My Anniversary

So today is our anniversary. We've been married 16 years today. I didn't realize how long of a time that was until I saw some pieces of our wedding video. Everyone is so young!!! I can't really watch it. I just feel embarrassed. Emi watched the whole thing today. She's so cute. I think Emi and Griffin have been the two best things about these past 16 years. I don't know what our family would be without them. Anyway, today hasn't been that special. I woke up with the flu. ugh. not fun. So my day has been spent crafting in the living room and being sick in the bathroom. I've actually got a pretty good start on my ruined tower of Amon Sul. It's for my Lord of the Rings game. I got started on it at Mom and Dad's when we were there earlier this week. I've been able to do some work at home.I think it's looking pretty good. It's about 18 inches in diameter. Emi helped with the glueing of the steps. Just so you don't think I'm a crafty genius I did have templates and instructions to make this. It's been fun. Now the question is can I see the project through to fruition. Maybe it should be a New Years Resolution.

cheers

Christmas Holidays

A couple of things. Christmas break started yesterday with a trip to Winnipeg for a Landville Drywall Christmas lunch. I got to sit with some of the guys and see just how much Dad's company has grown. I remember back when there was 10 of us around a table and Dad and Wilmer (business partner) were still doing grunt work. Yesterday there must have been 50 people in that room. I'm very proud of my Dad. He said there weren't a lot of new faces which meant Landville must be doing something right to get them to stick around. There are some days where I wish I had stayed with Landville because now would be the time I'd be taking over. But at the same time I don't think I was wired for that industry. I'm pretty happy at where I am in my life and where it is heading. I'm having a lot of fun being with kids and trying to be a good influence on them while trying to teach them something. And I don't think my Dad ever wanted me to take over. It's a tough job. I've very thankful/lucky to have this job to fall back on when we needed money because I've been in school or in between jobs. And I think Dad appreciates the fact that I want to be involved in the company. We certainly see each other more often then. And that, I would have to say is the best part.

cheers

Christmas Time's A'comin'

Well we're 6 days away from Christmas. I'm looking forward to the break. One of the reasons is that starting Thursday we're all going to be home for two weeks. That's because the kids and I are done school and Tina is taking holidays. It's been good getting ready for Christmas. We've been doing advent readings just about every night at supper with the kids. Part of the ritual is lighting candles before the meal and then turning off the lights. At the end of the meal we sing a Christmas song and do a reading that ends with the snuffing of the candles. This is the third year we've done this. It's become special. A way to slow down during the Christmas season.

We're going to need that slowing down now because it's going to be busy. We've got three gatherings an anniversary and New Years Eve to celebrate during that time. And hopefully get that darn skating rink done. I finally got the hoses out and started packing down some snow yesterday. Between my nephew and I we got about 1/4 of the rink done. I might get more done today but we'll see.

My practicum is almost done. I've really enjoyed spending these 5 weeks at Emerado. It's gone by so quickly though. I think I've learned a lot. I just need to sit down and figure out what. That's not a joke. I think there are lots of things I've learned and am probably incorporating without even knowing. All I can say is I can't wait till March.

cheers

Integers Game

I played a great game today with the kids in my class to introduce them to integers. I did it at the beginning of class and didn't even tell them the topic was integers. The basis of the play is taken from the old board game stock ticker. The basic play is using three dice to move stock up and down. For my game I used a 4 sided dice, a dice with with arrows, a 6 sided dice, a 10 sided dice and a 20 sided dice. On the board I had a graph style layout with the team names at the top (I let them choose) and then along the y-axis I had the board numbered from -10 at the bottom to 10 at the top. Everyone starts at zero. I put the kids into four teams and started the game. For the first few rounds I used the 4d, arrow dice and 6d. The 4d would tell me the team, the arrow would tell me up or down (pointing towards me was down, away from me was up) and the 6d was how far up or down they went. I started off rolling and then went around to groups to let them each member of the team roll. It got pretty loud but fortunately I had a headset microphone to use. I told them the first team that got to 10 would win some candy. Fortunately no one won right off the start. We went a number of round with no winner so I told them we were raising the stakes. I switched the d10 in for the d6. After a few more turns we were getting close to the end of class so I switched out the d20 for the d10 and had each group roll one more time regardless if a group reached 10. At this point I had the d20 rolled first, then the arrow then the group to build suspense. It was a lot of fun. The best part was when the kids were calling out the numbers they moved up or down to because I was too "slow". The team that won really enjoyed the candy too.

cheers

Another Day

I'm just about ready to head out for the day. I feel kind of crappy because I've got a cold and my head is all stuffed up. But I'm still looking forward to going. I'm having so much fun at Emerado. I feel like I'm a part of the community. The saddest thing is in January I'm back to once a week. That will be hard. And even more sad is that at the end of April I'm no longer a part of Emerado. I gotta go now. I have an evaluation today. I'll do more later maybe.

cheers

Practicum Block

So I've finished the first full week of my practicum block. (+1) day. It's been good/tiring/stressful/fun. A lot of times I feel like I'm one day ahead of the classes I'm teaching. I'm working one class at a time rather than looking at the big picture. Apparently real teaching can be like this too. I've taught about 10 classes? Give or Take? Some have been struggles some have gone really well. None have bombed yet. So that's good. I'm having fun for the most part. Everyone once in a while the angry eyebrows take over and I start getting a little cranky. Yes I do get cranky. I get so tired. I come home and I'm wiped. Lately I've been taking a nap right after supper. On Monday I actually fell asleep at the table.

Well two more math classes to get ready for tomorrow.

cheers

It's been one of those weeks

So it's been one of those weeks. I've kind of lost my care for doing school work this week. Thank goodness it's the last week of classes and the I can start teaching. What I am looking forward to.

1. Not Driving

2. Useless assignments

3. Useless classes

4. More time at home

What I will miss

1. My friends at school

2. My Tim Horton's coffee

All in all not a bad trade. Thank goodness for my friends at school though. I think they're half the reason I go. And the fact that I want to graduate. I'm having more fun this year. I think one of the big reasons is we have a great cohort of students. It's like I'm in theatre again. We're developing a pretty close group of people. It's too bad I won't see them on a regular basis until January again. I think I'll have to try and make it into Winnipeg at least once in December.

Back to studying.....ugh

cheers

Bud

Thursday

So I'm avoiding doing a paper again. Well actually I only have a page or two left, so I'm taking a little break. I have to hand it in Monday so you may be asking, "Why are you working on it now". I'm actually being a little proactive because I have another paper to do, an assignment and two tests coming up. And I'm speaking at an event tomorrow night and I need to plan my speech. And yet I'm feeling pretty darn relaxed. That's because Mousetrap is done and I got three assignments out of the way on Monday night. So today I've been puttering around a little, getting some stuff done and just enjoying being at home with everyone around. It's been tough two weeks though.

Last week we found out a girl from my church who is in grade 8 was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Katie has been in my sunday school class for two years. (I'm not teaching this year) On top of all the stress last week of the show and assignments this hit pretty hard. There is a long road ahead for her. She's already had 2 or 3 chemo treatments. Not fun. Then yesterday, Tina and I found out a friend of ours was killed in a car accident. Tina was on a board with Marj and I worked with her when I was at Golden West. She was a vibrant person with a quick wit and wasn't afraid to ask the tough questions. Tina is going to the funeral on Saturday.

Tina is a little more worried for me now. Marj spent a lot of time on the road. I spend a lot of time on the road.

Life goes on.

I'm speaking at the Steinbach Resthaven Auxiliary Fundraiser tomorrow. I'm doing a short 10 minute presentation on the Great Trek of Mennonites in central Asia and the issues surrounding my great-great grandfather's flight from Oklahoma to Canada in 1918. Yesterday was the 92nd anniversary of their departure. I'm looking forward to it but I hope they don't think I'm some Mennonite scholar. It would be fun to be. But I don't feel like going through all the work :-)

back to work I guess

cheers

Bud

This is How I avoid Homework

Hi there,

My name is Bud Kehler and I am avoiding homework. I have 3 assignments due next week but would rather be watching College Football. As a compromise I'm doing this instead. Not completely useless but not what I should be doing either. University is going well and practicum is going even better. I love being at Emerado School. The class I'm in is fabulous. Mon-Thurs is kind of intense because I'm driving back and forth to Winnipeg everyday so Friday is like a break being able to walk or bike to school (unless I'm running late) and then spending time with the students helping out as often as I can. I can't wait until my 5 week block. I know it's going to be a lot of work getting lessons together but it's also going to be fun to be there everyday. I feel like I'm getting to know the students now but I think that will increase 10 fold during the block.

Well my tea is done (another avoidance measure) so I better get back to that assignment. ugh

Is it really 2 years till I'm done??

cheers

A week with Griff

So this has been a pretty good week. Tina and Emilia flew off to London, ON to visit Leanne and David and Ella and Rosie. Ella and Rosie are close to Emi's age so we thought it made sense to have Emi go along. They've had a good time. It's been great spending time with Griff. On Sunday after we dropped off the girls at the airport we picked up some pop and chips and then headed home. On the way we found two geocaches. Very cool. When we got home I had a bit of a map and then we got ready for my big warhammer battle with my cousin Craig that evening. After much setting up, dice rolling, Pepsi drinking, and pizza eating we counted up the points and I ended up the winner. yay. The next day we were going to go geocaching in Morden but it was raining so we watched 2 mythbusters episodes, played computer and ended the evening watching Furry Vengeance. On Tuesday, in spite of the wind, we headed to Morden. In all we found 14 geocaches and did not find at 6 locations. We spent 3 hours biking around Morden. I was very tired afterwards. That evening I had a rehearsal (our first one). It was just a read through and I had to take Griffin along. He read his book for a while and then came and listened to the second half. He had forgotten who the murderer was and wanted to find out. Very cool. After the rehearsal we drove to my parents for night. He fell asleep in the car 20 minutes before we got there. He spent the next day with grandma while I was at the university. That evening I watched part of Alice in Wonderland with him while having a set design meeting with my mom. We got a lot of work done. We stayed a second night and then this morning drove home. This afternoon involved some computer and cribbage and backgammon. I love the fact that Griffin is old enough to do more things with but young enough that he still shows his affection with hugs and holding hands. He's growing up so fast and I can't wait to see the man he will become but for now I am really enjoying the things we can do together.

cheers

A little Perspective

It's time to put life into a little perspective. The other week I was slightly disappointed with how much money I had made. I get paid piece work and there weren't as many pieces as I thought there might be. I still made $20 an hour. I talked to someone the next day. He was excited because he's moving to a different job that would pay $13.50. He has a kid on the way too. I should just be happy I have a job. I shake my head sometimes because I am sooooo lucky with the opportunity I have to work in Winnipeg, and have the flexibility in hours and days to work. I'm also lucky because we have family who look after our kids the days Tina and I are both working. It's been one of the biggest reasons we're still in Winkler. It's hard to leave that kind of support.

Food for Thought

cheers

So It's Been A Month

Okay, so it's been a month since I've posted anything. Anyway. I thought I'd do an update on the garden, since that seems to be my favourite topic. So here we go.

This is sort of a general view of the garden from the NW corner. If you look hard (or view full screen) you'll see a lot of weeds. I hate weeds. Give them an inch and they'll take your yard. (that was bad I know)

These are the tomatoes. I'm very excited about the tomatoes because the last time we tried to grow some they didn't turn out very well. This year they are doing great. We'll even get tomatoes from those seeds I started in April. YAY!!!!

These are the peas. They don't look that great now but we got a lot of peas from these plants. I absolutely love fresh peas. So do the kids. I think we got 15 pales. Oh yeah, sweet fresh pea goodness. mmmmmmmmm

I think these are the pumpkins. This is kind of an obnoxious plant because it's trying to take over the tomatoes. Hard to tell how they will be but the plant is huge already.

Cucumbers. Tina loves cucumbers. But not so much that she will eat them all. Anyone want some cucumbers.?

cheers

On Holidays

So i'm on holidays now. We're out in Alberta until the end of the week. I'm typing on a bad keyboard so my "shift" key may not be used that much. Last week we left and spent the first night in Regina at my aunt's. It was nice to see her and we had a wonderful supper. The next day we took off for Calgary. It was pretty uneventful other than the fact we got under 6litres/100km on one tank of gas. That was awesome. That evening we arrived at the Mennonite Church Canada Assembly, Tina and I were delegates for our church. Assembly lasted until Friday. It was a very powerful time of reflection and discernment on issues of the church and spiritual formation in my own life. There are so many great stories about what Mennonite Chuch Canada is doing. It's sad to me that churches who are a part don't seem to care about the work o the wider church. That's one of the reasons I decided to be part of the Church Engagement Council. There will be more to the Council and I hope to have a better grasp of that over the coming months. I also bought a bunch of books.
The Naked Anabaptist
Under Construction: Reframing Men's Spirituality
God's People Now: Face to Face with Mennonite Church Canada
I'm hoping to read them this summer. We'll see. I may have to miss a few days of work ;-) So we're in Edmonton now visiting Tina's sister and family. I've already been golfing and to an Eskimos game. We'll see what happens the rest of the week. We're back on Sunday.
cheers

What's New Again

So I figured it was time to update this blog again because it's been a while. I can't believe we're into the month of June already. Half way almost!!! I'm spending some time at home today so I'm finally able to post some pictures and let you know what's going on. Adam and Rhea and Lucas we're out last week. It was really good to see them again. Especially Lucas. He's very cute and is talking more and running around and very funny. I like little kids. In small doses at least. On the Wednesday Dad and Adam came out and we went golfing at Minnewasta in Morden. It was a gorgeous day and the course is in great shape. I was beating Dad by 1 stroke going into the last hole. He ended up beating me by 3 strokes. Maybe next time.
The garden is doing ok although I don't think the potatoes liked all the rain. There are a bunch that haven't come up yet. But the beans are doing great as per normal and we've actually managed to get cucumber plants to come up. The tomotoes have some blight but I'm dealing with that. Probably the most exciting thing is that we set up the garden right this year so that I can use the tiller in between the rows. That will definitely help keeping the weeds down and give me an excuse to use a piece of garden equipment that has a motor. It's more fun using things that make noise. Some how making an engine sound with my mouth while using a hoe or a rake just isn't the same.

Cheers

Griffin's Piano Recital

Griffin had his piano recital today. It is his third year playing. Tina and I were very proud of our little artistic performer with his hair flowing over the keys.

I was very impressed with the way he ended his songs, especially the first one. I think he likes being on stage. That's the impression I got anyway. I just hope we can keep him at it until he makes enough money to support us ;-)

cheers

The Garden

Most of my ancestors were farmers so I guess there is something in my blood that makes me want to work the land. So this last weekend I finally got out into the garden to do some work. As we can see below we have a fair sized garden. It took a while to get this all tilled. BTW I look really hot tilling without my shirt on. At least that's what she said. OH!!!!!!! Anyway, it was a hot day so it was nice to be outside. That green weedy area in the bottom lefthand corner is where the strawberries are. After I finished tilling I pulled weeds from there for an hour and a half.

Later that afternoon we started putting seeds into the ground. Emilia was a big help for Tina and I. She is so excited to plant a garden each year and loves helping. Especially watering. The first thing to do was get the rake out and smooth out the dirt. The measure the rows dig some grooves and start planting.

We got about half of the garden done. We'll maybe do more on Saturday. It's hard to see but there is some chicken wire fence on two rows. That's so the peas can grow up the fence which makes them much easier to pick. In all we planted 3 rows of potatoes a 1/4 row of garlic, 1/4 row of radishes, 4 rows of peas (we like peas) and 3 rows of beans (some pintos some green). We still have tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, peppers and pumpkins to do.

These are some tomatoes and peppers I started. The tomatoes in the foreground don't look so good. The peppers in the background look waaayyyy better but probably won't be ready in time.

Oh Well

At least I tried.

cheers

What's Up Now

So I started my new job this week. I'm only working 3 days a week which allows for some balance of being at home and still making money. Almost all of the work is in Winnipeg so I think I would go crazy if I had to do that much driving. All I can say is I have never slept so well as I have this week. I working for my Dad mainly insulating houses. The above picture shows the entrance way of a house with a vaulted ceiling. It's not bad doing something like this because there is nice scaffolding. I get a little more nervous standing on a 2x8 over a staircase.

This is one of the bedrooms. Much easier.

Here's what I like about this job.

1. I get to see my Dad on a regular basis. (He often brings me coffee or takes me out for breakfast.

2. The pay is pretty good. (Good enough that I'm willing to drive to Winnipeg to do it.)

3. The hours are flexible. (It doesn't matter if I show up at 7am or 8:30am, or leave at 3pm or 5pm. I just need to get the work done)

4. Physical labour. (A nice switch from the cerebral work of school)

5. The radio. (I love listening to the radio. Now I get to listen 8-10 hours a day)

6. I get to see Kenton on occasions. (What could be better than that?)

7. Staying in Winnipeg means maybe I'll get to see some UofW friends.

Here's what I don't like about this job.

1. Insulation (Sometimes it makes my eyes water and if my dust mask isn't on properly it feels like I'm chewing on sand. And my clothes are covered with insulation dust when I'm done.)

2. My knees and hip are sore after work. (I'm old)

3. 9 ft ceilings (insulation is in 4ft lengths. You do the math)

4. Bad framing. (Bad framing means extra work for me)

5. Spray Foam for the windows. (It gets on everything and doesn't wash off)

6. 2x8 planks over staircases

cheers

What's New

Just enjoying a Saturday morning at home with the whole family. It's nice because it has been a very busy week. We've had the first two performances for flatlands theatre company's production of Steel Magnolias. Very cool. I'm not surprised but I find it kind of funny that 90% of the audience is female. And I am not looking forward to tomorrow because that's when we clean up. ugh.

I've got tonnes stuff done on the yard this week. I used a power rake (a mower blade with spokes) on half the yard and then bagged what was kicked up. I got 18 bags of grass/apples. I also moved 6 wheelbarrow loads of compost from our pile to the flower beds. We have two compost piles and it's nice to be able to get some dirt from one of them. Tina was surprised/shocked I had cleaned up that pile. I also buried the cable for the satellite dish. That was enjoyable because it meant I could buy a new tool. YAY!! I bought a lawn edger which is basically a spade with a flat blade.

So today I've got some sets to move so I can fit other sets into my garage. It's a never ending cycle. Oh well.

Anyway. If you get a chance come to the show tonight. The actors have worked very hard and do a great job. What's been cool is some of the actors haven't been in a show for years. They have come a long way since the first rehearsal.

cheers

Prop Builder???

So we've got a show coming up next week and we need 24 tomatoes and real tomatoes are bloody expensive and fake tomatoes are bloody hard to find so I'm giving building them a shot. I bought some styrofoam balls today and cut them down to a tomatoish shape. I then coated them with a foam putty to make them a little more smooth. They're not as smooth as I would like, but I'm just testing it right now. The colour I bought is crap (too purple) so it's back to the paint store. ugh.

Here's the crappy coloured tomato.

It's pretty crappy. Anyway, not that I've cleaned the paint off the keyboard I'm off to get more paint.

LATER.

btw here's the link for details on the show.

flatlands theatre company

cheers

The End of Another Era

My latest adventure in theatre is over and I have to say it was one of my favourite. I was in Winnipeg A LOT but I think it was totally worth it. It was hard on the family and myself being gone so much. I think Griffin generally misses me the most. I miss him too. We have a lot of catch up to do over the next few months. I intend to do just that. With Emi and Tina too. I'm looking forward the most to our trip to Alberta in July. We'll be spending two weeks together as a family. That will be great. Anyway, back to Anne Frank. There are a few reasons why I enjoyed being a part of this show.

1. I love the people in the cast. Most of them I know from being in classes with and the rest I knew because of other people. We were like a family. The main parts were for the 9 students in Fourth Year Honours and four minor roles were opened up for non-honours students. I played Mr. Kraler, who is a business partner of Mr. Frank and is one of their main go-betweens the annex and the outside world. The class has so many talented actors. It was a joy just to watch them rehearse and prepare and be a part of that. This show also gave me a chance to spend time with them one last time. Most of them are graduating this year and moving on to Life After U of W. I'm going to miss them.

2. It was nice being in a show where I didn't have to worry about anything except showing up and acting. Our Director was great. Her name is Ann Hodges. You may recognize her as director of "Strike" the Musical and MTC's Jitters. She was so much fun to work with and I learned a lot from her. The set was fantastic, the costumes were great and the lighting was amazing. The show was all set in the annex and yet lighting was an integral part of the story.

While I really enjoyed the show it was hard being gone so much. I really am enjoying being at home and having to drive only 5 minutes to the rehearsals I'm working on now for our next show in Winkler. I'm stage managing which is certainly providing a new perspective on things.

So to the fourth year honours class thank you for your hard work in making this show brilliant, your support, for allowing into your circle and for most of all your friendship. I will treasure this opportunity I had to perform with you.
cheers

A little Bit of History

So I'm taking Mennonite History this semester. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I absolutetly LOVE it!!!!! I've know some of the stories of my ancestors but I am so excited to be able to put these stories into context. I went to my grandparents yesterday for an hour and just asked questions about their family history (it's mine as well I guesss). Did you know my great-great grandpa Michael Klaassen was part of a delegation that went to Mexico in 1920? Many Mennonites ended up moving there but my great-great grandfather decided not to. Did you know that my great-great grandma and grandpa Rempel were Sommerfelders but my great-grandpa Rempel and his family broke off and joined the EMMC church. There was a lot of friction in the family because of that. Did you know a sketch my great-great-great grandfather Martin Klaassen drew is said to have been hung in the Tsar's palace? I guess that's where my mom gets it from.

I can't wait to find out more.

cheers

Oh Gosh, We Bought a Car

Alright, so we've known the Saturn has been on it's last legs for a while. But it's finally come to a head and we made the plunge and bought a car. A 2007 Honda Fit to be exact. The kids are so excited. When we got into the car the first thing they wanted to do was climb over the backseat into the hatch area. So we let them. They took a picture at the dealership. I'm not going to show you a picture of the rest of the car because if you really want to know what a Fit looks like you'll do some research. (shiver) It sure was nice driving to Winnipeg on Monday, I mean it has cruise!!!! I've been without cruise control for over 10 years. My right leg is huge! Anyway, I hope this car treats us as well as Dennis (the Saturn) did. We had 345000 kms on that car. Anyway, I'm a little more paranoid now when I drive and I don't leave Tim's cups lying on the floor.

cheers

Bud

Remembering

I'm not sure why I thought of this today. But it's been 2 years and 1 month since my Grandma Kehler passed away. Almost 10 years after my Grandpa Kehler. They lived on a farm very close to us so Adam and I used to spend a lot of time there. I miss them. My Grandpa passed away in 1998 but it was like he left earlier because of Alzheimer's. It scares me that it's in my family. I don't want to have to put Tina or the kids (or future grandkids) through that. My Grandma had a long drawn out battle with cancer. She was bedridden for most of her final months. We used to go to the hospital to sing hymns to her. The Christmas ones were her favourite. I think it was one of the last times we saw her my dad said we would sing two more songs before we had to go. During the second last one it looked like she fell asleep. But when the song ended she opened her eyes and grabbed my Dad's hand and said, "You promised me one more". That made me smile. She was very special to me. It's hard sometimes not having them around. But I think each was ready to go. It would have been selfish for me to keep them around just for me. (like I have that kind of power) My Grandma and Grandpa Sawatzky are still around. My Grandpa keeps joking that he's on borrowed time. He's turning 86 this year. They have certainly slowed down a lot. I can remember going to their house for a couple of days with Adam and my three cousins during the summer. How Grandma kept up with the 5 of us I'll never know. I've always had a special relationship with them because I'm the first grandchild. I also spent a lot of time there as a newborn because my parents spent the first few years of their marriage in a house trailer on their yard. I try to see them when I can and I've started asking more about their history, what they remember. I think that's important. It hurts to think of my Grandma and Grandpa Sawatzky dying. I don't want it to happen. It sucks even more that I know it is and can't make it hurt any less. I hate it that we get older. Cherish what you have, remember each moment is a gift. That's all I have. Thanks

cheers

Bud

I'm Avoiding Homework

I'm pretty good at avoiding homework. Honest. You see right now I could be writing a two page summary on an article that I'm supposed to read (I've read it twice already) but instead I'm on the internet making smartalec comments on Facebook, checking out the tonight's Olympic schedule and blogging. Yikes. I even made tea!! Roibus to be exact. So what's new. Umm. Well I got some good news and bad news yesterday. The bad news was I didn't get a part in Strike! the Musical which is being performed this summer. I had an audition 1.5 weeks ago. It went really good (I think) and I had a lot of fun. The good news is I'll be at home for the month of July which the kids and Tina are happy about. If I would have got a part in this show it would have meant a lot of rehearsals in Winnipeg. I'm really happy I auditioned because as I mentioned it was a really great experience. I think I gained some confidence because of it. Never a bad thing. I wasn't totally shut out in the theatre world. 2 weeks ago yesterday I auditioned for a show at the University of Winnipeg. This was a good opportunity that opened up. Normally the shows are only done by those in the Honours program. The Fourth year class is doing Diary of Anne Frank and the director has decided to cast 4 of the parts with students outside of the class. I was cast as Mr. Kraler (that's awfully close to Kehler) and will be in 3 scenes!! It's especially exciting because I am good friends with a number of the students in the class. I'd say most of them. I am so looking forward to being in a show with them. They're a very talented class and I hope to learn lots from them. I felt very special when one of them called me the Friday after my audition all excited to tell me I got the part. But it means I'll be in Winnipeg a lot during the month of March for rehearsals. But I'm in Winnipeg a lot anyway so it's not a big deal I guess. The show the week of Easter. Oh yeah. They have performances Good Friday and the Saturday of Easter. weird. I'm definitely going back to Winkler Thursday night so I can be in church Good Friday. I guess in some ways I'm not totally churchy but for me, Good Friday is one of the most important Christian holidays on the calendar (Easter being first). And I'm not going to be too much fun at the cast party because I need to be back in Winkler for Easter Sunday. Ok, I'm going to qualify my previous point. According to church people I'm not totally churchy but to my University friends I am. Ok I'm going to qualify that too. I worship lead, do children's story, teach sunday school and attend church conferences. I guess I am churchy but don't feel it sometimes. weird. Anyway, I'm going to get the kleenex ready because I likely am going to bawl my eyes out when Jonie Rochette skates tonight. And I have to get that assignment done.

cheers

Bud

I Don't Know How They Do It

So I'm on Reading Week right now. It's really nice just relaxing, getting a little bit of homework done, reading (finished the Twilight Series) and watching Olympics. At first I was excited about reading week because I'd get to see the kids a little more but it really hasn't happened that way. I keep forgetting they have school even though I'm on a break. And I've been busy three nights this week with meetings or rehearsals and now Saturday I'm off to a conference. The end of March will be tough because I'm in a show in Winnipeg and production week is during spring break. How do people do jobs where they don't see their kids for a week or two at a time? I don't know. Just had a thought. My dad used to go up north to work for weeks at a time. I know why he did it. It wasn't a choice. He had too so we could eat. hmmm I guess I'm thinking more about having a choice.Am I just over sensitive about it? I could be involved in more. There's lots I would like to be involved in. But I think my family would go crazy. The kids at least. Anyway. I was just thinking about it and I hadn't blogged in a while so....anyway. There you go.

cheers.

Another Battle Report

Alright this Battle Report is going to be shorter because

A. I threw away the Army Lists

and

B. We only played a 500pt battle.

The Armies

Griffin's Undead Horde

Vampire Hero

Extra level

Spells

Invocation of Nehek, Raise Dead and Winds of Undeath

10 Dire Wolves with Doom Wolf

12 Grave Guard with command

2 Bat Swarms

Bud's Fanatical Night Goblins

Night Goblin Big Boss riding Giant Squig

Iron Gnashas

Night Goblin Shaman

Spell Gaze of Gork

20 Night Goblins with command and 2 Fanatics

20 Night Goblins with command and 2 Fanatics

Squig Herd 6 squigs 4 Herders

Griffin won the roll off and went first.

VC Turn 1

Everything moves forward.

He tries to cast Winds of Death but that fails and Invocation is dispelled by my Shaman

Goblins Turn 1

Night Goblins on edge have animosity and roll go get'em. Move forward 2 inches. Then they move their march move and release fanatics. YAY!! Only 1 makes it and destroys 1 Dire Wolf. Everyth

ing else moves forward. Gaze of Gork Dispelled.

VC Turn 2

Dire Wolves Charge middle Night Goblin Unit. Not a great idea. Both fanatics are released and destroy a total of 7 Dire Wolves!! That leaves 2 for the combat to come. His Bat Swarms charge my Squig Herd. He tries to cast Invocation but miscasts and rolls the one where I get to cast a spell. I cast Gaze on the Dire Wolves and kill another one. The final one gets killed in combat.

His bat swarms get eaten up by my squig herd. Yay!!!!

OC Turn 2

1 fanatic dies because he runs into the rocks. The other three just zoom around having a great ole time. The night goblin unit with the shaman suffers from animosity so he can't cast a spell. everyone else just kind of moves around. I move the squig herd in place so that the grave guard unit with the Vampire will attack them.

VC Turn 3

Vampire Unit charges the Squig herd. YES!!! The unit kills two squigs but the remaining two, obviously liking the vampire who is the only fleshy thing to be found, target it with all their attacks and bring the Vampire down!!! The Herd still loses combat but rolls double 1's to stick around. (They don't auto break from fear because they're immune to psychology) The leadership test at the end of the turn b/c the Leader perished means four more Grave Guard fall to dust.

OC Turn 3

Pretty much all that happened was that 1 fanatic flew off the board

Vampire Turn 4

Nothing (there was some really boring combat

OC Turn 4

Fanatic kills a Night Goblin. That was fun. I was hoping it would do more damage. My Night Goblin big Boss on a Giant Squig charges the Grave Guard from Behind and wipes them out. There were only 3 left. And so ends the game with a very unexpected win for the Night Goblins.

Final Note.

Does this mean Night Goblins are better than Dwarfs? I think I'm about to get hit by lightning.

cheers

A few Quick Hits

1. Haiti didn't make the first 6 minutes of the CBC radio national news at 4pm. It's fading from the headlines. Please don't forget the thousands affected.

2. I really have issues with British Colonialism. They really have tried to screw up every culture they've come in contact with.

3. Read the Graphic Novel Series "Bone" this week. Very enjoyable.

4. I hate icy roads.

5. I have a lot of work to do this weekend.

6. The Super Bowl is this weekend.

7. I never get stuff done Super Bowl weekend.

8. I'm screwed.

cheers

A Response to Herb Franz...sort of.

OK this is hard because normally I don't like picking a fight with a pastor of another church but I sort of had to with this. He kind of got me a little angry. This is a portion of Herb Franz's sermon on exclusivity which he preached at Grace Mennonite Church in Winkler on Sunday. The Mennonite community is small so that's how I found out about this. He posts the sermon on his blog. Here is an excerpt...

Let me tell you about an exclusive church that I experienced last fall. When we were at Hans and Irene’s four of us decided that we would like to go to an Old Colony Church worship service. So we asked around about where we could find such a church. We were told that there was an Old Colony Church in the village of Steinreich just a couple of miles from where we were staying. We asked what time it would start. We were told that Old Colony churches never start at the same time. They start one hour after sunrise. Some of our group, not me, were awake early in the morning and knew that the sun rose at 6:30 AM. We assumed that we should be at the church by 7:30. Actually we were told, the service starts at 7:15 or so.

We arrived at the church and Daryl was driving and Daryl did what Daryl always does when Daryl goes to church, he drove into the parking spot. We didn’t know that no one drives into the parking spots; they back in so they can get away quickly when the service is over.

We had been told to make sure that we entered the church by the correct door. We would have to enter by the men’s door. We were told to just watch which door the men were using and follow them in. We got there and I watched and I saw a couple of men walk in one of the doors. But then I became confused because I also saw a couple of women enter the same door. What was going on? Then I remembered being told that there are a couple of doors on the church where the song leaders and the ministers, and their wives can enter. That must be the door. Eventually we saw what seemed to be a steady stream of men heading toward several different doors and we got out of our incorrectly parked van and followed the group.

As we were walking across the parking lot we encountered another man came and I greeted him with my best Low German greeting. He looked surprised and muttered something in return that made it obvious the conversation was over. We managed to walk in the correct door. We noticed there were no children under the age of about 13 in the church.

Before the service started seven men walked in and sat to the right of the pulpit. These were the song leaders. They led the singing in the most nasal singing I have ever heard. We found that no one brought their Bibles to church, except for our own Bill Zacharias, but everyone brought their hymn books which are carried in cardboard slip covers. When the singing started there was a general clatter as the books were unsheathed and the covers were set beside the people on the bench.

When the minister began to speak there came a time when everyone in the building stood up, turned around and knelt facing the back of the bench. I had been on my knees all week tiling at Hans and Irene’s and my knees were in no mood for kneeling without kneepads on a cement floor. I thought it would be awkward to stay sitting and stare at the man in front of me kneeling to pray looking at me so I stood, turned, knelt and leaned heavily on my arms during the prayer time.

As a preacher I’m always looking to learn from another preacher. When this preacher began to speak he did not speak in his normal tone of voice. He spoke sort of in a singing voice that flowed along like this and only occasionally dropped at end of a sentence. Despite that there were entire sections of the message where he spoke in his normal voice before beginning to once again use what I later learned is called the “Holy Voice”. When church was over I expected visiting to happen but everyone stood silently and left without saying anything to anyone. It was clearly a case of beat the traffic in Steinreich that day. In about five minutes our van was the only vehicle left in the parking lot because Daryl had driven in instead of backing in. We had to wait till everyone else had gone before we could go.

We left the church that day relatively secure in the knowledge that we were going to be the topic of many dinner conversations among the people of the Steinreich Old Colony Church. I have never felt so out of place among a group of 250 white people in all my life.

I went to an Old Colony church service as well when I was in Mexico. And I can only describe Mr. Franz's description as culturally insensitive. Could he have sounded more superior in his description of the Old Colony church service? Maybe next time he should approach the service with humility and a true desire for learning and check his modern evangelical goggles at the door. What did he expect? To be greeted as the wonderful preacher from the far off wonderful place of Canada? If he had tried to learn anything about church before hand maybe the service wouldn't have been so awkward for him. One of his comments was "the most nasal singing I have ever heard". Does he go to Pow Wows and complain about the drumming or watch Riverdance and then complain about how loud it is when they wear those shoes? His comment about "beating the traffic" was also troublesome to me. He really has absolutely NO idea about the culture of the Old Colony people. Instead he invokes his own biases to prove a point. I'm going to fill you in on a little secret. The Old Colony church is exclusive. They are not an evangelical church out to attract new members. They have members, they are the people of the colony. By the way. I did not feel "excluded" when I attended that church service in December. Excluded is when you are left out. Did I feel different? Yes, but I was given as much opportunity to worship as anyone else. On a final note Mr. Franz assumes they were the talk of many dinner discussions. Really??

Cheers

A Warhammer Morning

So nobody went anywhere from our house today (great grammar there) and Griffin has a Vampire Counts Army he hasn't used yet, so we decided to have ourselves a little game. It was a 1300pt battle. Here are the army lists.

Vampire Counts

Heroes

Vampire Hero

Blood Drinker, Forbidden Lore, Summon Creatures of the Night

Necromancer

Hand of Dust, Extra Spell

Units

20 Zombies w/command

20 Skeletons w/command Banner of the Dead legion

20 Grave Guard w/command Screaming Banner

10 Dire Wolves

4 Bat Swarms

1 Banshee with 2 Cairn Wraiths

Dwarfs

Heroes

Thane

Master Rune of Alaric the Mad, Master Rune of Gromril

Runesmith

Master Rune of Spellbinding

Rune of Spellbreaking

Units

20 Warriors w/command

20 Warriors w/ command

20 Ironbreakers w/command Rune of Courage

10 Thunderers

1 Grudge Thrower w/Engineer Rune of Penetrating

Table

We played on the Kitchen table which is 5ft wide but only 3 ft deep. So we made our deployment zones 6 inches. (btw, that's my new imac in the background)

It's hard to see but the Dwarfs are on the near side of the table. From L-R GrudgeThrower on the Hill, Thunderers, Ironbreakers with Runesmith, Warriors with Thane and Warriors. On the Vampire side from L-R its the Direwolves, Bat Swarms, Grave Guard with Vampire, Zombies, Necromancer, Skeletons and Wraiths.

Griffin won the roll off and so the Vampires went first.

VC Turn 1

Every unit except the Wraiths were within 12 inches of the Vampire and so marched 8 inches ahead except for the wolves who marched 18 inches. The wraiths floated 6 inches forward. (they're ethereal after all) G tried to cast Gaze of Nagash on my Ironbreakers but i dispelled it. he then managed to get Vanhel's Danse Macabre on the Wraiths and so they floated 8 inches ahead into the ruins on my right side of the board.

Dwarf Turn 1

I had my three blocks of units move forward and left my Thunderers and Grudge Thrower in place to shoot. FYI I don't move either of those units during the whole battle.

In the shooting phase I opened fire on the Dire Wolves and took out 6. The Grudge Thrower scored a direct hit on the Zombies and took out 11 of the 20. Griffin was not impressed.

VC Turn 2

Well Vampires really like Dwarf blood so this particular Vampire was not going to be discouraged.The Dire Wolves charged the Thunderers while everything formed up into a new battle line. The Necromancer failed to cast Invocation of Nehec. The Vampire cast it successfully and the dispel failed so up sprang 6 new Zombies to replace the ones that had been crushed by the Grudge Thrower. In combat the Dire Wolves killed one Thunderer while the 4 Dire Wolves were hacked up in return.

Dwarfs Turn 2

The Ironbreakers moved up a little to form up with the Warriors. The Thunderers fired on the Bat Swarms and did 2 wounds. The Grudge Thrower must have been affected by the wind because this shot sailed off course and landed harmlessly between the two armies.

VC Turn 3

The Bat Swarms moved in front of the Thunderers, the wraiths moved beside the warriors on my right while everything moves up carefully. In magic both his attempts at Invocation were dispelled. His Banshee did her howl at the Warriors and one fell to his death.

Dwarfs Turn 3

The three blocks of units move back 1 inch to try and stay out of charge range. The Thunderers do 6 wounds on the Bat Swarms while the Grudge Thrower's artillery veers off course again.

VC Turn 4

Wraiths and Skeletons charge the Warriors on my right flank. Warriors have to take a terror test and fail so they flee. The skeletons fail their charge but the wraiths catch the warriors and they are destroyed. The Banshee then howls and destroys three more warriors from the other unit. The Bat Swarms charge the Thunderers who fail their fear check and flee off the board. (I needed to roll a 9 or less on both and rolled 11 twice!!!) Grave Guard and Vampire charge into the Iron Breakers who don't have to take a test because they have the Rune of Courage on their banner. The Zombies charge the Warriors who pass their fear test. The necromancer moves forward. Invocation of Nehek by the Necromancer fails while the Vampire (who must have hated his necromancer) cast Vanhels on the Necro and charged him into the warriors as well. The Necro has a bound spell but that is dispelled. In combat the Zombies whiff while the Warriors dispatch of 5. With combat resolution the Zombies unit had 3 left and the necromancer crumbled to dust. In the other combat the Grave Guard do no wounds while the Iron Breakers do 1 wound so the Grave Guard lose by 2 and 2 Grave Guard fall to the ground.

Dwarf Turn 4

Nobody moves cause everyone's in combat except the Grudge Thrower, and who'd wanna move that thing anyway. In Close Combat the remaining Zombies are destroyed. The Ironbreakers destroy one Grave Guard and one Iron Breaker falls in return. The Grave Guard lose one more to combat resolution.

VC Turn 5

The Bat Swarms move in behind the Iron Breakers and the Wraiths move behind the Warriors. The Banshee Howl fails this turn and Invocation of Nehek is dispelled. In Close Combat the Grave Guard destroy the Runesmith and combat ends up as a draw.

Dwarf Turn 5

The Warriors charge into the flank of the Grave Guard unit. The Grudge Thrower shoots at the unit of skeletons but misses AGAIN!! In combat the Grave Guard kill two warriors on the front and side but still lose combat by 6. They only have 9 left.

VC Turn 6

This was not a good turn for the Dwarfs. The Bat Swarms charge the rear of the Iron Breakers, the Wraiths charge their flank and the skeletons charge the rear of the Warriors.

In combat the Vampire Counts won by about a million and outnumbered the dwarfs so they automatically run and are subsequently are caught. All that's left is the grudge thrower and they decide discretion is the better part of valour and take off. (I conceded).

It was a lot of fun to be able to play. Griffin gets older all the time. I'm glad he's old enough now that we can do these things together.

cheers

Something Quick

I find it funny how schools reword things now. When Griffin got back to school after the break he hadn't finished all his homework. So he went to "Homework Club" during recess until it was finished. Back when I was a kid it was called "detention".
cheers

My Lineage

Just for Kicks.

Budilian Kehler

Parents
Peter T. Kehler
Lenora (Sawatzky)

Grandparents
George Kehler
Mary (Toews)
Ferdinand Sawatzky
Martha (Rempel)

Great Grandparents
Jacob L. Kehler
Helena (Loeppky)
Peter H. Toews
Susan (Hiebert)
Jacob Sawatzky
Anna (Klassen)
Erdman Rempel
Anna (Dueck)

I'll do more in the future. I actually could list one of my great-great and one of my great-great-great grandfathers. I'll hold off for now. I've been interested in my history for a while. But I'm still not sure whether I want to spend the money on ancestry.ca. That's expensive. What I know for sure is most of my family came from the cool Dutch-North German Mennonites and not those pansy Swiss-Southern Germany ones.
Cheers
Bud

Back to the Grind

So things are back to normal I guess. It's bloody cold, I'm at school and it's cold. My car sounds like it's going to fall apart. It shakes so bad I feel like I'm back in Mexico driving on bad gravel roads. It's been too cold to work on the rink too. I'm really disappointed by that. Oh!!! maybe I'll stay home with Griffin on Saturday morning and Tina can go skiing with Griffin, I'll work on the rink and make sure G can make it to an 11am birthday party. NICE!! I'm glad with things work out like that. Over the break I read four books. In order
1. Cross Bones Kathy Reichs
2. Twilight Stephanie Meyers
3. New Moon Stephanie Meyers
4. Eclipse Stephanie Meyers

I really like the Twilight series although I'm getting a little tired of teenage angst. (And I want to be a High School teacher??) I think it's easier to deal with because I like vampires so much.
Ummm
Disappointing news today. Found out Zumba got changed to Tuesdays. ACK!!! I really enjoyed Zumba. Now I have to do regular exercising. Kind of Suck.
Anyway
I'm in Teaching K-8 (Full year course) Math Prior to 1640 and Mennonite Studies post 1786. I think it will be a really good semester. I'm looking forward to everything.
Anyway. Gotta go.
Cheers