An episode from "Meet the Bulgers"

Easter.

It was like driving home for a Christmas holiday or something. Snow all around. Hwy down to barely two lanes near Barrie. It's the beginning of April.

It's that foolish snow fall, right before spring really arrives. I say that now, seemingly forgetting that it's slushing outside (wet snow fall).

The weekend was lovely. It was Brent's turn to meet the parents. I guess it's easier when your family lives in the city that you live in. His family is all in Toronto, so meeting them is easier to coordinate. The first time we were going to travel up north to 'meet the parents' was at the beginning of March. Those plans were foiled by that terrible onslaught of a winter storm. So when I phoned home the Monday before Easter, I was a little shocked to hear my dad say 'we're keeping our eye out on the weather'. What weather? I'm completely out of 'the know' of the world. Lack of tv (trust me, I welcome the lack of TV - it's terrible how much time people waste in front of that glowing box). Hop onto ye ol' Weathernetwork.ca to find a snow storm is to hit ontario on the exact day that we plan to travel home.

Yeah, I didn't cancel my plans this time.

So home. Ah, i find such joy in scaring the crap out of people before they meet my parents (two of the most chill parents around). Michael had a hay day with Brent. We put out as many caution signs as we thought he could handle. poor guy. Once we hit the city, we had fun taking Brent around our neighbourhood, extending that agonizing period before the meet & greet with the folks. Although it might not appear at the moment, I do have a heart...deep down inside.


Meet the Bulgers (and the Clark grandparents). The weekend was lovely.


A point form account.

I did my taxes with my father (thank you father). I did not make my 'returns quota', so we will not be attending a night at Medieval Times on la Alison anytime soon.

We watched the Masters with my Hardcore Fan grandparents.

We played Taboo - my mom and I took on Brent and Mike, and kicked some serious butt. Maybe not serious - but i was very impressed about my partner. Considering how late we ended up playing the game, i'm shocked we all did so well. Final score 68 - 61.

I broke Lent with Brent with a Neopolitan Milkshake at 1:00am on Sunday. I didn't go crazy sugar on Sunday - cause my tummy couldn't take it. Also, i feel too healthy now. :p But the milkshake was wonderful. My dad mixed it for us, and Brent and I drank from these twirly plastic straws we used all the time as kids. Memories. Well, I almost made it to the milkshake itself, but caved mid-mix, and ate a spoonful of ice cream. You don't understand - there were soooo many homebaked goodies in my face for two days prior to Sunday - it was soooo challenging. Nonetheless, I don't even really want sugar at this point.

We went to see the obnoxiously decorated easter house. (what you see in the picture is only ONE side of the house) This man is talented in yuck. Apparently he was given a ticket for causing public obstruction or something -- as his house creates traffic issues on Cassels (a somewhat busy street in North Bay). This year, he's really big on the 'inflateables'. For Christmas - there was sooooo much junk around his house and like 8 different Santa and Reindeers. I would love to sit and have a conversation with this man and ask him what inspires him. Then try to figure out where he stores all the stuff in the off seasons.

Touring around North Bay, Brent and I ran into two deer crossing Ferris at Booth.

We laughed a lot this weekend.

Got a glimpse of my grandparents new Toyota Avalon. I must say, that it was a fine choice to go with Toyota. And with a very sexy blue. sweet.

We watched "The Latest Buzz" and the 'Poco Loco' and the theme song are now implanted in my brother and Brent's brains. Funny.

Left Claude in North Bay so that he may take off for Rome at the end of the month. We also introduced Finn to the family...a new beanie shark.

ASIDE - i love the moment in "Toy Story" when Woody spends his first night in the toy box. In the morning he asks if anyone has seen his hat, and the sqeeze toy shark pops up saying 'look, i'm woody. howdy, howdy, howdy.' before having the cowboy hat ripped off his head by Woody. Ultimate favorite TS moment.

I slept at the top of the stairs on the first night. For like 20mins. On the most comfortable pillow.
Typical, I fell asleep on the couch on the first night.

Didn't find Mike's old soccer gear - but I have to confirm with James if i'm playing or not. AHHHH. Can i afford new gear???

Ate turkey (the dinner was lovely and delicious). And turkey and dressing sandwiches.

The weather was up and down, so staying in was the thing to do.

It's always nice to be home. A nice relaxing weekend.

Wore my new glasses all weekend. I'm still deciding almost. I'm weird about glasses - they're not my thing...but I think I like these ones.

Church.

Good Friday service. My mother, grandmother, Brent and myself went to Holy Name church to attend the Good Friday mass. Right off the bat, we were all split up into different pews. First, they sat my grandmother, then my mom, then Brent and myself. Ack. It's always hard for me to go back to this catholic church. Maybe it was just the service itself, but it was difficult to sit through. There was this very strange moment midway through the service that I felt was contrived. Also, throughout the whole service, I kept looking around me, trying to find God in the community and I just couldn't find it. Maybe i wasn't being receptive enough, but it felt so empty. On such an important day in the Christian faith, it was really difficult for me. Maybe it's cause we had just finished driving from Toronto. I dunno.

So for Easter Sunday mass, Brent and I decided to check out this Pentecostal church near my house that I've always wanted to know more about. Gateway is the name of the church. A very loving and open community. Such a great little service on Sunday. This church is home to a very small community - but very friendly and welcoming. It was an interesting service. Comprised mainly of worship and prayer.

One song, that I have to point out, that really stood out to me was "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin. One of the lines really stood out to me: "You placed the stars in the sky, and you know them by name. You are amazing God!" It just really stuck with me.

It's a reminder about how precious we are. We are a very specific detail in God’s plan. There are bible passages that speak of how much we (humans) worry so much about possessions and clothes and food and basically God’s provision in EVERY way, yet He will provide for the flowers who do not sow their own ground, and He provides for all the animals of the world, and we are worth more to him than these. He knows every hair on your body. I don't know, but this song is really beautiful, and it really got me thinking about these passages. I was shocked when I discovered I actually had it in my iTunes library.

A beautiful reminder to TRUST IN HIM.

Just do it. Not enough people do.

One thing that I thought was really strange – on the drive back to Toronto, we realized that we didn’t have communion at this new church. On Easter Sunday...that just felt strange.

After we got home from church on Sunday, Brent and I made turkey and dressing sandwiches and when we got into the kitchen, I was overwhelmed by how wonderful I felt about life. Everything seemed so great. I was overcome by the spirit of Easter. An incredible smile to embrace God’s renewal.

The drive home – clear as day. The day started with many inches of snow over the northern city. By the end of church, all was melting away.

We stopped off at Webers on the way home. I can’t believe it was open. My brother was craving.
One downfall was constant knee pain whilst driving – dang it. Mother suggests getting a second opinion on the state of my knees. Dually noted.



Other happenings...

On Monday night, I had a lovely chat with Mr. Ottier. It's been too long.

I love when the sun is setting in the evening and shines a bright cast of light against a building that is backdropped by a stormy cloud setting. The way the building pops is incredible.

Damn facebook. So time consuming.

ON A SUPER HAPPY NOTE - my dear friend Hannah is engaged – congratulations lovely!

Work is calm. There are only a handful of us in the office. We spend lunch eating together - and it's been very lovely being in that setting. I really do love this group of people.

LIVING ROOM - wow. Can I just tell you how wonderful it is to be with this group. This is my second week with this group (work has kept me from attending prior to this - and before that my old living room sadly dissipated, but luckily joined up with Sam & Kat's LR). It's incredible how well we mesh. This week we had to revisit the history of our living rooms. When we started talking about how our LR came to be - it was amazing to see the stories come up. I just want to say how much of a blessing it is to still be able to share my LR experiences with Sue and Dan (and Rachel) but also start something new with this new group.

Wow.

I'm so happy right now.