Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tent city
It was cold. And loud. And uncomfortable. And did I mention cold? In fact it was the first morning in several weeks that folks here woke up to their vehicles being covered in frost. I climbed into our tent around 11:15 P.M. next to my son, tucked him in a little tighter and tried to get warm and fall asleep. Who would have thought night life in little 'ol Cranny could be so full of ruckus.
All this was to raise awareness that Cranbrook has an actual, for real, honest to goodness, homeless problem. Especially now, as housing costs rise and minimum wage doesn't, people are finding themselves on friends couches. Those that are lucky enough to have friends with that kind of generosity anyway. So, a tent city in the central park was proposed. I didn't count the tents, but I was impressed with the turnout. I was also impressed with the variety of people from all social classes. Even a few of the homeless themselves joined us. In fact, one particularly friendly gentlemen woke us at a rather ungodly hour to remind us that by now we would have had to take down and hide our tents, were this really our lot in life. In fact we slept in a good half hour more than the men who stay at The Refuge get to.
As a humorous aside, my Mother seems to have a strange reaction to the combination of cold and lack of sleep. At some point during the night, I am not sure when, since I was at least partly asleep, she leans over to me giggling. Between quiet bouts of laughter she says, "so we were playing Taboo..." and then breaks out into what can now be described as uncontrollable laughter. At this point, I am thinking, "well that was a weird thing to suddenly blurt out." A few seconds later she manages to say, "Ferdy points at me and says, "what you are (more hysterical laughter here) except wrapped in cotton."" At this point I am now unable to quell my own laughter, because Mom can't even speak. Not only that, but I am picturing my Mother wrapped in cotton batting doing this weird trying-to-escape wiggle that she was doing in her jacket earlier in the evening. Well the word turned out to be mummy, which I would have gotten if it weren't for the late hour and my Mother's odd behaviour distracting me. It occurs to me now that this may not be quite as funny to someone reading my blog as it was to us but it still makes me giggle.
Anyway, pictures to come soon.....
All this was to raise awareness that Cranbrook has an actual, for real, honest to goodness, homeless problem. Especially now, as housing costs rise and minimum wage doesn't, people are finding themselves on friends couches. Those that are lucky enough to have friends with that kind of generosity anyway. So, a tent city in the central park was proposed. I didn't count the tents, but I was impressed with the turnout. I was also impressed with the variety of people from all social classes. Even a few of the homeless themselves joined us. In fact, one particularly friendly gentlemen woke us at a rather ungodly hour to remind us that by now we would have had to take down and hide our tents, were this really our lot in life. In fact we slept in a good half hour more than the men who stay at The Refuge get to.
As a humorous aside, my Mother seems to have a strange reaction to the combination of cold and lack of sleep. At some point during the night, I am not sure when, since I was at least partly asleep, she leans over to me giggling. Between quiet bouts of laughter she says, "so we were playing Taboo..." and then breaks out into what can now be described as uncontrollable laughter. At this point, I am thinking, "well that was a weird thing to suddenly blurt out." A few seconds later she manages to say, "Ferdy points at me and says, "what you are (more hysterical laughter here) except wrapped in cotton."" At this point I am now unable to quell my own laughter, because Mom can't even speak. Not only that, but I am picturing my Mother wrapped in cotton batting doing this weird trying-to-escape wiggle that she was doing in her jacket earlier in the evening. Well the word turned out to be mummy, which I would have gotten if it weren't for the late hour and my Mother's odd behaviour distracting me. It occurs to me now that this may not be quite as funny to someone reading my blog as it was to us but it still makes me giggle.
Anyway, pictures to come soon.....
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
bummer
It doesn't look like I will make it to Seattle this July after all. Our music teacher, finding her life too hectic, has decided to scale down her lessons so she can spend more time with her family. A decision that would normally elicit my admiration, has instead aroused my selfish disappointment. Ah, such is life...
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Just enjoying the process
Last night the Fiona came and interviewed the kids. It was hysterical, I laughed so hard it hurt. I had to be in the other room where the kids couldn't see me, but she said I could listen so I did. All three of the kids who could talk pegged Hannah as the person who laughs the most in our family and Selah as the one who cries the most. Levi said he could handle another girl in our family, but he hopes he can go play somewhere else more then. Hannah talked about absolutely everything she could think of even if no questions were asked. Shiloh somehow managed to answer every question with something to do with princesses and complained that Levi wouldn't play princesses even when they really needed a prince.
So that's it. The last of our home study. In a few weeks, Fiona will bring us her overview and we will go over it and make sure it is a good representation of our family. This process has been difficult at times; peeling back the layers can be uncomfortable as anyone knows. It has also definitely had it's benefits. We have learned some things about ourselves and our kids and asked questions we wouldn't otherwise have asked. Overall, no matter the outcome, I am really glad we have gone through this process. I appreciate being able to look back six months and see personal growth as well as relational growth in our family. It gives me a sense of moving forward even if it doesn't immediately take us anywhere.
So that's it. The last of our home study. In a few weeks, Fiona will bring us her overview and we will go over it and make sure it is a good representation of our family. This process has been difficult at times; peeling back the layers can be uncomfortable as anyone knows. It has also definitely had it's benefits. We have learned some things about ourselves and our kids and asked questions we wouldn't otherwise have asked. Overall, no matter the outcome, I am really glad we have gone through this process. I appreciate being able to look back six months and see personal growth as well as relational growth in our family. It gives me a sense of moving forward even if it doesn't immediately take us anywhere.
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