Thursday Thanks (6-10)

fiveEach week (I aim for Thursday), I’ll use this space to list five things (items, experiences, people, whatever) for which I’ve been recently grateful. Consider it my “blessings count”. Ann Voskamp’s famous challenge to list 1000 gifts seemed daunting — I’m committing to 500, a two-year venture from when I started last week!

1) Guacamole
I’m looking at a bowl of the great green stuff as I type. My wife turned an avocado into a bowl of creamy, garlicky goodness with her magic wand, and it’s easy to be grateful for.

2) Feet
Today we took our girls skating for the first time. One loved it; the other not so much. I was reminded of all the marks of learning this winter skill — pushed-beyond-the-limit balance, dependence on another (me in this case), and sore feet. But there’s something pleasant to me about having skates tightly tied, compacting feet inside those bladed boots. And for whatever reason, slipping my skates off made me think, “Man, I’m glad I have feet to hold my skates in place!”

3) Frozen
For “family night”, we rented this movie off of our Apple TV. It’s cute with some great songs, and it tickled my daughters’ hearts. And that tickles mine!

4) Water
When given a list of drink options, the most classic choice on the menu is not typically mine. But this glass beside me with its few ice cubes inside — it’s hitting the spot. And the heated version that will spray on to my head before bed tonight — I’m particularly fond of it!

5) Chiropractors
Two weeks ago, in our hockey finale, I damaged/tore some cartilage in my ribs. It was terribly tender for a week. One week later, it’s nearly healed up, thanks to a perceptive chiropractor and his trusty ultrasound gun. Consider me amazed!

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Thursday Thanks (1-5)

fiveBeginning today, I’ll use this space each Thursday to list five things (items, experiences, people, whatever) for which I’ve been recently grateful. Consider it my “blessings count”. Ann Voskamp’s famous challenge to list 1000 gifts seemed daunting — I’m committing to 500, a two-year venture here on the blog. Better get at it!

1) Muscles
Last weekend was our church hockey league’s wind-up tournament. Playing three games in a day in an annual reminder that I am twice as old as I should be to be undertaking such challenges. But the stiffness that night was one of those feelings that confirms that you’re alive, and feeling alive is always a good thing!

2) March Madness
Today marks the beginning of the high point on this sports-lover’s calendar. While I watch a lot less of it than I used to, this three-week event never fails to provide some of the drama and energy that are unique to College basketball’s tournament format.

3) Toy Trains
My daughters’ Christmas gift was a wooden train set. We’ve since added a few more pieces to the set to up the “creativity factor”. My inner child finds pleasure in working with my two oldest girls to lay out new routes, while working together to protect our handiwork against the baby’s best Godzilla impersonation.

4) Kindle
My experimental, second-hand purchase of this unnecessary item has been a success. I love the bargains that can be found on great books (in electronic formats), and I’m enjoying a particularly pleasurable read about the Holy Spirit these days.

5) Spring
It’s not here yet, but it’s flirting with us. And after weeks of way-below-zero temperatures, that is some mighty fine flirting. The citizens of the Canadian prairies are in the mood for some such flirting!

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  • Did any of this week’s list especially strike a chord with you?
  • What’s one thing you’re particularly grateful for this week?

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Stompin’ Tom Connors: The Hockey Song

stompin-tomYesterday, an iconic member of Canadian culture passed away at age 77.

One of Canada’s most prolific and well-known country and folk singers, Stompin’ Tom was credited with writing more than 300 songs. He had released four dozen albums, with total sales of nearly 4 million copies.

Yet among all his creations, it may be that the Hockey Song will go do as one forever woven into Canada’s fabric and knotted closely with the nation’s obsession with its sport of choice.

If you need an orientation OR just a reliving of past memories, here you go. In honour of Stompin’ Tom, I give you “The Hockey Game”…

Basement Treasures

Over the past week, we have been sifting through boxes in our basement. Many of these contain “memories” from childhood, high school, and university years.

Here are a few sweet treasures we found tonight:

First Championship
I can still remember carrying trophy around the ice.  My Mom says we looked like skating bobbleheads.  This patch was given to sew on to a hockey coat that I never owned.

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My WWF Crew
Oh, the hours of fun that these, along with a mix of G.I. Joe’s, A-Team, and bargain shop brutes provided, in the home-made wresting ring that my dad constructed way-back-when!

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Mizpah
Still in regular contact with 4/5 of this Western Christian “super group”, I am personally stunned (do I mean “offended”?) that these tracks cannot be had on iTunes.  BUT they can be had in my basement… if you still own a cassette player.

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Any classics that you’ve discovered during past bouts of spring cleaning?