The Settling of the Dust

Whew! We haven't posted in quite some time! Sorry! Our chaotic week was definitely that - chaotic! We're back to somewhat normal, and the posts will be coming waaaay more regular. This blog is like bran - when you use it, that means you're regular. If you stop using it, things get backed up.

So here goes. Our last eleven days have been some of the most busy times as of late, and Christmas isn't even here yet. Let me bring you up to speed for those of you who have been unhappy with the lack of postings.

Where we got our Christmas tree
Two Saturday ago - We went and got our Christmas tree. Fantastic day. Actually, a friend who works in forestry spotted three amazing trees, so he grabbed one for us. So instead of having to tramp through the bush and find a tree, we went into the bush, started a fire and went sledding down an amazing hill!

Going Sledding!

Two Mondays ago - We raced off to Edmonton to do some Christmas shopping. Got that almost accomplished and then, while I was in the car, I used a laptop to work on two assignments at once. My one assignment involved creating a Renaissance period piece by using a contemporary piece of writing as my inspiration.

Last Tuesday - Worked on Lexicon assignment, and sermon all night. Kaelyn started to get sick with teeth and cold. She was up most of the night, so we're pretty tired.

Last Wednesday - Worked all day on Youth night and Sermon - found a great clip from Monty Python for sermon on Sunday. I was out all day so I have no idea what happened at home.

Thursday - Woah. Thursday, continued to work on sermon until 2pm, then studied for final exam from 3 until 6, from 6-9 I wrote final exam. All done! Celebrated by yawning.

Friday - Worked on Sermon in the morning, and the video died a few times on the computer. Set up for 100 kids who came to Friendship Friday. Then took down all chairs. Then switched gears and set up the coffee house with Michelle and Kaelyn. Got that set up, went to coffee house at night. Very tired. Oh yeah, won at Cranium. Michelle and I still not getting sleep, but that's okay. When you're this tired, you can have conversations with yourself.

Kaelyn the Red-Nosed Little Girl...

Saturday - Finished up sermon, video, powerpoint, notes and practised and tested. Then went to Friendship Friday Christmas party at night. Had a great pre-Christmas supper. Feeling like my stomach is getting in shape for the season, just putting it through some warm-up paces. Came home, slept.

Sunday - Preached using The Life of Brian (Monty Python) as my intro, then Michelle was on. Her kids did a great job of the Christmas musical. In fact, one lady commented that she had never heard the kids sing so well, and attributed that to Michelle. Then we left for Edmonton for round #2 of Christmas shopping.

Monday - Christmas shopping galore - and it's all accomplished! We shopped and met Grandma and Grandpa Smith at West Edmonton Mall, where they had their truck smashed into and camera stolen. It was nice of them to keep our Christmas traditions... In the last two Christmases, traumatic events have happened each time when they've come to visit us for Christmas. Can't wait to see what happens next year... Some people burn chestnuts over an open fire and read stories of Christmas - we like to do things differently around here. That's one Christmas tradition I wouldn't mind dropping.

So that brings us to today. Today I went to work and did very little. In fact, I was very proud of how very little I got accomplished. I drank lots of coffee. And then I turned my office lights on and off. Then my dad stopped by, and we went for coffee. Then, I believe I went home for the day.

The night was way better than the day. We had Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Smith, and Kaelyn got spoiled. She got lots of dished to throw and crash and eat. A pony to brush. And a great phone call from GG. It's nice to have family this close. And we caught up on some of our Advent reading. And then we played something that every person should play - Saskatchewan Roughriders' cribbage. What a great game, and of course the guys (dad and I) won. But males always were better at those "thinking games". Just ask Uncle John...oh wait, maybe I could use a better example...

So that's our life at this point in a long-winded nutshell. We're back to normal, and looking forward to a little Christmas break. I got a few marks back - 86% in my Renaissance period writing, 84% in my lexicon, 88% in my final exam. So I'm very happy with how everything turned out. Tomorrow will be a more sane posting, and we'll get you back to our daily lives.

Until then, we've got a couple more days with Grandma and Grandpa Smith!

Kaelyn chillin' with Zoe