Our church lights an Advent wreath at Christmas. This requires four candles - commonly 3 purple and one pink or 4 purple. Except in our church they like 4 royal blue. So last year just before the Sunday I was asked if I could secure 4 royal blue. I started in the local religious supply store, then another, then another....as they helpfully pointed out if I ordered these ahead of time they would have them in stock. Then I went to Michael's and Zeller's and WalMart. Finally secured what we needed in Hamilton - except they weren't royal blue but "Mary" blue.
So this year I'm all set and even better we decide on 3 purple and 1 pink which is very easy to track down.
Did I mention the white candle that sits in the middle of the wreath? This is the Christ candle and thus very important.
How hard do you think it is to find a 3 by 8 white candle? Apparently more difficult then you would imagine! WalMart sells them, they just don't have any left. Suspiciously very few white candles anywhere close to that size are still on the shelf. I can only imagine that other people like me are looking for them. I wonder if WalMart has ever figured out why there is a run on white candles at the end of November?
That's okay, the lady next to me was looking for either 2 Christmas red or Christmas green candles to match her poinsetta napkins. After pulling tons of loose merchandise off the bottom shelf she finally found two red. You wouldn't think red and green tapers would have sold out yet!
This is what I have found with WalMart - you go there and find lots of things to buy but you can't go there to buy certain things. For instance, they do not see nice Christmas paper. I assume they have given up because you can go to the dollar store. But I want nice paper for a few special gifts. No deal.
I would love to stop shopping there but they have really cheap dispensing on their meds. So I get sucked into going for that and then looking around for 20 minutes while the fill the script.
I'm a sucker!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Do you see what I DON'T See?
Look closely at this log - do you the manger scene? C'mon, look again - don't you see Mary and some animals?
Here is a quote from the people who have listed it on ebay
"IT IS NOT A FAKE.(because it contains all of the images in the coming of baby jesus, many have accused us of altering or manufacturing this image.) It can be verified by any method that you so choose...it is quite real. We did nothing to it except take the photos."
Yeah, actually, I don't think its fake. I'm sorta back...maybe
I haven't blogged in ages. Mostly because I hit a time where I just didn't want to talk about anything. Then I hit a very long time period where I am so tired of being scrutinized and dissected that I just couldn't stand the thought of sharing anything about me with anyone. Between the spiritual director, mentor, classmates (who are really, really getting on my nerves) and support group at church I'm sick of talking about me! So I might post a few fun things - I hope my friends find them fun at least. Like this interesting item that you see. I mean what do I say - I believe that Christ cares about us continually but this is just too much. And 20 bucks. Its really something.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Billboards in the States
I love the States. They are so much like Canada but in some weird way they aren't. My favourite on our trip to Dubuque, Iowa (yes, I know, why would anyone go there?) was the billboards along the highway. Like the hospital that advertised "Women's Surgery" with a magenta billboard and some kind of orchid. Very professional. I'm surprised they didn't dumb it down a bit and call it "down there surgery".
They also had billboards of happy people in Emergency Departments getting seen in a guaranteed 5 minutes.
One my favourites was one with the picture of a neurosurgeon - "The brain behind the brain". Imagine driving by a huge picture of yourself?!
The other thing that was fun was very bizarre restaurants they have there. I swear their fast food is worse then ours. I still want to try a Jack-in-the-Box burger - never been to one.
They also had billboards of happy people in Emergency Departments getting seen in a guaranteed 5 minutes.
One my favourites was one with the picture of a neurosurgeon - "The brain behind the brain". Imagine driving by a huge picture of yourself?!
The other thing that was fun was very bizarre restaurants they have there. I swear their fast food is worse then ours. I still want to try a Jack-in-the-Box burger - never been to one.
Theyre coming to take me away....
No blogs for awhile. I had funny stories from the States but most of you have heard them by now.
As part of my course work I must meet throughout the year with
a spiritual advisor
a group from the church to help me with boundaries
a mentor who is a pastor
I can continue with my therapist if I choose. Not a chance - she had a problem with confidentiality.
Anyhow, I am sick of talking about me, thinking about me and measuring "me". I know longer really know who I am but I have a whole whack of labels. Nobody has given me the coveted "Sane" label yet. I loved that on the Simpsons - they hand stamped "SANE" when releasing you..
As part of my course work I must meet throughout the year with
a spiritual advisor
a group from the church to help me with boundaries
a mentor who is a pastor
I can continue with my therapist if I choose. Not a chance - she had a problem with confidentiality.
Anyhow, I am sick of talking about me, thinking about me and measuring "me". I know longer really know who I am but I have a whole whack of labels. Nobody has given me the coveted "Sane" label yet. I loved that on the Simpsons - they hand stamped "SANE" when releasing you..
Friday, August 08, 2008
Leadership Summit Day Two
I'm so tired! It was another good day at the summit. There were some very good guests who have such an incredible drive. One that I really liked is the CEO of Best Buy who just seems like such a nice guy - he really believes in his employees!
I realised watching these different leaders that it is the ones who are focused on the process rather than only the end result that I really relate to. Hybels I think is a very end result person, and I have worked for these kind of people and I find them insensitive to the needs of the employees. That's not to say that I think the process is the most import thing - but I think that it is really important and a good result with a lousy process for the staff doesn't make me happy. The bottom line is often all that some of these leaders gets excited about - I get excited about the journey getting to the bottom line. I noticed the leaders that I really admired the most were the ones who loved the people they were serving - they believed in the people that they led. I don't know how we do church without that.
The CEO of Best Buy said he spends the majority of his time dealing with the complexities of people - that sounds very familiar. I had a boss that tried to outrun the staff. She basically told me that she would rush past the doorway to the Department so they wouldn't see her. She couldn't take the whining and complaining. I also noticed that she tended to promise things to staff that were impossible to deliver. So I ran the people - she gave me the target to meet. How I met it she didn't care - and she thought that I spent too much time being fair. She once told me - I don't want to know anything about the people and their private lives. I was supposed to be a Supervisor but in reality I was a manager. In some ways I hated that job - it was tough on my ego, people aren't very appreciative no matter how much you do for them. It was also a 24 hour a day job - there was no backup, I was always on call. It didn't matter that people didn't call often - it was knowing that I was always "on". I was having dinner with a friend and a staff member managed to have me tracked down to the restaurant.
I was a young supervisor who had a real hellion of a boss as a mentor. I did well but I now know how much better I would be at that role today with my Christian walk, the Holy Spirit and maturity to guide me. Pastoring is very close to supervising in skill breadth, frustration levels (you deal with complicated people all day) and multiple bosses with shifting focus. But the pressure is higher. But then again the top boss is very supportive!
I realised watching these different leaders that it is the ones who are focused on the process rather than only the end result that I really relate to. Hybels I think is a very end result person, and I have worked for these kind of people and I find them insensitive to the needs of the employees. That's not to say that I think the process is the most import thing - but I think that it is really important and a good result with a lousy process for the staff doesn't make me happy. The bottom line is often all that some of these leaders gets excited about - I get excited about the journey getting to the bottom line. I noticed the leaders that I really admired the most were the ones who loved the people they were serving - they believed in the people that they led. I don't know how we do church without that.
The CEO of Best Buy said he spends the majority of his time dealing with the complexities of people - that sounds very familiar. I had a boss that tried to outrun the staff. She basically told me that she would rush past the doorway to the Department so they wouldn't see her. She couldn't take the whining and complaining. I also noticed that she tended to promise things to staff that were impossible to deliver. So I ran the people - she gave me the target to meet. How I met it she didn't care - and she thought that I spent too much time being fair. She once told me - I don't want to know anything about the people and their private lives. I was supposed to be a Supervisor but in reality I was a manager. In some ways I hated that job - it was tough on my ego, people aren't very appreciative no matter how much you do for them. It was also a 24 hour a day job - there was no backup, I was always on call. It didn't matter that people didn't call often - it was knowing that I was always "on". I was having dinner with a friend and a staff member managed to have me tracked down to the restaurant.
I was a young supervisor who had a real hellion of a boss as a mentor. I did well but I now know how much better I would be at that role today with my Christian walk, the Holy Spirit and maturity to guide me. Pastoring is very close to supervising in skill breadth, frustration levels (you deal with complicated people all day) and multiple bosses with shifting focus. But the pressure is higher. But then again the top boss is very supportive!
Thursday, August 07, 2008
The Better Way
I took the Richmond Hill bus today and was it ever nice. The website asked me where I was and directed me to the nearest stop. It told me the different ways I could get to my destination based on walking time and transfers. Very efficient.
Meanwhile, the TTC is a whole other story....I went the other day with a ten dollar bill - if you put a ten into the machine it will dispense four tokens plus your change. It didn't like my two fives - I was later told you need to use a ten. Why? Anyhow, I take my two fives to the booth to buy four tokens. I'm told he can't sell me four - he can only sell me five - but then its 11.25. Huh? Why can't he sell me four? Ian tried to explain this to me but honestly I'm still not getting it - something about it being a deal if I buy 5. But I only want four and I only had a ten in my hand. Why on earth would someone buy in multiples of 5? Ten will last you a week. Four will last you two trips there and back but five? Since they no longer sell tickets all that has to happen is he little tokens come whizzing out the machine - its not difficult. I guess just I am.
Which was the best part of my day buying my 100 dollar bra last week.
Meanwhile, the TTC is a whole other story....I went the other day with a ten dollar bill - if you put a ten into the machine it will dispense four tokens plus your change. It didn't like my two fives - I was later told you need to use a ten. Why? Anyhow, I take my two fives to the booth to buy four tokens. I'm told he can't sell me four - he can only sell me five - but then its 11.25. Huh? Why can't he sell me four? Ian tried to explain this to me but honestly I'm still not getting it - something about it being a deal if I buy 5. But I only want four and I only had a ten in my hand. Why on earth would someone buy in multiples of 5? Ten will last you a week. Four will last you two trips there and back but five? Since they no longer sell tickets all that has to happen is he little tokens come whizzing out the machine - its not difficult. I guess just I am.
Which was the best part of my day buying my 100 dollar bra last week.
I WANT CHICKEN BALLS!!
Yum - check out that chemically sauce!
Okay, I get to eat lunch out tomorrow - really there is no where to store a sack lunch and I don't have the car to put one in. So there is a couple of Chinese restaurants across the street that look good. But honestly, I'm in the mood for chicken balls. I promised myself that I would never order chicken balls in an authentic style restaurant. Why such pride? Why do I care what they think - if they all say in Chinese - touristy white girl in booth two wants chicken balls?
And that is the theme of my life right now. I don't have to prove to them that I can eat somewhat authentic (I still don't eat feet or tripe or anything) Chinese food - I know I can. Like the newfound state of freedom - I can preach - yeah sure, I need practice but I don't need to prove it to anyone. Take it or leave it. Or like going to Calvin - if I don't like their demands, well heck, I'll go somewhere else - I don't need to prove anything. Today chicken balls, tomorrow the world!
So maybe tomorrow I will get chicken balls...with steamed rice - that way they know I have a little class.
Dutch People Don't Like to Touch
At the conference today Bill who is Dutch was responding to a presenter and touched him on the arm. During the conversation the other gentlemen noted that he too was Dutch. Bill said "I'm surprised you let me touch you then!". Everyone laughed as though this is a known fact. It wasn't until I went to a Willow Creek conference that I learned that the Dutch have a stereotype of being cheap.
I think this might be an Dutch-American thing. In Holland there was way too much kissing going on for my liking - both cheeks - please - watch my boundaries. But expression of heartfelt emotion does seem to be limited. People talk a lot about what they think - but not much about how they feel. Instead of people criticizing I wonder how it would sound if they talked about their feelings? I bet stuff would create more sympathy then hostility.
Leadership Summit - Day One (2)
I totally forgot another thing I saw today! The second presenter had a teaching style very close to mine. He has passion but it is subdued - he doesn't talk loudly - more on the softer side. When he tells a story his pace picks up - he tends to hold the lecturn like he is trying to drive it somewhere. He has the same type of humour and mixes questions with statements. It was really odd - I have not been happy with my style because it is not as bold as I would like it to be. I hope that when I get more experience there will be more oomph to my style. But it was very affirming to see a guy with my style - I looked around the crowd and I could see that people were listening and interested. Even the way he tells stories had a really similar feel - I've never had that happen before.
I might see if I can buy his session to compare - maybe I can learn something watching him on ways that I can improve. I want my classmates to watch a piece of this and see if they see the resemblance and how they feel watching him. I wonder if guys think his style is wussy.
Watching others not like me is helpful to pick up tips but doesn't help as much because they are so different. I also unconsciously "ape" people at times where I pick up their style of inflection and stuff which is weird and not something I like doing - I hate to pick up someone else's voice rather than be authentic to my own way.
I might see if I can buy his session to compare - maybe I can learn something watching him on ways that I can improve. I want my classmates to watch a piece of this and see if they see the resemblance and how they feel watching him. I wonder if guys think his style is wussy.
Watching others not like me is helpful to pick up tips but doesn't help as much because they are so different. I also unconsciously "ape" people at times where I pick up their style of inflection and stuff which is weird and not something I like doing - I hate to pick up someone else's voice rather than be authentic to my own way.
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