Unconscious Mutterings.

On my old blog, I used to use free/word association nearly weekly as an exercise. I always found it loads of fun, and kind of entertaining to see where you mind will take you. The idea behind it is you get a word: ex. puff. Then you respond with the first thing that comes to mind: ex. cream. Cream puff. It sometimes makes sense like the cream puff illustration, but just as often… you leave people wondering how you ever connected two words: ex. elephant cereal?

Anyways.. I went and found a random list, and didn’t read it over at all.. so I hope there is nothing sketchy in it.. haha, but I shall perform some word asscoiation for you all:

Head: hair
Green: grass
Water: lungs
Sing: song
Death: love
Long: shoe
Ship: mate
Count: dracula
Window: cleaner
Friendly: waitress
Table: salt
Question: mark
Village: man
Cold: water
Stem: broccoli
Dance: crow
Sea: monkey
Sick: me
Proud: mary
Cook: dirty

Well, the whole death/love one I found somewhat interesting, as well as dance/crow… but welcome to my thought process! Stay tuned for the next installment of Unconscious Musings with Nicole!

(s)he’s built like a brick!!

I’ve taken it upon myself to start a project with my camera. A pretty hefty project.

I’ve owned her/him for about a year now, and have neglected to give it a name. My little Canon is dubbed CliK 2, (CliK “1″ past on about two years ago). Now I’ve had a very hard time naming it, for the reason of it’s appearance. The Panasonic L1 is know for it’s retro and rugged look, super heavy and sturdy body and it’s superb lens. This description leads me to think it must be a boy.. or just a really manlyish girl… Here is a picture for you:

 

So, here are some options I am thinking: 

1. Sparrow. Birds are cool… and they are knowing for being sharp little guys… and pictures are nice when they are sharp.. lol. 

2. Hunter. It’s super masculine and tough, like the camera looks, and I’ll hunt for a good picture! 

3. Kele. (Key-leigh). It means sparrow hawk… so same idea as number 1. 

 

That’s all I can think of… so vote, or suggest any more ideas!!

Dearest Mother!

Dear Mom,

I remember as a kid, you always told us homemade gifts were you favorite… so I painted you a picture.

Hope you like it.
Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Love Nicole

 

 

I’m a survivor!!!

I made it through surgery quite elegantly I must say.  I was fully put under… strapped down to the table so I wouldn’t fall off and the like. It made surgery all the better… I was witty as I entertained the nurses looking after me post-op, being funny, cracking jokes, laughing at myself and so on.An hour later I was wailing in the car because the pharmacy took nearly an hour to fill my simple prescriptions. We went to the hotel (although I don’t remember the first few hours after the pharmacist), and I slept and drank water. And slept more. Had dizzy spells. Jordan wasn’t in the room a whole lot, much to my pleasure. I like to deal with pain alone… and like quiet during it I think. I laid on our hotel bed for about 40 hours straight besides the one time I went to the hotel lobby to get some chicken broth… which caused a dizzy spell and I laid with my head down in the dining room with whispers around. 

Surgery was Thursday, we left for Thompson Saturday. I did nothing but played video games and watched tv until Wednesday. I still had yet to close my mouth (the inside was to swollen), nor could I open my mouth. I was in a semi-permanent state of my mouth being jarred open. I went to the dentist that day, I was healing super good, I woke the next morning feeling pretty good. And I went to work. And it was good. I was basically healed over night.

I tell you all this to say it went fine. I’m alive. I survived. My gums are not shut yet, so I get food stuck a lot.. but that is my biggest problem now. 

Now, for your reading pleasure, I’m stealing something to do from my husband’s blog, who in turn stole it from others. 

 

Weekly Updatey-Ro:

The Weekend that was: Good. I vaguely remember Saturday, just full of normal tasks. I made dirt for my Sunday School girls who devoured it. All in all… good!

Where I am at the moment: The kitchen table in my home. 

On my to do list this week: Laundry. YC prep. Some cleaning. Send some forms to my insurance company. 

Procrastinating about: Said insurance forms and changing medical information (been procrastinating this one for the length of out marriage…. )

Book I’m in the midst of: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Good as always. It’s been years since I last read it! I anticipate finishing it tomorrow, so we will see what I start then. But if you haven’t read “To Kill”… I highly recommend you drop any books you’re reading and pick it up! If you live in town.. borrow a copy from me… I do (shamelessly) have 3. 

Music that caught my attention this past week: I’ve been bad with this music stuff lately. But I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift. What? She sings music I can sing to, which is pretty huge in my books. As well, Metric.. I wouldn’t vocalize this to Jordan, for he would then rub it in… but yes, I’ve been liking it. 

 

How I’m feeling about this week: Somewhat so-so, usually how I feel before a trip. Excited to go, not so excited to prepare to go. It shall be a good end for the week!

 

I wish this post could have been a bit more witty or funny, but I lack the concern and energy right now.. but I know my readers are oh-so-graceful, they will forgive me.

My teeth are S-M-R-T!!!

It’s been months since I last wrote. There has been a very valid reason though… I last blogged about Obama, and I didn’t want to steal his thunder. I mean.. now that the dust has settled, and he’s been in office for a couple months, I thought it was safe to move on with my blog.

So, let’s move on!!

In february I had to come home from work, in near tears, and I wasn’t just being a wussy. My whole mouth had been hurting for about 48 hours by then, and was only getting worse. I was completely paralyzed with pain, and laid on the chair in our living room with very little signs of life but a blink here and a groan there.

I got into the dentist to find a barely there cavity was causing my horrid pain. While there, they covered a couple of bases and sealed anything else that looked like it was forming into a cavity. Then, there was one whom I coined “Big Ben”. I knew this one existed, but he sat on the back of my second molar (the guy beside your third molar aka wisdom tooth). This was my third visit to deal with these bad boys, and Ben took about an hour to do. Not because it was intense, but I quote the dentist, “You have one of the smallest adult mouths I’ve ever seen… this isn’t going to be easy.” Then he insisted on putting a “temporary” filling into Ben because “of further work we are going to do….” WHAT? Uhmm… I didn’t sign up for further work! I hesitated to freak out so I could hear his reply through my thoughts…

“I’ll book your an appointment with the oral surgeon for those wisdom teeth.. they are severly impacted, and if we don’t take them out they will likely cause you some severe pain and problem.. alright?” I nod my head in a fog.. I knew they were not coming in because a lack of room, but everything begins to make sense… small mouth, big wise teeth, Ben’s temporary cavity (so they don’t chip it during the operation)… I was being shipped to Wpg to endure *possible* unneeded pain (since there was no positive fact that they will cause problems).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(we’re hoping it will go this smoothly…)

So, there you have it. I shall be going down to the city a week from now. And nearly 7 days, down to the hour, I will be sitting in a chair, sedated, confused and preparing to indulge solely on yogurt, jello, soup, fraps, ice cream and love (I hope) until my mouth gives in a lets me move on with life.

So, wish me luck..

Red vs. Blue.. all will be new!

Tonight we find out who will “run” America for the next 4 years. This follows just shortly after our Canadian election, in which I actually researched and made an informed vote, and I know enough about the American candidate that I would be able to vote in integrity too if I had to.

I say all this to say and make a small wave good-bye to the way we know how our country is run today, yes, even in Canada. I know the new president will change a whole lot for us, especially if it’s Obama, and let this be my farewell post to politics as I have known them so far. 

They say a shocking amount of first time voters have voted for Obama, either for possible his celebrity or his stances. It will be quite a pivotal election.. being we will either have the first ever black president or the first ever female vice-president, something new either way. I really have no comfort in who I think will win… and will just wait.. but I leave you with a single image to rest in your mind:

Summer of Loooovvvvvveeeee

Summer, as usual, has flown by. Week after week I felt like time was spinning out of control. I spent five weeks outside of my home… which is pretty impressive in my opinion! Two weeks at camps, 16 days vacationing with my hubs, and a weekend or two elsewhere. 

For me, summer is always a time full of highlights, and full of firsts. I thought about writing down my highlights of the summer and expounding on them… but I figured I’d do the short list..:

 

• Canada Day Weekend at my parents/Clearwater Lake. F-U-N!
• Teaching my children’s class at family camp. Loved it!
• Chilling with the gals and cutting hair at youth camp, not to mention a late night dip in the lake.
• Camping for a night with Jordan… it is a MUST do for now on, every summer!
• Spending vast amounts of time at Chapters in Edmonton, and Ikea, and the mall..
• The movies… every single one I saw was delightful! 
• The zoo with my family, entertaining as usual… 
• Saskatoon. Everything there. Sushi, movies, church, friends… lovely!!!
• Driving with Jordan. I really enjoy being on the road… especially with him!

I know it’s all very general… but really… if I expounded to much… I would honestly be writing for hours… but just a tid-bit on how great my summer truly was!!!!!

Now.. on to another great season

Where is the Love?

Yesturday, Jordan was reading the paper, and told me Westboro Baptist Church plans on picketing Tim McLean’s funeral (article here). They believe God is punishing Canada, and using Tim because of his lifestyle. Upon hearing this, I uttered to Jordan that someone should set fire to their church to find out what God was punishing them for. The irony of this all is hours later I found out it had. Nothing to serious, but of course suspected arson (or possibly a work of God?) Regardless of all that, I know the WBB have been boycotted by all of mainstream Christianity as a cult, a community of hate (not love) and so on… and I cannot disagree. The thing that irks me is they are always “talking” for God. A couple of quotes from the Tim McLean Article:

“Here’s what I know. He is dead and God does not do that to people that serve in his truth.” 

“I say, ‘cha ching.’ That goes in our bank. God gives us tokens of his love,” she said. 

We need to remember, regardless of how injust our world is, judgment will be determined at death by GOD (Rev. 20:11-13). Let Him take care of it. God doesn’t do it to those that serve in His truth, but God also did not do this to this young man. Man did it. Just as men crucified Christ, stoned Peter, and extinguished the flames of many of people who served God and His truth.

Finally, can we get a little love around here. I’m saddened to say that these people claim to be apart of the Chruch that Christ established with the purpose of exhorting one another, helping those in need and delivering His Gospel to the world. We cannot speak for God further than what the Bible says that He is and says. I sincerely pray that the WBB isn’t able to attend the funeral, whether based on not being able to cross the boarder, or some other circumstance. I don’t want the world thinking this is Christ’s church… I don’t want Tim’s family thinking this… Black Eyed Peas said it best:

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love?

Little Boy and the Witnesses

Today marks traditionally the day in which we remember the Transfiguration of Jesus (Feast of the Transfiguration) that took place in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36). His face “shone like the sun” and his clothes became “white as the light.” Moses and Elijah appeared, with Jesus talking to them, then a big cloud came over the three and shone bright, with God the Father proclaiming “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

I see the transfiguration as something very dire to Christianity. Born out of Judaism (so to speak), we find two of the most preeminent figures of the day. Moses and Elijah! Now, let’s not take this lightly. First, Moses, came out from death as a child to live with the nations ruler, be the bearer of the Ten Commandments, lead the Israelites and perform miracles before them, never mind the suspicion that the guy wrote the Torah (first five books of the Bible). Then there is Elijah, who is said to have raised the dead, brought fire down from the sky, and ascended into heaven on a Chariot. These two great men are cast in the shadow of Jesus. They did great things, but he shall (and did do!) greater. Called the Son of God. I don’t know about you.. but I think Jesus wins this contest. Further, the fact He is called Son of God affirms His place as Messiah… only the most earth shaking position in the world!

The irony of this is Jesus makes this hush, hush before the three witnesses (Peter, John and James), that they could tell after He has risen from the dead. Talk about a lot of pressure, keeping such a secret!!! Lord, thank you from not putting such pressure on me… I know myself too well, I would have to tell someone of what I saw…

I say all this to say that today is also the day in which the atomic bombings took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It’s ironic how one day holds the power of the truth of our Lord, as well, the power of man to kill, destroy and destruct. Christ came for Peter, for James, for John. He came for me, for my husband, for my family, my friends, my foes, those who let the bomb “little boy” go, Saddam Hussein, Adolf Hitler, George Bush, Paris Hilton, Charles Manson and everyone else, whether they lived irreverent lives, or holy lives.

It’s a daily challenge for me to remember I’m not any more special than the worst person on this earth. His blood scorned forehead was not just for me. The significance of these two historical days have shaped our world as we know it, but it’s a fact that when we are done and dead, only one will have a lasting impact on this life… eternal as it shall be.

A Morning Surprise

Looks like the Vatican has approved an English translation for the Mass which “more closely” adheres to the original Latin. Here’s the article:http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=59877

I’m interesting in what you may think of this. I believe this is a very good thing. Maybe?