An early Christmas present...

Thank you Jon Coutts for your incessant raving about CBC Radio 3. I finally succumbed and did some listening and iTunes subscribing, and while I'm also now convinced that almost anyone can get played on Canadian radio, there are some hidden gems that are taking over my iTunes playlist.

My personal favorite right now: Luke Doucet

Great guitar playing. Great storytelling. Great driving music. Great background music. Just great.

Day #7 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

I'm glad Facebook didn't exist in college.

Day #6 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

I'd recommend not having a Gross Games Night as one of your final events before leaving your church.

Oh...do you recognize the guy in the background with girl hair?

Day #5 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

I once got hit by a deer. Seriously, the deer ran into the side of my car in the middle of Abbotsford.

Day #4 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

During our annual trip to Saskatoon from Portage we usually stopped here. Have you ever been to Gopherville?

I also regularly wore this shirt in college.

Day #3 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

Incriminating photo...

Day #2 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

My wife once convinced me that I should bleach my hair.

Day #1 of the Not So Normal Christmas...

Many people have been begging to see this photo of Erin. I don't have the heart to put it on Facebook. Instead it becomes Christmas joy for you.

Litle things...

I'm at one of those points where the clouds are a little darker than usual so I'm doing my best to try and find some solace in the little things. So here's a few things that have picked me up lately:

• Winning some concert tickets on the radio. (And promptly passing those tickets on!)
  
• A free lunch.
  
• Spending time with my youth leaders. This is one part of my job that is not "work".
  
• Singing Christmas tunes to my kids to try and figure out how much they'll let me sing before asking me to stop.
• A gift card from some VERY generous people at church.
• A long distance phone call from a friend.
• The stuffed Santa Claus sporting Manchester United colors on my living room couch this morning.
• A text from my wife.

I think we all need a little pick-me-up (and I'm not necessarily talking about the liquid kind) from time to time, so my goal in the countdown to Christmas is to bring you some great joy through this blog.

So, tomorrow will be the beginning of "12 Days of The Not So Normal Christmas". What can you expect? Actually, very little. But I'm sure at least one photo I will share with you in the posts to come will leave you with great inner joy.

Stay tuned...

Mo-vember Recap...

What have I been up to? Let's see...

I tried Movember, but I only made it 16 days until I had to shave what little fur I had on my face off because it was driving me bonkers. But I kept armpit that's growing on my chin. It's become like a third child to me.

Met my new niece. I will forever look at the pictures and wonder why I didn't listen to my wife and actually shave before we started snapping photos.

Hung out with some of my favorite people on the planet where we had to listen to a crabby guy tell our kids to shut up because they were laughing in a restaurant. The nerve of those kids! Laughing in a public place...how dare they! How. Dare. They.

Also got to see one of my favorite past-interns (there are so many, don't make me choose favorites).

Hung out in the hospital and at home with Erin as she recovered from surgery. If you can, remember to pray for her tomorrow when she sees the doctor to talk about options. We're asking God for an option that doesn't require waiting a long time.

Built some furniture. But only thanks to Ikea.

Stayed up all night to shop on Black Friday with my best friend. I hate shopping. I hate standing in lines. But we made Christmas a whole lot cheaper just by giving up sleep for an evening. And I got to have a burrito for breakfast, so that's always good too.

Preached. And promptly read from the wrong passage. (I also asked people to yell out what they love, and I swear someone shouted "polka".)

That's it in a nutshell.

Morning...

Are you a morning person? I'm not.

Trick or Treat...

17lbs of candy later...I kid you not...the candy is sorted into two bowls: the Nut Free and the Aidan & Erin. The kids are in bed and I'm wondering what I should eat first.

Did I ever tell you about our friends? When they were growing up their parents took half their candy to give to poor kids. Turns out that they just ate the candy on their own.

One of our youth leaders is trying to raise money for a good cause in the midst of all this candy goodness, so we agreed to donate $0.10 per candy. That's $47.50. Yeah, I counted every candy...even the half eaten pack of Mentos we got.

And in other Halloween happenings, this following video made me laugh, but only because I went through that same haunted house at Universal Studios last year and I nearly wet my pants. I even fell on the floor at one point. Yes, I am a coward.

Book #34...

Leaders Who Last
Dave Kraft

This book was a quick read that has some pure gold when it comes to leadership insight. Sure, some of it you've probably heard a thousand times, but it still makes you go "Wow...I wish I had thought of that."

Apparently only 30% of leaders actually finish well. That's frightening stat if you ask me. And it makes me wonder what statistic I'll be a part of. But Kraft gives some helpful suggestions, pulling from his 70+ years of life to get leaders on a healthy path for leadership.

If you're involved in leadership, this is one you should have on your shelf. But you should read it before you put it there.

Intake...

Here's a sampling of what I've been reading, watching and listening to the last month or so.

Reading
I have a few books that I've read that I plan on doing actual reviews on because I enjoyed them, but in the meantime I've completed books #32 & 33 with these two:

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K. Rowling
I'm trying to read through the series and watch the movies so that next Christmas I'll be able to go see the last one in the theater.

Dexter is Delicious
Jeff Lindsay
I read the other ones so I just keep on going. The TV show is better though.

Movie Watching

• Heat (One of the greatest movies ever! And Erin hasn't seen it. We're about an hour into it.)
• 2012 (Freebie from the library. Great to mock)
• How To Train Your Dragon (Really good family night movie.)

TV Watching

• Modern Family
• An Idiot Abroad (I giggle uncontrollably throughout while wondering "Can anyone be that odd?")
• Dexter (Definitely not for the squeamish.)

Listening

• Words cannot describe the awesomeness that is Dan Mangan. I'm disappointed I won't be able to go watch him live in November when he's in Vancouver.
• As always, there's some Dave Matthews Band playing on an almost regular basis.

Tell me you've seen this...

And tell me you had a chuckle at it.

Fear...

I'm afraid that one day I will wake up and completely forget that this blog even exists. I know that with the wonders that are Facebook and Twitter, there are fewer reasons to visit here. But since I've pulled back from Twitter, and I'm hesitant to post all of this stuff on Facebook, I think I'll try squeezing a little more life out of my blog for the time being.

Blog.

Blog, blog.

What a funny word. I feel like a nerd even typing this.

Oh well. Watch this and be amazed...

Guess that...

Point tally. Cheryl: 45,000. Logan: 20,000

This week it's time for guess that...year!

What year was this picture taken? 30,000 points for grabs.

Bowl Cuts...

Did you ever have a bowl cut?

(And yes, that's Chris Tomlin in this video.)

Guess that...

Cheryl's in the lead with 45,000 points.

I'll try to make this one a little tougher.

Guess that mess. What is this? Be specific.

20,000 points for this one.

Wish I was...

It's that time of year: National Youth Workers Convention.

I so wish I was in San Diego right now.

But I'll have to settle for a live stream here.