A New Week!

Catholic: Had a good discussion with my father in law last night about the Catholic church of today and the Catholic and Anglican churches he was used to growing up in the 1950's. Of course belief and tradition does not change but I explained to him that there is a lot more education on grace, evangelism, accountability and a personal relationship with Jesus and the Bible nowadays and it seems that the notion of Catholic guilt, etc, is not overbearing anymore.
This was a very good speaking opportunity as it gave me the ability to explain to a very Protestant, evangelical believer what the Catholic church is all about and my reasons for being there and finding God there. Furthermore, it gave him the opportunity to explain to me his concerns about the Catholic church and the feeling he has about people there not having a personal relationship with Jesus (we do.)

Politics: What a better day than today to write a blog segment on politics? Today, Mr. Stephen Harper became the 22nd Prime Minister of this awesome country. It was wonderful to watch him be sworn in. I really liked seeing Mr. Harper's family there with him- his wife, their cute little girl and their son in his bright blue sweater. They, of course, looked so proud. I also liked that he brought his family Bible to be sworn in on (as did, it seems, some of his Cabinet ministers.) Mr. Harper is someone who really represents this country- a hard working, young, family man, a man of faith.
I was also very excited to see our MP Chuck Strahl enter Rideau Hall and then be announced as the new Minister of Agriculture! As he represents us here in Chilliwack, a large farming area, I'm sure he will have some good insight for his ministry.

Art: http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/home.cfm
I am very interested to see the upcoming exhibition by local architect Arthur Erickson and the Raven Travelling exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I have not been to the VAG in a while and am also hoping to catch the Brian Jungen exhibit before it leaves in April. I just read that student membership is only $30 and has a lot of benefits, so I think I'll go that route and then be able to visit often (after school even?) and for the noon hour concert series, hopefully, once I start at VCC.
Has anybody seen the Brian Jungen exhibit? If so, do you have anything to say about it?

Books/Music/Media: *it's easier to combine this section*
http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/wiw/ I was just reading about Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Woman In White." Sadly, currently only showing in New York and London but hopefully it will make it's way to Vancouver. I'm a big ALW fan and have now seen Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and Cats. I've also been to see Showboat. If you haven't seen an ALW musical I highly recommend it!
Last night Josh and I watched The Skeleton Key starring Kate Hudson. I thought it was excellent! Very suspenseful and creepy, even to us horror fans. It really brought to light the practice of Voodoo/Hoodoo/Sataria type beliefs in areas like New Orleans, and I won't spoil it too much for those who haven't yet rented it, but I liked that the movie did not have a happy ending.
Current reading list is still as stands: The Bible and catechism, Canadian History for Dummies and The Billings Method book.

School/Work:
I'm coming up with some ideas at the moment for holding Stampin' Up workshops and classes in my area. I am excited to teach stamping to others! I've also got some advertising to do to drum up some new business and 3 February workshops to plan for.
Tonight I'm tiling in Abbotsford again, in the house that hangs over the cliff on stilts! Luckily the weather is gorgeous and sunny today and not stormy and windy, so it shouldn't be as creepy as last time.

Life:
Last night I was blessed with the opportunity to spend some time chatting online with a very special old friend, Travis, who lives in Victoria. We have known each other for 7 years and although we lost touch for a while we never really lost each other's friendship. We had a great chat about life and I was pleased to find out that Travis has a job he enjoys, that his family is doing alright, that he is living in a beautiful area of Victoria and that he has a wife he is crazy about. She sounds quite lovely! Travis, if you're reading this, Al and I would love to get together with you and Dre next time we are on the island. Keep in touch.
This morning I took Oogie Boogie to the vet for his vaccinations, and he acted like a complete jerk. He wriggled around so much, tried to be very dominant, refuses to listen to me and even scratched Dr. Banyard quite badly. Consequently, he will be subjected to some obedience training classes and opportunities with the vet, and I will be taking more steps at home to ensure that he sees both Al and I as figures of authority and does not continue to see the hierarchy as Al>Oogie Boogie>Danielle, Mungo and Mabel (the last two are the cats.)

Dogs to bathe (we went for a walk this afternoon that included lots of lovely flowerbeds and empty lots) and lunch to make... ciao!