Off to the Coast

Well on Wednesday we are off to Vancouver & Salt Spring Island for my brother's wedding. We are quite excited as we have been talking for years about taking the kids to the coast. I've never been to Salt Spring but everyone who has says it's just beautiful! We are staying in a cabin there - saw pictures - looks great! I am looking forward to a break. We had our Discovery Toys leadership retreat a couple weekends ago and it was also in a cabin. We had someone come in to give us pedicures, somebody else to teach us bellydancing, we made gratitude journals & we were broken into groups so that we each only had to look after one meal for the whole weekend. But I think my favorite part was that once we got there, I didn't drive a car, answer a phone or touch a computer the entire time. It was a wonderful thing. I know there is a place in Edmonton that does spiritual retreats & I think I am going to look into it. I have been trying this exercise that I learned about for meditating & it is simply to count from one to ten without any other thoughts entering your head. You try it!! I couldn't believe how easily I got distracted. "One...two...think about your breathing...crap....One....two...." That went on for about 10 minutes & I don't think I ever got past two. It made me realize how used to chaos & noise & distraction I am and how difficult it is to just try to focus. I can see how important it is to make sure our children get quiet time too. So I will keep practicing & let you know when I get to ten. Until then, I am looking forward to a family vacation on the coast!

The Hard Truth

This came to me via email today & I just loved it. So much truth. Apparently Bill Gates (love him or hate him, his words are right on the mark) was speaking to a group of high schoolers & shared with them this list of things that you do not learn in school. We are so focused on political-correctness that we set kids up for an unrealistic picture of the "real world."
I don't have all the source information from this, just that it is from an address Bill Gates gave to a high school.
So, read & enjoy!

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity . Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

A Big Surprise!

So Troy & I were having a conversation a few weeks ago about I'm not even sure what when I suddenly said, "You know if I was going to learn another instrument, I'd want to learn the Steel Guitar. And I'm not getting any younger....Maybe I should make that a goal for this next year."

Well, a few days later, Troy calls me from the guitar shop & says, "I wanted to surprise you with this but I realized you're going to have to come & pick out your own." I was totally blown away. So, here is a picture of my new Dobro Resophonic Square Neck Guitar! Now I need lessons! This is a finger-picking lap guitar. It is tuned differently than a regular guitar & it is played differently - with a slide & finger picks. I am very excited about this. And was so surprised.

So, thank-you Troy for a wonderful & unexpected birthday gift! You're the best!

Grace Like Rain

As I look out the window this morning, the ground is still covered in a blanket of white. The snow continues to fall - sigh... I thought it was April showers.... Everyone has been grumbling about the snow, myself included, but ultimately I realize that grumbling about something I can't control is a waste of energy.

I am longing for those summer thunder storms. You know the kind - you can feel them in the air for days, hanging there. The air is hot & humid, the sky dark with clouds. And then in an instance, the sky opens up and the rain pours down by the bucketful. The hot, sticky feeling disappears & a time of refreshing sets in.

Todd Agnew's "Grace Like Rain" song is one of my favorites these days. The verses are from Amazing Grace but the chorus is:
Halleluiah, Grace like rain falls down on me.
Halleluiah, All my stains are washed away, they're washed away.

So I can put up with the snow for another week or so because I know that when it melts, things will be green and full of life. I love spring, partially because it is the end to winter & the start of newness but also because it is so short, especially this year! It will give way to summer and summer to fall.

I hope that you all had a meaningful Easter. For now, I will be waiting for the rain.

Things you can't "un-see"

So last weekend, Troy & I watched Borat. If you haven't seen it yet, be prepared to look away. There are things in that movie that nothing can prepare you for. Don't get me wrong, it is side-splitting-ly funny but very crude. Don't watch it with your mother... I had seen Sacha Baron Cohen's Golden Globe acceptance speech before seeing the movie & it didn't really register. I went back to YouTube after seeing the movie & then watched the speech again - very, very funny! I just wonder what would have to be going through your mind in order to do some of the things he did. I didn't realize until someone told me as we were watching that the people in the movie thought this was a legitimate documentary. Funny...

We now have the pleasure of watching movies in Troy's parents' new theatre room. But this is not an average theatre room. It is more like an actual theatre adorned with an 11 foot screen & a projector (there are even curtains for the screen), 2 rows of theatre-style recliners, a whoop-ass sound system (complete with Harmon Kardon amp & Paradigm speakers), and a theatre-style popcorn cart. It truly is an experience. The only unfortunate thing is, other than Borat, the only movies we've had a chance to watch on it have been Finding Nemo & Flushed Away.... I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel Craig up close & personal. Now there's an image I won't mind not un-see-ing!

I think I got it.....

If this works, you should be able to click on the link at the bottom (Photo Sets) & go see all the pictures.....

www.flickr.com thetoylady's Rio Baby! photoset

In a moment...

This is a picture of my friend Linda & me in Rio - just a couple weeks ago. (not sure why the picture is sideways - or how to fix that...) Earlier this week, I got word that Linda had an aneurism. She was at home & told her husband Jason she had a terrible headache - the worst one of her life. They packed up the kids (they have 3 of them) and headed to the hospital. It ruptured on the way there. She had surgery & was in the neurosurgical ICU (not sure exactly what it's called). Got an update this morning - she is now awake & has been moved to a "regular" room. She has been eating & talking a little bit. Apparently it was at the base of the brain so they are not anticipating any brain damage.
It just made me realize how quickly our lives can change & how we need to truly make the most of our moments. Our lives are truly a gift from God. I have no doubt that Linda will make a full recovery and am very thankful for that. So I guess this is just a reminder for all of us to not leave things undone. Earlier this year my brother-in-law (30 years old) had a heart attack. I am not fool enough to think that I am immune to these things & I hope you who are reading this will realize the same thing.
Love to you all...