead they "strum" it like a guitar. 

Since no one got the answer - no one gets the prize.

Ok - I got Sari hooked on the BCS College Football game between Norte Dame and Alabama and we have to watch the end of it.   See you tomorrow!

A fun day 8

Until today - strangely enough - our kids had never heard of the "Harlem Globetrotters".... knew nothing about them! How did that happen???? I sort of thought that was impossible... like not knowing about trees or something. Everyone has heard of the Globetrotters, right? Well, the girls know about them now. Thanks to a nice Christmas gift, Sari and I took the kids to see them at Spectra Place today and I have to say.... it was fun! 

 Of course, it was corny. Some of the stuff was old (I had seen many of the routines on TV), but it was still a good time. I mean, part of the fun is knowing that this group has been around for 86 years doing these same things. The tradition of it is sort of the cool part. Not to mention the fact that they are amazing! Our seats were close enough to get a good look (In fact, Sari got such a good look at a couple of the guys that I almost had to hold her back... they were pretty!) and seeing what they can do, in person, makes you really appreciate their skill. What a fun afternoon... thanks for the gift (You know who you are!) :)

PS.  They had a dude who was 7'8''... he almost hit his head on the backboard.... weirdly.

The other thing that made this day nice was that the elders and their wives took my family out for my "office Christmas party" tonight (Since I am the only one that works at my office, it is not hard to schedule). They took us out for supper, gave us some cards and said some really nice things... but mostly just treated us like their family (Oddly - a rare thing in churches where preachers often just get treated like the "hireling" or "jerks"). Anyway, a nice reminder of why we are still here... appreciation and love that goes both ways. A rare thing to find.

As well - the Seahawks won so that is good. That means another 3 hours spent on the couch next weekend :)

And lastly.... the song challenge from yesterday: Someone sent me a private message and identified the song and group (I will not reveal it until someone posts it in the comments section though so go listen to it if you have not already).... However, no one has identified what is "Unique" about the way the song is played.

Let me know if you think you know.

Ok - that is it! Have a great week!!