Sunday, June 28, 2009

At the Track

We had a long day today. A good day. The alarm went off at 4:20 this morning and we were on the road by 5, heading up to the Saskatchewan International Raceway. We got a good spot in the pits and Sean got all his stuff set up. A typical race day starts with 3 passes for test and tune, then in the afternoon it's on to eliminations. This is Sean's first race day of the season; he missed out on one earlier because parts broke on the dyno when he was testing it out after all the work he did on it over the winter.

It's better now, back in the car, and this year the nitrous bottles are bigger. Right off the trailer, he made 9.06 his first pass. At 150 miles an hour. FAST. The next two passes were slightly slower, but still impressive. This set up is working great for him - the fastest time last year was 9.60 (at 140 mph). The way eliminations work in bracket racing is that you have to pick the time you think you'll make the pass in (based on how things went in your test passes) and 'dial it in.' You race against that time; you want to get as close to it as you can without going faster. The guy on the other side of the track has a different time, and you each get the green light at different times to make up for it. If you 'red light' or leave too soon, you're automatically out. If you go too fast, the other guy wins. Otherwise, it's whoever comes closest to their time.

Sean was out in the first round today, but it was a great pass and a good race. The other driver had a .007 reaction time off the lights, which is amazing, and he got really close to his time, too. Not bad for his first weekend behind the wheel of his dad's car. Sean got his best time ever - 9.04 at 150 mph. And that was with a headwind, too, and not as much nitrous as he could have used. It wasn't that long ago that he was doing his best to make it to the 9's, and now we might be in the 8's at the next race. Crazy. I guess that's the point - faster, faster and then faster again.


I'll leave you with one picture. This shows the parachute, which got used for the first time today. Notice the 'remove before flight' tag? Using the parachute on all 4 passes means we got to learn how to re-pack the parachute... fun. :) At the bottom of the picture you can see a contraption coming out from the bottom of the back of the car - that's the wheelie bars. So when the car launches and the front end lifts, it won't go too far.

Have a great week! We're off camping, but I can update twitter from my phone, which is basically a condensed blog post, so if you come by here and it looks like nothing's changed, check the twitter feed on the side. If we get cell reception out at Duck Mountain, I'll update. Maybe. :)

Friday, June 26, 2009

MARA GRACE

We now have FOURTEEN nieces and nephews - and the oldest and youngest have the same birthday!

Mara Grace was born to Sean's brother Aaron and his wife Monica on Wednesday morning, June 24. She was 10lbs, 4oz.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Today Summer Starts

Madeline finished grade 4 today. She brought home a decent report card and lots of work which we've already gone through, looked at and recycled. She got off an hour earlier than usual, and Sean worked a little overtime, so it felt kind of like a summery afternoon. Nice. Proud of my girl going into grade 5. Or 5e as the french kids say.


These are my new dishes. I've been meaning to take a picture for a few weeks to show you... We went out browsing some home stores getting ideas and this was a quick fix on the 'we need to do renos!' feelings. Bring out something new and fun three times a day and it's all good.


And these... these are what brought the camera out. Of course they were empty by the time we got home, but, PIC A POP. When was the last time you had a pic a pop? We went out to Dessart (our favorite ice cream and retro sweets shop) to celebrate school being done and splurged on ice cream AND pop.

And the best for last:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SILAS!!!
Here's a page I did of Silas and I from two summers ago. This is the kid that made me an aunt, 12 years ago today. He's also the crazy good runner that just finished 13th in the Manitoba Super Run on Sunday. Love you!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

One more day of school...

...for the kid. And I must say I am slightly jealous. The reason I haven't posted for a while is because every spare minute is being spent working on this assignment so I can get to the next assignment so I can get to the reading and then be DONE. I'm trying to get as much done as I can before we go camping next week. I don't mind taking a textbook along, since it will get mixed in with all the fiction I picked up at the library today, but I sure won't be working on a paper out there. And it will be nice to enjoy summer with no school. I will get there. I will.

I'm not sure yet where we're going camping next week. Sean was going to call and book at Duck Mountain today - that's plan E so far, I think. We will just be happy to be away and relaxing.

Soccer is done. We had 5 games last week; Tuesday and Thursday wrapped up the regular season, which we finished with 7 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties. Then we played in a tournament on the weekend: lost Friday to go to the B side, but then we won 2 games Saturday to take the B side championship. And here's the scoop on the trophies, since I should update after that last rant... The trophies were given out according to the tournament standings. We got little stand up plaques that say B side Champs. So, yes, appropriately specific. I agree with Alexis (see her comment on the last post) that acknowledgment for participation is important, especially for younger kids; what I didn't like was every one getting the same thing regardless of how they did. I don't know what everyone else got, but I liked that ours was specific to how they did. I don't even think they kept stats on the league play - it was just for fun all around. And now my season as coach was over. Tune in next year to see if it happens again!

Ok, off to my paper.

**********
Updated to add this funny story so you can laugh at me:
This morning I put in the first contact lens (opened a new set yesterday; nice & fresh!), then got the second one ready, and was having a bit of a tougher time getting it the right way round when I realized that there were TWO contacts there. The first one didn't make it into my eye and now the contacts were mixed up and I didn't know which was which. Has this ever happened to you? Or am I the only one? I tried them both ways and couldn't really tell (one eye is 1.25 and the other is 1.75, so not that big of a difference...) I picked what I thought was best, and I didn't notice it all day, so I'm thinking I picked right, but... and the kicker is that it's a brand new pair - if I got it wrong, my eyes will be so weird when I switch them up next month.

Ok, there you go, have a good laugh at my expense. What a dork.

Friday, June 19, 2009

One more day of soccer...

...and if the run like they did tonight, we won't have to worry about game two tomorrow, as one parent put it tonight.

We finished the season yesterday with 7 wins (but last night's win was sketchy. Could have been a tie, but we'll go with what the ref said), 5 losses and 2 ties. Not too bad, especially since we were at 2 wins and 5 losses at one point!

The tournament started tonight, all the players were out, but there was a sad lack of hustle on the part of too many players, and we lost 2-0. Happily, it works out for my schedule tomorrow, since I'm supposed to be in 2 places at once! We have a city wide young adult event where we're helping the local Rescue Mission get their new building closer to being ready to use. It will run well without me, but I would like to be there. This way I get to be there to start things off, and then our soccer game starts at 11.

If we win that we play at 2; if not, it's straight to the hotdogs and trophys.

Wish us luck!

One mom made cupcakes for our team - they were AMAZING! The icing was green grass, they had little jerseys with the numbers on them (and one that said coach!) and little soccer balls made out of icing that even had the black spots. Wow.

Here's a question. Do you think everyone should get trophies for participation? Or is it ok to hand those out just to the winners? I think that they become meaningless if they mean "Congratulations, you showed up!" We've already thrown out 2! Shouldn't you know how to run, dribble, and kick a ball before you win trophies for it? I think you can over affirm a child to the point that they never feel like they need to try harder at anything. And I think that's a crying shame. Ok, off my soapbox and back to work, but please leave me a comment with your opinion on this!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Compassion Follow Up!

Good News!

Remember the Compassion child I was sent by Compassion and asked to find a sponsor for?

I had mentioned it to my mother-in-law on the phone and she had commented that she'd always wanted to do that. I emailed her the info and didn't hear back and forgot about it until she came for a visit a few weeks later. It came up again, and I showed her the picture, and she said, "Let me take this home with me..."

And I forgot all about it again. (Notice a pattern here?) Until tonight. She just called to check in with us and at the end of our conversation added, "Oh, yeah! We took on that Compassion child!" That's good news, but it gets better:

They had decided one morning that they would do it, and later that day in their Bible Study someone had brought an article which ended with an encouragement to take on a project and specifically mentioned Compassion. So she added her two cents and told their story, and another lady now has joined up and is sponsoring a mother and child.

So there you go, Compassion. Your little ploy to get more kids sponsored by sending out packets to existing sponsors worked well here. This time.

**********
Update: Please leave a comment with your own story - who do you sponsor, through who and in what country? (Thanks, Mom! Good idea!)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Proof


I can't believe it's our last week of soccer - we play Tuesday and Thursday like usual, then Friday night and Saturday is our windup tournament. When that's over I think I will be shocked to realize that there are only 3 days of school left!


Here's me being coach!


M taking another turn in goal.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Gifted and Called

"I am a gifted woman and I have been called by God."

A goal of the seminar I was at last night and all day today was that all the women present could stand and say that with confidence. Also, that she would know how she was gifted, and what she would do to develop her gifts.

As well as a spiritual gifts test, we did a color-survey about personality types, and put those together, doing some exercises to see how we can work well together. We also talked about change, which is an important part of a weekend like this; if you teach those ideas but not how to change and adapt to using them, it's less likely to have lasting impact.

It was a good weekend, and I'm glad I went. My gifts, by the way, according to this survey, are Service, Giving, and then 4 tied: Administration, Evangelism, Leadership and Trust (or Faith). I would lump service in at the same level as the others, looking back at the questions. Giving (or Poverty in other words!) and Faith have been the highest before. I've chosen to focus on trying to develop the gifts of Administration and Leadership in my life.

Leave me a comment - does this sound like me? What are your gifts? And if you're feeling brave, are you using them? Or do you need to begin to play the part you've been called to?

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I can't help you!

Someone said something to me this week that really stood out.

Across the Lewvan from my house is a Bible School that very generously allows me to borrow books to use when I need to work on papers for my own schooling. I had been there the other day and picked out a few books for this next monster of a paper, and the librarian had stepped out for a moment; another teacher tried to help me out, but I was just a community member - I'm not surprised she couldn't figure out the system. That was no big deal, I would just go back later.

A few days later I went to rescue my books from cluttering the shelf behind their desk, and waited a few minutes for the librarian, who was nowhere to be seen. The library was full of students, and then their teacher showed up, walked over to me with a shake of her head and before she even got to the desk said, "I can't help you!"

I immediately felt guilty for putting her in a position of such anxiety! I didn't expect her to know how to use the system; maybe she might have known the answer to a simple "Do you know when the librarian might get back?" which, yes, would have been helpful. I felt sorry for this lady who maybe I just caught at a bad time, but who apparently didn't know that TRYING to be helpful even if you couldn't actually help makes life quite a bit nicer for the people in your path.

Moral of the story: A smile and a "Can I help you?" goes a long way. Even if you don't work there.

(This was first published on my church blog.)

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Scrapping and Scoring

Can't blog now, busy scrapbooking! (I got nothing done this morning with the girls, but I'm on a roll now - hope to have stuff to show you soon!)

Oh, and my kids rocked tonight - we won 12 to 2! That brings our record to 5-5-1. One boy had a birthday today and scored 3 goals (and he's never scored yet this season!) How's that for a happy birthday? I bet he's sleeping with a smile on his face.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Today I....

Sometimes I wonder about you people who come to visit... I love that you come, but do you really come to hear all about my day? If you don't, you can stop reading now, because that's what today's post is all about. Maybe another day I'll talk scrapbooking or my job (*hint* there's some news coming there soon, I think...) or something random that I found online, but today it's all about life as I experienced it today.

Went to work first thing this morning, which is unusual (have I mentioned that one of the things I appreciate about my job is the flexible hours?) because I had an appointment with my hairdresser at noon. That might be more exciting if I had a picture to show you, but I don't. Maybe soon. It's not that different, just trimmed up and a few blond highlights in the not-quite-as-coppery-as-I-was-expecting brown... (I'm not going to tell you that there were gray bits here and there that needed covering, cause we're just not going there.)

The salon was more of a laugh than usual today - not many customers, and lots of gabbing by the girls. Treena said to me at one point, "They obviously don't know what you do for a living, hey?" At one point, she got embarrassed by a story they told and got them back by letting them know that I was a pastor at her church. It was pretty comical to see their reactions as they realized all the things they had been talking about. Interesting, hey, that the presence of a 'pastor' changes how you think you should behave, or what your standards are?

I finished there with an hour and a half until M got home on the bus... free time! It's a full weekend, so I took advantage of it and went down to 13th. I stopped in at a cute little shop to check out a certain purse for Treena, then a few doors down at Dessart, our favorite shop in the city where I got an iced mochachino and some candy for class tonight. Then off down the street to the Paper Umbrella, another favorite place of mine that sells notebooks and not much else. Paper and pens and heaven. I picked up a new Ecojotter that will probably stay empty for a while. It takes a really good idea to mess up a brand new notebook. Last stop on 13th was at Safeway where I picked up some sushi for supper for M and I. Sean was going to be out with the guys, so I thought I'd surprise her.

Saw Sean off to Jerry's stag out at the Denzin's - Jerry's off to Mexico tomorrow morning to get married to Gaby on the 20th. We've met her and are looking forward to having her move here (and join us scrapbooking!) - and then M and I had our sushi. Not enough to fill us, so we had nacho chips & salsa & sour cream. We eat good when there's no meat and potatoes required! (Or bad, but bad is good in my books.) Half of a Grandma Schneider's Butter Cookie for dessert (because we'd already been into them for an after school snack) and we were good to go. M is over at a friend's for a sleepover, and I went to class.

The computer ate an hour or so when I got home, then I got my second wind at 11:30 (go to bed early when I'm the only one here? Yeah, right. You don't know me very well.) So that's when the laundry and dishes got done, and now I'm here, blogging away at almost 1 in the morning. This makes me happy. (And I have candy, remember, to keep me awake in class tomorrow!)

And that was my Friday. Aren't you glad you spend the time here? :) Love you!

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Dori Fee Photography


Check out this link to my friend Dori's photography page on Facebook - Dori Fee Photography - there are a couple more pics of me and M in her 'Together' album, and she's got one of us in the 'Layouts' section, too. Go have a look!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Beautiful Faces





Madeline and her cousins Mataya and Kasden from last weekend - I love the new zoom lens!
And one from last Thursday's soccer game. One of my favorite parts of the games are at halftime, when the kids all gather around me like I've got something to say. They don't listen well at any other time, so I've started using this as my prime teaching time. (Like today's tidbit of wisdom: You can't throw the ball in to yourself.) I really am having fun coaching. Sean and M came today even though we wouldn't let her play. She stayed home (at G&G's) today again, but she'll be back at school tomorrow. She sure likes when you comment about her. (Almost as much as I like ANY comment. lol!)

Monday, June 01, 2009

Monday bits

* Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! Forty one years today - that's awesome. (We're at half-way to five...)

* Madeline has bronchitis & is home from school today. She's not that sick, but coughing quite a bit and I don't want the kids at school to catch it.

* Sean signed up for facebook this weekend. He held out for a long time, but finally got tired of missing out on things because they were only on FB and nobody emailed or called. Some friends, hey?

* My face cream reminds me of Grandma Schneider's bathroom. It doesn't smell like roses, but enough of the scent that I remember her just about every morning.

* This weekend was nice and sunny and quiet. We enjoyed it extra because I am going to BUSY every weekend from now until school ends. Oh, well. This weekend is class and COMEDY NIGHT!! (Wanna come? Tix are $10.) and Kayely's ordination service, next weekend M is off to girl guide camp, Sean is off to the races in Saskatoon and I'm attending a Gifted and Called seminar (why don't you come with me?? It's only $40.) and speaking at our service at Wascana Rehab Center, and then I've got both our young adult city wide clean up day at Soul's Harbour Rescue Mission's new building and a soccer tournament on the 20th. All good stuff... I can relax during the week in between weekends, right?

* Looking forward to scrapbooking with the girls tomorrow - maybe I'll even get something done to show you. FYI - if you live around here, we are going all through the summer, so plan to join us Tuesdays at 10 at the church. Your kids are welcome.

* I'm off to blitz clean the house and tackle my papers; sounds like a good procrastination day, so I'm sure I'll be back. Maybe with some pictures...