Monday, March 5, 2007

Another pleasant weekend was had by all, for the most part, at least. We have a son who is back in the thick of the teething experiment; gums are inflamed, sleep is disturbed, general malaise descends upon the household. Good fun, in other words.

It wasn't all shrieking and crying this weekend, though. Friday was the usual Friday fare; I had a whole day of school, and wife and child stayed at home. Alas, it was somewhat warmer (how's that for a cagey description?), but nothing near the 15-degree highs they were promising us the next day. Other than that, things were rather ordinary, which suits me just fine. The very fact that I can't recall anything grossly significant about Friday means one of two things: (1) I have glossed over something terribly important that for some reason didn't register on my subconscious, which will lead to reprimand from my wife; (2) nothing grossly signficant happened. I hope it's the latter.

Then came Saturday. It's funny how the weekdays seem to move at a snail's pace, yet the weekends fly by as if they were being treated by the same doctor as Barry Bonds. We absolutely had to go grocery shopping, and not just one of those pick-up-a-few-items shops. No, this was the real thing, necessitating a trip to the store everyone loves to hate: The Real Canadian Superstore. This time, to shuffle it up and keep a sense of adventure in our lives, we went to Airdrie instead of Red Deer. Ooh. The excitement was almost too much, but we managed.

Let me take this opportunity to say that I hate having to drive for an hour to get anywhere of significance. Note to self: should we ever move out of the Lower Mainland, we must live in a place with at most 30-minute access to big box retailers (or make enough money for it not to be an issue; unlikely in ministry, unfortunately). Please don't tell me the millions of reasons why big box stores are immoral or that they exploit workers, etc. I know all that. I know that the big box mentality drives away smaller businesses who just can't compete with being constantly undercut by the big guy. And you know what? I don't care. I know, it's a terrible thing to say, but I just don't care. I appreciate good customer service, but the fact that the guy behind the counter doesn't greet me by name (if he greets me at all) or that the greeter just said the exact same thing to the previous 600 customers (if he said anything at all) isn't enough to dissuade me from the fact that therein lie great deals.

Anyway. Superstore was a collosal disappointment, unfortunately. Back in BC, and at some of the newer locations in Calgary, they have a separate section where they house organic and other "healthy" foods. This is also where they have started to stock wheat-free cereals, pasta, pizza crusts, and other things that are highly useful in our household. But neither the store in Airdire nor the one in Red Deer have said section. What's worse, they don't even carry the stuff in their regular aisles. I don't need a separate section for my healthy food, but I at least want it in with the rest of the stuff. What's wrong--don't have any room?

Despite the lack of wheat-free goodness, we managed to spend over $300 on food (and other important things). Funny how that happens. The trip itself wasn't terrible either. I managed to swing by Airdrie's only Starbucks (in a Safeway) and pick up a beverage and some decaf coffee beans (mmm, coffee in the evening without laying in bed awake for three hours), Theo got a good nap, husband and wife had some great conversations, and we stopped off at the Pita Pit for lunch. I know, I know, pitas have wheat in them. Well, mister smarty-pants, it just so happens that wife and son can tolerate small amounts of wheat occasionally (once a week kind of thing), so pitas were okay. So there. The service was so textbook Alberta, but the food was decent. Or maybe half-decent. The line is rather blurry at times.

After coming back home and unloading the groceries, it was time to head off to a pool party put on by the student families group here at school. The Three Hills aquatic centre is actually quite nice. I'll bet you thought it was just a pool in some guy's backyard, didn't you? Well, it's actually quite a modern facility, complete with two hot tubs (one hotter than the other), a rope swing, and a waterslide. Fun for kids and adults alike.

The fun thing (for us, not the organizers) is that there were only four or five families there, which meant quite a lot of freedom in pool-related activities. I chose the rope swing, while Theo picked the waterslide. Just kidding. Theo stayed in the cooler hot tub with mom (and several other moms and tots). Man, does my body ever hurt today (it's Sunday as I type this). It's a lot of fun flying out over the water on a rope, but it makes you use muscles you just don't normally use. Ah well, that's the way it goes. Good times nonetheless.

That brings us to today. Tried out yet another church this morning--we have it in mind to get as much exposure to different churches as possible to get a feel for how everyone does it. It's also called stealing ideas, but hey, we're all brothers and sisters, right?

Anyway, hit Prairie's namesake church, the Prairie Tabernacle, for some good old-fashioned conservative church service (complete with hymn books, although without the requisite song leader waving his arms). It was exactly what we expected, which was a pleasant enough surprise. Is it a church we'll head to again? It's not really likely. But it was good to go and check it out. It's also just a little bit weird going to church with your teachers; sort of blurs that line between school and life a little too much. What do you call them at church? Do you still address them as professor? Seems weird, is all.

One thing really bugged me, though, and it had nothing to do with the church itself. Well, I guess it did, but in a round-about way. We didn't know when they met for worship (we knew there were two services, but that's about it), so I looked in the local phone book. 9:30 and 10:50. Okay, sounds good; we'll hit the 9:30 service and maybe Theo will sleep through it (that's about his nap time, anyway). We were ready a little bit early, so we took a walk before heading over. It was freezing cold, but it was good to get out and at least walk around. Finally, we headed over.

As soon as we rounded the corner, we knew there was an issue: the parking lot was full, and it was only 9:20. Knowing evangelicals like I do, I know that people usually start arriving in droves one minute before the service starts, and often 5 minutes after. Either this was the most punctual church on the planet, or I had some bad information. Sure enough, it turns out the service actually started at 9:00. When I got home, I double-checked the book to make sure I wasn't hallucinating--nope. The kicker is that we could've been there by 9:00. D'oh!

One final thing, because I know you're all eagerly waiting: the weather. How was it? Well, I'm sad to say that it never did hit 15 degrees. In fact, as I checked the Environment Canada forecast over the course of the weekend, all they did was move the 15-degree day farther away. On Thursday, it was supposed to be Saturday. On Friday, they moved it to Sunday. And so on. Today, sure enough, it's supposed to be 15 degrees on Tuesday. But Tuesday never comes (which would make a really stellar band name, or maybe an album title). Sad.

Yesterday wasn't bad--8 degrees in Airdrie (if only the wind would stop blowing), and a similar number back here. The incessant drip of melting snow started again, which is just music to my ears now. I was looking forward to today being more of the same.

And I was disappointed. Freezing cold all day. Sunny, yes. But cold. And windy. Argh, the wind! How I loathe it! It's so silly, because you look outside and see the sun, and you get the idea that maybe you can actually go outside and be human. Then you get out there, and the wind just takes your breath away (and not in the song from Top Gun kind of sense--Berlin, for those of you who have any idea what I'm talking about and can't remember the name of the band). Stupid wind.

If there's one function this silly weather plays, though, it's the make-me-more-homesick function. I really want to go back to the nice, temperate Lower Mainland. I'd even be okay looking at something living and green. Six-and-a-half more weeks until the last day of school. Eight more until grad. Soon.

And that, as they say, is a wrap. This week promises some interesting things, including the obligatory 24 update (probably Wednesday's entry, alas), a couple of stories from the weekend that just didn't fit here (including a quasi-rant), and a presentation to prepare for. Should be exciting, and I hope you'll be here for all of it. See you then.