Friday Night Projects

Tank restoration on a 1983 Honda CX500 half way done. Make a deal on the bike right now and you get to pick the colour!  :)

Give this a listen

I don't know what is going on with their outfits.... or with the entire video for that matter.... but I came across this today and I had to share it.  This is worth hearing and remembering!  (And the video will likely make you smile too)  :)

An Afternoon Hike

Sari took this "selfie" (actually it is an "us-ie" because it is of "us") on a hike that we took down in Woodlawn this afternoon.  It is really nice down in the trees. 

Ba Ha Ha!!

You should watch this right to the end.... but make sure you at least get to the 1:20 mark or so.... good stuff!  :)

Sari Doing Good Stuff in the Community

I always tease Sari about how much she is in the local newspaper. It seems like it is every other week. Here she is getting a cheque for $18 807.50 to go towards Hillcrest School's new playground stuff (I tried to tell her to scratch the name off of there and put ours in and cash it, but she did not think the bank actually took those big cheques. Not to mention the fact that it was the bank that gave the money in the first place... so they likely would have figured it out).

I think we have a winner

Sometimes the best ideas are not new ideas, but rather new combinations of old ideas.

For example, I was listening to the radio today and a couple of  back-to-back commercials gave me a great new business idea.

I am going to rent two connected spaces in a strip mall.  In one store, I am going to offer a hair removal service.  Then in the other store I am going to offer a hair restoration service. 

This business idea address two separate needs while also creating its own "product supply chain"..... Take hair off of those who do not want it.... walk through the door that joins my two spaces..... and put it on people who need hair. 


"Hair gone" and "Hair on"........ coming to a strip mall near you. 

Special couples rates available!  You figure out who needs less hair and who needs more..... half price!

Who is first???????  Comment below to make an appointment.

It's getting CRAZY around here!!!!

So far, my January could be described in one word......

HHHHHWWWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!   (Pronunciation Key: Think about the sound a depressed moose would make and go from there)

In other words, it has not been that exciting....... UNTIL TODAY!!!!

I was sitting at my desk when this HOT CHICK called me (Is "HOT CHICK" the politically correct term????  I can't keep up.......) and said, "Hey Baby!!  Wanna go out for lunch?"

Now I know what you are thinking......

"Lunch????  OUT?????  On a WEDNESDAY!!?????"

But deal with it!   That is how we roll...... no rules!!!!

Then she sweetened the pot...... "We can even go to A and W so you can get a TEEN BURGER!!!"

Now here is the thing:  She knows that the way to my heart is through bacon.  (Actually - that is a scientific fact.... My doctor even said that was true.  Well, at least he said something about "bacon" and "my heart" - I wasn't really listening.   And why would I?   If he is insulting bacon, he is obviously a quack!).

But wait...... it gets even more crazy.......

WE HAD COUPONS......AND DIDN'T EVEN USE THEM!!!!

Weird hey?   We were a block from home when I picked her up from school....  the coupons had not expired......we could have come and got them.... but we didn't!!!

Then to top it all off...... are you ready?????

I let her upgrade her regular fries to sweet potato fries!!!!

That's right...... I brought out the "Special Wallet"!!!! 

And we didn't even plan any of this...... IT - JUST - HAPPENED!!!!

I can't wait for tomorrow!!!

#mylifeisnotthatexciting

PS.  The dude in the picture is not me.  It is not even a "Reasonable Facsimile".  One of us is OBVIOUSLY less dorky looking than the other...... you can figure it out for yourself!

A cool video

Check this out..... sort of cool.  :)

My New TV Show

Sari and I like watching a TV show called "House Hunters International" mostly because we get to see a bunch of different places in the world. 

Interestingly, most of the people on that show end up saying something like this.... "We are moving to _________ (fill in the blank) because we want a slower pace of life and more family time".

That is a great thing!  I am all for "slower pace" and "more family time"..... and so I have come up with an entirely new TV show..... it is going to be called "House Havers".

The premise of "House Havers" will be simple..... I show you the house that you currently live in and then...... wait for it....... you DON"T MOVE ANYWHERE AND YOU SIMPLY DECIDE TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!!!!!

I know... it is a crazy concept.... but here is the thing..... it will save you tens of thousands of dollars in moving costs.... you will not have to look for a new job..... you will still have the same friends that you have had for years..... and you will be happier.

My part in the show will be to come in and say "Stop it" until you have time to spend with your family. 

Are you running your kids to 93469684938690438 activities????  Stop it!!!  If you lived in Bolivia your child would likely not attend "Advanced Oboe class" so why bother with it here???? 

Are you running out to see the latest movie every other night???? Stop it!!  If you lived in the outback of Australia, you would probably go watch the sunset instead of a movie (and here is a hint..... the sun sets here too..... EVERYDAY!!!).

The tagline to my show will be.... "You can live a slower pace wherever you are!" 

And then I will take the moving costs that you saved and call it my "consulting fee" so that I can move to some exotic place with a slower pace of life and enjoy more time with my family.  :)

Who wants to be first?????

I need your help!

Sara won't let me dry my hockey equipment in the house!

I know that may not seem like a big deal, but here is the thing..... she dries all kinds of HER stuff in laundry room (sweaters, shirts and things), but - for some strange and unknown reason - I have to dry my stuff in garage!  Is that fair?

Now, I will admit that I have not washed my hockey undershirt in literally more than 10 years and - yes -  the last time I took it out of my bag it was covered in a bunch of white stuff (could have been dried sweat.... maybe it was mold.... it is really hard to say without some sort of chemical analysis), but the point is that I wore it anyway.  If I can put up with the smell of that stuff on me, surely she can put up with the smell of it in the house, right?

Why should you care about this?  Well, a society is only as strong as those that they stand-up for.  Oppression, in all its forms, is wrong!  If I am being oppressed, then it should matter to you!

Besides, my garage really stinks now! :)

(PS.  The funniest part of this is that I planned out this blog last night and said nothing to Sari about it.  Then this morning I was giving her a ride to work and when she walked into the garage she said, "Oooh, it stinks in here!!!"   So at least you know that I am sort of telling the truth)  :)

Impending Doom!!!!?????

So the holidays are over! 

If getting to hang out with people you love and getting to do some things that you like to do is the benchmark of a good holiday, then ours was great!  Sari and I got to hang out with our parents and most of our siblings (though we did miss seeing some of them - sorry guys).  We got to see nieces and nephews.  We received some very nice and thoughtful gifts from family and friends (I will say more about that in a later blog possibly). 

I got to go to a Moose Jaw Warriors hockey game and a couple of Bruins games.  I even dragged myself to noon hockey (which was a lot of fun!).  I played Scrabble with Sari (don't ask who won - I don't want to talk about it) and Crokinole with Megan, Connor, Emily and my brother Lenny.  We ate too much.  We stayed up too late.  We slept in too long.  The girls read a bunch of books (I mostly read motorcycle travel magazines - which is another blog for another time).

It was just nice to be back together as a family for a while. Katie was home.  Megan had time off work.  It was great!!!

So you can imagine why I was dreading this Sunday morning.  Holidays ended for me today.....  and it is always really hard going back.  

After doing nothing but acting selfishly.... doing what I want, when I want.... going where I want.... only dealing with people when I want to..... it is always hard to go back to a job where I have to look after people (In case you have not noticed, I am not normally the most "nurturing" sort of guy.  I have to work at it).  It is way more fun to think only about myself.  It is way easier to solve my problems than to listen to and help with those of other people.  It is nicer to be on my own schedule rather than at the "beck and call" of those who need something.  So I was dreading going back to work.

Until I got there.

I loved this morning.  I loved seeing the people.  I loved the deep conversations.  Don't tell anyone, but I actually like being part of people's lives.  I like being in Estevan.

Is it hard?  Sometimes.  Would I rather be selfish?  Most of the time.  Will I miss the kids and Sari when I am sitting alone in my office?  Of course!

But is it worth doing?  Absolutely! 

So, if they offer me most time off, I will definitely take it..... but until then I will remember the good things of the last few weeks.... I will remember skating as a family and going for walks and breakfast dates and being introduced to "Sherlock" and a thousand other things..... and I will smile as I happily go to work doing something that I love to do.

Hold on!!!

Hey y'all


Thanks for continuing to come by this blog even though recently there has not been a lot of new content.

That will change next week though.  I am going to commit to writing something at least every other day for the next little while (I won't guarantee that it will be funny or witty or even worth reading - but there will be something here).

So keep coming back.  The blog is not dead yet.

Looking back: 2014

Sari told me that I was supposed to write the "Christmas Letter" this year.... that did not happen.  So this is going to have to do.

Now, there is a good chance that you know a lot of the details of our lives (if you come by this blog regularly - and why wouldn't you???? - then you likely got the high points), so what I want to do is just reflect a bit on what happened and how I feel/felt about it.

2014 was a year of big changes.  Katie graduated from high school.  Megan got her driver's license.  Katie moved away from home.  Megan acquired "Fonzi" (her truck).  Sari was in the paper 3467496790459068907 times (actually - that is not a change).  Katie completed her first semester of university.  Megan got her first real job (at Pharmasave - or "Pharma - slave" as some of the staff call it).  :)   Sari did 367389469046 nice things for people.

I thought that graduation day would be harder than it was.... maybe the fact that I moped and pouted about it all spring helped (well - it helped me anyway.... I am not sure what it did for everyone else).  The day was fun though.  I really enjoyed it and I was really proud of Katie!  I miss having her around.  It has been great having her home this past week - laughing and being silly - talking and going on breakfast dates - but I also know that she is enjoying what she is doing and that is good!

I thought that Megan getting her license would be a big deal - last kid growing up and all - but it has been good too.  She is a good little driver.  It has been fun watching her get her independence both financially and in terms of more mobility and freedom.  Megan likes to make things and build things - she likes to know how things work - so I taught her how to change the oil in Fonzi.  She is also very compassionate (like her mom) and so it is interesting to watch her as she looks after her buddies and cares for them.  In a way, Katie not being here has allowed us to really get to know Megan too - and that has been good too!

From the time the kids were little, people told us (read this next bit with an old lady voice)... "Treasure these days!  They grow up so fast!"  and that is exactly what we have tried to do.  Every stage along the way has been different and every stage has been fun!  (Though I will admit that - once in a while - I miss having little girls with pig-tails running around the house)

So I could tell you all sorts of stories about volunteering at the stock car track, or Sari's craft projects, or the transmission blowing up on our SUV in the middle of our summer vacation, or freezing in Montana on my yearly bike trip... and it could be an interesting letter.... but that is not what I am thinking about - or even what really matters.

I often tell people that "Some things are valuable even if you cannot measure them in dollars and cents" and that is what I think when I look at my life...... I have a beautiful, kind, sweet wife.... I have two lovely, wonderful and funny daughters..... we have great friends both in the church here and in the town.... we get to see our parents and siblings more than most people do (and we actually like them).

Like anyone, I could complain about a few things.  Not everything went the way I would want it to and not everything has been easy...... but life is good and we are happy and blessed and looking forward to what is next.

Bring on 2015.  :)

A Christmas Song Rant

Can someone tell me why we are still playing "White Christmas" on the radio????  WHITE CHRISTMAS????  SERIOUSLY????  That song was recorded in 1942!!!!!   1942!!!!!   Bing Crosby has been dead since 1977!!!!!   Are you telling me that that no one in the past 72 years has written another song that we can play instead?????

Or how about "Have yourself a merry little Christmas"?   Written in 1942 with several popular versions recorded in the 50s.

"Rockin' around the Christmas tree" was a LAME song when it was the "girl's song" at my Grade 7 Christmas concert and it has not got any better since.

And what about "Boney M"?   Boney M lives off of the Christmas album that they released in 1981.  Quick, name a Boney M song that is not on that Christmas Album...... I thought so.

And don't even get me started on  "Frosty the Snowman" or "The Little Drummer Boy"!!!!

Now someone is likely thinking, "Come on, bonehead (not a very Christmas like spirit there but anyway....) it is tradition.  We play those old songs for nostalgic reasons.  The baby-boomers loved them as kids.... their kids grew up listening to them.... those songs are part of Christmas".

And you know what... I will give you that.  There is something to say about tradition.  I am good with that.

Why, though, do we need to be subjected to 6874896789457689 versions of the same song recorded by 904690456804586 artists????   I  could have lived without ever hearing Michael Buble singing "Let it Snow".  Are you really trying to tell me that "One Direction" is going to do a better version of "White Christmas" than Bing Crosby did???  Not a chance!  Not if you locked them in the studio and made them sing it until they were dead!  What is with that?  We have, literally, 30+ Christmas CDs and they encapsulate 14 total songs!  That is sort of like going to the store, buying a new pair of pants and then opening the bag at home and finding your same old pants!  They just keep putting the same pants in a different bag and we keep paying for "new pants"!!!! 

And then - when someone does finally come out with a new song - sadly - they write something like "Text me Merry Christmas".  If you have not heard this stellar gem, have a listen here......

Actually, I take that back.  I would rather listen to "Text me Merry Christmas" than "Last Christmas" by Wham (which gets played all the time and is 30 years old now too).  At least "Text me Merry Christmas" is actually about Christmas.  "Last Christmas" is just set at Christmas time.  It could have been called "Last Cattle Round Up" and it is still the exact same song.

So - please - someone..... somewhere..... write a new song about Christmas.  Just one!  I guarantee that you will be "Laughing all the way"..... to the bank at least!

Especially if you can figure out some way to get Bing Crosby to sing it.

Embracing Imperfection

Everyone is too uptight about getting things "right" all the time and doing their best.  So here is my new plan.... I am intentionally going to do things "imperfectly" in an effort to show everyone else that perfection is not required.  In doing so, I hope to free people from their overly extravagant expectations of themselves and others so that they can be free to enjoy the imperfect life that they are living.

Exhibit A:  My Christmas present wrapping.

It is terrible!!!   It looks like a drunken monkey on crack tried to wrap theses presents in the dark with his arms tied behind his back underwater in a 90 mph wind!

But ..... ummmm......  that was the look I was going for!

No really.... it is!!!!

Megan did not believe me either!  #dontlaughitisveryhurtful

Well there you go.....

Estevan's downtown shopping district had their big "Midnight Madness Christmas Shopping Kickoff" thingy tonight.  For the last few weeks, any time you shopped downtown you got a stamp in your passport.  Then you entered your passport in a draw.  To win, you had to be at the drawing downtown tonight at 8 pm.

Sari and Megs went just for the fun of it..... then wandered over to the draw just for the fun of it......

And Sari won the big prize....... a $500 shopping spree (just for the fun of it).

The only catch was that she had to spend it all in an hour and a half.  She had from the time of the draw until 9:30.

Now, with all the teasing I do about Sari spending all of our money all of the time, you would think that this would be an easy task for her..... but it wasn't!   I was at the hockey game so she called and asked "What should I do?  Should I buy practical stuff or just blow it?"   Of course I said, "It is found money.... just blow it!" and that may have been the problem.  I don't think I have ever told her to go blow $500 on impractical stuff in the 20 years we have been married.  In fact, she thought she had the wrong number.

Fortunately, she had Megan with her!  :)

Even at that though, Megan said that Sari would go into a store, look around and go "I don't know!"   In fact, one of the ladies who organized the thing said, "You don't selfishly shop for yourself very much, do you?"  :)

In the end (and in typical Sari fashion) she came home with bags and bags of stuff.... some practical stuff that we would have bought anyway, some presents for other people (just because she thought she ought to share the love) and a very few, small things for herself.

The best part, though, was the reaction of people when she won.  There were other prizes and when people won those everyone was like "meh"..... but when Sari won the big one everyone started clapping and patting her on the back and saying things like, "You do so many good things for others - you deserve to win this!" 

That may have been the best gift of all (but we are keeping the stuff too!!!)  :)

The Best Thing I have Seen in a While

What did I do that for????

Have you ever done something really, really dumb???   Like something so dumb that every time you think about it your stomach churns and you go "Arrrrrgggg!!!!  I am so ashamed of myself!!"

I did something like that yesterday.........  I got an Iphone! 

AN IPHONE!!!!!!!!

I know..... shocking, right????  Not so much??   Hmmm....  Maybe you need some background.

 1.  I HATE cellphones!!!!!   Seriously, I really do!  I hate carrying them!  I hate that they radiate what is left of my brain.  I hate that other people can't talk to me for more than three minutes without checking their cellph....... (Hang on!  I just got a text)..... cellphone!   I HATE that everywhere you go people are taking pictures and posting them all over the place (I don't care what you had for lunch!!!!  I know that is hard to believe but.......).

I will admit that they are nice to have for safety's sake (Driving in the winter, or being hundreds of miles away from home is much nicer because of the backup that the cellphone provides), but overall I hate them.  If texting had not become the primary way to communicate with people, I would not have a phone at all.

2.  I have made fun of Iphone users for years.  I don't know what it is, but there is a cult around Iphones that does not exist with any other phone.   You never hear anyone say, "What kind HTC Desire is that?"..... and if you did all you would hear next is silence..... because no one would know or care.

However, every time people are within 5 blocks of an Iphone they seem to have some strange compulsion to identify it.  "What kind of Iphone is that?  Is it 5C?"   You know what I mean??  Now I am going to have to learn an entirely new vocabulary because I have no idea if my phone is a 5C or a 6X or an E, I, E, I, O or what! 

"What apps do you have?" is another question exactly no one asked me when I carried an HTC phone.  NO ONE!!!!!   Now I am gonna have to learn about Itunes.... and Imovies.....  and, frankly, ...."I-don'tcare"!!! 

But I will say this.... I am happy that the church provides me with a phone (that is very nice of them).... and I will admit that this Iphone is super fast compared to my old clunky one...... and it is green (what is not to like about that)..... and I can even make it talk to me (which may come in handy.... it will make me feel like I have a friend).

Maybe I don't feel so bad about this after all. 

Text me sometime and can talk about it.  :)

Megan the builder.... and other stuff on a Friday

Look at what Megan built in Construction class at school......

Maybe she ought to go into business..... who wants one??????

As for me, this is what Dennis and I got done today......

I am not sure anyone wants to buy this Durango.... it has been a little frustrating..... but it has been fun anyway.  Now that the engine is out, we have options (fix it, put a different one in, etc).  #funwhenitiscoldoutside

In other news.... Katie came home for the weekend and Sari has very little to do (not "nothing to do" b/c she always has something good going on), so it will be nice just being together and hanging out. 

Have a good weekend everyone!  :)

Can I get a bullet-proof vest with that??????

At the end of the day today, I heard tires screeching on the gravel behind the church building.... so I looked out and saw three police cars there.

Now my first instinct (being a Pippus and all) was to run!   But as I have learned from watching my cousins, that is not a good idea.   Besides, the K-9 unit was there too.  I am fairly certain that I could outrun at least two of the three cops that were there.... but that dog looked really excited and hyper!

Anywho, they weren't coming for me.  They actually went the house across the alley and brought out two dudes in handcuffs.  They both stared at me as I was looking out of my office window.  I did not know what to do..... should I look sad for them????  Look angry so that they think I am on their side and don't come back and kill me?????  I thought about pretending I was blind, but they have seen me driving me truck (and besides, my office lights were on..... why would a blind guy need office lights, right??????)

In the end, I just shut off the lights and got out of there as fast as I could.

Maybe it is time to talk to the congregation about getting bullet-proof glass for my office windows.  Or maybe one of those really fancy bullet-proof vests the cops were wearing.

And here you thought being a minister in a small town was boring!