Merry Christmas

I am savouring my fleeting holiday, and learning to appreciate the fresh wet reality of B.C Christmas's. Snow and ice are in short supply, which means noone wastes time thinking about pond hockey, but squash courts are easy to come by, and James and his bro's spent the morning playing squash and having male bonding time. James' mom (whom I will now be referring to as just plain "mom" ) and I had our bonding time while knocking off all the items on our lists at the nearest mall. It was fun.

Today has been the first sunny day, and on our way to pick up Ali from the airport, I fell in love again with the beauty of snow capped mountains, which had been obscured by cloud and rain up until now. The boys' capitalized on the weather, and the recent dump of powder on Mount Baker, and are currently spending the day skiing/snowboarding, and I'll venture to say carrying on their male bonding time. The girls (Leah, mom, Ali, and I) took a drive to Steveson (?) to take in the sites of a bustling harbour/fishing town, and to grab some fish and chips at the Blue Canoe. A very cute restaurant overlooking the water.
I've come to the realization that you simply cannot go wrong with fish and chips.

Although Christmas day is officially over, I feel like the party is just getting started over here. I consider Christmas more of a season anyways, which, fortunately, will not be over until I step back into my job on Monday morning. Until then, I am entitled (and expected) to eat frequently, play a lot of games, watch episodes of MadMen, and deliciously curl up at any time of the day to just read. It's a beautiful thing.
Tonight is family Christmas with the immediate Harskamp clan, which is going to be a lot of fun. Apparently there are some home videos of the fam worth watching, and I have to say, I'm excited to see what my husband was like at 5 years old. Something tells me not so very different. I say this from the experience of my own home videos, where a mini Ree at the age of 5 is incredibly telling of the person I am today. I find this very amusing. How is it that education and conditioning and being 20 years older still can't iron out my 5 year old mood swings?! I'm no emotional roller coaster or anything, but I'm still the Ree I was at 5. That's a fact.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the next few days, one of which will be spent having a family photo shoot downtown Vancouver and going to Science World. That's right. I married a scientist, and this is the price I have to pay :) But I am really looking forward to it.

And now, I am looking forward to my book.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Bowmanville slumber party

Niagara Falls--free B & B!

Bears!

James in hockey equipment. Hot.

I am close to the end.

Two days until I am deprived of my "2 job" status and lumped in with normal people who work one job full time.

A moment to reflect:

Columbia International College was awesome.

Things that were awesome:

Teaching students from Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Senegal, China, Vietnam, Russia, and Korea.

Learning how to say "hello, how are you?" in every one of those languages.

Having my eyes opened to my student's realities, and what life is like for a foreign student

Reading Romeo and Juliet for the first time

Hearing my students heatedly debate the rules of war

Student papers :) (broken English cracks me up)

Getting a good taste of this career

Tomorrow is a study day, and Thursday they write their final exam. Then they move on to Grade 11 English and I never see them again. I don't get to see if they ever change their minds about the importance of money. I don't know if they ever go back home again, or if they end up settling here in Canada. Which ones will make it into their top universities? I have my guesses, but I'll really never know.

Strange to be so involved in a kids life every morning for 9 straight weeks, and then they drop off the face of the earth. I know it's just a part of life, and not really all that unique to teaching, but I think that because the volume of people that come and go through a classroom is higher than most other places, it seems like a bigger deal.

Oh well.

Good luck to them all!

Only two weeks until Christmas holidays!!

Christmas Ramblings

The Christmas decorations are UP! Stockings, lights, candles, garland, eggnog, and Christmas music= one lovable apartment.

Things still to be desired--a live Christmas tree, presents under said tree, pointsettias, and Christmas baked goods. And Christmas day. But for that, I will be patient. The rest we'll get next week or something.

Anyways, I'm just glad I was up for the home makeover after a morning of stomach flu, sporadic vomiting, and 5 wasted hours of daylight due to napping. I don't nap. But I'm over the flu :)

Other exciting things that have happened this week. Savannah Joy Dykstra. My beautiful, healthy, chubby new niece. I love her. So do her brothers. Speaking of the nephews, James and I thought we'd take them off my sister's hands for the day so that she could just relax and we could just have fun with the boys. We took them to grandmas and made crafts, Christmas chocolate molds, and spent a good chunk of the afternoon outside running around. A lot of fun, but I am definitely glad that the way you start a family is with ONE, immobile, possibly quieter infant. Baby steps.

I'm onside with that.

Alright. The flu put me off my game, and I have a pile of essays just itching to be marked. Here I go.

A Good Feeling

Well, it's official. Our baby has all it's limbs, organs, and attitude.. and it was squirming and karate kicking my bladder during the whole ultrasound.

So, it's most likely going to take after me.

We are pretty pumped that the baby seems healthy, spunky, and REAL. Pictures can work wonders :)

So, I'm getting my "baby bump" and to avoid embarrassing "fat" questions from my students, I let the cat out of the bag and put them into shock. Now everyone that I come into contact with on a daily basis has been informed, and I will have to resign myself to the fact that people first look at my stomach before they meet my eyes.

Anyways, school is awesome. I love it. High school is definitely for me, and I am going to soak up the joys of it until I move on to phase 2 of the joy train. That means when teaching is replaced with baby love and diapers.

I'm already becoming that person who talks too much about babies. I'm referring to those moms who can only talk about their kids, like they themselves don't actually do anything. I'm hyper aware of this condition, however, and so I am promising myself to avoid it as much as possible. I'll start with my next blog and "other" happenings in my life.

Deal.

A familiar feeling

I'm antsy for things that I can't put my finger on. Like I want to go do something or be somewhere, and somehow I am still sitting here. Typing. The time is ticking before our little time bomb goes off in April, and then my world will change forever. I'm under no allusions here. Motherhood is going to be very different from "wifehood", which was very different from "singlehood". If these aren't words, they should be. I had this anstsy"ness" before I got married, because the "time bomb" was going off which meant a life change was about to happen, and so I had to do something crazy in the time I had left. Yes, "had left". If you gasp here, and think " what a horrible way to think of it.. time left'" then I think less of you.

Of course the start of something new means the end of something old. It's accurate.

Right now, I am thinking the "new" will involve great things, but in and among the great will be the reality of a dependent child. A tiny, little infant, who poops, and cries, and demands that I care for it (he/she) constantly. An awesome, scary, real responsibility.

And before I buckle down and get serious about being a mom, I am just letting you know that I am feeling antsy. I have four months left.

The feeling is not a new one for me. I know that. I'm a restless person, and so I learn to cope when I'm in these moods. Time to review my inventory of past coping strategies, so I can take my pick for the night.

1) Puddle jump

2) Run--fast.

3) Play a game of "21 up"

4) Go to South Africa

5) Go to England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy

6) Come home

7) Pull out my list of "dreams" and add to it

8) Get lost in a good book

9) Go to Petland

10) Climb a tree

11) Build a fort

12) Tackle James

13) Yell and make noises

14) Go outside

15) Drink a pint.

Ok, so there's a few on the least that aren't all that feasible. I think I'll just go grab my book.

After an afternoon downtown with my ESL class, and braving the city bus to get there and back on a time schedule (totally against my nature:), and then an afternoon/evening driving to and from Stratford with my grade 11 class, I'd say I'm just about ready to have my husband home, and a good relaxing Thanksgiving weekend.

That is all.

And either the baby is growing, or I'm eating too much. Pants are starting to wonder what's up.

Cold, wet, drizzly days= Ew.

Yummy treats, hot drinks, nice conversation, pad thai dinners, casual mall shopping, and basically being completely spoiled rotten = mom.

I love when mom visits. Especially on cold wet drizzly days. With James gone it seems like my social life is on the rise, and I didn't think we were lacking one before. So this is interesting. It's nice to know that people are looking out for me though; and not just people, but the people I love and care about the most.

On Sunday Trine came over to hang out, eat soup and help me get caught up with school stuff.

On Monday Ryan had me over for dinner, and Doug and I met up at Starbucks to get work done ( an idea that never materialized, but it was nice to just hang out anyways :)

And Tuesday--today-- mom came. She's wonderful.

She brought me a rust-coloured fall mum, and promised to baby my tropical plant back to health. I was sort of just starving it to death, having decided a while ago that it wasn't worth my time. (Don't get the wrong idea, I'm sure that callous side of me will rub off by the time April hits :)

Then we had coffee, and just hung out, and I realized we were on that level of "your my mom, but you're my friend" in a way that is not supposed to be sappy or lame, but in a way that makes me happy to be at a stage where we can talk about life and finally understand eachother.

Anyways, that was articulated poorly. All I want to say is that I have an incredible family here, friends included, and a mom who I very much hope to be like in so many ways.

unknown territory

So I'm in it-- the unknown territory of pregnancy. I suppose I should say "we're in it"-- considering it took two of us to get to this point, but it always rubbed me the wrong way when a woman says "we're pregnant". That's just not possible. Boys will never be part of that club, so why pretend?

Anyways, I'm in it. I suppose this explains my former blog entitled "Tiiiired"-- one of those little unknown facts about the first trimester. For a person the size of a bean, he/she really knows how to sap your energy.

So, tiredness. Not something I'm used to, nor can say I particularly like. As much as I love my bed, it is something I consider untouchable until my bedtime hits. So roughly 10-11 at night, it is acceptable behaviour to go to bed.

And yet, during those early unknown months of pregnancy, I was breaking a lot of my bedtime rules. This did explain my trouble staying awake on my 30 minute drive to and from Maple Leaf. I thought it was just because Trine was no longer there, and so conversation was minimal, as in nonexistent. But no, I was pregnant. And naps were glorious.

And then that urge to puke. What's that about? For those first "unknown" months (when in complete denial) , I actually believe that it was my will power alone that held things at bay. I would not throw up. If anything, I would get nauseous, then take a little walk to talk myself out of nausea.

I must say that once the undeniable facts were in, I puked. A little lesson on the power of the mind.

Getting hired last minute to work two teaching jobs was a huge blessing. No more nauseating drives to the farm. Now I had the wonderful opportunity to teach in a multi-cultural school, and take in all the wonderful ethnic food smells.

No one really tells you that your sense of smell is heightened when you get pregnant. What's interesting is that the things I'm not supposed to have I seem to naturally now find disgusting. Coffee, beer, sushi, soft cheeses... not on my priority list at the moment.

The typical pregnancy thing-- craving foods--- has not really hit me yet. My thighs thank me for this. However, I'm sure it's just a matter of time. I hear the second trimester's a real treat for that sort of thing.

James has been so incredibly wonderful in all of this. We are both pretty pumped to be parents, although I know it will change our lives completely. But, being fully on side with change, I think it will be pretty cool, and James- well, I know he'll make one amazing daddy for the "little princess" that he thinks we'll have. To be honest, I think we are both hoping the first one takes after papa James. Every parent loves the shy obedient kid. We are hoping my personality kicks in around number 3 or 4. It's healthier for everyone that way :)

All in all, life is very good.

So I left off marking 40 essays all weekend, and now it's Sunday night, and the task still awaits me. I should have got them done Saturday morning, but sleeping in is a luxury that only comes once a week. It couldn't be wasted.

And then there was the annual pioneer day in Jordan Station, and no one should turn down something "annual" because they'll regret it for a year. Plus, the nephews loved it.

I thought I might get some work done at mom's, but it's just not possible. Between hot chocolate, snacks, conversation, bouncing nephews, and all that jazz, the papers sat untouched.

Of course my back up plan was to just get it done at Michelle's, where James and I would be babysitting on Saturday night, but at the last second I changed my mind, because James' was heading to Boston on Sunday, and I wanted to hang out with him. So we hung out with the boys, watched Winnie the Pooh, put them to bed, ate chips and ice cream, cuddled on the couch and watched Titanic. Classic.

Now I'm home, in our apartment, but James' isn't here and I'm just not feeling motivated. Might be the head cold/ husband being gone. Or maybe I'm just pregnant. I'll go with that one. Because I am, due in April, and feeling a bit nauseous. Time to eat some soup.

moon cakes

Apparently, back when moon worship was all the rage, a holiday was formed in China to celebrate the harvest and to celebrate family. I think it's a pretty big deal, considering my students were outraged at the price of "moon cakes"--$24.99 for four-- and longing to be eating cheaper, undoubtedly better, mooncakes under the moonlight with their families back home.

A few of my students, probably thinking they'd earn extra credit, brought in some interesting tidbits about their festival. I eat this stuff up, and so should you.

It starts with the legend of Houyi, a great archer and architect, and his wife Chang E, whose "beauty was surpassed only by her curiosity".

So Houyi goes and saves the world by shooting down nine extra suns that had suddenly appeared in the sky. For this he was rewarded with a pill containing the elixir of immortality, but with strings attached--he must fast and pray for one year before taking it.

His wife screwed everything up, she found the pill, swallowed it, and found herself inconveniently soaring to the moon. Upon reaching the moon, she coughed up the pill in dismay, which turned into a jade rabbit that, day and night, pounds out a celestial elixir for the immortals.

But she's not up there alone. Another permanent lunar resident is Wu Kang, a mortal who happened to piss off an immortal because of his laziness. As punishment, he was sent to chop down a cassia tree on the moon, an impossible mission. For, as we all know, a cut in cassia tree heals itself within a day, and so Wu Kang is still up there chopping... for eternity. You'd think he would have died by now, but that's because I forgot to mention that he learned how to become immortal from his immortal master. Obviously.

So, that is why on the 15th night of the eighth lunar month the moon is brightest and the harvest is celebrated. An inspirational date.

One of my student's brought me a most coveted mooncake, which ways about 100 pounds, and tastes like a mixture of peanuts and honey, with a cool design on the top.

Now it is Friday-- I can't believe the weekend is already here, and with it, no plans. One thing I don't want to do is school work. One thing I must do is exactly that. Boo. I was hoping for a trip to Wonderland.

Hot chocolate with 2 marshmallows, crackers and cheese, a comfortable couch, and a good novel on a Friday afternoon. This has to be one of the best combinations on the planet. Nothing to prep for Saturday and a chance to escape into another world with a steaming drink and a filling belly. The most delicious comfort-- something I used to do all the time when I came off the bus growing up. Mom would have the popcorn popped, the tea made, and I would read my favorite book on the big green leather couch.

I haven't actually gone back to that routine in years, but now I am back on high school schedule, which finds me home at 4:00, with one beautiful hour to myself to make a snack, and snuggle up with my favorite book. It just can't be beat.

This morning James and I woke up at 7:00, and went for an hour hike through the Bruce Trail. This is my favorite time of day. It's fresh, and quiet, and chilly, and beautiful. Fall is here, the leaves are turning, the river's are chilling, and swimming this morning was an option (we found and followed this river which brought us to a fantastic waterfall) but the shallow pools only accepted me up to my thighs, and I couldn't bring myself to go under. Would have been worth it though.

We made it back on time for our traditional pancake breakfast with the whole house, which is such a great part of the weekend. We live with some truly wonderful people, and coffee/orange juice and blueberry pancakes are a great way to start the day.

I am trying to get a hold of my brother so that I can go to apple fest today. Besides tea/popcorn and book, fall apples are my next favorite thing. It really doesn't take much to make me happy in the fall. I can't wait to get my apple crisp on :)

Overall, life is great.

Tiiired.

My schedule:

Wake up: 7:00

Leave house: 8:00

Prep: 8-8:30

Teach at Columbia International College: 8:45-11:35

Eat something..

Hamilton District Christian High: Get there before start time--12:24

Teach: 12:24-3:00

Columbia Tutorials: 3:30-4:30

Groceries: 4:30-5:00

HOME: 5:00

dinner... etc.

You get the point...

A pretty normal workday, I'd say, but for some reason-- I'm POOOOPED.

Maybe it's because the evenings are no longer free.

They seem to involve a lot more planning, and a lot less socializing.

Snooooze!

Anywhoo, what can I say? I love teaching, I love my students, and I love learning. It's a win win, except for the fact that I'm still poooped, and it's time to make dinner.

For those of you wondering what I'm up to, I hope this helps.

Yesterday afternoon, after being stuck in dead stop traffic for over an hour, James and I finally made it to Jon Horlings wedding in Holland Marsh. We were an hour late, but fortunately, so were the photographers and other guests, and we didn't miss a thing. Thank goodness. Because what we witnessed will most likely go down in wedding history. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding at Harm's Farm (Jon's dad's place), and the backdrop was a beautiful sloping forest on the edge of the river. As Jon seated his "moms" and awaited his bride, firecrackers went off in the woods, and a golf cart turned pirate ship flew onto the set. Jon's grooms"mates" were decked out as pirates (Brian Harskamp included) and they proceeded to attack Jon in a very intricately choreographed fight scene drawn up by Jon himself. They all had swords, but Jon managed to fight them off. (I think my jaw was dropped during this entire event, while James was trying hard not to pee his pants). Eventually, they outnumbered poor Jon, and given a few last words, he said he was going to sing to Kimberly, the love of his life--his bride to be. So he did, and the pirates wept, and let him go, and then Kimberly and her girls all came down, normal wedding fashion... like there had never been any pirates at all.

Bizarre.

And very very entertaining. Considering Jon is a theater guy, I think everyone was sort of expecting this wedding to be a little different. I am just so glad we were there to witness what that looked like.

Then we ate pig, corn on the cob, salads and cupcakes, watched fireworks, and square danced. Overall, a very inspirational wedding.

Well, I am procrastinating. Time to go over some lesson plans for tomorrow's classes on short story. Columbia International College is proving to be an amazing place to teach so far-- I am so glad God had this in His plan while I fretted uselessly throughout the summer. What a blessing it is to go to work and use my talents!

Grandpa turns 75

The Sikkema clan is now pushing a 80 + people, which doesn't work so well if you want to get together to discuss politics, but it happens to be the perfect amount for birthday parties. My grandpa turned 75, and the party was epic. You might not think so, this being a birthday party for an "old guy", but my grandpa is the man, and I'm telling you, it was a good party.

First there were potato sack races. We ran several different heats, and I have to say, I dominated among the female cousins/aunts. However, due to a mistep due to exhaustion (the distance was WAY too far!) I, and my lung, collapsed right before the finish line.

Next we had three legged races. Again, I must say, Alaina and I were destroying when my Aunt Fran and Aunt Renee decide to cheat on the distance. They had this brilliant idea that they wouldn't go around Jim-- they would just sort of turn around midway. Of course we just smoke them, head on, and my hip nicely pile drives Aunt Fran's skull into the grass. And there we lay in a crumpled heap.. a cool runnings moment. I blame Fran.

The next game was a bit more tame. 25 plastic bowls were laid in a line across the grass, and the kids were told to lie down, hands behind their backs, in front of a bowl. Of course, it didn't end up just being the kids, but my uncles, brothers, dad, and of course, myself. Anyways, the bowls have 8 jelly beans at the bottom, which are covered with a pile of whip cream. First one done eating the beans wins.. simple as that. Of course it just ended up being everyone throwing bowls of whipcream in ppl's faces.... which was also very hilarious.

Anywhoo, just a shout out to the Sikkema family that I love them all and their intellectual craziness. Such a great combo. And of course, a happy birthday to my dear grandpa.

I am realizing a lot about myself in this whole marriage business. . I can't escape typical wife stereotypes. I am that person who nags about beard stubble in the sink, smelly garbage in the kitchen, and heaps of dirty clothes (mine included) lying on the floor.

Love continues to play its part however, and we are only getting better at it. A year is coming up fast, and I can say it has been absolutely fabulous.

Example: I come home from work to a meal of stuffed zucchini, freshly made guacamole dip, and a bouquet of beautiful flowers of my favorite colours. What a guy.

A word on our apartment. It changes weekly, if not daily, due to my recently discovered OCD (self diagnosed) and a love for thrift stores and garage sales. Cut outs from Mexican coffee table books are framed with love and hang happily in our bathroom, recovered bricks proudly hold a slab of barnboard and our slick Samsung tele, a world map souvi from Montreal educates our living room wall, and plants that refuse to flower but maintain a waxy green shine give our house that special feeling of HOME. Having James in the house to laugh, fight, cuddle and cry with also has that pleasant effect.

It has been a great year so far.

In the school department, I can say with calm uncertain happiness that I am no longer a student, and job searching has been easy. The OACS website/ google have made it so, and I thank them for that. Finding a job has proven difficult, and I'm not yet sure who to thank for that.

Maple Leaf has had my spot reserved for it's 12th consecutive summer, and I'm not ashamed of that, though it does answer some questions about my ability to find another job. A concept as foreign as our migrant workers, who by the way, have in their own special way helped employ me through their keen desire to learn a second language with me as their instructor. Class update: "TH" is proving difficult, and we need to review the definition of "punctual".

Marineland is a blast. The whales get you wet and the sky screamer does funny things to your stomach. Everyone loves that place. You feed bears corn pops and experience death camps at the animal level in the form of "deer petting zoos". Some questions I brought away from my marineland experience.

1) How can a sea lion balance a ball on its nose while riding down a slide?

2) Why does Levi insist on riding every ride when he cries on every ride?

3) How can a complete summer pass cost only an extra $5.00?

4) How did my 2 year old nephew get lost?

Our vegetable garden is on steroids. We have cranked out an astronomical amount of f zucchini dishes, with no end in sight. I enjoy that zucchini gets my creative juices flowing, when the thought of an art class didn't, but our fridge space is limited, and so we are becoming a charity couple. If we like you, you may find a zucchini on your pillow.

A lot of our friends our now in the hood. Trine, Ryan, Tim, Brad, Jordan, Danielle, Brian, Alli, Steve, Jen, Rob... to name a few. It's like we never left Redeemer campus, and at times it gets me excited, and at others --reclusive. Weird combo. I'm just learning this about myself now, interstingly enough. And I've decided I'm OK with it. I think it comes with having our own place. In dorms you can't get territorial, because they are built for everyone's communal use. It's just different now.

Community is pretty huge for us, and we are loving the doses of it that we are getting here. There is always something on the go.. church, bible study, disco dingoes, bbq's, hikes, fam, etc. However, we may have OD'd a bit on the C word this summer, which is why B.C was so refreshing.

The trip out west put the wind back in our sails, so to speak, giving us the time James' and I needed to spend time together and reconnect with the Harskamp clan. Alberta was just plain fun.

After my brother's (very amazing ) wedding, we packed our bags and headed West, stopping in Alberta for a few days to go to another wedding, dance the lights out, climb the hoodoos, explore the coolies, and say my goodbyes to my pal Robbo. Mom and Dad Harskamp scooped us up out of the prairies and took us through the Rockies to Mermaid Motel and hot springs, then to the ferry, then to Shuswap cabin, then "home". A true treat.

I don't think it's a stretch to say we were treated like prodigal children that had returned to feed off the fat of the land. Three bbq's, a gift to the condo, and multiple hangouts, and James and I were feeling truly inspired to flee from Paradise lost and reclaim Eden. That's to say James could see us moving to Vancouver and saying goodbye to Stelco. I am still holding out for a better Eden--N.Z-- which cannot, unfortunately be attainable this January.

Wow, this is dragging on.

This is the newest post of old posts.. just saying it how it is, and letting you into a sliver of myself that only comes out in letters.

I am realizing a lot about myself in this whole marriage business. . I can't escape typical wife stereotypes. I am that person who nags about beard stubble in the sink, smelly garbage in the kitchen, and heaps of dirty clothes (mine included) lying on the floor.

Love continues to play its part however, and we are only getting better at it. A year is coming up fast, and I can say it has been absolutely fabulous.

Example: I come home from work to a meal of stuffed zucchini, freshly made guacamole dip, and a bouquet of beautiful flowers of my favorite colours. What a guy.

A word on our apartment. It changes weekly, if not daily, due to my recently discovered OCD (self diagnosed) and a love for thrift stores and garage sales. Cut outs from Mexican coffee table books are framed with love and hang happily in our bathroom, recovered bricks proudly hold a slab of barnboard and our slick Samsung tele, a world map souvi from Montreal educates our living room wall, and plants that refuse to flower but maintain a waxy green shine give our house that special feeling of HOME. Having James in the house to laugh, fight, cuddle and cry with also has that pleasant effect.

It has been a great year so far.

In the school department, I can say with calm uncertain happiness that I am no longer a student, and job searching has been easy. The OACS website/ google have made it so, and I thank them for that. Finding a job has proven difficult, and I'm not yet sure who to thank for that.

Maple Leaf has had my spot reserved for it's 12th consecutive summer, and I'm not ashamed of that, though it does answer some questions about my ability to find another job. A concept as foreign as our migrant workers, who by the way, have in their own special way helped employ me through their keen desire to learn a second language with me as their instructor. Class update: "TH" is proving difficult, and we need to review the definition of "punctual".

Marineland is a blast. The whales get you wet and the sky screamer does funny things to your stomach. Everyone loves that place. You feed bears corn pops and experience death camps at the animal level in the form of "deer petting zoos". Some questions I brought away from my marineland experience.

1) How can a sea lion balance a ball on its nose while riding down a slide?

2) Why does Levi insist on riding every ride when he cries on every ride?

3) How can a complete summer pass cost only an extra $5.00?

4) How did my 2 year old nephew get lost?

Our vegetable garden is on steroids. We have cranked out an astronomical amount of f zucchini dishes, with no end in sight. I enjoy that zucchini gets my creative juices flowing, when the thought of an art class didn't, but our fridge space is limited, and so we are becoming a charity couple. If we like you, you may find a zucchini on your pillow.

A lot of our friends our now in the hood. Trine, Ryan, Tim, Brad, Jordan, Danielle, Brian, Alli, Steve, Jen, Rob... to name a few. It's like we never left Redeemer campus, and at times it gets me excited, and at others --reclusive. Weird combo. I'm just learning this about myself now, interstingly enough. And I've decided I'm OK with it. I think it comes with having our own place. In dorms you can't get territorial, because they are built for everyone's communal use. It's just different now.

Community is pretty huge for us, and we are loving the doses of it that we are getting here. There is always something on the go.. church, bible study, disco dingoes, bbq's, hikes, fam, etc. However, we may have OD'd a bit on the C word this summer, which is why B.C was so refreshing.

The trip out west put the wind back in our sails, so to speak, giving us the time James' and I needed to spend time together and reconnect with the Harskamp clan. Alberta was just plain fun.

After my brother's (very amazing ) wedding, we packed our bags and headed West, stopping in Alberta for a few days to go to another wedding, dance the lights out, climb the hoodoos, explore the coolies, and say my goodbyes to my pal Robbo. Mom and Dad Harskamp scooped us up out of the prairies and took us through the Rockies to Mermaid Motel and hot springs, then to the ferry, then to Shuswap cabin, then "home". A true treat.

I don't think it's a stretch to say we were treated like prodigal children that had returned to feed off the fat of the land. Three bbq's, a gift to the condo, and multiple hangouts, and James and I were feeling truly inspired to flee from Paradise lost and reclaim Eden. That's to say James could see us moving to Vancouver and saying goodbye to Stelco. I am still holding out for a better Eden--N.Z-- which cannot, unfortunately be attainable this January.

Wow, this is dragging on.

It's a wrap.

This is the newest post of old posts.. just saying it how it is, and letting you into a sliver of myself that only comes out in letters.

Who is hording all of Hamilton's snow?

Last night we actually pulled crazy carpet's behind Ally's car down a path of snow and gravel...mostly gravel. Robyn's knees were not impressed, but I commend her for her spirit.

James is gone in Peterborough until Sunday, so last night we had a girl's night and tore up our knees then went to Danielle's for hot chocolate. Then I slept in my old room in 333. My first slumber party since before my wedding!

Fun- but I miss my husband.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T.S Eliot

I appreciate this.
I have been stabbed by a very sharp assortment of "swords" and am feeling a tad drained.
Kuyper's Cafe, Bible study, Stephen Lewis, pancake breakfast debrief, Church, Church in the box, personal devo's, blogs, and a lot of riveting conversations ALL of which have criss crossed eachother on the issue of social justice.

And the issue is not new, but horribly real. And when the veil of affluence and comfort is lifted and you catch a glimpse of our world as it is: murder, rape, child soldiers, sweatshops, poverty, earthquakes, death tolls exceeding 200,000--bad things happening somewhere out there---- it kind of gets you thinking.

What is the problem? Why can't we get it together? I feel drained because I KNOW there is a problem, and I am told I AM IT.
OK. That may be. Maybe my purchasing of mangoes is impoverishing someone, somewhere. Maybe drinking coffee is enslaving someone, somewhere.
Maybe I need to seriously examine where my clothes come from.
And if I discover that my living standards/habits are contributing to the greater problem, then by all means, I must adjust them.
In good conscious I will say this, knowing it will be next to impossible to thrive here as a monk, but willing to do whatever it takes to set things right.
But I need to know that that really is the problem. THEN I can start to get thinking on a good solution.

However, the problem, more accurately can't be just me. The problem has to do with the state of our world. Sin-filled. And, until Christ comes again, it is an impossible problem to eradicate. And with sin comes corruption-- a complete disregard for God, God's law, and a proper understanding of justice. So the world really is a miserable place and yet the entire world is rallying to "save" it.
So.. solutions?
The Green way? Compost, recycle, reduce electricity use, bike.. etc. etc.
Or what- give money to a hobo on the street? Send money to Haiti? Sign up for a mission trip?
Or boycott superstores, protest migrant workers? Stop global trade?
Move? Remove yourself from the structre/system you are living/dying in?

For a non-christian, (and a christian) this may sound feasible, possibly attractive.
But I think Christians need to offer more. I don't think we can blame the "toxins of north american consumerism" for all the world's evils. ( And I would like to argue this rampant idea of "toxic" consumerism further..but later.)

I also don't think we can't act in isolation. The emphasis on individualism in this culture is debilitating and counter intuitive to how we are meant to exist.
We need to live in community.
We need to work together to honour God first, then our neighbour. Our community.
Out of the Christian communities we have got to start seeing/making a bloody difference. So, perhaps we should start getting along so that we can start to shine as a light, and remember who we are giving glory to, and who we will have to give an answer to when we are asked just how we took care of our God's world.

I think recovering a firm foundation to stand on will get rid of the "rubric" of "some" "considerable" and "high degree of" care that we want to enforce or encourage others to follow and allow people to exceed the mandated expectations to REALLY make some change in this God-forsaken country.