Who's Going To Prince Edward Island?

Me! I am!

How very, very awesome is that?

VERY.

Has anyone else been there? What should I do? Where should I stay? What should I see?
(Uh, I'll be there for only one day, so ... keep that in mind when you're making your recommendations.)

Do you remember, earlier this summer, when I was learning how to do stuff on my work website and whining about it, I blogged about posting these pages? And did you note how we were taking our Leading Through Conflict workshop across Canada - 4 cities in 4 days? Moncton on Monday, Toronto on Tuesday, Edmonton on Wednesday, and Calgary on Thursday? Did you notice that?

Yeah, so I'm going on that tour! I just bought my tickets. (Not my seminar tickets. I get in for free. My airline tickets. Air Canada.) And instead of arriving in Moncton, New Brunswick late on Sunday night with the rest of the team, I arranged to arrive on FRIDAY instead. I plan to rent a car on Saturday and drive over to Prince Edward Island to see where Anne (of Green Gables) lived. (I REALLY must read that book this month.) (What is wrong with me? How come I spent my youth reading Danielle Steele?) (What type of car I should rent? Something fun, I think. Like a convertible. A red convertible. I should lose 100 pounds before then. And dye my hair a little blonder. And get more sleep so that those eye bags don't join me on this trip. And I will not watch any more Sisters-Keeper type movies between now and then, because Holey Hannah - puffy eyes from all the crying last FOREVER. ) (Black. I should rent a black vehicle. Black is slimming.)

I'll stay on the island for night, (maybe at a bed and breakfast? Or an Inn. "Inn" sounds much quainter than "Motel", no?) and then drive back to Moncton on Sunday afternoon in time to set things up at Allison Church where we will be seminaring on Monday.

I know, I know. Too. Much. Fun.

And then on Monday afternoon, I leave Moncton at 3-ish and fly to Toronto where I will quickly set things up at Morningstar Christian Fellowship for the following day. Why quickly? I'll tell you why... I'm hoping to meet up with John and Val so that we can drive over to James and Julia's place to SEE THEIR NEW BABY which should be a few weeks old by then. I know!

Yes, I am frightfully excited.

From Toronto I fly to Edmonton. Do I know anybody in Edmonton? Is there something I should see there? Unless something comes up, after I set things up at Spruce Grove Alliance, I will blog in my hotel room. And that will be fun too. You betcha.

And our last stop? In Calgary? Will be uber awesome too. Know why? Sandra will be there at the same time, on business as well. Yee Haw, Pardner.

Look out Canada, here I come. Armed with a (hopefully fully-functioning) camera and (hopefully a working, not-slow) laptop (and seminar materials, and booth displays) (and clothes and cosmetics and books to read on the plane rides) I will cross this country with an equal mix of wonderment and exhaustion. I can hardly wait.

Three things I'm thankful for:
1. Late night Facebook-status-distress-calls from shut-in young moms needing chocolate. After I ate my own frozen Caramilk and finished watching Michael Jackson's Live at Bucharest - Dangerous Tour on More Much (I had control of the remote last night and it just kinda stopped there...) I bought some more chocolate and delivered it at 10 pm. Then stayed for tea. Got home after midnight. Not being the least bit tired, I watched State of Play (with Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams) til 3 am. Still not tired, I read til 4. Yeah. I'm an idiot. Getting Drew up for school next week is gonna be hard. For me.

Do you have a minute? I'll get to numbers 2 and 3 eventually, but have you seen MJ's Dangerous Tour DVD? I hadn't before last night. And when he died we were in New York, so we didn't watch any TV and missed dancing footage that may have been playing all that week.

And when we got home, our TV was set to XBox (and has been for most of the summer) because someone who lives with me is wracking up 156,908 hours of Call of Duty experience. So I missed MJ's memorial/funeral/hoopla.

So last night, 2 months after his death, I sat down to watch the boy dance. And sing. And be an entertainer. And it was pure pleasure. He knew how to put on a show.

I've been to a few concerts in my time. (And I'm not referring to only Creation-type concerts.) I dated a fellow who took me to alot of rock shows in the '70's and '80s - so I do have some legitimate frame of reference. And Michael? Was professional. Talented. Entertaining.

The last (non-Christian, hard rock) performer I saw was Billy Talent. I sat at the back of the Croation Cultural Centre and prayed the entire time that he would be struck mute immediately. SO profane. So rude. So offensive. (I had bought tickets for Max and Zac and myself to see Sum 41 and Billy was the opening act.) Now yes, of course, I know, there's no comparison between Michael and Billy's careers or style of music, but it did make me appreciate the Extravagaza that was Michael's show. (Maybe he did swear and get all vulger between songs and they simply didn't add it to the DVD. I don't know. But whatever. ) My point is, and really who cares what or if I even have a point, I spent the evening with Michael and it was good. And my favorite part was near the end of Beat It, when he and four guys were dancing. Loved their synchronized moves. So pleasing to watch. So fluid and perfectly timed and smile-worthy.

I might buy that DVD when I finish paying for all the broken things around here. And after I've paid for my weekend on PEI. And after I've paid for all the other things that are far more important in my life than a DVD of Michael and his smooth moves.

OK. Back to things I'm thankful for. The others shouldn 't be as long.
2. I'm thankful for: the cooler weather this weekend. Kinda makes the transition to September a little easier to swallow. I am not torn between cleaning out the garage or reading on the patio. Now I'm torn between blogging (Yay! I finally have a good connection) or cleaning the garage. So far blogging is winning. Have you sensed that this frentic typing and extended things-I'm-thankful-for-section is just me stalling? Delaying the inevitable? That garage is not going to clean itself. And the boys who I live with sure aren't in a hurry to do it. I have failed.

Last night, at midnight, when her younger-than-mine kids were still not settled into bed, Janice (one of my chocolate-needing facebook friends) moaned about parenting. And asked me for advice. (HAHAHAHA how rich is that? No one in this house ever goes to bed.)
I told her about that episode of Super Nanny that had me sobbing and said, "We all need a fairy-god-nanny to live with us just so that we can be coached on what to do and then encourage us to keep doing it, even when we're exhausted and can't see the desired results. We need a cheerleader to assure us that even though it took almost three hours to get your five year old to sit in the time-out corner for 4 minutes, we are doing the right thing. "

I didn't have that. So my boys will not be helping me clean out the garage or pressure wash the patio or organize the contents stored in the greenhouse unless I pay them $20 per hour. Which I did yesterday.

I paid Drew to pressure wash while I removed all the annuals from my window boxes and terra cotta pots. It looks clean and less colorful out there now. And I'm that much poorer. So, no extra money for a Michael Jackson DVD this week.

3. Thankful. The third thing I am thankful for is my house, my yard, my neighbourhood. I've been viewing them through the eyes of someone who may be interested in a house-swap next summer and know what? I'm a very lucky woman. I live in a fabulous area, my home is comfortable and my yard is private. I complain endlessly about things and am feeling guilty about that.

4. A bonus item. Because I'd rather do anything than tackle that garage...
I am thankful that we do have someone who encourages us when we need it. We just gotta be more in tune to what He's saying. Set aside all the disturbances and focus. Make an effort to hear.

OK then.

Shalom,