Big time changes
Hello everyone (or whoever actually reads this)!
In the past month, I have:
- completed my time at St. Anne's and Holy Family in Saskatoon,
- moved to Watson as pastor there (plus Englefeld and St. Gregor),
- got a new Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy named Chloe (!!), and
- as a result of the above, built a fence with some great help from David and a couple of parishioners.
I was originally planning to get a dog in the fall, allowing for more time to build a fence and move in and unpack. Then Fr. David texted me on the day that I moved in, saying that the same breeder that Neulla came from had one more Wheaten puppy available. Would I be able to come into Saskatoon on Monday to look at the puppy?
Well, the thing about "looking at the puppy" is that one never merely looks at the puppy. Invariably, puppy has a new home. Even though most of my home was still in boxes. Her name is Chloe, which was one of the top-ten most common baby girl names in Ireland a couple of years ago... and I needed an Irish name for an Irish dog.
Aside: I was originally thinking of getting a male Wheaten, who I would then name Wil(ly). Get it? How about now? :-)
The parishes are going along fairly well. It's summer, so there isn't a whole lot going on, and this has been nice for allowing me to settle in. I do have two funerals this week, though, which makes it a bit busier for me. Next week I will start some holidays with a trip to Regina to take in the Roughrider game. Then it's off to Nipawin for my 15 year high school reunion and a little event known as Elaine and Brendan's wedding. Since I'm preaching, does anyone have any good stories that may have a theological application? :-)
Oh, and finally: I updated the blog software to WordPress 3.0.1. If you notice any problems, please let me know.
Photos of the new place and puppy.
- Darryl
Eventful weeks
Whew! The past few weeks have been eventful:
1. We have a new bishop in Saskatoon. Welcome, Bishop Donald Bolen! It was a great celebration on March 25 at St. Patrick in Saskatoon. A few days later we celebrated the annual Chrism Mass at the same church.
2. I presided at the Triduum celebrations at St. Anne, culminating with the Easter Vigil. The font in the church is nice and large (and heated), allowing me to go in and do full immersions for the baptisms. It was very much a thrill to be able to baptize, confirm, and give first communion to 5 people (plus baptize a child, and confirm another adult)!
3. As complicated as the ordination, Passion Sunday, Chrism Mass, and Triduum celebrations were, they have nothing on the intensity of presiding at a family wedding on April 10 in Barry's Bay, Ontario. Congratulations, Danny and Becca!
4 & 5. I was also able to be present (and godfather) at Spencer Korvemaker's baptism in Ottawa. (Go Riders!)
Web page updates?!
Umm. So this is getting to be a bit of a familiar refrain, unfortunately. I've been pretty busy as of late and therefore have been unable to update my web page on a regular basis.
(If you're reading this on Facebook and you're wondering what I'm referring to, check here: http://www.darryldot.org.)
Anyway, I'm finally getting around to doing some updates! I've changed the theme to something called Lightword. I modified it slightly, but it seems to be a generally nice and simple theme. I've also been doing some general updates to the other pages on here.
In my rare free time, I have been busy with mixing some of the recordings we did last summer. I really, really need to give the Recording page a general overhaul... stay tuned for more in that department!
In other news, congratulations to David and Roxanne! Andrew Dominic was born on January 19, 2010. Here he is, at two days old.
And also: congratulations Andy and Jane! Spencer was born on February 1, 2010.
Cool to be kind
Here is another amazing story about a man by the name of Abbas Jahangiri. Owner of a successful Toronto night club, Abbas himself lives in relative poverty and uses his profits to give to the homeless poor in downtown Toronto.
(Yes, he drives a Hummer to bring food and other supplies around, but as he says, Mother Teresa herself might also have approved if she had been working on a cold, winter night in downtown Toronto.)
Comparing Notes on Captivity
Here's an incredible interview / conversation between Melissa Fung and Ingrid Betancourt. Ms. Betancourt was held hostage for six years by Columbian guerillas, while Ms. Fung (CBC reporter) was held hostage in Afghanistan for close to a month in 2008.
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/story/2009/10/06/national-ingridbetancourt.html
Especially check out about 2/3 into the interview as they compare their prayer lives in the midst of captivity. It's pretty amazing.