A Conversation with Taylor

No animals were hurt during the making of this film.  And don’t worry there aren’t really boogers in the meat.  I just set myself up didn’t I…

Outdoors

Some of the outdoor highlights:

We were building a patio and thought we would use a glass table. Camryn burst through the door and threw a croket ball into the air. Somehow it was just funny.

Here is the finished patio from the deck.

I had a nice surprise this spring when I went to stir in the winter’s collection of kitchen scraps in my compost bins. I mined out two big boxes of fresh compost from the bottom of the bins. It feels good, when I constantly feel like a taker, to finally give a bit back to this gift of a world we live in.

And here is one place where we put the compost to work.

Then the girls plucked some of the daisy heads off the precious flowers to beautify their pool. They call them dandilions instead of daisies.

And a day at the fair.

The Latest

I’m the latest. The latest to post anything. My apologies to the four of you. Umm… I’m gonna try and use this thing more like a what’s happening with us, instead of my deep thoughts about life. As you can tell, not much going on upstairs.

The Latest Con’t (in no order of importance)

1. Micah just turned 5. Wow! Kindergarden next year. Not sure if she is ready some days.

2. I will be teaching at a new school next year. I actually down-graded from permanent to term so I could teach under a great principal and to try some alternative assessment methods with High School students. I am excited.

3. We had to put Kia our Samoyed, down. I still have a hard time mentioning it. She was hit my a vehicle and…

4. We have a new puppy in our home. Her name is Lily and she is a cocker spaniel. The girls can handle her, she is cute, and we are really haveing a good time with her. Here are a couple.

5.  Anthony and Oliva, our old neighbours that moved to Kelona visited us last weekend.  It was so cool to see them again.  I learned that for most of my life I have been an “I’ll do something nice for you so that you will want to be nice back.”  I have officially been challenged to be more of an “I’ll be good to you so you may be good to someone else.”

6.  I have 11 school days left.  I can’t wait to go camping in our little trailor with the family.  Love it.

All for now.

Brian

You’ve Got to be kidding me…

I walked in the door and Char told me she was trying to drink tap water.  Why?  I can go to the grocery store and fill up my 18 liter jug for $1.59.  That is the best price in town, I checked.  She told me it takes 3 times the amount of water to make bottled water.  What?

I looked it up, and it appears she may be wrong.  Not only do you have to think about the actual water to water ratio, you have to think about the fuel it takes to run the osmosis whatever machines, fuel for delivery if you buy little bottles, garbage if you litter, and recycling programs if you recycle it.

Here is a blurb from treehugger.com about one brand of bottled water: In summary, the manufacture and transport of that one kilogram bottle of Fiji water consumed 26.88 kilograms of water (7.1 gallons) .849 Kilograms of fossil fuel (one litre or .26 gal) and emitted 562 grams of Greenhouse Gases (1.2 pounds).

Definitely something to think about.

Brian

Tragedy

Tragedy seems to be a rare thing in our country; in this part of the world. We may be accustomed to death from sickness or natural causes, but when someone is killed suddenly there is shock and disbelief that goes along with the pain and grief.

Tuesday afternoon a lady that I have known for four years; a lady I teach with; a wife; a mother of three, was killed by a train on her way home from badminton practice. Her 16 month old son was in the car with her, but was not hurt.

Today was the first day of school without our grade 7 teacher. Staff met at 7:30 to talk, cry, pray, and plan for the students. What a day. I just sat there with my 8’s and looked into their faces and had no idea what to say. Support staff popped in and out. There was lots of crying, cards, pictures, and shared memories. We took a walk to where the accident happened and laid flowers. We gathered together, staff and students, and prayed again. Over and over I heard people saying they couldn’t believe she was gone, wondering about the husband sleeping alone at nights, and the little boy who was her world.

I have thought about this whole situation many times since yesterday afternoon. I even woke up in the night to think about this. I wouldn’t wish this kind of feeling on anyone. I lay in bed last night and wondered who else in the world was feeling this violated. I realized that everyday my country is taking the lives of other humans in another corner of the world. That there were others experiencing this terrible kind of thing. I have never been more convinced that killing other humans is wrong and the opposite of God’s dream for this world.

I used to think that what happened in the middle east was part of the culture. It is just understood that they fight and die. I understood that the Bible said they would always live like that.

All I feel today is that there are families in the middle east feeling the same kind of sadness and grief and horror as my school is feeling. That has to be wrong. (One picture is our dear teacher’s vehicle and the other is a vehicle destroyed by a bomb.  Both tragedies claimed the lives of beautiful people.)

Spring Break

I thought I’d take a moment to share our spring break with you. We left after a day of teaching on Friday and drove through to Saturday, arriving in Kansas at the Great Wolf Lodge. We met my parents there.

This is the water park. Well a small portion of it. It was quite large and full of fun stuff to do. The girls had a lot of fun.

Back at Poppa Doug and Grandma Cheryl’s house, the girls enjoyed weather that finally allowed them outside.

We had a super time at the zoo, shopping (Well, as fun as shopping can be. I read.), watching movies, playing with Pudder (is that how you spell the cat’s name?), hiding in the closet from the sirens and tornadoes, eating at restaurants with actual Celiac menus, and some Easter egg hunting.

It was a short visit and the all-night driving was rough, but were glad to be able to be with my mom and dad for a while.

Brian

p.s. My dad has a switchblade in his closet that he got from a Mexican friend. He said I could have it when he died. Cool.

Life Lessons

Sometimes those life lessons really sink in.

A couple days ago, Camryn lost a tooth.  It was quite significant cause it has been so long since she has lost one.  She took the thing to church to show everyone.  Quite the fuss around the house here.

Last night I told Micah to go brush her teeth.  She remembered something Charla told her and trotted off to find Taylor.  I heard her say.  “Tay Tay, we gotta brush our teeth, cause Momma says they’ll fall out.”

“Ya, like Camryn’s tooth fell out,” Taylor added.

A Year in the Making

You know not much is going on when you don’t post for weeks, and then you come up with a winner like a kitchen picture. Renovations sort of come in spurts for me. Anyway, I’ve spurted with the floor and climbing through the stinkin’ itchy attic to install a light over our table. I only got shocked once, which is a yearly thing now too. The 110 only tickles a bit.

The hardest part was the weird angle for that cap joining the carpet to the laminate.  Ya, I know.  The walls need attention.  I hate mudding, sanding, dusting, sanding, mudding, sanding, dusting, …

The Internet, Lingo, Tips

Not sure if this applies to you or not, but if it doesn’t now,  it may later.

Here are some common abbreviations that are used in the world of chat and thier meanings.  The idea is to be aware if you see your child using them.  Go here and click on a letter of the alphabet for more.

aslo = age/sex/location/orientation

a3 = anywhere, anyplace, anytime

addy = address

afcpmgo = away from computer parents may go on

aml = all my love

bf/gf = boyfriend/girlfriend

cam/kam = webcam

mf2f = meet face to face

pos = parent over shoulder

pach = parents are coming home

pas = parents at side

paw = parents are watching

pen15 = penis

sxy = sexy

Some further tips:

1. talk about the Internet with your kids now
2. keep the computer in a central location that can be viewed by anyone
3. get software that blocks sites
4. you can copy, paste and print MSN conversations

There is obviously so much more to this.  Just wanted to get you thinking.

Brian

Shelter For Life

I wanted to share a bit about Shelter For Life; an international organization that is bent on providing basic needs to people that are devastated by war or natural disasters.  You can see videos, read all about their mission statements, see where they are working, view job openings, and more at their website above, but I wanted to share a couple reasons why I think this organization is especially worthwhile.  I’ll link each if you want the original source or to read more.

1. They seem to go to the places that are in critical need.
2. They don’t just flood money or build houses, wells, schools, infrastructure, etc…  They actually train the community how to do these things.
3. As a Christian organization, they respect the religion and culture of the people they are working with.  They give them dignity.
4. They employ local workers and purchase materials from the local community.  Read this and their other vision statements here.

If you are interested in a career change, here are some available jobs with Shelter For Life.   If you are interested in supporting the things they do, you can go here.  They are currently working with the chaos in Sudan.
Brian