Round 2.

vs. All I have to say is "Go, Habs, Go!" Habs in 6.

vs. I'm really hoping for a Montreal/Pittsburg Eastern Final. That said, I don't think it will be as easy as some had hoped. This one's going to 7.

vs. As much as it pains me to say it, we're looking at Detroit, folks, but I have to give the Avalanche credit after that last run. They're going to put up a fight. Detroit in 6.

vs. This one is just a no win situation for me. As an Edmonton fan, I still harbor resentment towards the Stars. I probably always will. It's tough to even think of them going any further but they rallied hard in that last series. The Sharks, however, only made it into round 2 by the skin of their teeth...which, in case you're wondering, isn't much. I'm going to go on a limb, banking on them playing even a little bit like they did in Game 7 and say Sharks in 6.

So there you have it. I don't see any of these series being quick and painless. It's the playoffs after all.

I did fairly well with my picks for last round so I thought that this time I should go ahead and post my predictions here instead of someone else's blog! Here we go....

So just in case you were wondering, no, apparently Stone Temple Pilots did not reunite in order to make their appearance in Calgary this summer when they roll into town for the Virgin music festival. This, however, is a much more plausible explanation.

A few things that make me happy...

So rather than complaining about the weather - 'cause it makes me angry - I've been trying to distract myself with things that make me happy. Here's a few that made the list, in no particular order:

• Carey Price and the Habs last night, 5-0 over Boston. Yup, that was nice. And I'm not even a Habs fan!
  
• Instructing swimming lessons. It doesn't even feel like work and yet they pay me for it! I hope the novelty doesn't wear off.
  
• Food! I've never been overly motivated by food, although I enjoy what I do eat. I eat because I know I need to but rarely do I crave...until now. Oh man, am I hungry!!
• Chocolate. This gets it's own category because it just works that good! My favorite right now is Truffle Pig Truffles by Hagensborg Chocolates. They're my newest find. So good...and they're made in Vancouver! Canadian goodness.
• Birds. I heard them singing this morning in spite of the weather. Spring IS coming...really.
• Smurfs are finally on DVD. I've been waiting forever but they're here. I bought season 1. I know, I know. I just solidly labeled myself a child of the 80's!

I know there's more!

What's making you happy lately?

Just in case you were wondering

The annual book sale of the Calgary Herald /Servants Anonymous is slated for June 6-8 & 13-15, 2008. I think they start accepting book donations from May 9-29.

It's official: I'm a geek.

I'm excited.

Current Read

Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry

Why's it winter again...why, oh, why?

And this, my friends, is spring in Calgary. Also the reason that my ice scraper has not been taken out of the car for its summer hibernation (see the 10th reason that we know it's spring).

I have to admit that I am ready for this to be over. In fact, last night, Heather and I decided this isn't just "I'm grumpy that it's snowing again" weather but downright "I'm ANGRY that it's snowing weather." I don't want anymore...I want sun and beaches and green grass and birds singing and sweat...yes, even sweat.

Just to show how extreme the weather changes have been, this chair is the chair I was sitting in last weekend when in what +20! Now look at it!




These two show you the view from my bedroom window. This is what I woke up to! Arg.

The only redemption to be found in the whole thing is that we know it will all be gone again in a couple of days. After all, this is Calgary! And that is why I enjoy living here! Because even when we have a day (or two) like this, we know that change is coming and the sun will shine!

Current Read

Animal Farm, George Orwell

Told you so...

Was there ever any doubt that this was the way it would end?

For the rest of my predictions, see my comments on John's blog.

Stuff Christians Like

Not only is this one of a multiple of posts for today, it's also the second one featuring something from or inspired by my friend Chris. He's going to love this.

This time it's a blog that he sent me - Stuff Christians Like.

It's sarcastic.

It's cynical.

It's frighteningly true.

I love it.

Check it out!

I'm pretty blessed to have several really cool little people around me and just so there's no confusion, I mean children, not the vertically challenged. Anyway, several of my friends have kids and I have the privilege of loving them to pieces.

I was thinking about something the other day when I was hanging out with the newest addition, little Ewan Maclennan.

It's amazing how much I can love someone who has done nothing but show up.

He can't do anything, let along anything for me. He can't carry on a conversation. He can't play games or drive or do the laundry or, well, do much other than just "be." In fact, at this stage, he needs from the grown ups around him just so that he can "be."

And yet we all love him like crazy.

And that thought process got me thinking. Isn't that a lot like how God loves us. We're certainly not at the level of equals with him in the sense of ability or knowledge. Our emotional intelligence and our IQ are lacking in comparison. We're needy and reliant on Him for the things we need to make it through our day to day. Give us this day, our daily bread, we cry, if we cry at all.

And yet He loves me!

More than I could ask, imagine or expect.

More than I could ever love the precious children around me.

And so I wonder if that's part of what the Scriptures mean when they tell us to come to Him like a little child...in awareness of that. Just a thought.

Hooked

It's true. I admit it. I'm hooked on Battlestar Galactica. I'm working on Season One right now but have 2 and 2.5 (yes, there's a 2.5) waiting for me. I'm loving it. The story, depth of character, action, drama. Yes, I'm loving it all!

Who knew I was such a geek?!

Don't answer that.

Spring is here...part 2.

So Chris added two more reasons indicators of spring to my last post via comments and inspired me to continue my list. Chris is the mind behind number 8 and 9. The rest are mine.

8. Tulips busting through.
9. The robins are serenading Calgary...and they've brought their friends!
10. You consider taking the snow brush/scraper out of your car but decide against it because you know you might still need it. That's spring in Calgary, my friends.
11. NHL playoffs begin.
12. Windshield washer fluid seems to evaporate you're using it so fast.
13. People start pulling boats around. I'm not sure where they're going with them but the "itch" that inspires them definitely assumes spring - and then summer - is right around the corner.
14. Kids on bikes.
15. Bigger kids on motorbikes.
16. Buds on the trees. The one outside my house has all these beautiful little green buds on the branches. I love it! That definitely makes the list.
17. Color enters people's wardrobes and adorns mall mannequins. No more solid blacks and greys.
18. Restaurants and pubs begin to open their patios...just not fast enough for me!
19. The aroma of BBQ'd dinner begins to linger in the air.
20. Gas prices go up, assuming people are driving more. Or perhaps that's just a sign of the times. Geesh!

Anyone have any others to add?

Spring is here!!

How do I know? Well, let's see. Here's just a few of the things that are gearing me up for the season:

1. The smell. It just smells like spring. There's no explaining it. It just is. You know it when you step outside and go "ah, it smells like spring."
2. Taxes are due. If you weren't on the ball to do them as soon as you got your T-4, you're scrambling to do them now. Tis the season.
3. Flip flops. Need I say more?!
4. BBQ. I don't even care what you put on it. Just the fact that you're using it means that we're turning the corner.
5. Stepping outside and NOT needing to brace yourself for the cold.
6. Even a teeny tiny bit of light as we all dash off to work at the inhumane hour of anything before 8am.
7. Light on the ride home from work.

Current Read

The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls

Oh the Irony

Let's just talk about irony for a second. On Tuesday, much to my disappointment, Calgary beat Edmonton to keep them out of the playoffs. Today, Edmonton beat Vancouver to keep Calgary in.

Sometimes life just doesn't seem quite fair.

Catching Up

I know it's been a while since I've done a real post. For any of you who might have been coming here hoping for an actual update on my life, I'm sorry you've been so continually disappointed. See, someone rather animated once shared some advice their momma gave them: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" and so for a while, I've felt like I just haven't had anything to share. Probably not true, but hey, it's my blog.

By way of explanation and update, let me share something I've been pondering for a while. Last week at music practice for Journey, Malcolm shared Psalm 42 with us. He said, in discussion after reading the Psalm, that it seems like the Psalmist goes back and forth seemingly by the minute. Praising God one minute and living in despair, wondering where God is the next. But then he clarified, wondering if maybe it's not so much back and forth but more a matter of both-and. Both so intertwined that its really living both at the same time.

I felt like he was speaking my language and finally giving me words to describe the crazy roller coaster I feel like I've been riding...and I don't even like roller coasters!! After digesting the Psalm and Malcolm's comments, I feel like I have freedom to walk this journey with both praise and petition, peace and frustration, even though, in so many ways it feels so paradoxical. I feel whole, at peace and content with who I am, more so, I think, than I have in a long, long time. I feel like there's more hope and anticipation in my life than there has been in a long, long time. I feel much more excited about what's to come...and about what is. And, as much as I've talked about being on a roller coaster, I feel much more stable. A while ago, I likened it to feeling like a tree that's roots are digging deep. The wind can blow but I feel a lot more unshakeable. At the same time, however, I feel lonely, exhausted and uncertain of my future. Anticipation mingles with fear and thankfulness with worry. I can say it is well even though there are circumstanes in my day to day that I would really like to see be different...or maybe just see different.

Last night, Malcolm continued to spur on my pondering. He asked us what our greatest joy and our greatest challenge was right now in life. How would you answer that? For me, it was a quick answer. While I think he intended it to be two separate questions, for me the answer to both is the same. Transition. This part of the journey has been both painful and exilarating. I have learned so much in the last couple months, things I couldn't have learned without the vast amounts of change I've gone through - both internal and external. I have found a sense of wholeness and healing. I've seen, and continue to see, God in his faithfulness acting in my life. I've been forced to give up control, to surrender, and have found joy in that. I am not the same as I was and that is cause for joy. Transition, however, is also my greatest challenge. It's hard. It's painful. It's stretching. Sometimes I just want a bit of stability in my life. Again, joy and challenge all mixed up in one little package...me!

And here's the catch to it all: it's about perspective! Choosing to live in the joy or in the challenge...or in both.

Still not really an update, is it!?

Here's the scoop. I'm still temping for Bowen workforce solutions. They've got me all over down town. Ironicially enough, I'm currently working at an executive recruitment agency which I described to my small group as "not terrible." That's a positive thing. Really! That said, I've been thankful for work, thankful for flexibility and thankful for the opportunities to meet new people I've had through it. I'll be thankful when it's done too. I was hired last week by the city of Calgary to teach swimming lessons and have my first hours on Tuesday afternoon. I'm pretty excited about that! I did some volunteering in January/February and really enjoyed it, not to mention that the exercise did my body good! I'm praying that it won't take too long to get a descent amount of hours, enough to live off of, so that I can give up the temping gig for good and hoping it won't be long before I can also get some lifeguarding hours. So that's work.

I'm loving not recruiting, I'll be honest. When all of my friends still in recruitment were getting ready to travel, I was realizing just how exciting it is for me to not have to go anywhere unless I want to! I REALLY miss the students though. I miss sharing in people's lives the way I did with them. I miss watching them learn and grow in "knowledge and in stature with the Lord and men" and miss being a part of that process. I've been thinking a lot lately about how that can and should be more a part of my life now. I suppose, with all of that said, one could say that it's the ability to be here that I'm enjoying, not really the not being "there."

So what is it about "here" that I'm loving so much?

I love being able to be in church consistently! I love Journey! I do, I do. I love being a part of the community and the ministry of Journey. Being a part of the music ministry has been an incredible blessing - the act of serving together in a way I love and having the opportunity to find a place I feel like I belong. I don't feel quite as lonely when I'm there! My small group is pretty special. I wish everyone had a church family like mine!

I'm still dancing as many times a week as possible. Salsa, fox trot, waltz, hustle, tango and balero are just a few I've been working on since Christmas. I wish I would have started sooner in life!!

I've been able to spend some time fostering some very special and unique friendships in a number of different circles. I love what God is doing in that area...and pray that he is using me in their lives as much as he's using them in mine!

As you may have noticed by previous posts, I'm reading up a storm! I can't seem to find enough time to read although I could read for hours on end every day if I didn't have other things to do! I'm thriving off the learning, though, even if it's young fiction writing. It's all got me thinking a lot more about going to school. Something else to figure out; what I'd want to take, where I'd want to go, how I'd afford it...

I'm still playing with my camera and capturing moments in ways that I'm pretty proud of. Weddings, prenatal pics, baby pics, portraits and special events all over the place. I've been thinking that it's probably time to start actually building a portfolio but have no idea how to start. Any ideas?!

So that's likely enough by way of update for now. I'll try to keep y'all posted as there's things to post about!

Current Read

Here, There Be Dragons, James Owen