Monkey proudly dressed as Barney
THe three of them home from Trick or Treating (Scalliwag as dinosaur, Princess as unicorn, and Monkey as Barney)
Scalliwag wore this flower pot costume to school today
Friday, October 31, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
New Ways of Being Church
The United Church of Canada may have closed its studio. We may no longer have a weekly TV show. But we now have a YouTube channel.
Check it out here!
Check it out here!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Advent Thoughts
It is that time of year again, time to think about how to celebrate Advent/Christmas.
I am thinking that the overarching theme this year will be Be Not Afraid. Here is what I have thus far:
Nov 30 -- Be Not Afraid, a new world is coming
Scriptures:
Scriptures:
Scriptures:
Scriptures:
I am thinking that the overarching theme this year will be Be Not Afraid. Here is what I have thus far:
Nov 30 -- Be Not Afraid, a new world is coming
Scriptures:
- Isaiah 65:17-23
- Revelation 21:1-4 (Responsive Reading)
- Mark 13:24-37
Scriptures:
- Isaiah 11:1-10
- Psalm 72 (VU p.790)
- Luke 3:7-18
- Pageant Sunday
Scriptures:
- Luke 1:47-55 (VU p.898)
- Luke 1:68-79 (VU p.900)
- Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Scriptures:
- Isaiah 9:2-7
- Luke 1:26-38
- Luke 2:1-14
Sunday, October 26, 2008
One of these things is just like the other....
About 10 days ago Beloved and I were looking at pictures of a church. Suddenly there was a picture of the chancel area and I had to look twice.
IT was identical to the chancel area of the church where I did my internship. Not similar. Identical. I could look at the picture and describe what was just outside the frame. Then I looked carefully at the exterior shot and got out a history of my internship congregation. Basic structure of the building also the same.
But when you looked more carefully this was less surprising. Both are century(ish) buildings. Both were Presbyterian congregations in small farming communities. They both even had the same name. It stands to reason that there were a few buildings with common plans built in the same era.
Still it was uncanny.
IT was identical to the chancel area of the church where I did my internship. Not similar. Identical. I could look at the picture and describe what was just outside the frame. Then I looked carefully at the exterior shot and got out a history of my internship congregation. Basic structure of the building also the same.
But when you looked more carefully this was less surprising. Both are century(ish) buildings. Both were Presbyterian congregations in small farming communities. They both even had the same name. It stands to reason that there were a few buildings with common plans built in the same era.
Still it was uncanny.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Living Places
Singing Owl writes at RGBP:
Bonus #2: Without question the WORST place I ever lived was in my 1st year of seminary. I was in a basement suite where I shared bathroom/kitchen with the other suite in the basement. Dark coloured walls and floor with a teeny tiny window that got no sun as it was. Not fun -- as the year went on I found myself doing more reading and studying at the college instead of at home.
...tell us about the five favorite places you have lived in your lifetime. What did you like? What kind of place was it? Anything special happen there?In no particular order here are my 5:
- This house: 7.5 years I arrived here fresh out of school, single and childless. And now? Well it has been a full 7.5 years.
- The One with the Pink Fixtures: This was a bachelor apartment I lived in while working at a crisis nursery program. It was the first real striking out on my own as an employed, earning my own way adult. The name comes from the fact that the sink, toilet and tub were a dusty rose colour.
- The Home of My Childhood: We moved into the house where my parents still live in 1974. IT is where I lived from kindergarten through the end of my undergrad degree (and beyond). To a certain degree going there will always be going home.
- The One With BIG Windows: This is the one-bedroom I lived in during my final year of seminary. It was a bit farther from the school than I had planned but still walking distance. And easy access to the river valley, to the local pub, to everything I needed. And it had double sized windows in the main room and the bedroom.
- The House Just Off Campus: 2nd year of seminary another student and I rented a house 3 blocks off campus. My one and only experience of a roommate other than family.
Bonus #2: Without question the WORST place I ever lived was in my 1st year of seminary. I was in a basement suite where I shared bathroom/kitchen with the other suite in the basement. Dark coloured walls and floor with a teeny tiny window that got no sun as it was. Not fun -- as the year went on I found myself doing more reading and studying at the college instead of at home.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Things We Take for Granted
You know like a working furnace!!!
Sometime at the beginning of every heating season the furnace in htis house stops working. THere is a sensor that needs to be cleaned on an annual basis and when it gets too much build up on it the furnace won't cut in.
On the weekend it became apparent that we were at that point already this year. But it was still sort of working and we weren't going to be around home the last couple days so I hadn't phoned the furnace guy yet. But this morning we got up to a temperature inside of 62F. All the tricks I usually use to coax the furnace on only got it to run long enough to get to 64F.
So I called. And this afternoon he came. But this year the cleaning the sensor didn't work. So now it needs to be replaced--ordered in. So no furnace for a couple more days. But on the good side, at least it is October with nights just above freezing as opposed to January with nights at -30...
Sometime at the beginning of every heating season the furnace in htis house stops working. THere is a sensor that needs to be cleaned on an annual basis and when it gets too much build up on it the furnace won't cut in.
On the weekend it became apparent that we were at that point already this year. But it was still sort of working and we weren't going to be around home the last couple days so I hadn't phoned the furnace guy yet. But this morning we got up to a temperature inside of 62F. All the tricks I usually use to coax the furnace on only got it to run long enough to get to 64F.
So I called. And this afternoon he came. But this year the cleaning the sensor didn't work. So now it needs to be replaced--ordered in. So no furnace for a couple more days. But on the good side, at least it is October with nights just above freezing as opposed to January with nights at -30...
CHurch Newsletter Musings
THe congregational newsletter was just released. Rather than cross-posting my piece I will let you all know that you can find it at this link
Friday, October 17, 2008
Heads or Tails?
Songbird writes at RGBP:
Well, Gals and Pals, this weekend we'll be rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and that has me thinking about coinage.
1) When was the last time you flipped a coin or even saw one flipped in person? Several times a week I flip for coffee. With a set of rules that almost defies description. We even have the girls trained in how the game works. (What, shouldn't we teach the girls how to gamble???)
2) Do you have any foreign coins in your house? If so, where are they from? It is likely that there is a USan coin or two around somewhere. At one point I had an English pound but I can't remember where it is now.
3) A penny saved is a penny earned, they say. But let's get serious. Is there a special place in heaven for pennies, or do you think they'll find a special place in, well, the other place? I would have no problem with the penny being discontinued. But the Monkey loves them.
4) How much did you get from the tooth fairy when you were a child? and if you have children of your own, do they get coins, or paper money? (I hear there may be some inflation.) Honestly I don't remember what the going rate was. I am thinking a dime, with maybe a quarter on a good day. Princess has been getting a loonie a tooth.
5) Did anyone in your household collect the state quarters? And did anyone in your household manage to sustain the interest required to stick with it? Certainly not the state quarters, not being USan and all. However the Canadian mint has put out a few different series of special coins (quarters at times, loonies at times) and I have sometimes started trying to set them aside. But I always forget that I am doing so...
Well, Gals and Pals, this weekend we'll be rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and that has me thinking about coinage.
1) When was the last time you flipped a coin or even saw one flipped in person? Several times a week I flip for coffee. With a set of rules that almost defies description. We even have the girls trained in how the game works. (What, shouldn't we teach the girls how to gamble???)
2) Do you have any foreign coins in your house? If so, where are they from? It is likely that there is a USan coin or two around somewhere. At one point I had an English pound but I can't remember where it is now.
3) A penny saved is a penny earned, they say. But let's get serious. Is there a special place in heaven for pennies, or do you think they'll find a special place in, well, the other place? I would have no problem with the penny being discontinued. But the Monkey loves them.
4) How much did you get from the tooth fairy when you were a child? and if you have children of your own, do they get coins, or paper money? (I hear there may be some inflation.) Honestly I don't remember what the going rate was. I am thinking a dime, with maybe a quarter on a good day. Princess has been getting a loonie a tooth.
5) Did anyone in your household collect the state quarters? And did anyone in your household manage to sustain the interest required to stick with it? Certainly not the state quarters, not being USan and all. However the Canadian mint has put out a few different series of special coins (quarters at times, loonies at times) and I have sometimes started trying to set them aside. But I always forget that I am doing so...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Why ALL of it?????
One of the actions that national governments are taking (and being pressured to take) in reaction to the Global Credit Crunch/Economic Disorder is to insure the full balances of all bank accounts.
Why?
I can understand insuring a certain amount, a base that safeguards all people. But why 100%?
If you have bank accounts of half a million pounds (as one story from Britain I saw talked about) why does it ALL need to be guaranteed? I see the role of these insurances to ensure people have enough to live on, not to protect their wealth.
By all means insure some. By all means we can debate what the threshold should be. But those who have many times more than the threshold can afford to take a risk. And let us be honest, most people's bank accounts are well below even a modest threshold.
Or maybe my socialist tendencies are showing?
ETA: Currently in Canada the CDIC insures up to $100 000 That seems like more than enough of a cushion.
Why?
I can understand insuring a certain amount, a base that safeguards all people. But why 100%?
If you have bank accounts of half a million pounds (as one story from Britain I saw talked about) why does it ALL need to be guaranteed? I see the role of these insurances to ensure people have enough to live on, not to protect their wealth.
By all means insure some. By all means we can debate what the threshold should be. But those who have many times more than the threshold can afford to take a risk. And let us be honest, most people's bank accounts are well below even a modest threshold.
Or maybe my socialist tendencies are showing?
ETA: Currently in Canada the CDIC insures up to $100 000 That seems like more than enough of a cushion.
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