Take a Gander

We have had some requests for wedding pictures. We don't have our professional pictures up yet, but we do have some that friends have taken. If you look to the right panel on this page, you'll see a new feature entitled "Pictures." One link brings you to pictures of our new place here in Caronport, as well as Honeymoon pictures. The other link features pictures of the wedding ceremony taken by John Skardzius, a long time friend of Jenn's parents. We'll add some of our own pictures as well when we get the chance. Check back once in a while to see what's new. Enjoy!

A Whirlwind Tour of Regina and Beyond

This summer Jenn and I have been busy beavers catching up with friends. Just about every weekend we've managed to zip out of Caronport to go somewhere to see somebody. This past weekend's destination was Regina.

Saturday, noonish, we luncheoned at the south-end Kelsey's with Jordon and Jill of the Henry clan. It was great to swap stories, and to see their fancy new wheels. After saying our "See you later's" in the down-pouring rain, we sloshed over to The Bay to snatch our T-Fal super duper grill (Thanks, Fink! We grilled up some chicken on it tonight!), and headed down to Lang to see Darren and Meghan at his parents' farm. It was such a humid Saturday! It felt like India (though I've never been there... but I hear it's warm). It's fun to catch up with good friends. Darren got me up to speed on all the NHL trades that have gone on so far this summer. I daren't fall behind lest I fall short of the prize in this year's fantasy hockey draft! That night it was far too hot to get a bonfire going, so we watched "Shooter" instead. (It's a good shoot-em-up show. Mark Wahlberg did a good job of being manly... and killed a lot of people, and blew a lot of things up.)

The next morning we zipped back to Regina for church. I hadn't been to Celebration in quite a while, and it felt good to see some old faces. The sermon was super. It was all about Friendship, which was highly appropriate considering the nature of our Regina visit. (It's one of the best sermons I've heard in a while. If you have a spare 20 minutes sometime, you should download it -- http://www.celebrationlutheran.ca/podcasts.htm. Sunday, July 22, "Friendship First.")

After church we headed over to a couple's house who are expecting their second child, and are building a new house (the completion of these two exciting things is to happen in the same month -- the baby on September 22, and the house on September 13! It doesn't get much more exciting!). We got to walk through their new home as it stands. Right now it is just framed walls, but it was neat to imagine what it will become.

Our last stop of the day was at Ryan Fink's. He filmed our wedding for us. If you're getting married sometime soon, I'd say give Ryan a shout. He did a fantastic job at capturing the day. We watched the whole ceremony, and the quality of it made you feel like you were there again. Then off to Montana's for supper together, and home we flew to Caronport.

Whew! Quite a busy weekend, but definitely worth it. Good friends are always worth the work it takes to see them. For now, Jenn and I can sit tight and enjoy the AC until another weekend whirls its way onto our path. Take care, everyone.

62 or Bust!

Jenn and I have finally given in to the heavy heat that has descended upon southern Saskatchewan. Our little apartment is on the top floor (of only two floors... so it's not that tragic), so after a day's heat has settled, our place feels a tad stifling. Yesterday was the last straw. We got home from visiting my family at White Bear, and found the house "un-sleep-able." We ended up sleeping in front of the open patio door to survive. When we woke the next morning, Jenn declared, "We're getting an air conditioner today!"

First thing Monday afternoon we zipped into Canadian Tire, and grabbed a nice little 6000 BTU unit. After a couple of hours, we had a wood-frame set up to house the machine, and to keep it from plunging 20 feet to the ground, and voila! Cold air. It's a luxury to have the power to make our room so cold that a heavy blanket is necessary! 62°F is a wonderful feeling.

Pankcakes [an illumination on a previous story]

Before I say anything else today, I would like to point out to you the phenomenon that is an internet image search. Have you ever noticed the wide variety of strange pictures you can find on the internet? Take the one I have posted above. An enticing stack of mouthwatering pancakes smothered in deliciously warm syrup (you can make up in your own mind whether it is Corn syrup or Maple -- whatever suits your fancy). Why are there pictures of pancakes on the internet? Why are there photos of toe jam? It makes you wonder if there are professional photographers out there who spend their days taking pictures of random things. I suppose if you are in the restaurant business, you would have a valid reason for wanting a striking picture of a favourite breakfast food. But it still seems strange to me that you can find a good picture of pretty much anything on the web. Try it. I dare you.

Getting back to the purpose of today's blog -- "pancakes" has been an evolving theme these past two weeks. I've mentioned before that each morning, Jenn gets up with me and makes breakfast while I get myself ready for work. One morning as I straggled out of bed, she asked, "Would you like pancakes this morning?" I don't know that my response was entirely intelligible, but my crusty-eyed, fluffy-headed, sleepy-sounding response was an emphatic, yet groggy, "Yes please!" We ate, and Jenn waved to me as I walked out of sight (as is our custom).

The day got on, and by 10 o'clock all of us Groundsmen were seated around the "coffee-table" as it is called, though it is much more like an old, slightly-beaten conference table in size. There is a lot of banter around that table each day, and to be honest, it's the funnest part of the work day. Previous to that morning, the other Groundsmen had already become quite aware of Jenn's faithful breakfast-making each morning (I brag to them because my wife is the only one who makes her husband breakfast in the morning), and they asked me (as they do every day), "So, did your wife make you breakfast this morning?" I smiled unashamedly and replied, "Why yes she did. She made pancakes." Suddenly my cohorts became wide-eyed and exclaimed, "PANCAKES?! She made you pancakes?!" They were filled with disgust (not because I consumed pancakes, but because I had and they had not; this kind of disgust is routed in jealousy).

As the day went on (as noted in a previous blog), I kept receiving trade offers for Jenn: "My wife for your wife," or "I'll give you two draft picks! Think of the potential! You could have two instead of one... And I could have pancakes!" I told Nathan (the draft-picks offerer) that I would be hard pressed to find anyone like Jenn -- as would he. (I disagreed with him that he could find someone like her on eBay. But I did mention that she has a younger sister who is single... I'm sorry, Reb... He's a nice guy, really.)

Since then, I have submitted to answering addresses such as "Hey Pancakes!" or "G'morning Flap Jacks." I don't mind at all. Each time they do, they freshly admit who has the best wife of all.

A World Away

Today's post isn't an "Amazing Adventure," but rather testament to my solitudedness. On Thursday morning, Jenn drove off to Winnipeg to catch a plane to Montreal. One of the bridesmaids from our wedding six weeks ago is getting married TODAY! I write this at 10:04am Saskatchewan time, so I suppose that would be just past noon in Montreal. Not long now, Liz.

Anyways, I watched my wife drive away two days ago, and it was a weird feeling. It was a strange alone feeling. You see, every morning, Jenn gets up at 6:15 with me and makes breakfast while I get ready for work. She packs me a snack, sees me out the door, and waves through the window as I walk off to work. (One of the unmarried guys at work finds this amusing and jealousy-inspiring -- especially when I told him one morning that Jenn made pancakes for breakfast! "Pancakes?! She made you pancakes?! Man! I want your wife!" he exclaimed. He even offered to give me a few "draft picks" --- ie: girlfriend selections --- in return, but I quickly and kindly affirmed that I wasn't interested in trading Jenn in, thank-you.) It's nice to come home from a hot day of grounds work to our little apartment knowing that there is somebody waiting to welcome me. It's fun having a wife. You've always got somebody with whom you can share stories, and eat with, and watch Smallville during supper.

This is probably the sappiest blog I've ever written, but after a month and some of being married, you really get used to the whole thing, and it feels very strange to be by yourself. I hope you're enjoying Montreal, Jenn, but come home soon! I'll be waiting.

The makings of a strong connection...

Today we stand victorious o'er a problem that has harrowed us since we first arrived in Caronport. Our phone jack. Jenn put it well in saying that our phone jack is "rotting." Every once and a while another piece of it crumbles off and leaves our connection to the telephonic network even more uncertain. There have been many instances in which we have enjoyed a quiet evening without the phone ringing, only to realize that the reason the phone has not rung is because the phone cord had become slightly loose, and was no longer making a connection. The phone would be dead, and our answering machine wouldn't be able to pick up any missed calls. So on those days, it is as though we were completely without a phone.

Last night was the last straw. It was Canada Day, and we had planned to get together with some friends around 9:30 to watch the fireworks in Moose Jaw (which by the way were some of the best and longest fireworks I have ever seen --- way better than even Niagra Falls', or the show put on for Saskatchewan's centennial!). Our friends, Stafford and Joanne, told us that they would give us a call later on to let us know if they could come along. Well, it was approaching 9:30 and we hadn't heard from them. I tried to call them and realized -- OUR LINE WAS DEAD! So I maniacally forced the cord back into the wall, called it a few names, and was then able to make my call. On the phone, Stafford asked me, "Did you guys go out for a while or something? We tried to call a few times earlier, but the phone just kept ringing and ringing, and your answering machine never kicked in." I assured him we hadn't, and that the fault completely lay with our phone jack.

When I got off the phone, I said aloud, "That's the last straw! Jenn, where's the masking tape?!" For the next 15 minutes I ensured that our eroding phone jack would never again cause us this frustration! The picture above is the result of my retribution. I don't believe we shall ever again suffer from a faulty phone jack. Resistance is futile. And... impossible. If you were a phone jack, could you move under that much tape?