A Dog named 'Needle'

I was going to write this post in Hindi, as this is now an option in Blogger, but I thought I'd better consider my English speaking friends first.

So, this post is dedicated to my dog, CODY. No, he is not dead, and no, his name is not needle. But this weekend I had a new experience. Some of you may or may not know, but Cody was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Who knew?! So now, this 'gold' dog, as my dad likes to call him, gets insulin shots twice a day with a strict diet. No chopped liver for him. My mom decided that this weekend would be a good time for me to learn how to give him a shot. I am no veterinarian... nor am I a dog whisperer. It is quite the process... needless to say, my mom ended up taking over. Who wants to stab a needle in a dog?

Now, don't get me wrong, I am not afraid to do it. I pride myself in doing 'manly' jobs around the house... killing spiders, doing manual labor like lifting our hatch door, which weighs a gazillion tons, hanging lights on our 9 foot ceiling... However, injecting a little dog with a needle takes talent. I mean, I think it is a valuable skill to learn. I mean, druggies do it everyday. People needing epi-pens. Giving or taking blood. But no one said it would be easy.

So until my next needle lesson...

Cheers to Cody! He has survived a lot. He has survived a lot of self-inflicted trauma, BUT he has come out resilient. And he is still a smart cookie. I taught him his tricks with cheerios: lay down, dead dog, dead dog to 'bang,' shake a paw, high five, jump, putting food in front of him and making him wait to eat it, and much, much more.

Thanks CODY, for many a happy time. You truly are man's best friend.

Roasting Sticks and Crosses

Ahh! The injustice of it all!

Have you ever had one those awful, climatic points in your life where it feels like you are being roasted alive on a stick? Yesterday was my moment. What a roast.

• This is how it all began...
  

I took the opportunity to try out the 'shorter' way home for Easter. It would have been shorter. It probably would have been faster. I probably would have had a nice relaxing drive home, signed the Vulcan guest book etc etc... BUT I GOT PULLED OVER!

I noticed a lot of cops out, so I made sure to watch my speed. I came up over a hill however, and saw two cop cars with someone else they had pulled over in between them. I slowed down... and as the image began to fade away in my rear-view mirror, I saw a flash of lights. I pulled over. Out comes this swanky cop. I honestly had no idea why he had stopped me. He asks for my license and insurance and gives my a short blurb... I look up and ask, "what did you say?!" Basically he told me I had been going 80 past a flashing emergency vehicle. The speed is supposed to be 60. I said, 'What?! I didn't know that!"

He came back, handed my the stupid yellow speeding ticket. I looked at it: "$280!!! Where is this law? Is it in the driving manual? I didn't know about this law." He told me it was this new law made up in Fall 2005. He told me I could argue it in court. His face was stone cold.

Of all things, he walks away and what do I say? 'Thank you.' You know, I was one of those stupid people who say thank you to a cop for giving them a ticket. I am too freakin' polite.

I didn't cry then right then. However, it certainly built up to be my emotional release of the month. I cried in my car for the next hour home. My mom would have told me to pull over and cry. It wasn't just the ticket. It was life. One of those awful moments where you feel like all you've been doing is trying your hardest. Things finally come unraveled. These are the most painful moments. You invest so much into life, and then it all seems to ca-puts. It might sound overly dramatic, but I am ok with that.

• Revelation on Pain and Suffering

Sometimes we joke about being too emotional- but if we can show all of our joy, why not show all of our pain? Pain just shows that we feel. We have felt and lived life. It is the Easter Holiday- and as we remember Christ on the cross- we see God our Father, who loves us beyond reason. His deepest expression of love was in his deepest experience of pain.

• Picture

I was looking through a friend's album on facebook once. She had just arrived in a foreign country for the next month. She took a picture of herself crying. It stuck with me. I had my camera handy, so I took a picture of myself. The tears had ceased for the moment. The picture says a thousand words, or at least a couple hundred...

• Happy Easter!

I am back on the road. Alive and kicking. Life is good. I take it moment by moment through God's grace. I have a smile on my face. The sun is shining... the wind is at my back!

The Life of Pi

So another random set of life notes:

• On Biking and Injuries

Biking across Whoop-up Drive is fantastic. The name says it all. Biking with Deanna and Melinda to Safeways makes my day. Biking is a fantastic form of exercise. It makes your thighs work. I realized however, the frightening part about biking down the hill next to on coming traffic without a helmet (don't tell my mother!) has its moments of terror. Thankfully, I am still alive and in good spirits.

I think that I really like getting injured. I cut the back of my leg on my bike pedal and low and behold the blood dripped down and stained my sock. It was fantastic. It was a great war wound.
I wish I had a picture, but I've already washed the sock. I currently have a hello-kitty band-aid on my wound- thanks to Dr. Melinda.

• On Deanna's Recital

I went to Deanna' recital on Sunday. I am not an especially sentimental person- I mean, I might tear up once and a while, but for a tear to actually fall, this must mean a whole heck of a lot. So really, I was just as surprised when a tear (or two!) fell when she and the other two girls sang "Wonderful , Merciful Saviour."

I also have realized that hair extensions are amazing. They are real hair. I think that they should be stored in an ice chest. I think Deanna was the bell of the ball. She is stunning.

• On T-Marie's Visit

Tracy came to visit me this weekend. Just in time. It's like she knew I needed her. She is like one of us. She is also an amazing choreographer. She is so trendy. She is so funny. I love Tracy.

• On Evie's Engagement

Basically, this is one of the most exciting things to happen. I totally respect and admire Kevin and I am so excited to stand up front with Evie on her Wedding day. (!) We have been doing the wedding talk for a week and a half now... it has its moments but really... it's fantastic. Weddings are a lot of work- but hell are they fun. Girls will be girls.

I suggested that we have a couple of drinks before the actual ceremony. Evie isn't convinced yet. I have made it my goal to sing the bridal march to Evie everyday I see her until her wedding. I think this will really help get in the right frame of mind.

Wedding dress shopping has got me thinking however- they are so poofy and white and frilly. I think I will get married in a brown paper bag. I think I will also have a massive BBQ for my own wedding with pineapple chicken skewers. That's all I really want.

• On Thought and Retrospect

"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes" Anne of Green Gables

Mel out.

The Love/Hate Relationship

Things I currently love!

1. Rotational Badminton
2. 'Left To Tell" A Rwandan Genocide Survivor's story
3. Sun, sun sun!
4. Our gas fireplace
5. Red River Cereal. High in Fibre.
6. Praying with friends
7. Walking through the river bottom
8. Facebook!
9. Unexpected compliments.
10. Eating healthy
11. Cross-Country Skiing
12. Shaving my brother's head!
13. Getting a memory card for my camera to take 830 pictures
14. Praying for God's Will
15. Mocha Cabana !

Things I currently hate!
1. Knowing whether to tip a hairdresser or not
2. Snow
3. Parking tickets
4. Not sleeping
5. Expiring Trial Newspaper subscriptions
6. Having no hot tub
7. Wigs
I can't think of any more!

Mel Out

Change: The Quality of Impermanece

So... I am feeling rather sentimental as of late.

Change. Change is good, right? I can't go into the specifics, please ask me if you have the time, however I feel compelled to break out into Amy Grant's

"Oh How the Years Go By"

And oh how the years go by
And oh how the love brings tears to my eyes
All through the changes the soul never dies
We fight, we laugh, we cry
As the years go by

There were times we stumbled
They thought they had us down
But we came around
How we rolled and rambled
We got lost and we got found
Now were back on solid ground

We took everything
All our times would bring
In this world of dangers
cause when your heart is strong
You know you're not alone
In this world of strangers

Now, these lyrics would seem to present themselves as poetry, however they can't be, because I am a self-professed poetry hater. So it would seem, that these lyrics are merely catchy phrases, with a bit of kick to them. They probably aren't good enough to be poetry anyways. Not that I would know, or that I am judging Amy Grant's lyrics...

Anyways, I am about to graduate... and it would seem that graduation has to bring 'change.' It's like the law of gravity. It has to happen. Maybe I should go to the moon. It doesn't happen there.

I am not bitter about change. Actually, I am slowly and inevitably mostly excited!

I am just realizing that when things do change, it's like there's no stopping it. Change happens in every single aspect of my life. It even manages to catapult into my family and friend's lives. Which in turn changes my life! I apologize for being so evasive about the specific events in my life that compel me to blog about change currently, however I will dedicate this blog to the top 10 changes in my life since starting University:

1. Moving away for school
2. Getting involved in IVCF
3. Living with girls. All 11 of them
4. a) Meeting my best friend
b) Living with my best friend
5. Studying Music. Gift divine.
6. Teaching!
7. a) Living in three places at once.
b) Teaching in two rural Albertan towns in the same year.
8. Getting Baptized
9. a) Meeting and getting to know some of the most amazing people in my life.
b) Seeing their lives change...
10. To be determined...

Mel out.

Fish in the Creek

Tracy and I reunite. To stay out of trouble, we treck through the trails of Fish Creek park.
We come across a backhoe.
Clearly this is too much fun.


































































We love mirrors.
We love nature.
We love Maps.


Until the next adventure.

Trip Down Memory Lane

I wish I had pictures. My mom sent me this today. She loves me and this is what she remembers so fondly:

I found one of my "mom's notebooks" - here are some of the entries about you!!!
Feb 20/87 Jordan and Melanie "reading" on the couch. Jordan sitting on Melanie's
lap!!

May 87 Melanie able to buckle up her dress shoes!

Sept 87 Melanie calls me from top of the stairs saying "Alison-Alison" also gave
Jordan an order and touching him on the back says "do that, honey!"

Nov 87 Melanie's favorite song "Jesus loves me "

Jan 88 Melanie singing nursery rhymes a lot and Jesus loves me

Mar 88 asked Melanie where did you get such a brother? She replied with a smile,
"in the garden"!

Apr 1/88 Melanie likes wearing dresses and won't wear pants at all-very insistent
about "dressy shoes" to go with.

June 88 Jor 41", Mel 39" Tracy 35"
July Jord 36.5 lb, Mel 30.5 lb, Tracy 35lb

Oct 88 Melanie hurt her lip and was crying- Jord came up behind and hugged her-then
she was lying on the couch with ice on her lip and Jordan said he'd read her stories
so she'd feel better. Also sang some nursery rhymes to her both sitting in the
chair now.(big living room chair)

May 89 Jordan puts his chair right next to Melanie's at breakfast and says "I want
to sit beside Melanie- she's my best friend"

Dec 25/89 Melanie opening a gift took off the wrapping paper, and looking at the
box says OH!! I've got my own cereal!! very excitedly--it was a shredded wheat box.

You were quite a character-- and (mom says lovingly) YOU STILL ARE!!!