Light Show and Fireworks

Last Wednesday Ken and Brenda were in town and we decided to go down to the Celebration of Light, a fireworks display set to music. We packed a picnic supper and had a great time. I took some pictures with my camera phone but they are still in the phone, sorry.

We had a spot right on the water and the folks around us had a radio we could here the music that accompanied the fireworks. That night was sponsored by Italy. Well last night, the show was sponsored by China, inventors of fireworks so it was supposed to be the biggest. I don't know how it was. We chose not to fight the traffic again.
Well this morning between three and seven God supplied the best show of all. A rare, for us in the city, thunder and lightning display that rattled the walls and flashed with such brilliance that it put the fireworks into a lower category. The music in this case was internal, provided by the listener. Mine was praise for an awesome God and thanksgiving for safety. The finale included a downpour and hail for added emphasis.

What a show. Brandy was not impressed, but neither was she upset. She lay with her head out the window taking it all in. Her attitude showed a level of comfort that we all should have in the midst of a storm like that. She was safe and her masters were there.
In the midst of our storms we need to remember that we are safe and our Master is there. Once we remember that, we can enjoy the awesome display.

Talk about ungrateful!

Here is a little story that should remind all of us that not everyone should be given their 15 minutes of fame. After appearing on a popular game show, winning an insane amount of money, Ken Jennings has an interesting way of showing just what kind of a guy he is. He came from obscurity and has bitten the hand that fed him.

here

A great day!

It has been an uneventful weekend and after the week we had it was surely welcome. My sister has a blog and she has explained what the family is going through so I will only point you there. Suffice it to say that all prayer possible are appreciated.

The time seemed long at work(CFNBC) this last week. Both Mr. B and I are struggling with the summer drought. He with the grass and bushes and me with the drought of finances. It is a problem caused by not having an actual summer semester. In a nut shell, the income drops to zero while the expenses continue on unabated. And as I have come to realize that results in what the banking world calls a negative cash flow. And surprise, surprise they don't like it. Well here is a little secret, I don't either.

So today being Sunday, we took our day of rest and after church have done nothing but relax. Each of us dosed a bit and then begin to talk about dinner. Sue did some freezer diving and came up with two steaks that had been resting in there for better then a year. So the main dish was chosen. This put me in charge of the actual cooking, because steak in this house means on the grill! Not Bar-b-que, just on the grill.

A couple of weeks ago I came across a recipe in a summer time magazine for a spicy rub for meat of the bovine nature. It was called "gunslinger" and sounded right up our ally. So a steak, baked potato, bap roll, grilled Caesar and a glass of....tea made for a fitting cap to this day of rest.

Another Block falls into Place

As we began the process of applying for a Provincial Charter four years ago, several factors helps to convince us our pursuit was correct. There are several things that are almost universal needs in the life of a student, regardless of the school they attend. If a student is from "out of Province" but is Canadian the best option for them in the area of insurance is to keep their home province's coverage. Unfortunately, because we were not a "designated school" our students wee forced to change to the insurance provided by BC. That almost guaranteed an increase. If a student was from another country and happened to be married with children, they would have to apply for and pay for study permits for the children too. Also at great expense.

After our charter was passed, we began the process of becoming a "designated school" and today we received notice that we made it! Praise the Lord! The most obvious outcome of being on the "list" is we are approved for government student loans. We don't necessarily encourage student to use this method for their whole education because it really is affordable if a part-time job is found. But just to know the option is there adds to our potential.

So rejoice! Another block falls into place.

Come again with that?

Okay, I admit that I read a lot of news. I follow interesting headlines and sometimes as my son sez, "they just write themselves". That is the deal with this one. I followed a headline link to ,this site. The headline "Store wants to shock chickens to death for customers " sez it all or at least it should. But half way down the article you see this quote:"Every morning, the chickens are given a fatal electric shock, de-feathered, cleaned, cut, and put on the shelves. Trujillo says no live chickens remain in the back for more than five hours. Followed by this one:"There is no butchering or slaughtering whatsoever," said Trujillo. "It's a sophisticated state-of-the-art technology."
Now if you are a chicken, be assured that there is not going to be any "butchering or slaughtering" taking place. You will only experience a shock, be de-feathered, cleaned (this means gutted) and cut up into little pieces. So don't worry!

In the midst of our busy life.

This last week at school was quite a week. Not at school but during that time period. (I tend to measure time by where I am and what I'm doing)
My mother was scheduled for surgery and we also found out that a very good friend and a boardmember from CFN was in the hospital. Need less to say we spent extra time reflecting on these two special people and life in general. Both have returned home although the recovery period is yet unknown for either.
Life is filled with many challenges and not the least of them is finding time to pray. How foolish is that statement! If we have time for nothing else prayer should never be left out. But moments of prayer for others reminds me how I have let prayerfulness slip from my conscience thoughts. I would pray but not enough.
I have been reading a book-"The Pastor’s Soul Volume 7: Deepening Your Conversation With God" in the mornings and today I came across these words: Ora Labora. Now I knew I had seen them before and as theexplanationn came Irecognizedd the source. Benedict, of the Order of that name, from church history. It basically means pray and work. Benedict "taught his followers that to pray was to work, and to work was to pray." I was reminded that while I can and should pray in a quite place, I can also pray in the midst of everything else I do. In fact if I maintain my prayerfulness the very work I am doing becomes part of the prayer. Hummmperhapss I am not to old to learn something new after all.

What a life!

As Ken wrote in his blog, they made a whirlwind tour of Vancouver and surrounding areas. I am glad that we are one of those areas. It was good to see them and even better to know that they only live two hours South of us. Carrie is ten minutes from them and Tim and Rachel are just across the water.
It is the weekend and Carrie is up for her vacation. She plans to veg and catch up on some craft projects while relaxing in the back yard while not listening to the sounds of chickens clucking and roosters crowing. We have tickets to Bard on the Beach for later in the week and it will be fun to introduce another family member to this Shakespearian treat. I have a fresh cup of Muan Jai coffee and the sounds of the anniversary fountain is providing soft background noise to a beautiful summer evening.

Yep, All is well in the North West

As Carrie has noted, the family is complete again for the first time in a long time. We live in the same time zone and while not ten minutes away, Ken and Brenda are just two short hours away.

We helped unload the truck and at least their stuff is in their living room. Brenda's sister, Angela, and a close family friend, Tre, were there to help. Some water damage and time will tell how it will all shake out but suffice it to say "it does not matter" what has happened to things, they arrived safe. After getting one call after a vehicle turned upside down, I will rejoice in never getting one of those calls again.

The saga of the trip will be told another time by those involved but the retelling only gets funnier each time. And in our family one thing we can all do is tell stories. For those who prayed with us, thank you.

So Where are the pictures?

I must confess that I did not take any. Although there were some nice cars there, mostly a family of 55,56, and 57 Chevy Belair's, I did not take the camera with us. It was a nice little show, lots of face painters, hot dogs and popcorn. A clown on stilts and another making balloon animals rounded out the little celebration. I will let you know if we win anything in the draw. But don't hold your breath, I'm not!

Just so you won't be too disappointed, here is a picture of my kind of old vehicle.

Wedding Weekend

Today has dawned bright and blue, which is what is needed when we are scheduled to attend a weeding with an outdoor reception. Now that is faith! Tracie and Mike will tie the knot today. It should be a great time of celebration and reconnection. They are both students and we will no doubt see many of the other students in the crowd.

Before that though, Sue and I are walking over to the new shopping center and see a couple of customized cars. It is the grand opening of Westminster Credit and the whole center is sharing in the party. Plenty of draws and prizes so maybe we will win a free movie rental. I will to post a picture or two if the cars are worth it. Now if there are any old trucks!

Our two oldest are moving back into the area and we are going to help unload the truck on Monday afternoon. That is a treat totally unexpected but long prayed for. Just last night Sue and I were talking about having all seven of us together one day soon. Oh the joy!

Not even for a bet

There have been times that Sue has looked at hats and coats for Brandy. The most she ever got were raindeer antlers for Christmas time. One of our students sent these pictures (kudo's to Paty) and I wanted to pass them along for the laugh factor. I would not even dress up my sisters dog in these!

Day Dream part two

This the corner we worked on. The tree was already there but I moved it after putting in the yard ties.











Brandy helped but she crashed later. I guess I wore her out!

What a day for a day dream!

But not in our back yard. We had extreme noise pollution in our neighborhood today. The back yard neighbor was building a closet in their basement and cutting all the material out in the yard. The next door neighbor was sanding his deck with a grinder type sander. And not to be out "noised" I was building a new planter box area out of timbers and so I was cutting in the yard too. Very noisy! Our yard looks great, re-arranged plants and a fountain in the corner. Then we got the power washer and cleaned off the patio. And what a tan I got today. I will get pictures up tomorrow, I started the water before I thought of it tonight.

Brandy

Who Me?

So we came home the other day and found that we had left the door to the powder room open. This is bad because our sweet little Brandy likes to help herself to the toilet paper. Normally she will just grab the end of the roll and drag it out to the carpet by the back door and eat it like spaghetti. We did see a bit of paper by the back door but we saw something else too. Looking into the powder room we saw the pantry door open too. Opps! I went in there and saw that Brandy had helped herself not only to toilet paper but also helped herself to the box of “Sweet and salty” Snack bars. At the same time Sue walked into the room to “confront” the very guilty acting pup. She too saw the remains of snack bars. We began to count and determined that 12 snack bars had met their demise during the morning feeding frenzy. Not knowing how much of the foil wrapper she had also consumed, I was concerned for her tummy. As we looked at the wrappers, we saw that she had figured out how to open them and not much foil was missing at all.

Over the next two days, she ate very little of her normal food and yet seemed to be just fine. I did find a bit of foil in the back yard but not much at all. We found a couple of uneaten bars in the living room but did not think too much about it. Well Carrie came up this weekend and as we are getting ready for her we found a couple more bars “stashed about the house and figured that Brandy having gotten full had “buried” some of these treats for another day; under the couch, behind the chair, under the bed in Carrie’s room. Funny Dog!