Mandy's Mini Survey - thanks

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my totally informal survey about religion. I have enjoyed reading all the interesting mail in my inbox. I should have thought of this years ago!
So far I have to say that Steve Bruce is wrong... people are not indifferent about religion as whole - though clearly some people do not like organized religion. Which is exactly what I thought already, and is the majority view in religious studies.
Well, I must keep this short. [note after writing post: HA!] There is so much to do before I fly off to Germany. I've got Euros in my purse, a plane ticket, passport, a destination, notebook... (still have to pack my luggage) and I'm ready to go! I'm a little scared - this is my first big trip and looking at the route to get from the Hanover airport to the university in Bielefeld is daunting. It includes a 7 minute walk to get to another station... except the instructions on the trip itinerary don't come with a map! So where do I walk to??? I still have a few kinks to iron out... My time in Germany looks fully mapped out. There are events from 9 am until 8pm almost everyday, though three of the after dinner events are listed as social events :) The rest is all workshops centred around faith development theory research methods. It will either be very interesting, or sleep-inducing. I'll let you know when I return.

We've cleared out of the townhouse now. Finished all our cleaning today. Looks as good as when I moved in - better actually because it lacks the construction dust and it's been aired out. (Well, the walls are worse for wear, but I blame the crap paint for that, the paint I couldn't wash without it peeling off!)
I had managed to clear out most of the boxes around the new house until a few days ago when they piled back up. So I'm back to doing that and organizing the house. We still haven't painted the trim in our bedroom (haven't yet chosen a colour - either dark green or brown), but we set up the furniture in the meantime. And have yet to paint my office, so it's half in the spare room. Had to move some into the office in order to make the spare room functional when my grandparents come to drive me to the airport this weekend.

And on top of that I've still got my research and a final paper to write.
Life is busy. Hence I have not responded to individual emails lately. I still anticipate more time in September...
Until I return from Germany,
Mandy

A Visit to Winnipeg

We returned to the great Prairies this July. As we drove to Carberry on Friday I thought I would take a couple photos for our non-Manitoban friends. You really can see for miles and miles, plus no smog!









I mentioned a surprise photo in an earlier post. Here it is, from our second day in Winnipeg at Bo and Jen's wedding.





Yes, my long hair is all gone! And with 40+ humidity back here in Kitchener, I am so happy to be free of the weight and warmth of my hair.

Here is a photo of mom and Robin watching neighbours cut down a huge tree... we waited for the tree to hit one of the cars nearby, but it never did. Apparently they either actually knew what they were doing (one 70 year old man at the end of a rope to direct the tree's fall? I dunno) or were very lucky.





For some reason Robin didn't want his photo taken above. But he smiled for the camera as we waited for dinner at the Rib Shack:





And here he is again at Jen and Bo's wedding... I really like this photo... lol






Finally, we took all three family dogs (Jesse, Rollee, and Hudson) to the dog park. It was messy fun. The best part was at the end when Robin was moving the car to the other end of a field where the truck was parked, and Corey, the dogs and I were supposed to walk across the field to meet him. Jesse was afraid that her car was leaving her and chased it the entire way down the road!!









I have 130 photos from Jen and Bo's wedding, so if anyone wants digital copies, drop me an email. I suspect most people already have a pile of their own, but maybe I have a few shots you would like. I know from my wedding that more photos are better - because many of them don't turn out, or someone's not smiling etc. So if you have THOUSANDS then you are bound to end up with a few good ones :)

On the home front, we have half moved into the new house. The master bedroom walls are painted. Just the trim remains to be done. Main floor and the basement are half done and functional. Moved the BBQ over and set up the patio set. Have the internet and x-box live set up now. We're still waiting to hear about getting our phone hooked up - in the meantime messages can be left at the townhouse and we are elaving MSN and Yahoo messenger on 24/7.

Greetings from Kitchener

We are back in KW and mostly residing in our new Kitchener house as I paint etc. We are constantly bringing more loads of stuff over, but can't bring most of the big item until the rooms are painted (and we borrow a truck).
I don't have the camera here with me, but I'll post photos from our trip soon.
We do not have phone service yet at the new house because Bell's technicians are on strike. I called over 2 weeks ago and still haven't heard from one, but I checked with Bell and we are on the priority list - lol - whatever that means. In the meantime, we do have our internet hooked up (good thing we didn't decide to use DSL) and can be reached through my messengers (both Yahoo and MSN). Our townhouse phone is still connected, and you can leave a message.

It's a beautiful day here. I'm going to take my City Cafe bagel that just finished toasting and sit on my deck :-) (And I don't expect any mosquitos! Ha! I'm glad to be back in KW)

Blessings,
Mandy Moon