How Many Topics Can One Post Cover?

Do you like my new profile picture? Do you know who it is? Why, it's Lunar Jim, of course. Can you tell we watch Kids CBC in the mornings around here? Lunar Jim is by far my favourite of these shows. Good Canadian programming. Which, surprisingly, isn't an oxymoron.

Actually, it's been really interesting to only get CBC and Global (and a very blurry CTV, but only on a good day). Steph was saying today that even though you get used to the programs you liked to watch when you had a bunch of channels, you quickly find replacements if pressed. And I think that CBC is given a pretty unfair rap, when it all comes down. Their kids programming is excellent, I really have to say. No commercials, interesting selection of programs (that are neither insulting nor violent), and good hosts that really keep kids interested. Or so it seems. I'll let you know for sure in a couple years when Theo's old enough to tell me what he thinks.

Rain tonight. Yes, that's right--rain. Not snow. Not hail. Rain. Thanks a lot, pineapple express. But hey, I'm glad to take away some of the rain from you Lower Mainlanders, so you're welcome. I'm just thinking that it'll probably freeze tonight, and that's a recipe for disaster tomorrow. Especially since we have a drive. But hey, they say that this is a "chinook", which in Albertaese means "weather that isn't cold enough to freeze your back end off." I guess we're close enough to Calgary to benefit somewhat. Although it was supposed to have been 18 degrees today in Calgary. Definitely wasn't that here. But hey, it's not snowing. That'll make the walk to school tomorrow a little bit more bearable.

Speaking of school, things are progressing rapidly, steadily, and in the order they're supposed to be going in, which is always comforting. I've been in this sort of la-la land over the course of this semester, knowing that I'm going to graduate in April, but not really wanting to believe it's going to actually happen. The fact is that my degree, like an unsightly mole, has been a part of who I am for several years now. I've learned to accept the fact that it's there, without ever really having come to terms with the fact that it wasn't finished. And every decision that we've made since we first got married has always had the "what about your degree?" element to it. It's strange to think that we won't have that dimension in a while.

It's actually really freeing, to be honest, but like a recently-released prisoner, I'm not sure what to do with that freedom. I feel the need to re-offend just to get back to the familiarity, even if it isn't healthy for me. What I really need, and I know Steph will agree wholeheartedly, is a break from having a school-related obligation. Yeah, I want my master's, but really, the pressure isn't on right now, or at least it shouldn't be.

I think that what I really need is a renewed sense of meaning. There's just something satisfying about being in the right place at the right time, and I haven't felt that in quite some time. In fact, I haven't felt it in so long that I'm beginning to accept the fact that I might never feel it again, and believe that this is the way it's always going to be. But that's not true. Like king Theoden in the Lord of the Rings, I've been trapped under some spell that's clouded who and what I really am, and it's time for it to stop. So here's to a quest for meaning.

Just as wrote that, I got a nosebleed. I wonder if that's a sign of some kind.

Changing the topic rapidly, and please, be careful not to get whiplash, we are so addicted to Grey's Anatomy that it's really sad. We live for our next fix. Every night, we ask "So, what do you have on tap for this evening?" hoping that the answer that comes from the other is, "I was thinking that we could watch some Grey's Anatomy." And every time we can't just watch one--we have to watch multiple episodes. It's crazy how good this show is.

But we're now at an impasse, a dilemma of sorts. We just watched episode 20 of 27 which, of course, means that we're running out of episodes a little too quickly. Part of me wants to draw it out as long as I can, because I know that once we've watched all of them, there's no more until season 3 comes out on DVD, which won't be until the summer. But they're just so good that what we really want to do is just sit down and watch them all in one sitting. A difficult decision, to be sure.

Maybe having houseguests will mean that our Grey's time is cut for a while, which, although it will make me go through withdrawl, will likely be good for us. No wait, it won't be. Gah! I don't know what to do. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted.

Okay, we're almost done changing topics. I'm serious. Anyway, what I was going to say is that my sermon went well today, thanks for asking. Is it possible to be proud of a sermon? If so, I am. If not, you didn't just read that. I felt really good about this one, and I think the class liked it too. Which is good, considering we peer evaluate. Which is, quite honestly, a bit of a joke, especially when you get the peer evaluations handed back to you with the marker's name on it. So who in their right mind would give their classmate a failing grade when they know that the classmate is going to evaluate them too? Unless they think that such thoughts of revenge are out of place at Bible College. Yeah, they're probably right. But still, it's the principle.

Anyway, I managed in one sermon to pull in references to both the Muppets and the X-Files, so I'm pretty pleased. And I think it was faithful to the text as well, which is also a good bonus. It's funny though, having to craft these sermons and deliver them to a class of people who are also in the sermon-crafting business. It sometimes feels like we're being evaluated on performance value, which we essentially are. Our evaluation sheets include things like "Intellectual Directness" and "Physical Presentation." What they're really short on is "Impact of Holy Spirit" and other sermonific things. Or are they homilific things? Anyway, it's just a little weird is all. One more to go, this one a 15-minute beast. I'm up in late November, so I've got a bit of time.

Okay, seriously, I'm done. Yes, I have more to say. But I need something to talk about later this week. The problem is that I've still got something on the back-burner here that I've wanted to talk about both yesterday and today, but have instead have let other things override it. Oh well, it'll keep.

Hope to see you all again tomorrow. Same time, same place, same bat-channel.