In Miami

Miami in TWO DAYS

Hi everyone, not sure if I'll have an opportunity to post between now and my flight Friday - but we're off to Miami to knock a significant item off of our bucket list (Wrestlemania!). Should be all kinds of great fun, and hope everyone else has a good end to their week while we're busy running around like chickens with our heads cut off, and an amazing weekend. For churchgoers, it's Palm Sunday, so please enjoy, celebrate, and call out a few 'Hosannas' for me. I'm sure I'll blog at least a bit while away but in case not - I will see you no later than Tues. night and that's a promise. Love to all. XO

Democracy Class

Hi to my American friends. Please check out the video link below - which I quite enjoyed. :) Class is in session.

Your "Aaaaaw" of the Day ...

Honestly ... I mean, I guess some DO ... but I watch the sweet video below and I don't know how they can. So cute. And really - an interfaith marriage at that. Maple Leafs and Senators fans ... wow! ;) Either way, congrats ladies.

Reading List Update

So, I traded off "Catch-22" for "11/22/63" by Stephen King - more interesting, and honestly more of a challenge in terms of being a much longer book. No regrets, as his 'revisionist history' about a time travelling English teacher who goes back in time to save President John F. Kennedy from being shot was absolutely phenomenal. A heavy, 800+ page book was a page-turner, much like King's "Under the Dome", and I quite enjoyed the work.

1. Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
2. The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
3. Reading Lolita in Tehran - Azar Nafisi
4. The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs
5. A History of God - Karen Armstrong
6. Dreams from My Father - Barack Obama
7. Beloved - Toni Morrison
8. 'Tis - Frank McCourt 
9. Black Berry, Sweet Juice: Black and White in Canada - Lawrence Hill
10. The Constant Princess - Phillipa Gregory
11. Wicked - Gregory Maguire
12. The Six Wives of Henry the 8th - Alison Weir
13. Eleanor of Aquitaine - Alison Weir
14. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
15. The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
16. The Two Towers - J.R.R. TOlkien
17. The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien
18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
21. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling
22. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J.K. Rowling
23. Dracula - Bram Stoker
24. Last Night at the Chateau Marmont - Laura Weisberger
25. The Inferno - Dante
26. Towelhead - Alicia Erian
27. Sex, Lies, and Headlocks - Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham
28. The Way the Crow Flies - Ann-Marie MacDonald
29. The Robber Bride - Margaret Atwood
30. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
31. This United Church of Ours - Ralph Milton
32. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
33. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
34. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
35. Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
36. The First Christmas - Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan
37. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
38. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
39. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
40. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
41. Deception Point - Dan Brown
42. Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
43. The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown
44. Lolita - Vladimir Nobokov
45. Atonement - Ian McEwan
46. All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
47. Under the Dome - Stephen King
48. 11/22/63 - Stephen King
49. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
50. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
51. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
52. Scarlett - Alexandra Ripley
53. White Noise - Don De Litto
54. Their Eyes were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
55. Primary Colours - Anonymous
56. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
57. Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow
58. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
59. Misquoting Jesus - Bart Ehrman
60. Fast Food Nation - Eric Schlasser
61. My Years as Prime Minister - Jean Chretien
62. Memoirs - Pierre Trudeau
63. Shake Hands with the Devil - Romeo d'Allaire
64. Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin
65. The Secret Mulroney Tapes - Peter C. Newman
66. Why I Hate Canadians - Will Ferguson
67. Planet Simpson - Chris Turner
68. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
69. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
70. Life, the Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams
71. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams
72. Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
73. Fifth Business - Robertson Davies
74. The Manticore - Robertson Davies
75. World of Wonders - Robertson Davies
76. The Donnellys - James Reaney
77. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
78. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
79. Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
80. Not Wanted on the Voyage - Timothy Findlay
81. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
82. Coraline - Neil Gaiman
83. The Crucible - Arthur Miller
84. Mirror Mirror - Gregory Maguire
85. The Emerging Christian Way - Marcus Borg et al
86. Sorbonne Confidential - Laurel Zuckerman
87. What Happened to Anna K - Irina Reyn
88. The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick
89. Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
90. Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland
91. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
92. The 5 People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
93. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
94. Interview with the Vampire - Ann Rice
95. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
96. The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe
97. Guys and Dolls - Damon Runyon
98. Good Book - David Plotz
99. He's Just Not that Into You - Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo, Lauren Monchik
100. Undisputed - Chris Jericho
101. Jesus for the Non-Religious - John Shelby Spong


I won't ruin one of this past year's best sellers for anyone who might yet intend to read it, but it has a bit of everything from history to sci-fi to romance to action. None of it is too cumbersome that you can't enjoy the other elements, and it's truly a book where I feel there's 'something for everyone'. I would highly recommend it as a great read - although if you're looking to travel around with it I suggest downloading an eReader version of it as opposed to carrying around the brick of a book that it comes in. I own a Kobo (Indigo-Chapters eReader) and had quite a bit of fun with this being the meatiest item to date I've read on it. Good stuff on King's part - a master who does not get nearly enough credit from critical circles for the work he does.

Happy March Break Ontario!

My Spring Break was last week - while I live in Ontario, I teach across the river in Gatineau, Qc. But today begins March Break here on the Ontario side, and I want to wish all the kids, parents and teachers I work and play with here - friends, family, folks I work with in my children, youth and family ministry - a safe and happy break, near or far. Much love! :)

Happy International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day everyone! Iin honour of this occasion I want to share an amazing blog entry one of my friends passed along on Facebook today. Please CLICK HERE to read it (credit to Nadine at Adorkable Undies).

Happy Birthday Dad! :)

So tomorrow is my dad's birthday - I don't know if I'll have a chance to just sit and blog but I want to take the time here to wish him an awesome one, full of God's blessings. He is one of the most generous people I know. He is smart, and fun, a great laugh, but also a sympathetic ear accompanied by good advice. I haven't always gotten that - the first time I took a big spill off my bike, I remember his 'no big deal' attitude hurting my 7-year-old feelings ... but my nearly-thirty-year-old self looks back now and knows it was his way of not letting his emotional, sensitive little girl become afraid of her only-just-newly-acquired skill. He and my mom made an excellent parenting team, even post-divorce (and perhaps even moreso with the introduction of my step-parents), and I can only hope to live up to that example as my boys grow up.

I love you Dad - happy birthday! XO