Clouds to share with Paul

See Paul, you're not the only one with the cloud fettish. You are, however, the one who has a camera permanently attached so that you actually capture such events AND you're out of the house all the time whereas I'm always in the house. In fact, I took these pictures from inside my house.

Dominican Republic here I come!

Yippee! My girlfriend Margie is taking me to the DR from December 30 - January 6. I am sooooo excited! We're staying at the Riu Taino Hotel. I've started shopping for new summer clothes as all mine are too big right now. They might not be after a week at an all-inclusive resort.

What a week!

This week has been just full of ups and downs. On Monday my cousin Tawnya called to say that she and my aunt Janice were going to fly from Saint John to visit us from Wednesday to Friday. We were so good at keeping this a secret from Mom. I drove to Hamilton Wednesday morning to pick them up and drove like a mad woman to get them to Guelph quickly. To our surprise and dismay, Mom wasn't even home when we got here. She was extremely surprised, however, when she came in and was greeted by Janice. Good fun I tell ya.

My sister-in-law Jenn was here with the babies to see Jan and Tawn, but she really wasn't feeling well, nor was Mercy, her daughter. Jen went to the clinic that afternoon and was told she had pneumonia. I convinced Luke that it wouldn't be wise for her to join us for dinner as she was not well. I think he was a little hurt and thought it was a personal thing, but the girl was just not well I tell ya. He soon discovered this when she fell when trying to get into their house because she was so weak.

Luke brought Nadja and Mercy to us so he could take Jen to a clinic again. We took the babies and headed to Swiss Chalet. While there, we noticed that Mercy was extremely unwell. Her eyes were rolling back into her head and she was quite fevered. Mom packed babies up and she and Dad went searching for Luke and Jen. They found out that Jen had been seen and was told she probably didn't have pneumonia, but to go home and rest.

Thursday Luke took the day off to take care of his family. Sometime during the day Jen went to the hospital to have Mercy looked at. She was pale, limp, not breathing well and her eyes were watery and glazed. Apparently, the staff at the hospital told Jen she'd better register as well because they didn't think she looked well and they wanted to run tests on both of them. By 2:45 Luke was told that Mercy was being released, but they were keeping Jen. We all (me, Mom, Janice, Tawnya, Luke and Nadja) piled into Mom's station wagon and dropped Luke and Nadja at the hospital to pick up Mercy and his van. He had to get meds for the kids, so Dad went out to Luke's house to help him for the evening.

Friday we found out that Jen has Influenza A and was being moved to a room. I started out at 8:00 am to drive Jan and Tawn to the airport along with Mom, only to get a call that their flight had been cancelled. Around we turned to get home and find that Nadja had just thrown up and Luke was feeling miserable. I took Nadja's temperature which was well over 39. I took her to hospital to be checked out. They put us in a room immediately that was completely enclosed. They said she likely had the flu, but that it wasn't bad enough for her to require being admitted. I got in the car with her to head home and squeezed some hand sanitizer out of the bag I keep in the car, only to have it explode all over me. I was well sanitized as was the interior of my car!

I got home and told Luke that he and his girls needed to go home to get well because I really didn't think it was wise for them to stay at our house and guarantee that we all get it. Dad has been there taking care of them and Mom's been back and forth. Jen's still in right now as her blood pressure is still too low for them to release her.

I've taken bleach to the house and am praying that the girls and I don't pick this up. Jan and Tawn's rescheduled flight was cancelled yesterday as well and they were finally able to board a plane this morning and go home. Their visit was not nearly what they expected, I'm sure.

Please pray for our family that those who are ill will recover quickly and that the remaining healthy ones do not get this illness.

Bad brownies??

Becky worked hard by herself to bake brownies today. She needs them for Wednesday for a bake sale at school for band. I'm telling you, the entire house has smelled like brownies since around 6:30.

Well, she cut them up at 9:00 and tried to lift them out of the pan only to have them come out unevenly thus rendering them useless for the bake sale. Awwwww! A good mother would feel really bad (and I do on some level I'm sure), but man they are good. These are wicked chocolate brownies that, if they don't disappear soon, will cause me to have a bad weigh in this week.

Of course, being the good mother I am, I have promised to make her some chocolate chip cookie dough tomorrow so she can make cookies after school since we're going to our first ladies choir rehearsal at church tomorrow night. Here's hoping they turn out or I'll be making a trip to Zehrs to buy baked goods for her to sell.

Martha, care to Purolator some of your muffins this way??

Dilemma

Okay, so I'm done my courses but I'm not officially done until March. So, I thought maybe I should start looking for a job. What's the worst that can happen right? I can get a job and start paying OSAP back sooner.

Well, I sent a random resume out yesterday to a company that didn't even have a job listed. Lo and behold I had a call back that they had a job and wondered if I might be interested. Today I met with them, gave them a rather high salary estimate considering the scope of the job and they didn't bat an eyelash. They just want me to get back to them tomorrow.

So, here's the dilemma. The job is not my dream job, but the company has room for advancement. Also, I'm not sure that less than 24 hours of prayer is adequate. I just don't know that I should be rushing God's answer. Perhaps I already have the answer, but I dunno what it is. Ack!

Who'd have thunk?

Ange

PS Down another 2.8 for a total of 21.6. Oh yeah!!!!

Survivor

I love the show Survivor. I have often thought it would be a good experience (and a wonderful diet) to have the opportunity to try to survive in the wilderness. For some reason, this isn't what comes to mind for me.

Wonderful photography skills of my daughters

The benefits of a digital camera are many, not the least of which is the ability to delete pictures like these.




Shannon was so enthralled with the fall colours (which were somewhat muted in my opinion) that she was snapping pictures left right and centre. Think I'll have to wait until she has forgotten the day to delete them.

Good mother or just a pushover?

Okay, so I gave in and bought these for my girls:




They are knock-offs so I can't spout any medicinal purpose for the purchase. They were bought, pure and simple, to make my kids happy.

Enough said!

PS Paul, SHUT UP!!!

Desperately seeking . . .

. . . my sanity! For some reason I've actually convinced myself that I would be open to another relationship. In fact, I'm so open to this that I foolishly started looking at singles sites. Truthfully, I'm not desperate at all, but the thought of doing the rest of my life alone is not a thought I'm cherishing. I would like someone to travel with, go to parties with, and to give me a shoulder when needed. I want to grow old with someone who is comfortable sitting on the front verandah reading a book in silence or reminiscing about the good ol' days.

Boy, wish relationships were as rosy and romantic as the picture I have in my head. Perhaps I should spend a day or two with my ex to CURE me of this romantic illusion.

Ange

PS Down another 2.4 pounds this week. This is just too easy. Why didn't I try before?

Look at me go . . . literally!!

Well, I'm taking yet another stab at weight loss. Truthfully, every time I have lost it in the past I've found it again and it's brought friends!!! Not this time, however. Mom and I have joined Weight Watchers and we're loving it. I have been at this new "lifestyle" for five weeks now and I've lost 14.8 pounds. Add to that the 5 pounds I lost earlier this summer and I'm down 19.8 pounds since I last saw my doctor. I have been eating more food than ever and I'm losing weight. My girls have both lost a couple pounds as well.

Funny, though, Dad isn't too impressed with our new style of eating. We've been cooking lots of spicy foods like chimichangas and aloo gobi and less large portions of meat. Although he hates our new foods (and thus isn't eating much of them - he's worse than a kid being forced to eat beets) he's been putting a few pounds on.

Goes to show you that you need to keep eating to lose weight!!

The Sound of Silence

No, I'm not going to give a missive about the Simon and Garfunkle song. As everyone who knows me knows, I live with my parents and my two children. My house almost always has someone home and, thus, there's always the sound of a television, or keyboards clicking etc.

Well, Mom and Dad went to the trailer yesterday and my kids went to their father's last evening. For the first time in a long time I was home alone. Let me tell you, it is a weird feeling after having had people around all the time. It's not something I dislike, however, as I didn't have to make my dinner until 8:00 last night and I had the Playstation to myself (I had to create noise you see).

Anyhow, I think I'm looking forward to having my two fighting daughters back. Perhaps they'll be getting along today as they prepare their things for school tomorrow. On that note, "It's the most wonderful time of the year". :)

Crocs

Here's a trend I can do without. It seems that there's a huge client base out there for these ugly garden shoes. I have never seen a commercial for them, but I've heard they're the thing to have. Apparently people are wearing them to work, shopping etc., but I can't help but think it doesn't matter how comfy they are, a pair of Clarks would be just as comfy but would look the part too.

Here's to keeping crocs in the garden and at the cottage where they belong!!

Happy Birthday Marf!!!!

Recognize anyone here? Betcha most people wouldn't, but Martha should. This was her 12th birthday party on July 21, 1980.

Hmmmmmm . . . how old would that make her today?

Sorry that the picture with me in it wasn't as good. It's a crying shame I can't be seen here as I was the photographer. :D

Bloody power windows

Okay, so I should have known that when my driver side power window was giving me a bit of trouble recently that I shouldn't push my luck during a downpour. However, I'm not one to give up on a challenge and so I went through Tim's yesterday. Yep, pouring rain and my window wouldn't budge. Not a single inch.

I managed, by continuously trying it, to get it up within five minutes or so, but that was most certainly enough to keep me from putting it down again. I called the garage, but they're booked into next week.

Guess that'll keep me out of the drive through . . . for now!!

The church today

Yesterday, as my mother and I were travelling to the trailer, we were discussing my failed marriage. Good travelling topic and one to get me just a little hyped up. Anyhow, one thing led to another and we got to discussing how little support I got from the church I was attending at the time. My ex and I went for counselling and I was told how I could change to get him to stay home instead of philandering. I left that church when we split, and he and his girlfriend continued to go there and the church never, to my knowledge, ever addressed the fact that he had cheated on his wife and family and how inappropriate it was for him to be living with this woman.

I have since that time attended another church, but I have not felt like I was in fellowship there. I mean, I could walk in and walk out without anyone knowing I was present. It has been a disappointment in many ways, but I stayed because the sermons were great and I enjoyed the praise music. Recently, however, my brother and his wife were having issues with one of the congregants of my church and they went to the pastoral staff for assistance in mediating a solution. They were basically told that the church would not pick sides, but that they believed the congregant's version of events.

My problem with all this is that I'm not seeing churches (i.e. the body of believers) who are getting close enough to each other to see when a member is hurting or one who is really struggling with their walk. Why is it that I have not been at this church for many months now and nobody has called to see if I'm okay or alive? I was even in a life group, and the members of that group haven't noticed I'm missing either (or if they have, they haven't let on that they have).

We are working so hard at bringing people to Christ and into our churches, but are we seeing when they are in need of encouragement? Are we doing life together or are we all just marching to our own drum?

I dunno, perhaps I'm just a cynic, but I am seeking a church that not only has solid biblical teaching, but has a strong component of fellowship. We need strong leaders in these churches who will hold their congregants accountable. We also need other believers to do life with and to hold each other accountable.

Proud soccer mom

I just need a moment to gloat here. My daughter Rebecca, who plays on Guelph's U13 girls rep soccer team, scored two goals tonight. Now, that might not seem like a huge accomplishment, but she's always been a defensive player and for the last couple games they've moved her to mid-field. She's tearing it up out there. Of course, those two goals look really impressive when you add to them the one she scored earlier in the year . . . mostly because her team has only scored five goals in total this season.

I'm so proud.

Italy vs ?

Wow! What a semi-final today between Italy and Germany. Honestly, I'm sad to see Germany is out of it, but I'm relieved it didn't go to penalty kicks. I think that has to be the saddest way to finish a game.

Tomorrow's semi between Portugal and France should be just as good. They've both knocked out extremely tough teams to get to this semi. Unfortunately for them, one will not go to the final!

Sadly, Canada is just not a soccer country . . . yet! I think it's coming, but I won't lay odds as to when or even if I'll be alive to see it.

Summer solstice

Well, I've never . . . actually, I guess I can now say I have!! This weekend at the "camp" we could hear some mighty bizarre hootin' and hollerin' from the Outdoor Education Centre along with the beating of drums. As my parents and I discussed this we figured it sounded like a group of witches. I decided not to point this out to my daughters for fear it would scare them.

Imagine my surprise when another child at the playground told them about the "white witches" up at the centre! Is it just me, or is a witch a witch? If you don't worship God, then you worship satan.

It most certainly opened up the dialogue . . . with everyone for the entire weekend.

Can't help but say I was curious about what they were doing chanting at 4:00 a.m., but I wasn't curious enough to get close. I was creeped out incredibly and was blasting my praise music in the car every time I went through their sales tents full of new age "stuff".

It was (and is) reassuring to know that our God is far stronger than anything satan can send our way. Sadly, they will be returning for the next four years. Guess I won't be rushing up on this weekend annually!

World Cup

I must say that I'm LOVING this World Cup so far. I'm thrilled that I have Rogers Digital so I can watch all the games (albeit a day later). The coverage has been wonderful.

I only wish I had a leaning towards a team in specific.

Thomas will be pleased to know that I've got my daughters considering Germany; however, they seem to have their own favourites in Argentina (my youngest Shannon leans this way) and Brazil (Becky can still be trained I'm certain).

I think they're all attractive! :D

Cute green bug

Just wanted to share this picture of a really neat-looking bug that I saw at our trailer. Truthfully, I took the picture a couple weeks ago since I'm busier than a one-armed paper hanger and haven't been able to go up regularly.

Anyone recognize this little guy?