Journal Entry #12

Journal entry #12

Feb 22nd,2013

Today was heavy slogging but got some paperwork sorted! I kinda was glad to get some of this sorted ahead of the busyness of week! I've got to go to Saskatoon for a pre-bid mtg! Thought I would visit friends while I was there! However I haven't heard from them so may or may not get that privilege while there! I loose a day in my week however and possibly two!

The highlight of my week was seeing and talking to my daughter via Skype! I am so proud of her! She was a little homesick that night, however by the end of the conversation she seemed quite a bit better! It is going to be awesome to see her in a few weeks!

Chinooking in this part of Alberta right now so it's been very nice! The downside however is that we do need more snow!

I was really hoping some things that were promised with work this week were going to come to be! However they didn't and even some of the routine things held off putting in an appearance! Guess the upside of this is maybe they will show up next week!

This is a rather weak entry, however it is a entry none the less!

Journal Entry #11

Journal Entry #11

Feb 21st, 2013

Had another rough night in the sleep department last night! This complicates the functions of the next day!

Today due to the forgoing was a bit of a grind! However I'm now headed towards when my head hits the pillow and judging from the weight of my eyelids right now I am fairly certain sleep is not going to be an issue tonight!

Tonight's supper is quarter chicken dinner Home Style! I will probably eat mine later as my kids going to Skype soon and then I have to go to the barn!

I didn't get to eat this last night so it's in the fridge and maybe it will be supper tonight!

Hey Kelsey did Skype and it was totally awesome! It was so good to see my kid! She and her friend were homesick at the start of the conversation however this improved as the conversation went on and it should all be good!

Have you ever heard of Ho’oponopono? A very cool friend of mine shared it with me yesterday! At first I thought she’d lost her marbles! Then I decided to question what she was saying and discovered that this is pretty cool! It can add into so nicely to how I have been trying to live my life and very likely move these efforts to the next level!

Here is my first Ho’oponopono Exercise as I understand it in a very limited way!

I am responsible for the fact that I am over weight! I am sorry for the lifestyle I have chosen, and what I eat that makes me over weight.

I am responsible for the fact that I am selfish and short sighted! I am sorry for the choices that I have made that have complicated the perfect scenario of leaving my life in Gods control and administration.

I am responsible for the fact that I am the world’s best procrastinator! I am sorry for the times when I choose to leave for tomorrow what should be done today.

Please forgive me! Mean it and say it over and over! Remember to forgive means to forget and if you don’t forget its not forgiving!

Thank you: (What if today you woke up and all you had left was what you had thanked God for yesterday!) Here are is the thanks I feel a need to express this morning!

a)      Thanks for today! I promise to use today more wisely than I did yesterday!

b)      Thanks for my children and the choices they have made to have God in their lives.

c)       Thanks for family, friends, friends who are family and family who are friends!

d)      Thanks for co-workers who are friends!

e)      Thanks for new contracts, thanks for the fact that two months into the year I am already at ⅓ of my year’s target! In fact just this week I have received two new contracts!

f)       Thanks for more opportunities than I think I have ever had before!

g)      Thanks for my car! (I know it’s getting old, but it’s been very good to me and so I want to express my gratitude!)

h)      Thanks for the natural abundance I have been blessed with as a result of my situation. (I have a good job for a good employer, I work hard, and my wife works hard! I am glad that this now manifests itself in the comfort of our situation.)

i)        Thanks goodness I was born and raised Canadian in a God fearing home!

Hey that just scratches the surface but it’s all for this journal entry and I will add more to others in the future.

I love my self-enough to make wise and prudent decisions in every aspect of my life! Where I happen to struggle is in learning to Love my God more than myself! If I do this then I will learn to Love myself enough to realize there is nothing better for me than to leave the running of my life in God’s hands! Then the next step is to learn to Love others the way God loves me! “Pure unselfish, thoughtful Love that savours Lord of Thee!”

The following is a cool little motivational thing shared the other day on Facebook and I liked it and wanted to share it here too!

Journal Entry #10

Journal Entry #10

February 20, 2013

I'm talk texting this as I drive south to site meeting at a jobsite in Southern Alberta. I have to keep my sentences very concise and well enuciated for this to work!

I'm very pleased with the fact that I have managed to keep up with my journal! I am tracking the number of views the page gets! I don't get why the page view and posts numbers vary as when ever I go to the blog it takes me directly to the latest post! Oh well interesting to follow non-the-less!

I started the day in a snow storm and then drove into cold, chrisp, brilliant sunshime!

I do love sunshine changes my mood drastically happy that it's sunny this morning!

I just tried to text my kids no response yet probably doing chores it's supposed to be storming there today.  Just checking with my kids and it hasn't started raining yet but they believe it's on its way!

Hey it's SNOW!!! Lol funny that makes me laugh! These are pictures from Donna in Tucson illustrating this cool event! Snow in the desert in February! Just a couple of days ago the temperature was in the mid 20's.

My heart is heavy for some of my lifelong friends today! Their father lies at the doorway to eternity! I empathize with every fibre of my being for what they are feeling! I wrote a blog post a while ago that comes vividly back to mind! (Its my post on 10/11/11) I know that this man too was one who loved His God more than anything else! His welcome home is waiting! I am not going to retype my other post, however as I re-read it I know how apt it is in this instance.

I know that the forgoing is going to have a very poignant affect on our little meeting tonight!

When I awoke this morning Glor my wife showed me a certificate that had arrived in the mail yesterday! She has been a registered nurse in Alberta for thirty years! I'm proud of my wife, I couldn't do what she does! Anyhow I wanted to shout out to her so she knows how much I love and respect her! In fact today on Facebook  a friend shared the following and it very clearly demonstrates what one of the aspects of her work accomplishes and how it's affected us all!

Journal Entry #9

Feb 19th, 2013

Happy Birthday Ila Simpson Rhodey my kid sister has a birthday today and I'm sure it will be a fun one with her little family!

The forgoing is a great picture of her little family!

Today has been busy from the outset! I've a large project and gearing up for it is gonna take a lot of work the next few weeks! This along with additional routine responsibilities shouldn't leave me much time for getting in trouble!

Recently the following was shared on Facebook and I liked it so am going to share it here:

"1. If you never Go after what you want, you'll never have it!"

"2. If you don't Ask, the answer will always be No!"

"3. If you never step forward, you'll always be in the same place!"

Now the next step is to go after what I am supposed too! Ask for what I am supposed too and finally go where I am supposed too! I am learning (albeit a little slowly) that I don't always know what I want!

I have a late meeting tonight and a meeting Onsite tomorrow morning so will be busy! It's supposed to snow tonight so that could make for a very interesting drive tomorrow!

I'm frustrated that I haven't gotten to speak to my kid yet, however texts are the next best thing so I will keep doing that!

Supper was good, I scored two desserts because one of my co-workers gave up sweets for lent! Even dessert however wasn't worthy of a picture tho!

One of the best lessons of tonight is test to cover your butt! Don't assume because someone else tells you it's so that its so!

Some of my co-workers were headed off to play hockey and likely wouldn't be home in bed until 2! I really couldn't pull that off! I'm finding tonight late and I will be in bed by 10!

Journal Entry #8

Journal Entry #8

Feb 18th, 2013

Today is a holiday here and so far I'm making the most of it by moving very slowly! In fact it's already 8:30 and I am only just now getting up! Glor is awake, no sign of life from Cubber yet!

I usually like to have plans for a day like today, however I don't so may have to take it as it comes!

So far I've gotten a grocery list made, had an excellent breakfast and just a little while ago came upstairs to get dressed and my bed hadn't been made so decided to chill here for a few minutes... Yeah well a few minutes has now been the better part of an hour!

So to better keep things rolling in what remains of today I will log the tasks as I set out to accomplish them!

- make my bed. Didn't take a picture as it didn't warrant it! But it is as if now my day can actually start!

- get dressed, just in my barn clothes, however it's surprising what a chore this is sometimes.

- go to the barn to walk Leo, Leo was pretty good today! Not nearly as spunky as he was yesterday! I will try and get out before it gets to busy tomorrow so that I get done in good time.

- get groceries! I love getting groceries and trying to save as much as I can while I am in the store. No I don't clip coupons and I will not trapse all over town, but I do like getting the best deal possible while I am at the store. We have a Safeway in Chestermere and I like that store alot! I got a total of $285 of groceries for $208 last night!

- make supper, I love to cook and once I have something in mind I quite enjoy putting it all together. I don't always like the process of coming up with something however.

Supper tonight was Surf and Turf this consisted of homemade hamburgers and Sushi (I bought it) and homemade brownies and ice cream for dessert! I have posted pictures of the supper below and for the record it was as good as it looks! I don't remember who shared the brownie recipe on Facebook but I tried it and it works! Even Gloria and Cub raved about it! I will post the receipe after the pictures.

This is Supper:

It was super filling! I had a little more Sushi that that pictured here, however there are leftovers for tomorrow!

 

This is dessert:

 

 

The following is the receipe for the brownie pictured above!

Our kids had a bit of a glum day in the desert! They are learning new things and I think we're also a little tired combined with this! Anyhow sounds like they bounced back from it so this is a good thing!

One of my old classmates shared a quote I really appreciated so thought I would include it here.

"People often say that MOTIVATION doesn't last! They are right, neither does bathing - thats why we recommend it daily!" - Zig Ziglar

I thought I was done journaling for today and now after a fun session of texting my kid and a nice hot bath I'm tucked into my cozy bed ready to call it a day! The tv was on in the background but fortunately it's off now so just a tad more here and then I will read a little and sleep will follow shortly if I'm lucky!

Journal Entry #7

Journal Entry #7

Feb 17th, 2013

Woke up early and really enjoyed my cozy warm bed as I drifted between awake and asleep for about an hour! Then due to the fact that I learned a few months ago, Safeway clears out their baked goods on Sunday mornings I went and stocked up on some supplies!

I came home to a very quiet house, so I left everyone sleeping and I proceeded to make myself breakfast (it was delicious but not photogenic) and then I cleaned up and headed off to Sunday morning mtg. (Church)

It was cloudy and cool and I'm afraid my mood matched the day at this point as I was really quite aware of what others weren't doing rather than focusing on more positive things! However shortly I arrived and only part way into the first hymn my mood and spirit had rapidly improved!

This is why once a week I make a effort to separate myself from the cares of life and focus only on getting bread for my soul! Miracles happen here for me and how I need it sometimes! (Who am I kidding I need this all the time!)

Mtg over I came home to change, now I'm going to pop out to the farm to walk Leo! Then if plans carry forward this afternoon we might get to Skype with our eldest kid!

Well the rest of the house Skyped with the kid, I was at the barn walking her horse! There is a strong north wind blowing today and he did not like that at all! Anyhow the report from the rest of the house is that both girls seem to be doing just fine!

While I was at the barn I cleaned Leo's stable sheet and my allergies really don't like that! However I have had a bath and feel much better now! It was really windy today and that had him really antsy! He was determined to walk on his back legs!

I chilled most of the afternoon and then made pasta, meat sauce and Caeser Salad for supper!

After supper I went to gospel mtg, this would be similar to a more traditional church service as its an hour long service where the ministers share the message God has laid on their hearts! Again I so appreciated the chance to learn more of Gods will for my life!

I had really hoped to Skype with my daughter after I got home but that didn't happen so maybe tomorrow!

I did have a wee chat with one of the girls she is travelling with and they are happy so far with how things have transpired!

Journal Entry #6

Journal entry #6

Feb 16,2013

It's about 7:30 Sat morning! The cat was insistent he needed breakfast so finally I got up and got it for him! On a normal week I would be giving Kelsey a ride to work about now, however today I don't have to do that!

I may share some of last nights text conversation with you later today, it was fun!

I'm not sure how late Liam stayed up, however late it was I wasn't awake to find out!

It's currently 6 here and set to warm up slightly before it cools of towards the end of the day! Snow is forecast for tomorrow but currently nice weather is predicted for next week! It's a long weekend so maybe I will think up something to do with Cub on Monday if I can get him away from the computer!

Glor got me a Tim's card along with a very nice valentines day card! I was going to give the Tim's card to her to use but now am thinking I might use it for breakfast this morning! I haven't walked across the lake yet this winter so maybe I will take the pound hound and do that!

Lol haven't done the forgoing yet instead I've crawled back in bed! So the dilemma now is do I go to sleep or get up, get dressed and get on with my day!

Well I did it! Sorta, I lollygagged in bed for actually quite some time and then just before bed sores set in I got up, got dressed and took the pound hound for a long walk! We walked the north end of the lake!

Kelsey texted last night that she rode a $ 100,000 horse and he's for sale! That's sorta like if Liam wanted a BMW... Both just a tad out of my reach! (Awe who am I kidding, way, way out of my reach!)

They are having very full days! Their day starts at 7:30 with chores taking them until 10 or so! Then comes breakfast followed by school work! This is followed by cleaning tack, walking courses and helping with the horses! Then later in the day they may get to do some riding!

Tonight I took Liam (Cub) to a Calgary Hitmen hockey game! It was super fun! We left early enough that we could drive around downtown a little. We arrived in good time and got settled into amazing lower bowl seats. Cub didn't know but the team rep had arranged for him to ride on the Zamboni during intermission!

Cub was too cool for words, however afterwards he said, "That was pretty cool!" Following this he decided he wanted to go to a downtown restaurant for supper! The food was amazing and now extremely full I am rolling into bed!

The following are pictures of the food! (Lol!!! Cub even let me take pictures of his food too!)

This was the appetizer we shared!

 The forgoing was Cub's supper

This was my supper!

Then we capped it off with dessert:

 This was Cub's

This was mine!

We drove home past the "Peace Bridge" and it is pretty cool all lit up at night!