Changing History with Paper and Pencil

Voting Day today.
Unlike our American neighbours, we Canadians hold our federal elections with a short lead-in (only six weeks' campaigning), very little pageantry, and the simplest of technology.
Hooray for simplicity!
After work today, Big Bear and I joined the streams of people heading for the local elementary school. We entered the gym, stood in a lineup, then handed in our voter's registration cards. The man at the table examined my driver's license to make sure I was who I said I was, then carefully crossed my name off his list with a pencil and ruler. He then tore my paper ballot from a booklet and initialled it. I took it to a cardboard booth behind the table and placed my pencilled X in a box beside my favorite candidate's name. A woman took my ballot, tore off a strip, and I dropped it in The Box.
There it is. High tech and loving it. And one pencil mark could conceivably change the course of our country! (But it probably won't...)
As I type, Elections Canada is feverishly hand counting all the paper ballots to determine the outcome of all this hoopla. Who will be our next Prime Minister?
Whatever the case, I very much doubt that he will pack the publicity punch of Obama or Palin. In fact, I bet that most Americans don't even know that we're having an election today. Or that we're here!

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Dinner at Mum and Dad's house.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed onions, sweet potatoes, corn, salad, and of course, cranberry sauce.

Lea and Christina back from Denmark.

Red wine.

Boys playing music upstairs - Blinded by the Light for an hour.

Spirited conversation and laughter.

Pumpkin pie and whipped cream.

Rain outside, cozy inside.

Back home; Pride and Prejudice while I do my marking.

The smell of turkey soup simmering in the slow cooker.

So thankful for all the small pleasures... and especially for the blessings of family.

Thanksgiving.

Years and Years

October 11, 1986.

It was an incredibly beautiful Saturday on Thanksgiving weekend. I was so thrilled to wear a wedding dress and marry my sweetheart, and my eyes were filled with stars. What a fun time we had - our wedding was a wonderful way to begin married life!

October 11, 2008.

Another beautiful fall Saturday. No white dress or ceremony, and definitely no stars in my eyes now! 22 years have rendered me much more realistic than I was at that oh so young age, but the process of working hard together and walking in grace (oh yes, that grace...) have created a depth that wasn't there at the beginning. Fun was definitely nice, but I like what we've got now.

And just look at what we've got now!

Grad Photos

Hooray! I can finally upload my photos! I wonder what the problem was...?

So. These are pictures from Big Bear's graduation day on Friday.

What a gorgeous day it was! Although the temperature wasn't very warm, the sun shone brightly and made everything feel happy.

It was so exciting to see the faculty and graduates come streaming toward me while the pipe band played. There is a strong Scottish heritage at this university!

I was overcome by the strength of the dream that propelled Big Bear to pursue a Master's degree and to work so hard. And as I stood and watched the hundreds of graduates marching down the stairs to the ceremony, I realized that each one of them had a similar dream. Most of these grads had earned a Master's degree, and there were a number of Doctorates, too. Now that takes work!

Well done, Big Bear! I'm so proud of you! And I'm particularly glad that our kitchen table is available again!

HAPPY DAYS!

Last night, I became an aunty for the 7th time, and K became an uncle with the same score. The boys are SO excited to have a new cousin. Bella is now a big sister to Daniella. It was so nice to have a hold of a wee bubs again. Not that I’m going clucky on you, OK?! One just forgets so quickly how little a newborn baby is – and so vulnerable and fragile. K and L enjoyed having cuddles too. E preferred taking photos of said cute bundle!

I never cease to be amazed at the miracle of birth. It amazes me how much this little life is going to change and develop, and how much she has already impacted lives – her parents, her sister, her grandparents, her extended family and so on. What a privilege to be a part of this precious child’s life-journey, a perfect plan in the unfolding. We pray God’s gracious blessing and protection on her life and look forward to enjoying her personality and unique story!

Back on earth though, today is the last day of the holidays. Tomorrow, is the first day of the last term for the school year. From hereon in, it is a fast track downhill to Christmas and the end of the year…..should I be admitting that I’d only just gotten used to it being 2008??!!! This year has just zipped by so quickly, I feel like I’ve not been on board fully….and my “List” just keeps growing….

Before I forget, I believe it is about the right time to wish you and Big Bear a very, very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Ange of the North! Whatever you end up doing, I hope you will both find some time to celebrate a pretty significant number of years together! And go wild. Whilst you can! :-) HAVE FUN and CONGRATS from us all !!!

BBQ Season begins!

Well, I don't know what's happened, but I just spent half an hour writing this blog and then it just disappeared. So this is the 2nd, and probably more truncated attempt.

The good ol' Kiwi BBQ !

It has been another full and delightful day today. I love BBQ season! 'Tis not usual that we spend well over 6 hours at our hosts' place when invited out for a meal, but the company was most entertaining, and the food just kept coming and coming...

The Great NZ Pavlova....as delicious as it looks!

We learnt lots from our friends today about intercultural differences and similarities. It was absolutely fascinating. Just even basic things like eye contact, greetings, and simple responses can lead to huge cultural offences! I do cringe sometimes when I think about all the 'toes' that we unknowingly might have 'stomped upon' when we were living overseas...For example - here in Kiwiland, a typical response to someone else's "thank you", would be "no worries mate!". To the Kiwi, this is equivalent to the Canadian "you're welcome". However, in some cultures, to say "no worries" implies that there has been some kind of bother or hassle! Or take the example of the Asian student who has been taught to look down when being reprimanded by a teacher or anyone in authority. A sign of respect and submission. And when they come to NZ, they are then considered rude because they don't make eye contact. The reverse is also true, that when they learn to make eye contact and they go back home to their Asian families, they are then considered to have an attitude problem when they make eye contact with their reprimanding parents!!! I could go on....!

But instead, here are some random shots. The boys had their first ever game of mini golf yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was pleasantly surprised myself, at how much fun the game itself was!

And some shots of Auckland from one of the many mounts we scaled these holidays. Oh, and I feel the need to confess that yesterday, I bought my first ever pair of Italian leather shoes! Entirely handmade in Tuscany. It is totally true what they say about Italian shoes - they are extraordinarily comfortable. I'd never have believed that a fashion shoe for women could be that comfy! (Notice I took your advice about shopping, Dee!)
Looking forward to seeing those photos from Big Bear's graduation!

Weeping, Wailing, and Gnashing of Teeth

Big Bear had his convocation today, and finally, he is a Master!
It was a beautiful day - the sky was blue and the sun shone. The university looked beautiful. The pipers piped and the "graduants" marched.
After it was all over, we came back to our house with my parents and Monika; Tim and Andrew joined us later for sushi and Chinese food. What a combination! And, of course, we had champagne!
I, however, am unhappy.
I don't know what's going on, but I can't seem to upload any photos! I will have to try again tomorrow, and I promised you, Lea, to post them right away. So sorry.
Have a great trip home tomorrow!

Skills revisited

So! We didn’t end up going away despite the temptation to sneak away to our friends’ bach. The main reason was that the weather forecast (and indeed, the weather outside our windows) was not nice at all – 150kmph winds, 200ml rain per day, cold, blerky conditions were forecast – not at all conducive to going out onto a snowy mountain. However, back home on the ranch (well, ok – at our wee villa), the weather actually wasn’t too bad all of the time. However, the webcams on Whakapapa and Turoa persuaded us that we’d made the right decision to stay home. There’s something ‘stay at home-ish’ when one sees a dark grey webcam picture with a shadowy promise of a ski lift partially visible through the fog….and lotsa raindrops on the lens….and a “Mountain Closed” sign….

But we did get 7 hours of skiing in on our first day – all indoors! It was actually quite a boon, since the boys needed to refresh their ski legs again after all those years. It wasn’t exactly Whistler, but it was a nice start! And we’ve been ice skating, and eating out, and climbing mountains, and ice skating, reading, playing boardgames, going on photo expeditions, and visiting….! It’s all been very nice really. The boys have commented that it’s been ‘better than going skiing….though we’d like to do that TOO!” Hmm.

One of the highlights for me, has been being in the middle of a whole grove of trees covered with cherry blossom, and then to get the preface to the strong winds. The unexpected huge gust of wind meant that we were surrounded by a blossom-storm. It was just beautiful. Getting hit by an elderly couple’s flying picnic lunch as well (felt like super heavy blossom!), was all part of the excitement! As was stepping ankle deep into a highly fragrant and fresh pile of cow dung. Warm, but definitely a low point in my photographic enterprise! But the best part was seeing the boys regaining some of their skiing and skating skills, after having not used them for over 3 years. That was really exciting.

Ange of the North, minutes after I received your text about yodelling on the mountaintops, we had a nasty surprise. We’d been having some very delicious pies on top of Mt Wellington, and enjoying the view. There were 2 cars parked close by to our car, and when we left our car to go for a walk around the crater edge, I felt distinctly uneasy about one of the cars and its inhabitants. However, we were able to see our car and the entire carpark from about 90% of our walk. There was only 1 small patch of about 2-3 minutes walk, which obscured us from the carpark. On our return to the carpark, I noticed that the car which had made me feel disquieted, had gone. I went to get something from our car, and noticed that the glove box was open and that there was glass all over the floor. The occupants of the remaining car in the carpark hadn’t even heard anything (probably because the car which had made me uneasy, had extremely loud rap music blasting from their speakers). They had, however, noticed the occupants of the Rap car behaving a little strangely. Anyway, the long and short of it is, that they took K’s bag which had credit cards, cash, all our good ski gloves that we’d bought in Vancouver, my new ski pants (the ones I bought when I was staying at your place – at least I got 1 day’s wear out of them!), my favourite Burton snowboarding leather wrist guards, the boys’ Epipen, and my spare spectacles. It was just SO brazen! Really, it was all just stuff - and it’s stuff that can be replaced. It’s just that it is so inconvenient and frustrating. The boys were quite upset. I was mad! I wish I’d left a verse or something in K’s bag – “Thou shalt not steal!!!” Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Anyway, I guess I’ve been putting off getting some spectacles for ages, and now I get to have some new ones! And at least, we’d gotten our skiing and skating in first. It’ll be nice to have some new gloves & pants too – I don’t even have to wash this season’s ones! K will get a new bag and cellphone – he’ll be happy to have an updated toy! Might have to give up on the skateboarding till I get some new wrist protectors though…..

A beautiful world

"...And whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life,

keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world..."

(''Desiderata'' - Max Ehrman, 1926)

~*~

Ange of the North - have fun at your conference tomorrow and Friday. And CONGRATS to Big Bear on his graduation! What a great effort! It only seems like yesterday when BB was telling us about this crazy plan he had, to do some study...and here he is at the other end!!! Woohoooooo!

Take lotsa photos, celebrate well, enjoy the achievement (joint effort, y'know!)!

Exotic Fruit and Other Trivia

Tis the season for apples! We visited the produce market on Sunday afternoon and I reveled in the smell of fruit. Fresh, local fruit. I love to see all the varieties of apples in the fall (at least one reason to like it)!
We also had our traditional brunch at White Spot with friends. Two large boys attached themselves to us; one way to get a free meal!
The sky was dark and forboding, but at the same time, kind of sunny. It was a relief after the pounding rain from Saturday.









The big teachers' convention is coming on Thursday and Friday; I'm frantically trying to balance regular school stuff with preparing for my workshop and the worship team. AND Big Bear's official graduation is on Friday afternoon! I can't wait to see it!
Today at school, all the children were excited to see roadwork happening on the other side of the fence!
It was like a magnet for them, and they were glued to the fence as they watched Bobcat, the roller, and lots of big, burly workers building a new road. It was fun entertainment for the teacher, too, as I unknowingly waited for a big grade five fight to happen....

Exotic flowers?!

Someone recently told me what these flowers were called, but with my great head for floral names, I have completely forgotten what it was. I had a chuckle that you called our flowers 'exotic' ! I don't think they can be exotic at all, because they grow in our garden!!! More likely, they're weeds, but they look pretty anyway.

Well, the old skis have been dusted off and are waiting patiently for their waxing. The old polypropylene and goretex are smelling a little musty...it's been about 3.5 years since we hit the snowy slopes at Whistler! I wonder if we'll remember how...

And what do we think we are doing to our poor unfit and unseasoned bodies???!!!!

Goddag!

I was just looking at Copenhagen Cycle Chic, a fun blog featuring cool cyclists in Copenhagen - cycling capital of the world! I haven't kept up with it lately, but since Lea is there visiting her family, I thought I would check up on how it's looking at this time of year.

Hello, Lea and Christina! Hello, Poul and Bente, Carsten and Birgitte, Kim and Anna! We wish you could be here at the birthday party tomorrow!

Shape of the Day

Whew. They're gone.
When I came into the classroom this morning and looked at the shape of the day, I saw my plans: Now that the day is done, I see the remnants:
What happened between then and now had very little to do with my carefully made plans!
Cooper got through the morning without a time out. Yay!
I spent 30 agonizing minutes "scribing" for Sweet But Bewildered Boy (remember the fairies that can't fly through windows??). 30 minutes and very, very few words.
I listened to everyone's memory work, ranging from know-it-all to know-almost-nothing.
Three little boys helped me "renew my energy" at recess, after having drained it in class.
It rained at lunch time - lots of pent up energy in the classroom!
We had a really good discussion about David Livingstone.
We played a guessing game and they never did figure out that it was a horse!
Jordan created two more Dino comics that he proudly read to me.
We spent 20 chaotic minutes in the gym, burning off all that energy.
Why is it that when children are tired, they want to run, and when I am tired, I just want to go to sleep???

Innocent blood cells

As music blasts through our house this morning, I was reminded of a story recently when E and L were listening to “Help me Rhonda” by the Beach Boys (“help me Rhonda….help, help me Rhonda….get around in my heart…”).

~*~*~
L asked me: “Who’s 'Rhonda', Mummy?”

I replied that I didn’t really know, but that it was probably some lady that the Beach Boys were singing about.

All was quiet for a few minutes……then L said thoughtfully, “Maybe Rhonda is a red blood cell!”
Eh what?!! E & I must’ve looked somewhat surprised for a moment, before we both burst out laughing!

~*~*~
“What do you mean L???” asked E.
“Well....” said L, “Rhonda must've been a red blood cell, cos red blood cells go all around your heart, don’t they?!”

The economy of jewels

Another pretty flower with unknown name

~*~*~

I’m glad to hear that despite your busy-ness, you are still able to enjoy those special ‘moments’.

Cobwebs are incredibly difficult to photograph – it was lovely to see that one reflected in the light. And I love the morning sun. K would at this point, interject with a smart comment about how I don’t see the morning sun enough to know what it looks like….but that is simply untrue! It is one of my favourite times of the day (when I am up to see it, that is!).

Anyway, your posting yesterday made me think about Robert Louis Stevenson’s words –

“The best things in life are nearest: Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.”

So since I don’t detect a soon-to-happen change of your schedule, let me instead encourage you to continue live in what Kapka Kassabova (Bulgarian poet) calls “the cherished economy of the moment”!

And now I must away to do some necessary flailing of my own cherished economies on this side of the world!

By the way – 2 updated articles from the Herald on the Good Samaritan, if you are interested.

Carrol Du Chateau : Amid the sorrow, an inspiration - 02 Oct 2008 - NZ Herald: Opinion, Editorial and Reader Comments

Farewell to a man who did the right thing - 02 Oct 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news

Enjoy your day!

Night and Day

Wow. The past few days have been a whirlwind of craziness, and I hardly know how I will handle everything I've got on my plate right now. All I want is to stay home and be quiet! However, I seem to be fated to spend all my evenings running around doing "stuff".

With the busy season in full swing, I like to look for jewels. Jewels are the little moments of beauty God puts in my path. They remind me to thank him and to notice his glory hiding in the everyday.

When I was at a women's event on Monday night, I looked out the window and noticed a spider's web illuminated by an outside spotlight. It had to be a photo, and I love how it turned out. Definitely a jewel.

Today, driving to school, Little Joe and I enjoyed the early morning sun . Don't you love morning and evening light???! In my side mirror, I could see the golden rays of the sunrise behind me making everything glow - even the traffic looked pretty! I had to pull the camera out of my purse and snap as I drove. Another jewel!

Forgetful Flora

Well, I forgot to post my flower of the day photo yesterday, with all the excitement. (I wonder if Fluffy survived the night...)

Our day is full, full, full today, so I may not get back to post later....I thought I should do it before the mechanic comes to tune our car this morning...and before the day gets busy.

So here's a flower.

Again, I have no idea what genus or species or common household name it bears. However, it makes our garden look pretty.

It's another glorious day in Aotearoa! Hurray.

The Ugly Duckling...Swanling

A definite highlight of our day today, was going to a park for a stroll with some friends in the beautiful weather.

I love the new birth that Spring brings. We saw ducklings and cygnets everywhere.


Until today, I hadn’t realised how familial / territorial swans are. There were certainly plenty of incidences of male swans attacking other swans if the stranger swan came too close to the family group. Unfortunately, (we soon learnt) if you happen to be an orphaned cygnet, then you either have to become very pond-savvy very quickly, or your chances of survival are severely decreased.



The kids found a very young cygnet stranded against a drain grill, petrified by the rushing waterfall next to it. They rescued it and we brought it to the edge of the pond, hoping that some swan might either identify it as its own, or another random swan might look after it…..but pond life doesn’t appear to have uphold such niceties. Within seconds of swimming around, a male swan started viciously pecking the cygnet and picking it up out of the water by the neck and dashing it down again! We were absolutely horrified!

We managed to rescue the cygnet for a second time, this time much worse for wear than the first time. It reminded me so much of a hurt child, who so badly needs its mom. The kids cuddled the cygnet, who snuggled into the warmth of their arms and soon stopped its shivering.


We decided to take the cygnet (now named “Fluffy”!) to the neighbouring zoo, convinced that the animal-lovers at the zoo would take the cygnet and bring it up till it was ready to stand on its own! How wrong we were. We were told in no uncertain terms that the zoo has strict policies and that we just needed to let nature take its course. Life can be so tough for some young ‘uns….anyway, we found a pond that didn’t have any swans, and gently introduced Fluffy to his new environment, hoping that he would survive. He seemed so young, so fragile, so needy, so vulnerable...

Fluffy seemed to want to stay with us…it was so hard to have to leave him, knowing that his chances of survival were probably not too good. The kids were bereft.


Fortunately, a crowd gathered when they saw us with the cute cygnet, and Fluffy was soon engrossed with kids bearing large bags of delicious fresh bread. I left wondering if Fluffy’s parents had been there, whether they would’ve warned him not to eat too much…. or he might get a very sore tummy?!

I guess it might be too much to hope that Fluffy found a nice bunch of feathered friends to snuggle up with during the night.