So, it was three years ago yesterday that the wind and its power changed my life. An anniversary for me of many things. I remember God's miracles and His mercy to me and my family, I remember the steadiness of my family, the faithfulness of my friends. I celebrate those things.

May it always serve as a reminder that life is so much more brief than we think - so keep the people who are important close. Consider what matters.

Time only runs one way.

I woke up with thoughts...musings....so I thought maybe I would write them down here and see where it goes.

So, our Government has 'pirogued' parliament yet again. Essentially shut parliament and democracy down until after the Vancouver Olympics. If nothing else, this tells us that Stephen Harper is a pretty smart strategist. Because parliament will not be meeting until into March, the opposition cannot continue to probe about the torture and abuse of Afghan detainees, it also cannot pick up on our pathetic showing at Copenhagen.(But for the record, I don't know that the Liberals would have shown any better at Copenhagen!). No more questions regarding the Conservatives giving so much more stimulus cash to their own ridings. What I think that this will do is carry us into Spring where the Conservatives will set their course to provoke a general election. Why? Because it looks like they will be able to form a majority. Finally. The Liberals...well, let's just say Mr. Ignatieff is not measuring up to be the saviour we thought he might be once upon a time for the Liberal party. He is low low low in the polls. And so is his party. The NDP - I'm pretty confident that Canada as a whole is not prepared to have an NDP government and so that leaves the Conservatives with a pretty slam dunk kind of election.

Of course, things could change. Some great story or screw up or scandal could change everything.

But the other random thought bouncing in my head is the Afghan war. Or more specifically the soldiers who are brought home from it. I LOVE that way our men and women are returned home. Families and cameras filming as their bodies, draped in a Canadian flag, are brought off the planes - with dignity and honour. I love that Canadians show up to show support for those families. I love the "Highway of Heroes" and the people and cars who stop to show their respect as the processional goes by. It has nothing to do with the war itself. Which I hate. I hate that we are in Afghanistan. It has everything to do with people. People who are grieving and just standing with them. In spirit.

It's such a simple thing.

My brother in law sent this video to us this morning. It's a beautiful tribute to the fallen soldiers that have served Canada. I may not support this war...but I do honour and respect the men and women who have chosen to spend their lives this way.

http://www.youtube.com/user/stuartotaku#p/a/u/1/w6s-J2SSXgQ

I am currently in the middle of a book called "The world needs your kid - How to raise children who care and contribute". Some students from the High School went to see the Dalai Lama and friends the other day and this is one of the books they brought home. So far it's excellent. I found the following stats VERY interesting. Maybe you will too...

-Families are so over-scheduled that in the past twenty years structured sports time has doubled, household conversations have become far less frequent and family dinners have declined 33 per cent, according to over-scheduling expert Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld.

-Since the 1970's, children have lost 12 hours a week in free time, including a 25 per cent drop in play overall, according to the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center.

-Students were found to be spending 8 hours more each week in school than kids 20 years ago. During this period, homework time has nearly doubled, according to Michigan researchers.

-Although the National Sleep Foundation claims students need 9 hours of sleep to be ready for school, most teens get between 7 and 71/2 hours of sleep each night.

-A Gallup poll in 2005 showed that only 28 per cent of American families with children eat together 7 nights a week, a 10 per cent drop from 3 years earlier.

-A 2004 study at the University of Minnesota found that teens who ate 5 or 6 meals a week with their families were 7 to 24 per cent less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana, drink alcohol, get lower grades or show signs of depression.

-A 2007 report by the Ottawa based Vanier Institute for the Family found that Canadian workers spend 45 minutes less with their families each day than they did 20 years ago.

Well, hi. Remember me? Yup, I'm back. Maybe. Since that last post way back in the Summer so much has happened and there is so little to say. But here I am for those of you who have asked...and by the way...thanks for asking.

I have had a summer of shall we say, growth. Isn't that what trials are supposed to bring about? So I guess I grew a great deal this summer. My job. Well, it's over. And I'm relieved - I LOVED the job but there were other complications...people, power and politics and they just proved to be to much stress for me.

But really the job stress proved to be relatively insignificant compared to other events of the summer. Tragedies. Plural. In the span of a month we buried two young men who were 19 & 21 years old. Then on Labor Day a wonderful and godly man that we loved dearly passed away after a short 8 month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 67. Alex and Dacre were young. They had little time to build a lasting legacy. But Nick did. His death is still heartbreaking and tragic. But the legacy he left will last many lifetimes. We were also confronted with the diagnosis of cancer. Two actually. One is my Brother in laws dad. The other a friend's aunt. This other friend also has a 10 year old niece diagnosed with a very rare disease that will eventually take her life - sooner rather than later.

So it's been a weighty summer. Heavy. But faced with death you are also confronted with how you live. You know what? It matters HOW you live. The daily choices we make matter. Our lives are short.

It's easy to forget that.

I wish I could say that "time flies when you're having fun" - but in this case the truer statement would be "time flies when you're stinkin' busy". This working thing has really cut into my time. Don't misunderstand - there are things about my job I absolutely love. Other things will be ironed out with time. It's a big learning curve.

My girls are winding up grades 9 and 7. Both will be in the high school next year - which is a treat for me. They'll both be able to walk and to come home for lunch. Reid's busy at work (the season for bottled water begins NOW) and along side of the job, I am still volunteering at the Teen Challenge Ladies Centre. And still loving it. We'll be celebrating another grad - two beautiful women who have been clean and sober for an entire year. Two lives radically changed and transformed by a power beyond what they have ever known. By a God who loves them like they've never been loved before. It's such a gift for me to celebrate with them.

This summer will be different. My job will require some weekends - so that will limit our camping/traveling plans. We'll still make the most - we'll just have to plan and prepare a little more. We just got the "Beautiful BC" magazine with "50 things to do in BC before you die". We'll start checking things off that list beginning this summer.

So much fun to have, so little summer left to do it....

I cannot believe how quickly things change in life. The blink of an eye. Really. I was offered and accepted the position of Curator/Site Manager of the Yale Historical Site and Museum. Holy Canolie. I'm slightly overwhelmed, possibly in over my head. But I'm beyond excited at the opportunity. I love museums. Always have. And oddly enough, I've always had a soft spot for Yale. I have many many fond memories of spending weekends in Yale at the Ball Park when my dad played and coached the Yale Mens Fastball team. We spent lots of time in the community. So this is a great challenge and I'm thrilled.

So while my life is changing - apparently BC is not. We've elected Gordon Campbell and the Liberal Government for a third consecutive term and said NO to the STV. Seems that with the recession people are afraid of rocking the boat and shaking things up. I suppose I can understand that. Maybe not my own choice but I do understand. You do have to wonder at the stat I just heard - only 48% of eligible voters chose to cast a ballot in this election. That is incredibly low. It seems that apathy as well as fear of change was the order of the day.

I can only hope that the Liberals lead well. That they are not as ruthless with cuts to health care and education. That they are well opposed by the NDP.

We'll see.