June 7, 2011 · 12:11 pm

My family

Today is just one of those days when my own kids give me lots to pray about. 

Oldest son is presently in surgery for an unhealed broken collar bone.  Praying it goes well and that he heals from this well and quickly.

One grandson has a rash of unknown origin – the internet is wonderful for grandpa’s on-line diagnosis.

One daughter just struggling with the challenges of life as a single mom with too little money.

Me struggling with loving them all very much and wanting things to turn out well for them all and knowing I am quite powerless to make it all better.  Was easier when they just scraped knees.

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June 6, 2011 · 8:06 pm

What a gorgeous day

It has been warm with sunshine – a perfect day to work in my garden.  I spent part of my day acquiring some new plants and some good soil to plant them in and another good part of the day planting and fixing up in the yard.  As you can see from the photo, dogs are hard on grass and I will have to do some reseeding.

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But I love our yard.  If it weren’t for the mosquitoes I’d be out there now reading or maybe snoozing in the hammock. 

I got a few new pond plants this year.  My fish seem to have eaten almost all of the pond lettuce already.  But the other plants are fine and maybe the lettuce will recover.  I was in the pond this afternoon arranging rocks and plants and was surprised that the water wasn’t colder.  Summer is almost here I think.

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June 2, 2011 · 5:12 am

The Big Event

We spent yesterday celebrating with Sara.  She received her BSc in Kinesiology from the U of S and this wraps up four years of good hard work for her.  It was a good day.  Lots of pomp and circumstance

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and what seemed like endless hand clapping as 500 to 600 of the 3000 other graduates also received their degrees that morning too.  It was the 100th graduation from the university so there were new and distinctive gowns and hats for the PhD’s that also received their degrees yesterday.  You might just be able to see the gown worn by the person just to your left past the left podium.  I guess I missed getting a close up – there were so many people packed into the lobby after the ceremony that it was hard to move, let alone get a photo!  We stepped outside to take a couple of shots of Sara and Jory(her boyfriend) by the decorative banners.

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May 18, 2011 · 8:04 pm

Tiny cracks in the wall

Another Kids Klub,another 25 or so kids played with, fed and watered.  Another exhausting evening.  Good, you know, but entirely exhausting.  I think my age is showing maybe. 

Two moms showed up tonight to come and get their  kids.  We don’t have a lot of contact with the parents so it is special when a mom shows up, comes in and joins us for enough time to get a bit acquainted.  Names were exchanged.  They commented how much their kids like to come. 

One tiny crack in the wall between the church and the community around us.

When these little cracks show up the exhaustion becomes worth it.  The act of storytelling takes on a new value – even if the telling is done at the top of my lungs while another couple of adults assist me in managing the herd. 

The story tonight was the transformation that took place in Peter – from a betrayer to a man Jesus left in charge. I wonder – is transformation underway in these kids?  I may never see it – but then again, there are occasionally tiny glimpses of God at work that even I can see.  For one, I’m starting to love these kids!

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May 15, 2011 · 10:34 pm

New camera

This weekend while I was in Saskatoon I picked up a nice little digital camera – purse sized.  My last one met with an untimely end.  The LCD screen seemed to have received a fatal blow.  It is hard to take pictures when you can’t see what you are shooting. 

The one I chose was a Pentax Optio RZ10.  I didn’t do a lot of research but I like what it can do and the feel of it in my hand.  Besides the button are placed well and the price was extremely right.  I was on sale.  Hard to resist.

So today I took it out for some trying out.  It was a gorgeous day, a bit windy, but all in all perfect for pictures and for walking in the outdoors.  Seems to take nice pictures.

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The zoom on it is not bad for a little camera either.

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I think I am going to have fun with this.

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May 3, 2011 · 6:22 pm

Sick

It has been one week, well two if you count the Tuesday before when I was feeling shivery and my head was beginning to build up pressure.  But since last Wednesday, I have really had it bad.  I’ve had a fever every day, a nose producing enormous amounts of mucous, aching all over, etc.  You probably know only too well just what I mean. 

But I wake up each morning with hope.  The medications give me a false sense that maybe today I will be able to breathe.  And then it hits me again – those telltale shaky chills and I crawl back into bed. 

I did make it to work last Thursday and Friday and survived.  Hope I didn’t breathe any germs onto any of you.  My mask was securely in place and I washed or disinfected my hands thoroughly. 

I did make it down to Saskatoon for Sara’s grad banquet – couldn’t miss that.  She has completed four years of Kinesiology and now is qualified to …go back and take more classes to see if she can boost her marks up high enough to apply for physiotherapy again – or occupational.  She is worried about her killer class in Physiology which she does not have the marks for yet.  But anyway, she is off to Mexico with three of her girlfriends to holiday.

I did not make it to church Sunday, spent much of Monday in bed, have been up and down all day today.  I am sick of being sick!  I will miss tonight’s meeting at church and if all goes well will get out of the house to the school where I should be working tomorrow.  Everyday there is a miniscule amount of improvement. 

I seem to have hope for a return to normalcy sometime in the future.  Maybe tomorrow.  I suppose this cold is not fatal.

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April 23, 2011 · 7:08 am

A lot can happen in a week or so…

Spring has come.  It comes so fast. Each year I plan on getting out into the country to pick pussy willows and see the crocuses come up.  And for the past few years I have missed all of that.  It happens and then is gone. This year I am going. Today should be quiet enough for me to maybe pack up some of the grandkids and go pussy willow hunting. 

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The fuzzy little creatures are already appearing in the trees next to my office.  The sun is shining and the weather should be perfect.

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April 15, 2011 · 12:46 pm

Snow

It seems to be back.

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April 14, 2011 · 11:26 am

To Treasure

Today is an office day – that is dental office. I began the morning by seeing some patients I’ve known for quite awhile and one woman brought her little daughter in with her. The girl is about 6 maybe. Not sure why she wasn’t in school and I didn’t ask. I didn’t get the sense that she was simply skipping so is likely in Kindergarten.

The little girl piled up a stack of books to look at while she sat in the corner of the room. Then I began my work on mom. Just a couple of routine fillings but the teeth needed to be numbed. It is sometimes hard to predict how kids are going to react when a parent is having treatment. Some freak out. This little girl wanted right in there. From the time we began the injection to the end of the filling she was as close as we could let her get. The books remained unopened in the corner. My assistant let her push the button on the curing light for the fillings. She loved it. Then she wanted to hold the suction and air/water syringe – which we had to say no to. She said, “You have to teach me all the things you do and then I can help and I will be real busy.” Indeed! I think we have a budding dentist here. Her last task was to push the button to make the chair go back up.

Well, actually, the very last task she took on was to choose a sticker and a ring for her mom from our treasure box. She left us smiling. This part of my day I will treasure.

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April 10, 2011 · 9:16 pm

Jet Lag

This afternoon I returned from our church AGM in Sarnia, ON.  It was a great conference but way too far to go for two days.  I thought my nap this afternoon would let me catch up on sleep but it seems as if my body is telling me that it is late at night and I should be in bed. 

So, since I just sent off my Old Testament paper for the week, that is exactly where I am heading.  Jet lag – in Canada.

Good night. all.

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