i think i survived

Well, i'm back, i'm exhausted, i'm sick, and i had such a great weekend!

The kids were great, we only had one minor issue to deal with (a kid going off on his own instead of with a buddy). And we saw God's hand in so many things....

for example, one of our vans was not working very well, so at lloyd, we decided it would be wise to not drive it any further. HOwever, that left us trying to figure out how to get those 7 people to Edmonton and back....well, we saw a bus from another Saskatoon church in the parking lot where we had stopped, and it turns out they had enough extra seats to take the kids from the van to the conference!

The concerts were great, especially TFK (the 2nd one, in the smaller venue, not in rexall), and Tait - he is the black guy from dcTalk, and he did a few of the old dcTalk songs like Jesus Freak, it was a really fun concert. The main sessions were amazing, Miles McPherson (a retired NFL player) did most of them, he's such an excellent speaker. I also attended two of the breakout sessions he taught, and really enjoyed myself.

Some of the concerts were great for the lovers of old-school Christian rock, particularly for the chaperones our age that were there - Newsboys and Audio Adrenaline have both been around at least since the 90s, and they each did a headline concert, so we got to tell our youth kids that the songs they were singing along to had been written when we were their age, they found that pretty amazing. But it was cool to know the songs and the bands that were doing those concerts. And as Anthony put it, you know you're old when one of your fave bands from growing up retires (Audio Adrenaline is on their last tour ever).

The other crazy thing was being in Rexall place where the Oilers play, with 16,000 teenagers who were cheering Oilers chants all weekend. And then Sat nite between the session and the concert, they announced that the Oilers had won and were going to the Stanley Cup, man, that place went nuts! I think my ears are still ringing!

Now i'm just trying to catch up on rest and kick this cold, life has let up for a bit, but i have another trip out of province in one week - a work conference this time! Get to stay with my sister, bro-in-law and niece for that one, so it will be great to visit with them for a while and hang out in Calgary.

YC here we come!

In contrast to my rather boring long weekend, this coming weekend should be a veritable zoo.

24 teenagers, 65 hours straight, approx. 12-15 hours of travel time (fortunately i'm in a car with my sister and only 2 kids, not in a 15 passenger van), sleeping on a church floor, no showers.... (again, glad i'm not in the van!)

about 10 concerts, 3-4 mini sessions on a variety of topics, a few huge sessions with all 16,000 attendees (15,000 of whom are teenagers)......the info letter states that the sound level will be at least 100dB over the weekend and those with sensitive ears should bring earplugs. i think my age has put me into the earplug category.

If i make it back alive, i'm sure i'll have a few good stories to share next week.....wish me luck!

As James Blunt would say...

I have sat across from many people this week for my job.
Each one very different from the others.

Some young, some with many more years of experience than I.
Some wrinkled, some smooth with the freshness of youth.

But all of them, beautiful.

I have come to realize that no person is without beauty, but the way it is manifest in each person is very different.

Some have amazing eyes, despite the thinning and greying hair, despite the sagging jowls and wrinkles.

Many have amazing smiles, that convey so much joy and happiness.

But each person has at least one feature that is truly beautiful.

So often we look at all the little pieces that make up this package called our body, and we become critical of the ones we do not like or wish were different. We focus on the negative parts, those ones that are somehow "off" or "weird" or "wrong" (by our own definition or definitions we have adapted from the world around us).

This gets us nowhere, but thinking that if one part is not nice, the whole cannot be beautiful. This week, i have realized that the opposite is true - if one part is beautiful, it means that person has beauty.

For me, who has never really liked my looks, but thinks they're just alright (except i like my eyes), this idea is pretty revolutionary. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, i guess we need to remember who the most important Beholder of humankind is. Not us in our self-criticism, not others who compare us to ideal standards none of us can reach, but the One who created us.

So just remember, you're beautiful.

Evolution of dance

THIS is very funny

(via Chris E.)

Oklahoma anybody?

Oh what a beautiful mornin'
Oh what a beautiful day
I got a beautiful feelin'
Everything's going my way....

10:20 am and it's already 21C out! woo hoo!

(i just won't focus on the fact that i'm getting that information from my desktop weather program, not experiencing it firsthand!)

Congrats times three

So, two strange phenomena are occuring lately:

1. Everybody is having boys - this is the third week in a row that I have a report of another boy being born. A HUGE congrats to Allison & Ryan on the birth of Jared Ryan - over 9 lbs - born on Friday (I believe).

At least Dawn is having a girl sometime this month to even things out a bit.

2. The other weird thing is that for every baby that has been born this month, i have found out about yet ANOTHER friend that is expecting - found out about another two this weekend to counterbalance the births of Jared and Spencer. So the # of pregnant women I know is not decreasing at ALL, but instead is holding steady! I wonder how long the trend will last.

HELP ME! HELP ME!

I don't know if i'll survive the afternoon.

The internet is down in my office, so i'm next door in what we call the "testing room" - a tiny, about 6' x 9' room with walls entirely of concrete blocks, no window, and a VERY noisy fan - i can turn off the fan but then the temperature slowly creeps up until it's about 30C in here. So it comes on for a bit until i cool down, then i turn it off and start to warm up until i can't take it, then the fan goes on.

ad nauseum.

Perhaps i will survive. Or perhaps they will find me in here some year in the future, mummified with my hands still on the keyboard. And just think, if i hadn't found out there was internet in this room, i probably could have gone home, as 90% of my work is on a server that is accessed online.

Sigh.

Mmmmmmmmmmm.

I'm a fan of rice pudding, but never think of actually making it before i start craving it.

This morning, i had a craving for rice pudding, but did not have time to make it, but i did have leftover rice in the fridge, so i thought to myself...hmmmmmm.........

The rice, some cinnamon, sugar, milk and a tad of flour for thickening went into a microwaveable dish. I just cooked it in the mic for about 2 1/2 minutes, and Mmmmmmmmmm! Instant rice pudding!

Granted, it wasn't as creamy as normal rice pudding is, it could have used a bit more milk once it had all stuck together, but i'd say pretty good for a 3 minute version using cold rice! I'll have to remember this for next time.

umbrella woes

I hate umbrellas. And i love umbrellas. They make me feel so happy, yet they frustrate me so much, mostly because i always buy new umbrellas, only to have them wrecked by the wind within a few uses.

I bought a new umbrella last week, one that *supposedly* is wind-proof, even if it turns out, it shouldn't wreck. It has less foldy thingies than my previous umbrellas. It's a nice one too, black with a raspberry red handle and one red panel, an ergonomic handle, and a nice silver inset button that you press to make it go up. And it was a great deal - if you need a good umbrella and don't want to pay full price, head to winners, folks!

Anyways, i used my umbrella today, and am realizing how much of a deadly weapon it is. I am having difficulty operating it, never having had an "automatic" umbrella before...i almost hit a woman when heading outside, as i pressed the button moments too early and it went "whoosh" before i had cleared the doorway. I'm sure there's some form of umbrella ettiquite that i am naively ignorant of, how do you find out these things? And then coming into a building, i couldn't figure out how to bring it down, it got caught in the door between me and the glass, and got all squished and stuff (but remember, it has unbreakable parts, so it was ok!). For the record, to fold it up, you just pull down on the circular part that forms the spoke of the moveable parts.

THEN, later, i found out the hard way that another way of putting it up is to push on the top of the umbrella - this i realized when i was trying to take a shortcut to putting it all the way down and tried to just push from both ends, and whoosh, it went all the way up again! I'm sure if someone was following me around videotaping me today, it would have made quite a funny movie with all my umbrella problems, i'm sure it's been up at least 4 or 5 times in buildings today. Good thing i'm not superstitious!

Welcome, little one! (or not so little)

Congrats to Candace & Lyndon on the birth of their son, a brother to Kianna.

Spencer Kaleb Epp arrived at 6:01pm on Monday, May 8, all 8lb 15oz of him!

Mom and baby are doing great.

monday report

So, Candace and Allison (as far as I know) are still waiting. As for Angela, i was able to spend some time with her on Saturday, and baby Hayden (I hope i got that right) is doing very well...he is doing very well, he just needs to grow. No major complications or issues. So that's great!

I had a great weekend, got to catch up on some much-needed sleep, i've been so crabby lately. Had a wonderful bbq on saturday, the weather was so perfect. And the dogs are a lot of fun, except when Daisy took off on us at the off-leash park on saturday. So that's all for now, looking forward to summer when i can be in the lake. mmmmmmmmmm.

waiting for babies

Now don't get the wrong impression...hear me out before you jump to any conclusions.

I'm in the middle of a waiting game right now. Two dear friends are due this week, so i keep hoping for a phone call, a new blog post, anything. I want to meet these little ones.

That said, i can't imagine how much more .... (I don't know what the right word is...anxious? Impatient? Excited? Eager?)...the parents of these soon-to-be-in-the-outside-world children are feeling. I mean, really, i'm not the one whose body has been the nesting place for this little one, who is growing increasingly physically uncomfortable and cumbersome. Not to mention the excitement of meeting your very own child face to face after months of waiting!

So Allison, Candace, (and Dawn too, very soon), i'm praying for you in these days of your imminent waiting. Hope all is well, and i'm eagerly anticipating that phone call, that email, that blog with the news, and can then pop over to the ever-so-conveniently close hospital to meet these new little ones.

UPDATE:

Well, i just found out that someone beat Allison, Candace AND Dawn....my friends Angela and Marc had a son on Monday, May 1.....11 weeks early. Haven't heard any other news other than that, so please pray for them and this little guy. Exciting but scary and unexpected.