Monday, March 26, 2007

Before I get going, congratulations are due to my cousin Jeff and his wife Tania on the birth of their son, born this evening. Riley Jeffrey Carroll enters the world at 6 lbs, 14 oz. Congrats to all three.

If there's one thing that bugs me about weekends, it's that they're over far too soon. And yet, alas, here it is, Sunday evening, and Monday looms ever closer, breathing its hot, sticky breath down my neck.

A good weekend, though, made all the more fun in retrospect. It's funny, but when the weekend's here, I tend to put my head down and power through; on Sunday night, poignant reflection sets in, and I look back on the preceding 48 hours like a summer vacation in elementary school.

Hmm, feeling philosophical today, are we? No, actually--that's the last you'll hear of whimsical sojourns into the world of "what if."

Moving on. It's snowing. Hard. On March 25. Why? Because that's what winter does here in Central Alberta. It leaves you alone for a few days, gets you vulnerable, and then strikes when the opportune time arises with vim and gusto. Remember me? I'm still here....

I knew I shouldn't have made a comment about it earlier in the day. It's been a bit of a crazy weekend weather-wise--everything from shorts weather to icy north wind--and I made the comment that we've really seen the gamut of weather-related activity, except, of course, for snow. Ha ha. In the words of Han Solo, laugh it up, fuzzball.

Still, we were able to perambulate (my wife told me I needed to define that word) frequently and enjoy the spring weather. Quite lovely at times, actually, and it was really nice to be able to get outside. Theo is really turning into an outdoor baby; he constantly wants to be outdoors, and is starting to become quite upset when the day wears past a certain point and he hasn't been outside yet. It's always interesting taking him out there, too, because he's never quite sure what to do about being out there. He really enjoys the gravel driveway, especially now that he's equipped with an old broom handle (sans head, thanks to some ice a while back--it's a bit of a long story). It only takes one simple object, and the imagination runs wild. I'd love to know what he's thinking.

Today it was especially fun, because I was using an ice pick to break up the thick ice left on the lawn (in anticipation of it NOT SNOWING again that evening), and he was emulating my motions with his little broom handle. It was really cool to watch. And frightening, too, because it only confirms that he's watching everything I do. Oh boy. I've had a lot of people look up to me as a role model (it's the nature of being in youth ministry), but it's somehow different when it's your own kid.

Anyway. Fun was had by all. Here's the weekend in a nutshell. Or perhaps in several nutshells.

Friday. By far, Friday morning was the nicest morning since we've been here. Not because it was particularly warm, but there was that crisp feeling in the air that so perfectly defines early spring. As I walked to school, the sun slowly made its appearance over the horizon, casting long shadows down the street. I could see my breath, but it was that kind of crispness that makes the cool temperatures okay. The iPod substitue was cranking out some good tunes, birds were singing, life was good.

School all day. Fast-forward.

It was the usual Friday night activities--Slurpee and TV. Caught up on this week's 24, and I'll make some comments a bit further down the page. Did some Grey's Anatomy, too, which is always just so good. This season is even better than the first two, and I didn't think that was possible. Although, the death knell is soon to be sounded: they've just announced a spinoff. I personally think CSI was never the same after CSI: Miami came along. Mind you, Law & Order is still okay (at least, it was last time I watched it, which was two seasons ago), so there goes my tidy theory. When shows are really good, though, I can't help but wonder when some serious shark jumpage is going to happen. I tend to think that the longer it's good, the more spectacular the flameout is going to be. Maybe that's just the cynic in me, but I've (unfortunately) watched enough TV to expect that as the normative pattern. Here's hoping this one defies the odds.

Saturday. I know you've been waiting all weekend to hear what our exciting Saturday adventure was. Ready? Red Deer. Ooh, sorry to whip out the boring answer on you. But that's what we did. Two members of our family (of which I am not one--you do the math) have sensitivities to wheat, which means a whole new group of foods take up residence in our pantry. One of those is rice pasta, which is quite the specialty item--which, of course, means that they can put it in small packages and charge an arm and a leg for it. Anyway. The only place one can get these things is at Safeway, apparently. Since we were running out, and since Red Deer has a Safeway, we figured we'd head up there.

While we were there, we also figured we could knock a few other items off the list. For example, it's been weeks since we've been to Starbucks. Also, since I'm going to be visiting a church of possible employment over the Easter weekend, and we left all of our "nice" clothes back in Langley (not anticipating an event like this), we figured it would be a good opportunity to buy a couple of nice things for me with the Moore's gift card I got for Christmas (from my mom, complete with the dedication: "Go buy yourself some nice clothes"--ouch. Next Christmas, I expect a quarter, with the dedication: "Call someone who cares").

I'm happy to report that two of the three were completed without incident. Moore's, well, that was a bit of a bust, actually. You see, I'm surprisingly hard to fit off the rack; I have a pretty wide neck, but my shoulders are narrower in proportion (do I sound like Kronk?). In order to buy a shirt that I can button around the neck to wear a tie with, I have to settle for one that is way too big everywhere else--the shoulder seams sit somewhere halfway down my upper arm, and it is roughly the size of a tent around the middle. I'm done with wearing ill-fitting clothes, so I can't justify spending money on them. Even if it is gift money. One day, I will find a dress shirt that fits me without having to go to a tailor to have it made. Is it too much to ask for a man to have a dress shirt that fits?

Sunday. Woke up and had the usual Sunday morning indecision about where to go to church. I'm actually enjoying the conundrum; as I pointed out this morning, this is probably the last time in our lives (until I retire, at least) where we'll be able to choose which church we attend on a whim, so let's make the best of it and use as many whims as possible. You might even say that we're being whimsical, but that may be going too far.

Anyway. We settled on the church that meets just down the road from us again--more for a conveniently-timed service than anything else--and remembered why we haven't gone there until this semester. Not our cup of tea, really. To sum up: the 80's called, and they want their music back. But it was at least interesting today because they're in the process of candidating a youth and families pastor (what a vague job description that is) who was preaching today. As someone who is soon to go through the ugly candidating process myself, I want to watch others do it to pick up any trade secrets I'm not in on yet. Fun times.

Got home after the service, and it was time for Theo's nap. I also took advantage of the time to catch up on some sleep myself. Theo's had a very restless couple of nights, and has required parental intervention in both. I'm not used to a disrupted sleep cycle anymore, and the waking up to tend to him really throws me off. It's the silly teething again, although there never really seem to be any results. Here's hoping this week will be different. I had a dream last night that he had a full mouthful of teeth, and it's the second time I've had it--maybe it coincides with when he actually cuts a new one, but I don't remember when my last one was, so there goes my scientifically provable hypothesis.

After lunch, we had some play time, including the aforementioned outdoor time, and then it was off for another walk. Did the Three Hills circuit--it took about an hour--and got some more Slurpees. And pepperoni sticks, just for a lark. We got to the cash register and uncharacteristically had to wait in a line. While we were waiting, the large rack of smoked beef products caught our eye, and we decided to splurge on a little high school reminiscence. I love those pepperoni sticks. Didn't really go well with the Slurpee, but hey, whatever. Good Slurpee flavours today, too, which is frequently not the case.

Home for the afternoon, more playing (Theo was in a stellar mood, until his teeth got the best of him), pizza for dinner (corn tortilla crust for the wheat-sensitive ones), then the usual pre-bedtime routine for the little guy. And hey, look at that: we're all caught up.

So what can you anticipate this week in this space? Well, perhaps some further reports on sleeping on the living room floor, which so far is going quite well. I haven't yet woken up with a crink in the neck, nor have I had to start the day with painkillers, so we're good so far. Other than that, lots of school work, which may mean the blog suffers somewhat, but probably not. Nothing exciting planned, especially if the weather sucks like it's supposed to this week. Last week of March means crunch time for me.

Speaking of the last week of March, and necessarily, the first week of April, April Fools' Day falls on a Sunday this year. I personally hate the pseudo-holiday myself, but it sure would be interesting to see a pastor preach an April Fools' sermon. Just saying.

To close, I'd like to make a few observations about last week's episode of 24. I wonder if maybe the screening process at CTU is a bit slack. For example, I think that probably one of the questions they should have on their application form is, "Are you a mole placed here to feed our information to an enemy source, you know, just in case a 24-hour period of national security crisis arises in the tenure of your employment?" Sure, it wouldn't really weed out the moles (they'd probably lie, after all) but it might be a start. Do the writers have nothing better to do than re-use the same stupid plot device they've used every year since this show's been airing?

Furthermore, what happened to Arthur Hoggett? Last we saw him, he ran out without shooting Jack, leaving only a Blackberry with President Logan's phone number on it. Did they forget about that particular plot line.

Also, I'm not sure why Jack is so upset that nobody's told him about Audrey. Just to recap: about 14 hours ago, he was released from two years in a Chinese prison and left to die. Since then, he escaped from custody by biting a guy's jugular vein, he had to shoot his best buddy, a nuclear bomb went off, another was diffused, there was an assassination attempt on the president, he went to visit Charles Logan (by the way, what happened to him? Did I just miss the part where they told us if he was dead or alive?), had to escape from the Russian embassy after a firefight led by Ricky Schroder, and had some time for near makey-outey with his dead brother's widow (which is a little redundant, when it comes right down to it). And now he's pissed because nobody's taken him aside and told him about Audrey? Two words: psych eval.

One more thing: do you think they could make this vice president more of a caricature if they tried? Seriously--he's considering a nuclear bomb attack on a foreign country, and the only people expressing their objections are the national security advisor and chief of staff? Hey, how about using those cell phones to call the media and let them know what's going on? Just a thought. It's not like it's hard to get access to the presidential bunker, especially if you've got exploding highlighters.

Right, that's enough. It's bedtime here, and I'm sure you're done with reading this enormous posting. Thanks, though, for stopping by and making it this far. I hope you'll be with me for the whole week. See you then.