This afternoon, as Isaac and I were running some errands, I stopped in at the Interior-News (the local paper that I did some work for last month). While I was there, I knocked on the door of the editor to say hi. While we were away in Langley last week, he had contacted me to let me know that he may have some more work for me, and that I should come in to see him when I returned. So not knowing what he wanted, I was curious to see what he had in mind when I knocked on his door. To make a not-so-long story even shorter, he offered me a full-time position as a reporter/photographer for the paper. He also said that he would like a decision from me by next week sometime.So all of a sudden we as a family have many, many things to consider. The main ones as I see them now are: - How would this affect Bonnie's working at the Bulkley Lodge? (the wage for this position wouldn't be near as good as Bonnie is making now)
- How much time would I have left each week to focus on developing my business?
- What about child-care issues for Isaac?
So we are in need of some serious wisdom. This job-offer really caught me by surprise, and while I'm intrigued by the thought of being a reporter, it's not as quick and easy decision as some may think. For quite some time I've wondered what would happen if the Lord brought a full-time position to my attention. I guess I'm about to find out.I would appreciate hearing from you in the next couple of days (either by an email or by posting a comment below) what insights you may have.Thanks.
Saturday was quite an eventful day. I helped Mom with some preparations for our big family birthday/Thanksgiving dinner planned for that evening. Around mid-morning, my sister called and asked if I'd be willing to pick up a cake for Adrian's birthday party on my way there, so Isaac and I went to pick one out. At Adrian's party, Glen gave the kids each a ride or two on their new quad (those that wanted to, anyways), then we all went in to have some cake, watch Adrian open his gifts and play until it was time to go home.
Once all the family members had arrived at Mom and Dad's, the noise level went up several notches, with the kids running upstairs and down (Isaac got rather overheated, and I found myself wishing I'd packed shorts for him!) Dinner was delicious as always.Sunday morning we headed to Abbotsford to attend Alderbrook Community Church and catch up with a few friends there, then returned to Mom and Dad's for a quiet afternoon. Curtis wasn't feeling well, so he stayed there while Isaac and I went to visit our friends the Halls for dinner. Unfortunately Isaac is nervous around their dogs, so Jann had the kids put them in their pen outside, which caused them to be upset. Dinner was delicious, and it was good to visit with my best friend, however brief or interrupted.
Monday morning found us back in Abbotsford for Curtis' doctor's appointment, then an early lunch before picking up my friend Kerry from her brother's and heading to the park for a walk. From there we went to visit our friends the Carpenters, and Isaac had a wonderful visit with his best friend, Brock. He was very sorry to leave! We headed back to Mom and Dad's for supper with them and my uncle Leonard and Aunt Bonnie, who were visiting from Saskatchewan. After Isaac went to bed we all played canasta.Tuesday morning Colleen and Adrian came over for awhile, then Isaac and I went with them back to their house for lunch. She brought us back mid-afternoon when she had to pick up some kids from school. We had supper and a quiet evening with Mom and Dad. Wednesday morning we were up bright and early so Mom could take us to the Vancouver Airport in time for our flight home. Uncle Leonard came along for the ride.
I enjoyed my week visiting friends and family, and I was glad the weather was as nice as it was, but it was good to come home, too, even if our house was awfully cold when we arrived! Curtis was quick to make a fire downstairs! Work wasted no time in calling me to see if I could work the afternoon shift, but I declined, as we were hosting a family dinner for Curtis' parents, his Uncles Bruce and Grant, and Aunt Barbara.
The weather here has gotten significantly colder these last couple of days, and I've been thankful for my new rain suit, which keeps me warm and dry on my bike ride in to work. I'm still fighting my cold bug, but so are several other staff members, so I hope the residents don't get sick, too. I feel fine generally, except a drippy nose (at the most inopportune moments, of course) and an occasional coughing fit.
Well, I think Curtis will fill you in on anything I might have missed. In case you're wondering about the photo at the top of this blog, it's of Isaac and his Gramma playing 'Go, Fish', which he started learning during our visit there.
Cold season is upon us, and the three of us have each developed different symptoms: Isaac started with a runny nose and progressed to a croaky voice, although he says his throat doesn't hurt; Curtis started with a sore throat, which he says has now been replaced by a sinus headache; and I have started with a runny nose and a bit of a sore throat together. Please pray that we will all heal quickly, as it puts a bit of a damper on our visits with friends and family here in the Fraser Valley.That's right, we flew from the Bulkley Valley to the Fraser Valley on Wednesday morning, arriving here around 2 pm. My Mom picked us up, and we spent the rest of the day at Mom and Dad's. Yesterday Curtis and I left Isaac with his Grandma and went back to Vancouver to meet an old co-worker of Curtis' to discuss some work he's asked Curtis to do. It was good to see Gary again, and we were pleasantly surprised when another old friend, Lindsay, arrived to join us.After saying our goodbyes there, we headed to see a photographer about some training Curtis is interested in taking next summer. Don was very nice, and gave us a tour of his studio (he even gave me a t-shirt!), as well as giving us his opinions on camera equipment that Curtis should consider buying. From there we went to Technicare (a business that provides products and services to photographers) to pick up some things that Curtis had ordered. After that we headed back to Mom and Dad's for a little rest before heading to Abbotsford. Once in Abbotsford we ran a couple of errands before we made our way to our friends' place (Dave and Tania Rempel) for dinner. We had a lovely evening with them.Today we have nothing scheduled yet, so may just use the opportunity to relax and try to fight our cold bugs, as tomorrow we'll be having the whole extended family here for a birthday/Thanksgiving dinner.
As I continue to struggle with fatigue, verses in the Bible that reference sleep or rest really stand out. The verse that I read tonight that did that for me was Proverbs 19:23. It goes like this: The fear of the Lord leads to life, so that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil.Another verse that challenges me is Psalm 27:14: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.
Waiting is hard. Especially for the things in my life that aren't the way I'd like them to be.
I challenge you to think about what you are waiting for.
Tonight I feel compelled to share a challenge with you. Please read this article and you'll understand where the challenge comes from. After you're done, I would be interested to hear what comments you may have on what the author had to share.
In other news...
We're gearing up for a week of holidays back in the lower mainland. We fly down to Vancouver on Wednesday morning to spend a week visiting with Bonnie's family and friends. It's been interesting trying to fit all the different appointments and engagements into the few days we'll have down south. I imagine we'll come back from our holidays needing a rest from all the activities we'll take part in. But it will be satisfying nonetheless I'm sure. If you want to get a hold of either Bonnie or myself, just send us an email.
I've got some meetings Thursday in Vancouver with a new client, a supplier and the facilitator of a photography training course that I'm going to be taking next July in Victoria. Image Explorations (this will take you to their site--although it doesn't have the 2008 information up yet) is the company that puts on these one-week training courses once a year. They offer focused training on a variety of topics. I'm going to be taking the "Wedding Photography" track and am excited to be learning from a photographer I've only just been introduced to. Scott Robert Lim is his name and here is his website. Beware it's a multimedia-rich site so those of you on dial-up BEWARE! I'm REALLY looking forward to this training. As far as I know the class sizes will be relatively small, and we'll be studying/shooting with our instructor all week. So I can't wait to see how much better a photographer I'll be after this week of learning next year.
For those of you who have been wondering where I've been, I thought an update would be in order. As I believe Curtis mentioned, Isaac and I traveled to Alberta with his Mom and Auntie Barbara to spend a week with his grandparents. We arrived home on Tuesday, having flown from Edmonton via Vancouver.We had a great visit with Mormor and Morfar, and I was able to help with the gardening, harvesting crab apples, doing some baking, and a few other odd jobs. Isaac did his part, too, with the motorized sweeper ("Mommy, are there any crumbs I can sweep up?), and transferring the drinking water from the five gallon pail to the Brita to the water jug that we would use at the table, and he even helped in the garden. I was quite proud of his behaviour that week.Since returning home, Isaac has attended his first two classes of preschool. His first class got off to a rough start, as he did a face plant outside on the sidewalk before class started. I stayed for about half an hour until he was settled, then said goodbye - he didn't seem to mind me leaving, so I knew he was having a good time. (He will tell you otherwise, I think, because when we asked him if he enjoyed preschool, he answered with a resounding "No" and said he didn't want to go back. I've heard this is quite normal, so I'm not too concerned.)As for me, I've been called in to work every day except Wednesday since our return, so I can't complain about not getting enough work! Today I was already scheduled to work from 5 to 9 pm, and they called me at around 2:30 to see if I could come in early, as someone was going home sick. I'd just been trying to play catch with Isaac, but I knew they were desperate, so I went. I wonder what they'll do when I'm gone for another week? (We're heading back to the Fraser Valley for a week,from this Wednesday until next.)Well, that's about all my news for now. I look forward to seeing family and friends soon, and when we return, I guess I'll have to start preparing for winter! I've been asking around this week to see what kind of winter boots to buy, and I'll probably need a warmer jacket/coat for this colder climate as well. I think Isaac is set for winter wear, but I'm not sure about Curtis. And then there's the van...
I think Bonnie just set a record for the total number of square feet of anything hung on a laundry line!
Here's a couple shots from Isaac's first day of preschool. Having an excavator there first thing helped I think.
It was a very full day after a lousy sleep. I needed lots to do to stay awake. First it was some office work designing a poster for a client in Chilliwack followed by a workout with the dumbbells we bought a couple weeks ago. After that I did some more work in the office followed by a little more wood cutting outside. I promised Bonnie I'd have all the logs split and stacked by the time she returned from Alberta. She gets back tomorrow just before noon, and I only have a few left so I think I'm in good shape.
After lunch I had an appointment with a local realtor whom I'm designing some business cards for. We went to his home and I shot about 40 or so images that I can choose from for his business card. The rest he'll use for other things (like updating his photograph on his website). After I came back, I did a little work on the card and then Dad called. He wanted to know if I'd like to join him at the lake. He was putting his boat in and was taking my brother and his kids for a ride/ski and maybe some fishing.
So after who knows how many years, I actually went waterskiing again. I tried and tried to remember when the last time I was actually on a ski, and failed miserably...it obviously had been that long. It took a couple time to get up, but I was happy to make it finally. My arms were pretty sore by the end of my run from the other exertion I put them through today, but did OK (according to my brother and Dad once I got back in the boat). We'll see in the next couple of days how sore they REALLY get!
I stayed out on the lake for a while watching my brother and Dad take a turn skiing, but after that I came home for dinner, knowing I needed to work on the realtor's card tonight. I just finished about 20 minutes ago and am just updating the blog before I finish for the night. I've got a little tidying up to do, some laundry, and then it's off to the airport tomorrow morning around 11:30 to pick up my family. It will be good to have them home again.
Well Dad arrived at 9 a.m. and we worked for a few hours in the entry way. We got half of the wood in place, and almost all the rest is cut--ready to be put up. I ran out of energy before lunch, and thus we were unable to finish the job today. Maybe on Monday, Dad will come back to help finish. Anyways, here's the pictures.
BEFORE
AFTER
No grass got cut today...maybe tomorrow.
The past few days have been quiet around the house. Bonnie and Isaac have been in Alberta since Tuesday and will be gone until this coming Tuesday. They went back with my mom who has been caring for my grandmother who's been sick. I've talked to them regularly on the phone, and they seem to be enjoying themselves. I think Bonnie has been able to see a few of her Alberta friends too, so that's good.Dad is coming over later this morning, and we're going to be putting up a suspended wood ceiling in the covered entry to our house. So that will be another thing to cross off of our house-to-do-list. Maybe I'll cut the lawn again this afternoon, if it stays warm and dry all day. I cut it once a couple days ago, but didn't get the grass as short as I'd liked the first time.
That's it for now. Maybe some pictures later.
We had an interesting experience this past Saturday at my brothers place. It was time for them to butcher some chickens and since Bonnie was sleeping (after another night shift), I dropped Isaac off and then I went to Mom's place to get some of my work done. I had to come back to give mom something later in the day and made these images while I was there.
Later on, after we (Isaac and I) came home, Isaac enjoyed telling us about "cracking chickens". I think he got the phrase from his cousin Josiah who is 7 years old I think. Isaac added some actions too (running his finger across his neck) while he was describing all that happened.
Last night I was finishing up in my office and was reminded as I looked through the window how much I've wanted to photograph the lights that shine through them. Here's a couple images from my little shoot:
