Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.... and I feel sad - because the new addition took out all the comments - though I knew that would happen. (I changed my comment driver this morning when I got a nasty one and found I couldn't delete it with blogger.)

bottom of my resumé

As I mentioned last week, I’m doing a series of posts (Mondays) on work - looking over some of the jobs I’ve had on the way to where I am today (intro to the series is here).

My first job was back in high school as a piano teacher. I say that and pinch myself - because I haven’t played the piano with any seriousness in years. But back in Grade 9, when I was in my musical heyday I got up around six every morning to practice scales, arpeggios, four-note chords, and pieces till they flowed like oil from my hands.

All the hours of practice were fueled by dreams of becoming a professional musician. Trouble was, classical piano training put you on the road to not a lot of options. Besides playing for pleasure - which was hardly a career direction – you could teach, do accompaniment (which I never considered since I was horrible at sight-reading) or become a concert pianist. I set my sights on the latter.

The hard work paid off. When I took my Grade IX Royal Conservatory piano exam I passed with First Class Honors. And my work paid off in another area as well. The fall I began Grade 10 someone who was organizing music lessons for the small town where I grew up had the idea of employing some of us kids. And so I was offered the job of giving piano lessons to beginners on Saturday mornings.

The novelty of being a piano teacher lasted a few weeks and then reality set in. There was not much glamour in spending half-hour segments with little kids who’d rather be playing outside. I found drilling lines and spaces, listening to stumbling renditions of "London Bridge," and nagging about details like following fingering and counting out the rhythm just plain boring.

My dreams of starring on the concert stage were also taking a beating. As I settled in to high school in town, the thought of spending hours alone each day at the piano was suddenly no longer as important as spending time with friends. And it’s hard to be realistic about being a piano performer when your hands respond to nervousness by trembling, and you find playing in front of an audience more of a traumatic ordeal than a pleasure.

As the realization grew that I would never make it as a professional musician and certainly didn’t want to be a piano teacher, my dedication to music waned. But the creative energy I'd channeled into music had begun to find another outlet. I had begun to write. In fact I’d even saved enough money from teaching those lessons to buy a little typewriter!

And how did I use that typewriter? I joined a kids’ writing club (Young Co-Operators Club) sponsored by The Western Producer - and experienced my first taste of publication, under the pseudonym of "Nell" (a name which, by the way, I still use in some of the writing forums of which I’m a member).

kingdom paradox

from A. W. Tozer:

The Christian believes that in Christ he has died, yet he is more alive than ever before and he fully expects to live forever....Like the nighthawk, which in the air is the essence of grace and beauty but on the ground is awkward and ugly, so the Christian appears at his best in the heavenly places, but does not fit well into the ways of the very society into which he was born....

That he may be safe he puts himself in jeopardy; he loses his life to save it and is in danger of losing it if he attempts to preserve it. He goes down to get up. If he refuses to go down he is already down, but when he starts down he is on his way up.

He is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strong. Though poor he has the power to make others rich, but when he becomes rich his ability to enrich others vanishes. He has most after he has given most away and has least when he possesses most.

He may be and often is highest when he feels lowest and most sinless when he is most conscious of sin. He is wisest when he knows that he knows not and knows least when he has acquired the greatest amount of knowledge. He sometimes does most by doing nothing and goes furthest when standing still. In heaviness he manages to rejoice and keeps his heart glad even in sorrow.

Excerpt from That Incredible Christian by A. W. Tozer, Christian Publications Inc., © 1964

********

Kingdom Waltz

First is last
Small is great
Give to get
Learn to wait

Proud is low
Humble high
God attends
Mourner’s cry

Take the pain
Turn the cheek
Bless the poor
Help the weak

Serve unsung
Always pray
Fast unseen
Joy each day

Love, not hate
All forgive
Win the crown
Die to live

God the light
Christ we’ll meet
Crowns will cast
At His feet.

© 2004 - V. Nesdoly

carrot cake

This carrot cake recipe is from one of those community project cookbooks - Favorite Recipes - Senior Citizens Organization, Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan. The name beside it is Mrs. Vera Bornyk. I got the book from Baba, Ernie's grandmother.

Carrot Cake

1½ cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 eggs
3 cups grated carrots
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup coconut
1 cup walnuts
2 tsp. cinnamon
(cherries or mixed fruit may be added)

Beat sugar with oil, add carrots. Beat in one egg at a time. Add dry ingredients, then add coconut and walnuts.

Pour into 13 x 9 inch or Bundt pan.

Bake at 350 until done (toothpick inserted in thickest part comes out clean – 45-60 minutes, if in Bundt pan, it may take a little longer).


Cream Cheese Icing

1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese - at room temperature
2 - 3 cups sifted icing sugar.
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix and spread on cooled cake.

party postmortem

I invited some friends over to share Ernie’s birthday cake with us last night. The party was a great success (although I’m really glad I didn’t try to keep it a surprise from the birthday boy)!

First everyone got acquainted by telling how they’d met Ernie (I had invited friends from various segments of his life – his highschool buddy, a friend from when he was single, his long-time prayer partner, our next-door neighbors and new friends from our cell group - though sadly his high school buddy never showed up).

Next Marilyn (wife of Joe, the friend from bachelor days), who had brought her guitar and nimble fingers, trotted out her Newfoundland repertoire - "Aunt Martha’s Sheep" "The Unicorn Song, " "Alouette" - sung in Russian style and a great hit because she is such a natural entertainer. Then the twelve of us joined in by picking our favorites from a sheet of camp songs and adding percussion with a bagful of noisemakers – lots of rattley seedpod-looking thingys, maracas, a tambourine, and a kids’ set of cymbals which, thankfully, no one used! Randy (the prayer partner) and Val had brought along grandkids whom they were babysitting (2 and 6 years). They sure added to the fun. Little Jayden, the 2-year-old, helped later by gathering all the disposable punch glasses for the garbage. When there was a little punch left in one, it was bottoms up into his own mouth!

We ended our singalong with "Happy Birthday" and generous helpings of carrot cake and ice-cream, and a nice buzz of conversation throughout the house.

When I was telling everyone of the night Sonia got engaged, Pam from next door burst out, Oh, that’s what that was! She’d seen, from her kitchen window, Matt’s friends set up the gazebo tent and white twinkle lights in the park where Matt later popped the question. At one point she’d even wondered whether she should call the cops. (I’m glad she didn’t see Matt’s friend hop over our back fence in the process - or she would have for sure!)

So, another birthday celebrated. I always find it’s worth all the preparation (and stress – for though I love having a houseful of people, my introverted side puts up a lot of arguments why this is not a good idea...) .

my hon...

A day to celebrate Ernie...

- chivalry lives on in him. When I was just getting to know him, I was impressed by the way he made sure I was still following his car in traffic on the way to a friend’s house, pulling over to wait if I got stopped by a red light. He still opens doors and pulls out my chair - if I remember to let him.

- he has certainly kept his side of the bargain to cherish 'in sickness and in health’? I especially appreciated his loyalty and patience during a couple of difficult pregnancies.

- with him I laugh a lot. He has a droll sense of humor that comes out in all kinds of surprising places.

- he’s a man of God - loves the Lord and wakes up with a song on his heart practically every morning. He has a booming opera-like voice to go along with it. He reins himself in most times - but I love it when in summer, I happen to hear his booming baritone, above the sound of the lawnmower.

- he is open-handed and generous. When I complain I have nothing to wear, it’s "Go buy yourself something." I guess that’s pretty safe, because he knows I don’t like to shop.

- he knows the value of the leisurely break. Each day (when it isn't raining - or snowing) we drive to one of about six nearby walking trails for a noon-hour walk.

- not defined by gender stereotypes, since he took early retirement last year he (get this) cooks the meals, does the grocery shopping and the laundry (while I do my medical typing and write). It doesn’t get much better than this.

But I’m cooking tonight - because today is his birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERNIE!

small family, big challenge

Ernie and I took the afternoon off yesterday to be with my niece Bonnie, her husband Duane and baby Adele. They’ve spent the last few days at Children’s Hospital, having Adele’s eyes checked. You see, at 4½ months it’s obvious she’s not seeing. She does respond to light a little, but her eyes don’t track or focus.

What a lovely little family they are - both parents so good with their daughter and taking everything in stride, baby sometimes crying, yes, but then falling asleep with her fingers in her mouth, a picture of sweet contentment. They got a diagnosis on this visit, and I think that helps. Now they have some idea of what they’re facing, and can read books and check the internet for information.

We filled in the five plus hours before their flight to Fort St. John with a trip to Ikea, a drawn out coffee at The Pantry, a drive along the beach and finally dropped them at the south terminal with hugs and lots of time to spare.

These kids face a huge challenge in the days ahead. But I know they’ll be okay. Because in addition to their naturally optimistic outlook, they have a strong faith in God.

Canada - a little tongue in cheek

On my drive back from picking up my work yesterday morning, I caught Mike McCardell on CKNW, doing a parody of a Johnny Carson take on Canada.

I love stuff like that and this piece was sly and clever. In a fit of unaccustomed cheek, I emailed Mike (yes, that Mike McCardell - the one that does the human interest spot on the 6 o’clock news over at Global every night) to see if he had the piece, would send it to me and if so (yikes, I can’t believe I asked this) would he give me permission to put it on my blog. He graciously said yes. Here it is. Thanks so much Mike!

CARSON'S CANADA

Can you imagine if Johnny Carson ever did his monologue about Canada... There is a country with a state of mind that is like a mind after it’s had a few martinis, Sez Johnny while swinging his imaginary golf club: Ok, so imagine you kill someone in Canada. You go to jail for six months, with time off for good behavior, which means you didn’t kill anyone else in jail, or if you did kill them you didn’t do it with prohibited weapons.

Now what exactly is a prohibited weapon? Well, that is being worked out by the government in a program that cost more than it would cost to run an army. So they got rid of the army.

And replaced it by a gun registry program which is trying to get people to register guns in a Country famous for not having guns. The gun registry program has replaced welfare as the largest expense by the government. Which means more Canadians are paying taxes to register guns that they don’t have in Canada than there are Canadians who are Not paying taxes after making a living washing windshields on the street, which is the second largest growth industry in the country after farming.

They are bright, these Canadians, says Johnny. Since winters are very long they have learned how to farm under light bulbs, in their basements.

And you don’t have to worry about cooking their farm products. They smoke it, such a pure and simple method.

And there is socialized medicine. No one pays for medical treatment up there, sez Johnny. The only problem is they haven’t found a cure for a local affliction called the waiting list, which kills more Canadians than cancer or heart disease.

And the funniest thing about all this, says Johnny, is …I got this not from my writers, but from the newspapers.

© 2005 by Mike McCardell

Women4God Blogs

Catez at Allthings2all has set up Women4GodBlogs. I'm in!

Raison d'etre, rationale and rules here

Instructions for joining here.

o recalcitrant computer

Fellow blogger Vicki at Windows to My Soul has almost had it with her computer. I post this bit of doggerel today for her and all of us who have a love-hate relationship with technology.

O RECALCITRANT COMPUTER

O recalcitrant computer
first you need a double booter
then the screen turns black and blue
only tattlers getting through:
"Nasty program -- it's a fact --
has performed illegal act
and at once will be shut down."
Do you wonder that I frown?

Turn the fool thing on again
and I get the message screen
"Last turned off improperly:
do it right -- you won't see me!"
Love to leave you (now don't smirk
when I need you for my work)
need you more than you need me;
techno co-dependency.

V.Nesdoly 2004

poetry carnival

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The first Poetry Carnival is up at Philsophical Poetry!

CROCUSES!

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My crocuses are blooming! Four shy mauve blooms, and lots of buds. Who would believe it - last week snow, this week flowers.

Now if only I had a digital camera...

you might be interested in...

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• Susan from It’s a Beautiful Day gives a moving account of her recent trip home to China after eight years away. (January 21 posting - "I'm Back")
  

• "Rape is one of the hardest of abortion cases. But my wife is not a tragic victim. She is the happy mother of four children," writes Robert Hart in his introduction to "Her Mother’s Glory." (Thanks to Amanda at Wittingshire for the heads up on this.)
  

• Are bloggers about to be regulated? Joel at Proud to Be Canadian alerts us to the possibility. (‘Us’ being used loosely. Apolitical flippery fish blogs like this one don’t have much to worry about I’m sure!).
  

do i love my job?

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Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford wound up an interviewer recently by stating he loved his job as a coach, and wasn’t that one of the best things in life - to work at something you loved.

I’ve thought a lot about that in the intervening weeks. When I ask myself, how do I feel about my job, I can say the same thing: I love what I do - at least most of it, most of the time. To shore up my confidence that I’ve made the right career choices, and for those times I feel ambivalent I’ve decided to do a little back-tracking to examine how I come to be in the particular place I am. In the next few Mondays, then, I’m going to do some blogitating on work, some of the jobs I’ve had, how they suited me or didn’t, and what I’ve learned about myself, life and God’s leading along the way.

In 1990 as a parent of a kindergartner and preschooler, I came across the book Discovering Your Child’s Design (now out of print) by Ralph Mattson and Thom Black. The jacket notes promised this book would help me:
- See my child from a different perspective
- Observe repeated themes in my child’s actions
- Record and interpret significant behavior
- Identify the distinct qualities of each of my children
- Encourage each child to make the most of the gifts God has given him or her.

I purchased the book, read it, and bought into its premise that a parent’s responsibility was to discover each child’s unique design in order to help them experience social and school success and eventually guide them to a fulfilling career. Shortly I began what the authors suggested and set up a design journal for my two youngsters.

My success at keeping this journal was short-lived. I have about two or three entries for both of them and then silence. However, even though I wasn’t faithful in writing down what I observed, through the years I’ve been on the lookout for some of the things this book talked about. It made watchful for themes and consistencies in my kids’ behaviors. It helped me to see that how they interacted socially was a key to their personalities. It alerted me to the fact that each of them had individual learning styles.

Now that both of them are young adults, I’m not sure how much difference my observations made in my ability to steer either of them onto a career path. They seem to be doing that on their own without my helpful suggestions – thank you very much!

The other day as I was thinking about my own career path this book came to mind again, not as a tool to help my kids but as a way to help me sort out and understand my own design, albeit retrospectively. Yesterday I reread a big chunk of it and I realized I could use it as a lens through which to view my journey through work. I’ll be attempting to see where my life has been true to various themes, patterns and consistencies. I am confident that I will come away from this process more sure than ever that today I am in the right place - a place sympathetic to the way I was designed. In areas where I find my life is incongruent, perhaps I can still course-correct.

As you journey with me, why don't you examine the work milestones in your own life. Who knows what we will discover?

family reunion

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Family Reunion

"Now he (Joseph) left the room and found a place where he could weep." Gen. 42:24

Those rugged Semite robes, that tangled hair,
how this one walks, another's face, those eyes...
They near, the smell of Canaan fills the air.
Ten sheaves bow down - a wondrous, cruel surprise.
"Your servants, twelve, are brothers, sons of one,
the youngest with our father, one is not."
Ha, that one is! My peace with past hard won,
I'll not go back. "To jail. You're spies and caught!
In Rachel's tongue one says, "It was that deed.
It's punishment for how we treated him;
He cried and begged for help, we paid no heed,
Now vengeance serves her cup filled to the brim."
What's this -- they're changed? Oh God, I healed that pain
Now it floods back, wounds open, bleed again.


Copyright©2002 by Violet Nesdoly

adopted from the book bin

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Yesterday while grocery shopping at Superstore, I visited one of the cheap book bins. I think of these untidy piles of shopworn books as orphanages. They are the last chance for an authors’ brain child to attract a home before being bundled up and sent.... who knows where!

I don’t usually browse long. The odd jumble of steamy romance, outdated technical and cliche kid board books don’t hold much appeal. But yesterday, sitting right near the top, an attractive hard-cover volume caught my attention.

I picked it up, leafed through and was captured by the quality paper, attractive layout, and the abundance of full-color Victorian illustrations - from photos of greeting cards to reproductions of paintings. This was a veritable feast for the eyes. On top of that, its subtitle, Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort and Joy suggested to me I might be able justify buying it as research for the children’s writing I do. Finally, I flipped it over to look at the price. Would you believe, this 255-page hardback book with a suggested retail of $44.50 (Can) could be mine for $5.95?

So I am now the proud owner of Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions. I’m not crazy about the somewhat affected and Victorian voice of the writing with its patronizing tone and liberal use of "dear Reader" (though I concede, she'd have to do this in order to sustain the little conceit she has set up). But it’s a beautiful book otherwise, dispensing year-round activity suggestions for kids and families with common sense, a few recipes ("Mrs. Sharp’s Irish Soda Bread" and "Mrs. Sharp’s Hot Cross Buns" among others), and poems by Katharine Pyle.

Gather around kiddos, here’s one for today:

JANUARY.

The shrill wind blew about the house
And through the pines all night:
The snowflakes whirled across the fields
And hid the fence from sight.

By dawn the drifts had blown so deep
No horse nor sleigh could go:
The dog-house and the chicken-coops
Were buried in the snow.

There was no thought of school that day;
We worked with shovels all,
And cleared a path from house to barn;
The snow was like a wall.

I wished our house was covered up,
Like that one in the book
My Grandma showed to me one day
Beside the chimney-nook.

The story said the chimney-pot
Just showed above the snow,
And all day long the lamps were lit
Down in the house below.

Katharine Pyle 1863-1938

spicy lentil meatball soup

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There’s nothing like a big, fragrant pot of soup to take the chill off a winter evening. This lentil soup recipe is one I modified from the basic recipe found in the More-With-Less cookbook. The spicy meatballs give it a Middle Eastern flavor.

SPICY LENTIL MEATBALL SOUP

½ lb. (1½ cups) raw lentils
(rinse in colander under running water before cooking)
6 cups water

Cook lentils 30 minutes or until tender

While lentils are cooking prepare meatballs:

1 egg
1 pound ground beef
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. garlic powder (or 1 fresh garlic - pressed through garlic press).
¼ tsp. pepper

In large bowl mix all ingredients.
Shape into 1-inch balls.
Heat medium no-stick skillet and cook meatballs until brown

Add to cooked lentils (and water):

4 carrots, chopped or sliced
½ cup sliced green onions
cooked meatballs
1 clove garlic, crushed
1½ cup tomato juice
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. dried oregano

Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer just until carrots are tender.
Check seasonings and serve (with buttered whole wheat bread - yum!)

round and about

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More invitations to polish a post and submit. Adrian Warnock's U.K. Evangelical Blog has announced a new blogger award, the "warnie".

Andrew is hosting a Poetry Carnival at Philosophical Poetry on January 24th.

After officially declaring January Robbie Burns month on her blog, Rebecca Writes has not let us down. Posted so far:

• A Grace After Dinner
• To A Louse
• A Red Red Rose
• A Grace Before Dinner
• O Thou Dread Power
• The Book-Worms
• The First Six Verses of the Ninetieth Psalm

Stay tuned. I’m sure she has more Burns in the pantry.

All the articles I’ve read lately on blogging have me wondering what have I got myself into, and do I have the committment, the drive, the time? (After three months of being in the blog world, I realize one could make a career of reading blogs, let alone writing one!) Joe Zimmerman at letters from babylon posts thoughtful reflections on blogging and priorities in "Influence Small and Great."

pickings from the email grapevine

Subject: Hospital charts

Actual writings from hospital charts:

1. The patient refused autopsy.

2. The patient has no previous history of suicides.

3. Patient has left white blood cells at another hospital.

4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.

5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.

6. On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it disappeared.

7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.

8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.

9. Discharge status: Alive but without my permission.

10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert but forgetful.

11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.

12. She is numb from her toes down.

13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.

14. The skin was moist and dry.

15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.

16. Patient was alert and unresponsive.

17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.

18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life, until she got a divorce.

19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy.

20. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.

21. Skin: somewhat pale but present.

22. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities

(Thanks to my very funny friend Jean - who is never stingy with a good laugh.)

ooops!

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Late one afternoon last summer we got a phone call from our son Ben.

"I’m in the hospital." (He was supposed to be at work!) "I got my foot with the nail gun." His words were a little slurred but he sounded happy. "They just got it out. I’m feelin’ pretty high."

It turns out he had indeed nailed his shoe to his foot with his nail gun and they’d had to remove it under anesthetic.

That is nothing, though, compared to what happened to Patrick Lawler while at work at a ski resort in Breckinridge, Colorado on January 6th.

The tool sent a nail into a piece of wood nearby, but Lawler didn't realize a second nail had shot through his mouth, said his sister, Lisa Metcalse.

Following the accident, Lawler had what he thought was a minor toothache and blurry vision. On Wednesday, after painkillers and ice didn't ease the pain, he went to a dental office where his wife, Katerina, works.

"We all are friends, so I thought the (dentists) were joking . . . then the doctor came out and said `There's really a nail,' " Katerina Lawler said. "Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to help the swelling."

Read the rest of the story here.

Just another example of real life giving the urban legend a run for its money!