What is New?

What is new...? Really...? I feel like I have missed out on September. How is it October all ready? Why is it that I am all ready digging out mitts and toques for frosty mornings and feeling the urge to make oatmeal every morning? Why am I wanting to dig out the big thick duvet and waking up with a cold nose and crystalized toes? (okay the answer to the last question is because Bill likes to sleep with the window open and with two fans on, even still.) Why are words like sledding, street hockey, skating and skipants dominating our converstations? Why?!?! Because! We live in Saskatchewan and winter comes early here (other places too but this is where I live); summer is no where near long enough. There never seems to be enough nice days to do a third of the things you plan for.

Good news about October: I am almost done my Christmas shopping. I still have a few things left and a couple of stocking stuffers for the kids and I did not go broke.

There are only a couple of more days until NHL is back. I can not say that I am an avid hockey fan. In fact, if there is no one here to start watching it, I won't but, if a game is on I can get a bit rowdy. Bill & Pastor Shane are pumped about watching hockey (aka Tornoto Maple Leafs) and it sounds like Marc is right there with them. Okay girls...Hockey Night in Canada equals, what? I definitely think we could get together and do some scrapbooking or something equally exciting.

Speaking of hockey, there has all ready been a couple of games for our local WHL team and, as much as I hate to sound like I am not supporting my local team...I am not. Perhaps if they didn't come into work with their attitudes, their parents with bigger attitudes and their groupies (aka pucks) with even bigger attitudes, it wouldn't be so bad. I didn't mind them before having to serve them and having them try to grope all the waitresses, having them not leave tips and having them get just to cocky and arrogant for their own good. Now, I barely tolerate them. It is an increasing struggle to put on a happy face and bring them their food. Trust me, prayer is necessary...constant prayer for strength and the ability to endure them with grace, humility and Christian love. It distresses me (to a small level) that I smile every time I hear that the visiting team has beaten the pants off of them. I am a bad, bad citizen. Bad. (well, probably not...just disgruntled.)

We still have not found a church that even begins to feel like home, feels like it is truly hungry for God or that feels like it is somewhere we want to raise our kids. Well, that is not entirely true. We haven't found one in this country that doesn't require us moving so far from all of our loved ones and doesn't require us to jump through hoops to get jobs. We feel that that will be changing soon but we don't know when and we don't know where (or who). We just continue to pray and continue to press in. Our faith, unwaivering; God has been our focus and that shall be our constant.

I think that is it for now as it is getting pretty late and this is all ready a pretty long post. We'll see you all later.