Well this is how you get habs tickets... First you need a phone with a headset, a PC and a laptop. Fire up all three and start trying to get tickets five to ten minutes before they go on sale. Get through twice only to have your firewall get freaked and kick you off and an hour later you are in. Better seats than last year anyways!
Also I noticed that my blog's birthday was on the 12th... great post eh?
Well earlier this summer I was asked to speak at the counselor orientation at Canoe Cove Christian Camp. I spoke out of Philippians 2 on the attitude of Christ and how our attitude should be the same. One of the things I emphasized was that no one is above certain jobs. Not all jobs are glamorous or fun. In fact many are far from it but none the less if we are to have the attitude of service, like Jesus, then this is something we must recognize.
Just recently I preached a sermon of the same sort a few Sundays ago and made a similar emphasis. Isn't funny how after you make a point like that God provides you an opportunity to set an example yourself? Well the following week I got a call from W&B Coburns. This is where I used to do chicken work when I was a teenager. They were short staffed shipping out and were wondering if I knew anyone who could help and if I might be able to help myself. I quickly agreed to make a few phone calls (What a servant I am!) but was reluctant to commit to ship out chickens as the memories came back to mind. I then thought of my exhortation that we are not above jobs and that night entered the chicken barns again.
You know, we all get a little proud sometimes and think that we are either too old or young or experienced or good or whatever to stoop down and wash some feet like Jesus did. But if Jesus wasn't above jobs and we are not above Him, then maybe we need to evaluate our attitudes a little bit.
Well I have been back from my lovely vacation for a while now and most of my relaxation is gone. I really feel I like I came home and hit the ground running and have only slowed down to eat and sleep. I have a few dilemmas facing me in pretty well every pot I have my hand in right now and I find myself getting frustrated.
So my lovely wife booked me a massage. She didn't tell me she was doing it, she just told me to dig out my palm and take down this appointment. Anyways, tonight I had my appointment and man it was awesome. We have a college here where massages are only twenty dollars and worth every penny. If you are ever in the Fredericton area I highly recommend it. It is important to give some time to yourself and that is a lesson I need to be reminded of sometimes. So if today you are stressed by everything just relax take a minute for yourself, thank God for his love and remember that he is in control.
We got up early so that we could eat breakfast in the Pairs dining room. Our regular location was the London but this one has a view! Janelle had waffles and I had eggs Benedict. After breakfast we layed out on the deck until the debarkation talk. We then took a ride on the water slide and then to the pool before lunch. After lunch we did some line dancing in the Rome lounge and then headed back out to lay on the deck.
This led us to a nap and then supper. We took one last look at the photo gallery and shops and ended the evening with a show featuring guests of the ship which was cool.
This morning we got up and once again had breakfast in the Paris dining room... that was the best thing that happened all day. We took quite a while to debark the vassal but finally made our way outside. There a taxi guy offered to take us to the airport for ten bucks, fair enough. He pointed us to another man who took us to a big van, loaded our bags and we got in to wait for him to fill it with other passengers. While we were waiting another man came and opened the door and asked one of the other passengers to open the driver's door. Once the door was opened, the guy got in to move the vehicle so a taxi with a trailer could get out. We backed up into the van, pulled ahead and then backed into it again!!!! Anyways, the vehicle we hit twice finally made it out and we waited again. Then another guy from another company comes and opens the back doors of the van and yells come with me as HE GRABS OUR BAGS AND TAKES OFF WITH THEM!!!! We chased after the guy who loaded them in his trailer, not wanting to make a huge incident we got in his vehicle along with the other passengers in a vehicle. He totally stole the other taxis costomers but we had to get to the airport and needed our luggage which HE had!
So we made it to the airport and so did our bags. We got in and bought a coffee. That part was good too! Ok now back to the daily trend. I drank my coffee and Janelle ate a brownie of some kind. We were sure there would be dining in our terminal and asked an employee to confirm, cleared security and made our way to our gate area. Dining had much less options here, but we dealt with it, ate and waited for our flight to board. Things looked good until about twenty minutes before our flight when we felt we should be boarding. They soon came on and said twenty minutes or so... then twenty minutes or so... half and hour... so on so on. Then they said they were fixing our plane. Then they said we were getting a new plane. Then they sent us to a new gate. Then our flight was delayed!!! Finally we boarded our flight hoping to have half an hour to catch our next one which was supposed to be a four hour layover. We sat on the plane for a while... long enough to watch the ENTIRE in flight movie for a weather delay! Finally our plane took off. They announced as we neared New York that we would still make our flight to Bangor!!!! But they were wrong as that flight had long left. The airport, much to my surprise was totally DEAD. Hardly anyone passengers or employees. I guess the city does sleep sometimes.
So here we are in New York in a low scale hotel room with a couple of cheap meal vouchers with one coffee shop open in the airport. Did I mention that they wouldn't give us our bags... yeah no clean clothes or anything like that.
There's no place like home, there's no place like home!
Well this morning we woke at 7:15 as the ship pulled in to port in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We were actually late arriving because of lost time yesterday on the rescue mission but Jamaicans are not really all that concerned about time, I don’t even think they knew we were late! We met a catamaran along the pier which took us out to some coral reef to snorkel. The reef was beautiful and we saw all kinds of tropical fish – including Dori. I even held a sea cucumber! After that we got back on the catamaran and we headed for Dunn’s River Falls. I am sure most of you know but Dunn’s River Falls is a fresh water waterfall that spills into the Caribbean Sea. We gathered with our group and climbed up the falls and it was unbelievable, so beautiful. We actually climbed the falls with a couple of guys we met at the open dinner the other day, Allan and Zack. They are two young guys in college and we have seen them around the boat some. It is so neat how you make friends around the boat and get to see them and chat with them from time to time. Anyways they were a lot of fun to hang out with as we climbed the falls.
We got back on the boat mid-afternoon and had some lunch on the Lido deck which was of course awesome and then got cleaned up to attend a special party for return cruisers only. Free drinks and we actually tracked down some fruit punch this time as well as hors d’oeuvres. They had some fun and dancing, Janelle and I danced on the stage with other guests while a live orchestra played in behind us. Then they played a little presentation on the history of Carnival Cruise Lines. Very cool. We then got ready for dinner and tonight was the second formal night so we got all dressed up again.
Supper was really good but we wanted to save room because the midnight galla buffet was also tonight, hence why this blog is late! This is where they set up entrees and especially deserts that can take as long as 14 hours to prepare, the whole thing takes 120 man hours to prepare! Lots of chocolate for Janelle! On another note, Janelle has sworn that she saw one of our waiters from last year on the ship on a number of occasions. After a while I had to agree with her. We thought it was Ladislav form Slovakia who was, we felt, one of the best waiters on the ship last year. So last night we saw him again and I asked him if he worked the Carnival Legend last year and sure enough it was him. We told him that we raved about his service and that he truly was one of the best. He seemed really touched and said that he had never had a guest come up to him who had remembered him before. He even told his boss who came over to meet us too. It was really cool and I really hope it helps him in his career.
Pardon the lame pun but today, like the rest was another great one. We set an alarm for 7:00 this morning and got up for breakfast. Our shore excursion wasn’t set until 9:30 but you have to be ready to go early in Grand Cayman because there is no pier. The ship drops anchor a little more than a quarter mile from land and taxi boats take loads of people ashore. We were plenty early for our excursion of parasailing only to find that it had been cancelled due to bad weather. It was raining some and they say that if water gets on the parachute then it will go down and there is no way to determine how fast. This was kind of disappointing. We debated taking one of the other tours but none really interested us for the money involved so we decided to do some shopping instead while we waited to see what the weather would do.
Shopping, I have to admit wasn’t that bad. There were a lot of cool things to see and the atmosphere was a lot calmer than in Mexico. The weather really improved too so we boarded the ship to eat and then went to Seven Mile Beach. Wow, the beach was unreal. The sand was so soft and the water was warm and crystal blue. As soon a Janelle got in she was swarmed by a school of tropical fish, at least I think that is what I saw as I did my best to maintain balance when she jumped on my back!! We took in the afternoon laying on the beach and cooling off in the water. (Side note on schools of fish: yesterday I forgot to mention that while we were lying on the deck a school of dolphins came along side our ship! There had to of been hundreds of them coming to the surface of the water, major cool!)
We got back on the ship late in the afternoon and got something more to eat and took a nap. When we were getting up and getting ready for supper something really strange happened. I went to the Lido deck to get something to drink because I woke up thirstier than life but noticed some little black dot off in the distance when I looked out the window. I didn’t really think much of it, could be another boat or a rock or who knows. Anyway a short time after this our cruise director called attention over the intercom that our vessel was stopped because the captain had spotted a boat in distress and a rescue mission was in progress. Updates were given throughout and finally all members involved were rescued and taken aboard our ship! They are being given free food and shelter and will be dropped off for arrangements when we reach Ocho Rios tomorrow.
Supper was excellent again. We dined alone tonight, that is the other couple who sit with us, Robert and Tiffany, did not attend the dining room. The water is rough tonight so they may have been a bit under the weather. Either way it was a nice meal. We then attended a three part show with dancing, then a really funny comedian and a juggler who was really good and very funny.
Well last night I left off with getting ready for supper which was excellent – fillet minion. We tried the mahi mahi since we had each caught one earlier. It was ok but was done up in the health food menu so didn’t have as much taste! After supper we went to a great show and ended the evening with a Mexican buffet and sail away party.
Today was the definition of a lazy day at sea… we got up, ate breakfast, laid on the deck, ate lunch, laid on the deck, watched the sunset, ate supper, went to a show and are now going to bed… RELAXATION! I love it. Should be a little more intense tomorrow but believe me we rested up for it!!
Well this morning we woke up almost to our port on the Island of Cozumel, Mexico and it was dark. That’s right, the sun wasn’t up yet at 6:15 when we got up this morning, got ready for the day and headed for breakfast on the Lido deck. We had to get up early so that we made sure we had no problems disembarking so we could meet the local fishermen who were taking us deep sea fishing! There were five guests to a boat and we made a 30 min boat ride out to good fishing water. Good I’ll say, we hardly had the bait out and the first guy on rotation had a fish and it was a beauty! It wasn’t a long time after that and I thought I had one. I pulled and reeled for a LONG time and my arms were ready to fall off by the time we realized it was a weighted net I had caught. I couldn’t believe it, all that for nothing. It was so hot it was unbelievable. Soon after that, the first guy’s son caught one. About 45 minutes past with nothing when two took at once! Another man reeled in one and I took the other. I reeled in a huge mahi mahi fish! Man what a fight they put up, it was so cool! Well the trip was almost over when Janelle, the natural, caught the last fish, another mahi mahi fish (they all were). It was so fun but my arms are killing me!
After a fun but exhausting fishing trip, we headed back to the ship for a nap. When we got up we took in some lunch and then headed back out into the city to do some shopping/ browsing… Janelle’s idea. After a walk around we headed back to the ship to cool off in the pool. We just got cleaned up and are preparing for supper. We are bloging early because there is a special rate on the internet right now. We will fill you in on the rest of the day later!
Well today Janelle and I celebrated one year of Marriage, more on that later! We woke up this morning around 8:30ish and took our time getting ready for a lazy day at sea. We had breakfast on the Lido deck where a chef prepared special order omelets for us. We ate this ocean-side and it was beautiful. We then took in the shore excursion talk in the Rome Lounge. This is where all the important talks, shows, acts and such take place. This was very informative. Once it was done we purchased our tickets for our excursions. We will be… did you actually think I was going to tell you? Check tomorrow!
After this was done we took some time to explore some parts of the ship we hadn’t been to yet, like various lounges, shops and galleries. It really is quite remarkable the variety of things that are on the ship. This led us to lunchtime on the Lido deck which was once again exquisite! One highlight for me was a smoked salmon sandwich made on a bagel bun. The afternoon was whisked away laying in the sun and hanging out in the pool.
Before supper tonight we attended the Captain’s cocktail party with free hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Unlike last year we couldn’t track down a non-alcoholic drink this time but that’s ok, the music was really nice and there were some people who could really dance. We were required to dress up to attend, as supper tonight was formal as well. There are always lots of people around to take your picture but especially on formal night. Wow, my face hurts.
Supper of course was unbelievable. Janelle had roasted garlic pumpkin soup followed by a spinach salad with bacon and Portobello mushrooms with blue cheese walnut dressing. For a main course she had spaghetti carbonara and the chocolate melting cake for desert. I had water… Actually I had everything she had minus the melting cake, add stuffed mushroom caps and a tropical fruit plate!
We ended the evening with the first half of the show but got tired and turned in. Best anniversary so far!!
Today we got up in sunny beautiful Miami and it was HOT! The continental breakfast at the hotel was really good… Belgian waffles, yum. Good times. We left for the cruise terminals around 11:30 and arrived to begin our wait in lines around 12:00. It takes a good half hour to actually get on the boat. By the way this is the first thing you see when you step on board.
Even before heading to our room we went straight to the Lido deck for a bite to eat. I had pizza and a hot dog and Janelle had pizza and salad. Then we had cakes and so on and so on, yeah food! Most of our afternoon was consumed with lying out on the deck and lounging in the pool. The only activity we had to participate in was a safety drill, which Janelle didn’t mind because she gets to wear her handy dandy PFD. Looking sharp!
Supper was amazing, I started out with hickory smoked Atlantic salmon and salad followed by Ziti with Italian sausage, green and red peppers and mushrooms. Janelle started with fried chicken tenders on marinated cucumber lettuce followed by supreme of chicken a la greque… please don’t make me explain what that is, it was good that is all you really need to know. For dessert we had chocolate melting cake and vanilla creme brulee and no Dave we did not share it! Actually, I found the chocolate cake too rich so Janelle ate mine too!
The evening ended with a cool show with lots of singing and dancing and really funny jokes followed by a comedian who was pretty good too. Tomorrow is our first full day at sea and we are very much looking forward to it!
Good night!
Well pictures arent' working because blogger goes nuts when I leave the country it seems we will try later!
Well we were up at the crack of 4:00am this morning to get ready to travel to Bangor Maine to fly to Miami. Good travel with nice weather and zero problems at the boarder, we boarded our flight and left on time. The Boston Airport is a little busier than Bangor but we had no problems with our layover or finding our gate. This flight also left right according to schedule. We were very tired and slept for two hours or so during our flight from Boston to Miami… or should I say Orlando. We got to Miami and circled a few times as a thunder storm kept us from landing. We were getting low on fuel so we had to motor to Orlando to fuel up and wait for clearance to head to Miami. Orlando was sunny when we arrived, it rained a bit and then became sunny again. Miami is smoking hot but rainy.
Not very eventful yet but we are certain the best is yet to come when we set sail tomorrow! More to come!
So you have all awaited my personal review of the 3rd Spider-Man movie, well here it is. I loved it. I know that many of you are thinking, "Dan, you would have loved it even if it was an obvious piece of garbage" or "Dan you think you ARE Spider-Man, how could you not like it, it would be like disliking yourself" or "I'm hungry, I think I will grab a sandwich after reading Dan's blog" All of those statements may very well be true but what can I say. I have seen the movie four times so far. Many have poked at the "cheesiness" of certain scenes especially when (spoiler warning) Spider-Man forgives Flint Marko (Sandman) and when he cries over the death of his friend Harry. I don't know, I find it refreshing that a modern movie would take the time to teach us about forgiveness, the downfalls of revenge and Spider-Man's grief makes him more relatable as that would be the reaction of most people. Either way, I loved it and recommend it without hesitation.
Humbling Experience
This past week I went to go visit a friend in the hospital in Saint John. I hate driving in Saint John because it is a busy city with a confusing layout but Darrell and I actually did quite well getting in and out of the city. While we were visiting, we were asked to leave the room for a moment (what turned out to be more) while the doctors tended to something. While outside of the room we struck up a conversation with a man in hallway. His name was Zack, he was a quadriplegic who was also hooked up to a machine to breathe for him. As we talked I discovered he had been in the hospital for five years. We shared stories and laughed and had a great conversation. As we left my mind went back to him. He had fallen off a bridge while working 5 years ago and his life was forever changed. He has a 6 year old boy and a whole life ahead of him. Then I look at the things I lament over... humbling indeed.
May Conference
. Well over the long weekend the "X" traveled to Halifax for the Spring youth conference. It was a little late coming together but Jim did a great job pulling it all together. Ben, Dave and Jim all did a great job on their messages and Central's band was great. The weekend was so much fun and I just love spending time with our youth, makes me smile! The theme was service and Jim said something that really struck me. He spoke of what humility really means he defined it like this: God is greater than I am and I am here to serve you. What if we took all of our encounters with other people and applied that. wow The Face
I have a reputation for making faces in pictures or ruining them as Janelle puts it but I made a face recently in a video and it is so crazy that I cannot even replicate it. Anyways, here it is:
Gone Fishing
Well, this coming Wednesday I am heading to Maine's Lake for a fishing trip with the Foremen men. I am really looking forward to it as it is always such a great time. It is out in the middle of nowhere with no electricity or phones, just quiet, fishing, eating and nature... probably lots of laughs too. Can't wait.
Cruising
When the fishing trip is done, Janelle and I are going on another cruise for our anniversary so stay tuned for cool updates from that trip!!!
This morning I woke up to a song on the radio that I have been hearing a lot lately. It's called "How To Save A Life" by "The Fray." I really liked the music and the flow of the song but sometimes had a hard time catching the lyrics especially in the grogginess of the morning. This afternoon as I was working the song came on again so I thought I would look up the lyrics and read along. This decision has slowed my afternoon pace. If you know me then you know that songs tend to hit me in ways that other mediums don't. In case you have never heard the song, here it is with the lyrics:
Step one you say we need to talk He walks you say sit down it's just a talk He smiles politely back at you You stare politely right on through Some sort of window to your right As he goes left and you stay right Between the lines of fear and blame And you begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life
Let him know that you know best Cause after all you do know best Try to slip past his defense Without granting innocence Lay down a list of what is wrong The things you've told him all along And pray to God he hears you And pray to God he hears you
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life
As he begins to raise his voice You lower yours and grant him one last choice Drive until you lose the road Or break with the ones you've followed He will do one of two things He will admit to everything Or he'll say he's just not the same And you'll begin to wonder why you came
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend Somewhere along in the bitterness And I would have stayed up with you all night Had I known how to save a life
This really got to me. Upon the brief research I did on the song I know that it is about an experience the writer had working as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. Prior to even reading this, it made me think of what I do. I am a Youth Pastor and I have worked with youth since I was one. I often stop and think (as I did today) about people I haven't seen in a while. Some that I only knew a short time and others that I worked extensively and intimately with. I wonder about where they are in life now, what kind of decisions they have made and are currently making. I wonder if they ever bring to mind some of the things we talked about.
I ponder these things and it kind of makes me sad. You see, I am among the fortunate few who have combined their passion with their vocation. What I do is more than a job to me. It is my passion and the desire of my heart to work with people and do my best to point them to the Lord and the life that brings fulfillment and joy. I do not see the youth that I have worked with as my job or obligation, but rather as my friends whom I love and care for. I do my best to spend meaningful time with people in either a group or intimate setting and pray everyday that it means something. I know that all I can do is share what I think, my life experiences and the word of God to the best of my ability. I cannot change anyone but it breaks my heart to invest in these lives and the stand back and watch some of them follow roads that will certainly destroy them and all I can do is watch.
It hurts because I would do anything to help, sometimes I just don't know what that thing is. What I do know is the one who does save lives is the one I work for, live for and find my being in so I guess I will leave the saving of lives to him.
Ok, its been a month or so since my last post. That is in part because of laziness and another part because I couldn't think of interesting enough to make an entire post out of. So I have decided to give you a hand full of blog blurbs of things that have either happened or that I have thought of since no one likes those posts that are all about why you haven't written.
What is with the Snow?
Don't get me wrong, I love snow... I love it in October, November, December, January... by February, I am done with it and I'm ready for it to melt. So the recent snow and even snow storms, like ones that cancel school are kind of a bummer but it's weather and we all have to deal with it right?
Sad Day
This past Saturday was not a great day for me. When I got up in the morning I stubbed my big toe and cracked the nail down the centre enough that it bled. I was of course nervous all day because of the big game that would either put Montreal into the playoffs or eliminate them. They, as you know, gave it back to Toronto after it had been given to them in a game with a lot of goals, a lot of saves and no defense. Didn't really sleep well that night and had to preach the next morning. Oh well, there's always next year!
Blind Star Choice
I don't watch a lot of TV but I do like to use it to unwind in the evenings sometimes. We have a pretty good package with Star Choice but I have been frustrated with it as of late. Not because I think we need a better package but because of the ambiguity of what is on. You see sometimes it messes up and and every show is just listed as "No Info" so you have no idea what is on any channel. Good thing summer is coming and the TV will be reduced to a minimum.
Don't You Hate Pants? 2
Well yesterday I dawned the shorts for the first time this spring! It hasn't looked much like spring as of late but yesterday and today has seen us in plus temperatures and I am letting the great outdoors know that I appreciate it! I suggest you dig out the shorts too and let the weather know that it is time to warm up!
Things Are Looking Up
Well despite the fact that my beloved Habs missed the playoffs, things aren't so bad. At least it is playoff time and although I can't tell what is on TV for most channels I know that Hockey will be on CBC and TSN every night so at least there will be something on. On another note, I bought a cool score board light for our den yesterday and while purchasing it I joked with the cashier asking if there was any kind of discount since Montreal didn't make the playoffs, she laughed saying that she had seen the game and what a heart breaker it was. Then she says well I'll give you 10% off. I thought she was joking but she wasn't and knocked 10% off!! Probably because I have spent a fortune there already but still, I thought that was cool.
Well last weekend I was able to get away to Prince Edward Island to visit my brother and his wife for a few days. It was such a nice weekend and I really wasn't ready for it to end. One of the major reasons being the time spent with friends. On Saturday night, a whole bunch of my friends from PEI came over to Ben's place for a BBQ. It was so much fun to share, eat and laugh together. We hung out all evening until we finally all had to retreat for a night's sleep. The next day after church a bunch of us (slightly different bunch, and I mean that in every way!) went out for lunch and shared the same kind of fellowship. What a great time.
I was reminded of a post I read on Lily's blog this past summer. It was all about friends and the significance they hold in our lives. Especially the friends who are our brothers and sisters in Christ we hold a special bond that stretches onto eternity.
When I got back from PEI on Monday, another event reminded me of the significance our friends hold. I praise God that I have friends who call me out when I am in the wrong and who have graciously accepted rebuke from me when it was warranted. Although not always fun, that's what friends are for.
Either way, I say time and time again that blessings fall on me like rain and they do. Thank you God for my friends.
On Tuesday I went out and bought the new Relient K CD, Five Score and Seven Years Ago and it is incredible. When I got the the Lighthouse, our Christian book store, they had two versions of the CD. The regular one and a limited edition one that came with a DVD. I couldn't resist! The CD is unbelievable, once again the songs are so smart, fun and really speak to me. The DVD for the most part is the video of them recording some acoustic stuff that will probably come out on an EP later.
As I listened to the CD and watched the DVD, I pondered how amazingly gifted these young men are and how great it is that they are using their gifts. I joke sometimes that I wish I had Matt Thiessen's voice but it is definitely better that he does! Sometimes we find ourselves in weaker moments like a spoiled child at a birthday party. Instead of being happy for the one with the gifts we are jealous, wishing we had what they did or even had them instead of them. Rather we should be glad that God has blessed them and given us the ability to find enjoyment out of the gifts of others while blessing us with our own.
After a rather busy week, I am actually glad that it is Monday! Weird eh? March break has its way of slowing things down which is a nice time to catch up and hopefully get a jump on things. We'll see. Either way, on the way to work this morning I treated myself, as I often do, to a large double double from Tim Horton's. Have you been buying more coffee than usual this past week? Well I have and we both know why, Roll up the Rim to Win is back!
Up until this morning I was 0-6. So with great anticipation this morning I rolled up my rim to become 0-7... oh well, as my friend Graham says, "You are always a winner when you drink Tim's coffee." Seems to make him feel better anyways!
I never get too upset about not winning, not even after seven coffees! Roll up the rim is not a guarantee. It wouldn't be wise to bank on the new hybrid Toyota Camry, the Panasonic Plasma TV, the thousand bucks or even another coffee. As my record indicates the odds are not really in your (or my) favor.
It does make me glad however, that my trust is placed in a guarantee. The Lord has promised a perfect and eternal life simply for acknowledging what he has done. Almost as easy as roll up the rim! On that one I am 1-0! I have already won and the prize is better than any car or wide screen TV... even though it would be cool to win at least a coffee before this thing is done!!!!
For the past two days I have been taking in the Keswick Valley Coyotes Girls final tournament. They are an excellent team, losing only four games the whole season, who didn't really have a tournament that accurately reflects their play. Their proformance however, is not what I am talking about. I have been running the clock or score sheet. On many occasions students run it but not for final tournaments. The reason being that coaches will often give teens a harder time whereas they won't take the same liberty with adults.
Today as I ran the clock, I was disappointed with coach of a certain team in the finals. His girls played well, as did the other team and as KV was not in the final I objectively felt that the officiating was excellent and very fair. He made every call he could think of from the bench in their total absence, travel, foul and so on. He argued every call against his team and even argued when the call was in his favor. I was impressed with the patience of the officials who didn't even give the guy a technical foul.
I thought to myself about what this coach was teaching his team. Don't get me wrong, I don't know the guy from Adam, I don't even know his name, maybe he's a great guy, certainly a good coach, insofar he took his team to the finals... It makes me wonder what is being learned however. I think a coach should stand up for his team and his students but I also think a coach needs to be an example for his students. This isn't the NBA or the WNBA or anything like that. These are kids. This is communicating that this is an appropriate way to act. It makes me wonder what we are coaching. Basket-ball, yes. Something more, I hope so. I hope I don't miss out on that opportunity.
Wow, what a day it was yesterday! It was the finals of our basketball season. What the league had done was divide itself into two divisions. A for the top teams and B for the bottom teams. That put us in second place in division B, not bad for a school that hasn't had a program in 5 years! Either way all of the teams were pretty well evenly matched which makes a better tournament.
The way it was set up the fourth and fifth seed would play for a chance to play the first seed which would take either team to the finals. The second and third seed would play for a chance to go straight to the finals. The Keswick Valley Coyotes were the second seed playing the third place Nackawic Jay Hawks for our first game of the day. This was a crazy close game but our defense was lacking through the first half and we just were not making our layups or shots from in close. At the end of the first half we were lucky to be down just 31-30. We talked about what we needed to do in the second half but we didn't see immediate results. My team was getting frustrated and some of our key players were in foul trouble. Luckily so were theirs. With four minutes left we were down by twelve so I called a time out. I did my best to calm down and inspire the troops and sent them out telling them to bare down, play our game and have fun. We went on a rush with seven straight baskets! With thirty seconds left we were up by two! I called another time out and told them to play keep away and not to shoot or give up the ball. They ran it out perfectly and we won! I was ecstatic!
This took us to the final where we were to play the first seed Harvey Lakers. We kept good pace with them in the first half but fatigue set in and they pulled away in the second. Regardless, the boys were having a blast just being there in the finals. The final buzzer went and we were the silver medalist Keswick Valley Coyotes! What a day!
Welly welly well, as per their last few albums I feel the need to plug the new Relient K album, Five Score And Seven Years Ago, that is coming out on March 6, 2007. I am so pumped for it and I cannot wait for it to come out. I absolutely love their music. I have said time and time again that God speaks to my heart so often through music in ways that other mediums just will not do. So many of their songs speak of things that I have felt in my heart or speak an old truth to me in a new and refreshing way.
They just seem like such stand up guys too, who just really love the Lord and enjoy so much what they do. Anyways, it is my absolute recommendation that you check out the album, you won't be disappointed. You can give a listen to some samples of the album here. Check out this video too of another song on the album starting off with Matt Thiessen's Beyonce impression!
Isn't it amazing how God will send something that really makes your day in a major way? Yesterday was a pretty normal day for the most part. I worked, coached a basket ball game and went to my Dad's for supper and planned to stay there the evening because I had hockey later on. While eating supper my cell rings and and it's Ben. This led me to believe that something major must be up because we don't regularly make long distance phone calls to cells, especially in the middle of the day. It was.
Those of you who read this thing might remember that on my birthday this past year Ben and I both posted the videos we had done as toasts to each other's weddings. Well Ben called to tell me that he had recieved a youtube message from none other than Charlie Major, the writer of the song my brother and me, to say what a great video Ben's was! I couldn't believe it!! After hockey I checked my email too and I also had recieved a message from him. It really made my day.
It is such an amazing thing to me that he actually saw the videos, contacted us and even added them to his favorites. Is that cool or what?
This is the video of RelientK's new single off their upcoming album. I really wish this song had been written before my wedding because this song describes my relationship with my wife perfectly, especially the first two lines! Anyway, give it a listen, really good stuff! Click HERE
Well if I am going to blog and complain about unsportsmanlike conduct of certain teams, it is only fitting that when a team shows amazing sportsmanship I should blog about that too. On Thursday this past week our team , now 3-5 on the season, traveled to McAdam to play what we heard was the best team in the league. Previously after our win over Nackawic, a parent told me that there were three players on McAdam's team who were taller than I am. He also tole me that these players were in grade seven!
We arrived in McAdam to find the rumours were true. As we began our warm up the McAdam Warriors ran out to pumped up music and ran some impressive warm up drills. A large percentage of the town had shown up to support their team and I was pondering on the pounding we should soon encounter when the coach of the other team came over to introduce himself to me. We chatted about our teams and the kinds of seasons we were having and he seemed like a really nice guy.
Well the game began and McAdam jumped out to an early lead but pulled back after only leading by ten or so. They pulled their top line off and took most of their shots from outside. They applied zero pressure and their players even helped our our players with things like three in the key. My players raved about what nice guys were on the other team. They could have easily destroyed us but instead of running up the score they worked on weaker aspects of their game and helped our players out. I was really impressed.
So far this season the Keswick Valley Coyotes are 1-3 in league games with one exhibition win. It seems we either win or get beat really bad. We never seem to lose close. Not that I am discouraged by this. Despite my competitive spirit I am really focusing more on improving our play than winning games. I tell the boys to remember that this is the first year we have had a program in years and that the teams we play have been playing with each other for some time. The other thing is that I am a rookie coach and this is all new to me as well.
Aside from being new to this, I do understand that there are certain ethical rules that need to be followed by coaches. One of these rules is that if your team is up by twenty or more and are obviously superior, you call your players to pull the press. For those of you who don't know what that means, pulling the press means that you tell you players to get back to the defensive zone when they don't have the ball especially after scoring baskets. It is just common courtesy as there is no need to embarrass teams beyond what is needed.
Well last night we were playing against one of my old schools Albert St Middle. We were missing our top scorer from the last game which also messed up my top string as he is one of our point guards but that is what it is. Either way we were losing by a lot, maybe 35 or so and Albert St was still pressing the court! After they had just scored a basket the intercepted our inbounding pass and and got another, so I politely (I mean that too!) asked the coach if he could pull the press. Now I was completely calm here, I honestly wasn't all that upset about losing so bad as we have done it twice previously. But the other coach sternly tells me to "Relax."
Now I am a patient person, but nothing will stir up a person quicker than to tell calm person to calm down. It made me so mad. He was the one in the wrong and when I , very calmly, ask him to show some sportsmanship he tells me to "relax." Ben and I used to do that to stir each other up and man did it work. Anyways, despite my desire to hurt this guy and retaliate I didn't. But man that bugs me!
While snow days are great I must admit that they are not what they used to be. When I was a kid, a snow day meant a day off school to lay around and watch TV, play in the snow, wrestle with the dog and so on. Ben and I would lay in for a while then usually shovel off the deck, jump off the deck wrestle for a while and then go inside and watch TV or if we were feeling adventurous we would walk to the store and rent a movie or video game.
Today not much of that is happening, I have some things to work on but I am here by myself today because Janelle has to work. I did shovel off the deck and jump off (the whole half a foot) but I can't even watch TV because, my guess is, the eye of the satellite is covered with snow.
This used to happen back when snow days were awesome too but when it did Ben and I would just grab the ladder, climb to the top of the house and clean it off. I remember holding the ladder for my brother on one occasion while he cleaned off the satellite. When he was done he jumped off the roof! Not into the snow or onto the deck but onto his brother, ME!
While I lay limp on the ground, he took off inside and locked me out leaving me to put the ladder away myself and promising I wouldn't get him back in order to gain entry to the house again.
I am sitting here chuckling to myself now. Good times.
Before you all start singing bananafannabobanna that is not what I am talking about. For me the name game seems to happen almost weekly. I am talking about when someone approaches you and calls you by name with confidence. They know you, they know who your family is, they know where you are from and where you currently reside. They know where they know you from and probably have at the very least a hand full of stories about you.
You on the other hand have no idea who they are. Actually chances are (if you are like me) the only idea you really have is that you recognize them from somewhere and know them enough that you SHOULD know their name, but that is about it. You know you know them well enough that you CAN'T ask them their name. All you can do is stand there and hope that the bring up something familiar that will connect the dots for you.
Really the best thing you can do is just ask. Just ask them outright from the beginning. You have to do it at the very beginning of the conversation or not at all. You can't carry on the conversation and then ask at the middle or end who they are. My best attempt at tactfulness seems to leave me carrying on as if I know while I wonder throughout the conversation and still wondering at the end. Anyways, if I haven't seen you in a while and you come speak to me try to work your name in somehow to rescue me and don't be offended if I forgot, half the time I can't remember my own name... anyways, how is that for the first post of 2007?
Shopping, I have to admit wasn’t that bad. There were a lot of cool things to see and the atmosphere was a lot calmer than in Mexico. The weather really improved too so we boarded the ship to eat and then went to Seven Mile Beach. Wow, the beach was unreal. The sand was so soft and the water was warm and crystal blue. As soon a Janelle got in she was swarmed by a school of tropical fish, at least I think that is what I saw as I did my best to maintain balance when she jumped on my back!! We took in the afternoon laying on the beach and cooling off in the water. (Side note on schools of fish: yesterday I forgot to mention that while we were lying on the deck a school of dolphins came along side our ship! There had to of been hundreds of them coming to the surface of the water, major cool!)
So you have all awaited my personal review of the 3rd Spider-Man movie, well here it is. I loved it. I know that many of you are thinking, "Dan, you would have loved it even if it was an obvious piece of garbage" or "Dan you think you ARE Spider-Man, how could you not like it, it would be like disliking yourself" or "I'm hungry, I think I will grab a sandwich after reading Dan's blog" All of those statements may very well be true but what can I say. I have seen the movie four times so far. Many have poked at the "cheesiness" of certain scenes especially when (spoiler warning) Spider-Man forgives Flint Marko (Sandman) and when he cries over the death of his friend Harry. I don't know, I find it refreshing that a modern movie would take the time to teach us about forgiveness, the downfalls of revenge and Spider-Man's grief makes him more relatable as that would be the reaction of most people. Either way, I loved it and recommend it without hesitation.
Up until this morning I was 0-6. So with great anticipation this morning I rolled up my rim to become 0-7... oh well, as my friend Graham says, "You are always a winner when you drink Tim's coffee." Seems to make him feel better anyways!
I never get too upset about not winning, not even after seven coffees! Roll up the rim is not a guarantee. It wouldn't be wise to bank on the new hybrid Toyota Camry, the Panasonic Plasma TV, the thousand bucks or even another coffee. As my record indicates the odds are not really in your (or my) favor.
This took us to the final where we were to play the first seed Harvey Lakers. We kept good pace with them in the first half but fatigue set in and they pulled away in the second. Regardless, the boys were having a blast just being there in the finals. The final buzzer went and we were the silver medalist Keswick Valley Coyotes!
