Fire alarms, laptops & YM...

Let me preface this by telling you about my current group of students. They apparently love any event that we hold inside the church. They aren't keen on sporting events or going to the waterslides, but they'll come out in droves for a night of Mission Impossible.

So we booked the entire building. The plan was to have leaders with Nerf guns roaming the hallways. All the lights would be out and students were going to be everywhere. The plan was also to do a little skit to introduce the evening and explain the "mission" and the rules. So we decided to go for ambiance. So try to picture this...

Lights are out. Spotlight is on. Mission Impossible theme music is blasting. Fogger is going. Yup...you can see this one coming. Yeah, apparently too much fog sets of fire alarms. And I don't have a clue how to shut anything off or even who I should call. And the custodians are on their dinner break.

The next thing I know I can hear the fire truck. Then I see it. Then I have to explain myself. Then all our student and leaders have to wait in the parking lot for the firemen to clear the fog out of the building.

We started our game over an hour late. But we now have a memory that none of our student will forget. And I doubt I'll ever live this down once the rest of the staff hears about it. I wonder what kind of bill I'm going to get from the fire department?

Saving...

I heard they were releasing a phone but it never crossed my mind that I'd be interested in it. I own an iPod but don't really see the point of having songs on my phone. And while I've always been curious about Apple, I've never jumped on the bandwagon.

But I sat down the other night and was reading an article in TIME about the new iPhone and all I need to say now is that I want one. It's that simple. I will not attempt to explain it. Read the article yourself and tell me why this isn't the coolest thing since the invention of the salad-spinner.

But I'll have to start saving now because it won't be cheap. And I'll have to come up with a good excuse why this will have to be my phone. Sorry Erin!

5 things...

Ok, so I noticed this was going around on a few blogs that I was reading a while back. Apparently if you are "tagged" by someone who has posted it, you are also required to post on the given subject.

I will admit that I was not tagged. But I don't like feeling left out, so here goes. Here are 5 things you probably didn't know about me.

1. I once appeared on 2 episodes of "The Great Canadian Spelling Bee" which would have aired on CKND (the old version of Global) back in the late 80's. I was part of a 5-6 person team who competed on behalf of our school against other schools in the Manitoba area
2. I once cried at an episode of "Boy Meets World". To this day my wife will not let me live this down. But if you watch Topanga leaving without Cory so much as saying goodbye (season 4, I think) and you don't cry, you don't have a heart at all.
3. I played in a band after high school and we actually played a "gig" at a high school graduation after-party. Ok, so we didn't get paid and we were only the "opening act", but this still counts. I distinctly remember playing a song by Matchbox20 called "Push", a song by the Gin Blossoms called "Competition Smile" (where we changed the a phrase about being high to "being dry") and an original song called "Tell Me Why"(written about a failed relationship between a band member and his former grad date).
4. I have collected Star Wars memorabilia since the early 90's. I have 3 giant Rubbermaid tubs of various toys, calendars, pens, lego, masks, lightsabers, cards and magazines. Close to 90 of my figurines are in their original packages (but none are from the 1970-1980's).
5. I enjoy country music. This is something I picked up from some friends in high school. I've alwasy used country music when I need a break from everything else I've been listening to. There's something about being able to tell a story in a song that catches my attention.
   

I'm tagging the 4 people I know that read this on a regular basis. Erin, Bryce, Kelly & Jon. If you're someone else, don't feel left out. Consider yourself tagged!

Online...

We have been depending on dial-up for our interent access for almost 2 months. And after weeks of phone calls and waiting...and more phone calls...and more waiting...Telus got their act in gear and finally solved the problem. So, it was an exciting moment when we arrived home last night from District Retreat to find that little green "ready" light blinking on the DSL modem.

I really have a hard time remembering what it was like to have to rely on the phone line on a regular basis. These last couple of months have been torcherous at times.

Anyways, it kind of feels like I can get back to normal now. But where do I begin?

Snowfall warning...

I awoke to find white fluff covering the lawn. And you already know what that means...

1. People are parked on the hill up to our neighborhood because their car can't make it up.
2. Schools are canceled.
3. I'll be fielding phone calls all day that ask "Is there still youth tonight?"
4. I'll be fielding emails all day that ask "Is there still youth tonight?"
5. People forget how to drive.

Yeah, this seems to be the usual response around here when the frozen stuff falls from the heavens. After last time this is starting to seem normal though.

Someone please press "play"...

I think I hit the pause button in my head and now I can't get it started again. Everything seems to have frozen up. And this is not the best time for it. I have a message to finish preparing for tomorrow night, a parents meeting to prepare for on Thursday night and a youth leader meeting to prepare for on Sunday afternoon.

And then next week I'm off to District Retreat. So I have to have everything prepared for me to not be around. Ad like I said, this isn't the best time for my brain to drift into "stand-by mode".

Life by dial-up...

Yeah...still no broadband at our place. Apparently Telus is in nor hurry to hook it up either because we aren't getting broadband through them. But this is just getting ridiculous.

Anyways, here's a quick look at a few things that happened over my blogging hiatus...

I rescued 3 Clapton tickets from the bottom of a full garbage bag at 2am.

• I had one of those "sit straight up in bed and suddenly realize that you haven't seen the tickets for 3 days since you opened them and left them on the counter" moments. A mild panic attack, and 25 minutes later...and at the bottom of a bag of old spaghetti, other leftovers and miscellaneous crap...they were rescued.

Our youth worship team led in church this past Sunday.

• I can honestly say that this ranks up there with my experiences playing with "Acoustic Skyline". I've missed the days of leading worship on a Sunday morning. And this gave the youth ministry some much needed exposure.

Retreat/conference season is upon us.

• It's that time of the year that everyone who is anyone is trying to convince me to bring my students to their conference. YC Generation, Legacy, Rush, Dare2Share have all been on the radar and I think I've narrowed it down...almost.

Goals for the New Year.

• I have a large list. That way I am sure to accomplish something, right? Actually this one could be a post all it's own, but I wonder if there's any point in putting down on paper what I'll probably forget about in a week's time. Hey, but isn't it the thought that counts? Stay tuned...maybe.