What the heck are we doing in Alberta anyway?

This is the part where I fill you in on our lives.

As most of you know for the last 5 years Hugh was a youth pastor in Vernon. Since resigning our church he has gotten into a line of work that regularly requires banging on large pieces of metal with a sledgehammer....aka heavy duty mechanics. Hugh calls is paid therapy.

There are 3 different shifts and Hugh works a 2-week rotation on each one: 7am-3:30pm, 8:30am-5pm, and 12:30pm-9pm. Work in the so-called "real world" has definitely been an adjustment. Not being able to call Hugh to come home when I want to throw the babies or myself out the window has been a rude awakening. Pastoring is not a walk in the park by any stretch but it is flexible.

My sister Jane lives here and she has been my life and sanity saver on more occasions than I can count. I will greatly miss her company and our afternoon tea ritual when she moves on from here.

Overall we are enjoying Medicine Hat more than we thought we would. Hugh is really enjoying getting his hands dirty (literally and figuratively) and he has learned alot at this shop. Some of it even has to do with fixing big trucks. Alot of it is words that cannot be published on a family friendly blog.

We have said from the beginning that this is not the end of ministry for us but an evolution. What that looks like we don't know right now. We're just taking the next steps as we know them.

As for moi, I have been working on an interior decorating course for 3 years now and am happy to say that I am one budget quote away from sending in my final project. I'm looking forward to the fun of decorating and the thought of not having to hand draft anything again makes me deliriously happy.

I suppose hand drafting is a good skill to have but seriously now! There are computers for that sort of thing. Drafting is so time consuming and meticulous that it often makes me want to swear and throw things. At one point during this last project I became so enraged that I stomped to the kitchen, yanked open the cupboard door, and roughly (not randomly because I do have a dish fetish and had to think it through) grabbed out a bowl and dramatically and satisfyingly hurled it to the floor.

Actually it didn't get satisfying until the third try. Whoever heard of an almost indestructible salad bowl? The humourist in me found it highly amusing that I kept having to pick up the bowl. The dramatist was disappointed the effect had been spoiled. Once it finally smashed I was able to calmly finish my project.

After I send in my final project I will be looking at setting up my own little decorating business and I'm looking for ideas for business names. Any suggestions would be welcome.

The kids are doing really well. They have a very rigorous schedule of eating, pooping, playing, watching Baby Einstein and sleeping. Apparently that's all very hard work as they are sacked at the end of the day! Ava is talking up a storm and Tristan is coming along despite Ava's best efforts not to let him get a word in edgewise. Apparently her name is Tristan too! They will be 2 next month and I can hardly believe it.

So there you have it. Now you know just what the heck we are doing in Alberta anyway.