iPod takes flight

I'm tracking my iPod on the FedEx site.
It left Shanghai late tonight.
Then it arrived in Anchorage this afternoon.

Mourning

Our precious and beautiful friend Stephanie died last night. We want to thank her father, Gaetan, for his phone call this morning. And we want to thank everyone for their prayers and we ask that you continue to pray for Stephanie's family and friends as we grieve.

We saw Steph last Sunday in her hospital room. She was very weak and moments before recieved morphine for her intense pain. Despite the fact she was in agony, the few minutes we saw her she smiled and asked how we were. Amber met Stephanie the day she was diagnosed with stomach cancer, April 16. Since that time, we have become quick friends. The most remarkable quality we saw in Stephanie is that we never once heard her complain - about anything - and she had so much pain and so many justified reasons to complain. Her faith and trust and peace throughout her operation, treatment, and care have kept us in awe of this mighty woman.

We are thankful that we were able to know Stephanie for these short three months.

We miss her and love her so much.

Bound for the Grove

We have been accepted to rent an apartment in Spruce Grove this fall. It will be smaller than the huge place we have now, but that will give us the opportunity to shake some of our materialistic headspace in exchange for a simple home. We know we will only be in Spruce Grove for one year.



I'm pretty stoked about teaching music to kids aged 5 to 17 this year. How fun is waving a baton and having music happen? And little kids singing with me. Total blast! I'm also going to teach grades 7 and 8 math and elementary P.E. and some non-core classes. The classes are nice and manageable to the point where I can get to know all of the students better and where more possibilities for learning can happen. This is a fantastic opportunity.

Cirque du Soleil

Amber and I lodged ourselves into the crowd at 4 pm and waited five hours to watch the big finale of the Jazz Fest. The show was worth the wait and our spot in the crowd was perfect. The Cirque was perfect in its delivery and as we voyaged home (late, really late) I remarked on how Montréal is really the perfect city for such a spectacle. I'm glad we were able to experience this unique place on earth for the time that we have. We'll sure miss it.



Played cut-throat tennis with Mati and Kevin today. It was aggressive. My first time playing on artificial turf, lots of running, but tons of fun.

Sweet!

Saw Napoleon Dynamite. The anticipation was as good as the movie. I hope Garden State is as good.

I made apricot sorbet tonight. It's pretty sweet. Amber is really impressed with it, and really, that's what matters.

I faxed my contract to Living Waters Academy this afternoon. We are moving to Edmonton. I am a music teacher now, or rather soon, I will be one. I can't wait to go to a baton store and choose the perfect one for me. I just hope the band isn't 11 clarinets, 9 flutes, 1 trumpet, 12 saxophones, 1 percussion. I want to do Sibelius proud. Incidentally, Sibelius' 1st Symphony will be performed by the ESO in November. That's one of his seven glorious symphonies that I wish to experience with a live orchestra in my lifetime.



Summer school is exhausting. Thirteen more school days left (or 65 more hours). I wore shorts to work yesterday and my students were more spiffed up than I was. Montreal is killer hot. The Jazz Festival is on and the shows are awesome (Jimmy Bowskill, Besh O Drom, Los de Abajo).

We played tennis at the YMCA. A couple guys reserved the court for the same time, but the desk worker made the reservation for 1 pm rather than 11 am so they were pretty ticked. A little awkward, but we were in our nifty tennis outfits, what option did we have except to demand the court. I won despite the perpetual distraction of Amber's legs.