Here lie the annals of history of oldish blogs (2007).
To view other old blogs (Jan 2008 ff) please click here.
To view other newer old blogs (Aug 2008 ff) please click here. Thursday, December 27, 2007
Well, we got a white Christmas after all--sort of. The rain on Christmas Day turned into snow around nightfall and it's been off and on since, although the ground is not frozen at all. There was plenty enough for a couple of snowmen today.
I'm feeling better but Michelle is still not up to snuff with sinus stuff yet. We've been taking it pretty easy these last few days. Not much on the go. I like it that way!
Andrew
Saturday, December 22, 2007
I'm Sick. So happy to be done the work week and have a week off to celebrate christmas. Happy birthday Mr. Thiessen. Maybe it's because I'm sick but I had some weirrrd dreams last night and woke up at my usual 6am on a Saturday. It snowed a bit last night! But I think it's raining now. Still holding out for a white Christmas--haven't had one here in BC that I remember. With all this busy-ness with working 9 hours, winter dark hours, play rehearsals, keeping things up at home, etc, I haven't had too much time for friends. I woke up feeling a little discouraged about that too (morning thoughts when I'm sick and just had weird dreams?) I remembered the lyrics to a song I wrote about 6 years ago when feeling in a similar state. I'll share them here: (it wasn't a very good song btw)
Jesus
help me be a better friend to those I love
to my neighbours
to you
Help me
to obey your words
Hard as they are
the path to eternal life
May my soul find fulfillment in you
For you are all I have, my only hope
Thank you
for making me happy and sad
For finding beauty in ashes
For picking me up and showing me Life
I think I'll rest in Him for awhile. Thanks for reading, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!.
Andrew
Saturday, December 15, 2007
We put up our Christmas tree finally. I am always enthralled by ornaments which are dated 1983 or 1980 or in this case, 1985 (I got it from my Kindergarten teacher. I was quick to point this out to Michelle). It is feeling very Christmassy around here. I even went shopping for presents today (about a week earlier than usual)! Because we have a fake tree, I also collected some pine branches from outside that blew down within the last week, and hopefully they will help the house smell more like a real tree.
I have some other thoughts such as how the character I am playing soon, Arnold, is a lot like me (he is a nervous type with many other peculiarities) but I don't have time or thought organization. Off to go shopping for groceries!
Andrew
Saturday, December 8, 2007
I am leading worship at church tomorrow for the first time in about a year; I am excited about that. Also I am heading to Chilliwack today to my parents house for tea with my parents and brother and sis-in-law, and to deliver the famed solid-surface windowsill. Outside, the sun is shining and there is ice in Hammy's woodchips bucket. Soon I will drop off Michelle to go swimming (she just got a pass at Apollo gym) and then I'll drive to Staples who will hopefully have our Christmas letter copied by then, so I can start licking stamps. Maybe you'll get one in the mail, you never know. :)
Andrew
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Who is the masked bandit?
The week is long but the content is not half bad. My work week has been all over the place but starting later is definitely nice. I've stopped riding my bike to work and back so I expect to gain a few pounds. I'm hoping this will be incentive for Michelle and I to exercise together (walks, swimming, etc). Right now however our exercise comes in the form of theatre, 3 nights a week, 3 hours a night. Fun fun fun! Time to go make dinner and do some laundry.
Andrew
Friday, November 23, 2007
Here's a picture of a counter (bathroom vanity) that I installed yesterday. My second solo install! It took me about 11 hours to make it and 3 hours to put it in. It's a unique type of solid surface that is somewhat translucent, which means I had to paint the bottom of it so you couldn't see the cabinet stuff. It turned out pretty nice...kind of looks like the ocean...and they have sun coming directly into the bathroom so it's pretty sweet when the light hits it.
Am I the only one around here who gets excited about countertops? Sorry!
It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks, hence the lack of blog updates. In about 10 minutes I'm heading out for a Poker game with some guys from church...what's been taking up most of my time lately, though, is theatre: finishing up Anne of Green Gables (we had to strike all our props and return them to their various places--getting the wine barrel on my car roofrack was interesting! Luckily we didn't get mobbed by partiers) and starting to memorize lines for a part I got in the next Gallery 7 play, The Boys Next Door. It is a challenging part due to the amount of lines (more than I've ever had) and also the character I portray: a semi-handicapped nervous guy who lives in a group apartment and has all sorts of schemes going on that only sort of make sense! The play opens January 18 at MEI if you are interested. Michelle got a part (three actually) as well.
Andrew
Monday, November 12, 2007
Andrew's Mudslinging BlackberryClinging Adventure
I went for a smarties run today (Michelle has been pestering me for some ever since I ate the last cupcake which happened to have 3 chocolate smarties on it). It was a beautiful Remembrance Day holiday afternoon. Not many people were out. The trees were a lot sparser due to last night's major windstorm and I could see some houses etc. through the trees that I have never noticed before. I ran about a mile to the gas station and paid $1.90 for the box of smarties. Then I walked back, enjoying the fresh air. I stopped at a house that was under construction and took a peek inside. As I neared the big hill on Bluejay St I noticed that the wilderness to my right was calling my name softly. I stopped and sauntered to the edge of the road to consider what it might be telling me.
'Andrew,' it seemed to be saying, 'you have never taken this shortcut to your house. You always go all the way up Bluejay hill and then all the way down Blueridge instead of taking this quick path to your backyard.'
I considered the wise words of the wilderness. What it said was true. Taking the high, easy road was actually longer. Plus I missed out on nature's blessings. So I decided this was the time to have an adventure and plunged into the tall grass.
It did not take me long to realize that this would be no walk in the park. Blackberry vines tore at my pants. I found a long, fallen tree and balanced my way along. A beaver had felled it. I did not know that I was neighbours with Canada's national pet! Unfortunately, with beavers come swamps. I looked for more trees and higher ground to traverse, but the many leaves hid the swampy sinkholes well. I only went ankle-deep in muck once (see picture of my feet). Soon I came to an old barbed wire fence about a centimetre higher than my crotch and managed to step over that without any serious incidents. More swamp. I wondered, what was worse--blackberry vines or swamps? I couldn't decide.
Several minutes later I could see the back of our house and skirted the fence that hides a dangerous open well until I could find a spot to climb over it. I vaulted it like a horse on steroids and continued to blunder through the blackberries. Finally I got to our back fence and burst through, triumphant. I had conquered nature's trappings again.
Michelle was happy to see me and her smarties (not sure in what order) and helped me hose off my shoes.
Andrew
November 7, 2007
The blurry lights of Vegas...
It's one of those weeks...where there's lots of things to get done and you have to slowly chip away at them and meanwhile others pile up. It hasn't been bad or anything, it's just that we've been meaning to clean the house for a few weeks (or was it months?) and we are barely keeping up with basic dishes and laundry, not to mention the floor which is starting to get a nice cushioned feel from all the dirt, and the shower is especially bad as the other day one of the blotchy pink spots said good morning. However over all we are keeping on top of life and even managed to go shopping for our Christmas Child shoeboxes today (I chose the boy age 10-14).
We are using a product called Paperstone at work; it's some counters for a bank and boy does this stuff wear out saw blades and router bits! I even started a bit of a fire with a dull router bit. It is neat to be trusted to shape these expensive things and they look kinda pretty when they're done.
It sure is dark outside a lot lately...I guess that's why we have winter, hey? The time change shot us into it a bit quicker than usual, though. I think I am mildly affected by S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) as I tend to get slightly depressed and make big decisions around this time of year--such as, last year I quit my job and got a new one...not that it's all because of the time of year, but I think it helps. So far I am keeping my head up but let me know if I get into a funk, okay?
Andrew
October 29, 2007
I'm in Sin City right now...well just outside actually in Henderson NV. Michelle and I flew down for the weekend to visit with our friend Rachel; then the girls left and I stayed on for a conference on solid surface. I've just done one long day with 3 more to go. I'm enjoying the instruction; it is relevant and I am learning. There is also some 'hands on' stuff and despite my experience, my partner and I are usually the last ones to finish the exercise. Oh well, ours will be the best. :)
The Strip is pretty impressive; a lot of lights, a lot of people, a lot of slot machines, a lot of porn, a lot of money. I'm not super hooked on it though. I'd rather stay in my quiet hotel room tonight and get away from the spectactle of it all for a bit. Our hotel, which is 20 minutes from the strip, is practically a block in size anyway and must have a thousand slot machines as well as the cloudy-sky-roof like Paris and Caesar's Palace have. There must be 20 restaurants plus a bowling alley as well. Last night Scott, my coworker, showed Carl and I the ropes as far as gaming goes and I actually came ahead about $3. I'm scared to try again because I'll probably lose it and then I'll feel rotten.
I enjoyed some QT in the concrete staircase, where no one goes, tonight. The introvert in me comes out. Hm, does that make me extro-introverted? |:-]
till next time, Andrew
October 22, 2007
The coffeeshop band thing on Saturday went pretty well. We had a fair number of people out (more than twenty anyway) and enjoyed playing amidst the smell of roasted coffee beans. Our audience was chatty and having a good time, and listened to the lyrics sometimes too! It was a good experience and I'm sure we'll do it again--but not too soon! In a way I feel like I've accomplished the purpose of my life (though it's a very small purpose) and can turn to a new chapter of this book called life.
I sort of caused/witnessed a car accident today. I gave my name and number as a witness so I will write down what happened here just to keep it fresh in case anyone needs a statement. I was biking home from work as usual, although it was a bit later than usual because I had stayed at work to finish the top I was working on. Traffic was heavy but not insane, and there was a light drizzle (the roads were quiet wet). Just before 3:00pm I was cycling slowly along the shoulder just past the Peardonville overpass, waiting to turn left onto Livingstone Road. A vehicle coming up behind me stopped at the crosswalk that I was near, presuming I was wanting to cross (which I was, but I was waiting for both lanes to be clear before I attempted to cross). The vehicle behind the one that stopped rear-ended the first one--not hard, but enough to damage the second vehicle's bumper. The two drivers pulled over and I asked them if they wanted a witness, and the first driver did. I thanked him for stopping at the cross-walk although I felt bad that an accident had occurred because of it. The second driver said she had put on the brakes but slid a bit before stopping. I did not see any damage on the first vehicle's bumper, but there could have been some as I did not take a close look.
Andrew
October 19, 2007
Yesterday was our 4th anniversary. To celebrate, I had band practice while Michelle had parent/teacher conferences. We met for a late dinner at Red Robin. FOUR YEARS!!!!
I find work busy again. We finally finished a big job that we started in July and had put on hold for awhile. It was only a total of 8 countertops, but it took 150+ hours of labour to make them. They look pretty nice now in their new multi-million dollar circuit factory in Langley. Too bad they are black and will scratch very quickly. We have another black job to do too; more hours of sanding to do tomorrow--yes, I am working on a Saturday...bleh!
TheUPband is ready for tomorrow evening, it should be good times! Practice was tight.
I'm kind of tired and yet it's a good kind of tired...like I'm pulling my weight on this earth. Of course, that could all be illusitory. Either way it's life!
Andrew
October 13, 2007
The Abbotsford Times has been the only paper to print anything UPband related (that I know of). I know that at least a few people are coming--and lots know about it! One week to go!
Two Scriptures that were meaningful to me today:
Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30, NIV
If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such 'wisdom' does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:14-17, NIV
Michelle's parents and Michael came for Thanksgiving. Michael stayed all week, and we dropped him off in Seattle yesterday. At his suggestion we spent some time at Pike's Place / Market in downtown Seattle. It is a neat, old part of town, touristry, etc (it has the original 1912 Starbucks which was closed at 9pm on a Friday night). It was very good to have Michael around. He always has lots of energy and ideas and things to do. However it is also good to stop and rest and breathe! Hurray for Saturday!
Andrew
October 1, 2007
Succulent. As I was eating my pineapple-onion-chicken shiskabob the other night, I suddenly realized what a great picture it would make, so I took it--Snap! Yum Yum!
There has been a flurry of organizing around here, something that I try to stay away from! I have ALMOST confirmed a date for theUPband to play at City Blends (Mt Lehman). Either Oct. 13 or 20. Just waiting on one guy to get back to me...exciting!!! Also I just booked a flight to Las Vegas for Michelle and I to have a weekend trip there in a few weeks. She'll leave on the Sunday and I will stay for another week for a solid-surface (countertop) conference. Should be interesting. The two other guys from work who are joining me both play poker so things should get interesting... the world of airline ticket booking is interesting, and frustrating--the ticket prices went up about $80 each within an hour of checking and then booking. Yikes! Expedia, Itravel2000, Alaska, USAirways, Air Canada, Westjet, Phillippine Airlines...finally settled on USairways, from Vancouver.
Andrew
September 26, 2007
I was reading MCC's Christmas Giving catalogue today, and here is a quote from one of the pages:
Give the gift of support. In the past five years, the number of children orphaned by AIDS has grown to more than 15 million. MCC provides food, clothing.... $19 Cdn. provides daily food for one orphaned child for one month.
Where was I in the past 5 years while this number of orphans grew? Why couldn't I--didn't I--stop it? How can $20 feed a child for a whole month? Our food budget is $300 and we go over that most months. Ridiculous.
Andrew
September 25, 2007
Michelle bought a cool [kid's] song off iTunes called Rainbow Connection that I had not heard before (apparently Kermit the Frog sings it in the muppet movie). It is by Sarah McLaughlin and has some sweet major7 chords! Kind of slow/melodic/jazz feel. I shall add it to my list of songs for coffeeshopbanding. It's about believing in stuff we can't see...(at least that's what I think it's about)...hoping against hope that there is something 'beyond the rainbow.' Anyway I shouldn't analyze it too much or it'll lose its magic.
One of these days when I have time I will add comments to each post. It's kind of tricky. I haven't done much programming for about 9 years.
Andrew
September 23, 2007
In trying to get PHP to work on my site, I can no longer put my Yahoo 360 blog on the same (index) page, which is spurring me on to create my own blog software. As you can see to the left I am experimenting with comment boxes and saving files...there is a long road ahead to perfection but I'd like to try. Therefore my old blog is no longer available. Thanks! And as always...the site is under construction! Many of the buttons don't do anything yet! Only hammy and hitch! :)
