Just so you know...

I'm not usually the one to break the latest news event, but there's always a first for eveything....

I actually took this photo last summer with the intent of passing it along but apparently I didn't take it seriously enough back then.

Well I stumbled upon it again and figured that I didn't want to hold precious information like this back from the rest of you.

So, consider yourself warned.

P.S. - visit the website listed on the sign!

House work...

Here's a few of the latest pictures from the house developments. The first picture was taken on June 9th while the second picture was taken this past Friday (June 16). I think they start framing this week.

World Cup's stupidest hair...

Look closely at the Swedish player, Christian Wilhelmsson (#21 in yellow). Forget the mullet, apparently the "rattail" is making a comeback.

Quick, who else wants to join me in jumping on the bandwagon?

One down, lots to go...

So I'm hard at work on my pile of books and since it's been a busy couple of weeks, I thought today would be a great day to try and catch up on some of my reading. I decided that "Simplicity" would be my first project.

I've actually been reading it for almost 2 months now and the book itself reads like an autobiography. Mark Salomon gives an honest and simple outlook on what his life is like and how being a Christian musician has affected his life. For those of you who don't know about Mark, he was the lead singer of a band called The Crucified and is now the lead singer of a band called Stavesacre.

Reading Mark's story gave me new insight into the world of "Christian fame" and to what sometimes goes on behind the scenes of a Christian artist. I honestly thought the book was going to be a rant against the entire Contemporary Christian Music industry, but instead I found myself reading someone's personal testimony.

Mark takes time to explain some of the dark and empty moments of his life, his struggles and his failures without going into nitty gritty details. But he also takes time to show what God has taught him through those experience and how they have shaped him into who he is now as a child of God.

I have never cared for his music. And to be honest with you, I don't know why I even bought the book. But I'm glad I did. And now I feel like I should go out and buy one of their CDs.

Play of the day...

Ok, so this actually happened yesterday...but I'm a little slow. It may not be a goal, but I think this sums up why I love this game so much.

Mexico keeper Oswaldo Sanchez had his father suddenly pass away last Wednesday and he flew back home for the funeral before making his way back to Germany to actually play in the game on Sunday against Iran. And while that alone is worthy of a mention, I was just as impressed by the spirit of the Iranians. While the teams shook hands before the game, one of the players presented Sanchez with a bouquet of flowers to show their respect.

That is another reason why this is the world's game and it is beautiful!

Now, if only I could find a picture of it...

Goal of the day...

Philipp Lahm
Putting Germany ahead 1-0 over Costa Rica
Final Score: Germany 4 Costa Rica 2

If I had a lawn...

And if I had any time, this would be a great idea...

The beautiful game...

The moment the world has been waiting for...

Oh, and if you need to get ahold of me during the next month, I'll be in front of my TV.
Let's play football!

It only gets better...

At least I hope it does...

It has come to my attention that my daughter was kind enough to share her cold with the rest of the family. First it was my wife that got hit with it, and now it's my turn. I woke up to a killer sore throat and runny nose.

To top his all off I decided to stop at Starbucks for a hot chocolate. I didn't have cash so I decided to use the debit card only to have it turned down three times (I'm not sure if it was my fault or the machines, but it doesn't really matter since I'm the one standing there like a dweeb). I don't know of a more humiliating feeling than standing at the front of a line that is getting longer by the second and knowing that I am the cause of that lineup.

Well, then the guy behind me makes the comment, "Well today's you're lucky day. I'll buy his drink." I thanked him in a very sheepish yet grateful kind of way and slunk off to get my drink. I met him at the door again and thanked him again, and he said "Your day can only get better, right?" And I was on my way.

I don't think I can show my face in that Starbucks again.

And I wonder if the day will actually get any better.

Progress is made...

Since the Oilers didn't make much progress, I'll post some of the latest pictures of the house. This first picture was taken last Friday afternoon. We took a slurpee run with the kids and decided we better see how things were coming along.














This next picture was taken yesterday afternoon. And as you can see, progress is being made.

New book day...

It's always great to get a package in the mail. It's even better when it's your most recent order from Amazon and you open it to discover that they actually got the entire order correct! But as I sit looking at the four most recent additions to my library, I wonder what I'm doing.

It seems that I have more books on my shelf that I haven't read than books that I have read. Apparently the idea of buying books and then forgetting (or neglecting) to read them goes hand in hand for me. I have a rather large stack of books that I have purchased since September that I still haven't cracked open. The grand total is 17, with 2 more that I've been trying to read for the last 2 months.

What's the deal with this? Where do I even start?

Moved too soon...

Ok, I'm not one to say that God made a mistake, but I'm beginning to wish that maybe we could have stayed in the Edmonton area for a few more months. My reason for that? Well, I believe it may have something to do with these guys...

Yeah, I know...I'm a Habs fan. But due to the fact that I previously lived in close proximity to Edmonton, I also became a closet Oilers fan. It's kind of the same thing that happens with the CFL. I'm a Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan at heart, but I've also got a soft spot for the Saskatchewan Roughriders due to the time I lived in Regina.

In other news...it's Monday and I'm moving pretty slow today. It might have something to do with the fact that I haven't had a full day off in 9 days. Sure, it may not be the longest streak ever, but I'm ready for a day off.

A work in progress...

Sure, it may not look like much now, but this mound of dirt (stone, rock, rubble...) will only continue to take shape over the weeks and months to come with a projected move-in date of November 30.

They officially broke ground and should be pouring the foundation sometime early next week. Which, if you ask me, is not nearly early enough...but I hear that patience is a virtue...

Over the next 5-6 months we'll find ourselves sporadically making our way up the mountain to see how things are coming along. And I'm sure I'll find a way to document our findings.

In other exciting news, I believe my wife has finally caught the "blogger-bug" as she has now officially asked me to set up a blog for her. I think the hardest part is going to be naming it. I'll make sure to post a link when we finally get it up and running.

Don't wait...

I can remember being introduced to Dashboard Confessional back in the summer of 2003 by one of my students on our Missions Trip to Tijuana, Mexico. I was hooked. I know, I know... I don't exactly fit the Emo mold. Ok, I don't fit it at all...but I like the tunes. I like the passion. And I'll be buying the new CD on June 27th.

I also found out last week about the Canadian tour this summer, but unfortunatley the schedule just isn't going to work out for me and my wife to ake it to a show. I'm in here when he's in Winnipeg, and I'm in Winnipeg when he's in Edmonton and Vancouver. Would have been fun though.

But you can hear a new song here. (ht brew)

Do parents care....

Ok, so the title is a bit misleading. I know they care. I'm just wrestling this morning with a parent meeting we held last night that had only 5 parents show up. A grand total of 4 families were represented. In total, their connection is to 6 of our 50+ youth.

A bit discouraging? Yup. But it was still worth it. One of the other reasons we held this meeting was not just to talk about the youth ministry, but so that parents could connect with one another. And the 5 that were there last night were able ot do that. In fact, if it was a bigger group it may have been more difficult for this group to connect and for me to learn what I did about their teens.

You can probably see why I'm wrestling with this.

In other news, I'm going to miss the Oilers game tonight because of the senior high group. I wonder if we can incoporate hockey-watching into our agenda for the evening?

Old stompin' grounds...

On Thursday at noon my wife and I board a plane to head back to the Edmonton area. We've been asked to attend a High School graduation ceremony and banquet. We're only around until Saturday morning which means that the time we are there will be packed with seeing other people, many of which we haven't seen for quite a while.

The group of High School students that walk across the stage on Thursday is the groups of students who were in grade 7 when we began our first ministry. So this is a really meaningful event for us and we count it a privilege that we were invited to attend. It's so cool to watch these "kids" take this next step of their lives into the "adult world".

Did I actually just use the word "cool"? I'm an idiot...

24 days later...

Thanks to Marko for the heads up about this site. Found this mock up and got a kick out of it.

Don't "kneed" it...

Sorry for the terrible play on words, but let me remind you that it is Monday morning. But this afternoon I have an appointment with a doctor about my knee. Let me recap the knee history.

February 2004 - tore left ACL in an indoor soccer game
June 2004 - had surgery to reconstruct ACL
September 2004 - allowed to resume running on a controlled surface
December 2004 - allowed to resume light training
February 2005 - begin training with indoor team & playing a few minutes each game
April 2005 - back to normal soccer...
May 2005 - tore same ACL 30 minutes into my first outdoor game of the season
June 2005 - had surgery to clean up the knee
May 2006 - meet new doctor in a new province and see what happens

Well that's the really short version, but it's enough to give a picture of what's been going on. It still amazes me that I've been "crippled" for that long. It hasn't been fun either. I can't run or even jog. I have to be careful when I mountain bike...or more accurately, I have to be careful how fall off my mountain bike. Simple things like playing games with my middle school students has become a potential painful experience. Even stairs have become hazardous to my daily life.

I'll be honest...I don't want to do another surgery. It's painful, uncomfortable and just a huge inconvenience. The recovery and rehabilitation is a long process. I'm just not looking forward to that part of it. But unless I want to live like this forever, I kind of need to get in done.

On Friday I saw some guys kicking a ball around on a field and it just reminded me of how much I miss the game I love. What I wouldn't give to be able to kick a ball around again. To be able to put the ball in the back of the net...

I guess it will be worth it in the long run. I just wish there was an easier, less painful way. I know...I'm such a coward sometimes.

Home at last...

Three trips later (which amounts to 80 minutes per trip of driving and then the loading/unloading time) we are officially residents of Abby (that's the official lingo that the locals use!). Whew...and now I'm tired but trying to prepare for our high school group tonight. We're talking about the Fruit of the Spirit and this week we're focusing in on peace. It seems to have come at a good time.

And let me say that I loved the 10 minute drive to work this morning! Anything beats the 35-40 minutes I've bee driving since February. And for the first time I can actually go home for lunch and supper. It's a good life...

Now if only my Habs could have won. Sometimes the bounces (or defelctions) just don't go your way. I really believed that we had a chance to make an honest run for it..and then Koivu went out. One player shouldn't make or break a team, but Saku was the glue that made that top line produce. Without him we were in trouble.

But let's not fault Huet. He's got what it takes for next year. We just need to add a few more quality players (who can produce) in the off season. We'll see in the fall.

I guess I'll be jumping on the Oilers bandwagon.

Moving again...

Well, it's time to move again. Today we officially got the keys and did the final inspection and tomorrow. My wife is currently hard at work scrubbing the place down before moving day tomorrow. We pick up the truck at 8 am and then it's time to work.

This isn't as difficult as last time because most of our stuff is still in boxes. And while I'll be moving most of the little stuff by myself during the day, we've got a group of guys from the church that offered to come help out once they were finished work/school. And we had another woman come help with the cleaning today.

Today will officially be my last day of commuting to work! Woohoo!