Sometimes I feel like my inner dialogue is a broken record as I try to compose my thoughts when I sit down to write. It usually begins with "it's been a really busy week". There gets to be a point however, where it can't be considered a so-called "busy week" if it is the exact same as the week before and the week before that. I guess this is life. It is such a contrast to how we lived in Europe for almost a decade, when we had so few demands on our time. It's not that I mind the pace of life now but just that it really feels like a lot of juggling needs to be done to get everybody to where they need to be.

Les is doing a great job, managing the kids, Kindergarten, gymnastics, meals.....not to mention all the work she has taken on lately. With Lucas' first birthday coming tomorrow, Les' maternity leave is now done and she has started to take on work. And it just keeps coming. She literally has enough projects to keep her busy full time, and she hasn't even started back with her employer. Although this is a good problem to have, Les' desire to make it work for everyone means that we need to do a lot of juggling around our house. It's not that easy to sit down at the computer, let alone compose a decent piece of work, with a very active one year old at your feet (trying to unplug the computer)...and on your lap (trying to type)...and on the table (trying to spill your coffee)...and on and on. In fact, Luc is such a hand-full (almost always in a great, lovable way, except when you are trying to type), that when he is gone or asleep, Les feels totally unencumbered and able to work...despite the fact that there is still a 5 and 3 year old in the room with her!

My mom has been a big help with the kids, and managed to get Les time to catch up on some of these projects, even while I have been working lots. This past weekend she took all three kids to playtime at the gym and then for a swim, before taking the girls for a sleep over. Apparently they went out for a night of Christmas carols and hot chocolate and then sledding in park the next day. I sure hope I have that type of energy when I am 65.

I have been going through fire fighter application processes with Vancouver and North/West Vancouver for the last month. Over the last weekend I had a physical test with one department and a 5 hour written test with the other. Because I need a score in the mid 90 percent range to get an interview, I have spent more time reading text books than blogging lately. I will see if that pays off on December 14th.

I played a couple of basketball games last week. One against a top high school team and another in Men's league playoffs. It was interesting to play against a good, young team that had more depth, was better conditioned and better organized than the group I was playing with. The interesting part was that, despite all these advantages, we were still able to easily win. I think it just comes down to the experience of knowing what is and what isn't important, how to take little short cuts and get little advantages. I never understood how this worked when I was younger...how the old, out of shape guys would come into the gym and dominate us. Now I am that guy. With about 1/4 the effort spent, I probably score 4 or 5 times more now than I did as a university player in peak condition. The game (sometimes, not always) comes so easily that it makes me wonder why I had to work so hard every day as a professional. Maybe I didn't? Anyways, the bottom line is that my increased offensive output is matched by an almost equal decline in defensive and rebounding ability....so I guess it all just evens out in the end.

On Saturday night, with Molly and Fin sleeping at my mom's, Les, Luc and I joined the McKnights for a celebration dinner at Earls. PJ showed remarkable poise dealing with the pressure of passing his CA exam while working at KPMG. Congratulations, I know you'll do really well with this. After dinner we hit the Hoop Dreams basketball party where Les showed off her guitar skills on rock star. She was pretty good, even after a couple of beers. I'll be really impressed if she can get her guitar back from Val Gilbert and do the same thing when there is a little more to it than hitting one of 5 buttons.


Below are a couple of pictures of what happens when the kids are with me while Les goes off to write. Firstly, the is some unsupervised play where 5 year olds tow 11 month olds around in wagons. Secondly, we all sat down together and watched Ratatouille and ate popcorn after school. It's a nice way to spend a winter's day but may come back to bite. I just gave my kids a serious love for rats in the same week that I had set some precautionary rat-traps down in Point Roberts. I can already envision myself being mentally convicted of murder by the impressionable minds of my Disney educated children. Oh well, I don't really give a rats ass anyways.