What have I been doing lately??

It seems like I just woke up and summer had come and gone.
Fall has too, apparently:
I just nicely returned home from Thanksgiving and was greeted with some of the first snow of the season. Nothing has stayed more than a day but I am glad I got my winter tires and snow scraper when I was down south.

So what was my summer like? Here is a quick recap:

In JUNE I moved twice. (Got to be a new record for me- UGH!) That took up most of my month, and my energy. Short notice between contracts didn't give me time to arrange accommodations- fortunately a friend from church gave me a place to stay until I found an apartment.

My new place is decent.
Perks being that I have the place to myself and can shower, play violin, play music, cook, etc. whenever I want without worrying about bothering others. The building is relatively new and well maintained in comparison to other places in this city. There is a laundromat downstairs with washers and driers that actually work. The floors are laminate and tile and I have light! (A welcome change from the previous dark basement)
Downsides to the apartment being- farther away from work and the grocery store so I have to drive. I miss living with people- it is nice to talk to someone when I come home from a long day of saying nothing in the lab. And this apartment seriously lacks adequate ventilation. Most of the months of June-September are a blurr due to the heat frying my brain. Many days I came home to a sweltering apartment well over 35 C! Even now with evening temps dipping below freezing I haven't had to turn my heater on and I still have my window open most days. During the worst of the summer heat it got to the point that I looked up what temperature sprinkler systems turn on worried that one day I would find my apartment flooded. Purchasing and installing blinds and curtains, along with 3 circulating fans provided modest relief. Still, I didn't cook much all summer. The other problem with the lack of ventilation stems from the habits of my neighbours. Whatever smells are in their apartments are also in mine. I don't mind when the smell is their food but they also enjoy smoking (not always tobacco.) I have a "special" song for my fiddle that I play extra loud on such occasions.

I had 2 weeks vacation in JULY. This allowed me time to go home and visit with my dear friend and roommate from university. We were beach bums for a few days enjoying the coolness of Lake Huron and soaking up the sun while catching up. We don't get much time to talk because the time difference from here to Hong Kong makes things difficult so the opportunity to hang out was priceless!

After that it was off to Alberta to celebrate the wedding of my dear younger sister. What a beautiful day and fun wedding! Slacker bridesmaid (aka me) even managed to pull off putting together a slideshow of the bride and groom in just the nick of time (night before the wedding.) Then it was off to Jasper with the family for some whitewater rafting, hiking, glacier walking,elk, sheep and goat spotting, gondola riding, hot-tubbing, etc. adventures. I even managed to cross off a lifetime goal from my list: I made a snowman on my birthday!!!! Two actually!!! One on the Athabasca glacier and another on top of Whistlers Mt. in Jasper.

Then it was back to Ontario where I spent some time kayaking and then headed back to work.

I don't know where AUGUST went. It must have been a blurr of work, heat exhaustion, lack of sleep, repeat. I got a bunch of practising done on my fiddle and am progressing admirably. I have started to develop a love of old-style country music complete with banjos and twang. Despite the heat this summer many of the weekends were rainy and cool. So I didn't get as much beach time in as I would have liked. Also I would have liked to have gone camping along the Coastal Trail of Lake Superior Provincial Park, but weather and time and lack of a camping buddy meant that never happened. On two occasions I did get the chance to explore a small portion of the trail. Doing this barefoot and combining it with swimming, picnicking, picking Labrador tea, brewing tea on the beach with lake water, and drinking it as the sun set over Superior  made for one of my favourite memories this summer.

SEPTEMBER and OCTOBER flew by and I hardly know where they went. Most of my time was dedicated to work. My free time towards practising my fiddle and cooking. I have been helping out with getting a campus church started at the local university. We have dinner together after the service and I provide the food: soup and bread. I have been enjoying a chance to cook for others as well as a chance to try out new soup and bread recipes. On the downside I have been letting my fitness fall by the wayside. In the hot summer heat I stopped my running and soon found it all to easy to skip my other workouts. I found it all too easy to come up with excuses: heat, illness, laziness, business, new neighbourhood etc. until it had been way too long since my last workout. This week I have been making an effort to change this and it is kicking my butt!!!!! A simple 45 min lap swim had my arms and legs feeling sore and shaky, and an evening run was harder than I remember. But with some effort I hope to be ready for X-country ski season when it starts again.

If I am still here.
Who knows.
My current contract only goes to the end of this month so we shall see what happens. I guess I am back to that uncertain phase in my life again.... will the end of this year bring a record 4 moves in a year? or will I be able to stay in one place for more than 6 months?? Sometimes I find myself feeling that I am done with this place and it is time to move on... but I still don't want to pull out my boxes.

Christmas Shopping Revelations

I am done my Christmas shopping! Have been for a few days now actually. I found Christmas shopping strangely relaxing this year even in December crowded malls with Christmas crazed shoppers. Maybe it was all the spare time I have had lately, or maybe it was because I bought most of my gifts at smaller local stores, or maybe it was because of a revelation I had the other day.

 I was standing in a crowded Canadian Tire store when I noticed something odd. There were guys standing in the kitchen supply aisle talking about spatulas and mixers and there were ladies in the tool aisle pondering over ratchet sets and cordless drills. Now I don't want to stereotype genders but I know this is not usual behaviour for the majority of Canadian Tire customers. These shoppers were clearly out of their element as they tried to understand and predict the interests and desires of their loved ones. Through their Christmas shopping and gift giving they were communicating a desire to know and be known which was unexpectedly beautiful.

A certain (ir?)rational part of my brain has always rebelled against the typical gift exchange. Why should I spend money buying a gift that you only sort of want/need only to have you spend money doing the same for me? Wouldn't it be easier/more efficient if I just bought something for myself and you did the same? And then there are the obvious objections to the over-commercialization and blatant greed that becomes so prevalent around Christmas time. Which is of course valid. As I was wandering the malls I also occasionally thought "can any of us really afford this?" and as I heard parents grumbling about the 2hr wait to get their child's photo taken with Santa I thought "don't we all take this a little too far?"

Certainly many of those shoppers in Canadian Tire will get their gift wrong. Come boxing day the stores will be packed with people who bought the wrong size, shape, colour or gift and are frantically trying to correct their mistake. Tempers will flare and frustrations will abound because after all we still live in a sinful world. But for one brilliant moment we tried to forget that and reached out in hope, seeking to love and be loved in our own imperfect way.

It's Snowing!

It's Snowing!

And that leaves me with an inexplicable desire to skip around the kitchen table singing jingle bells! (I used to do that!!) When I was a little kid I truly believed that singing Christmas songs/playing Christmas music would make it snow more. Since winter is my favourite season I can't wait for mountains of snow so I can take my snowshoes and x-country skis out of hibernation!

In the meantime enjoy these links to some Christmas music. The Youtube video is for the delightful pop song "Peppermint Winter" by Owl City. The second Youtube video is just for my older sister, one of her favourite Christmas songs.  For those who don't like pop music so much follow this link to a collection of Sufjan Steven's Christmas music. There you can find such delightful songs as "What Child is this Anyway" and "That was the worst Christmas Ever" alongside such Christmas classics as "O Come O Come Immanuel" and "Once in Royal David's City." His sound is unique so if you are unfamiliar with it just check it out!

Or send me a link to your favourite Christmas music so I can enjoy!

O Tidings of Comfort and Joy!

So I know Christmas and New Years have come and gone but I was too busy enjoying them at the time to bother with a blog post. So now that I am back, settling into my routine, and seem to have some internet connectivity; here are my thoughts.

My title seems rather ironic to me. The news I received this Christmas season did not necessarily connote comfort and joy. My uncertain future, the poor health of an uncle, and the suicide of a young woman whom I had taught drama in highschool (and a sibling of one of my classmates) weighed heavy on my mind. On top of it all was global news: deaths of dictators, wars and rumours of wars, environmental destruction etc. These topics are not joyful. Yet in the midst of it all I was able to feel a comfort. For as we celebrated the first coming of Jesus- as a tiny baby in a manger, we look forward to His second coming as a strong and conquering king. We also eagerly anticipate the establishment of His kingdom- where mental illness, corruption, and violence have no power.

It is fitting that New Years falls so close to Christmas. After a reminder of Christ second coming we are given a fresh start: a New Year. New Years are full of hope and promise.We can set aside all the hurts, sorrows and pains of the past year and look forward to a new year of hope and promise.

I know we celebrate New Years at a different time of year than the Jewish people who’s New Year’s celebration is Rosh Hashanah (typically falling in September or October.) Yet their idea of New Year’s celebration is intriguing. I won't go into too much detail- you can look it up yourself and i strongly suggest you do. However their celebrations involve a period of self examination, sacrifices, and the symbolic casting off of sins. It actually last for several days and traditionally involves numerous ceremonial sacrifices (when I read the Old Testament accounts of how these holidays were to be celebrated to my housemates in university I remember we had several funny comments about all the animal sacrifices) culminating in Yom Kippur- the Day of Atonement. This new years practice of self examination and purification is a good reminder for us as well. We don’t need to make animal sacrifices- Christ has come and made the sacrifice for us already. But we can examine ourselves and cast off our sin. We have been given a fresh start so let’s use it. Let’s work to build the promised kingdom that is here but not yet in completeness.

Advent Peace???

I can now say with (almost) certainty- “I’ll be home for Christmas!” both Kuiper Christmas and actual Christmas, barring any unforeseen circumstances of course. It will involve lots of driving, and hoping for good weather but I will be there. Hurray!

I have been really worried about the long drive by myself, especially if the weather turns nasty- I have to drive through several snowbelt regions. To top it all off I had some recent issues with my car that had me rather anxious. But the weather report looks clear enough and my car was given a clean bill of health so now I am looking forward to good food, good fun and family!

 Christmas is always an interesting time of year; so full of magic, and wonder, and excitement, and also so stressful in many ways. As people gather with their families to celebrate there is also the rush of shopping, and stress of preparing meals, and interesting family dynamics that emerge amongst family members that haven’t seen each other in awhile.

In my advent posts I haven’t been so good at following the traditional advent format (Peace, Hope, Joy, Love) but this post is about advent peace. Peace is sometimes hard to find at Christmas. Stores are busier, we are busier, and it is all too easy to forget about Peace. I frequently remember as a child my mother declaring that the only Christmas present she wanted was for us children to just get along for once. We hear about peace in Christmas songs, and read about peace in stories and on Christmas cards. But something about that version of peace is too syrupy sweet and unrealistic. It sounds nice in stories but in reality I think it might be a bit fake.

  

I remember one year I spent a lot of time and effort to cultivate that Christmas card-type “peace” in my family. I thought it meant evenings spent around a beautifully decorated tree, or advent wreath, singing songs, reading stories etc. My intentions were noble but the reality was much less idyllic. Siblings were grouchy, Christmas tree lights got tangled, and eyes strained trying to read stories by candlelight. The result brought a whole new meaning to when Jesus said he came, “ to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…” (Matthew 10:35)

There is no magical formula for Christmas peace. But I have a feeling it might involve a bit of smiling through family photo shoots and settling for Chinese food instead of turkey. Today I bring you the song “Just for Now” by Imogen Heap. I love the way she captures both sides of the holiday experience. Enjoy!

Since Advent is also the time of anxious waiting for the (second) coming of Christ we can also anticipate the Peace that will come. For anyone who has read Revelations it is clear that kind of peace wouldn’t fit on a Christmas card either- plagues, wars, bloodshed, tears and violence abound but at the end there is a city, and a river and a tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations, and there will no longer be any curse, and the Spirit and the Bride say “Come!”

Thanksgiving Pt. 3

Finally the final post in the thanksgiving series. I know Thanksgiving (the Canadian one at least) has come and gone but hey- perhaps this will be a good reminder to be thankful all year round. And for all the Americans hopefully it will serve as a nice prequel to your own Thanksgiving celebrations.
 

I had a tough second year of university. Organic Chemistry can be a very humbling experience. That, combined with some other issues in my life, made it a very stressful year. It was all too easy to get sucked into a dark black hole of morose complaining and depression.

However I had a fantastic roommate. When our chaplain mentioned a story about an old Jewish man who daily made a practice of praying 100 thanksgivings, my roommate suggested we do this as well. We actually never made it to 100 a day. We started with 5 each and worked our way up to 20 each. It was a little difficult and some days I definitely didn’t feel like doing it. However my magnificent roommie always reminded and encouraged me and together we found the practice encouraging and uplifting. We recited our thankfulnesses twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and found that we were happier on those days since the whole day we were looking for things to remember to be thankful for that night. I definitely think that is a lesson to remember and taking time to give thanks, be it scheduled or spontaneous, should be an important part of everyone’s life. So in honour of my fantastic roommie from second year and for the Thanksgiving holiday, here is a list of thankfulnesses I came up with.

1. Thankful for laughter and for good times with family

2. Thankful for good weather

3. Thankful for beautiful scenery- may I remind you that I spent most of Thanksgiving Day at Point Farms Provincial Park beach with my family.

4. Thankful for good food- yummy turkey, and stuffing, and gravy, and pumpkin pie!!!

5. Thankful for a marvelous trip to Sault Ste. Marie where I was able to reconnect with friends

6. Thankful for the fantastic things happening in my friends lives- weddings, birthdays, new relationships, new jobs, exciting opportunities, and more

7. Thankful for music- the kind I make and the kind I enjoy

8. Thankful for a supportive, loving family and a wonderful home

9. Thankful for good health and strength and the ability to do things like kayak, roll around in the sand and play Frisbee

10.Thankful for all the people that have touched my life- I may be terrible at keeping in touch but that doesn't mean I don't frequently think of them and how incredibly blessed I am to have known them.

Thanksgiving Pt. 2 (or why everyone should love folk music and beware of seagulls)

So in my last post I mentioned that my family spent thanksgiving on the beach and it was wonderful. I shall continue along that vein in this post and conclude this series in the next.

So as I mentioned... I was kayaking and enjoying life. The lake was beautiful- the water was crystal clear and stiller than I have ever seen. As I drifted over a shallow section I was stunned by the clear view of the rocky bottom. (Normally it is too wavy for me to notice.) The view really made me think of the song Your Rocky Spine by the Great Lake Swimmers. I took some video clips and made a nice little music video for the song with them- I shall attempt to load it but it might prove difficult since the file is rather large so if it doesn't work/ doesn't appear in this post you will just have to satisfy yourself with this Youtube vid I pulled from the band's channel. Then if you like what you hear you should go buy their cd because good music should be celebrated and enjoyed.

Anyways while I was taking videos and humming folk songs I didn't notice a more sinister threat looming on the horizon. I must have upset a seagull* without realizing it until I noticed a seagull flying over me... and noticed something falling from underneath it. Like I did, you may have already assumed that the contents of this missile were the digested remains of the birds last meal. (My Dad doesn't call the birds shithawks for nothing.) However as I paddled out of the way of the plummeting projectile I heard the distinct plopping noise of a stone. That is right the irritated bird not only aimed for me, it chose to arm itself with a stone as a weapon. I was grateful the bird didn't have very good aim, and kinda shocked that it happened at all.

They may appear innocent but BEWARE!

*my apologies to my friends and readers with ornithological leanings. I do know that those birds most people commonly refer to as seagulls are often herring gulls or glaucous winged gulls or could also be several other kinds of gulls. I however do not know how to tell the difference. Nor do I at this point in time have an overwhelming urge to learn to distinguish these creatures. You shall just have to be satisfied with the fact that I now know that the speckled brown ones aren't the females but are really just the immature birds.

Thanksgiving Pt. 1

Hello all! For my non-Canadian friends I need to tell you that this past weekend was Canadian thanksgiving. A wonderful holiday when we give thanks for all the blessings in our lives. I am a very blessed person and I had a fantastic thanksgiving so I will split my thanksgiving blog posts up into several chunks. Hurray!

Mom and I take some time to get closer.... in the kayak. And yes she is texting!

Americans celebrate thanksgiving too but Canadians like to get a headstart. That and if we waited to celebrate until the Americans did most of us would be knee deep in snow, having long forgotten the harvest. As it was, in my area, many farmers were in the midst of harvesting. The gorgeous weather combined with forecasters calling for rain soon, probably saw many farmers eating their thanksgiving turkey in the form of a sandwich on the combine. My non-cash-cropping family however was able to fully enjoy the beautiful weather and we took to the beach for some kayaking, sandcastle making, Frisbee throwing, and all around fun. I can't remember a thanksgiving where we were able to run around on the beach in our swimsuits and shorts before but we definitely did this year.

Dad and I on the lake

My older sister and brother got up to some shenanigans as you can see in the video I posted. My brother was at it too but he made me promise to not post a video of him so you'll have to take my word for it.

The weather was beautiful and the lake was very calm. Dad and I got in a good paddle and I finally got a good pic of me kayaking!

All in all it was a lovely day!

Finally a good pic of me kayaking! Isn't the water gorgeous!