Dad breaks Methuselah's record!!
Phil spends Christmas in K-country.
The Turtle visits Calgary.
Outdoor staking New Year's Eve.
Youth Pastor nabbed at checkstop on Eve of New Year.
New driver runs stop signs, jumps curbs.
Okay, that's the abbreviated version for those who don't particularly care. For those of my friends who more concerned with the happenings of the past few weeks, here's what I've been up to.
December 22nd, I flew down to Calgary via Peace Air flight 708. The plane was a little 9 passenger deal. A very different experience than a 737 or 747. It was a strange sensation to feel the plane being pushed around by the wind. I enjoyed it!!
The 23rd I completed my Christmas shopping 45 minutes after starting. Most of it was done at Chinook Mall. Normally going to Chinook on the Saturday right before Christmas is not on my list of things to do, but I didn't have a lot of options. The mall was suprisingly quiet, and I was out of there fairly quickly. I also got my hair cut. So far I have not got a hair cut in Peace River - I just get it done when I'm in Calgary. With my next visit to Calgary not scheduled until July, I think I will have to find somewhere in town to get a hair cut or two.
December 24th was my father's birthday. Man is that guy getting old!! The Christmas Eve service at Glenmore was wonderful (as usual). I ran the MediaShout during the service, which projects the words for songs, readings, etc for the congregation to see (kind of like PowerPoint - only better). That service proceeds unannounced, so congregational participation is cued by what is shown on the screen...such power no one man should wield!! I enjoyed the evening.It was different this year at Christmas, as it was the first time that our family has not been together on Christmas Day. My brother, Phil, spent Christmas at Camp Horizon in Kananaskis with the Easter Seals. We did have my Grandma Waters with us. A couple from the church who immigrated to Canada from Columbia also joined us, along with their children.
I can't really remember what happened on Boxing Day...so I'll skip that one.
The evening of the 27th I was able to visit with my friend Jackie. She has become a very dear friend of mine over the past several years and it was fantastic to spend some time catching up. Then on the 28th I spent some time with Kyla, another fantastic friend. We went to see Casino Royale, the latest James Bond film. I also finally tracked down the one Bond film that I did not yet own. It's an older one, but one I have been unable to find in at least 4 years of searching. I know own 20 out of 20 "007" films on VHS and DVD, and have the 21st in theatres.
On the 29th a bunch of us who hang out together got together and Mr. and Mrs. Decker's house (aka Michael and Lindsay's) for a few hours. We watched the fireplace channel, discussed hockey, and just had a good time. Myrtle, one of the Australians that I went to school with joined us. She had arrived in Calgary on the bus from William's Lake, BC earlier that day. She was staying with Alicia for a bit before heading back to Australia.
On the 30th I had an eye exam and got new glasses. I had been wearing the same glasses since 2001. Last time I had an exam (in 2004 I think) my prescription had changed so little that I decided that instead of getting new glasses I'd get prescription sunglasses. Unfortunately the finish on the lenses has been pealing for a while now and it has been very irritating. But now I had nice new glasses!! After that I met Myrtle and Alicia for lunch, and then we went to the Museum of the Regiments. We had supper at Peter's Drive-In. After we finished supper Alicia couldn't get her parents' van started and we ended up having to get a boost from a nearby man. Very kind of him to help us with that.
Sunday dinner on the 31st we had a full table. Here's a picture (taken by my father):
Pictured are (going clockwise, starting on the left): my Mom, Myrtle, me, Kyla, Amanda (Phil's girlfriend), Phil (my brother), my Grandma W.
New Year's Eve was spent at Glenmore. Michael, Linds, Kyla and I were the "old" people. At least that's how we felt standing in the kitchen drinking hot drinks away from the noise in the other room. We had a good time though. We took some of the kids skating downtown Calgary at Olympic Plaza. We also played volleyball, "terminator" and watched some movies. Linds made waffles and Michael made sausages for breakfast. The waffles were great, but my stomach couldn't handle anything that morning.
I slept most of New Year's Day. Our family went to the Russell New Year's dinner that evening. The food was great as usual and a few of us had a good time playing Scattegories for a while.
Then it was off to the airport at 5:50am on January 2. My flight left Calgary at 6:50am, and after a stop in Red Deer and a delay in Edmonton I was back in Peace River by 10:30am.
I was back to work January 3rd to start cleaning up from Christmas. Now it's time to move forward with some other projects that have been on hold over Christmas. Two big ongoing projects plus planning and fundraising for a couple of things in July. Oh, and a volunteer appreciation gig to plan. Lots to do still, but definately a slower pace...I'm not sure if I'm glad about that or not...
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