A little wedding....

The wedding march....in March...
The groom looks eager at least....

Then came twins.....

But that was just too much for the boy to handle!

We made tissue flowers in the nursery at church today. And since only Madeline and Luke attended, we figured the flowers would get us all in the mood to have a wedding.

And so we did.

The bride agreed to have a flower tied into her hair.

The groom agreed to have a flower tied to his shirt pocket.

They (with the encouragement of the bride) took to walking the aisle like it was meant to be.

They said their vows and attempted some kind of kiss to verify their pledge to one another.

Then the bride introduces her children - twins, no less, to the husband and pastor. (I was the pastor!!)

The groom took to the news with less than joy. His boutonniere hit the floor after that and he had to go and find his own children (from a huge pile of plush "animal children" in the corner.

He made his choice. One white bear (the girl) and one brown bear (the boy) who were quickly bounced off the ceiling. The grooms car, however, continued to idle on the table while the ceremony took place. He waited patiently for it to be finished. Then, and only then, could he get back to that little red sports job. I think his mind was on that car throughout the whole production.

Flowers? Cars? Flowers? Cars? Not too much choice for the groom.

The bride chose flowers - one in her hair and the other tied to her "pylon bouquet" holder.

The whole wedding was very stunning and quite true to form, I must say - not to mention uproariously funny.

Two great children....Madeline and Luke Vandersluys. They made my day!

Extremes....

Waskesiu at minus 25
Waskesiu at plus 25

We live in a land of extremes, don't we? Not only temperatures fluctuate wildly from one season to another, but society does the same kind of dance.

We have extremes.

We have those who are not much in need of anything.

We also have those who are in need of everything.

Some of us are educated well past our high school diplomas, with degrees and letters behind our names that can barely fit on one typed line.

There are those of us also who for whatever reason, never managed to even get a high school diploma, let alone letters of distinction to follow us along.

There are so many varying factors that contribute to this extreme. People who have a post-secondary education already, tend to pass these values on to their children, so they in turn, will be educated and get good jobs that make a considerable amount of money which will, in turn allow them to live the "good life".

Other parents struggle to make ends meet, living from paycheck to paycheck, hardly able to pay the bills let alone save for their children's education. Some children are highly encouraged in their education while other children aren't even encouraged to get out of bed in the morning to go to school.

Today at the local Soup Kitchen I saw first hand the results of poverty and lack of education and those who have no one to encouage them in life. Whenever I go there to help serve, I feel great compassion for those folks who come to receive the little we have to offer and who are so very greatful for what little they are given.

A full stomach. To those who have little, a full stomach is a good beginning to their day. They either take advantage of what is available or there is nothing. No choice really. It's all or nothing.

Those of us who have all we need, a full stomach is always the beginning of our day....if we choose. We have a choice to eat....or not...whenever we choose and as much as we choose.

Yes, we live in a land of extremes.

May God give me eyes to see what I need to see, so I may be of more help to those who live without those things I take for granted. Help me to not look the other way, God.

Snow day....

Funny how one little snow flake perched precariously on ones mitten isn't really much.

But you get several trillion of them happening on ones sidewalks and it causes all sorts of discomfort and misery.

Today, after the snowy, blowy night, we had the snow blower, the broom and two shovels doing their various tasks. Of course, it was husband and I that had to get these several 'machines' in action....mostly with our arms and legs.

It gets the old heart pumping.

The arms begin to weaken.

The leg muscles begin to burn.

The glasses start to fog up.

The neckwarmer gets frosty.

Thumbs get numb....and toes tingle.

Sweat trickles down everywhere.

Finished. Into the house.

Rest. Off comes the socks, sweater and jeans.

Ten minutes later back on with the socks , sweater and jeans....plus a blanket.

Ya. Snow days. Good exercise....but they make you want to go to bed early.

The abyss.....

There are people I know who are slipping away from this world. Their bodies are quite fine...but their minds are on a downward slope towards their very own little world, whatever that may consist of.

It is a wretchedness that only the ones watching this digression are able to feel and experience.

Those who are on the on the way down don't realize what is happening to them. It happens gradually, ever-so painstakingly slowly and before they know it, they are past the point of no return. Merciful in that they don't see it has taken place. Merciless in that this illness has ravaged their minds without asking their permission. It simply took over everything in the mind that once was, and which is no longer in it's former state.

It remains in some type of state but not the same as when we could sit and talk of life, of what happened last week, or yesterday, or an hour ago.

It saddens my heart to think of it. People whom I have known for many years have drifted off, away, to a place I cannot go. All I can do is remember them as they were. All I can do is visit them as if for the very first time in a long time and tell them again and again the answers to their repeated questions, as if they asked the question for the very first time. All I can do is love them in this moment and remember to love them again the same way in the next moment.

The mind is a marvelous piece of engineering by one creative Creator!

He and only He, is the One who walks with our loved ones when all they have left of their memory is this very minute.

May God give us all patience and love with those dear ones whose minds are being chipped and sliced away........one moment at a time.

Action....

The two "coaches"....Stan and Deb.

Part of the Studs and Peelers team: Niska, Andrea and Val

getting ready to host "Beef on a Bun, etc." after the game.

One of 60-odd saves by goalie, Chris Brown.

Deb: "You don't need to show me the bottoms your blades.

Just get skating!!"

Chris, Forestry goalie and MVP, taking some much needed rest.

Just thought I'd keep with the hockey theme today as it's hockey season in Canada.....most likely until May/June!!!!

Those folks on the ice last evening worked so hard...the guys AND the gals.... and if the truth be known, uhhhemmmmm.......some of those folks are really not that young anymore. Their bones aren't quite as pliable as they once were, nor are their joints as limber. So, today was a day to tell stories, laugh, remember the good-natured jabs and comments, to bring out the liniment and to think about next year....when "The Game" hopefully, once more will be played.

The week continues to be busy with stuff........ something going on every day...besides work. Saturday the Soup Kitchen and Sunday I'm looking after the kids in the nursery during church. Should be good. I need my energy replenished to do that and so I go to the Father who is the source of my strength...."he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul".........but it's up to me to go to bed early enough to restore my sleep.

May those who suffer this night, sleep well in the arms of Jesus....and may they have just enough liniment in the bottle of life to limber their limbs and not quite enough to make it smell like a eucalyptus tree has been planted in their bedroom. Amen.

Yay...COs

It was the game of the century....Conservation Officers vs. Forestry.

Forestry lost by 2 goals. (ie. COs won!!) Great game though at the Art Hauser Centre!!

Relay for Life "Studs and Peelers" were hard at it tonight cheering, playing hockey, serving food and drinks and all in all, having a grand time.

A lot of hard work for many dedicated people. Thanks to all of them!!!

Now, to bed.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Misunderstandings....

Isn't it strange that something we say to a group of people can be so totally misunderstood by one individual who is not a part of that particular group....and they misunderstand because they don't know the individuals taking part in the conversation nor do they know their ways of communicating?

It's all very weird and strange. It can be almost like we are from different worlds. It's like going to a foreign country and you hear the intonations of peoples voices and think one person is angry at another person for taking the apples from that person's tree, because they happen to be standing underneath that particular tree that is ripe for picking, but in reality they are telling one another how to go about calling for the truck to pick up the apples and take them off to market. They are brothers and both own the garden.

Yes, the conversation was all very strange indeed.

Have a good night. I shall attempt to think more on how to improve my communication skills in the days ahead.