Sara Talking about Breakfast Program

Click the picture to see the story......

A Beautiful Hike

We found a new place to hike today.  It was beautiful!  Here is the proof......

Derina Harvey Band

Sara and I went to a concert in town tonight.  We saw the Derina Harvey Band who play Celtic music (think Great Big Sea with a female lead). 

If you ever get a chance to hear them, go do it!  You will have a fun night.

Here are a couple of samples.

And one more.....

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Kinda).... and that is all folks! (Blog 30 of 30)

Though I think that the NHL playoffs should be ending about this time of the year instead of just starting (who wants to watch the Cup finals in June????????)....... this is typically when I watch the most hockey.

The first round of the playoffs is usually the most interesting.  Lots of upsets..... tons of hitting..... and best of all - staying up really late watching games that have gone into overtime.

In fact, I remember sitting up till like 2 am in the common room of my Bible college dorm in the spring of 1987 watching the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals play 4 overtime periods - it was great!!!!

However, because the Leafs have been fun to watch, I have watched a lot more hockey throughout the year..... which is probably a good thing because, so far, the playoffs have been a bust!!!!   Lots of blowout games...... no nail biters...... hardly any really big rivalries.

In fact, sadly enough, I am not sleep deprived at all!!!!!   Instead of staying up too late, I am falling asleep in my chair!

I hate going to bed on time!!!  :(
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Hey - so that is it!   30 blogs...... now it took a little longer than 30 days - but the goal was worth having, even if I did not make it, because it forced me to write.

Over the past 30 or so days, I have spent a lot of time writing about things that don't matter and are essentially fluff.... meant to be fun and funny...... however some really good things have happened too some of which include......

- My mom getting a good report from her Dr
- The kids coming home for the summer
- Getting to play in a hockey tournament with my buddy Shady Shane

I am thankful for those things and much more.

Since it looking like spring may actually happen sometime soon, I will not promise another "30 in 30", however, we do have some fun things coming up this week including a concert date with Sara, an Estevan Bruins' playoff game with the family and the Majestics car show - all of which we hope to take in.

So come back for updates on that and on any other silly thought that happens to come to my mind.  I won't promise a blog a day.... but I will keep writing.

Thanks to everyone who read, followed, commented, etc.  It has been fun!!!  :)

Ok - that is lots now, thanks! (Blog 29 of 30)

I have not always been a patient sort of guy.  In fact, in the past, I have been terrible!  I HATED waiting on things and (even more) I HATED being made to wait for others. 

However.....

As I have become older and possibly somewhat wiser (and have listened to my wife more), I have tried to be more patient and realize that some things just are the way they are.  I really believe that a good test of maturity is to ask, "How much do you try to control things around you?"   I would suggest that there is a inverse relationship here...... the more you have to control everything, the less mature you are.... and vise versa.

So when people have complained about the cold this winter, I have said things like, "I like winter!" When people have threatened to move to the southern states, I have said, "Not me!  I love the cold!  Feels like hockey season!"   When people have taken off on "hot holidays", I have wished them well, put on my toque and smiled as I went to shovel snow.

BUT ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!!   IT IS THE MIDDLE OF APRIL AND IT IS STILL FREEZING OUT THERE!!!!   WHAT...... IS ...... GOING...... ON...... WITH..... THAT????? 

What, you may wonder, has collapsed my hard won maturity and patience????? 

I started my motorcycle this afternoon!

I knew I shouldn't...... but I did.  And that is it!   I am done with winter.

Come on summer!  You cannot get here too soon!  :)

Signs you are getting old (Blog 28 of 30)

1.  You play in a hockey tournament 5 days ago and you still feel sore!

2.  You keep talking about playing in an over 35 rec hockey tournament like it is a big deal!

3.  You have to keep looking up the lyrics of the songs on the radio because you have no idea what they are saying

4.  A trip to Canadian Tire with your wife on a Tuesday night is considered a date!

5.  You think Frisbee golf is a good time

6.  You have a hair brush that is 15 years older than your university age kids and you have not used it in the past 9 years because - well - there is no need.

7.  You look forward to checking the flyers that come with the newspaper

8.  You still like to read real newspapers - not electronic ones (same for books)

9.  You say things like, "I paid $300 for my first car and drove it for 2 years and then I paid $50 for my next one and drove it for 4"

This last one is true.... it happened one day when I was riding with a buddy from church.  I was 21 and single.  He was slightly older than me, married with kids....... so this one is on him......

10.  As you are driving down the street, your buddy says, "Whoa!  There's a good looking one!"  You start looking for a girl and then realize that he is talking about a minivan!

No Jokes Today

I don't pretend to have all the answers... I know my words will be feeble at best..... but having lived through something similar, I wanted to share this one thought.....
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Where is God when it hurts? 

         Like most of you, I can’t stop thinking about the Humboldt Broncos.

I feel so bad for the families.  I am so sad for the community.  Seeing pictures of hockey sticks or microphones left outside the front door under the porch light in silent tribute is heart wrenching.  Reading as loved ones recall their favourite memories or hearing about all the good each individual did only makes this tragedy feel worse.  It just doesn’t make any sense.  Why would something like this happen?

I have no answer for that last question.  Nothing I could say would even come close to being useful.  I do not have an answer as to why.

However, having lived through similar circumstances in both my wife’s immediate family and in our church family, I have come to believe this: God has not forgotten or left us.

It would be nice if belief in God was like a good luck charm that would keep us from all harm or tragedy, but it is not.  In fact, it was Jesus himself that said, “In this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33).  The promise of scripture is not that we will be kept safe from all harm, but that God will walk with us through whatever we must face.  As Psalm 23 reminds us, the Lord our shepherd leads us to the green pastures, by the still waters and even through the valley of the shadow of death when necessary.  He goes with us.

One of my favourite reminders is that “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted” (Psalm 34:18).  Sometimes our pain makes it so that this is very hard to believe, but God never leaves us.  It may take a lot of effort, but if we look we can see his love, care and presence reflected in the kindness of others.  The unity and love that has been poured out in the last few days in so many ways is a reminder that, in some way, we are all connected and that we are all loved. 

A close friend of mine, who himself experienced something incredibly difficult and hard to endure has said to me more times than I can count, “I don’t know how anyone would go through something like this without faith”.  Faith will not stop all the pain, but it can help get you through it.

So today, I am praying for every family affected in any way.  I am giving thanks for the love and generosity that is flowing in from all over country and all over the world.  And I am praying that, even in their grief, that people hold onto their belief in a Heavenly father who loves them more than they know and whose heart is breaking right along with them.

We need our faith now more than ever!

Hockey Tournament (Blog 27 of 30)

This past weekend, I played in the local 35 and over year end hockey tournament.  Our team ended up with 2 wins and 2 losses.  It was tons of fun!  Here are some pictures and video just to give you a sense of it.

I am number 23 on the white team.  In this video, I am the guy getting bumped right at the start as we come back into our own end.

My buddy Shady Shane played on the same team as me which made the whole weekend a lot more fun

In our second game, I scored a goal and got a war wound.  Tried to stop a guy from clearing the puck and I am not sure whether it hit my stick or my skate,but the puck came up and hit me right in the chin.  Good souvenir and conversation piece at church the next day.

Maybe I will just call in Sick that Day (Blog 26 of 30)

Typically, I don't like things like this, but someone sent this one to me and I thought it was good, so I am sharing it.

Ps.  I am getting all sniffley just watching it and I don't even know these people..... the real day coming up is going to be both great and sniffley at the same time for sure!

Who is in? (Blog 25 of 30)

My brother Lenny.... 

(Who by the way, is not really Lenny ....I nicknamed him after the mad doctor on the Flintstones .... Len Frankenstone.  Len had a friend who kept trying to stop him from doing these bad experiments.  The friend would plead, "Len!! Len!!! Don't do it Len!!!!"   So naturally when my brother went to do something stupid, that is what I said to him.... and he has been Lenny ever since)

.... and I were having a discussion about holidays the other day.  He was saying how much he liked the "Bright Lights/Big city thing and I was saying that, while I did not mind cities, I would much rather go somewhere peaceful and quiet..... preferably on a motorcycle.

Then I get home tonight and look what I find.......

Sara is away for the weekend, but she left behind an Easter present which included a bunch of chocolate and my favourite motorcycle touring magazine.  And, if you look at the black lettering on the cover, you will notice that it has a story about about one of the nicest, most peaceful, most beautiful remote places in the world.... that just happens to have great roads for riding!

I am taking this as both a sign and permission.......

So who wants to go????  We can ride out and back...... tent along the way...... get the whole experience..... what can happen???

Just because Lenny and I got blown off the road and into a ditch during a near tornado in North Dakota one year.... and just because I knocked my glasses off my bike seat and then backed over them  causing me to have to duct tape and zip tie them together so I could ride for the next 8 days (a true fashion statement that you can see here) ..... and just because whenever we go on bike trips the perfect weather they predicted turns into either 8 days of rain (in BC) or 6 days of 3 degrees Celsius (in Montana)..... and just because we had to hide in the basement of our hotel during the only tornado warning ever issued in Lead, South Dakota...... and just because Lenny was almost out of gas and this lady told us to come to her farm and she would fill our tanks and we thought she might be an ax murderer who was going to kill us and hide our bodies in the field out back (for the record..... she wasn't and she didn't)..... and just because another huge storm ripped my tent and broke all the poles..... and just because that all happened in a span of 7 years and it is just the stuff that I can remember off the top of my head....

What could go wrong???

All the bad stuff is behind me, right????

I think Sara left this book here for a reason.  It even has a well marked map for us to follow!!!

Who is in?????  :)