Jerseyville detour

We went to visit my sister and her husband in Toronto, to see their "new" condo. (They've had it almost a couple years now, but we haven't managed to see it yet). The road trip started out smoothly, until Rei needed a bathroom break near Brantford. Of course that was about the time we hit the traffic jam.

It took 20 minutes to travel the 2 km to the exit ramp, where we learned that both lanes of the highway were closed. After a bathroom break and consulting a map, we first followed the masses and ventured to a highway to the south only to find that another traffic jam awaited. After a few minutes, we u-turned and tried a northern route on a lesser road. We backtracked, zigged and zagged and drove through Jerseyville on the way back to the 403. It was very Amazing Race-like.

As we scooted along our way to Toronto, we felt sorry for the backed up traffic heading east, noticing a few cars reversing back up the on-ramps to avoid the wait. We could feel their pain.

Reiko Goes to School

Not wanting her picture taken, this was the best we could manage of Rei's first day of school.

The morning went rather smoothly, although my heart was pounding as bus pick-up time drew near. There were no tears (from Rei) but it was with what seemed a sombre and silent resignation to her fate that she got on the bus with help from our neighbours.

Everyone was glad when she was home again. Her day was good, the bus ride was fun, her teacher is nice, and she made one friend. She drew a picture of one flower but she's not sure where it went. The lunch breaks weren't very long; and she didn't eat all of what she brought.

Apparently a student helper (referred to as "the boy") put her on the wrong bus for home, but that got straightened out. In the end, she's looking forward to going back.

Investigative Reporting

Today I had the joy of picking up the kids from daycare as Shelley had an evening program. We were listening to one of Rei's favourites, Tegan and Sara, when some questions came to her mind:

Where do Tegan and Sara live?
- One lives in Montreal and the other in Vancouver

Which one lives in Montreal, Tegan or Sara?
- I'm not sure.

Do they live in a house or apartment or cottage?
- I don't know.

Where do they play their songs?
- In studios or concert halls or bars, I think.

In buildings?
- Yes, mostly. Maybe outside for some concerts.

[and returning to her first line of questioning] Do they live far apart?
- Yes.

After that, she lapsed into silence - maybe imagining what it would be like to live far apart from family.

Inquiring minds want to know. Emily Yeung better watch out, there's a 4-year old interviewer hot on her tail.

Maytag Makeover

Shelley wondered tonight if there was another colour beneath the panels of the dishwasher. Its 80's white contrasted with the black of the other appliances. Not that I'm racist, some of my best friends are white.

Sure enough, the flip side of the panels were black and some chromatic continuity flows in the kitchen.


You can see the old version here; although I have to confess it's a GE dishwasher, not Maytag but I couldn't resist the alliteration.

to School

In the staggered start system at Rei's new school, kids are phased into the classroom in smaller numbers. So her first day is on Friday. The bus pick-up is close at-hand and she already has some "bus buddies" in the girls who live a couple doors down.

Rei and Kai are making friends with the locals; there's a 3-year old boy next door that they're always asking about and they were playing together in his yard yesterday. His place seems to be party central – there's a trailer in the driveway that serves as the neighbourhood tree fort.

Such is life in our corner of the world, on the impending eve of the first day of school.

Master of the Bedroom

This morning's labour had me assembling a new bedframe and attaching our head- and footboards to it. Like many of my HandyDaddy projects, it involved some cursing under my breath and took much longer than I estimated.

By this afternoon, our bed was solidly supported and back in place, ready for our soporific endeavours; although, the boudoir now has the smell of shop class.

Applause

Sunday worships are curious things. Each incarnation takes on a different flavour or personality even, despite the liturgy and sermon texts are identical. Today, the first service was adequate. For whatever reason, I wasn't feeling a connection and resigned myself to accepting that this one was in the category of "they can't all be winners".

Maybe it was a different energy, or just the fact I'd had one extra run-through the worship material, but things went much better during the second service. One of my jokes set the organist giggling so much that some misplaced notes chimed out as she tried to compose herself. There was applause led by the choir after the sermon, and not because they were glad it was over.

It was explained to me afterwards that at times when applause follows the choir anthem, it's as if the congregation was duly entertained. Whereas if a sermon manages to connect on a deeper level, there is no expression of appreciation. And shouldn't the main substance of the worship experience be applauded? Or so the rationale went.

Still, it was like preaching to a studio audience, as if all the responses were on cue. This must be how Letterman feels! After all, we both have kids the same age...

Golfing with a Pro

I went golfing at Caradoc Sands golf club with Shauna's boyfriend, John, to check out one of my new local courses. He's a far better golfer than I am, but I was glad for his experience and expertise.

It was paradigm-shifting for me to hear him discuss with himself where he wanted to hit his next shot from. I usually pick the longest club and swing away to see how close I get. He was setting himself up for his approach and putt.

John also observed that my lead foot was a little out of line. Which explains why my shots have been shooting straight off to the right: that's where I was aiming. With a corrected stance, my next few hits sailed down the middle of the fairway.

His best advice? I have to play more. I won't argue with that either.

Children of the R3-30

Our Monday mornings have nestled into a comfortable routine. One of the first things to do is download the latest podcast of the R3-30, CBC Radio 3's chart show. This provides the soundtrack to our car ride to Glencoe Presbyterian where the Ontario Early Years has a drop-in program. It's part of my effort to be a visible presence in the community, get to know some of the locals and spend quality time with Rei and Kai.

It seemed that they were paying particularly close attention to the podcast this week, bopping along to songs, and delighting in the sound effects and jingles. Rei even chided the host for his use of the words "stupid" and "shut up". I'm planning on writing to the show (and by "write", I mean "email") and let them know how positively the kids respond to the podcast. I may even try to get a couple of CBC Radio 3 slide whistles out of the deal.

Meetings Galore

Into my third week and things at the church have ramped up in terms of getting ready for the fall. During three of the last four evenings, I've had four meetings: Ministry and Personnel, Session & Unified Board, and a planning meeting of the Southwest Middlesex Regional Rural (maybe it's Rural Regional ... still trying to figure everything out) worship service planned for next month.

I had stated that to help keep my work-life balance in order, I'd commit to no more than 6 church-related evenings a month. Even in the typically slow summer month of August, I've managed 5. The learning curve is pretty steep but it's still fun.

Extracurricularities

Reiko is now registered for dance lessons. After doing some calling around and gathering information, we decided to go with a non-profit studio which means some fundraising and "volunteer" work is involved, but the fees are more reasonable and there will be a recital each year.

She now has some dance slippers that she's been practising in and Kai insists he needs to wear dance shoes too. He spent the evening in an old pair of his Robies soft-soled slippers.

Moonlight Escape

We tried to go camping. After Rei had asked a few times about going camping, we picked a weekend in nearby Warwick and she was excited to sleep in her red sleeping bag with her red pillow in a tent.

It turns out that once again, theory is more appealing than actual practice. The weather wasn't great: a grand summer thunderstorm blew up in the evening; timing-wise it was for the best, the tents were set-up and supper had been consumed. The kids were a little weary of being tent-bound for so long and they had trouble getting to sleep.

There was some more rain today, but Rei was away to attend a birthday party. Everyone did well through the day, but all the activity and fresh air had the kids overtired and overly-sensitive. A pre-bed tantrum did not bode well for us and the decision was made to abort the mission and head home.

Shelley took the kids home, along with as much camping equipment as we could cram, while I stayed behind and packed up the rest. I must say it was a beautiful summer night with a lovely fullish moon. Too bad it was spent searching for tent pegs and rolling up tarps in the growing dark (in our haste, the lantern went home with Shelley and the kids).

It was during my packing that our country-loving francophone neighbour decided to strike up a conversation with me about camping gear and how we survived yesterday's storm. Nice guy, warped sense of timing.

So it's home again and I think things will be easier tomorrow morning now. I was going to have to wake up early to come home to Strathroy, because the printer at the church office is too old to interface with the laptop; then head into Glencoe to get things together and ready for the first worship service in Appin. Seeing as the first leg is now completed, I can finish and print everything up and be ready to go first thing. Once I get the campfire-smoke smell out of my skin and hair; unless I'm feeling a John-the-Baptist-kind-of-mood...

Front Page Challenge

What a difference some time and perspective makes. Recovering from yesterday's near-death experience, it was back to the ordinary and everyday work of churching in a small town.

I didn't think it would happen this quickly, but Puppet Jesus and I are on the front page of the local paper, in the sidebar/index referring the reader to page two. There's a full write-up of last week's Vacation Bible School and another shot of me with the Senior Kindergarten class chatting it up with Puppet Jesus. He received the warmest welcome ever; the kids were lining up to give him hugs.

There's no website, but Google tells me microfilm of past issues is available!

Facebook Obit

In what has been an emotionally fraught afternoon, I'm so thankful for a happy ending. For those unfamiliar with The Facebook's social networking capability, there is a "status" line that people can comment about their day, make a witty remark or describe their mood.

This afternoon, I noticed that a friend's status line said she died in a car crash yesterday. ???? After scouring on-line newspapers, obituaries and funeral home sites for more info, and not finding anything, I didn't know what to think. It's a rather morbid and abrupt method of communicating bad news, albeit an effective one. I had shed some tears at the possibility of a bereaved young family, a promising career now lost and a dear friend gone.

Turns out everyone is OK; it was an inexplicable hoax that will cause her to leave The Facebook and understandably so. There were some further tears (of relief) and a renewed conviction to be more in-touch with those who are important to me.

Social Life

It's been a whirlwind of visiting and hosting the past few days. Friday was a trip north of Goderich to see Cheryl and her family and parents at their cottage; Saturday, my parents brought supper while Shelley went out with her sister and cousins who were visiting in London; Sunday, those same cousins (and sister) came over to see the house; and yesterday was Jeffy and Cheryl again, this time on our turf.

And tonight our realtor dropped by for a visit and check-in. I guess we're into full-on entertaining and housewarming mode now. There are still boxes left to unpack, knickknacks to place, and artwork to hang. The office/guest bedroom is a mess, but if you're coming over, we'll be glad to see you!

My Two Moms

Jeffy and Cheryl and the kids came over for a visit; it was nice to acquaint them to our new digs. The kids played very well together and an enjoyable time was had by all.

With two women answering to "Mom" in the house, there was a moment when neither was sure who was needed when the call of "Mom!" came from the rec room. They called back, "Do you mean Reiko's mom or Neva's mom?"

Once the precedence was set, the next time Reiko called up "Mom!" it was immediately followed by Neva's voice clarifying, "Reiko". Needless to say that prompted much giggling from the adults. It's good that the kids appreciate the value of clear communication.

DJ

During the coffee time after worship, someone came up to me and joked, "So I guess you're a DJ too?" My puzzlement must have shown on my face, so this person explained, "I typed your name into Google..."

My first thought was, They found this blog already? Not that it's any great secret, but it's a little early in the relationship to be so self-revealing (says the guy chronicling details of his days to the entire Internet). I wondered if updating my little Radio 3 playlist was considered DJ-ing, although my selections are more mood-driven and event-based than musically-linked through theme or beat or lyric.

It turns out there is a hip-and-happening DJ in Japan who is the first hit when my name is entered into the Google engine (I guess it's his name too). I'm sure there's a reality TV show that would take people with the same names and swap them into each other's jobs for a week.

I think I'm the B-Boy with the mike. Just like on Sundays. Sort of.

The Price of Success

The song of the day is by Canadian hip-hopper k-os. Unfortunately (?) due to his commercial success and acclaim, his work is unavailable at New Music Canada, the source of the blog-embedded music player.

After listening to his songs in the car, Kai learned the word "B-boy". Instead of hearing the song here, you can at least observe Kai's "B-boy Stance":

Ecumaniac

Glencoe Vacation Bible School is in full-swing this week. This morning, I toured around with the co-ordinator to the various sites (Presbyterian, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, United churches and the Oddfellows Hall) meeting many of the volunteers and community pillars that make the VBS run. I'm looking forward to a cooperative and collegial relationship with the other churches in town.

While many have commented and complimented me on my memory with names, I fear that tomorrow most of that data will have evapourated into the ether. I also will likely be unable to recall their particular church affiliation. But that's only natural: they all look the same to me.

Morning Run

I planned for a morning run (it's a little cooler in the day, less mosquitoes) today after seeing Shelley and the kids off to work/daycare. Once they left, I remembered that we hadn't given Kai his antibiotic for his latest ear infection. I called Shelley but she wasn't answering her cell phone.

I grabbed his meds, jumped in the car following their trail and kept calling her phone. As I was leaving Strathroy, she answered (it was on "vibrate") and decided to wait by the side of the road for me to arrive. A few minutes later, I pulled over, dosed my son and returned home. And that was my morning run.

Ironic endnote: So I go for a run after supper and after my return, realized that Kai didn't get his evening dose. Except he was now too sound asleep to administer his meds, even though he's just down the hall and not kilometers away.