the tale of three cities...

So I've been all excited for the past few weeks about a sudden opportunity to go to Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena for a Colloquium with participants who are responsible for planning worship services in various seminaries around the US. I'm honoured, excited, and full of anticipation for what is now tomorrow's conversation.

Now, back up a few steps with me.

I'm not the smartest kid on the block, but I'm not exactly stupid either. I like making connections, extrapolating information or themes into other situations, etc.

My whole family has a range of passport related stories to tell.

Just this last week I printed out the forms from the internet so that Gordon and I could apply now, when we're not in any rush to get them, etc. (had that very conversation this past week). This also means that when I printed out my itinerary and various other documents for this trip, I had to separate them from the passport application sheets on the printer.

But it was not until 2 hours before my flight this morning, standing in the Vancouver Int'l Airport with Gordon that I realized I would need a passport to fly to California today.

Not the brightest bulb.

(Meanwhile, you must imagine the mixture of disappointment, embarrassment, shock, etc that was my heart. Gordon was SO calm and supportive - it was amazing.)

So, in the end, I drove to Seattle (read: 1 hour spent trying to get through the border line-up), got to Sea-Tac (read: stood in a 1 hour line-up to speak to a United rep), went through security (read; amazingly quick and painless...LESS invasive than Canadian airports I've gone through recently), sat and watched the folks with tickets board the plane I really wanted to get on (read: sat and watched grumpy stand-by passengers bug the nice lady at the counter, knowing that there were many folks trying to get to LAX this afternoon, including a family of 6, and then the clouds parted and she CALLED MY NAME and I was the VERY LAST PERSON to get on that plane!)

Greetings from the Westin in Pasadena. Lovely. Very long day.

Time for sleep.

The moral of the story, is that you should put 2 and 2 together...it's most helpful for navigating between three cities.

a highlight & a lowlight

Did you used to start youth group or Sunday school classes with this?

Well mine were pretty easy for today.

I bought strawberries from the farm where they were grown today. If I had time, I might have picked my own, but I decided that the ones they had picked for me would suffice.

Audrey, (and any other Californians reading this) your strawberries are styrofoam in comparison.

I had to put them in the trunk so that I wouldn't eat them the whole way home.

The lowlight?

When I was moving things around in the fridge when I got home, I dislodged the last beer & cider from their resting place only to watch them fall to the ceramic tile floor. (read: SMASH!) Of course, I might have caught them, but my hands were full of the precious strawberries.

The best part of the lowlight? The flowing cider/beer puddle reached my computer bag...the computer's fine, but the bag now smells like a dirty old drunk.

I think I'll drown my sorrows in another strawberry.

Friday Five: Books, books, books

1. Fiction what kind, detective novels, historical stuff, thrillers, romance????
Hhmm. Mainstream literary fiction is probably my first choice, but my husband has recently gotten me onto some historical fantasy & a few science fiction....to my great surprise.

2. When you get a really good book do you read it all in one chunk or savour it slowly?
Depends. If it's long I dive right in. If it's short, I read slowly and just once in awhile.

3. Is there a book you keep returning to and why?
The duo by Madeleine L'Engle (written years & years apart) The Small Rain and The Severed Wasp. Because it is such a good story - with real characters and real life awful situations with real redemption and without everything being tied in neat little packages.

4. Apart from the Bible which non-fiction book has influenced you the most?
Ooh. I don't think I can pick just one. But my top few would have to be Orthodoxy (Chesterton), Mere Christianity (Lewis), Pilgrim Souls (an anthology of conversion/spiritual journey narratives) and... I'm sure there have been others, but those are what stands out.

5. Describe a perfect place to read. ( could be anywhere!!!)

Beach - not on a hot day, but warm enough that you're comfortable.

In a muskoka chair on a deck or porch...as long as it's big enough to bring your legs up without knocking your coffee/drink off the arm. :)

Bed. :)

I look like Jack Nicholson?

Friday Five: Getaway Island Edition...

Today's Friday Five is about a real or imagined getaway...ooh, I can do this!

Describe your location, in general or specific terms: somewhere quiet, with good restaurants nearby, and hopefully a body of water in some sort of close proximity.

and....

1) What book(s) will you bring?
Hmmm...well, I think if I were to go right now, it would include my two textbooks from my last class. I know that sounds like taking WORK on vacation, but really it is that I'd like to spend some time reading them S-L-O-W-L-Y rather than in the usual "must get this done" fashion that a deadline can result in.

And then there would be a novel or two...perhaps I'd finally read That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis. Have read the first two in the trilogy over the past few months, but haven't had a chance to finish. And then sometimes a holiday is a nice chance to re-read an old favourite, so perhaps I'd take along the Catherine Fox novels. (Do you folks know about these?!?! Oh my, you really must try to get your hands on them...all about theological college, internships and such...but with such real and flawed human beings at the centre each story)

2) What music accompanies you?
Wow. A concoction of Paul Simon, Wailin' Jennys, Elgar, Bach and James Taylor. With a dash of some friends of mine - it seems a lot of what I'm listening to now is people I know.

3) What essentials of everyday living must you take (as in the health and beauty aids aisle variety)?
After sun lotion. Shampoo, razor, a couple of make-up essentials.

4) What technological gadgets if any, will you take with you or do you leave it all behind?
Laptop. Not for WORK, but for research...ie. local restaurants, reviews, park trails, etc etc. Not to mention music-playing!

5) What culinary delights will you partake in while there?
Hmmm. Yummy breakfasts that happen a lot later than usual. Snacky sort of lunches that you can eat sitting outside or pack and take along on whatever the day's adventure is. And dinner made by someone who experiments with culinary delights for a living!

As a bonus question, what makes for a perfect day on vacation for you?
Easy. Sleep til you wake up. Coffee on a porch/deck/whatever with a book in hand - and maybe a crossword. Breakfast eventually. A few hours at the beach/going for a walk/discovering whatever is around. Back to the room to relax, shower and primp. Dinner out. Bed. Ahhhh.

Last chapel of Spring School

Yep. It's the end of week four of Spring School. And I'm hours away from being finished another season of my job. (sigh)

Three weeks from Monday the season of Summer School will be upon us and life will pick up its pace once again. Daily chapels for five weeks. Which can sound daunting, but then you start reading your email - the ones about confirmed speakers - and you get a little excited: Maxine Hancock, John Stackhouse, Bruce Waltke, J.I. Packer, Chris Hall, etc. And then there are a couple of folks on the "not yet confirmed" list that make my heart bounce a little including the author of several books I've loved. More on that to come.

Meanwhile, for the past two weeks I have had a Wednesday morning 'date' with a friend who hasn't been over to our place yet. The plan was for her to drop her kids off at school (which is closeby) and then to come over and if it was nice, we'd go for a walk. Well, the first week the traffic gods were angry and there were major accidents in strategic spots, so she called (from the midst of the traffic hell) and said she'd never make it before I needed to leave to school. So we re-booked. But of course, it was almost the time of her arrival when she called and so I'd spent a bit tidying up, putting things away that we'd tend to leave out when it's just us, but that suddenly when 'company' is coming seem to be infringing on your decor.

Yesterday was our 're-book'. Cleaned from 8 til 9 when I realized that this friend would NEVER be half and hour late without calling. So I sat down and checked my email - sure enough, there was a note saying that things were crazy and could we re-book.

Now, I'd really like to actually see this friend, but I'm wondering if she might threaten a visit for a few more weeks, as our place has never looked so consistently tidy. :)

That is my only cleaning secret: have people over.

a smattering of things...

First of all. I got to see Audrey. (see bloglist)




Secondly, we hung out with Santosh and his family (also see bloglist) which enabled this little glimpse into the distant future...gotta love it. Had fun strolling the seawall and checking out two parks - poor Adam had been waiting all afternoon for us to come so he could hit the park! Nice to catch up with Santosh in person for once...




And finally, the picture you've been waiting for...the first GERANIUMS of the summer!

week 3 of spring school

Well...I guess I'm settling into the rhythm of posting once a week. It's not intentional, but there you have it.

This week is a bit nuts as I'm in class every afternoon for 3 hours. It's amazing how this can disrupt normal life. :) But it is a lovely disruption. The class is called "Spiritual Discernment" and it is being taught by fellow Christian & Missionary Alliance'er Gordon T. Smith.

More to come as a result of this class I'm sure, but for now let me tease you with his main two questions. (which must be asked TOGETHER)

1. What do you think Jesus is saying to you at this point in your life?
2. How do you know it's Jesus? (what are the indicators that lead to some degree of confidence?)

Wow. I have to admit that I'm often very uncomfortable when the first question is asked or answered, but now I realize that it is because the second question is usually neglected.

Thoughts?

Middle of the week...

This week has gone by slow and fast all at the same time.

Monday the country paused to celebrate Queen Victoria, but spring school continued, so there was chapel. Marva Dawn spoke and she was excellent. I think I've heard her before, but this time I won't forget hearing her. She began her talk with a sentence something like this: "Well, since I gave Andrea my text, I changed my mind." (read: mild panic as I TOTALLY dwelt on her ideas of dark and light...) Thankfully, she didn't change direction, she just went one step further. So it worked really well as I dwelt in several psalms and then she went on to speak from John 1 about the light coming into the darkness and the darkness not being able to overcome it. (after a brief heart attack, all was well)

Yesterday I had my second session with my little opera composers. They're hilarious. We've written five songs now, one more to go. So now it's a matter of getting the music into my finale program and then trying to garage band some sort of practice cd for them. I think on at least one of the songs, we figured out we could use xylophones and some hand drums. (giving 7 and 8 yr olds accompanying duties...oh yeah!)

Today is a Regent office day. The morning to work on upcoming chapels and the afternoon spent in meetings. I'll use my summer UPass for the first time (just got it last week...) which is lovely as it cost me $50 again to fill up on Monday. Crazy. (Last July we both used transit all month and we didn't fill up in the entire month...that's looking like a great plan!)

This weekend my friend Rochelle is getting married ... and while I'm excited for the wedding and all its festivities, I'm REALLY excited about two friends who are travelling to Vancouver to be her for it. Audrey (of bloglist fame) and Margo (my doctor friend having many adventures in the Bronx). Can't wait!

still here...just a bit silent

So, as you probably assumed, Pastors' Conference did indeed continue on.
And it was a good week in the end. Exhausting, but good.
Perhaps one of the subtle highlights was trying out a couple of my own 're-tuned hymns' on these folks and having them well-received and then fielding the "how can I get my hands on this stuff?" requests. Confirms that maybe I'm on to something the church might want and even need. I think my favourite part is that nobody knows how to categorize them...are they old? are they new? and the T and C words kind of go out the window. (If you are not aware, I belong to a school of thought that would like to completely remove the words 'traditional' and 'contemporary' from our worship vocabularies. More on that another time.)

Anyway. Now spring school is in full swing and we're figuring out how to run Regent Spring School out of Carey and St. Mark's. Next week chapels will be in VST's Epiphany Chapel to accommodate a large class that meets just before chapel. It's challenging to be out of our own space, but I LOVE that we're in every other seminary on campus during this month. It's so easy to completely ignore or forget these other institutions that are about the same business as we are...perhaps with different methods and systems sometimes, but ultimately these are our brothers and sisters! So, needless to say, I'm loving it.

AND I only have two more sets of lessons to teach. Today and tomorrow and next week and then it's the recital and BOOM! we're done til September. It feels like it's gone really fast. Meanwhile, I have embarked on an Opera project at Westbay school where my friend Heidi teaches. I'm the "musician" who is helping these 36 grade 2 students set their couplets to music. It's this Vancouver Opera Project which encourages teachers to teach a unit by getting the kids to create and opera. So they are learning about how animals are suited to their various environments and so we'll have 6 songs: Desert, Ocean, Fresh Water, Jungle and Forest. I'll have to keep you posted, but yesterday was my first session with them and we wrote three songs in 2.5 hours! :) Masterpieces, I tell you.

Ok. Happy Thursday.

greetings from Pastors' Conference

Pastors' Week: Day Two

Well, I'm pooped. And I've only survived Day One so far, but once again I'm marvelling at my job and the unique opportunities it affords. Day One was good and I'm excited about today because Joyce from Jacob's Well is our morning speaker.

Not too much time to write much else, but must tell you that I had dinner with John Stackhouse & Leonard Sweet last night. Always a treat to sit down to a meal with folks that we mostly interact with in their writings. John, of course, is familiar face from Regent and Tenth, but it was good to have extended conversation. And Leonard, for all his 'provocative' statements, really loves the church which was so great to see up close.

More to come...must go.

Friday links

Well, first of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother Brian. He's 50 today which seems impossible except that Myrna already reached this milestone and re-defined 50 for all of us...I'm really glad you were born, Brian.

Secondly, I have a link to share... a Regent friend has posted some fantastic photos of tulips. Nice work, Matt!

Friday...and there's some sun out there...and I have new plants to replace my pansies...and an absolution from dear sweet Andrea Moller Bridges :) ... (see comments from yesterday's post)

good news and bad news

Well, we'll start with the good news...My office is officially unpacked and organized!! Yay.





The bad news is that I've killed three plants. Yes, me who blogged photos of my lovely patio garden. The geraniums (hearty little brutes) are fine, but the pansies are laying-down-in-the-dirt dead. And they're not getting back up. And inside I've killed an ivy plant that I've only had for about a month. (after killing its predecessor)

Oh dear. So I'm not including pictures. The admission is hard enough. And I don't want you all to have to see the carnage. Maybe I'll dig them out on the weekend and replace them and THEN snap some shots.

Happy Thursday.

almost organized...

Well, I've been working on getting unpacked into my new office and after a good solid day of sorting and filing and re-organizing things that have just been lurking in the back of my filing cabinet, I'm feeling like I have a clean slate. There remain two piles of music and miscellanea on top of the filing cabinet, but I'll work my way through them in the next couple of weeks. I'll have to take some pics so you can see my new digs. :)

Took my huge Montreux Jazz Festival 2001 poster (on foam core) and put it on my big empty wall. Feels better already. And I've reorganized the way the papers 'flow' more to reflect how I actually tend to do stuff, rather than keeping things the way they were. This is tricky. But hopefully I've paid close enough attention over the past year and a half...

Meanwhile, Gordon and I went to TOSCA on Saturday night. Lovely. Great singing and an enjoyable evening all round.
Sunday we looked at a house we can't afford and, mercifully, didn't like it. You might ask why we'd even go look at a house we can't afford, but here in Vancouver, when a house in the city is this price, it's usually a teardown...and this one looked so good. And then you start trying to figure out how you could possibly squeeze more money out of your budget...But as I said, in God's wide mercy, we didn't fall in love with the house. I was certainly twitterpated by the idea of a house for the two and a half days between seeing it online and the actual open house...Coming home felt good though. We love our little place!

Ok. Must get off the couch and head for work. Now that my desk is clear, I need to get some concrete things planned for next week!

Friday Five: What Are You...

1. Wearing - yoga pants and an old tshirt...just did a pilates video. A new endeavour of Gordon's and mine - and I'm amazed at how it's melting tension from my neck and shoulders. The day I skipped, I was in pain. The days I've done it, I've felt really good.

2. Pondering - Pastors Conference 2007 @ Regent College. I'm leading worship again. How does one prepare to lead a community of people that isn't actually a community yet? I always find this challenging - it shows how much I value preparing to lead people I know...But I'm thankful to have one Pastors Conference under my belt as it reminds me that it can be done. :) Great theme this year too: Telling the Old, Old Story in a New, New Era. Might even be able to use some of my 're-tuned hymns' that I've been working on lately.

3. Reading - Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley. She also wrote Beauty. Both are tellings of the Beauty and the Beast story. She loves the story so much that she ended up writing it twice, with twenty years in between. Gordon read Beauty to me when we were dating...and having him read to me didn't hurt in the falling in love department. :)

4. Dreaming - I'm dreaming of a holiday in St. Maarten. My brother in law has just been accepted into med school there and so it seems logical to support him by visiting, don't you think? Prices are pretty high though...so I'm wondering if we'll be able to get the money together, especially when all our extra money seems to be going towards my education. Let's see...6 credits or a week on the beach?

5. Eating - coffee. It's morning. What else would I want?

an unexpected weekend

Sometimes a weekend just looks nothing like you thought it would.

I was to be on Galiano Island Friday and Saturday with my Christian Imagination class.
Gordon was to go paintballing this afternoon.
Sundays usually involve a church service of some sort.

None of the above.

Last week was so bad for allergies that by Thursday I was completely distracted by the question, "Do my eyes or ears itch more? Or can I concentrate long enough on those between noseblows?" Lovely picture, I know. I did manage to teach ALL my students on Thursday though...even Friday's, as I thought I was catching a 10 am ferry to Galiano.

Instead I spent Friday sitting on the couch with a box of kleenex. Glamorous.

Saturday we both kind of moped around. Gordon hasn't been feeling great either these past few days. Did manage a yummy orange-shrimp stirfry for dinner and the lovely Heidi joined us for an impromptu dinner not-so-partyish party.

And then today we just puttered once again. I managed to get the worst headache by mixing the following ingredients: coffee + allergy-related sinus pressure + no food until 2pm. Standing in line at Home Depot I realized that I hadn't eaten anything yet...but I came home with a full propane tank so there will be GRILLING galore around here.

(on a side note, I'm quite impressed that our propane tank purchased on Easter 2006 lasted us until today...and possibly had another grill or two left, but I was concerned that I would run out in the middle of cooking for a big party on Tuesday evening...but really, $20 of propane for an entire year of grilling? That's fantastic. I figure we grill at least once a week, more in the summer and possibly a bit less in the winter...but not much...seems quite cost-effective, not to mention YUMMY!)

Anyway, this afternoon Gordon and I watched Stranger than Fiction. Good movie.

Then we put new ink cartridges in my printer only to have it go KAPUT. Couldn't it have gone kaput BEFORE we spent $70 on new ink cartridges? So in protest - and because Gordon is a follow-through kind of idea person - he spent the rest of the afternoon/evening installing a new laser printer ... that doesn't work with my Mac, except that he's brilliant, so it does. (but it's complicated...you can ask him)

In the midst of wrestling with the printer, we tried watching the new series DRIVE. Partly because 'Mal' from Firefly is one of the main characters, but after 1 1/2 hours, we called it quits. Too depressing and not quite endearing enough. Oh well. There's still House. And one tv addiction at a time is enough.

Ok. Rambling post. But it's a bit like the bits and pieces of my weekend.

Easter Monday?

I remember Easter Monday.

But apparently today is just 'Monday'. Both of us are off to work - and after a weekend of many events. Friday was our church's Good Friday service - sounds normal enough until I add that I led and Gordon sang with me...and it was our first time for each at our new church. (no pressure!) Saturday I had a rehearsal and a birthday party during the day and then Gordon and I became godparents on Saturday night at an Easter Vigil service at an Anglican Church. This is our godson!

Yesterday there was church and then we had my brother and sister-in-law and niece and her boyfriend over for Chinese take-out. Yummy. And nice to hang out with them. And nice to have our place full of people. Haven't had time to do much entertaining lately.

Anyway, I'm off to work - mostly packing boxes today as I think I get to move into my new office one of these days...

I'll leave you with an update on the balcony garden...I know you're dying to see it. :) OH! Except that I replaced the dead geranium on the left with two seedling geraniums and a pansy... so that little corner of death is all RESURRECTED!

HE IS RISEN!

Classes & schedules and ALMOST the end of a semester

Clearly a new den is not terribly exciting in the blogosphere.

We're still excited about it around here. I can't stress the difference of having one room in the house that has enough room in it to actually lie down and do a tile-angel. Amazing. (You never read about THAT in one of those "small spaces" magazines)

Anyway, the term is winding down pretty quickly. Second last chapel today.

Had to figure out Spring/Summer last night...teaching schedule is affected by which course I take, etc. And my oh-so-generous-and-supportive husband looks at the two courses I was deciding between and says, "Take both." This had never crossed my mind. So I looked at it. Taking the first course of the two means I'd have to quit teaching 2 weeks early. (about $500 in lost income) Taking the second means I'm now spending almost double what we planned AND making less money than budgeted.

This is amazing. I believe in education and I think it's a priority in my life - and has been for the last number of years. But this is a whole new level. Having someone else believe in your education - and the kind of belief that puts money where their mouth is...

So I'll get another 5 credits done this summer...that will be 37! 4 or 5 in the fall. Possibly 9 in the Winter (one class and then my 6 or 9 credit Integrated Project) If I'm not careful, I might actually FINISH this degree.

Ok. Happy Tuesday.

home reorganization

Sometimes an idea strikes and suddenly all your non-fiction books are stacked in your living room. (they usually live on shelves in the den)But this means that you can change out the somewhat tall shelf braces for REALLY TALL shelf braces...which makes for a much better use of space.

Then, you can assemble Gordon's new desk and let it sit on a completely different wall. Ooh ahh.

And, if that wasn't enough, you can sit on your balcony and look at your FIRST TULIP of the season!!!

It was a good weekend. And we love our 'new' room!