Goliath and the Blog

It's like a 300 pound linebacker running unopposed at a quarterback who weighs about 173 pounds. Or 570 wimpy ninjas deciding to fight an army of 1,210 really good ninjas. Or asking a boy who weighs 100 pounds to eat a cow that weighs 173 pounds. A cow that is angry. With horns.

It just doesn't happen because it's impossible.

Funny word - impossible. Let's just say im is Latin for 'no stinkin' way' and possible is French for 'you're about to get run over.' That would mean that it's impossible for me to lose at Saskatchewan Roughrider cribbage. Im-possible. In other words, "No stinkin' way, buddy, you're about to get run over." I would have to go back over the blog, but I believe this latest victory puts me at 8 wins, 0 losses. Or 9. I can't remember. I haven't lost a game since...oh wait, there hasn't been a loss. None that I can remember. Some would say that's a touch arrogant. Boastful even. Perhaps borderline rude to brag about such a streak of victory.

Hey, my job is to inform everyone of the facts. And the facts from the latest game are this:
Shaun - 121 pts for the victory.
Michelle - 70 pts for the heartbreaking loss.
Do the math and you'll find that my opening statements are no exaggeration. They're mathematically accurate. It's all about balanced journalism here.

And to top it off, I just had Michelle proofread this section. Had to make sure there were no spelling errors. Phew.

There were none.

And she's not impressed.

That should be double points.

So onwards to the promised section that I teased you about yesterday. Lots to report, so I'll try and stick to the highlights so it doesn't become about how many potatoes I had for supper. The beginning of course, is a great place to begin any story, so there I shall begin.

Our section of the Smith clan spent Christmas day with Grandma and Grandpa Lewis, which is where we last left off. We got there just in time for Christmas supper, which was fantastic. Then we watched Kaelyn open her presents - she's getting more proficient at ripping stuff - and after that, it was games time. It was a pretty relaxed time - walking, Starbucks, and the works - and Kaelyn entertained us for pretty much the entire time.

You probably had to be there, but Kaelyn was hilarious. One night, she fit herself into a small plastic bowl, and she would constantly put it over her head and say "Bop. Bop." Sounded like one of those birds from 'Finding Nemo' who were crying out, "Mine mine mine." She also was introduced to remote control cars when Grandpa Lewis was driving around her and "accidentally" crashed into some of her jungle animals. Road kill.

We came home on the morning of the 28th and it seemed like a bit of a rush from there. Michelle returned to Edmonton on the Saturday to visit Uncle John (don't worry Uncle John, he's from Ireland now), who was in from Ireland. So I had two days with Zoe to just chill out (and put together a Sunday service, so I was busy). The next Monday I worked since my SUPERNEPHEW was coming up from Meadow Lake that day. Since he's only two years old, his parents came along too. So they rolled in, and unfortunately I had to work during most of the day from Monday to Thursday. Although my sermon came together in record time, so that was good. Lots of games, lots of victories to record. Then Thursday night rolled in, and Erin and Lea came up for a visit. We old-schooled it for quite a few hours with Mario Kart on N64. I'm more than proud to say that Erin is not a girl - well, she is - but I mean, she's actually great at video games. In fact, it's Lea who could use some practice.

Tristan and Kaelyn had a fantastic time together. One moment for you, Kaelyn coughed from drinking her sippy; Tristan copied her cough. Then Kaelyn coughed back. And so on. They shared well, they played well, and Kaelyn splashed Tristy in the bathtub. One moment all is calm, the next everyone in the bathroom is wet. Now that's a good bath.

On Friday, Lea, Doug and I (from here forward known as the three bros) went up to Marmot for a day of skiing. I was happy, especially in hindsight, to pick up a brain bucket from the snowboard store.

I must say I've never had a harder day snowboarding then I did that day. For the first two hours, we stayed on trails and went fast. After that, and I love to say this because I know how Mom will react (which will make me enjoy it even more), we went off the beaten trail and blazed our own trail. I wish I had pictures, but unfortunately, just picture a bunch of rocks and trees and snow and you get the picture. At several points, we lost each other and would yell out each other's names, only to find that each person was only a few feet from each other. We were just behind trees. And under rocks. And snow. That was a pretty crazy day.

We finished, of course, by going with the whole gang out to Jasper Park Lodge, where we had the world's best waitress. Very good times out there, as usual. It was a huge gift to have everyone out there. It's pretty hard to express how much fun that was, so I'll just leave it with you.

We came home exhausted. Lea went to bed at 8; Megan was next, Michelle the next sleepy one, and Doug, Erin and I stayed awake until 1, and then just Erin and I until 1:30am. On Saturday, Doug, Megs and Tristy left in the morning, and the rest of the day was pretty much a Mario Kart day.

Sunday was a huge thing for me. I had to preach, and everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. My video didn't work (and it was U2 Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For!) and my stand was too low, so I had to wing it a bit. But it was probably the most relaxed sermon I've done in a long time. I did get a lot of great feedback from it, so now I'm encouraged to try and preach all of March and see how it goes! My whole sermon was based around the power of weakness, and really revolved around how the church has used much of its power improperly, whereas in the ancient times, it would be speaking from a position of weakness. It really went over well.

So that's that! We're caught up! And hopefully now, we'll stay caught up! So Happy New Year to everyone, and we hope you enjoy the year of the 007!