S-S-S-S-SMOKIN'!!!!!!!

Hot, that is. We're having a heat wave ("...a tropical heat wave...") here and we're so obviously not used to it. We don't have air conditioning because, in general, we only need it for 2-4 weeks each summer. (I love our mild climate!!!!) And what's the point spending a bunch of money for something we don't really NEED.

Anyways, we're going to look at window air conditioning units this morning...the house cooled down to a toasty 27 degrees Celsius last night (that's 81 F) and we did not sleep well.

Soggy day...

So, it's been raining most of the day. Nice of it to wait until after we went to the "veggie-store" this morning. It's such a change from the weather we have been having this summer. We've had weeks of hot and dry. The rain is good for the grass and trees and might even help out the water reservoirs a bit. They're still in the 'normal' range, but we're a little twitchy about the water levels after the summer of 2004 when the levels were very low (okay, really, I'm just a geek and want to know where the level is at). The rain is also good for dampening the forests a bit.

I have yummy chilli simmering on the stove and the monkey-children are playing nice (for now). Guess I'll set the table and then sit down and put my feet up until TKHubband gets home. :)

Closing in on 500 visits

I have a sitemeter on my site that tells me how many people have visited. We're closing in on 500, probably by the end of the week. That's pretty amazing for me because I haven't really been posting much for quite a while.

My intent with this blog was to keep family and friends updated with what's been going on here. However, more people that aren't related to me read this than people that are. Hmmm, maybe those who know me don't want to know more? ;) Just kidding. I'm also not very good at self-promotion. I don't want to nag people to visit my site, especially when I haven't updated it!

Anyways, I'm going to change my site meter settings to show the number of visits instead of being just the logo. At the beginning, I thought it looked funny when it said "27 visits". :)

Happy Canada Day!

July 1. The day we celebrate our country, and how truly blessed we are to live in it.

Just last night I was chatting with some friends of ours about how good we have it here and how there are many people who are completely oblivious to how spoiled we are.

I haven't travelled a lot, but I went to Croatia twice on short term missions trips not long after the Balkan war. My world view changed on those trips. People are the same everywhere. God chose to put me in Canada, but I could have grown up in Croatia instead. What different experiences I would have had by this point in my life.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of tanks and guns and explosions, and grabbing a couple of things and running out your back door and running for your life. Praying that you and your family will survive.

Imagine not being able to take your children to the playground because they haven't swept it for land mines yet, and just last week, a child from down the street lost both their legs from stepping on a land mine in a field.

Imagine your spouse leaving and taking your child because suddenly, their cultural identity put them on the opposite side of the war from you.

-- I just can't imagine that happening here.

Am I just sheltered? Have I lived a fairytale life where those kinds of things just don't happen? I guess so. I grew up in Canada.

Just look around. Look at the shopping malls and the grocery stores and the many, many nice vehicles driving around. Look at all the things we take for granted: street lights that work; wide roads with smooth pavement; vast forests, huge mountains, many rivers with plenty of wildlife (have you looked at a map of Canada and noticed how much is wilderness?); phones that work all the time; fresh clean water from our taps; freedom to meet together and worship the God who created us. There are so many things that we consider 'normal', that simply aren't normal for a great number of people in this world.

No, I'm not saying Canada's perfect. There are many things wrong with our country as with all places. But, today, on Canada Day, we should be thinking of all that's good and strong and right about our country. We should put away the complaining and whining and count our many blessings. After all, if you don't like it here, there are plenty of other places that will take you.

And many, many people who want to be here.