new neighbours

We have lived in our new home for a month now, and I can't believe how much it feels like home! For a girl who's moved lots of times, that's a significant and a little bit unusual feeling. I like it!

Neighbours are just great - we even got a "welcome to the neighbourhood" plant. And Jeff's been invited to wow some guitar-playing kids across the street.

We got the North End Breeze delivered to our door yesterday. It's the community newspaper. And not one of those so-called community newspapers that is put out by the big newspapers. It's an actual community paper, written by the community (as far as I can tell) for the community. It's like a little cottage country publication - I love it!

I'm discovering how many ways you can really become part of this neighbourhood. Tons of volunteer opportunities...a gardening club...a reading group....and there's fair-trade coffee somewhere (I'll have to track that down). Maybe I can write something for the North End Breeze! You know - through a newcomer's eyes.

Plus, I personally can't wait for Halloween. Remember last year? Soooo disappointing ... I set myself up on the porch, all surrounded by candy ... no kids.

I hope there will be kids here! Because we have an AWESOME front porch!

Hey, do you like where you live? Do you like your neighbours? What's your best (or worst, that's fun too) neighbourhood story?

a little self-indulgence

filled with glee

A few weeks ago, someone gave me a "thank you" gift certificate.

For Horton's? Nope.

A restaurant? Nope.

Gas? Nope.

It was for AMAZON!!!!!!!!! (on-line book seller, if you're not familiar with it)

Ohmyohmyohmy.

That is a mighty good gift!

So I went to my ever-lengthening wish list at Amazon.ca, and gleefully placed my order.

My new books arrived this morning.

They are sitting on my desk, taunting me, all shiny and smooth and as yet undiscovered. They are calling to me.

"Come on, Patti. You don't have other, more pressing work to do. Everything on your "to do" list can wait. Just take a peek...everybody's doing it."

Pray that I may withstand temptation, my friends!

P.S. If you care to know, I bought a new release about Aimee Semple McPherson (of course), parts 1 & 2 of "The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass" (hilarious, British humour, from what I remember), one by G. K. Chesterton (also British, an author I really enjoy, even though I don't quite understand everything he says) and ... "Taken By Communion - How the Lord's Supper Nourishes the Soul". I don't know anything about this last one, but it looked like it might inspire some creativity and a fresh take on Communion.

BLISSED

Gig Friday night - doors open at 7 PM - at Crossfire - $5.

See you there!!

SO GROSS

My nephew has a gecko whose name is Rex. Rex is a great pet - tidy, quiet, just an observer of life.

Rex has one disturbing characteristic. He (she?) eats live crickets.

Rex is low on calcium, but they don't make vitamin supplements for geckos. Instead, you have to coat the crickets - alive - in calcium powder before tossing them in for Rex to chase down and munch.

That, my friends, is mighty disturbing.

I just can't shake 'n bake a live critter before tossing him in to be eaten.

It's like putting spices on him to make him tastier.

---

The nephew went on vacation this weekend, and forgot to feed Rex. Guess who got the phone message? That's right. We did.

We fed him.

But we didn't shake 'n bake.

Rex is just going to have to drink some milk or something.

i don't advertise much

Hey All -

As the title says, there is not very much that I advertise in this space, but I wanted to let you know about an event coming up in Toronto.

It's from the Ratanak Foundation, an organization dedicated, among other things, to rescuing children from sexual exploitation in Cambodia.

One of my very closest friends is part of planning a conference around this at Rexdale Alliance in the west end of Toronto. It's on Saturday, September 29.

Click on the link if you want details, or just to find out some of what is going on. It's not awfully explicit or anything. And I am grateful that God has called people to this area of the world.

convert me

OK, here's your chance.

How many of you are on Facebook? Myspace? Or some other version of online networking?

I am not. I don't see the point. I really don't.

"But you can connect with so many people," I am told.

I already do, by email.

"But you can have hundreds of friends," you say.

Really? Friends? Or just people on my online space who otherwise have no contact with me at all? Is it just a competition to see how many people I can collect?

I'm not trying to be snarky. I just truly don't get it. What am I missing?? I must be missing something, because everybody's doing it....

Go ahead, convert me!

i got a secret

There's a new blog coming....

A Crossfire blog....

It's not quite ready yet, but it will be....

WATCH FOR THE LINK!

Bellybuttons and Alaskan wildflowers

Chad wrote his story! You know Chad...biker, BBQ-er, liver transplant recipient. His is an awesome story. By his own admission, it ain't a short story, so grab yourself a cup o' java, curl up somewhere comfortable, and then click on the link to the left - it's called "The Real Reason for a Bellybutton!" Enjoy.

Also...entirely unrelated to Chad...pictures of wildflowers in Alaska for you.

dream vacations

Well the poll is closed, so here are the results of the dream vacation poll:

30% of you like lots of activities - you are the up at 6 AM, safari hat in hand types
20% - no activities - you are the all-day "do not disturb" on your hotel room door
30% will be on the beach
a whopping 60% can be found in the mountains
and 50% somewhere exotic

20% of you checked "other" with no explanation.

I would like to know what the "other" is in dream vacations!!!!!!

Space travel?

Home improvements?

You don't take vacations?

The comments are open to any and all detailed descriptions of dream vacations - let's hear 'em!

no fish...how about a blurry sea otter?

Sorry Dougie, I don't have pictures of fish. But I have video of sea lions, and of a pod of killer whales - I just can't figure out how to post them. So, here's a picture of a sea otter, floating sound asleep on his back, with his little paws folded on his chest. All you can see are his head and paws at one end, then his feet sticking out at the other. Looks like a little man asleep on a floating thing in a pool!

Sadly, I didn't take a picture of the wonderful salmon dinner we ate either...we were too hungry.

(Oooh, got some great smoked salmon. I'll see if I can find the website for you, and post it at the side. Later.)

My ocean pictures aren't that great...it's not easy to take pictures in the rain, on a moving boat, of a moving object. I think I have pictures of puffins somewhere, but I think they're still on my camera - not downloaded to the computer yet. They are HILARIOUS!

By the way...my favourite pictures are the close-ups of the wildflowers. Wait until you see them!