J9's Property

Yay!!

I never thought I'd be happy about having my house turned into a construction zone, but when you've spent months (years, even!) waiting to have your kitchen reno'd, it's a very exciting thing! What makes it bear-able, is that we have a separate apartment in our basement, which is currently not rented out -- I therefore still have a fully functioning kitchen while the upstairs one is ripped apart!

Things are (finally!) moving along, everything is outa there (some of it is already in the dump!), and the new cabinets have been ordered. Of course, the main floor of the house is covered in plaster dust, but I can live with that...it's only temporary.

We're still seriously behind schedule -- it looks like we won't be able to list the house until late summer, maybe even September. When you consider we had originally planned to move a year ago, it's very frustrating...but I'm staying positive by looking at the fact that the things that need to get done are finally getting done! As long as we can maintain the momentum, I'll be happy. The trick is not losing steam before we get to the end of the track...

...but dealing with it. One of these days, I'll learn that I can't always be in control, and things will all work out the way they're supposed to.

Like I said, I must have prayed for patience or something....

I'm on my own right now, another band widow weekend. The CSB is in Montreal this weekend, it will be one of the last times that the march "Montreal Citadel" will be played in Montreal Citadel! It's very special for the CSB, because that march is their "March march" - ie. the march they play while on the march in various parts of the world. (and it's not the same, without Scott Gross taking the one repeat down the octave!)

So, in the mean time, I'm getting some much-needed spring cleaning done, both inside and outside. Helps with the frustration level, when I can at least get some things done and at least pretend that we're moving forward...(sorry, there I go again)....

(ok, I gotta stop now)

Things are not going my way.

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels, unable to go forward. I know what I want to do, and where I want to go, but it feels like there's some kind of barrier between me and my goals. It's like one of those mysterious energy fields out of Star Trek - you can't see it, but it holds you back, and the more energy you put into getting through it, the more energy you waste, and you get no-where.

I must have prayed for patience somewhere along the line -- that's the only explanation I can come up with. Everything keeps getting delayed more and more and more, and I'm not sure how much more of it I can take! Part of me wants to say "@#$@# it!" and give up, but you know me -- I'm much too stubborn for that. I just keep banging my head against the wall. (mainly because I can't bang other people's heads against the wall)

Sorry for the yucky blog. I'm just very miserable right now.

I need chocolate....

OK, so I just looked at my blog...and realised, it's almost the end of the month, and I've only posted twice! And here, I'm the one who checks other people's blogs, and gets impatient if someone doesn't post every-other-day!

Hmmm. Guess maybe I should blog a little more often?...

The problem is, though, there are many days when I sit here, and just can't think of anything to say. Anyone who knows me, will tell you I'm a very quiet person - I don't often have a whole lot to say, unless you get me onto a certain topic. Other than that, I usually let other people do the talking.

But, in the interest of not boring people to death, and therefore encouraging them to NOT check my blog, I hereby resolve to blog more often...even if it's just to say, I have nothing to say!

And to be honest, I really don't have a lot to say today, other than to apologise for not being a regular blogger, and to say I'm going to write more often.

See, this is what happens when I have nothing to say: I will find 15 ways to say nothing over and over and over......

OK, I'm even starting to annoy myself....

Yes, the Marked By Love recording is now available!!

You can get them from any Marked By Love member (including myself and my hubby!) for $20.00 each. All proceeds will be going to support the Ethembeni Babies Home in South Africa - you can get more details on the website. There is also a link there to the Marked By Love MySpace page, where you can listen to a snippet or 2 of the music. (for those of you who like to sample the wares before you buy!)

We had a lot of fun recording this project, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do!

I've been following, with some interest, the stories regarding a certain sculpture in chocolate. You've probably heard about it - the image of Christ, hanging on an invisible cross, made out of pure milk chocolate. You've also probably heard about all the hoop-la it's caused, and the subsequent cancellation of the exhibit.

The Christian leaders who protested (and, surprisingly enough, were heard), weren't so concerned about the fact that it was an image of Jesus Christ made in chocolate; it was the fact that he was shown stark naked. (and anatomically correct)

Yeah, I wouldn't want to see my Lord and Saviour portrayed that way, either.

But, it reminded me of something I read long ago, something that put a whole different perspective on Good Friday for me. I once read a book called "The Hiding Place", by Corrie TenBoom. For those of you who have never heard of her, Corrie was a Christian lady, who hid Jews in her home during the nazi occupation of Holland. She was eventually found out, and sent to a concentration camp for being a conspirator. Corrie survived the ordeal, and later wrote about it.

I remember one scene she described, as she and her sister (both of whom were in their 50's by this time) were waiting in line at intake at the concentration camp, stark naked in a room full of other women prisoners and prison guards. In the middle of all that humiliation, Corrie leaned ahead to her sister, and whispered, "Betsie, they took His clothes, too!"

You see, crucifixion (as horrible as it was) wasn't just about physical torture and death. It was also all about public humiliation. It says in the Bible, "When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. 'Let's not tear it,' they said to one another. 'Let's decide by lot who will get it.'" (John 19:23-24) Did you see it? They took everything, including his undergarment. He was hanging there, naked, for all the world to see.

When you see crucifixes and artistic depictions of the crucifixion, they always portray Jesus with at least a loincloth. Which I think is correct, in that one day of that kind of humiliation is more than enough for any man, let alone God. We don't need to see it. But just remember, that's not actually how it happened. There was no loincloth, no hiding, no covering Himself.

He endured that kind of pain and humiliation for us. For you. For me.

Think about it....

Yeah, I guess it's been a while....

No, I haven't abandoned my blogs, I've just been rather caught up in goings-on around here...between practicing my fingers off for various Easter weekend gigs, and the insanity that's been work lately....

As for work, in the space of 3 months, we've lost 5 people from our unit. That means 5 caseloads to be absorbed by the rest of us, some of whom (including yours truly) are already at the maximum load you'd want to be at. Yee-ha. We've had 3 people quit (2 had new jobs to go to, the 3rd we don't know....), one person got promoted (yay!), and one person got fired. To top it all off, we were informed today that the unit manager is being moved to another unit, so we'll be getting a new manager.....sometime.....

Yikes!

As for Easter weekend gigs, I wanted to tell you all about a concert we'll be participating in on Easter Saturday (April 7th) at 7pm. It's the annual Impact Brass Anniversary concert. (for those of you who are confused, Impact Brass is the group formerly known as the Ontario South Divisional Youth Band) A group that Doug and I play with, Marked By Love, is the special guest group for the evening. If you haven't heard of us yet, check us out at markedbylove.com! We'll be performing music from our new CD, (which will hopefully be available that night!), as well as a brand new song, written especially by my friend, Donna Harris, for the occasion. If you're the type that likes to sample the wares prior to purchase, go to our MySpace site, where you can hear samples of the music we'll be playing.

If you'd like to come, the concert is at Mountain Citadel in Hamilton (at the corner of Stone Church Road and Upper Gage Ave), and I believe tickets are $10.00 at the door. We'd love to see you there!!!

If you're more the Toronto type, and don't feel like going to Hamilton, you can check out the North York Temple Good Friday concert. It's at the corps (25 Centre Ave, near Yonge and Steeles) on Good Friday evening, I believe it starts at 7:30, and I think the tickets are $5.00. The concert will feature the North York Temple musical sections, including the band, songsters, junior band, and singing company.

Any wonder I haven't had time to blog lately!!! Well, if you're able to make it to either of the concerts, maybe we can be old-fashioned, and catch up in person!