2011 Off To A Great Start!

Hey hi everyone! :-)

The first great thing about 2011 is that my meetings have switched from mornings to afternoons. I absolutely love sitting on my bed Sunday mornings studying my WT. Just a nice slow moving day.

There has been lots of activity around here the last few weeks. Marcelle, Ava and Matea, (and Coco and Oscar), and (Mike on weekends) have been visiting and then yesterday Tyler, Janelle, and Haylen came. Haylen sure looks like her mom at this moment, but it will be interesting six months from now to see how she changes.

My old congregation in Korea had their family night recently and I included a picture here. Each member of the congregation participated in the Sound of Music. They rented a hall and put the play on for watchers in other congregations and family members. Here is a picture of the background choir. You can see that they must have got a sale on a certain striped material so that all their outfits are identical. I think it is so cute. They filmed it too, so if I get the video of it I will post it too. My friend Matt there said that EVERYONE took part. He played the piano with a sister for the singing.

The second pic is of the expat Bethel members in Korea. Gabby and Andrew (centre) have been there a long time, but are now heading back to Australia, but it is hard to imagine them there very long as they have been in the Phillipines, Africa, and Asia...and maybe some place I don't know. Gabby has such an interesting background. As I remember, her parents packed up their children and went and lived in a tent initially on some remote island living where the need was greater. Both fantastically interesting people.

Okay every one have a super lovely weekend.
Love to all,

d :-)

Lots of Snow Last Night

Hey hi everyone! :-)

Here are a couple pics of the snow today - and Harvey and Pearl refusing to get out of bed :-/. Everyone's house covered in snow, unplowed roads, just the perfect weather for walking and having fun. This morning Harvey collected so much snow in his hair he was literally a canine snowball. He stopped mid tracks and whimpered for me to pull some of it off. And really good study happening in service these days. So that is excellent too. Okay hope all of you are having a great weekend too. Love, d :-)

The Variety of My Teaching Day

Hey hi everyone, :-)

I really have to get outside during the day here when it is pretty and snowy and show you some of the beautiful scenery. It is really beautiful with everything covered in white. However, since I basically go to work in the dark, and come home in the dark these days, I decided to show you a picture of my whiteboard. As you can see quite a bit goes on in the classroom each day. I teach grammar in the mornings, Global Studies and Debate in the afternoon. Work, but a lot of fun too. However, yesterday morning the director slipped into the classroom and whispered in my ear that one of the gentlemen in the college was leaving a mess behind constantly in the bathroom and since they didn't know who it was they were hoping I could somehow mention it to my male students. Well all my students are uni students as you know and they are all male except two, so I decided I would just have to give a straight-faced clinical lesson about it so I drew the toilet, and had arrows going in and out, and the puddle on the floor to indicate mistakes. I think it went over pretty good, as no one raised their hand when I asked if there were questions - except for one very loud exhuberant young guy that near the end of my lesson yelled out, "where is the male teacher!!!???" Most of my students are Saudi so having a woman teach them is odd enough for them, but then throw this subject on top. ....We actually have the most interesting conversations in class because before coming here to study they had never seen a women before without a burka and hajib, only their mom and sisters, absolutely no one else. Really, really, interesting culture.

Okay, better pics next time. :-/ Love to all though. :-)

d
ps* Harvey and Pearl are having a fabulous time in the snow. H spends hours running back and forth against the fence barking at deer - how much more fun could a dog have in life. :-/

Olympic Sledding Shoes

Hey hi everyone, :-)

I will post the first pics of snow this weekend. Just a few inches but really beautiful. However, I did find out which shoes could probably be used at the winter Olympics in a sledding sport. After there were a couple inches of snow I decided to walk outside with Harvey and Pearl, and slipped on a pair of Crocs. I started to walk down the hill and suddenly the shoes started speeding away...with me in them. :-( In short order, I was rolling, finally ending up on my stomach facing downhill (kind of the same memories I had of my preteen years learning to ski :-/ ) Anyway, for any of you that have a pair of old crocs sitting by the door...not a good idea to walk around in them in the snow.

Love to all,
d

Excitement This Week

Hey hi everyone, :-)

It has been a really good week or so here. Last week we had the CO. Really good talks, and encouragement for the congregation. Brother Golthrop is very down-to-Earth in the way he relates to people. We've also had some really good response in the service. Mom and I were on a call that eagerly wants to study twice a week. So now we are just getting it organized around his very busy work schedule. He is from India. I was thinking it must be so hard for him, or any new worker, to come here during the winter months. His part of India is very tropical and pretty, but unfortunately affected by the conflicts in neighboring countries. So he came here, but it is cold - very cold, and his family is back home. :-( I was talking to another East Indian man who arrived here last winter, and his arrival point was CALGARY. Can you imagine the shock of that...January getting off a plane there. He said he was wide-eyed because he was told it was cool in Canada during the winters but he had no idea what that meant. He didn't even have cold weather clothes. Brrrr.... Anyways, it will be really nice to see how the study progresses after he gets organized and into a pattern. And then mom started a study with a woman in her thirties. So there is good response coming from the territory. As Brother Schufeldt brought out in his talk last month, the increases in Canada and the US aren't just coming from the immigrant population. There is a real surge coming from the generation-Canadians/Americans too.

Well, my first nephew is getting married. So that is exciting! Brahm proposed to Whitney yesterday. They dated for a couple years, which sets a good example on taking time to get to know someone, and now are ready make a good team. Both are spiritual minded, so I am confident they will do good together. Don't know the exact wedding date yet, but I think it should be the first week in January or thereabouts.

Harvey and Pearl are doing wonderful. They are both wearing their winter outfits now as it is pretty cold here. I will have to get a pic on here pretty soon to show everyone. Snowline was down to 1500 feet yesterday so I am guessing maybe next week we will get some down at the house. ...But I am smiling because thanks to Dad and Keith snow tires are on my truck. :-)

Work has been just great lately. In the mornings I am teaching grammar in the mornings as usual and in the afternoons this semester I will teach one class of GLOBAL STUDIES which is speaking on world topics. I basically use the same format as the Theocratic ministry school, and the same counsel slip, so I will really enjoy this class. And then my second class is DEBATE this semester, which I really like too because it gets students talking and thinking about what is going on in the world.

So all in all, life in the Okanagan is working out very nice. Advice I can give to everyone is to realize that when you move anywhere - to another country or another region - set up time takes TIME. And sacrifices come along with that, whether it means a pay cut, or a change of work entirely, getting organized in your home. So don't less the stress overcome you, but just plod along one foot in front of the other until everything falls into place. For me, one never knows what other doors Jehovah God will open in the future, but what he is directing for me at the moment is really good. That recent Watchtower on contentment has good advice for all of us in it.

Okay, gotta run and shine up my teeth, and polish my skin before the meeting this morning. :-)

Love to all,
d :-)

Gorgeous Guatemala

A friend serving where the need is greater for the last six years in Guatemala just sent some pictures. What an absolutely beautiful country. May not be much change happen when the true paradise arrives. :-)

I Thought My Eyes Were Lying To Me

I have always told everyone what a "braniac" my little Harvey is, but you won't believe what he did the other day. He was out in the backyard, and obviously decided he needed a snack, so he went over to the garden grabbed the stalk of a carrot with his mouth then pulled up with all his might and pulled it up. He then shook it to get all the dirt off, and then ate it - a huge carrot! He had seen Otto do this before but just the fact that he figured out how to do this himself amazed me. Smarty pants. :-) But the little guy in this video may know a couple tricks Harvey still needs to learn. :-/

I am sitting here at work today for a few hours in the afternoon. I am teaching grammar in the morning and then have a gap until 4pm. :-( Hasn't happened before and probably be back to normal next month, but I am trying to use my time wisely. Studying my Spanish bookstudy material for tonight, and doing some Chinese lessons too. Might as well make the most of it. :-)

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great week. If your dog can do more advanced tricks than the one in the video...or my brilliant Harvey's carrot pulling trick then let me know for sure. Sadly I had to leave Pearl out of this one - her best trick is just loving me. Other than that just, just having her tongue hangout, and bark at the fridge is what she is best at.

love to all,
d :-)

Baby Kroes on The Way!

Well Tyler and Janelle's baby is almost here. Went into labour last night so any time so the little one should be making its appearance. Mom and Dad are out there ready to make phone calls once he/she gets here. :-)

This was a great long weekend. First, Saturday, I attended the Special Assembly Day again. It was quite a bit bigger than the one I visited a few weeks ago - 700 people - so had to sit in the cafeteria. The speaker was Clayton Hansen. He was a really good speaker and I noticed he focused on Canadian experiences. That was unique because even though it is nice to know what is going on around the world - it is also nice to hear what is happening right here in Canada too. I really liked a couple points he made. One being that even though the governments of even the super power nations right now do have the best of intentions, but the reason they can't succeed is because brings in legislation to improve government laws and policies to improve life for people - the governments can't legislate peoples morals and ethics...and that is why life is deteriorating world-wide. Lots of food for thought.

Yesterday, as a massive Kingdom Hall work bee. We had a fantastic turnout of about 75% of the congregation. My raking partner was Lauren. She is studying French. And I am studying Spanish, and doing my Chinese lessons too. The company where I am studying my Spanish also gave me free Chinese lessons, so I thought "why not??" There are both language groups in the territory so why not try to learn both. Anyway, it was great that Lauren and I could work together because she was able teach me French words and phrases and I could teach her Spanish and Chinese ones. So excellent morning there, and then hung around the house doing stuff in the afternoon. And now TODAY...the actual holiday I have a laundry list of things i want to get done around here. Starting by curling this mop of hair on top of my head and then going to put all my summer stuff into storage to make room for all my over-sized winter clothing. Lots to do!

Okay, everyone have a wonderful day yourselves. Harvey and Pearl need a good scratch on the head so gotta run and get than done with too. :-) ....oh ya and that cute little cuz of theirs Otto too.

Love to all,
d :-)

Okay, I added Some Music

Hey hi again. :-)

As you will hear I added some background music. Thought it would be kind of nice as I was reading...or writing. But if you are reading this and you are thinking "oh my goodness, she is trying to drive me insane with this stuff!" ...don't want to be responsible for anyone's demise...so just scroll to the bottom of the page and there is an on/off button, and and volume button. Okay, happy listening!

Love again!
d :-)

Fabulous Special Assembly Day

Hey hi everyone, :-)

Can't believe it is already October 1st. However, this year is off to a great start. Last week Mom and Dad slipped off to a Saturday assembly day, and were telling me how great it was so I decided to take it in the next day...just EXCELLENT. A superb program. One of those assembly days where the information is presented is such a good way with really fitting interviews so that a person feels motivated to keep on going - or do more. :-) Warren Schufeldt was the visiting speaker. Over the years him and Al Hamacher have been my favorite speakers because both can and could, paint really vivid pictures with words. In the closing talk he was talking about living in a spiritual paradise as we do now, and drawing the parallel with residing in Yellow Stone. However, as much as deers love living in a protected paradise their are some that wander unintentionally, or intentionally, outside the park sometimes and end up with their head being a trophy on someone's wall.

Work has been coming together nicely. I am loving working with older students. They know that it affects their career and future studies so they are very serious and listen acutely. Also, I have a student from Saudi Arabia that I am learning a lot from about life there. It is even more of a flip culture than even Asia. Really gives good insight though too into some things mentioned in the Bible. Makes me think ahhhhh.....that makes sense now.

Harvey and Pearl are doing awesome. Getting lots of exercise. Pearl seems to suck up to my dad a lot. Makes me wonder if he drops crumbs on his chest or something. :-/ I really have to say their health is still doing great and I can't believe they have only been to the vet only once since leaving Korea. So hopefully they'll continue to be healthy little rug rats. :-)

Well, the next week should be good. I have my own Special Assembly Day next Saturday, so I will get to hear it all again - how good is that! Then Sunday a work bee. Weather is getting colder all the time. Some people try to say that it is still warm, but when you ride a motorcycle YOU KNOW when it is starting get cooler. :-/

Okay, will run. Have a wonderful week. Love to all,

d :-)