Untukmu Para Pengunjung

Well, it's official, Josh and Jenn are married. The wedding was
beautiful! My favourite parts were Josh singing a song he wrote to his
new bride (my parents were bawling!) and Joel giving a really moving
speech (he had everyone in tears). The armadillo part was fairly
moving too... It was good to see some friends of the family, and my
Nana flew in from B.C.

So, we have a new sister. She and Josh are on a cruise right now, so
we're trying not to be too jealous. I felt really proud of my little
brother. And, I must admit, I love weddings. I had some troubles with
the computer, but there are *some* ("unofficial") photos of the
wedding in our photo gallery, if you want to have a look.

I have a lovely lunch out with my sister today. It was good to chat
and I just love her. But afterwards, as I was sitting at my desk, I
had a craving for apple sauce. Thankfully we pass by a grocery store
on our way home from work. John indulged me (and it was on sale!) We
ate dinner, and then I tried to open the jar. Well, of course, I'm not
much in the bicep department, so I couldn't get the lid off. I passed
on the noble duty to John - who tried quite hard and even gave himself
an indent on his hand, but could not get it open. He can run really
far though.

So, I brought the jar down to the laundry room and checked out who
seemed the strongest. I must admit that it sounded like a pick-up line
when I was like, "hi! I was wondering if you could open up my apple
sauce?" I love a man who can admit his weaknesses and stand by as his
wife asks another random man to open a jar. Yep, that's my kind of
man!

The federal government of Canada is planning on scrapping the Early Learning and Child Care Agreements with the provinces and instead giving $1200 per pre-school child/year. This represents $100 per month. I think we all know that this is a pittance and will negatively/unjustly impact poor and middle class families. Please sign the petition at the link below and let the government know that this is a terrible mistake.

http://www.buildchildcare.ca/BE_petition.php/honourthem

OK, so there was a "complication" with our case presentation on the
22nd, but our new date is March 7th - that's when our case will be
presented again. I wonder if that will be THE date?

My baby brother gets married in 2 days. I get it, he's not still a
baby, but it's still crazy. I honestly have so many memories of
holding him and even changing his diapers. He was SUCH a cute kid! A
rascal, for sure, but such a cutie. I remember the time when he was a
little lamb in a play (actually, he was a lamb more than once...)

We are going out to celebrate Jenn (my soon-to-be sister-in-law)
tonight - with Ethiopian food (what better way to celebrate?)

I finished reading "Exile" by Ann Ireland. Highly recommended for
those of us who are "helpers." I was really humbled. It's about a
Latin American writer who is exiled to Canada and how his life in
Canada represents exile in so many different ways.

I also just read "A million little pieces" by James Frey. I know, I
know.. it's highly controversial, but it's a really good insight into
the life of someone trying to recover from addiction. It's insane! It
made me want to shake every kid/teenager I know and just say "don't
start! Seriously don't start!"

Oh, and we watched an amazing movie - "Water." Again, highly
controversial, but really thought-provoking (and depressing). I felt
like castrating every man alive (except for John) after that movie.
Doesn't that totally make you want to watch it? :) Seriously, watch
it.

Don't worry - you have not been left out of the loop. It's just that
we haven't heard anything from Zimbabwe. So... that means more
waiting!!!

Before this whole experience, I never realized how painful faith and
hope can be. I mean, obviously they're very good, life-sustaining
things. But actually, if you have faith and hope too much for
something specific, it can lead to a lot of multiple disappointments.

I guess maybe the biggest thing I'm sick of is the self-centredness of
this whole process. I know (trust me, I know) that what we're going
through is not a big deal compared to crack addiction or abuse or
many, many other difficult life situations. Humanly, I'm just
exhausted. I want to move on with my life, but I'm not exactly sure
how to do that. How do you "carry on as usual" when you're always
being told - "no, really, it's going to happen soon. Get ready to
leave in the next week!" Constantly. What a roller coaster. And the
ride continues....

I shouldn't complain. God is good. Life is good. I'm blessed. It's
just my poor little heart...

Well, our long to move to Zimbabwe MIGHT be drawing to a close. Our
case is going before the immigration board in Zimbabwe next Wednesday
(Feb. 22nd). So, if you have a few moments, please pray.

Other than that, things are good. I've been catching up on some family
blogs. People have always (and will always) fascinate me - what
interests them, what they get passionate about, how much time the
spend doing what...

My friend Alexiss is moving to Azerbaijan on Sunday. She's going there
for a year with Right to Play. She's a cool person.