Words As Weapons

Somehow the train derailed - and badly - during mom's stay here.

She was supposed to stay here 'till at least Tuesday, but yesterday afternoon she went for a walk and upon her return she requested that I change her flight tickets to today.

I let it sit for a bit, but in the evening when she requested it again, I called WestJet and had the flight changed.

Words - both mine and hers - were used as weapons during her stay here.

And so today, at around 10am I drove her to the airport, and 20 minutes later she was gone.

We're treading on uncharted territory now...

Que Golazo!

My goodness .. what a goal by James Rodriguez.  Colombia 2 - Uruguay 0.

Coy Move

Today I finally moved into my new home in Buena Vista.  I'm very pleased.

Mom arrived on Wednesday night from Abbotsford, and as always, she helped me pack everything.  I really would not have made it through the past few years without my parents' moving help: first from Vancouver to Moose Jaw, then to an apartment in Saskatoon, and now to my new house.

After her arrival Wednesday night we went out for dinner.  Dad wasn't able to come along this time around, so it was just mom and me.

Yesterday I worked, while mom packed.  My coworkers teased me about this to no end: "So, let's get this straight, while you're pushing a pencil at the office, your mom's pushing the piano?"

Today at 8am I met the builder at the new home.  We did a walk-through, signed some documents, and then he gave me the keys to the house.  I felt so proud...

At the same time, mom was "lifting the piano" at the apartment with the movers.  By noon the apartment was empty, and mom and I were on the way to the new home.  By 3pm the movers had brought everything to the new house.

For the next day or so we'll be finding a place for everything.  Unlike previous moves, space will not be an issue this time around.  There should be plenty of space for everything.  In fact, once everything's in its place, my place will look rather empty.  I'll (finally) look like the minimalist that I claim to be!

At the end of the day I'm tired.  But today my heart is filled with gratitude.  I have good feeling about this move.  I plan to have a home blessing within the first few months.

Signatures

I've been signing papers and documents lately like there's no tomorrow.

Bankers...

Lawyers...

Builders...

Real estate agents...

They all want something from me.  Mostly money...

Spain: Another Loss

This time against Chile: 0-2. 

Spain was in a group with two of the teams that I dislike the most: Holland and Chile.

They lost to - no, they were humiliated by! - Holland 1-5.  And today they lost to Chile 0-2.

What's this world coming to.

I sure hope they have some self respect left and beat Australia!

Other scores:
Germany clobbered Portugal 4-0.  Good!
Argentina barely beat Bosnia 2-1, and they looked less than convincing in doing so.  Messi saved them from embarrassment.

Another Camino?

I've been itching to do another Camino.

Thanks to one of my coworkers who connected me with someone who'd recently completed the Camino de Santiago and who was eager to share her experiences, I met with her and a few others who have completed the walk in the past few years.  Their stories and enthusiasm brought back memories of my own experience of 1.5 years ago, and made me want to pack my backpack and get on the plane again.  Like, now.

But even before this conversation I was already pondering it.  I don't know yet what the purpose would be, but that will become clear as time goes on.

Possible timeframes are later this year in September, but more likely, mid-2015, in May.  I'm too new in my job right now to request for a month off.

Which route would I take?

How far would I walk?

Go alone or find another soul-searcher to join me?  Who?

Two Great Games

I drove to Moose Jaw today to watch some good futbol with Father Dean and other folk from my church there.

Four games were played in total, but two are noteworthy.

Costa Rica 3 - Uruguay 1.  Wow, unexpected, but here's the thing: Costa Rica looked very good.  Confident, well organized, and tactically very well-prepared - well deserved winner.

Italy 2 - England 1.  Another great game.  Oh and how happy I am that England lost.  Andrea Pirlo, what can I say - what a player!

Other scores of today:

* Colombia 3 - Greece 0.  Colombia looked very good.

* Ivory Coast 2 - Japan 1.  Blah.

So Much For La Furia Roja

España 1 - Holanda 5.

Que horror.

The least desirable score came true today.

Spain looked dismal.

Plus, Van Persie's goal was absolutely phenomenal.

Can Spain recover?

I'm consoled by the fact that Spain beat Holland at the last World Cup.

I do not think Holland has it in them to win this World Cup.

A Different World Cup

The FIFA World Cup started today in Brasil.

This is the first time in 20 years that I haven't attended it.

USA 1994 - check.

France 1998 - check.

Korea/Japan 2002 - check (I went to Japan).

Deutschland 2006 - check.

South Africa 2010 - check.

And now, Brasil 2014 - ?

I didn't go because I just don't care (did I really say that?).

Maybe I do care, but my life is in a stage right now where I feel I need to forego this tournament: new province (this may be stretching it, but it still feels new to be in the prairies, even a year after my arrival), new city, new job, new apartment, and (in two weeks' time), new house.

Today Brasil beat Croatia 3-1.  I watched some of it at work.  Almost nobody cares about soccer here.

Tomorrow is España - Holland.  Vamos la furia roja.

Favourites are Germany and Brazil.  My favourite is Spain.

I like Colombia and Uruguay.  I also like Italia.  Somehow, this time around Argentina doesn't grab me, even though Messi - the best player in the world - is on the team.

As long as Holland doesn't win I'm happy.

Prairie Lilly

I'm amazed at how much I've been welcomed at my new workplace.  There's something different, something special about this place.  People seem to genuinely care about the work they do.

Today after work we met at Kinsmen Park (literally across the street from where I live!), had a bbq dinner, and then got onto the Prairie Lilly, a small boat that does tours up and down the South Saskatchewan river.  About 40 staff came for the event.

I hung out with my closest coworkers, Deb, Laura, and Carla.

Below are some pictures.

College Drive bridge.

The Bessborough.

Broadway Street bridge.

Kiwanis Memorial Park

Hiking Waskesiu

The weekend began cool and damp on Friday, dried out and warmed up on Saturday, and ended with a huge thunderstorm - lightning and all - on Sunday.

After spending a few very good days with Sanjit here in Toontown last week, it was good to get out with John and do some camping this weekend.

I departed for Waskesiu around 5 in the afternoon Friday, arriving there close to 8 in the evening.  John was already there, having set up his campsite previously.  Mosquitoes, plenty of them, were there as part of the greeting committee also.  After setting up my tent, we made a fire and sat around and talked for the rest of the evening.

Saturday morning I got up around 8, made myself a good coffee - Bailey's and all - and then got ready for a hike.  John's friend Deana also joined us.  It was a good day for hiking as the sun came out, burning through the clouds, warming up the weather.  This meant less mosquitoes too, which we welcomed.

We hiked around 18 kms, completing most of the Red Deer trails, covering mostly level ground through forested trails, but with some nice views of the lake and town along the way.  Getting out on the hiking trails was a breath of fresh air for me, both literally and figuratively!

After the hike we settled down in our campsite again, built a fire, and made dinner.  I'd brought food along, but John was keen on trying out and sharing his newly concocted camping-quiche recipe (pictured below).

We had a good conversation throughout the evening, John and I.  It seems to me we're both bruised and battered souls, but still in battle.

Sunday morning we were greeted by ominous, thunderous clouds.  We promptly packed up our stuff, avoiding having to pack up all our tenting gear in the rain.  We also managed to eat breakfast before the intense rain began.

We decided to do another hike, though, even though it was pouring rain.  We settled for the Spruce River Highlands Trail, an 8.5 km loop with some nice ups and downs, and some nice viewpoints too.  It poured for about the first 20 minutes of our hike, but then the rain stopped, and surprisingly, within an hour, it was hot and sunny again.  The loop took us about 2 hours to complete.  We spotted a moose (my first one since arriving in Saskatchewan!) along the way too.

I took a lovely alternate route home; a narrow, windy, hilly, tree-lined highway leading out of Prince Albert National Park.  I saw elk like the one below along the way. 

It was a good weekend.  I am happy to be back home and look forward to sleeping in my own bed again!

Tomorrow a new day of work begins.  I look forward to it.  The people of St. Ann's have been like the balm of Gilead to me.

Thank you Lord for a great weekend.  Bless this upcoming week.  In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

House Progress

I went to my new home today, and took a few pictures.  The work has shifted towards the backyard now, where a garage is being built.

June 1: prep work for garage

June 2: floor laid

June 2: stairway

June 2: front of house

June 4: garage framing

June 4: master bedroom

June 4: back deck