This time I gotta blog...

So I thought that other than a few bad drivers this neighborhood was nearly perfect with the exception of the average age (65+). :P I just got in from soaking some sun. While out there, a guy pulls up, looks like he's going to pull a u-turn, nearly hits a guy on a motorbike, backs up and parks. I'm thinking, "Ok he's changing CDs or answering a phone call. Boy it sure is good to see people being responsible like that." After a minute I hear a 'flick flick' sound. I look down & he's just giving it on a pot pipe. Right there, on the street, broad daylight, cars driving by and myself and another neighbor on our balconies, AC/DC just blasting from his stereo.

So this guy is here about ten minutes easily. In that time I'm thinking I don't like seeing this in my neighborhood, should I call the cops? Nah they'd never get here in time. Kids are riding by on bikes and I recall an American anti-deug commercial where a car of potheads are harrassing a fast food drive through then hit a little girl on her bike. Now I'm thinking maybe I should make a call just as I see the cigarette replace the pipe & I know he will be gone soon. Yup, lights up & leaves, no one got hurt at least as far as I could see so hopefully he won't kill anyone.

Not 4 minutes later a cop cruiser drives by & I know I've seen the definition of ironic for June 28, 2004.

Nobody comments any more

I’m hopeful that the sever weather forecasted for this summer gives us some enjoyable thunderstorms, but limits the tornados, hail and other undesirable weather.
I’m hopeful that my new wheelchair, which is being ordered today, arrives in the 6 weeks, not the 8, and that when it arrives everything is correct.
I’m hopeful that dad gets my sit ski finished so I can get out there on the water soon.

I seem to have neglected mentioning him in or even telling Stacey about my blog… Hmmm ok, here’s my apology: Stacey Stacey Stacey Stacey Stacey Stacey Stacey Stacey Stacey. There ya go bro. Is your ego repaired now? :P hehehe

And finally, I’m ready for any submissions to our website: http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/cka/index.html

As per my last blog, please let me know ahead of time before huge emails to me so I can make room, or give you a better address, or set up a file transfer.
Have a great day everyone.

Lots to say this time…

But I’m going to try to be brief and use point form.
Friday – Left at noon and it was the fastest drive I’ve ever taken. Angie is a great travel companion. Good tunes, great conversation but it did rain the ENTIRE way. Arrived, had burgers for supper and then a quiet evening with a few photo albums. :P
Saturday - Left for the lake after lunch, just hung out cause of the rain, had a most excellent rib steak then took a tour of the lake, had a fire and a few bushpies then went to bed.
Sunday – Not the best sleep ever, but ok. Gave my bed to Angie & I took the hide-a-bed. In the morning my dad disappeared outside & mom was snoring in their room. Angie got up & comes out to the living room where I was, after making sure I was decent, & sits on the bed with me for awhile. We chatted until my parents made an appearance. Dad comes in & I said, “Uh oh! He caught us in bed!” We chuckled & got up, had brunch then headed into town just as some old neighbors showed up. Mom & dad stayed to visit, we went in. Looked at more albums & found a picture of little 2 year old Jay on a red tractor. Angie tells me she has like an identical picture of her on the same tractor. She found it since we got home & it’s been scanned. I’ll post it on my website soon.
Monday – Ahhh-feel-the-testosterone-day: Went gopher hunting *grunt grunt grunt* got 10 myself *grunt grunt grunt*. Angie finally got to meet one of my friends when we arrived at his place before hunting and as I said, she’d probably meet him with a gun in his hand & yup, he had his P22 Walther ready for my inspection. What a great little pistol! *grunt grunt grunt* :P After hunting we came back to town & had a picnic at the park then back to the house for a quick stop. We then proceeded to the Swift Current Mall (1 of 2 malls in the city). Not too much to see & Angie’s question/comment, “This is the small mall, right?” made me look twice and laugh because it is the big mall, & yes, after being in Saskatoon for awhile I can understand the completely poor malls that are in Swift Current. But an interesting point, it poured cats & dogs just after we got into the mall. It was quite a short but sweet storm. So we got home after some touring and stopping at the shop where my dad works, to get some parts for the evening’s activities. Ken arrived in the city we started some wiring, we had smoked sausage, perogies, peas & cream gravy. *grunt grunt grunt* Then the men installed my new lights in my van *grunt grunt grunt* while the girls went shopping & in the process Angie was told by my mom that my parents loved her. hehehe Then Angie & I went & cruised a bit more and came home.
Tuesday brought a nice lazy day. We went to the Wheatland Mall, checked out “The Loft” (Swift Current’s only Christian store), I bought a T-shirt & was going to get the new Pillar, but they were pretty pricey so I’ll run to Parables tomorrow I think. I grabbed the fourth season of The Simpsons then we came home for lunch. Just hung out for the afternoon, cruised a bit in the evening then that was it.
Wednesday we came home & then watched some Simpsons episodes in the evening. :) Other points to mention: During our cruising I showed Angie significant places in SC. The location of my accident, my favorite places in the city to park & watch, pray… oh & of course our sweet pigeon hunting locations… one of which is half a Swift Current block from the cop shop. :P
Finally I must conclude mushily by saying that I think the best overall part of the trip for me was being able to spend 6 days with my Angie and see her 90% of my waking moments. The thought of getting up and she’d be upstairs from her room shortly in the morning was absolutely awesome. I feared that possibly after 6 days I might be looking for some space… quite the opposite. Saturday, when I can see her next, seems too far away! It was a great trip!

Just a few more sleeps...

I gotta say I don't think I've ever been this excited about going to Swift Current. People in Angie's class that have lived in SC have commented that there was nothing there and nothing to see. For the most part, it isn't too special... that is unless you grew up there and every street, interesection and apple tree is significant! I might be quite the story teller this weekend. I think & hope this trip will give my gal an insight into my life that words and stories alone just don't quite give. So to those people that said there is nothing there, what about the "Turch" (Michael could never say church when we were young) where we played coyboys & indians, had waterfights all afternoon and just played... until The Nintendo Entertainment System came out & we stayed in all the time... Oh well, I got that Trivial Pursuit question correct Saturday night about Samus being the star of the Metroid series of video games. But that church may mean nothing to Angie's classmates but to me it was one of my favorite places to play as a boy. Currently, my list of places to take Angie is 17 items long, each with similar significance as that church.

So ya, I think that is about the extent of my thoughts for today. We're leaving on Friday and planning to be back Wednesday June 16... that is as long as my parents don't drive us nutz. :P Finally, I've built a web page. On this page I would like to provide the opportunity for us to share anything we want to. My example is say Jason's pictures from his May long weekend or baby pictures. I'll provide the address soon & once we're back you can feel free to send me stuff whether pictures, stories that you want to last longer than blogs do (Not that they are gone, but once burried in an archive they don't get much attention), or whatever, maybe some would like to post a profile, it's open for us. I just need to fix a few things before it is ready for the flood of stuff you guys will send me... I hope. :P Ok, going to pack a few things... nope, I'll need my kitchen sink tonight. :)

What, me worry?

So I had my membership interview today. I wasn’t worried but cautiously alert. Everything went well. It felt good to share my story, find out more about Ebenezer and more about myself even. It was quite a rewarding experience. Darryl’s story moved me. One of the gentlemen told myself & Darryl (we were interviewed together), that he, “had been praying for more strong outstanding young men like you two to come into the part of the body that is Ebenezer so when us older men are gone we know men like you two will be there to fill our place.” All four of us were moved. Yet another great experience for me in 2004. So my membership is still pending board approval, but it looks like it is all but there. Still, if you feel the urge to say a prayer for me in that area I’d appreciate it.

One last comment. Perhaps I’m a bit more emotional than most guys, but the right song lyrics, the right story or testimony etc just gets me “welled up.” I mean I love my relationship with Jesus. It is a never ending source of joy. A joy I thought may dwindle in some. Today, when the one gentleman told me about his prayers for “Outstanding young men like you two” had been answered, he welled up. I don’t think I have ever seen someone of his years & lifetime of faith still get moved like today. It just is so nice to know that the joy of faith NEVER dies!

Um... I spoke too soon

Um... Ya. About not having a profound blog this morning... I got a "Very Urgent" package from the University of Calgary. Inside was my letter booting me out cause of my low GPA. I was planning on quitting anyway & now I don't have to write my final. I have been praying for a very distinct answer to my future. I think I heard Him this time! :P I probably shouldn't be this happy about it, but I feel so... guided. :)

Oh, now I just find out an old classmate committed suicide around thanksgiving. Wow. That kind of dampened my mood. I think I shall go reflect about Dwayne. Much more profound blog than an hour ago.

It's been awhile...

Since I blogged and since I had a 2 hour phone conversation with my Angie. I suppose I don't like to tie up her mom & dad's phone line and I can certainly understand them not wanting it tied up, but I certainly enjoy having long talks. Talks about big stuff and small stuff, times when it is just points of nice, comfortable, silence and points where I can't seem to say everything I want to fast enough.

So nothing too profound in this blog this morning. I don't want to study. I know that much. I would rather begin my new webpage that I hope will become a place for most of us, who read each others' blogs, to hang out and call our page. At any rate, Angie just signed on MSN so I think I'll say good morning. :)

Foot washing

So in an honest attempt to follow though on the lessons contained in "A Heart Like Jesus" I decided to try to do some "foot washing" this morning. Upon informing a caregiver that I would be in Swift Current during a period of her scheduled shifts (More to come about that in a paragraph) she was "upset" that she now didn't know where she might be sent since I would be gone. She wasn't a happy camper to put it lightly. I managed to surpress the urge to say, "hey, wait just one second, you're ill and off work very often & I get "stuck" with someone unreliable more often than the few days a year I'm not here." (I know, I'm learning to have a heart like His. That aggressive thought was not what He would have thought.) I think she expected me to say my little thought. I just quietly said don't worry, I'll be back on the 16th. At any rate, I'm trying and I hope that my gentle answer will lighten her disposition and help me to grow. Might take awhile to eliminate thoughts like that aggressive one, but I suppose I should begin where I did with not saying it first then I can turn my thoughts to Him to redirect my natural defensive hostile thoughts. Maybe I use hostile too strongly in this case because I wasn't really hostile in my mind but it wasn't exactly a gentle thought. Ok enough rambling about that. :)

So yesterday marked 5 months as an item for myself and Angie. It was a good evening but time certainly flies whether it is days, weeks & months or minutes & hours. Looked at the clock, it was 9:30. Thought ok, we have a half hour or so before she should go to ensure enough rest for today. Next glance at the clock... 10:45!!! We just got talking about things and such great conversation that we lost track of time. My point, best 5 months of my life and after much, MUCH talking we still have just piles of things to talk about. Our trip looks very very likely to happen. I have a big list of things & places to show her in Swift Current. Lots might think I'm crazy & that what could possibly be interesting in SC right Joe? Well, how bout the cutbanks, golf courses, horseshoe lake (best jack fishing in Saskatchewan. Not big ones, but every second cast you got one), Riverdean Park, friends homes/former homes, schools, location of my accident. The list is 3/4 of a page in MS Word so far. Then there's the lake & the cabin & the boat. :) SC might be small, but I spent over 18 years of my life there so I have just a few stories to share that make a dull little city very informative of who Jay is. :)

Ok, seriously gotta get on the studying. Have a good day everyone.