A little lighter

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Email from Dad

Thursday nite, 8:47 pm

Mom and I just got back from visiting Dad at TGH. When we got there Martha was there. He seemed good. He'd eaten a good supper (turkey with all the extras), has a private room, says the staff has been good to him, was wearing a holter monitor (to see what his ticker is up to), had an ultrasound, had slept for a good part of the afternoon, had bed-head, and generally seemed like himself.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

MVP Manny

Update

Grandpa is getting more and more stable. There are no results yet as to what kind of damage this has had on him. He is speaking and getting more colour.

These seizures will become more and more frequent till eventually they kill him. It is sad, but in a way (that Carla showed me) it allows us a chance to tell him the things we want to tell him before he goes rather than having to only say them to other people after he is gone.

Thank you for your prayers.

I'll be splitting my time for the next couple of days between the Pita Pit and Alymer, if you need me email me or call my cell.

Pray for Stirling Stewart

Dear Grandkids of Grandpa,
Early this morning we got the call from Grandma saying Grandpa was having "another spell" and she wanted a ride to the hospital. So I whipped on some clothes and when I got to Dorland House they were just taking him out the door on a stretcher to the ambulance. He had apparently rally around this time before the paramedics came. Normally he is still fairly incoherent when they arrive and gets better with some oxygen.
Grandma was just getting dressed and in no hurry because when u get to the hospital, you just sit around and wait til they let you in to see him.
However this time we sat for a very short period of time b4 they came and got Grandma. Grandpa had one of his "spells" in the hospital ! This is a good thing. It lasted about a minute and a half, and was the typical spell with the flailing and calling out and passing out . So they popped him with Valium and Dilantin to stop the seizures.
At this point the Doc ( very nice gentle lady Doc.) made Grandma aware that he was in a coma and may or may not come out of it and IF he did go into a seizure, as per his living will (they asked Gma if he had one and she confirmed this) they would not make heroic efforts to revive him. So there sat Grandma and I watching Grandpa breathe. Grandma thought that "the family" should be notified, so I called Bruce, Peter (who called Paul), and Margaret(who called Martha) and gave them the heads up. The Doc said there was not much point in the family all gathering around while he was in a coma, and I told them all this . Peter, Marg and Jack came anyway.
Around about that time Grandpa started to regain consciousness. When we left he was talking some and had a headache.
Grandpa is in the hospital, in room 19. They will do some tests etc. He is in the best spot, and Grandma is glad he is there. She is scared, and when you offer up a prayer for Grandpa, do so for Grandma too..she needs it.

Will keep u all posted.
xxxAunt Bev

A New Club

I look forward to Rob Joustra's post on this, but I was mulling it over in my head and decided to comment on it.

Rob asked me if I had read a blog entry about Dating to Save. Ie, dating non Christian guys, converting them with your good looks and once they were Christians dropping them.

I think at a school like Redeemer this kind of outreach initiative would fly. There is a large quantity of leggy blondes (many of whom are well endowed - and not just by the Voortman family) that I feel could really show some unenlightened sap at Hess the love of Christ.

So girls, next weekend lets strap on some water bras and tight shirts, book a Redeemer van and witness at the bar!

Happy Birthday Sarah Vedder

It has recently come to my attention that Sarah Vedder is awesome. I am actually quite upset with those people who knew both me and her last year and did not alert me to the aforementioned awesomeness.

I suppose all can be forgiven now that I know.

If you see Ms. Vedder in the halls this fine Friday, touch her on the bum to symbolize her awesomeness and the anniversary of her birth.

Amen.

2 outta 3 ain't bad

This week I have been reminded that nervous sweat smells the worst. I am happy to have 2 of 3 speaking engagements over with. Here's to willing the Maid of Honour speech to go just as well as the others.

Sorry for the lack of blog this week, life returns to normal next week and I'm sure I'll have all kinds of pithy things to say.

Cul de sac,

Laura

Tea

On my way to work on Saturday I went through the Tim Hortons drive-thru and purchased for myself a cup of tea. Then I got to work and was not presented with enough time to drink the tea. Thereby becoming a wasted cup of tea.

That got me thinking about alllll the wasted cups of tea. I know I often make a pot of tea, leave to read while it steeps and then forget about it. I also will often leave cups of tea in my room till they start to grow mold.

Along with the wasted tea are there wasted or forgotten moments that should have gone with the savouring of that hot, steamy tea? Are there missed rendez-vous, missed breaths?

If you didn't think you were, you should

Just in case you were thinking about skipping out on this month's multicultural coffeehouse, I think my friend that you should think again: for I am hosting it.





Ps..i totally wrote mulitcultural (before i spellchecked) which sounds like mulletcultural, which would be an amazing idea for a coffeehouse.

I never thought I would be saying this....

When I was a younger woman of a highschool type nature I had a friend named Tara. Tara wore thongs all the time. She tried to tell me that they were comfortable and fantastic. I put up a strong opposition. Then in gr 12 I bought one and was instantly converted to the land of thong and have resided there ever since.

Then when I was a slightly older woman I had a friend named Rachel who tried to tell me that indoor tanning was awesome and relaxing. I told her that there was no way that it could be good. But then in preparation for my cousin's wedding I needed to eliminate nasty tan lines from India - so I tried the tanning - and I LOVE it! It is so fantastically relaxing!

There is just something so natural about being warm and surrounded by white light. Its like a little return to the womb. Mmmmm...womb.

I think I'm getting too girly. Oh wait..I just looked at the hair on my legs..sweet I am still a natural woman! Yesss!

Email from Mom

Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 12:41 PM
Subject: HEY HEY HEY


LAURA . I WAS IN THE WOOLER CONVENIENCE STORE THIS MORNING AND GUESS WHAT? THEY HAD DINOSAUR HAMBURGER HELPER ON FOR .69 ! YES THAT'S 69 CENTS...SO I GOT YOU A BOX. I MEAN HOW STALE CAN PASTA GET? IT'S ALREADY DRY AND HARD.

LOVE AND LOVE
MOM

Soul

When I was in my mid to late teens I used to get really, really frustrated with my singing. I would get so mad when there were things I couldn't seem to do, or when I missed a note (or missed anything) in a performance.

I was just starting to really get into jazz at the time and like any keen vocalist I got into Ella Fitzgerald and then Billie Holiday. I would spend all of this time listening to Ella and her phrasing and scats and get more and more frustrated with my own short comings.

Then for my 19th birthday my friend Sarah and I got together. I was expressing my frustration and how I thought that I could never become a singer because I could never sound as good as Ella. Then she gave me my present. It was a Billie Holiday CD and in the card it said, "Its not the notes you sing but the soul you bare."

Lightening bolts went off in my brain. DUH! Years of abuse and life had totally altered the sound of her voice to that rough sound we all associate with her. But her soul, oh her soul... Have you ever heard her sing Strange Fruit? Do it sometime, you might cry. Every song about heart ache, pain, oppression - you feel like she is singing all of the songs in direct correlation to life events. She appeals to a different level than that of Ella.

Sometimes I just have to remember that singing is not 100% about the aesthetics of the notes, but the soul behind them.

In the quiet misty morning

I've been in a tizzy lately. Not an outside tizzy, but an inside tizzy. The tizzy is in many ways the end result of too much thinking. Thinking about how much debt I'm in in correlation to how many years of school I have left, thinking about where I'm going to live next year - be an R.A, live on my own, find roommates that I can have for more than one year, thinking about the summer and what type of employment I need for the living arrangements I will have settled on or to follow where I think God might be leading me.

That kind of thinking just drives me crazy on the inside. I stirs up my soul like a hurricane to the east coast. I hate it.

On the weekend I went to visit a family that I am friends with. The husband of this family was a sort of mentor for me while I was a young Christian. He is also the executive director of Northumberland Youth For Christ. Often when I still lived at home I would go to him in a tizzy. I would spew out the things that were making me spin. He would sit there, listen to me, look at me for a minute and then say, "How has your quiet time been?" There would be nothing left for me to say.

There is nothing left for me to say right now. I know if he asked me right now I would fain some excuses about being out of my usual routine due to being sick and going home. And he would look at me again and I would know that my excuses have no validity.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go do my devotions before school....

Better

Hey guys, I just wanted to thank you so much for your messages and prayers. I am feeling hoards better. Still really tired, but hardly coughing at all. My weekend at home wasn't exactly the relaxing time that I was hoping for, but it was great to be home and to have a little time to rest and a lot of home cooking.

It Seems

It seems (according to my GP) that I have bronchitis and the aforementioned pink eye. He told me to attend as many classes as i could and not to touch anybody or let anyone touch my face. Sorry all you face touchers, i don't mean to deprive you of your joy, i'm just looking out for your best interest.

As if!

So I have a pretty nasty cold, aches, pains, fever, cough, super de duper sore throat, swollen glands...the works. I'm trying to wait it out - let the Lord heal me. And then at 2am whilst rubbing mine eyes in a sleepy stupor I discovered that I have pink eye too! So if you don't see me for a few days its out of love and respect and not wanting to infect you.

Oy, I don't even think a pineapple would help this situation.

Handmaids Tale

On Friday Melissa, Amyann, Anj, Anton & Jackie, Krista & Jason, and myself went to see The Handmaids Tale set to Opera.

In the general sense it was awesome. It the out-there artsy sense it was awesome too. The Atwood novel demanded a certain amount of non-tradition and as an audience that is was we got. The music kept us on the edge the whole night, never letting us get comfortable (not that the story line would let us either). The sexual nature of the novel was evident in the opera which was not surprising but sometimes uncomfortable. The set was somewhat loosey goosey - which was perfect. The story mandated a certain amount of suspension of belief and the set carried on with that. It was very fitting and allowed the flow of the story to keep going despite the many scene changes. We had a great time.