Gettin’ stoked…

Today is my last official day of work before my holidays. I am so excited. We are going to visit my sister in Delisle, Saskatchewan. Don’t ask me where it is… it is near Saskatoon. I am not even sure where that is.. It is out in the prairies somewhere

The point is that we are leaving and not coming back for 2 weeks. This is a huge event for my family. I have not taken many holidays this year. I have taken the odd afternoon off to golf or ride my bike, and the odd day here and there to daytrip with the family but this is my only true “vacation” for the year. I am so looking forward to it.

I have a little bit of work to take. Not too too much. I have been working my butt off to try to not take a great deal. I have to admit that I am a little nervous about what will await me when I come home. I have not taken 2 weeks away from the business consecutively ever… Yikes. But, I am sure it will be fine. I have a great bunch of clients that have for the most part, all encouraged me to have a great time with my family and have let me know that they can hold things for me until I get back.

So, it is 2 weeks of family time with my sister, my other sister, my parents, my aunt and my family. Should be an absolute blast. It has been 3 and a half years since I have seen my sister I think. Definitely time to remedy that.

So, it should be great.
That being said, I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying for our friends the Osmonds in Belleville. Just last week, their 5 year old daughter Delaney was diagnosed with Leukemia… brutal.
And their roller coaster ride in the last week has been unbelievable. Delaney in now back in Kingston and undergoing Chemo treatments. I just wish I could reach out and give them all a big big hug right now. I know that there are lots of people who are.

So, this Christmas I will be stoked about family time. I will also be thinking about my friends as they go through a very difficult time. I have a hard time imagining my sons in hospital going through chemo treatment. I will be praying for them a lot.
If you think of them, pray for them. For Delaney that she will be able to handle the chemo okay and it will allow her body to heal quickly. For Davin, her little brother, to be able to handle the stresses of not having mom and dad around as much for a bit. For Steve, the father, who as most fathers is trying to be the man of the house and be stalwart at time, for strength and reliance on God. And for Lisa, the mother, who I can only imagine is beside herself with concern for her daughter.

Thanks

good Sunday

Fantastic day today.
The boys and I were at home yesterday morning. We got a pile of the boys’ school projects done and some cleanup around the house as well. It was great to have a “down” morning with them.

Nan’s speaking engagement in Kitchener was yesterday and she did wonderfully. I thought she would but she was nervous. It was nice for her to have two great friends there with her. And it sounds like all 3 of them were able to encourage some of the ladies that were there. Right on.

From there, Nan came home, pick the boys and I up and we were off like a shot to St. Thomas to hang with Eric and Lins for a few hours. Good times. I cannot tell you how much we love spending time with them.

Dad and Sharon stayed over with us last night as they were the guest speakers at church today. It was great to hear a little more about Sharon as she shared her testimony and how she came to be a missionary. It was really cool.

After service this morning, we had a big family family gathering at Uncle John and Aunt Doris’ for lunch. Aunt Doris is an amazing hostess and we always have such a great time with their family.
The Thompsons were there, the St. Pierres, Jill and Chris, Grandpa and Eleanor, the Brittons, and Dad and Sharon. It was a house full and a very good time.

After a bit of lunch and chatting, we came home, the boys and I watched Transformers, Nan, Dad and Sharon rested for a bit, then we were up for grilled cheese for dinner and off to service in the evening.

Once we were home, I did a bit of catch up at my desk and now ready to settle in for the night.

All in all, a busy but great weekend.

A really really good Saturday

Today we went for a family visit to Cambridge.
The Crows have been family friends since Nan and I were married. We have been having an absolute blast with them from day one.

We took off this morning around 8:30 so we could get to Cambridge in decent time. Bruce and Lorraine have 3 great little guys that Will and Jacks get along with marvelously. The had a great time playing, Nan and Lorraine have a good time talking and Bruce and I do as well. We generally talk shop, computers, or motorcycles. Bruce is into pretty much the same kind of stuff I am.

Today I was able to help him with a project that was under his skin and we were able to save him a bunch of time in repetitive tasks. Now he will be able to focus on some management of data and the outcomes thereof….

We had a wonderful lunch with them, sat and chatted and then it was time for us to leave.

From the Crows, we took a quick buzz over to Phil and Heather’s to see Heather and Baby Clara. Man, she is such a little peach! What a darling. A head full of red hair and smiles and joy. It was great to see Heather has come back so quickly after labour. She looked great.

From there, we made the dash home, stopping at the grocery store to get some supplies and dinner, ate, the boys and I sat on the couch with laptops and played around, Nan did some piano homework and then the boys were off to bed. I am going to help Nan fold laundry now and then we will just chill out for the rest of the evening.

What a great day.

Rollout Part Deux

I did not end up rolling out my big project as most of the staff were not even in their office today.
That is okay. I had time to tweak some more things on the system and we will be even more ready for Monday. Specifically, I was able to get a good securities model in place into the system so we can have some control over users and their access. That is a great thing.

After we rollout this database on Monday, I will need to focus on their website and get their payment portal into the works. The SSL Certificate is now installed and we just need to wait for the developers in British Columbia to install the Moneris Payment portal part of the puzzle. After that, Moneris can verify that our website is secure and ready for payments… Yeeha!

I think it will be a nice weekend. I have a couple of hours worth or work that I can do if I desire, but I am not sure how much I will do. We are heading to Kitchener tomorrow to visit with friends for the morning and into the afternoon and then visiting Clara and Aunt Heather for a bit too.

Sunday is a potluck after church and then hopefully some downtime before we ramp up for next week again.

Have a good weekend.

And the winner is….

Tonight was the AWANA Grand Prix. An evening where the AWANA participants get to race slot cars and see who is the fastest and the who has the best design.

Will and Jacks both decided to do cars this year. Jackson decided to bow out a week or so ago citing that he was not interested. (too much sanding to be done I think…)

William and his best friend Justin decided to make a slot car shaped like a rocket.
William and I and my dad shaped the body of the car and Will did a good amount of sanding.
He then handed it off to Justin for painting and bling.
To our wonderful surprise, they won 1st place in the design category!

I made sure that I congratulated Justin’s dad John for his hard work too

Another busy weekend.

Man, they really seem busy these days.
Tonight is the church Christmas banquet.
Tomorrow morning, we drop the puppy off at John and Christine’s and then head to Cambridge.
Once there, Bruce and I take off for Toronto to the Toronto International Motorcycle Show.
Nan, Will, Jacks, Lorraine, Aiden, Ethan and Austin are all going to Rocky Ridge Ranch for their Christmas open house. Wow, I feel kind of sorry for Nan and Lorraine handling all 5 of them at once.

Maybe I should be sending the Ranch a thank-you card as well….
Back to London Saturday night.
Teach Sunday school Sunday morning. Well, really we will be spending time working on our skit for the Christmas concert.
Then the worship service. Nan is playing piano, I am running the overhead.
Practice the skit with the teens on the platform after service.
Then home.
Lunch then get ready to go to Nan’s Christmas piano recital.
After the recital, our friends Paul and Jackie and their 4 kids might show up for a little visit.

busy busy busy. But very fun! I am looking forward to it.

I think Sunday night I am going to be ready for bed early though……

Free Saturday.

I cannot believe it!
We actually have a “free” day today!

I did not think that we had a free day until March 15 of next year…
Actually, Nan had it planned that we were going to do the Christmas decorations today on her birthday.

Side note: This program is brought to you by the most wonderful girl in the world… My wife Nan!
I love you babe. You are the best! Have a wonderful birthday. Make sure you do something for you today.

Now, back to our regular scheduled program.
Nan and the boys got really excited about doing decorations and the tree a couple of weeks ago and went for it.
Now, we have nothing organized that we have to do today. Yippeee!

Our friend Bruce Crow and his family were telling us about a store here in London called RELIKS. It is a sword and knife store that specializes in medieval stuff. We told the boys that we would take them there today. They are so pumped! We need to pick up a couple of things while we are out as well.
We also thought that we might go to Dr. Doo’s pet store and look for a coat of some description for the dog. I cannot believe that I actually just typed that. I mean, I grew up on the farm where all of our dogs stayed outside until our final dog Penny arrived. Here I am, Mr. Suburbia with a mutant rat that is called a puppy that my farm dogs would have eaten like a two-bite brownie talking about going and getting the puppy a sweater coat because she gets cold outside. I am a sucker. Our whole family is. Let’s not kid ourselves. This puppy has been loads of fun so far. A few mistakes, but loads of fun nonetheless.

Tonight, we are taking Nan out for dinner. It should lots of fun. The Koehlers and the St. Pierres are going out with us and we should have lots and lots of fun.

Have a great December 1st everyone.
I think that I am beginning to like December more and more now. Christmas has become more and more special to me since I now have children and I am getting older and older. The value of Christmas is no longer in gifts (I still love gifts, don’t get that confused please…) but in spending time together with family and friends that mean so much to us.

the sound of my voice

Why is it that some people’s voices can make you do things?

Remember when you were a kid and your mother or father said.. “Donny, come in here.” in a stern yet commanding voice and you wasted no time in getting your butt in there? Oh yeah, that was me.

Or remember Mr. MaLean our 10th grade history teacher who simply said at the beginning of class… “Work.” and we all did?

Why is it the sound of someone’s voice makes us do things?

For young kids it is different. I mean, look at Santa… Little kids see him and they get all wigged out!
Or grandparents. Grandparents wig little kids out in a good way.

So this same phenomenon is happening in our household right now.
It is happening to Taffy who is 3 and a half months old.

Every time someone who will remain nameless but starts with John and ends with Koehler comes over, our dog pees on instinct.
Last week we were cutting Taffy’s hair, John comes over to pick up Justin from a play date. Taffy is so excited to see him, she pees right where she is.
Last night, the Koehler kid’s come over for piano lessons, Taffy sees John, pees on the floor.
Man, you would think that she has a crush on him or something. It is truly bizarre.
I am gonna have to have the guy call me before he comes over so I can take the puppy outside and she can pee all see wants.
Or John is gonna have to change his voice. One or the other.

I think it is really cute actually. The dog gets completely spazzy for John, can’t lick him enough, can’t stop her tail (which in effect shakes her whole body). Taffy does the same for John’s wife Christine, but not in the same intensity.
It’s like a Pavlovian bell.
Weird.

Link from a link from a link.

As with most blogs, links are the norm.
I read Topher’s blog.
He in turns reads Coffee Klatch.
As I was perusing said site this morning, I came across this listing of quotes.
They come from a time when words were wittier without being vulgar.

I like it. I need to grow my vocabulary more.

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”
- Winston Churchill

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”
- Clarence Darrow

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”
- William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

“I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.”
- Groucho Marx

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”
- Mark Twain

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.”
- Oscar Wilde

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend. If you have one.”
- George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill.
followed by
Churchill’s response: “Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second, if there is one.”
- Winston Churchill

“I feel so miserable without you; it’s almost like having you here.”
- Stephen Bishop

“He is a self-made man and worships his creator.”
- John Bright

“I’ve just learned about his illness. Let’s hope it’s nothing trivial.”
- Irvin S. Cobb

“He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.”
- Samuel Johnson

“He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.”
- Paul Keating

“He had delusions of adequacy.”
- Walter Kerr

“Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?”
- Mark Twain

“His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.”
- Mae West

“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”
- Oscar Wilde

Lady Astor once remarked to Winston Churchill at a dinner party, “Winston, if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee!” Winston replied, “Madam, if I were your husband I would drink it!”

Lady Astor also once remarked to Winston Churchill at a dinner party, “Sir Winston, you’re drunk!” To which, Winston replied, “Yes, Madam, I am. And you’re ugly! But in the morning, I will be sober. And you will still be ugly!”

The language in our culture and society today has nothing on the days of old.
You may disagree, but I am a romantic and will not be swayed in my thinking or opinion so ppppphhhhhhhhhh!

edit: I will not vouch for the absolute infalibility of any site I link to here. I cannot control anyone’s mouth if they say bad things. Please don’t blame me.

Good Cup of Coffee

Man, I am a blogging machine today!

I was just thinking about coffee. I really like it.
Our friends, Blair and Jude Henry are going to be working in Africa next year for a few months and are starting to do some fundraising for their time over there.

They have an aquaintance whose parents run a coffee plantation in Africa. Blair and Jude are selling coffee for them to do some fundraising. We received a pound of coffee from them recently and we have been enjoying it.

If you would like to buy some, let me know and I will hook you up.
Tasty stuff.