Blood and ice and cops

I’m talking about hockey. Now I’m not one who opposes fighting in hockey, at least in professional hockey. However, when it’s pick-up, and there’s no real point to the game besides having fun, then I hate when people start getting angry; really, it ruins it for everyone else. I understand and appreciate competitiveness, but not to the point of physical violence. If someone’s getting his stick up then let him know, and if he doesn’t care then he’s a jerk, and that’s the end of it. You have something to prove? Then go out and play hard and clean, because if you can’t play without being dirty and/or cheap, then you can’t play. It’s so frustrating playing with people who don’t seem like they’re enjoying themselves at all. Especially when we’re not even keeping score. By the way, there was an incident at pick-up on Friday, where after the constant yapping during the game, afterward in the dressing room one guy punched another guy in the face, and cut him open over the eye, which is why I brought this up...

Anyway, on to better things, like the Leafs!! Well, if they could win shootouts they would be in much better standing, but fourth in the East is not too shabby at all! I've liked what I've seen from Raycroft (but does he ever get bad bounces against him), and love how Wellwood is stepping up, although he does tend to get a little too fancy once in a while. Oh well, he can pull it off. Glad to be hearing good things about Sundin, also, and for the second year in a row (whereas previously the media seemed to be constantly bashing him). And while on the topic of hockey, I have to say something about those Sabres … I’m so glad to see them playing like a team again, after a number of abysmal seasons a few years back. I’ve always liked them, although I can’t say why, especially as they’re division rivals of the Leafs, but … oh well. Inexplicable things are okay by me (and no comments, please, about analyzing my position psychologically :)).

"This obsession is my call ...

owning body, mind, and soul." And no, I'm not talking about blogging. It's lyrics from a Starfield song, Starfield being the band that I saw in concert in Vancouver this past Saturday night. It was definitely the highlight of my weekend, not to take anything away from the euchre and Robo Rally that I played on Friday night, or the ferry rides back and forth from the island ... I think Alison would agree that it was the most amazing part of the weekend as well, especially as it was her first time seeing them.
Anyway (I won't go on and on about the show unless someone asks questions about it) getting to Vancouver (via bus, bus, ferry, bus, and bus) took up Saturday morning and afternoon, and we got to the show at about the right time to line up. So waiting and watching was Saturday night, and Sunday was spent first walking Broadway street of Vancouver, and then taking a bunch of buses back to the ferry to get back 'home'. Riding along Granville we saw an array of architecturally interesting houses (or mansions, I guess some of them could be classified as), which was pretty cool. Vancouver, both of us agreed, is a beautiful city, and we plan to go back for a visit someday when we have time to go downtown and look around. The mountains to the North of the city were spectacular!
So, I hav a lot of work to do over the next couple of weeks, so I'm going to get back at it. I have a hockey tournament this weekend up in Parksville, so that's going to considerably deplete the amount of time I'll have for school work, not that it's not worth the sacrifice ... :D
Oh, and one more thing that's not helping save time; I was lent a book called Dragon Weather by Lawrence Watt-Evans ... it's captivated me.

Thanksgiving and giving thanks

So, I guess I'll start with last weekend, when Alison and I took a lovely train ride (starting waaay too early Saturday morning) up north to Courtenay, and from there got picked up and taken to her friend Melody's house. It was in a nice area, and that evening we took a walk to the ocean, and enjoyed some lovely baked goods (getting in shape for the Thanksgiving feast). Sunday morning I got to see Alison's old church, which had a nice feel to it, and a lovely, warm congregation. After church we helped prepare for the meal, intermittently petting the cats, and therefore intermittently washing our hands...
The supper guests were semi-numerous, and so there was a nice hum of conversation through dinner, and the meal was delicious!!! I won't go through it because I don't want to drool on the keyboard, but I will mention that the pumpkin cheesecake with homemade caramel sauce was absolutely scintillating ... However scrumptious the fare, I could only manage one plate and one piece of the cheesecake; my stomach's just not what is used to be (good thing?).
Last night's Leaf game was awesome! Alison and I went out to a sports bar to watch it (I'm pretty sure it was Alison's first time watching a whole hockey game ... well maybe not, but it won't be the last from the way she was eyeing some of the players ;)) and I was probably the only one who actually cared about the outcome. Anyhow, it was an exciting finish, and many congratulations to Sundin for getting his 500th career goal. Wow, what a way to finish!!
We tried out Arbutus Christian Fellowship this morning, and it was pretty good; definitely a nice location, enthusiastic and sizeable congregation, and good music. However, we still have one more church (at least) to check out before we decide.
Due to my cold I'm losing my voice, so I better leave it off there so it doesn't disappear completely...
But oh yeah, Luongo better rock it up in net tomorrow night, because we know Rolly's going to put on a good show!!

... and where I am

This is a lovely photo of me taken by Alison, my suitemate ... and now Mom and Dad can see why I asked them to book me dentist appointment for when I come home.

Where I've been

A group of us (looking a bit tired) in the chapel at Cowichan River Bible Camp

The Cowichan River

Both of these pictures were taken the weekend of Sept. 29th - October 1st.

"time is on my side" ... or is it "time, why you punish me"?

So, Wednesday was the one month anniversary of me being in B.C., meaning I’ve been away from home for a whole month. I think that actually may be a record, as far as me being away from my family … yeah, I’m pretty sure it is, since every other time I was away I would at least be home for a weekend or two in a month, and if I was away from the physical home longer than that, I was with my family. Ah well, I won't get sentimental ... to cover any sappiness that might be trying to creep in, I'll post this link that I got off of Luke and Anne's site (although I'm sure it was Maya that made them put it up): click this and be amewsed ... my favourites are"I'm in your sammich...", "Nooooo Charles ...", and "the voices are telling me...". That last one is currently the wallpaper on this laptop.

Most awesomestthing I’ve seen lately (besides NHL hockey - especially the nice crushing of the Sens by the Leafs ...): A girl walking a pair of ferrets! They were so cute, and she let me pick one of them up … it made me think of Nellie. *le sigh*

Most disturbing thing I’ve seen lately: I won’t describe it. Suffice it to say Devin sent me a link to an inappropriate website … :@

short but sweet

And no I'm not doing a self-description, but speaking of the weekend past. Ha ha.
My weekend was spent out at the Cowichan River Bible Camp with a group of about 46 people from the IVCF. It was a really good time, despite the fact that I only got about 45 minutes of sleep on Friday night, since 4 of us decided to sleep outside. It was a beautiful, clear night, though very cold (hence the lack of sleep) and we saw so many shooting stars. It was definitely worth it!! The highlight of the weekend came Saturday afternoon when we played volleyball (outside on the grass) followed by a great game of soccer. There were a bunch of people who were good players, and I even managed to impress some people with my (approaching mad) skillz!! T'was much fun. Other than a lot of time was spent in chapel (for which we had a interesting speaker), or in small groups. I made some new friends, and got to be in a pantomime (for which I was King David and a guy was Bathsheba; it was informative and amusing .. and censored ;)). I could go on and talk about the runaway dogs (one curled up next to me Friday night) and the cats, and the Arsonal game we played Saturday night, but I'm short on time.

So, apparently the women around here think I'm a good goalie, and thus I've been invited out to play a couple of times already, am going this Thursday and Friday to play games, and to a tournament at the end of October. Wow, did God know how much he was blessing me when he got me into being a goalie? ;)

One last piece of news: I got a job today. It's just about 4 hours a week, but I think that's about as much as I could handle, and it's good pay, and I think I'll enjoy the job (it's sort of technical support for people using an online conference call to simulate a classroom experience, I guess ...). I just had the interview today and I start training tomorrow. So that'll be cool being able to pay for my own groceries, and hockey, and even have a bit left over. :)
Good night!!!