Saturday, June 23, 2007

Takin' the Yellowhead Pt. 2

On Wednesday morning, Jen and I had a great breakfast with our grandmother and then we finally got on the road.

The plan had been to find an IHOP because Jen had a craving for pancakes or something. I love breakfast out -- definitely one of my favourite meals to go out for -- so this didn't seem like a bad idea. But, my grandma had a carton of eggs and a ham and a loaf of bread on the counter. I suddenly realized that she had just gotten them the day before and had been telling my uncle that we were coming... yeah, she had bought the breakfast stuff just for us. Jen and I quickly abandoned the IHOP plan for two reasons: 1) my grandmother was expecting us to have her breakfast, and 2) she's just such a sweet old lady! Clearly, breakfast was to be had at home. Don't get me wrong -- it was tasty.

However, Jen still had her hankering for pancakes so we decided to find the IHOP in Kamloops and have a 2nd breakfast... as you do.

We pulled in Kamloops and began the search for the IHOP... Ok, it wasn't at the top of the hill. Maybe it was down in the old part of town? Nope. How about on the highway just east of the city? Not there either. A quick check of the yellow and white pages proved there was no IHOP in town. What was this? Prison?


We made do with Denny's. You have to understand that this is kind of funny because Jen and I have a long and distinguished history with Denny's. During college, I drank many a late night cup of coffee and smoked numerous packs of Benson & Hedges at the location at North Rd. and Austin Ave. Jen did much the same at the Langley restaurant. So, needless to say, it was pretty comical find ourselves looking at the menu and deciding on ordering Moons Over My Hammie.

The rest of the day was spent driving and avoiding bugs. Or not avoiding them, actually. We must have washed that windshield about 100 times. We'd no sooner get back on the highway and we were navigating via bug guts.

You probably think I'm kidding how bad it was. But, the front of the car was a mess! On the bright side, though, was the extra protein available to us when we were feeling a might run down.

*****
I haven't eaten so much crap in quite some time. And it was awesome! I recently discovered beef jerky and that seems like the absolutely perfect road trip food. It's low in fat, high in salt, very savoury, hard to chew and comes in bags with names like Oberto and McSweeney's. How road trip is that? Jen even got a Hostess King Dong. Yes, it is as nutritious and filling as you'd expect from Hostess-Frito Lay, that paragon of healthy eating.

*****
Around Jasper we saw this massive elk and Jen stalled the car in the process of stopping. It's called a clutch, my dear.



I ran across the road and took photos. I felt like such a tourist. And the actual fact that I was acting like one was confirmed when an entire tour bus pulled over a minute later and offloaded a bunch of holidayers with cameras in hand.



We then helped to perpetuate our tourist persona by taking pictures of ourselves.

More later...

Friday, June 22, 2007

Takin' the Yellowhead Pt. 1

I love my sister, Jen. She's so fun. And you don't have to talk much because she takes care of that for you.

So a couple of months ago, she calls me and mentions that she's coming down from Edmonton to Vancouver for a wedding with her mother-in-law. The catch is that she would have to drive back to Edmonton by herself. Would I be interested in driving back with her, hanging out in The Chuck for a few days and then maybe fly home.

So, on Tuesday we packed up the car and began our road trip. Work-wise, it is the absolute worst timing, but I have so needed a break. I think you could see that from my earlier posts. I was starting to go crazy with work and a little holiday was becoming far too necessary.

We drove first to Kelowna for one night (Sorry, Tex, that I didn't call in again) to see my grandparents. My grandfather is in the late stages of Alzheimer's Disease in a care home and Jen hadn't seen him for almost 2 years. My grandmother lives alone now so she was tickled pink to have us stay with her.

My grandfather is 94 and on previous visits he recognized me. But, this time he was really confused. It's so hard to see someone who was so vibrant and active in life (he was a forest fire fighter and at 50 years old could outrun 25 year olds) be confined to a wheelchair and not be able to make his brain work right. When I told him our names and who our dad was (his son), he just looked confused and then haltingly said, "I... I can see... but... you try to... but you can't make it work." He was almost ashamed that he recognized that he should know us, but couldn't remember why and just couldn't put the pieces together.

As we were leaving, he left us with some parting wisdom. "I do know that three things are really important: 28, 29 and 30." He then paused and finished with, "but sometimes 27." If it wasn't so sad, I'd probably laugh a bit more.

My grandmother is 95. She's starting to forget things, too. But, I can't really fault her that when I see how old she is. She's about 4'11" and the daughter of Irish parents. She's very fun, but definitely not as spry as I remember her from my childhood.

When we arrived, she made us some tea and I noticed her kettle didn't shut off. So, Jen and I went to the store and bought her a new electric kettle and brought it back. Mostly we were concerned that she'd boil it dry one day and start an electrical fire. But, how do you tell your grandmother, "Look, Grandma, we think you'll forget about the kettle one day because you're old and forgetful." And what if she really, really liked the old kettle for sentimental reasons?

As we opened the box, she was rather ecstatic. "Oh, how nice! I never liked that old kettle anyway." Ok, then...

Jen and I had this fantastic dinner at a lakeside hotel and it was so beautiful out. We had wine and coffee and watched the sun begin to set and talked about stories that I know I've told my grandmother several times before. I don't know how many more of these times I'll get with her and I know that it was very special for Jen and I.

These two people are the only grandparents I have. My mom's parents died when she was in her teens. So I only have stories. These two people are living have a special and interesting place in my heart and I have some great and not-so-great memories of them. It's these times that I'll remember most when they both are gone.

The next day... it was on to Edmonton...

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Coffee Table Books

I'm about to fall asleep on my feet, but I love what I do. I just wanted to say it in case anyone thought I was complaining too much.

I'm designing a company retrospective book for a local firm and I'm really excited about it. I get to work with some wonderful people on it and it feels so much like what I need to do for the rest of my life. So, I will.

I think that some of the work activities I'm involved in could end up being distractions in the future, but I've made commitments that I can't back out of. At the same time, I'm also excited about what I'm building in those activities. But, I can honestly say that I'm a designer and I cannot forget that. I'm forging ahead to put worthy people into the Limelight.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Optimism

I have an optimism for this week that I can't readily justify yet... but I suppose that's what optimism is, right? I could so easily tack over to pessimism, but I'm not really geared that way. Not to say that I can't be pessimistic. I just naturally lean toward optimism -- it's so much healthier for the stomach and the shoulders and the brain.

Last week was completely crazy. But, while one half of my working world seemed to be in flames, another was getting wings. In the end all of the crappiness with work will disappear as problems get resolved, but it's so heartening when good news comes in the middle of crisis.

I know this isn't terribly detailed. There's just some things that are better left unsaid on a blog for many reasons... most of which are legal reasons. I don't relish losing business or getting sued by saying something I would regret later.

*****
The sermon today was about suffering. The book has been I Peter and suffering is the theme. But I had some revelations today about the life of faith that I have chosen.

When I chose to follow Christ, I began a journey that was about endeavoring to be more Christ-like. That meant (and still means) striving for righteousness and being like the Father. When I lived as an unbeliever (which I did for a while), I could do whatever I wanted and there was hardly a decision to be made. I just lived for myself, doing exactly what I wanted to do.

When I decided again to follow Christ, I made a commitment to live differently. To do so involves sacrifice -- I no longer got to live for just myself; I was choosing to live as Someone else told me to live. That's not easy and most of the time I fail miserably at it.

This denial of the easy life -- the seemingly innate way of doing things -- is a form of suffering. It's hard. I may even be abused for it by those around me. I may even hate it. But, it's a choice. It's a choice to live right instead of easy.

If I ever hear another evangelist say something to the effect of following God makes life wonderful and... whatever.... I'm going to vomit. This life of following Christ is hard. It's not easy and very often not fun. But it is right. It is true.

Friday, June 8, 2007

Paris Hilton Fans Devastated by Ruling

Get a life, people.

Tired, exhausted, sleepy...

Work has been hectic. I think I must sound like a broken record to many of friends when I tell them how busy and crazy work is and how much time I'm putting in. And there are no sick days.

I could have taken one yesterday, that's for sure. I was talking with my friend Jordan today and he was saying how much it sucks that when you're not feeling well, you can' t just take the day off when you're self-employed. Well, you can. It just means that the work doesn't get done and you're probably worse off than before in having to catch up! I was in complete agreement with his observation. Then I said, "I guess we've made our choice, though." And I have made the choice.

I like the flexibility. I like the variety of the work. I like being involved in my livelihood. But, this week HAS been nuts. I think I've had about 3-4 hours sleep on average for the past 5 nights. And I don't even have children!

I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I'm sleepy. But, I like what I do. It's exciting. It's stressful. But, it's rewarding.

Well, back to work.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Days like this...

Lately I've had to put in a lot of middle of the night sessions for one of my companies. I don't like doing this. I'm tired. I need to pack up my house. I need to get some work done. None of that is happening lately.

However, I had an amazing weekend of sunshine and heat in the Okanagan. I was at a family wedding and I got to sit by the lake, soak up some sun, visit with uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents... it was good.