So. There are a million-and-one things I could fill this box with right now. I shall try to condense, and pick things that may be relevant or interesting to the rest of the world.
So - car-free experiment. It went pretty well. Other than going to class in Waterloo, I think I only used the car twice. The first time was to bring dinner to friends in Burlington who had just had a BABY! :-D And I think that's a good enough excuse. The second was to go to *cough*costco*cough*. Which may not be as good. But, here's my thing: Yes, big box = bad. I understand the issues around it. I also understand that 4 litres of milk at Costco is $3.95, as opposed to $5.47 at my neighbourhood No Frills. And my deoderant is cheaper. and...and...ya, I dunno. I love the idea of buying everything from nice little local shops, but, the student budget is going to continue buying milk from Costco. Next time I'll try to take the bus.
Random-crazy-event of the week.
Yesterday, Charlie did his usual thing when the mailman came: he went nuts. (As I said, this is usual). He runs to the door, barks like mad, and jumps up to see out the window. Unusual: yesterday he actually broke the window when he jumped up. I am glad I am not my mailman (and am feeling incredibly AWFUL that his happened), and am going to put a nice country-style mailbox on a post at the end of my porch to protect my gracious and forgiving mailman from future events resulting in shards of glass flying in many directions. Did I mention there was lots of glass? And my dog involved? Yeah, as well as a trip to the vet, 4 stitches under anesthetic, and a hefty vet bill. Oh, yeah, and did I mention that I have a large hole in my door? Apparently that is not energy efficient. Or cheap to fix. Joy.
Speaking of joy...I have been absolutely loving hosting a Growth Group (Bible study, home church, whatever you want to call it) from our church. We have been meeting to study Ephesians on Monday nights, and it has been lovely. It's really great to be learning from a variety of people who all have different life experience and insight. I have also been learning about meditation, from Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline and a related study guide. It's great.
So, this morning I was spending some time with Psalm 23. Well, the first verse of Psalm 23.
"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want."
Here's some of the things that came out of that time:
You know what? I think I'll make this a separate post. I don't want it to get lost at the bottom of crazy ramblings.
Friday, November 7
Sunday, November 2
BAH!
So, my computer just up and died.
And I have a presentation tomorrow.
And all of the stuff I need for the presentation is on the computer.
I can't even ad lib it, because the reading it is based on was on reserve in the library, so I only have my notes...on my computer.
And I could come up with all kinds of other interesting and intelligent things this afternoon.
Except that I'm working from 3-11, which means that I have to go in about a half an hour.
And seeing as I need to leave the house at 7:15 tomorrow to get to my class, I would like to go to bed when I get home from work tonight.
Oh, our technology dependent lives. When will I learn to back up my work...?
And I have a presentation tomorrow.
And all of the stuff I need for the presentation is on the computer.
I can't even ad lib it, because the reading it is based on was on reserve in the library, so I only have my notes...on my computer.
And I could come up with all kinds of other interesting and intelligent things this afternoon.
Except that I'm working from 3-11, which means that I have to go in about a half an hour.
And seeing as I need to leave the house at 7:15 tomorrow to get to my class, I would like to go to bed when I get home from work tonight.
Oh, our technology dependent lives. When will I learn to back up my work...?
Monday, October 27
An Act of Citizenship?
So, I'm taking an Ecological Citizenship class this semester. Today we were talking about public acts of citizenship, specifically biking. So, I made a resolution not to use my car this week, except to travel to my class in Waterloo tomorrow afternoon.
When I got home this afternoon (I even avoided the temptation to do extra errands on the way home - I figured, if I'm gonna do it, might as well go all the way) I headed out for my first bike adventure. I needed to pick up something for Charlie from our vet clinic, which is about 3km away, and that seemed like a good start.
So, I got my jacket and helmet, found the keys for my bike lock, and headed out to the shed. Grabbed my bike, slipped out to the back alley, and off I went. The way there was rather uneventful, although I got pretty warm pretty quick, despite it being a cool windy day. Got to the vet clinic, locked my bike to the railing, slipped in with my reddish face and wind blown hair. Asked for the vial of medication I was there for, which of course came in a box bigger than I was expecting (I hadn't brought a backpack figuring it would be small enough to fit in my pocket). Folded up the 8.5' x 11' receipt, put my helmet back on, and out I walked. Get outside, shove the box in my jacket and hope it won't slip out, jam my mittens in my pockets because I don't seem to need them anymore. As I was trying to unlock my bike, my lock broke. The wire stuff just came out of the plastic lock connector thing as I was trying to remove the end that was SUPPOSED to come out. So, I'm standing there holding the two ends of my lock, trying to decide what to do with them. Can it be fixed? Maybe, but not likely. There's no garbage can around anyway, so, I wrap it up and stuff it in my hood, figuring I'll throw it out when I find a garbage can.
On the road again. Way home was smooth sailing. I finally find a garbage can, slow down, grab the lock from my hood, and plan on cruising by and dropping the lock in, but it turns out the only opening is facing away from the road. So I recoil the lock, and decide to hang it off one of my handle bars (easier than being choked by my jacket). On I cruise, finally found a garbage can that I could toss it in, and then carried on uninhibited.
Got home, bike back in shed, about a half hour later. Works for me, seeing as it probably wouldn't have been much shorter with the car, and I needed some exercise anyway.
So, things I learned today that I would need to do if I am going to make biking a regular thing:
- lighter windbreaker jacket needed - my lined one was way too hot once I got going.
- I need a new lock
- Some sort of storage things would be good. Only so many things will fit inside my jacket (and it's kind of distracting trying to make sure they don't fall out)
- A rear view mirror would be good. It's kind of disconcerting having to cross 4 lanes of one-way traffic to make a left-hand turn looking over your shoulder the whole time.
Perhaps these things could be purchased in lieu of gas money this week. We shall see...
When I got home this afternoon (I even avoided the temptation to do extra errands on the way home - I figured, if I'm gonna do it, might as well go all the way) I headed out for my first bike adventure. I needed to pick up something for Charlie from our vet clinic, which is about 3km away, and that seemed like a good start.
So, I got my jacket and helmet, found the keys for my bike lock, and headed out to the shed. Grabbed my bike, slipped out to the back alley, and off I went. The way there was rather uneventful, although I got pretty warm pretty quick, despite it being a cool windy day. Got to the vet clinic, locked my bike to the railing, slipped in with my reddish face and wind blown hair. Asked for the vial of medication I was there for, which of course came in a box bigger than I was expecting (I hadn't brought a backpack figuring it would be small enough to fit in my pocket). Folded up the 8.5' x 11' receipt, put my helmet back on, and out I walked. Get outside, shove the box in my jacket and hope it won't slip out, jam my mittens in my pockets because I don't seem to need them anymore. As I was trying to unlock my bike, my lock broke. The wire stuff just came out of the plastic lock connector thing as I was trying to remove the end that was SUPPOSED to come out. So, I'm standing there holding the two ends of my lock, trying to decide what to do with them. Can it be fixed? Maybe, but not likely. There's no garbage can around anyway, so, I wrap it up and stuff it in my hood, figuring I'll throw it out when I find a garbage can.
On the road again. Way home was smooth sailing. I finally find a garbage can, slow down, grab the lock from my hood, and plan on cruising by and dropping the lock in, but it turns out the only opening is facing away from the road. So I recoil the lock, and decide to hang it off one of my handle bars (easier than being choked by my jacket). On I cruise, finally found a garbage can that I could toss it in, and then carried on uninhibited.
Got home, bike back in shed, about a half hour later. Works for me, seeing as it probably wouldn't have been much shorter with the car, and I needed some exercise anyway.
So, things I learned today that I would need to do if I am going to make biking a regular thing:
- lighter windbreaker jacket needed - my lined one was way too hot once I got going.
- I need a new lock
- Some sort of storage things would be good. Only so many things will fit inside my jacket (and it's kind of distracting trying to make sure they don't fall out)
- A rear view mirror would be good. It's kind of disconcerting having to cross 4 lanes of one-way traffic to make a left-hand turn looking over your shoulder the whole time.
Perhaps these things could be purchased in lieu of gas money this week. We shall see...
Tuesday, October 21
Meditation
I bought a new devotional book yesterday - "Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines", by Renovare, eds Foster and Griffin. It looks fantastic!
The book has 4 readings on each of the spiritual disciplines, meant to be read one per week over the course of a year. I'm really looking forward to it.
The first discipline is meditation, and the first reading is by Thomas More (of Utopia fame). It's pretty meaty - I thought I'd share it.
A Godly Meditation - Thomas More
Give me thy grace, good Lord,
To set the world at nought,
To set my mind fast upon thee,
And not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths.
To be content to be solitary,
Not to long for worldly company,
Little and little utterly to cast off the world,
And rid my mind of all the business thereof.
Not to long to hear of any worldly things,
but that the hearing of worldly phantasies may be to me displeasant.
Gladly to be thinking of God,
Piteously to call for his help,
To lean unto the comfort of God,
Busily to labour to love him.
To know mine own vilety and wretchedness,
To humble and meeken myself under the mighty hand of God,
To bewail my sins passed,
For the purging of them, patiently to suffer adversity.
Gladly to bear my purgatory here,
To be joyful of tribulations,
To walk the narrow way that leadeth to life.
To bear the cross with Christ,
To have the last thing in remembrance,
To have ever afore mine eye my death that is ever at hand,
To make death no stranger to me,
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of hell,
To pray for pardon before the judge come.
To have continually in mind the passion that
Christ suffered for me,
For his benefits uncessantly to give him thanks.
To buy the time again that I before have lost.
To abstain from vain confabulations,
To eschew light foolish mirth and gladness,
Recreations not necessary to cut off.
Of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life and all, to set the loss at right nought,
for the winning of Christ
To think my most enemies my best friends,
For the brethren of Joseph could never have dne him so much good with their love and favour
as they did him with their malice and hatred.
These minds are more to be desired of every man, than all the treasure of all the princes and
kings, Christian and heathen, were it gathered and laid together all upon one heap.
God always seem to know exactly what we need. Yesterday I had spent too much time dwelling on some pain from a past rejection, and even though I was praying about it and trying to set it aside, it kept coming up, to the point that I was almost in tears as I was driving to class yesterday. In our Bible study last night, we were looking at Ephesians 1, and I was just reminded that I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (v 4) - what an encouragement! And so much more important than not being chosen by people on earth. That added to this reading this morning served as good reminders - "not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths./To be content to be solitary,/Not to long for worldly company."
The book has 4 readings on each of the spiritual disciplines, meant to be read one per week over the course of a year. I'm really looking forward to it.
The first discipline is meditation, and the first reading is by Thomas More (of Utopia fame). It's pretty meaty - I thought I'd share it.
A Godly Meditation - Thomas More
Give me thy grace, good Lord,
To set the world at nought,
To set my mind fast upon thee,
And not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths.
To be content to be solitary,
Not to long for worldly company,
Little and little utterly to cast off the world,
And rid my mind of all the business thereof.
Not to long to hear of any worldly things,
but that the hearing of worldly phantasies may be to me displeasant.
Gladly to be thinking of God,
Piteously to call for his help,
To lean unto the comfort of God,
Busily to labour to love him.
To know mine own vilety and wretchedness,
To humble and meeken myself under the mighty hand of God,
To bewail my sins passed,
For the purging of them, patiently to suffer adversity.
Gladly to bear my purgatory here,
To be joyful of tribulations,
To walk the narrow way that leadeth to life.
To bear the cross with Christ,
To have the last thing in remembrance,
To have ever afore mine eye my death that is ever at hand,
To make death no stranger to me,
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of hell,
To pray for pardon before the judge come.
To have continually in mind the passion that
Christ suffered for me,
For his benefits uncessantly to give him thanks.
To buy the time again that I before have lost.
To abstain from vain confabulations,
To eschew light foolish mirth and gladness,
Recreations not necessary to cut off.
Of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life and all, to set the loss at right nought,
for the winning of Christ
To think my most enemies my best friends,
For the brethren of Joseph could never have dne him so much good with their love and favour
as they did him with their malice and hatred.
These minds are more to be desired of every man, than all the treasure of all the princes and
kings, Christian and heathen, were it gathered and laid together all upon one heap.
God always seem to know exactly what we need. Yesterday I had spent too much time dwelling on some pain from a past rejection, and even though I was praying about it and trying to set it aside, it kept coming up, to the point that I was almost in tears as I was driving to class yesterday. In our Bible study last night, we were looking at Ephesians 1, and I was just reminded that I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (v 4) - what an encouragement! And so much more important than not being chosen by people on earth. That added to this reading this morning served as good reminders - "not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths./To be content to be solitary,/Not to long for worldly company."
Saturday, October 4
Where is simplicity?
I continually struggle with trying to fit all of the things into my day (and life) that are important. There are days I wonder if it's even possible. I'm not so sure it is - not without significantly reducing what qualifies as important. The problem is, I'm not sure what can be cut from the list. Today is a perfect example. I worked until 11 last night, so, by the time I got home and in to bed, it was pretty late, and I don' t function well without sleep. Add to that that it's Saturday, the day James and I are both home in the morning and able to relax together, I didn't get up until about 9, which I think is good. So, sleep, and time to relax with husband, both on the important list. Ate breakfast with James, tidied up from breakfast, that brings me to ten. Eating and clean house, both on the important list. So, now I have approx 4.5 hours before I go to work at 3:00 (work, or income, is on the important list). I also have a small paper (5ish pages) to write, that I won't have time to do on Sunday, and could easily take up all of that time before work. So I sit down to get some writing done, and then, by noon, I am hungry. As previously established, food, important. Also, good food isimportant, I think. So, by the time I cook myself a healthy meal, eat it unrushed, and clean up (which I haven't done yet), I have not a ton of time left before going to work, not a ton of work done on my paper, and have totally left out of this day exercise (important), time in prayer and reading my bible (important), reading the paper (important, maybe less so, but important still).
So, based on that, the important list includes (in the order listed, not necessarily in order of importance):
rest - 8 hrs
time with husband - 2 hrs
healthy food - 2 hrs
clean living space - 1 hr
work/income - 8 hrs
schoolwork - 4 hrs
exercise - 1 hr (plus hygiene, 1 hr)
devotion - 1 hr
global/local awareness - 1 hr
So, that is more than 24 hrs. I think that the lesson is to not try to do schoolwork on income work days. That makes the equation work. This was a useful exercise. So the question now is, do I relegate the schoolwork to tomorrow (when I'm participating in corporate worship - important, babysitting my niece and nephew - important, spending time with friends enjoying art - important, and trying to include the daily importants like healthy food and exercise)? I think yes.
I'm learning more and more as I get closer and closer to the end of school, that the important part of school is learning, not receiving marks. So, I'm learning a lot as I prepare this paper. And I know I will finish it, and that I will do a decent job. But it might not be as great as it could be. And the fact of the matter is, I don't care anymore.
I'm going for a walk while I have the chance before work....actually, maybe I'll read my Bible, I don't have to shower after that :P
Oh, and here's a pic for today. I didn't actually take this today, as James has the camera, but, here it is anyway.
So, based on that, the important list includes (in the order listed, not necessarily in order of importance):
rest - 8 hrs
time with husband - 2 hrs
healthy food - 2 hrs
clean living space - 1 hr
work/income - 8 hrs
schoolwork - 4 hrs
exercise - 1 hr (plus hygiene, 1 hr)
devotion - 1 hr
global/local awareness - 1 hr
So, that is more than 24 hrs. I think that the lesson is to not try to do schoolwork on income work days. That makes the equation work. This was a useful exercise. So the question now is, do I relegate the schoolwork to tomorrow (when I'm participating in corporate worship - important, babysitting my niece and nephew - important, spending time with friends enjoying art - important, and trying to include the daily importants like healthy food and exercise)? I think yes.
I'm learning more and more as I get closer and closer to the end of school, that the important part of school is learning, not receiving marks. So, I'm learning a lot as I prepare this paper. And I know I will finish it, and that I will do a decent job. But it might not be as great as it could be. And the fact of the matter is, I don't care anymore.
I'm going for a walk while I have the chance before work....actually, maybe I'll read my Bible, I don't have to shower after that :P
Oh, and here's a pic for today. I didn't actually take this today, as James has the camera, but, here it is anyway.
Thursday, October 2
Rainy Day People
This was taken in the entrance way of my friends' new house - a mere 3 blocks away! I tromped over there in the rain this evening to help with some of the pre-move-in cleaning. Heck, if rubber boots aren't for days like these, why have 'em?
Wednesday, October 1
October!
I can hardly believe that this is the first of October! What a beautiful day! This vine has been slowly growing across our porch railings all summer, and we're just now starting to enjoy regular flowers.
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