So Little Time...

Hi all,

Well, here we are on the Saturday evening of Easter weekend. Matt is in bed (probably not sleeping because he's so excited about the Bunny coming tonight) and I am FULL of turkey!!

It has really been hitting me lately that there is not very much time. Days are not long enough, weeks are too short, months go flying past at breakneck speed, and there are for sure not enough holidays to go around!! Then I remember that God created our calendar, and He is perfect in all that He does. What is it that we do with all our time that robs it from us? How much of our time do we spend on the unnecessary and idle, while the truly meaningful begs for our attention, yet we find ourselves too busy? Since I have started working full time I'm shocked at how I really don't care if I update my status on Facebook, or dust the tops of the door frames each and every week (every other week will do, seeing as no one is home all day to notice anyways)...and I find myself really wanting to go grocery shopping with Barry and Matt, instead of one of us rushing to the store while the other stays home and cleans like mad fiend. I find myself staring at my little boy while he plays play dough at the table on Saturday mornings, and I get out of bed at 5;45am on weekdays so that I'm done exercising and am ready for work before he wakes up just so that I can catch that five minute snuggle he's willing to give when he first climbs out of bed. I'm not so concerned about moving up into a higher position at work; what I'm doing is fine, and will continue to be fine, as long as I can be out the door in time to pick him up at daycare and spend a few hours with him and Barry in the evening.

Time is not a renewable resource. It is a truly precious commodity. I'm trying to chill out a bit about my usual militant cleaning and organizing. Today, we went to the park after dinner and I did dishes when we got home...a huge step for me...hopefully in the right direction.

Well, I must run, as usual, the clock is catching up to me, time to go see what the Bunny is bringing for Matt!

Let's not forget why we have some extra time this weekend. It is because God loved us enough, it is because Christ cared enough to sacrifice himself. He paid the price, with His time, with His blood, with His life.

Hope this wasn't too serious and "downer" for and Easter weekend blog. Things really are good, and we are enjoying the little moments in each day. I hope you all do the same.

Love and prayers,

Laura

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

My goodness am I ever a terrible blogger! I had no idea how totally crazy life would be when I started working full time. The last blog post was on the day before I started work...it's been three weeks and I'm just getting back now!! I'm hoping to find a good pace around here and be able to keep up with at least a weekly blog update.

So, the past three weeks? We've been busy. We went to the Calgary Zoo - it was so wonderful. We spent most of our time in the African area (let's face it - they have the very best animals). Matt walked the whole time (I gave away all the strollers when we moved, so he really had no choice) and did so well. He didn't complain about getting tired, or cold when we were outside, or hot when we were inside. He was wonderful the whole day...then slept the whole drive home and was completely wired at bed time. Figures.

We've also been to Edson to visit our friends there. Another wonderful weekend. We always enjoy our time with them so very much!! We relaxed, ate some awesome food (thanks Jansens!) had the privilege of a very professional photo shoot (thanks for that too...I have the frame up in my entrance way and it's gorgeous). Matt loves to visit them so much it's almost a double edged sword. He gets soo excited about three days before hand he can hardly sleep. Then he cries for about three days after we leave. As usual, he had us in stitches a few times. He picked out a little something from home to give to each of the Jansen girls. He then surveyed his choices, puffed out his chest and told me, "Jeepers, lucky girls!" What a kid.

We also had the opportunity to visit some friends from Mackenzie who were in Calgary visiting for the weekend. We met up with them on the Saturday afternoon, enjoyed some wander through the mall time while the men looked after the kids and then stumbled upon the neatest little place for dinner. We tried several "known" restaurants (Olive Garden, Earls, The Keg) and the shortest wait time for a table was more than an hour. So, in a last ditch effort we drove downtown thinking that there may be a surplus of restaurants down there and this would help us find something without such an outrageous wait. Did we ever luck out! We did have to walk past a few very questionable looking characters (if you're ever downtown Calgary - hold on to your kids tightly) and ended up finding the most enjoyable dinner experience ever! It's a two story book store (much like a large Chapters) called Prairie Ink...and upstairs it has a coffee bar and a full restaurant. While we were eating, they had a jazz duet playing at just the right volume (we could still converse comfortably). Even Matt was so charmed that he sat quietly the entire time.

This past week has been a serious roller coaster. Barry headed back to BC on Sunday to finish up some business with Canfor and also to bring home our RV that has been in storage all winter. He arrived in Vanderhoof on Sunday evening and realized that all four keys for the trailer were HERE - IN ALBERTA!!! As you can imagine...he was not a happy camper. Meanwhile...back at the ranch...I have discovered that our sump pump has kicked in (apparently a very normal thing for an Alberta spring). It drains out to the north side of the house. Our house is brand new, and is not landscaped yet...this means that the ground outside is not built up properly, and also not sloped to the proper grade...so all the water was flowing back towards the house and creating a bit of a pond that settled itself right up against our foundation. Our foundation is cement...which is porous...so if left long enough the water will eventually make its way into the basement.

I spent the next two days not only working and looking after Matt, but calling Purolator, Westjet, Greyhound, Expresspost and anyone else I could think of who might be getting to Prince George quickly to take the keys to Barry. In between phone calls, I tried to shovel a little trough for the water to drain away in, but the ground was either too mucky and just slid back into place, or too frozen to move. Then I would go back to phone calls...I tried locksmiths and other people who have RV's to see if we could find a matching key. In the end, we realized that our friends from Mackenzie were flying home on Tuesday morning and could take the keys to Barry - the only problem was that I would have to get the keys to them in Calgary. I've never driven there...and I'm quite sure that I'd get terribly lost. I thought that perhaps our real estate agent (one of the only people we know here in Didsbury) would be able to recommend someone trustworthy who could make the run for me; I could give them some gas money and everyone would win. We trust our real estate agent a lot, he's a wonderful guys and you're absolutely not going to believe what he told me!!! I asked if he knew of anyone who could do this, and he said, "Sure!! I'll run the keys down there for you. I'll stop at your place to pick them up in about ten minutes. If you could jot down the address that'd be great." WOW!!! Talk about above and beyond the call of duty. So, the keys got to Barry, the RV got home, and lake did mostly dry up (I think some of the water drained away in my trough:).

After that week, we needed a quiet weekend. Today, we tidied up the house, hung a few pictures and got groceries. Then we just chilled and played games with our little Matt.

Well folks, I must sign off. Time to wind down.

Blessings to you all,

Laura