It's Thursday (or Holly made me do it)

So it's Thursday and I'm winding down, just about ready to go to sleep. True story. Yesterday I was in Tim Hortons with Holly and Darren complaining that I had to go to Shoppers to buy eye makeup remover because Tina doesn't have any and I've learned in the last few days that mascara is a bitch to take off. So Holly says, "You should use a Norwex cloth, Heather sells them. Do you want to call her?" And I said no but that she could so she did and the next thing I know I'm at Heather and Dave's giving her a cheque for 3 Norwex cloths. Weird. She said you don't even need soap. So I used it today after the show and it really did clean everything off and now my skin is softer and smoother than it's ever been before. Ok I lied about the last part but it did clean everything off. Thanks Heather, you're the best mom of twins I know.
Anyway
Emilia was very funny today. When we got home after I picked her up from kindergarten she asked if Tina and Griffin were coming home for lunch. I said yes. She then had a meltdown because she didn't want them to come home and wanted it to be just us. So Tina and Griffin come home and she's all happy to see them and runs to Tina to give her a big hug. When Tina wanted to go back to work Emilia was upset because she didn't want her to go. I give up trying to figure her out already.
And
Opening night was tonight for Pith!. I really do love this show. It's a wonderful story and the dialogue is witty and even has its touching moments. We have a great cast and crew for this show. I love theatre. There's something exciting about going on stage and peforming before other people. And it's even more fun when the other people on stage with you have put in a lot a work and everyone wants to do their best. We've come a long way from that first read through. I hope some of you can make it out to one of the shows this weekend.

It's Wednesday

So I thought maybe I should post again. It's gotta be quick because I gotta shower and then make supper before heading off to the concert hall for our dress rehearsal. I'm having fun being a stay-at-home dad. It took me about a month to settle into a routine. After school was done I sat around the house thinking, "What do I do now?". Of course there was lots, I just couldn't see it. No I'm actually doing stuff around the house but also finding time to do stuff for myself as well. Like painting dwarf models, playing warhammer, practicing for my voice exam or reading or doing devotions. The other day I figured out I could fit in a rejoice devotional during the commercial breaks on ESPN radio. Kind of sad actually. I've tried to make those times a little more....personal....meaningful too. On a completely different note I bottled my first batch of wine today. It's a red Merlot and we did 26 bottles plus 2 pints. I didn't have enough bottles. The wine isn't bad. Very dry, but of an after taste but not bad for my first try. I'm scared to let guests try it right now. Maybe after a few days of aging it will be a little better. So tonight is dress rehearsal night for Pith! We were about half way through rehearsal last night and I was behind the chairs doing one of my costume changes and thinking, "This is a really good play, people should see this!" Here's hoping. Anyway, I have to go look for Emilia's little stuffy dog Purplie and then shower and make supper. (not at the same time) Oh yeah. I've started dieting and exercising (again) I'm hoping to lose 15 lbs by the end of summer. Here's hoping. (again)

I Love Tina

It was date night on Saturday for Tina and myself. We had tickets to go see Boys in the Photograph at Manitoba Theatre Centre. This is the second year in a row we've had season tickets (thanks to insanely low ticket prices for university students) and it's been very good for us. Reason number 1 is that it's meant we've essentially had 6 date nights planned for the next eight months. We know well in advance of the dates so we can get babysitters. And because it's planned well in advance our schedule can't get filled up as much. We had tickets for Saturday 8:30pm shows so we can go for supper before as well. You might think this is should be prime one on one time. The fact is we like getting together with people before hand. One of our problems (mine) is not having people over at our house. I don't know what my problem is but I haven't been great at encouraging Tina to invite people over. (I hate calling people, wierd, I know) We have friends in Winnipeg we don't get to see a lot so it works out good. BTW if you're going to an MTC show there is a great Mexican restaurant just down the street on Market. We'll be going there next year. Anyway, we get a lot of time to talk on the drive into and out of Winnipeg. These evenings are a lot of fun for us. Tina and I are so different in a lot of ways but watching theatre is something that we can enjoy together. Sometimes we even hold hands during the show. I've wondered sometimes why Tina ever went out with me, or married me, or stayed married to me. I'm glad that she has though. I think we both wanted something different in our ideal mate but I'm also pretty sure God knew what we needed. I needed someone who had their feet on the ground and was slighty organized. I'm like the comic relief guy in the action movie. Although he usually ends up dying. hmm. Anyway, this has been a pretty crappy blog. I can hear you English majors screaming, "Is this about dates or Tina or MTC or what!!! Pick a topic." In conclusion, I love our MTC nights, I love Tina, I can't live without her, or want to try, and I'm not an English major

p.s.
That picture was taken on Saturday night before we left for Winnipeg. I think we look pretty good.

Kansas

We headed out to Kansas this past weekend to visit my brother Adam his wife Rhea and their son Lukas. It was a long drive and I think we spent almost as much time in the car as we did at their house but it was totally worth it. We left on Thursday after school and drove to Fargo to spend the night. The hotel had a pirate ship pool which the kids were very excited about. We spent about an hour in there but I found the water to be a little cold. I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to cold water. The highlight of the evening may have been the pizza and breadsticks we ordered from Papa Johns. That food was our supper, part of breakfast and lunch the next day. After a fairly good nights sleep and an early morning of breakfast and Scooby Doo we hit the road. It was a pretty nice drive except that we were against wind most of the way and we hit some thunderstorms in northern Missouri. So just under 11 hours later we pulled into Lawrence, KS. I don't remember if we actually did anything that evening. We were pretty wiped. The kids absolutely loved being with Lukas. They were excited about being able to see him and took every opportunity they had to entertain him. Saturday was a busy day. After a wonderful breakfast of sausage and eggs we walked downtown to a farmers market where we picked up some Raspberry/Jalapeno jelly which upon reflection, I'm not sure made it home with us. Anyway, it's very tasty and we used as a glaze on the chicken breasts we grilled that evening. They we watched a parade put on by the local arts group. It was very cool. Lots of decorated cars and bikes. It wasn't a long parade but it was still a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it. I love downtown Lawrence. If you've never been there it's a college town. (home to Kansas University) There are lots of little shops and tonnes of pedestrians and lots of organic food. (Ok that was more for Tina). That afternoon we played Settlers of Catan, Traders and Barbarians. We gave Adam the game for his birthday last year and played the barbarian scenario for the first time. It was a lot of fun. Tina ended up winning. DARN!! I was close. Griffin definitely captured the most barbarians. After picking up some much needed Warhammer supplies. (Grave Guard for Griffin and The Empire army book for me) We got ready for supper. Adam and Rhea's friends CJ and Miriam came down. It was a nice evening. After everyone went to bed Tina and I watched the first half of Saturday Night Live. It was verrrry funny. I love Will Ferrel. Amy Poehler is really good too. The next morning Adam, Griffin, Emilia and I got up at 6:30am to go fishing. This was very special because it was the first time that Griffin had ever gone fishing. We had to stop at Walmart to get our fishing lisences first. I think the guy was in shock that a Canadian would come down to fish in Kansas. We drove out to this man made lake called Lone Star Lake. (there are no natural lakes in Kansas) and set out to catch some fish. It was a gorgeous morning and we had an enjoyable time. Adam caught a fish about 10 seconds after he threw his line in the water. It was a little perch. That was the only fish any of us caught. Griffin had a nibble but reeled in so fast the poor fish didn't have a chance to grab the hook. Griffin knows better now. We got back to Adam's house and quickly got ready for church. Adam and Rhea go to a Mennonite Church USA church called Peace Mennonite. I was the featured story teller. The sermon was on depression and hope. I had a lot of trouble coming up with a story. I figured out the body of the story while we were fishing and worked out the details when we got back. Tina is my theological advisor for my stories. She makes sure I don't screw up the kids too much. The story went good, and the kids enjoyed it. (parents too) The sermon was really good. I'll have to talk about it more some other time but he was a Psychology professor at KU. After lunch we had a nap and played another game of Settlers. Adam won this time. ACK!!! After that we headed to Community America Field to watch the Goldeyes and the T-Bones. It's a really nice ball park and we had great seats. Third Row right by first base. I think everyone had fun except for Emilia, who's not a baseball (or any sport) kind of watching person. That night we got the kids ready for bed and did some packing. Monday was the looooong trip back. We left at about 8:45am and got back home at 11:15pm. 15.5 hours. yuck. The drive was uneventful except that it did get progressively colder as we headed north. (go figure) Everyone was pretty tired by the time we got home. But we're happy to be back.

A Little Bit of Whatever

I haven't done one of these in a few days so I thought it was time. Sunday was an interesting day. I led worship that day. For those of you unfamiliar with the term it's basically MC'ing a Church Service. I think I'm pretty good at it. I'm kind of Catholic in my approach meaning that most of what I say during the service is written down ummmmmmm liturgical ummmmmmm it's not off the cuff, more like a performance. I hope that makes sense. Anyway. It was mothers day so I started off with a "nice" mother's day reading. It wasn't theologically sound at all but nice none the less. The sharing time is always my least favourite time. I feel uncomfortable praying out loud for other people in front of a large audience. I feel like I don't know what to say and that anything I do say will be completely inadequate. I use a reading from "Take Our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book". It's a prayer book with a morning and evening reading which takes your through a Call to Praise, Call to Discipleship, Call to Intercession and lots of other stuff in between. We picked it up last summer at the Canadian Mennonite University bookstore and it was great to read it on the hammock on a sunny summer morning. The reading (and the hammock) didn't happen during the winter so I guess it's time to start again. So anyway, back to the service. Tina and I sang a duet. It was great, we hadn't done that in church since before Griffin was born. Funny thing is we didn't sing a church song or song that even mentioned God. We sang "Our Children" which is from the musical Ragtime. It was beautiful. I ended the service with this.
May the God of steadfastness
and encouragement
grant us to live in harmony with one another,
in accordance with Christ Jesus,
so together we may with one voice
glorify the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen

School Curriculum Stuff

Generally when a parent writes a blog with the title "School Curriculum" it's going to be a complaint about what is wrong with the school system today. That is not my intent. Monday was International Music Day or something like that and Griffin's school (J.R. Walkof) has an outdoor concert. The school's music teacher is Cecilia Gil. She is fabulous. At the Christmas concert Griffin had a solo, when he got to the mic and started singing we couldn't hear him because the mic wasn't on. She literally stopped the song, looked to the back and asked what's going on. When they got the mic working they started the song over again and I got to hear my son. I think most conductors would have just gone with it but she knew it was important and so did what she did. Griffin didn't even want to do a solo at first but she told him God gave him a talent and he should use it. I'm so thankful she did. Now on to the spring concert. Each grade level did a choir piece and then a movement piece. A MOVEMENT PIECE!! OK it was dance. I grew up in a Mennonite community and there was NO dancing. To see these students singing and moving around warmed my heart. They were so great. Another thing that warmed my heart was the way Ms. Gil works with the deaf students in the classes. I think there are 4 but I'm probably wrong. Anyway, she works with them doing rhythm with drums and shakers and bells. And they have their part in the concert. I think I heard she even went to the deaf centre in Winnipeg to learn more on how to help deaf students. Fabulous. Ok this hasn't been that focused on curriculum but I wanted to highlight the great work that this teacher is doing. I think she'd be great to a practicum with. Too bad Emi will be in J.R. next year. But at least she'll have a fabulous music teacher.

Bernie's Birthday Bash

So I headed off the my friend Bernie's birthday party on Saturday night in Winnipeg. Bernie was in my musical theatre class at the University of Winnipeg and a person I would totally drive to Winnipeg for to help celebrate his birthday. I was actually at his girlfriend Robyn's birthday party in January but I have to admit that was only because Bernie invited me and I was in that part of Winnipeg anyway. Sorry Robyn (Next year would totally be for a different reason). Bernie is awesome. He is happy and caring and gives the best hugs ever. (family not included) He's pretty funny too and has a great laugh. The party was fun because I got to see people from school I hadn't seen in a few weeks. By August I am going to miss them a lot!!
It's sad that Musical Theatre is over. What I love about theatre classes is that you have to take risks to succeed and when you take risks you make yourself vulnerable and when you make yourself vulnerable you open up and when you open up you make friends. Between Acting Theory, Musical Theatre and Drama in Ed I can name every person in the class. Between Linear Algebra, Stats and Calculus I can name 2. That is why people love taking theatre more than regular lecture classes. It's the community that you build. I'm not taking any theatre next year (probably) and that makes me sad because I will lose that connection. I can still go hang out in the theatre lounge but it will be different. There won't be as much time for that. But life is all about moving on. You spend sooooo much time together as a group and then you move on realizing you will never meet in that way again or have the same connections.
examples

1. Leaving Camp after working there for two months.
2. Playing our last game of softball with a group of guys who had been together for 5 years. (That was hard)
3. The end to any show/tour I've been involved in.
4. The last day of class (or presentation day)

In my old age I've learned to recognize these "last moments" and treasure them. And then hold them in my memories rather than trying in vain to hang on to what isn't there anymore. There are those moments of regret or sadness. But there are even more smiles. I'm much more richer as a person because of the people I've met and the experiences we've had. So I'll choose to linger on those.