15 Years at NBTel/Aliant

• Today is 15 years since I officially joined NBTel. I worked there as a consultant for a few months, but this was the day they officially hired me in 1994. I am grateful for all those years as well as the 20 I had at IBM.
• We went to the lake for the first time this year. The air was about 75 F degrees , the lake was 45 degrees and we watched almost all of the ice melt. The day ended with a beautiful sunset as it so often does.

A couple of things.

I'm grateful that I don't have to do the crack filling to fix the entryway. It is in pretty bad shape with cracks and holes. Roger seems to know what he is doing. I'm hoping I will still be grateful when I get his bill.

I went to the doctor today to get a few things checked out. I'm really grateful that in Canada, this didn't cost me a cent.

Easter Plays

The last couple of weeks I got to attend a couple of Easter Productions. The first was at the International Church of Las Vegas at http://www.iclv.com . It was a big church (800+ movable seats), with basketball nets on each end. The play was right up there with Las Vegas quality acting, singing, sound and lighting. The basic story was that Jesus came back in 2009 to New York City rather than 2000 years ago. It was a great professional quality production and absolutely free.

The second play was the traditional Easter story that we do every year at Smythe Street Cathedral in Fredericton. I was helping out with the ushering at a couple of the performances. It was great too with all the Las Vegas production quality and special effects, costumes and live animals. The wabsite is http://www.smythestreetcathedral.com/

Las Vegas

First chance to blog since I got back from Las Vegas. Yes, I am thankful that I went and I am thankful that I am back home. We saw a lot of unique things that you can only see in this part of the world. There were so many things to be grateful for on this trip:

• Rock this Way - An Easter Pagant Rock Opera by the International Church of Las Vegas
• Red Rock Canyon
• Valley of Fire State Park
• The Shows - especially Cirque du Soleil "O"
• All the interesting and unusual sights in the hotels, especially Caesars Palace and Bellagio
• Fremont Street Experience
• Lake Meade
• Hoover Dam
• Grand Canyon
• I-Max Theatre
• The Monorail

Of course it was all topped off by spending the time with a wonderful wife and good friends.

wordle.net

I'm grateful to wordle.net for creating a summary of January blogs:

Birthday

It's easy to be grateful on your birthday. Sometimes you get cake or presents and certainly well wishes from all your friends. At least the ones who know or see it on facebook. I'm especially grateful for being another year older and in pretty good health to enjoy my retirement. I'm reminded of all the blessings I have when I read the blogs of a couple of friends who are getting chemo treatments. You can follow their inspirational stories too at http://www.debmac88.blogspot.com/ and http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dwaynesleep

Ron Cunningham

Today we went to the funeral for Ron Cunningham. He married Doris's Aunt Lois after her first husband (Lawrence Harvey) died. He was like your favourite uncle who was delightfully different from all your other uncles. Ron spent many years in youth work and the ministry, but never as a permanent full time pastor at a church. He filled in on a part time basis for many chruches over the years. The lack of a stable full time job never seemed to make any difference as he always seem to be most happy helping out when needed. He had a great love for people and a curiosity about rocks and ancient Indian artifacts which he collected. Most people would think they were just junk, but he knew the story and the history behind each find. I'm grateful I knew Ron.