oh my little olivia

i had a very upsetting evening yesterday. Olivia was very sick. she had thrown up 3 times the night before, but i just thought that they had been hairballs that didn't want to come up. but then yesterday she just seemed really off, not her usual spunky bitey self. then later, when Thomas and i came home from the christmas potluck, she seemed really really off. she would hardly move at all and she just laid there when usually at that time of night she is tearing around the apartment and being absolutely ridiclous. then she puked up so much puke all over the floor and it was just so much for a little cat and it was mostly bile and had a really weird smell to it (weirder than cat barf normally smells). after that she hardly moved at all and when you picked her up she felt so limp and heavy and it was scary to me. i love my little Olivia very much and she has become a big part of my life now that i live on my own. i didn't know whether i should take her to the emergency vet or not. anyway, later that evening i had put her on the heating pad and Thom and i prayed for her because Jesus cares about pets too, and then she seemed to be getting a bit better, and just before Thom left she walked over to the door and bit me, and i have never ever been so happy to be bitten by a cat. she slept in my bed all night and in the morning i woke to her gnawing on my arm. she's back!

ps. that picture is of her favorite past time, hanging out in the tub. she seems to like the loud echoey noises it makes when she runs all around in it. silly girl.

3 days

well i am almost done.

i only had two exams but my last one is not until tuesday. i have worked all week, wrapped the presents that i have and finished almost all my shopping.

i can' t find the girl who sits outside of chapters, i bought her some mittens but whenever i am there she never is anymore, maybe she went home. maybe she really was saving money to go home, i hope so.

Danielle comes on tuesday and then we will take the train together to toronto. i am sad to not see my dad this christmas, but not sad to not be in the calg. and my dad is happy because he can ski on christmas day and all these years we've been holding him back with family time. ;)

so i will see my momma on wednesday and then little Ramona comes out on the 24th. Thomas will be arriving on the 22nd but i see him all the time, but it will be nice to have him with all my family, also they love him and i think are secretly plotting to throw me out of the family and take him in. maybe the Anderson's would like a new sister.

this last exam is going to be tricky i think, and i haven't really been able to do that much studying, and my apartment is a disgrace and i mustn't let Danielle see it in such a fashion.

today we (the church) are having our christmas potluck it will be very lovely i am sure, and a nice break to cleaning/studying.

also i will get to talk to Jamo on the phone tonight, and that is always wondrous. i need to write hayley a letter, maybe on the train, it is long overdue, and i need to email to professors about future placements.

so i guess i'd better get going.

oh except to say this last thing.

i hate fights. Thom and i got into this stupid fight last night, the kind that is not nice and you never want to be the wrong one. but then i remembered this: last week at the meeting, Elvis was talking about how we need to come to maturity inChrist, we need to grow up(which you can read more about on Beth's blog). and he also said how we need to not take offense, even if we feel like we should be able to, or even if we want to (that is the tricky bit), but i have remembered it this week, and it has made my week better because of it. and, also Thomas and i did not end our evening fighting so that was very good.

another thing i forgot to mention awhile back is that we have celebrated our one year anniversary! on december 8th. it was funny; i bought him a teapot and some teacups and tea, and then he surprised me by taking me to high tea at the tea party! we know each other very well and are very much alike i would say. an odd disagreement here and there, but a perfect match.

oh my advent calendar...

this november i had been going on and on at work how i really wanted a chocolate advent calendar, because we only sold paper ones and candles and i let a woman buy the candle i had put away for myself because it was the last one and she wanted it for her neice or something... i couldn't let a little girl go without an advent candle, plus i would probably forget to burn it anyway. then at the beginning of december i got a package in the mail from my momma, and in it were not one but two! advent calendars. one for me and one for thom. anyhow, i was stoked.
every morning i forget about it, and i will be sitting at my computer and look up and see it and i say ooooooo! and then i eat my chocolate. Thanks mom!!

you know you're a camp person if...

-80% of your clothing shows evidence of paint.
-Abnormality is a compliment.
-All your coworkers could be clinically classified as pyromaniacs, multiple personalities, or obsessive compulsive.
-Being at home makes you homesick.
-Dressing up only involves slightly cleaner clothes.
-Most of your stories start with "and then this one time, at Summer Camp..."
-Sandal/watch tan lines are a competition. (and boys compliment your sandal tan in the mall)
-Screaming and running at the same time is a coveted skill.
-Sharpies, pens and duct tape are worth more than gold.
-Using logic could get you in trouble. (unless you use the words logistics and parameters in the same sentence)
-Water cures all ills.
-Camp has been over for 22 minutes, and you're already thinking about next summer.
-You are convinced that there is no way you can date someone who is not a camp guy/girl, because no one else really understands.
-You can burst into song about anything, anywhere, anytime...
-You can make anything out of duct tape, including band-aids. (or make shift head pads and straps for a spine board in an emergency)
-You can make up a song about anything, anywhere, anytime...
-You can shampoo, wash, and shave your legs, etc in less than 5 minutes. (or go the summer without doing any)
-You can think of 50 ways to use a bandanna off the top of your head.
-You can walk the woodsy paths at night without a flashlight.
-You feel naked without a Walkie-Talkie strapped to your body. (or Giselle)
-You don't think non-camp people can understand your summer job.
-You've made friends with the "office people" or the camp nurse just so you have a place to hang out.
-You go to university just to fill time between summers.
-You have a camp set of clothes. (a canoeing set, that is pulled out no matter what kind of campy weekend is occuring)
-You have a collection of outfits for theme weeks.
-You have about 20 mosquito bites in 1 square inch of skin.
-You have an entire volume of camp-friendly mixed CDs.
-You don't do this for the money - and you mean it.
-You have no clue what's on TV until mid-September, cause you never watch it at camp. (you can have someone tape the rest of the season of survivor for you and not even find out who won until you watch it in the fall)
-You have to routinely prevent yourself from shouting, "walk, please!" or "where's your hat?" at random kids
-You know all 753 1/2 verses of "Let Me See Your Funky Chicken." (what's that you said?)
-You know exactly how to get to camp from home by car, boat, plane or any other means of transportation. (including the Summach's float plane)
-You know that laughter, hiccups, sneezes, itching, and yawns are contagious.
-You were disappointed to find that you can't major in"camp." (unless you are Steve Lapp)
-You never refuse free food.
-You refer to your campers as YOUR kids.
-You save anything and everything campers have ever made for you.
-You still enjoy the same songs you did at 5 years old.
-You value the friendship bracelet you got at the camp carnival last summer more than any other piece of jewelry.
-Your "real-world" friends have limited you to only 5 camp stories per day.
-Your barter system relies on hugs, backrubs, and chocolate exchanges. (as long as it is not a massage train!)
-Your car won't start until all seatbelts are buckled.
-Your closer with your camp friends than with your own family.
-Your friends know you're never home from June 'till September.
-Your idea of a good song starts with the words "This is a repeat after me song."
-Your primary method of diplomatic resolution is rock, paper, scissors. (you still do it at work with Heather to find out who will count the cash)
-Your tan lines are also your dirt lines. (and you discover this in the shower after canoeing for a week)
-Your teachers know you as a camp person.
-Your voice quality at the end of the week is inversely proportionate to how good it was.
-Your water bottle and sandals are as essential as your underwear.
-Your year only has two seasons. (Summer and Non-summer)
-You've given up time off to comfort a crying camper.
-You've had to read a policy on bathroom usage.
-You've written a paper about camp for a class.
-You refer to all your friends as "Dude", even though you live nowhere near the West Coast.
-You get recognized on your first day of university as a camp person by a complete stranger, who is also a camp person and destined to be your best friend, because you're wearing green capris and white adidas with pink stripes.

"Since we're in the house of Lord...um, the Lord." - Sarah Harmer

oh finally i can talk about this! i bought thomas and i tickets to see sarah harmer and it was a surprise so i could not blog about it in case he saw it, but i don't think he really reads my blog anyway, but just in case. anyhow, the show was last night and it was in this big beautiful church building and that alone was lovely.
As expected, she was so so wonderful. i love seeing her live, she is so nice and you feel like you are her best friend (even if you are sitting amongst the couple hundred people who also feel like that). Her band was wonderful tonight, i love seeing julie with her, she dances and sways so much and it makes me feel glad. anyway, she mostly played songs from her new album 'i'm a mountain' and old weeping tile songs. with a few from 'you were here' and 'all of our names'. thom said that even though he didn't know most of the songs because of them being really new or really old, he still loved the show so much.
at the end of the show, for the last song of the encore, she unplugged her guitar, and took away her microphone, and she sang 'how deep in the valley' just like that, in the church, with her band singing backup with no microphones either.
i nearly cried. i think the sound of that song will stay with me forever.

so i leave you with this:

how deep in the valley must you go?
to find what your footsteps already know
the way on is the way out
their are signs to follow
there is deep in the valley and i'm bound to go
how deep in the valley must you stay
to know why your footsteps led you that way
the way on may be truly to stand in one place
and let the deep of the valley fill you with grace
and treat yourself lightly, treat yourself kind
you've got nothing to worry on, you will be fine
you will leave this place laughing and somebody will cry
there is deep in the valley, wonder not why
wonder not why go and wonder not to stay
if it takes me and i follow or if i lead the way
it can come when it wants to
but it might have to wait
there is deep in the valley i don't hesitate
i don't take it too lightly but it don't weigh down too low
there is high on the cliff top and there's deep creeks below
there's a green shade you can't miss where the spring water flows
there is deep in the valley and i'm bound to go
how deep in the valley must you go
to find what your footsteps already know
the way on is the way out
there are signs to follow
there is deep in the valley
and i'm bound to go

I am P.E.I. !!!!

What Canadian Province Are You?

You're Prince Edward Island. You're a happy person, love life, and seldom complain. You're able to see the best in any situation.You do live a g-rated life and tend towards things mainstream. People like you, unless they're depressed.

let it snow let it snow let it snow!

i must say, that i have had a very happy morning. i woke up, and when i looked out the window, i exclaimed: 'oh!', for there was snow on the roof across from my window. if it is going to be cold, i expect there to be some snow to make up for it, so i am happy. yesterday i was sad in my apartment because it was FREEZING. my feet froze, and hurt a little, and this morning when i came out to type my care plan, my hands started to freeze, and i was sad because i had a cold apartment and i didn't know how to turn up the heat (i have old hot water heaters), and i don't have time to call my landlord, to have her visit since i have to finish my care plan, which as you can see i am working away at right now ;)
anyway, i looked at my heater, and i noticed a little tap, so i turned it. no explosions, so when i came back a few minutes later and felt the warmth coming from that little heater, my heart leapt. what a happy day. like romans 8:31 & 32 says: 'if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not, along with him, graciously give us all things?'
God cares so much for us, even for little things such as having heat! loverly.

so, i had better stop procrastinating and get back to work,

oh and just in case you are not a visitor of virtuo city, check this out. it is crazy.

love to you all on this wintry day.

oh finally!!

today is the day!!!! i first off get to go to my work, and seriously has naybody loved working in retail as much as i do at paperpapier? the only thing is i have become a present wrapping snob, whether giving or receiving.

whatever, the imprtant thing is that today, thomas will pick me up at 5:30 and off we shall go to see Harry Potter!!!!

Finally it is here. I am so excited. Thom, Ryan and i watched the prisoner of azkaban on thursday and it made me all the more excited. Hurrah!!!

kate

ps. i promise not to spoil the movie in the next post so do not be afraid to check back.
also, is it ok to be slightly annoyed by people who call themselves harry potter fans but don't read the book. also, to scott and jordan. this is an old thing, but i knew you would both like harry once you took the time to know him ;)

early mornings

oh me oh my,
clinical has started (well this is the fourth week) but tomorrow morning we are back to days, and while days are usually a little more exciting and tend to pass a lot faster, it is a early early morn. we (linsey, mary-anne and i) have to catch the bus at 6 am. and then travel for almost an hour to the queensway-carleton hospital. i love my new 3rd year friends. i was so worried about entering third year and having to make new friends (how silly). but i am thrilled, as well as i get to sit beside an old friend named kim who now has a lovely little boy named aidan. so so cute.
also Keri Jones is coming this weekend! he is the apostle of our church! hurrah hurrah hurrah, direction and guidance is oh so wonderful. and beth is playing 'mom' to nathan and vivian this weekend, God's grace to her, that is a long weekend with little babies and no momma or poppa to intervene, i will however lend as much of a hand as i can on sunday.
anyhow, since i need to be getting up earlier than the crack of the sun, and it will be dark as dark can be and hopefully no longer pitch wet as it has been. pitch wet makes me miss soya. old accidentally gay pride mitts that need to be replaced but are too sentimental to be replaced make me think of hayley. and last but not least if i slam anyone into any lockers i will definately think of erik.

tootles.

the penultimate peril

penultimate = next to last....

does this mean that this is the next to last tragedy of the Beaudilaire's?
this past tuesday the very highly anticipated (at the very least by me) 12th book in the series of unfortunate events by lemony snicket was finally available. after coming back from maxville i skipped on down to chapters to pick it up. thus far it is the thickest book in the series. i love these books, they are so devestatingly humorous and so humorously devestating.

will violet, klaus and sunny beaudilaire ever be safe from count olaf? only time will tell. i am almost done this one, and then comes the long wait for the next one.

on another note (though still perhaps a perilous thought)
do you know what the top two most violent professions in canada are?
well the first is slightly obvious....
#1 Police Officer
however, the second may come as a shocker, until you think about it....
#2 Nurse
there you have it, something they do not tell you in your first year orientation (or for that matter up until year three they still have failed to mention it) only if you take psychology of death and dying as an elective will you ever chance to find out this little tidbit.

fall is dead seriously here. it snuck up on me and now here it is, but i get to wear my toque that roslyn gave me last year for christmas, which i do indeed adore, as well as my new wool scarf from value village, and the puffy vest has made a full return! lovely.

thom and i are almost done Lost, and i have no idea how we will wait for the next one, ( i suppose three seasons of the west wing may tide us over).

anyhow, Scott has a new blog, you should check it out here. it's very scott-ey, (like ol' new-ey perhaps?)

olivia has been taking to sleeping at my feet in this cooler weather. i like that.

kate

.toques & mitts.toques & mitts.toques & mitts.

so! yesterday the temperature dropped, and dropped, and dropped.
and i complained a little, but solely because it was mittens and toque weather, and i didn't have mine. i did however get to put on my puffy vest and skip along in glee of the crisp air. plus, today i will remember my mittens and toque. the thing with this weather is usually it last for awhile now before the real cold comes. it can get a little warmer again, which i hope for next weekend. C'FORD WHAT!!! that means going to Campbellford to send time with the Anderson's and finally, oh happy day!!, finally meet mark.
however, thom says that he respects mark's opinion above anyone else. i am hoping that means mark will like me. no pressure there!!
also, today i am making a giant banner for the coffee house next week. i wish i had the didge back so i could post pictures on here, but it is in the shop, i broke it. it was sad.
has anyone watched that lost show? ryan bought the dvd of season one, so thom and i watched the first two episodes last night. INTENSE. and very cool.
tonight i am working for terry but i get to work with kitty!! and then tomorrow is the fond farewell of mike. this is very sad.
anyhow, i need to put socks and a sweater on. hurrah! the time of socks is back!

kate

ps. as you can probably tell, the real excitement is back. i knew it wouldn't last long.
pps. rachel, this is for you, that is the way hope can feel sometimes, like it is gone, but really this is what the Bible says about hope. Romans 5:5 'hope does not disappoint us'. don't let your life get stuck in feelings. it is so great that we get to have emotions and feelings. but don't let them dictate the way you live. love to you!

new new new

so. yesterday i spent the day with nathan, we went hunting, swimming, on an adventure, and fishing. how could this all be done in one morning? nathan is three and a half, and since i last spent time with him, his imagination has sky-rocketed. so really the whole time we were just walking through a very wet farmer's field, however there was a very real incident that involved nathan gatting stuck in some mud in the middle of the biggest puddle, and of course i had nothing but shoes on, needless to say they ended the day wet and muddy. also, vivian can now talk, and walk, and almost count. and she has the cutest hair i ever saw on a toddler.

also yesterday, new cells started. this also is very exciting. to see where God will take us throughout the year. ben and mary and michelle are leading it which is a huge excitement in itself.

it feels like i am having one of those days. where i am typing all this, and pretending to be excited, but i don't feel it at all. when truly yesterday i was excited. well. thankfully i have learned that feelings are not fact, so i will not dwell in this for very long.

one other weirdness, my mom's new boyfriend, charles in charge, has decided that he is going to be coming to ontario for christmas this year with my mom and sister. um, yah, ok so you have been seeing each other for 1.5 months! maybe slow down a little.
whatev, not much i can do about it, except perhaps spend as much time as i can with thom's family and as little as i can with mine, i'm sure ros will want to come with me, lord knows how much she loves charles in charge.

i'm off to class so i had better shake a leg.

i am in love with school

sorry thom.

but it is true. so far i am in love and very much looking forward to the love affair that will occur this year between me and my books. ok, so maybe i only have two classes right now, but if that is what it takes for me to be in love with school, then two classes it is.

bon voyageee!

one time melissa brasnett and hayley turnbull said that i would say that whenever i was leaving. i do not remember saying this. but! i am off on an adventure with thom for the next two weeks. starting tomorrow!

we will head to the Calg. tomorrow evening, and then we shall rise early on saturday morning for my dad to take us on a hike up sulphur mountain (let me pause to say, is this not a kind of repulsive name for a mountain to have?) hmm, apparently, there is a species of butterflies called sulphur. perhaps what i mean is sulfur. anyway. then on sunday he wants us to hike up sunshine to help clean it up for the winter. i think we have been tricked, however there are folklore tales of men finding rolex watches and a kid finding a snowboard (how do you lose a snowboard may i ask?), and other such tales. so we shall see how are legs are feeling after saturday before we go on sunday.
then my mom wants me to do a pilates class with her (it looks as though this trip is going to be a marathon workout trip!). i will as per usual live it up in the lap by getting a massage and a haircut (if i am brave).
then comes the fun part..... thom and i driving back to ontario in my grandparents car!! hurrah! we will have a brief stop in saskatoon and melville ( i never thought that i would go to melville, but the lovely nancy jean shall be there doing her teaching internship and i do need to see that girl!). and from then on it shall simply be an adventure of kate and thom!

oh it will be a good way to end the summer.

also we get to see little ramona (who incidentily is not so little anymore and is starting her first year of highschool! -grade ten in alberta-)

so i am sure my mom has many nights of upwords and chai tea planned. lovely woman.

peace.

a new day

it's funny (well wonderful really) how God just knows how we are doing. And he just steps in with exactly what we need. i have been having a few weeks of hyper loneliness, you know the kind where you are in a room of people and you feel so alone it hurts, and you would way rather be by yourself because that kind of alone is not so lonely? ya, that is the one i have been having. anyway, i have been upset and angry and thomas has been getting the brunt end of that almost every other day for the past 2 weeks (thom = the most patient boy in the history of patient boys).
i have been not wanting to go to school, to move somewhere else.... i don't know what else. the first thing that God spoke to me was through thom (well maybe the first thing i finally listened to), that if i really was supposed to move, it would not be in a time of feeling like i hated where i was living. i think that we are not supposed to feel like we want to leave a place, but more like we are going somewhere else. Doesn't it make sense that if we leave a place when we are supposed to that it will be peaceful and that we will have some sadness about it, while having excitement about the new? like when i moved to ottawa.
the second thing that God did was on sunday morning while meeting with the church. todd was speaking on things that are going to be taking place in ottawa in the next few months and how we need to be prepared and rested. and all these tears kept leaking right out of my eyes. the kind that you could never stop. but by the end of the meeting the Holy Spirit had spoken right to me and my heart. it's time to take action, i can't just sit and be sad and expect things to change. i need to do something! but what we really learned was that we need to be doing it all while resting in Jesus. if i don't spend time with him, then i will start doing things in my own strength and that, my friends, is a set up for failure, for burnout and frustration. hence the situation i have been feeling that i am in.
but!! that doesn't mean that these feelings can disappear right away (though they very much could) but that i need to make sure that i am making that difference. that i am spending time every day praying, reading the word, listening to God, and also just spending fellowship with him throughout everything i do in my day. i'm going to be a better student, friend, daughter, sister, girlfriend, employee because of it!! HURRAH!!
all i know is that it is a little cloudy out today, but it looks brighter than any day from this entire month.
praise Jesus!

oh man, i am out.

kate

i miss beth

beth has been away all week, and while i know that she is spreading the gospel to children, i still miss her. really i have not seen her in ages because thom and i were away last weekend, and if she is not back in time to have breakfast with my momma and i on saturday then i will not see her until next wednesday! gollee. mattie and fife are here and i learned how to play poker. just imagine what kate's poker face might look like. i need to wear a welding mask, except that might just show too much of my eyes and still give me away.

anyhow, i was telling mattie about how i moved out on my own and he said ' without b.!!?!?' and i was like B!! how have we not been together in so long? i miss the days of beth and kate. when i was cleaning noah and robyn's place i found a list that listed us together, beth & kate, and thom had a christmas card list that had us together, beth & kate. and while i like being thom & kate, today (and yesterday) i missed being beth & kate because it probably won't go back to that. no wait, that's right, it won't go back. It will go forward to better things, when beth and i get to work together for God. i don't know what it will be yet, but there will be new beth & kate, it will be different i am sure, but so good .... dare i say even better!! i dare indeed, i am gonna claim it!!.... God is good.

and beth, if you read this, i love you and miss you and hope that you had a good week.

love kate

holiday!!! celebrate!!

Oh Happy DAY!!

Thom and I just had a lovely weekend in C'ford, visiting his mom and brother. She was house-sitting at this little acreage just outside of Campbellford, and it was delightful! we jumped on the trampoline, hung in the hammock, swung on the tire swing (well i did anyhow), swam in crow river, and just delighted in what the Lord is doing. We went to PCF on sunday morning and as per usual it was lovely to be amoung brothers and sisters there. It was a wonderful morning with God moving and speaking very specifically to the men there. cool.

We are now back in Ottawa with a true vacation approaching. My dad arrives this evening with Roslyn, and then Danielle and mom come on friday night, and on saturday we will all be at the Booth cottage for the surprise party for Grandad's 80th birthday. Thom will be coming as well and is feeling slightly alarmed at meeting all the Van Patters in one go, but it will be fine and we will canoe and swim and read.

Then it will be off to the Van Impe cottage for 3 days, with my mom and sisters, which will also be so nice. We have in our hands the new Harry Potter, which we will read during our holiday, but we have to wrap it up until then, or i may be tempted to read it, especially since i just finished the beaudilaires and the next one is not ready for me yet at the library, i really want to just buy it, i am hooked!

so four more days of work, and then off to the cottage. praise God for time to relax on the water this summer.

Also, on sunday night we had the most lovely visit with Ben and Maryann, those lovely Roebucks. It was a wonderful night filled with good things, such as excitement for what God is going to be doing this year, he has brought a lot of people here and it is not for nothing, that i will tell you, things are going to happen, and it is time that we start remembering the words that God has given to us in ottawa and live them out!! Hurrah!!!

and myriam is getting baptized this weekend, and the Lord is rejoicing, and so am i, and the angels. Hurray to you Myriam!!! Be blessed.

it's going to be a good day, a very good day indeed.

love!

moving day

well, the time has come. tomorrow is moving day, i am off on my own! very exciting indeed. so i may not be moving very far (four houses away), but it will be nice to have my own space. 5 years living with housemates, and now some time on my own. hey, i mean someday i am going to have to (i mean get to) share a house with a boy! so some of my own time will be nice. or maybe just help me develop even more of my own tendencies. whatever the case may be, olivia and i are very excited to move into our new place. (ok, so not entirely on my own, i still have olivia my cat).

last night ben and maryann had thom and i over for supper, we were their first dinner guests as a married couple. they are a lovely lovely couple those two. they have made marriage look like the most natural and easy and wonderful transition in the world. they just sought God on every detail and it has just been awesome. it was nice to get some relationship advice from them. Praise Jesus for friends!!!

anyhow, i am off to get some lunch, finish packing and try to find some loonies to do some much needed laundry.

a cat at the window

last night i came home and i was washing my face in the bathroom, when suddenly there was a noise at the window, and what to my wondering eyes did appear?
OLIVIA!!!

and we are on the third floor, and i could not figure out how she got to the front of the house, but i just imagined that someone let her on the balcony and did not know that she had gotten away. so i pulled the screen out, and hauled that cat in and then i got into bed. all of a sudden what do i hear? that cat, outside again!!! how how how?!?! how could this be? well it would appear that she managed to knock the screen out of beth's window, so off came the bathroom screen again (this appears to be the only window that she will come in) and i hauled her in again. and then made sure to close beth's window as the screen is lying in the middle of the roof. i tell you, there are no dull moments with this cat around.

on another note, i wish summer were here, summer makes everything feel good, and brings light to many situations. and shines light into darkness and hidden things. i am ready for summer. and new-ness.




that baby is huge!!

well. Jeff and Mary Smith had their little baby.. oh wait, not little, very very big baby. 11lbs 12 oz.
imagine, that is a lot of baby to be birthed. and Mary, the most wonderful lady did it all naturally with no drugs! yowza. that is inspiring. Hey, we were healed of the curse of the pain of childbirth when Jesus rose again. Jeff and Mary proved that faith is indeed believing in things unseen. (how many other women deliver 11lb babies with no pain? well more to come i am sure of it).

the weather is so nice here. but i fear that it will get hotter soon. you can already feel the temperature difference when you come up the stairs to our apartment. last june we nearly suffocated in here. at the very least i am now in the room with the nice big windows and a breezy little breeze to blow through them.

last night, mike came and taught the downtown cells (plus a few added extra lovelies from the body) about budgeting and credit and money, and it was very interesting and very eye opening. it's weird, coming from a family that has (seemingly, maybe there were) never had financial worries. if i've ever needed money it has been there. i said to cat last night that her and robyn and i are all totally in a similar boat, where growing up, we pretty much had everything we needed and almost everything we wanted. so it is kind of hard to learn how to be wise with money (what do you mean i can't just buy new clothes that i want as opposed to what i need... oh because i need to pay rent and buy groceries. hmm i guess that makes sense). but it is also exciting. this year i am going to pay all my own rent for the first time since i started school. it is scary but exciting. and i know that it will go well because God gave me a word that the transition would be easy, and God's words never come back to him empty. this i know.

do you ever have one of those days where so much can make you grumpy? where anything that under normal circumstances would be fine, can make you feel sad and upset and lonely and want to just be alone and grumpy and feel sorry for yourself? i hate those days. i had a day like that yesterday, but praise God , i am learning to bite my tongue, and i am all the better for it. also, Romans 12:2 says 'do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will'. somedays overcoming our thoughts is the biggest battle we face with the enemy. he knows that we are still with our old minds and he is going to do everything to try and make us fall into that trap. well... this is one girl it is not going to work on. I know who I am in Christ. I am more than a conqueror. awesome.

it is going to be a very good day.

i'm sharing a room!!

oh me oh my. the day has come, it has been decided that i can perhaps keep a room clean, and for the next two glorious months i get to share a room with beth. it has been a fun filled organizing past few days, beth and i threw a couch off the balcony with a group of parents watching from the elementary school parking lot behind our place. then we dismantled the bunkbed, this was a little sad, cause maryann is gone for real, and living on her own until her and ben get married in less than a month!! holy.
so lovely annie is moving in this friday, and then it will be so fun. we are currently trying to sort out landlord/lease issues and not sign another whole year lease, but there is a definate communication barrier there. as well as, for you other students who do not know this, if you give your landlord a deposit, they have to pay 6% per year on it. check it out in the Ontario Tenant Protection Act section 118.6.
i have one exam left, but i cannot stop organizing or moving! this is not a good thing. but summer is almost here, and i am loving my job and i am now heading up the kids work with our church, and i am so excited. it has been cold and rainy here and that makes me sad. the sun is out today and i think we may break 10 degrees.
there has been much prayer going up in these here parts (and praise) God is moving!! rememeber that if you are being spiritually attacked it probably means that you are moving forward into new things. the devil does not have to attack people who do not move on. we've been praying in our cell groups, in our sunday meetings and all over the place. i tell ya, something is happening. and it is just the beginning. healings are happening. jeff and mary are about to have a pain free delivery of their first child. want to know more about healing? or be healed? this sunday (may 1st) , we are going to be talking about the Holy Spirit healing, and we will be praying for the sick. so if you are in ottawa come on out, the old town hall: 61 main street, at 10:30 am. it's gonna be an awesome time.
also, i got a new cat!! one that maryann and beth both like! beth even said she loves her! woah. that is one nice cat. she is lovely and cute and i prayed to not be allergic and i am not! hurrah! my mom will say, oh it must be a hypoallergenic cat. my mom is a selective prayer believer. but i love her, and am glad that she believes some prayer.
the very best part about sharing a room with beth is more prayer time with her, we have seriously been neglecting that since the summer. it is not good.
Jesus is moving....

in the words of robyn.."much love on your heads today...grin"

peace

yodelayheehoo!

it is spring. for real it is spring. the snow is melting and almost gone, the rains have begun and thom and i can hold hands without hindrance of layers of mittens. i love spring!! and the tulip festival is just around the corner. that is the best of all, for someone who loves tulips, fields of them all over ottawa definately satisfies.

today beth and i get to go have lunch with jeff and mary smith. a lovely couple who moved to ottawa in january to join the work of our church. lovely. mary is so beautifully expecting and she is due may 1st. hurrah!!! i love those little pregnant mamas.

we are painting ben and mary's apartment this week which means maryann is moving out soon. this is sad, but exciting cause her and ben get to be married. then i get to share a room with beth for 2 months and annie will move into my old room. then when robyn gets hitched beth will move into her room.

i also just started a new job at paperpapier in the market. it has been a lot of fun thus far, and also!!!! mattie has decided to stay for the summer!!!! hurrah! which means we may have a booth in the market selling paintings and quilts. oh this is gonna be a grand summer, besides the fact that thom and i have exact opposite work schedules, ah well.

if anyone is planning on making any trips this summer, come visit ottawa, you always have a couch or bed to sleep on here!!

in the words of mary smith..."be blessed"

kate

but he could jump on my head and try to be a coon skin hat!!

i fear that this could indeed happen. there is a raccoon living on the roof. everyone thought that i was being paranoid and just imaging the scratching noises. one day thom heard them so i knew they were real.. but then convinced myself that it was just one of the giant crows that dwell outside my window (do i live in a forest? no i do not). the crows are scary enough, but on thursday afternoon, beth and i were watching 24 when out of the corner of my eye i noticed a bear on our balcony and let out a loud yelp. the bear turned out to be a largish raccoon... that scampered off onto the roof, and then i saw him from my bedroom window. just skulking along like he owned the place. also, the funniest thing that he did once or twice was put both paws up in the balcony railing and peer over like a spy. needless to say, i am now afraid of that raccoon leaping upon my jugular when i venture outside. anyone who thinks i am a little bit exagerative (?) has clearly not seen the killer bunny in monty python's search for the holy grail.. that is one frightening rodent folks. i just spent the day playing 'mom' to vivian and nathan and i am beat, it is 9 pm and i am seriously tempted to go to bed. maybe i will read for a while. friday night and to bed at 9, can i get more mom like? i think not

nighty night.

i am tense and hyper!

I AM HYPERTENSION! the silent killer. this doesn't look as funny as it sounds when i say it in a threatening voice with my hands in the air in claw like gestures.

this comes from my series of studying last night. i wrote my patho midterm this morning, the exam that kicked my butt to a failure last year. so it was stressful to say the least, but i think that it went well. beth continues to remind me that i did not even open my binder once last year before the midterm. it would seem i did deserve the mark i got.

anyhow, yesterday i got all ranty at thomas for telling me i would do well, and when i told beth about my ranting, she said.. "who would say such a thing to you?" and i realized how silly i was, so i called thom back and apologized and told him a story of me biting in excitement about finding out when finals are, but the thing is that i was with beth and mandy, who probably thought it was weird, but know that i am weird. the funny part is that we were with our clinical instructor, mary, and she mostly looked a little frightened and concerned and confused. maybe she thought i had become rabid. (beth, you know what that means, get the guillotine)

anyhow, i am hyper, and i did a little dance of joy, for it is reading week next week, but i am done already, so i get to have 1.5 weeks off. i need to get a job. this is on the agenda for the next few days.

anyhow, i'm out.

kate

why i miss soya

i miss rainbow letters from her and seeing the colourfulness of her journal pages, i miss mass letters from her trip to florida where garbage cans chase her and there is a spy after her whole family. i miss laughing with her. i miss that i don't get to have a hair growing contest with her and hayley because right now i would win, even tho i attempted to cut my own hair (although, not like the time soya flipped her head upside down and just started cutting, i miss that too). i miss giving someone insulin on a regular basis, especially since i am now actually qualified to give needles and the only thing that gets me by is trying to convince thomas that i have diabetes, but he never believes me. I could have diabetes!... maybe i secretly give myself insulin... how could he know that? sheesh. i miss calling her cindy and telling her that the thing that fell off her car is indeed her muffler, and returning the saggy boob farmer, and MY REDEEMER LIVES!!! that God wanted us to have so bad that even after scott threw it out the window, God left a new one on the counter at church for us that sunday. i miss carrying everything in cheer or tide boxes, carrying a giant A down the street. visiting her at sweet valley high. i miss the grumpy days when she gets kind of snarky, and all i can do is laugh because soya angry is more cute or funny, unless she is passionately upset about something... then all i want to do is be angry and cry with her. i miss when she was in the kitchen, and the summer that tasse, robyn and hayley broke her alarm clock (ok dismantled her alarm clock) and made her go on a scavenger hunt to find it in the lake. i miss calling her sheri lynn, and being kathy, and realizing on the last day of our 8 day canoe trip that she has been hardly paddling the whole trip. i miss the flashing hang loose, "teats", i miss her whole family. i miss her crazy room with 40 milk crates as shelves in it, and decorated envelopes and sleepovers, and church, and talks. i miss having someone be so excited about math and science, my friend carla would love soya. carla is the president of the physics club at trent, which she founded to go on a trip to BC!... i miss that soya would love to quilt with me. that we never got to do that (Yet!!) i miss her telling us every week that she totaled off another car and being so sad when the new car is not a standard, and insisting that everytime we drive anywhere she use a empty coke bottle as a stick . nobody does that. nobody but soya. i miss leve, and taking him to the bathroom on sunday nights, and stealing sponges from the janitor's closet, and post church meal (1 cheeseburger meal, super size, make it bacon, a coke, 2 free waters, and 2 treat of the weeks), i miss having someone insist upon riding in the way way back of my volvo, even if there was only three of us in the car, i miss alaska day, summer kid, dressing like her in the summer, handicap shorts, the fact that she was on a bowling team, i miss having a friend called soya.

this is an ode to you soya bean!!

i love you.

coming soon, why i miss hayley.

"you only wish you knew what was going on in these pants! "

that is something i said the other day... it became sort of a scandalous weekend because my housemate, robyn, was in the vagina monologues. imagine toi! and she had to say some very scandalous things... althought not so scandalous as some of the other girls. it is interesting to me (and slightly sad) that a lot of women's supposed freedom seems to be about sexual liberation... they want to have sex, and they are going to get it no matter what. now, wait a minute... what would we think about boys talking this way?
there were definately some funny bits, but the best part of the whole night was robyn's own monologue. she wrote one herself, about abstinence and purity, and it was such a beautiful end to the night. she stood out like the most beautiful girl in the room. i am going to try to get a copy of it to post on here. but basically it was about waiting for that one right person, until you are married. we all had tears in our eyes.
the quote came from a talk about racy underwear.

it has been so nice out as of late, and on friday i finally got to blow the dust off my snowboard and get out to st. sauveur with mattie, benoit, and pat. and a bunch of youth unltd kids. it was such a glorious day, i don't think i've ever had a more glorious day (except the time nancy and i went to sunshine may long weekend and burned our faces so bad that it hurt to sleep on our pillows!).

another week of school is starting, and how can there be 8 weeks of school left? i am pumped for summer. many weddings, and who knows what else.

anyhow, i'm out.

one of these things is not like the other... one of these things just doesn't belong...

that is the song i sang to beth the other day when joking about if i got a 'ring by spring' (which i am not, so please do not start any rumours).... unless dave you continue with the one about me running away with a russian mobster... that rumour may continue for the rest of my days! anyhoo, i was saying to beth, that song would be funny to have on the answering machine if i got engaged and three of the four of us were engaged except beth. i laughed and said it's you who doesn't belong... then i realized how mean i was when beth ran away in tears and thom scolded me. (it was a nice scolding tho, says he).

thom and i have been reading peter pan by j.m. barrie.... i highly, very highly recommend it... it is far better and way more funny than the disney movie... any day! we also read matilda, and while it seems that we may only read children's books together, we also have some plans for some 'grown up' books... but we need some ideas i think. happily we both seem to love the same books (and movies and cds but that is for another post). mostly lately i have been talking about soya a lot lately, and hayley... and i know that i just missed a million people's birthdays in saskatoon, such as scott, soya, owen, i think jill tho she is not in saskatoon... and i am sure many others... for that i am sorry, and i say happy belated birthday to all of you.

we celebrated thom's birthday last week... the big 21, i was even convinced to go out for supper. something that i usually refuse for the fear that it instills in my stomach ever since the summer of the being very sick weight loss program... most of my pants are still too big. then we went bowling (speed bowling, very speedy bowling..) and then dancing at zaphod's, but i had to lie to thom all month about his birthday present, which was a very beautiful quilt (if i do say so myself), a dinosaur quilt, very bright with some very sweet dinosaur appliques on it. i'll post a picture when i remember to take one on the didge.

on another note, i think that i have been reading justin brand's blog lately... but i am not entirely sure if it is him or not... maybe... anyhow, it is nice to read about the calgary mountains, where my dad just informed me that he skis 100 days out of the year. craziness.

thom and i are off to see house of flying daggers tonight, it looks very good, we saw the preview when we went to see a very long engagement, which i recommend to anyone and everyone.
also, if you live in ottawa, i strongly recommend that you get a membership to the bytowne theatre. it is very lovely, and excellent movies play there.


anyhow, we have to get going to that, so have a swell night!!!

kate

ps... if your best friend feels left out because you are always with your boyfriend... the best thing to do is spend some serious time singing her a love song and molesting her.

winter is nature's way of saying,"Up yours". - Robert Byrne

so it's been a little while since the last update. but today is most worthy of an update i believe. today in ottawa we have a windchill warning. some of you may ask, what indeed is a windchill warning? well it is when the wind makes the temperature drop a ridiculous amount. in fact today it is -40 °C. that my friends is cold. so cold that i am afraid to venture outside. Thom said that last night when he walked home is head was freezing. and he was very much indeed wearing a tuque. this is the thing, when i lived in saskatoon it seemed like it was minus 40 a lot in the winter, but not this cold, maybe the thing was there wasn't as much wind in saskatoon? that maybe it was just minus forty but no windchill? but isn't there supposed to be a lot of wind on the prairies? hmm. maybe i have just turned into a bigger suck. all i know is that since i moved to ottawa i have been way colder in the winter.
so while winter may not always be nature's way of saying "up yours" it certainatly does seem like it on a day when you are afraid to go outside. i even called thom and told him to wait to go to tabaret to find out about school. i am that afraid. sadly, i do need to venture outside today, i need to go to the chiropractor, and then to walmart to buy thread and quilt batting, and maybe a dvd player. we'll see. but mostly i guess it means that i will have to overcome my fears of the cold today.

i hope that you are all warmer than i will be.. and judging by environment canada weather, you all are.

peace