Update Lowdown

Saturday night and I'm uncharacteristically finished my preparation for tomorrow's inaugural worship services with the "new" churches.

I imagine it's time I eventually recapped the past few weeks as I mentioned earlier (and I have one more entry to complete the recounting of our anniversary cruise too).

The church of ...
The primary reason for my delinquency in blogging frequency has been the move to a new pastoral charge and into the throes of home ownership. I don't know if there's much more to say beyond the heart-stopping moment when I closed the door to the manse for the last time and I thought, "Oh no! I don't have my keys; I'm locked out!"

A reflex response that really brought me to the reality that I'm leaving and it's time to go. For so long I've thought, and still do, that it's really not goodbye because we won't be that far away. But for the sake of professional boundaries and collegial respect, I'll be keeping my distance. Although the world of the church is a very small place and I know paths will cross again.

... basketball ...
NBA referee Tim Donaghy has been fixing games and point spreads for the mob. Kevin Garnett is traded to the Celtics. Does either story surprise me? Not really. Do they make me sad? Yes.

...books...
I tried reading Ann-Marie McDonald's As the Crow Flies but I had to stop. Some Bad Things Happen to Children in it that I got stuck on. Usually, I'm able to push through such developments to see how things resolve but not this time.

I did plow through Harry Potter: The Finale and found it was an appropriate and fitting end to the saga. **spoilers follow** In the grand scheme of things, there were no big surprises: Dumbledore was really dead, Snape was vindicated, Harry saves the day and the expected romantic pairings were made. But you know all of this. I found the Christ-like parallel of self-sacrifice in the face of death and the following "resurrection" rather ham-handed and didn't notice the similarities of the teen wizards and witches to Tolkien's LoTR's hobbit quest (which Jeffy pointed out for me). As for what's next? I'd love for J.K. Rowling to re-tell the entire series through the eyes of Neville Longbottom.

...booze...
Yep.

...cuisine...
It's barbeque season and the new home lends itself well to outdoor dining. I've been trying a few meals with hickory wood chips in a smoke box. I'm not sure my palate can discern the flavour in the food, but it sure smells nice on the grill.

...movies...
Haven't seen a lot. Or any. Hold on, we watched Wallace and Gromit in "Night of the Were-Rabbit" on DVD while we waited for and I saw most of "Cars" while waiting at the Walk-In Clinic with Kai. Even though Harry Potter 5 and The Simpsons movies were released into theatres, I think we'll be waiting a while still before getting to them.

I'll finish up with "music" and "TV" and "Jeebus" later. Big day tomorrow, I need my beauty sleep.