finally got a camera cord

Maddie's tinker toy windmillThe boys chopping wood for the winter Ethan's garden

pet pics (you care, right?)

Hugo then.... Hugo now

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

Last night we watched The Devil and Daniel Johnston. Actually, I watched and John fidgeted, got a snack, then went on the computer. I, on the other hand, was riveted. Really, to watch his mind unravel from beginning to end felt like I was a spectator to a life that is really none of my business. I scrapped none of my business and went with spectator and came away fascinated, saddened and confused. And, although I will likely never race out to buy his music, I watched with the feeling that most of us have lost the freedom to be artistically unrestrained.

Ang

another day

So, yesterday was a day to remember. I'm not a superstitious girl (I don't think I can even spell it right), but I was starting to feel that it might be best for the world if I remained locked in my room, out of reach of breakable objects. It all started with our phone not working- at all. Our only phone. Won't be fixed until Friday. Fine. I get the kids ready for school but can't find the backpacks or lunch containers. Or lunch meat for sandwhiches (John....?) Well, that's fine, too. Nothing out of the ordinary. So, I'm late. Get stuck in construction on the way there and back. Ram into a construction sign 2 minutes from my house and shatter side mirror. Accidentally cut some guy off in the confusion, got the classic courtesy finger. Come home to make spice tea and drop cannister on tile floor- half an hour of cleaning up glass slivers. Finish that to find Hugo chewing on my razor- ouch! Dogs must have some kind of miracle rubber tongue or something, cause he's fine. My razor is not. That was all before 10 am. But after that things took on a more peaceful feel as Lex and I made a very tasty carrot cake, if I do say so myself, and, for the first time, roasted lamb (let me just say yum). As for having no phone? It's not so bad. I can say with great gladness that no one tried to sell me insurance I already have or offer to clean carpets that I don't. I'm sorry to say I can't find an up side to having to pay for another van repair- unless it's a greater appreciation of mirrors or something.

And today- I just got a parcel from our good friends in Brandon (thanks Brian and Charla!), which is fun in itself, but opened it to find three books that I am very excited to read. The Catcher in the Rye (it's been a long time, little book), Go Ask Alice, and the Liar's Club. It struck me that this might be a fun idea- some kind of book exchange or book something (I don't want to say club, because that makes so many people cringe, but that's basically what I mean. We could call it not-a-book-club-by-any-stretch). I would like this, and here's to hoping that someone, somewhere would agree. Or at least prefer it to something like Chinese water torture. No, that's not a threat. I'm totally unfamiliar with the ways of torture and it would signifigantly damage the dynamic of the book club, I mean book something.

Ang

censorship at it's finest

Well, as fun as that last exchange was, oh wait- I meant wierd, it led us to a couple of discoveries. First, it seems someone out there felt the most effective way to get their point across would be to impersonate three different people. It was entertaining to see if this could be pulled off, but when it was taken to to the extreme of setting up a fake blog (oh yes) I started to feel a little creeped out. While John thought it was funny, if not slightly bizzarre, I started feeling like moderating comments may not be such a bad idea after all. That was discovery #2- time to moderate. This makes me sad- not really excited to become Go2theJohn where censorship reigns supreme and freedom of speech is squashed like a bug. But please, by all means, still disagree, berate, admonish and all those other things that can keep the discussion going on hot button topics like, um, say...coulottes- ridiculous or fashion savvy? In the future, we will stick to overlooking the comments that are borderline stalking while trying to hide thier true identity (unsuccessfully). So, see? That's 3 requirements, and although you may reach 2- not many people can pull off 3! Chances are, we won't be having too many blog burnings in the future (a much better mental image then we won't be having too many pressings of the delete button in the future).
Here it goes......

Ang

Hans

I just finished reading this. I'm not all that surprised. At the same time, I kinda am. I mean come on, worse off? Iraq is really worse off now then they were 3 years ago when Sadam was in power? Dang. Lands! That's just. . .so many things. Pathetic, Abominable, Shameful, Embarassing, Tragic, Embarassing, Horrible, Embarssing. Especially for GW. If I was GW I'd resign tommorow. Go back to managing losing baseball franchises. Think about it. If the Chief UN Weapons Inspector announced to the world that everything I had done in the last 3 years was not only a total waste of time but I had actually made Iraq worse off then it was when a mad conscious - free lunatic that tortured and killed his own people ran things - gees, I'd be wrecked. At the very least I'd take a day off. Giddy up on over to Camp David. Start that stamp collection I'd been itching to do for so long. Perhaps even write an apology note to the world.

Dear World,

I know I am the most powerful man in, well, the world, snicker, in fact with one barked drawl I could eliminate you, the reader of this letter. Snicker. I'm just messin with you dere cowboy. I wouldn't think of it. Anywho, where was I, oh yeah, I know I am the most powerful man in the world and I know that for the past 3 years I have made it a worse place but still, I read my bible every morning and that's gotta count for something, right? Anyways, sar ee.

Love, GW

Some of you may think I'm being a little unkind. Perhaps I am. Perhaps I don't know the whole story. I'm sure I don't. But the Chief seems to. So does the Body Count - 44,000 Iraqi Civilians, people like you and me, dead. Why? Went to buy apples on the wrong day.

So, what can the American people learn from this?

Vote Democrat? Nah, too simplistic.

Vote Repulican? Maybe. Just make sure this time we ask the candiate beforehand if he knows the difference between looking for Weapons of Mass destruction and being The Weapon of Mass destruction.

Don't Vote? Too cowardly.

What then? What are they to do?

Read.

Perhaps they should read.

They could start with 2 books. 1. Matthew. 2. History.

In Matthew they could read about an alternative way of building a kingdom. One that lasts not just for 4 years, or 8 depending if you get re-elected - but forever. One that isn't built on the backs of innocent Iraqis or anyone else -but rather one that is built on Love, respect, humilty and grace. If its a Kingdom the Americans want perhaps they should get a good King.

If Matthew doesn't do it for them perhaps they can brush up on their history by reading about other Kingdoms like theirs, Kingdoms that focused on power and control - Kingdoms like Rome and Russia and Egypt and ironically Iraq. Maybe after reading their stories and how those Invincible super power kindgoms fell - they'd take heed.

Do I hate the U.S.? Of course not, I'm an American myself. I've got Dual Citizenship so I'm the best kind. I'm powerful yet also witty and authentic. Ooo, just kidding.

Truth be told I love the U.S. I believe God has indeed blessed America and I'm sure he can't wait for the U.S. to start blessing others as well. Starting with Iraq.

I know I can't.

John

P.S. If you are an American I'm sure you're not part of the problem. So instead of getting offended get inspired and rally your friends to rally your government so next time they get the chance, wage peace instead of war. Waging war against a war lord makes another war lord. And war as you know, only begets war.

things

We did it! The great big splurge of a life time! We decided that new floors would be pretty, but a trip here would be fun. And fun is always better than pretty. The big day is February 10, which I am fully aware is 4 months away, but still I can't stop thinking about it and obsessively checking it out. For example, did you know that there's a parade every day and you can actually have breakfast with Mickey himself? That one I thought might be a little awkward, but the fact that they offer the service is very thoughtful (in a let's sqeeze out another drop kind of way). The kid's and I are making one of those big shot, newsroom calenders where you tear off a page each day. It's very important that you do this with flourish. 109 days!

What happened was this. We were spending John's days off driving around the city, price checking and getting ideas for some renos on our house and it hit us. We're not even into this stuff! Sure, let's fix Ethan's holey, hanging by a hinge door and of course we need to replace our windows that don't shut, or don't open- take your pick. I've still got my fingers crossed on getting a dishwasher. But trying to chose whether we wanted hardwood or a soaker tub, a new fence or a new couch just felt a little.....boring. Those are nice things, don't get me wrong, but in the end you're still walking on a floor, sitting by a fence, soaking in a tub (guesse we do alot of relaxing). So, we followed the advice of a good friend:

Invest in memories, not things.

Besides, I can always stick John on dish detail.

Ang

Bill Pan

I just finished my first Bible Study with Bill Pan. I met Pan last Friday when we both arrived at the church at the exact same time. Pan had just come here from China, 2 days previous, and with broken english asked if he could learn about Christianity. Apparently he had just moved into the neighborhood and had seen the Church when he was out walking one day. Pan and I spent the next hour trying to talk and by the end we had managed to understand each other enough to make a plan to study John's Gospel every Friday from 11am - whenever. I also learned Bill is 20, and he wants me to call him Bill because its easier, ha, and that he is beginning at the U of C in January. If you were to ask Bill what his present religion is he would smile and say "I'm just myself." There is beauty in that answer.

The study went very well today. I felt emotional at times as Bill discovered things like "Jesus can see God and came to help us see God too." Bill admitted that sometimes he struggles with belief in God because of Science. Bill is just about to begin a career in Mathematics. Another cool discovery was explaining to him about Moses. When I finished the Moses in the basket story his face lighted up and he explained to me how Moses' birth was similar to the Buddah's. I think that's cool.

Life is good when you're talking Jesus with Pan.

I bet Jay, Shannon and Harm know exactly what I mean.

John

Randy

Yesterday I bought an office chair. Combine that with my balding and frequent usage of the phrase "anywho" and we got ourselves a bonafide older guy on our hands. I like Randy though. He's so comfortable. I know its a he because I assembled him. Besides, you think Ang would have allowed me to assemble a Patricia? Unlikely.

I needed a new chair because my old one was a pain in the back. As I type, Randy is massaging my. . .shoulders. Fred is adjusting to life in the supply closet. Hey, he had his chances - no feeling bad. Besides, he's just a bad office chair. Its not like he's Randy.

John

family update

I'm loving this chilly weather! John's doing the lumberjack thing on Saturday, so it'll be a fire every day! The best is when he starts it before he leaves in the morning, because being honest, I have a pretty severe inability to start fires. The kids and I cheer every time we get a flame only to have it sputter out 30 seconds later. Perhaps this is an area I can grow in.

Ethan had his first soccer game this week, and I don't like to brag, but...5 goals. He was so excited because the last time he scored a goal was just hours before he broke his leg at the beginning of the summer. Next we're going to work on not shouting out the score every time your team goes up another point. Apparently that's frowned upon in U6.

Maddie's learning recorder- ahh, I remember recorder! I thought I was quite the big time musician. She's also doing a dispaly on inside the human body for the project fair. It's hard to believe we're already in this stage of parenting! Very fun, though!

With the kids in school one day a week Alexa and I have time together, just the two of us. Today we baked chocolate chip cookies and coloured. I really do enjoy colouring. Especially if the crayons are new. That's the best.

So, that's my quick kid update. Really planning on getting that camera cord soon so we can post pictures. Hugo's huge now and very handsome, I just think that's worthy of being posted as well.
Also he hasn't peed in the house in weeks, plus he can sit- down- stay. So what I'm saying is, he's very deserving.

That's it for family news, I guesse!

Ang

Shameless Promotion

This guy actually promoted his own book on Amazon and gave it 5 stars.

What a moron.

How did I discover this?

The same author reviewed Jars of Clay's newest album by giving it 2 stars while saying it was about suicide.

What a moron.

The album on the other hand, wow. Rawest Christian album I've heard since Means.

John

P.S. I just came across this like 2 minutes ago. Best website ever!

KO

My buddy ol pal Kris Olson has just joined the blogging fray.

Check him out. Its time you got KO ed.

Ha. I love how cheesy that sounds. Ha.

John

P.S. Ha

Wow

Its hard to believe this was only 50 years ago.

Wow. I don't know what else to say. Amazing. Wow.

John

P.S. Wow

blogma

OK, is it just me or is there some kind of top secret, underground, thug- guarded, triple bolted, alley- access basement, where I need a password like the fish flies at midnight in order to find a decent children's Bible? The fact that so many of them picture Jesus as a rosy cheeked, cartoon faced white guy is silly enough, but how do you find one without the doctrinal extras? I've looked everywhere for a Bible that doesn't contain sidebar explanations like and that's why reading Harry Potter is evil or the Trinity is like an egg..... or let's talk about hell and why you should invite your friends to church right now. Seriously- GO! Or, you know, the ones that think God and Christianity are best understood in war terms (armies, punish, soldiers, warrior, enemies, commander- these are from the sidenotes in Maddie's current Bible. Where's shock and awe?). I just want a Bible. The B-I-B-L-E, that's the book for me. How about this, Zondervan. You give me a straight up Bible for my kids. Make it pretty. Throw in some interesting historical tid bits and life application, if you wish. But leave the dogma part to me, the parent.

Just a thought.

I would love recommendations if anyone has any.

Ang

Oiler Hockey

For those of you who either missed it or are still in denial (Flames fans) Ryan Smyth scored a hat trick in a span of 2 minutes in the 3rd period to give Edmonton a 6-4 come from behind victory over the team most pick to win it all. . .and the team that embarassed Calgary only a few nights ago - San Jose. No worries though Flames fans, your team was back to playing their normal exciting style of hockey last night in a thrilling 1-0 win over Ottawa. It truly was thrilling. Wow, I'm thrilled. So thrilled. Incredibly thrilled. I may switch teams.
Nah.

If you want, you can relive the glory here.

I love Oiler hockey.

John

Jon Stewart on Faith

This is defnitely worthing checking out.

Click on #5/ Jon Stewart.

John

Chels said to

A few weeks ago, Chels with a Y, suggested the next Grid Blog be - Morality. Morals.

I concur. So that's what Chels and I are going to write on. This Friday. At a blog near you.
Fill free to write along.

John

P.S. I've been reading through 2 Corinthians, I lost a bet, just kidding - I'm actually loving it. How could I not after reading verses like this: "You're lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively."

Nice one Paul.

Rules Guy

I take the kids to swimming lessons on Friday mornings and quite enjoy it. I sit there on my plastic chair waving to three kids in three different areas of the pool. So basically always waving and smiling. Just stick me on a float and put a crown on my head. The best is when Ethan notices Maddie doing a front float and, knowing she hates getting her face wet, yells across the pool good job, Maddie while giving her a very enthusiastic thumbs up. That's pretty sweet. The instructors are all awesome with kids, even if one of them is covered in hickeys 50% of the time. Glad you had some good times, but, really....children. Children all around. But, of course, the kids think he's totally fun and perhaps a little clumsy. (bruises...get it?)

But I'll tell you what I don't like. Rules Guy. Very annoying. When I see him coming it's time to take cover. Dive behind all the good Moms who wouldn't even think of bringing coffee into the no food or beverage zone. Yes, Rules Guy, I forgot to take off my shoes. But they're clean, see? No, I didn't know 4 year olds can't play on the jungle gym. Guesse it's one of those 18+ jungle gyms that are so popular. I mean, I wouldn't want Alexa to bump into a padded wall or anything.

I shouldn't be too hard on Rules Guy, I know he's just doing his job. But would it hurt to have some semblence of a sense of humour? Perhaps downgrade the strut to a more casual, less intimidating gait? Maybe let the odd coffee slide? It is 9:00 am after all and I have no intentions whatsoever of darting over to the pool when no one's looking and dumping hazelnut coffee into the water. That would be wasteful. And inconsiderate. And in return, I will no longer pretend I don't see you coming and then make awkward and not funny jokes in my vain attempts to distract you from my travel mug. Deal?

Probably not.

Ang

Thanksgetting

Yesterday was super cool. I had Butterball turkey. Oh my lands kabore, never had anything like that before. Ever. The best part of the Butterball is the idea. "Here at Butterball Inc. we don't think your thanksgiving turkey is greasy and fattening enough so we've taken the liberty of adding a pound of butter in hopes of making this holiday that much fatter." And boy am I thankful. Add a cup and a half of gravy and some mashies and gobble gobble ooo ah.
When I had eaten enough, enough meaning I could still breathe, I slunk away from the table, collapsed on the couch and fell asleep while NFL crunched in the background. When I woke up I did a mother load of dishes, ha double meaning, which enabled me to work up yet another appetite and before I knew it I was gobbling more. That caused a chain reaction which forced me to actually get some excercise and when I did gravy replaced sweat on my brow. Don't get me wrong, as lazy as the day sounded I also managed to play soccer with Ethan and later Hugo as well as take a walk with the family. Its just the gluttony I'm concerned about. Especially when I woke up this morning to find the homeless screaming in my kitchen. Front page of the paper. A beaten down woman and 3 innocent kids under 10 enjoying their thanksgiving on the street? Well they should work harder and avoid the drugs. True, although in this case it had nothing to do with those more "convenient" causes but more to do with the fact that Calgary has somehow managed to become too important for itself and now the only people who can afford to live here are those who bought a house 2 or more years ago or those willing to spend $1300 on rent, which for a big city sounds about right but not when last month it was $700 - for the same place. Which brings us back to our sweet family, spending thanksiving on the street along with 3000 others. I on the other hand laid moaning on my couch gulping down coffee trying to beat my turkey hangover.

What's wrong with this picture? I don't know. Is it wrong that I had a great thanksgiving and enjoyed some truly great food? I don't think so. But why do I feel so . . .greedy. So gluttonous. Like yesterday was all about Thanksgetting and not giving? What should I have done different?

Not sure. But I'm going to think on this more. Maybe its nothing. Maybe its everything.

Either way I have 3000 reasons to be thankful and I better not take any of them for granted.

John

Gridblog #4 Thankfulness

Well, I could go on forever I'm sure, but I'll try and keep this to a bearable length. Right now I'm watching Ethan and John (and Hugo) playing soccer outside and I'm thankful for that. Alexa's playing with Harley, laughing her hearty, jolly old elf laugh- how can I not be thankful for that? Maddie's on her bunk bed reading her latest book, which I'm sure we'll hear about later- again, so thankful. As for the details, basically the same as John's list (except for kissing myself- I don't do that) and I'm very thankful our lists are so similar, because it would suck if I loved reading and he loved, say, pressing flowers and the only thing we could talk about would be books on pressing flowers, or pressing flowers in books. I'm thankful that my parents are quite silly and that my brother's so smart and that it's cold outside so we can start having fires in our fireplace soon. I'm thankful for our friends. I'm thankful that my pumpkin pies turned out and that I can be a part of my kid's education and that there may be a glimmer of hope to stop global warming. I'm thankful that I have a hard time with the word blessed and John gets it. I'm thankful that, although not a big fan of the name Angie, I was named after a Rolling Stones song so it's all worth it. And, I'm especially thankful that John is doing the dishes right now.

Ang

Thanks

I just read all your guyses blogs and wow, it may be cold outside but I'm sure toasty warm inside. I love you all. Group Hug.

Speaking of cheese I had it for lunch. Speaking of lunch, its over now which is why I can write my blog. Speaking of my blog. . .

In lieu of basically repeating my Inspiration Blog I am going to say I'm incredibly thankful for all the givens - Jesus. Angie, Maddison, Ethan, Lex, Hugo, Rusty, Not Jack, My parents - my dad just got a pacemaker put in last week and at 70 he is still teaching up a storm. Could a son be more in awe of his dad? My siblings. My friends, too many to list, yes I am that popular, just ask me. My health. I'm 30 but I still feel like I'm 18, except when I run. I'm sore after. Church. Without it I wouldn't have money which I am also thankful for. I like the people at church as well, even the pharasaical ones. They're kinda cool in a legalistic narrow minded way. Jk, their not. I mean just kidding there's not any I'm aware of. Um. .just kidding. Mayday!!

So yeh - those are my givens.

I thought I'd focus on the little things today. The things that at first read - seem shallow or even silly but without them life wouldn't be as sexy. Here's 10.

- Thick fuzzy socks. The kind that double as shoes.

- Oilers. Especially love when they extinguish the Flames.

- Coffee. Must be fair trade bodum quality or what's the point?

- Books. I can't stop reading. . .everything. Right now, The Creation and The Sea. (2 books)

- Kissing my wife. Shazaam. (on second thought perhaps this should have been higher up in the list, crap.)

- Drawer full of clean underwear.

- Hearing a good song on the radio.

- Lost. So glad its back.

- Peace and Quiet in the Bathroom

- Phone call or email from a good friend.

- Butterball Turkey. I think it may be a first for me. Growing up they were too expensive.

Give thanks to the Lord. His love endures forever.

John

P.S. So, there's 11. Be thankful there wasn't 12.

Full of Great

This morning as I read through all your blogs something became abundantly clear. I hate my dog. "Master it's 5:30am and I have to peeeeeeeeeee." You do, do you? Here's an idea - how bout not drinking a gallon of toilet water the night before. Master's pee taste good Hugo? Take yourself to the bathroom.

As I continued to read another thing became clear - you're busy. I'm busy. Most of us haven't posted in a week, except for good ol dependable Timmy, he never takes a day off. Go Tim. And oh, wait, Aisling posted, so did Blair. . .about neckedness? Ha, nice one Blair. Actually J and Jeremy posted too. And Stacy. Joel too. Actually you should check Joel's out, you'll feel relaxed for a week. What was my point here? Oh yeah, none of you have posted.
I've made better points in my life...

Here's my suggestion for our Grid Blog this week. Turkey. . .Boil or Bake? Jk. Lets write about things we're thankful for. Lets count our blessings, heck lets name them one by one. Maybe we'll see what God has done? (Cheese alert)

I can't think of a more perfect way to start off the holiday weekend.

Btw - this isn't the Oscars, fill free to talk about God and your family all you want.

Lookee 4 Word 2 it,

John

P.S. I know, I didn't flush. Blame it on Meet the Fockers. "If its yellow, let it mellow, if its brown flush it down." Better for the environment, worse for Hugo.