Author Archives: michelle.mack

About michelle.mack

Christian. Songwriter. Wife. Runner. Snowboarder. Mom. Musician. Black Belt. Novice domestic engineer. Living to love by God's grace.

A new adventure. Well, er… sort of

Posted on by
2
akarmy on Flickr

Photo: akarmy on Flickr

Well, my life is about to change. To be honest, I haven’t even formed an opinion about it. I can see so many challenges and benefits to come from what’s happening that I’m almost excited about the personal growth that is, no doubt, about to take place.

Big-man has been laid off since October 3rd. He’s been doing high rise layout for a couple of different forming companies for the last few years now; it was a great change for him from carpentry, which is much harder on the body. He’s also had his fair share of falls as a carpenter – two decent falls at work and a fall from our balcony three years ago. The balcony fall is actually what prompted the work change. So the change was really pretty necessary.

But now, thanks to the state of the economy and the funding falling out from beneath the developers building these high rises all over the city, I am sure we are about to see an influx of unemployed construction workers.

Last week, big-man was at a men’s breakfast at our church and met up with an acquaintance who turned him on to a job out of town. There’s a big mining complex being built near Kamloops and they need guys. So from last Saturday until now – a mere 5 days, all the arrangements have been made and he leaves this Monday. The job may last a year.

Now, the job is carpentry and not layout, but we both really feel this is God’s will for us right now. First, it came from a church connection at a church event. The breakfast, incidentally, was one to promote a men’s retreat that he’s wanted to go to now since last year and finally planned to do this November. Well, as it turns out, his schedule on this new job will be 10 days in and 4 days out, so he’s off Friday through Monday every two weeks; and the great part is that his first 4 day weekend is exactly the weekend on which this retreat is taking place, so he can still go without any schedule alterations. Not only all that but we both just really feel at peace with the situation despite the fact that we know it’s not ideal over the long term.

Truthfully I think this will be good for both of us in many ways. I’m not going to comment on how I think big-man is going to grow from this experience – it’s not really my place to share that with you. But, I can say that I know I will be stretched and challenged through this. Unbelievably so.

My biggest struggle is and always has been selfishness and self-centeredness.

I have become very reliant on big-man being home in the evenings so I can carry on my hobbies and such each night of the week. Honestly, that’s probably what causes a good portion of the challenges we face in our marriage. I’m often out Monday through Thursday evenings and then also want to get out on weekends for coffee with a friend, church functions, shopping or whatever. You know the people who talk about needing a whole whack of “me time”? Yeah, I think I may have gotten a little out-of-control in that area.

I’ve known for a long time I’ve been trying to squeeze in too much stuff: full time job, kickboxing training, band rehearsals and concerts, worship team rehearsals and church services, not to mention blogging here and at urbanshore.ca, all while trying to be a wife and a mother to a toddler. Plus I spend an exorbitant amount of time reading blogs and tweets; when I have more than 3 minutes of downtime I’ve got my Google reader open on my mobile phone. I’m not sure what it is that compels me to be so busy, but I’ve had a sneaking suspicion for a long time that it might be something far deeper than just a variety of interests. It’s probably also not so healthy.

So here’s my challenge: I have to choose what’s important.

My amazing mother in law has agreed to give me two evenings each week and I’ve chosen to use those for band rehearsals and my church home group. Kickboxing is out. Workouts are going to have to take some other form that neither takes away from time with my son nor breaks the bank with babysitting costs; further, mini-man spends 9 hours in daycare 5 days a week, so I will absolutely not leave him with a babysitter who isn’t immediate family unless it’s an absolute emergency.

Socializing is going to have to take the form of friends over to my place either with their kids or during mini-man’s naptime (yes, I’m still blessed enough to have this going for me). Oh yeah, and I’ll have to start cooking again (I’m VERY spoiled and big-man has done all the cooking always). Who knows, my home might even get cleaned more often.

This distance all but guarantees we’ll be more selective with how we spend the weekends we do get to share as a family. I really think it’s going to show me how much I rely on my husband and how much of a blessing he’s been in my life, even when I haven’t appreciated it. By the grace of God I may just become a good wife and a good mother by the end of this. Who knows?

Trumpet Players: Are we all snobs?!

Posted on by
1
BotheredByBees on Flickr

Photo: BotheredByBees on Flickr

I play the trumpet in a band. Yeah, I said it. I’m a band geek and I have been since I was 10. I started playing in grade 5 at my elementary school, continued on through elementary honour band, high school band, community marching band. For most of my high school years I played in the concert band, jazz band, orchestra and a community band. I traveled to various places – Calgary, Hawaii and Europe. In fact, I have a great photo of my band playing in a giant hall in Vienna where we were broadcast on the radio there. Very cool. Or, er… not. Whatever.

Now I play in the Lynn Valley Black Bear Band in North Vancouver. Tonight in rehearsal, my music director started making jokes about trumpet players:

Q. How does a trumpet player greet another trumpet player?
A. Hi. My name is Michelle, and I’m better than you.

Nice. Thanks, Ken. Really appreciate it. So anyway, here are some more jokes that poke fun at trumpet players:

Q. How many trumpet players does it take to change a lightbulb?
A. Five. One to change the lightbulb and four more to tell him how much better they could have done it.

And my personal favourite…

Q: What do lead trumpet players use for birth control?
A: Their personality.

Drinking Water: Do you trust your tap?

Posted on by
1
bfurnace on Flickr

Photo: bfurnace on Flickr

I’ve been thinking about this lately: Am I alone in my distrust of my municipal drinking water?

My hesitance in guzzling the seemingly harmless water that flows freely from my tap began when my son was born, two and a half years ago. Until then, I didn’t care one way or the other. I drank almost exclusively tap water except for the bottled water I got for free at work (we had a bottled water sponsor at the time) and the bottled water I’d buy if I was out or going camping. That was about the extent of my bottled water use.

When my son was born, however, I began to question the safety of the water I’d taken for granted all my life.

I attended weekly Mom & Baby Drop-In sessions offered by North Shore Coastal Health each week while I was on maternity leave. I pretty much went every week for the year. Not only was it a great place to meet other new moms, but it was a place to get breastfeeding advice, speak to community health nurses about whatever questions I had, and listen to lectures on scheduled topics each week. One of the topics I discussed with the nurses was the safety of water for my newborn.

My son was not exclusively breast fed; he was supplemented with a little formula. Now formula can be purchased as a ready-made liquid or a powder form. The liquid, however, is rediculously expensive as compared with the powder (which isn’t cheap either – a full time formula-fed baby can go through $40/week in formula alone and that’s if they don’t need a specially formulated one i.e. soy-based or whatever). So for those of us who felt EI Mat Leave benefits were a bit of a hit to the pocketbook, we needed to mix powder with water.

Now, the nurses at the drop-in sessions said that babies shouldn’t have tap water until they’re at least 4 months old and their immune systems can handle it. Now I can’t quote exactly who said that and when, but that’s what I was told at the time. That didn’t really make me feel better about using it beyond 4 months either, to be honest. I mean, my kid’s immune system is nearly the same at 3 1/2 months as it is at 4 1/2 months, surely.

I decided to use bottled water at that point because it just seems cleaner (though the Mayo Clinic says you should also consider boiling bottled water before giving it to a baby) . I mean, my pipes in my building are 35 years old and my municipality’s pipes are probably nearly 100 years old. They can’t be all that clean inside, can they? I’ve caught glimpses of the water mains when you drive by a hole in the middle of the road where the crews are digging and those giant mains have buildup in them… just like mineral deposits in the inside of caves. The problem is I don’t really know what made those deposits. Plus, there are reports of stuff in our water I don’t particularly want there. For instance, in March of this year, CNN reported finding prescription drugs in tap water across the US. That’s kind of scary.

So anyway, I am a bottled water advocate. Does that mean I won’t touch tap water? Of course not. But I buy bottled water for regular use at home and don’t feel quite right about giving the tap water to my kid. What does that say?

What do you think? Do you trust your local tap water? Is it municipal or well? Do you drink bottled water? Am I being crazy about this?

Lost in busy-ness

Posted on by
1
extranoise on Flickr

Photo: extranoise on Flickr

This week, being Thanksgiving and a short work week, was super busy. Not only that, but I didn’t even get to doing half of what I’d hoped to do.

Election Tuesday

My cold has still been kicking my behind, particularly at night – I’m still coughing like crazy (it’s all very attractive), and so I didn’t go to my kickboxing class Tuesday evening. Instead, I left work early to cast my vote and then went for a walk around my neighborhood to take photos for Urban Shore. I then after mini-man was in bed, I watched the Canadian election results to find that we have managed to elect pretty much the same government we did last time.

Fellowship Wednesday

Wednesday after work, big-man and I went to a home church group for our Passport – Life in the Kingdom study we’ve been doing. It was really nice to get into a small group again; it’s been a long time since we’ve participated in one. I’m reminded of how important fellowship is to a Christian’s spiritual journey. Just hanging out with other believers is super encouraging and I’m always surprised (though really I shouldn’t be) to find out everyone is just as messed up as we are.

Social Thursday

Thursday after work I attended Ideas On Tap at the Yaletown Brew Pub. It was very loud and crowded. I’ve become quite the home body myself, opting to spend time in more intimate settings whenever possible. It was decent, though. I met a few nice people and had a chance to chat again with some people I’ve come to know over the last few months. It was interesting hearing what everyone is working on, but I’m still shocked at how many technology folks are developing tools because they can and pitching them to business rather than taking a business problem and solving it first. Their way means they first have to convince the business owner/manager that they have a problem and then show them how they can solve it; the latter just means they present a solution to a problem everyone already recognizes… way easier. But anyway, it was pretty fun. I might not go every month, but I could go again.

TGI Friday

Today at work I had a great day. I had a nice meeting with my rep from Canwest about integrating more online advertising into my TV and print mix; spent a bunch of time working with my other team members on a huge presentation regarding the bottled vs. tap water debate; and reviewed a bunch of ideas for mobile marketing and mobile web development that I’m working on. It was, well, a Friday… and fairly relaxed today. I did, however, get to hear all about my boss’ trip to India to participate in Habitat for Humanity. He just got back yesterday and his stories were pretty mind-blowing. He told of a class system very much alive and well and children playing in sewage. I would have had a very hard time with that, I admit.

I’m glad it’s the weekend. I can get on with some more blogging; I am leading worship at my church this weekend (and, thus, a rehearsal Saturday and 6 hours of church on Sunday) and get to spend time with my family. It seems life keeps getting busier and busier. As it does, it’s important to spend time on the people that matter most.

Gratitude: a moment of reflection

Posted on by
1
mysza831 on Flickr

Photo: mysza831 on Flickr

This weekend presents one of the most interesting Thanksgiving weekends for me probably ever. I’ve been in tough spots before, but the current global economic situation coupled with my husband having recently been laid off (because the banks have pulled funding for real estate high rise construction), leaves me really contemplating what I am thankful for this year.

Firstly, I’m thankful that there is a God, and He’s the God who created heaven and earth. The God who sent His Son to die for me.

I’m thankful for my family. I’m thankful for my husband – a man with the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met. A man who would move heaven and earth for his family if he needed to. A man who loves me despite my shortcomings. A man who has been through many challenging situations in this life and who has pulled himself up out of the muck and made something wonderful.

I’m thankful for my beautiful son. I’m grateful every day that God let us keep him in that very dark moment when he was just 5 weeks old – a moment forever burned in my memory. I’m thankful for every moment I’ve had to spend with him and everything he’s taught me about me and about humanity.

I’m thankful for my parents who will always be my parents, even without a biological tie.

I’m thankful for my mother in law, who has built a special bond with my son, and without whom my life would be very different.

I’m thankful for my home. As much as I complain about how little space we have, I’m thankful that I can live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I’m thankful that we have a roof over our heads and that our son has his own room. I’m thankful that we have extras like TV and internet and phone service. I’m thankful that we have clean running water and enough food.

I’m thankful for my brother and sister-in-law, my other sister-in-law and my biological half sister and grandmother. I’m thankful for my friends, who care enough to share their lives with me.

I’m thankful for my job. I’m thankful that Della and Stuart McLaughlin, owners of Grouse Mountain, have allowed me to continue to learn and flourish and grow and contribute and help in some small way to continue to evolve this amazing thing they have worked so hard to build. I’m thankful that they’ve taken so many chances on me and that I’ve come through it all with a better understanding of myself, my skills, my talents and abilities, my likes and dislikes and my value as a professional.

No matter what happens… I’m blessed beyond belief. It’s my prayer that I would never forget that.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

BC Government Ad: FAIL

Posted on by
Reply

So I’m browsing Facebook this morning and I see a little ad in my news feed that catches my eye:

A little ad for the BC Public Service IT department. Just thought I’d click… in this day and age, a cushy job with the government is never a bad idea. Not that I’m looking for a new job, but you know how it is…

So I click through.

Bummer. Best to keep an eye on your server status.

About those hometown heroes…

Posted on by
Reply

Yeah, saw them again tonight. Some crazy guy in my building forgot he was cooking and when he realized he was on the verge of burning down the entire building, decided to close the doors, stay inside and hope the smoke would somehow go away and no one would notice.

Meanwhile, his alarm is ringing, the building alarms are going and I’m sending big-man to check out what’s going on while bundling up mini-man in a blanket (who had been asleep for 2 hours or so at this point) and scooping him up for a little walk in the fresh fall air.

Thank God it wasn’t raining tonight!

Anyway, the fire is out. The smoke is being blown out of the building. Hopefully crazy man is being treated to a nice room with a soft wall panelling and we were all allowed back in within about half an hour. Interesting night, though.

A special thanks to my hometown heroes

Posted on by
2

Today I was out grabbing a few groceries after work with my two year old. Across the street from the grocery store we visit is the local fire hall. Now as we were leaving the grocery store I heard the fire trucks making some noise – they seemed to be testing stuff. Garage doors were opening and closing, sirens were popping on and off… so this, of course, was all very attractive to a two year old boy.

So we stood watching from across the street for a little bit, hoping the trucks would make an appearance, but it turned out they weren’t going anywhere. But then there was a bunch of firefighters standing in one of the garage doorways (I think there are 4 of them in a row – the garage doors, not the firefighters)… anyway, I asked mini-man if he wanted to go and say hello. Of course he was excited and skipped and pranced down to the crosswalk while urging me to run to speed up the process.

I’m not sure if it’s just my local firefighters or emergency personnel everywhere, but the members of North Vancouver City Fire Department are some of the nicest guys anywhere. They were all super friendly and encouraging; they even suggested we go in one of the trucks and look around, which we did. The guy who showed us into the truck headed off somewhere saying he’d be back in a minute, and mini-man, being two, decided it wasn’t quite as cool as he’d thought it would be (new and strange environment and all) so we exited about as quickly as we’d entered.

As we were walking down the street I heard a whistle and turned around to see him running down the street with a little red fire helmet (or do you call it a hat?!) for mini-man… that was SO nice of him! Mini-man was super excited and very cute saying “Thank you so much!”

Now I know these guys have much better things to do than entertain me and my kid, but I’m grateful for that. It shows how caring they really are. So next time they’re hauling my husband out from behind our building after he falls off the balcony, or the next time they’re hacking up my balcony with an axe because my husband lit it on fire with a cigarette butt (yeah, both have happened in recent years), I’ll remember what a treat we had this one day. Thanks.

Pessimistic or Analytical?

Posted on by
Reply

Photo: pusgums on flickr

I keep thinking lately I might be seen quite differently than I perceive myself. I consider myself an optimist. In general, that is. Since some time in my early 20′s when I really sensed ovewhelmingly that things would always work out well for me… I used to joke around that I had my own private angels in heaven watching over me. Any time I’d get into any kind of freaky situation, financial or otherwise, right at the last second something will happen to fix everything and I live happily ever after.

When it comes to my work, on the other hand, I think I might be seen as more pessimistic than I am. A co-worker and I were discussing this just yesterday and we both seem to suffer from the same thing:

In any situation I tend to immediately see how something can be improved – be it and idea, a thing or a process, a program, a design or copy or what have you – and don’t stop to celebrate everything that’s right about.

Maybe it’s just a bad habit, or maybe it’s just the way I’m wired, but either way, I think I sometimes bring people down. It’s not inherantly a bad trait I don’t think; rather, I think it comes from my analytical mind. See, I’m a problem solver. I love improving things, making things more efficient, more effective, easier, quicker, better… and in order to do that, I need to look at how things could be better.

I think I really need to stop and verbalize all the ways something is great rather than skipping right over that part and diving in to improvements. It might improve the way others perceive me.


Add to Technorati Favorites