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| We bought a new Nissan in Portland a couple of weeks ago. Allan did his research and found out it was relatively easy to buy a car in the U.S. and bring it into Canada, and save a whack of money in the process. We have the car, but before we can register it here, we need a recall letter from the Nissan head office in the U.S. showing that the vehicle has not been recalled for any reason. Someone named Rocky at head office was supposed to have mailed it to us early last week. Allan's been trying to follow up, but Rocky hasn't been returning his calls. Because Allan was pretty busy at work, he asked me to call Nissan today and see what was happening. I placed the call and got through to a very polite young woman named Marissa. She assured me that the letter was mailed today. I asked her if she could fax us a copy as well. She said that Dana was handling the file and she would transfer my call. My call got dropped. I called again and got a young man named Ivan. He said he would be happy to transfer my call to Dana. The call was dropped. I called again and spoke with another very kind and polite young woman named Stella. Stella assured me that she would double check to make sure the letter was indeed mailed today and that she would make sure that a fax was also sent. In the course of all these conversations, I noticed that everyone I spoke with had a slight accent that I couldn't quite place. It certainly wasn't an American accent. It sounded a wee bit South African, but not quite; a wee bit British, but not quite. So I asked Stella where her office was. It was in India! We chatted for a short while. It was early the next morning there, and the weather was warm, but overcast. Turns out, Nissan head office is in Tennesee, but no, it wasn't possible for me to speak with the person there who would actually be sending us the letter. Stella assured me that she had an excellent working relationship with them though, and that all would be taken care of. Nobody could tell me what happened to Rocky. | | |
| If my busy kids can make blog time, you would think this old, retired gal should be able to, so here goes. December was a very full month with choir practices, ten Singing Christmas Trees at E T Church in Nanaimo, and three performances with the Craig Bay Choristers. After our last Tree performance on the 17th, we were able to catch the last Tree performance at Broadway on the 18th. Wow! It was spectacular! We were so proud of Dianna. She shone in her role as the Jester. We were blessed to have all of our family here for Christmas, including Amanda and Dean, just back from Scotland. Our Corban got the flu the day the Dumonts were to leave Alberta, so they set out the next day. Natalie, Jorah, and baby Rowyn all succumbed to it en route. Jamie managed to hold it together until they arrived here, but he came in looking exhausted. Over the next few days, we fell like dominos. Jamie dubbed it 'the Christmas Pestilence'. We even sent it home with Allan's extended family, helping to make their Christmases a little more memorable. Fortunately, it was a 24 hour variety, and we had a happy time together in spite of it. If some of you are wondering who Dianna takes after, here's a little Christmas story for you: After all of our gifts had been opened, Allan commented that he appreciated his gifts, but was surprised that the one thing he'd asked for (a particular book) wasn't under the tree. How could this be? I'd gone to extensive lengths to find this book and buy it for him. After searching in every possible nook and cranny of the house, I gave up in absolute bewilderment. After the busyness of Christmas had passed, I made a quick trip to the mainland to visit my dad in hospital. Allan took the day to give the garage a good cleaning. He discovered his missing book hiding in a canvas bag behind the garbage can. Good hiding spot, eh? My Christmas present from Allan was a very cool little Canon Elph digital camera. How one tiny camera can have so many features and functions is mind boggling. I have a feeling it's going to be set on 'Automatic' most of the time. Our girls gave us goats, beds, and even a latrine for Christmas (all for Ugandan families). We were so grateful for their generous gifts. My time these days is spent getting quotes and workers lined up to get some cabinets and finishing work done here. Allan is still doing a lot of travelling (he's driving home from Kelowna in a snowstorm as I type), and Jake and I are enjoying long walks in the snowy wonderland of the nearby forest. | | |
| God keeps reminding me that I can trust him for the little things and the big things. Example #1: Thanksgiving week-end - Saturday. Enroute to Little Fort to spend Thanksgiving with Marilynn, Ian, and their family, I needed to stop in the teeny little town of McLure to deliver some teaching materials to a former Broadway Church family. I had been told that their home was along the highway, but was difficult to find. I had an address, but no specific directions on how to find the house. I also didn't know if they'd received my e-mail saying I was coming. When I approached the town, I pulled over and tried calling on my cell phone without success. I asked God to help me find them and pulled back onto the highway. Spotting a produce store along the road, I decided to pull in to buy some fruit and ask the clerk if they knew the family I was looking for. Imagine my amazement when I recognized the lone person working there as the lady I was looking for! She didn't even know who I was or why I was there, but was happy to get the material. She said if I'd gone to the house, nobody would have been home. I never did spot their house, so it's a good thing God knew where to send me! Example #2: Thanksgiving week-end - Sunday. After spending the night at Cindy and Steve's, Corban, Jorah, Jake and I accompanied Cindy as she wheeled a barrow full of hay down the road to feed their three horses. Jake managed to get through a barbed wire fence, so before we headed back we had to tromp through a very overgrown grassy ditch to get him out. At breakfast I noticed that my keys were missing. Quick prayer. Retraced my steps. Found said keys laying in plain sight in the middle of the ditch. Example #3: Shopping trip with Jorah. Jorah noticed that Bear Bear (her much beloved teddy bear) was missing. We had made several stops and had just spent a half hour in the world's biggest dollar store. He could have been anywhere, but Jorah thought she might have left him at Bosley's. Quick prayer. Drove back to Bosley's and ran in. The young lady behind the counter handed Bear Bear to me with a friendly smile. Example #4: En route to the Comox Airport last Wednesday. We had to drop Jake off at a kennel. This was his first time staying in a kennel, but it was highly recommended to us by one of our new neighbours. I went well-prepared with his food, treats, bed, and , most importantly, copies of his vaccination certificates. The young lady at the kennel carefully looked them over and asked if I had one for Jake's Bordetella shot. I had no idea what Bordetella was, and was informed that it is Kennel Cough, and it was absolutely necessary to have his shot in order for him to stay at any kennel. Yikes! Jorah and I had a flight to catch in two hours, for which we had paid a considerable amount and would at this point be non-refundable. I begged her, pleaded with her, and assured her that Jake was very healthy and had never, ever had a cough. I know at this point my eyes were a little teary. She really was a very sweet young lady. She went off to place a call to the owners and I prayed (boy, did I pray!) She came back and said that the owners agreed to make an exception for us. Praise God! He is so faithful. Jake wasn't allowed to play with the other dogs, but he did have a nice big area of his own to run in, and the young lady kindly offered to spend extra time with him, so he wouldn't be too lonely. Example #5: A foggy Saturday morning at Comox Airport. Shortly before we were due to land back at Comox the pilot came on the speaker to inform us that in spite of heavy fog he would try to make a landing. If it failed he would see if he could try again. If that failed, we would likely be rerouted to Victoria. The lady beside me had to get to a wedding that afternoon, there were babies and young children on board, and my car was sitting at the Comox airport and I was anxious to pick up Jake. Time for a quick prayer. First landing failed. It was kind of exciting to whoosh back up again and make a quick turn-around. Another prayer. The pilot made his landing and everyone clapped and cheered. Thank-you, Lord! We had a fun time with Jorah here. She's very cute and articulate and has a wonderful imagination. Here's a picture from our visit to Tiger Lily Farm. 
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| My Sweetie had to work through the Thanksgiving weekend. They've built a new facility in Kelowna and had to be up and running for today. So I drove to Little Fort where we celebrated outdoors around a crackling fire. My sister, Marilynn prepared a delicious dinner, topped off with an ice cream cake (in honour of Jared's 16th birthday) and pumpkin and apple pies with lots of whipped cream and steaming coffee and tea. Natalie and her kids drove down from Stony Plain and all of Marilynn's and Ian's grandchildren were there, so the kids had a great time playing together. Everett organized a game of soccer with the little ones. Of course, Jake came along. He was in doggie heaven, chasing around with Marilynn's two dogs. We later headed to Cindy and Steve's where, after the little ones had been bathed and bedded, we had a most enjoyable visit around their cozy fireplace. The next morning Jorah and I were getting ready to leave for Parksville. Corban was quite happy to get a big good-bye hug, but he gave me strict instructions not to kiss him. I drove to the end of their road and realized that I'd forgotten Jake's food and dishes, so had to come back. Corban was on the trampoline and ran to the car wanting more hugs. He also wanted lots of kisses. I laughed and said this was the boy who didn't want kisses. He furtively looked around and whispered "Nobody's looking." So cute! Jorah, Jake and I walked through the forest to the river yesterday. Jorah was a little trooper. She was jumping from rock to rock in the river and got thoroughly wet. Fortunately we had had some dry clothes to put on her for the walk back. It was even warm enough to get in some pool time in the afternoon. It was the last day that the pool was open for the year. Now we're heading down to the beach to find some shells. Allan will be home tonight. He's been gone a whole week. It will be so nice to have him back. | | |
| I got into the checkout line at WalMart this evening, and the lady in front of me very kindly offered to let me go ahead of her, as I only had one item and she had a big pile of clothes to pay for. We chatted briefly as we were waiting and she told me that the clothes were for her daughter who was heading off to Arizona to attend Law School. The clothes were mainly lingerie items obviously meant for an adult. As I was leaving I overheard the kind lady unabashedly tell the clerk that all of the items were nontaxable. (What's the cut-off age for nontaxable items... fourteen?) I'm thinking (to myself) that her daughter will be the youngest student in Law School! | | |
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