15 posts tagged “alpha”
So it looks like my moods are still a little volatile – so much so that Sherry is having a tough time reading me.
Sherry can read my mood by looking at my eyes. Usually. Recently I’ve been so drastic in my swings (and so quick) that Sherry doesn’t have time to make the call before it changes again.
*sigh*.
I need a little stability in my life for a little while. A teenager is a very powerful destabilizing force.
Our last Alpha was last night. We had a great time with the meal. Rick surprised me by coming back to help with the meal and to serve.
I didn’t expect him to stay for the serving part as he disagreed, philosophically, with me about some of the aspects of who qualifies. It was a pleasant treat.
I gave Rick his Christmas gift last night (I don’t get to see him every week, so last night may have been the last time before Christmas). The gift was perfect. Not too expensive, something that he had been wanting for a while, something that would make his life easier and look good in the process. Perfect. That’s always nice.
This week will be relatively quiet in the lead up to Christmas. I’m really pleased with Sherry’s major gift and happy with the rest – it should be a good time giving them to her. I’m looking forward to it.
It should also be a good time shooting some portraits here on Christmas Eve too. Although our traditions are going to take a hit in the process.
I’m thankful that we have Christmas traditions.
I’m thankful that I can afford to buy cool gifts.
I’m thankful that I have cool friends to give gifts to.
Our penultimate alpha was last night. We’re a little excited about having our Monday nights back.
We’ve started to collect names of people in our church that we want to have over to our place for “tea and crumpets” (Does anyone know what a crumpet is?) Anyway, it’ll be a nice way to meet people and start building relationships in the church.
Our phone line (and internet) has been out for about 24 hours now. Bummer. The Bell guys are on their way to fix it. The appointment is supposed to be some time after 8:00am (it’s 9:30 now) but before 5:00pm. I wonder if they could have pinned the time down a little better… Pretty annoying. At least if I had High Speed Wireless Internet I’d be able to do my job a little better.
My video is pretty much done. I’ve used a couple of songs in the video that I don’t own the rights to. I wonder if anyone is going to care…?
Michelle came home from school yesterday and barked at me. We had been doing so well, but that four minutes of bitching really set me off again. She really needs to stop doing that. (She’s been doing a better job of keeping the kitchen clean, which helps).
Michelle has a ton of stuff to get done before the Christmas break – I hope she can get it all done.
We should find out when our trip to the Saute is later on today. I’m hoping it’s scheduled for Thursday or so. That way Sherry can make it up there with us and it won’t impact our last Alpha. I’m really hoping that we can make a sale and get a little extra Christmas money in the coffers!
I’m thankful that I enjoy my job. Even the grungy bits and sales.
I’m thankful that Christmas is a time to think about the birth of Dear Baby Jesus.
I’m thankful that Alpha has achieved its purpose and is coming to a close now.
I'm not sure that I'm allowed to be this excited about Halloween. It's not exactly a 'good christian' holiday and I'm not a kid anymore (I'll be 40 in less than a month!)
But I am.
My costume is amazingly cool. Hey maybe I should go to the bars and compete with my brother... I forget what he's going as this year...
Naw, I'll just stay home and give out chocolate bars.
Last night was Alpha - Rick and I had a great time chatting about linguistics, ebay, serving, relationships and religion. It was a good time. I really enjoy hanging out with bright people - it makes the conversations very lively.
My toe seems to be better now - I had no trouble running yesterday (although I was pretty winded by 2.5 miles and packed it in shortly after that). My pastor seems to be excited about running a marathon - I think he was hoping that I would offer to run with him! Yikes. No thanks. 3 miles is plenty - 26 seems sadistic.
Work is going well - I'm in the middle of a quote for a new project that I'm really looking forward to doing. A local company needs to automate their POS system, but there's enough stuff that they do for their customers that's different from the norm that a cookie cutter solution will either be frustrating to use or won't do everything they need, so it looks like I'll get to write the code from scratch. That's cool. Now I just need to get the estimates done (I *really* don't enjoy that part...)
I'm thankful that I enjoy stimulating conversations. It seems that so many people coast through life without really examining who they are or what their goals are that it's really nice that I enjoy that sort of thing. It really makes it much easier to be fullfilled when you know who you are, what you want and how you plan to get there.
I'm thankful for a (mostly) lean body. I enjoy looking good - it makes me feel good and it makes me healthier. I have a friend who was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and now the work that he has to go through to change his lifestyle is startling. I'm thankful that I started making much smaller adjustments a couple of years ago and dropped a lot of excess weight (25 pounds so far with my goal being 35 in total).
I'm thankful for a warm comfortable bed. I know I've mentioned being warm before, but I'm also thankful that our bed is endorsed by the North American Chiropractic Association. It's a dream to sleep in and very lifegiving. Waking up from a good night's sleep makes it far easier to be thankful.
This past Saturday I was moving dirt from a pile on to the ground as a top dresser to plant some grass seed. I came across an earthworm and was thinking that I should try and move it to my composter (I've become a tree-hugger!). Then my thoughts wandered to how thankful I was to not only have stuff that I could compost but that there were worms to turn my waste into compost. I guess I'm just a thankful kind of guy.
Here's the weird part (ya, ok, maybe being thankful for worms is weird, but it gets weirder). This week's message at church was all about being thankful.
Our pastor challenged us to list the things that we're thankful for - a task that I'm sure I can spend the next month
doing and not run out of things to be thankful for. He said to list three things per day that we're thankful for and why.
So, as a regular part of my blog for the next three weeks (at least) I'm going to list three things and why (In no particular order - if you don't get mentioned right away, don't panic).
I'm thankful that I know there's a God and that He cares about me. This not only gives me a deep sense of peace that Someone is looking out for me, but I don't need to worry about the future - He's already there working things out for me in advance.
I'm thankful for my wife, Sherry. I'm hoping this one is obvious by now. She's supportive and cute and forgiving and a great cook and thoughtful and patient and encouraging and a great kisser and creative and hard working and makes me look good and fun and a great listener and wise and insightful and warm and cuddly and grounded and she's a great soul mate and compliment for everything that I'm not.
I'm thankful for a fabulous country like Canada to live in. I'm alowed to worship freely, earn money without government oppression, be secure and know that I'll never miss a meal or be cold or lack medical care or have to go to war or worry about my water supply.
I have a lot more, but I'm going to limit myself to three a day just so I don't spend all day at this!
In other news: I put the full Vader costume on again and I think I'm good to go.
We spent most of Saturday working at the church - trimming shrubs, cutting down trees, planting grass seed. Rick helped out a lot - which is cool - it's good to see his surgery hasn't stopped him from being able to work (in short durations).
We had a fabulous breakfast with Rick on Sunday just before church
Ken's wedding is just about ready to go. Paul has a ride, my stuff is good to go, the list of things to prepare is shrinking, I have Friday off work and my hardware is all checked out and ready to go.
Michelle and I had a good weekend together - she wasn't home much but we had a good time chatting while she was.
I had a hard time running last week. I only put in about 8.5 miles and I'm up to 195 again. This is not good.
Tonight is Alpha and we'll be using a recipe that Rick likes - I suspect that means that he's going to claim control of the kitchen for the evening.
Oh, I think I may have over commited this year.
We have a wedding for a friend that starts a week from tomorrow. We live in Canada and he lives in the States. That
means that all my hardware has to cross the border. *sigh*. Apparently a form Y38 will make that easier. Now all I have to do is get one.
I'm putting together my teaching notes for Excel and I'm still trying to keep all of our clients at work happy. And Vader and the house and Alpha and Quick Bite and our Kinship and my new friends AND my old friends.
We've trimmed out almost all of our TV time and I have very little time for my hobbies (unless you count Vader, and I guess you could...) Yikes.
At least our budgets are working out and everyone is healthy - that could make a real mess.
I feel bad for some of my Vox buddies too -- MeeShell is really struggling and it makes me a little sad (and mad).
No deep thoughts for today - I'm just trying to keep my head above water until my class notes are done!
Fabulous day yesterday. Not a lot really happened, but it all went well. Work was good, my run went really well, Michelle came home in a good mood, Alpha worked out well and the evening was easy.
That's really all I have today.
Michelle and I were chatting this morning and she's not enjoying the pressure to get good marks (if her marks aren't strong this semester then her car goes away). I told her that was a normal part of life. If you slack off at your job it goes away, if you let your relationships slide then they drift away, if you give up on your hobbies they stop too.
I don't think she was very happy about that.
Sometimes I feel like I'm taking away her childhood. Of course she _is_ 17 and headed to college in a few months (10?) and then I won't be able to shape her expectations anymore.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could all move to the Neverhood and refuse to grow up? No deadlines, no pressure, no leaks, no floods, no bills, no headaches -- just fun, friends and food. Ahhhh.... I wonder if that's what Heaven is like...?
Ok, I've taken enough of your time.
Peace, out.
Good morning all. Today's topic is Religion (I've already talked about politics, so I should be able to offend just about everybody shortly).
As I see it Religion is bad.
Let me explain. I'm going to use the word Religion to represent the structures, superstitions, rules and institutions that men have put together around their Spirituality. (And before I continue I believe that Spirituality is good).
In the beginning God walked with man in the Garden of Eden. There were no priests, there was no building, no alter, no rules, no power to abuse - just God walking with man in the cool of the evening. And it was good. It was exactly the way that God had intended us to relate to him.
If you skip to the end of the book (the Book of Revelation) and read the last couple of chapters it describes the new Eden - the way it will again once all of the crud has been fixed in this current world. Once again there is no temple (which would have been scandelous in the day it was written!) It's just God walking with man again - exactly the way it's supposed to be.
So if you look at the way that God would have us relate (Spirituality) then there is no church building, no power brokers, no wealth hording, no rules, no dress code (Adam was Naked!), no pretenses, no Holier-than-thou attitudes, no masks, no walls -- just people walking with God.
Thoughts?
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In other news: Michelle came home and we're good again.
I'm struggling to get everything back under control -- Alpha needs an official clean up crew - without someone being in charge nothing gets done properly. *sigh* Aren't we all adults?
Mike (my brother) found me a job posting that starts at more than twice my current salary. But, I'm already working for my other brother (Bernie). Do I apply? Will it rock the boat?
Electricity is way too expensive.
Heroes is a cool show.
Christmas is only 82 days away. I'm not ready for Halloween yet!
And now our thoughts turn to fall: cool nights, rainy days, warm firelplaces and more turkey than any person should ever eat.
We're trying to coordinate our Thanksgiving days now between Sherry's family and mine. The problem is that Sherry's Mom won't have her work schedule until this Thursday for the big weekend (We celebrate Thanksgiving in October here in Canada. If anyone knows how to change my profile from the US to Canada I'd like to know -- I can seem to change everything else except my country).
So it looks like my family will have to schedule and hope that it doesn't conflict with Sherry's Mom's day off.
Recently I was thinking about our North American Over-Priviledged Mindset. It seems that we've grown up in a culture that thinks that making $50,000 a year and ranking in the top 5% of world wealth isn't enough.
The teenagers that I know feel that the world (society, their families, whatever) owe them a nice cushy life.
In some ways it seems that it would be more healthy to be a refugee moving to Canada than a Native Son of the True
North (strong and free).
Perhaps a mission trip would open Michelle's eyes to how wealthy she is and how priviledge she is to live here. She seems to think that her life is over now that High School is wrapping up. She has no idea how huge parts of the world live their lives.
Random thoughts for today:
Alpha's meal went well last night - Spagehtti with meat sauce, bread and salad (with an amazing lemon cake for dessert - no wonder I gained so much weight when I married Sherry!)
There are some really high strung people in my life.
My house is really, really comfortable.
I like my friends.
I've decided to vote in favour of MMP. It just seems like the right thing to do. I don't expect it to pass - people fear change.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
If you'd like to sponsor my friend Bruce (Before October 13, 2007) for his Ride for Refugees you can do it here:
It is possible to live a life filled with Peace in today's society (as long as you don't have teenaged kids).
Aaahhhhrrgg! I started my Halloween costume in January! I thought I had lots of time! It's October and I'm no where near finished! PANIC!
Oh, wait. 'Don't Panic' has been a guiding mantra of mine for years.
Breathe.
Ok.
That's better.
We had a fabulous weekend. We ran errands on Friday together as a couple, we finished up projects together on Saturday, we baked together as a couple, we had a fun date night, we went to church and had old friends over for dessert and Wii games, we rested together, we relaxed together.
Ahhh. It was nice.
The only twiggly bit was that Michelle didn't come home at all this weekend. We were supposed to have a family meeting to discuss what's been going on and work out a truce. It's a little difficult to co-ordinate what's going on with Michelle when she doesn't call and we can't reach her.
She needs a cell phone.
I'm still torn about our referendum next Wednesday. It turns out that it would be convenient this year to have the new voting system in place already. I'm not happy with any of the local candidates for MPP, but I want to support a party. Do I vote for someone I don't like to get the party in power? Or do I reject my ballot?
Alpha cooking should only take the afternoon today and not the full day, so Sherry has gone in to work until Lunch and then she'll head over to the church for the afternoon and evening. She worked out a lemon cake/pie dessert thing that will end up costing about $0.25 per serving. Whohoo -- she's trying to keep the budget down and I think that's pretty good for a nice dessert!
We bought the chocolate bars for Halloween on Saturday. I bought 60 bars - this is the first year in this house - I hope it's enough!
The Alpha course went remarkably well last night (we didn't get to see the ending, but up to the point that we left it was pretty good)
Sherry spent all day (8am to 8pm) at the church cooking, serving and cleaning. This should be the toughest week since it will be the most elaborate meal by far.
It was nice to see that Rick was able to help out. I was a little surprised by his willingness to help out in the kitchen and to serve the meal (it's a little intimidating to serve food to a bunch of people buffet style).
I've been able to keep my weight down around 191-192 since we got back from the cottage - I'd love to be at 185, but I'm happy at 190.
I'm also making progress on moving my run down from 25 minutes. I'm able to run 1.5 miles in about 11:30 now without feeling like I'm going to die. I'll see if I can maintain that pace for 2 miles starting next week or so and that should shave a minute or so off my time.
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You know, my life really sucks right now.
It seems that I have no patience left at all.
Michelle left her music playing on her PC loudly enough that it was annoying. Sherry climbed over the piles of dirty clothes and wet towels on her floor to try and stop the music, but couldn't figure out what to click on, so she called me in.
Big mistake.
I stepped on something sharp on my way to the PC and it turned out to be a mug of old moldy food. One of my good mugs.
There's a house rule that no food is allowed in mugs (it's really hard to clean crusty, moldy food out of a mug). There's also a house rule that Michelle's room needs to be Neat and Tidy on Sunday (and mostly neat on Monday). There's also a rule that you don't leave wet towels on the hardwood floors (that turns them black). There's also a rule that you don't leave glass on the floor (or dirty dishes in your room).
I flipped.
I threw my good mug out of the pile with enough force that it broke. Which made me REALLY mad.
We went to Alpha after that and when I got home Michelle had left a note calling me an asshole and a post-it-note saying "thats (sic) really mature" with a piece of glass (my good mug) on it on my desk.
She just really pisses me off with everything that she does and when it's intentional it's ten times worse.
It has to stop.
