The True sign of Parenthood

My wife and I have been in the market for a mini-van as of late. With our extremely excitable son in tow, along with the fast-approaching arrival of a second son in only a few months, we figured it would probably be wise to try and find something with a little more space.
The transition to mini-van ownership is perhaps a misunderstood venture. Some might laugh when a friend or acquaintance brings up the fact that they need to buy one. What these observers should be sympathetic to is the idea that most people don't necessarily want a mini-van: this is instead a needed purchase to more readily accommodate a family-oriented lifestyle.
Truth be known, though, I do kind of look forward to cruising the pot-hole riddled streets of Edmonton sitting upon my wheeled throne letting the world around me know that I am a dad.

Update: My wife and I, having procured a Nissan Quest, are now looking to get rid of a 95 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. If you live in the Edmonton area and are looking for a decent deal on a car, drop me an email at jasonandkatey@hotmail.com. I'm not really looking to make a huge profit... just a few hundred bucks for a pretty well maintained vehicle.

Student Teaching

It's been far too long since the last post mainly because I have been swamped with my student teaching at Spruce Grove Composite High School. My usual schedule consists of a wake-up call somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00 am to get some work done. I leave for school by 7:30 and come home by about 4:30 in the afternoon. After an evening dutifully preparing lesson plans and other joyous labour, I crash at about 12:30... eager to begin the day anew in but a mere 4 hours.
Kind of whiny, I know. But if I've learned anything from this practicum, its that I have gotten into a profession that will be much more demanding than I have anticipated. Not a bad thing necessarily, but I have gained a perspective into what made my favorite teachers so enjoyable. They literally put their heart and soul into their work.
There's still much more to learn, even in my final week, but I am grateful for the time I ahve had to be a part of the learning community out at the comp.
With school winding down, regular updates should be more forthcoming. Not like you've never heard that before.

Happy Easter

If you're like me, life sometimes gets in the way of taking the time to think about what it is that we're really celebrating. For my family, Easter is a time of reflection where we can focus on the life and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can in no way hope to give adequate credit to all He has done for me. I hope that in some small way I can acknowledge Him in my life and follow His example.

However you may celebrate, or whether you even do anything at all, enjoy it with those whom you love.

This Just In...

With all this talk about a possible election in Canada, I can certainly understand the attacks coming from both the Liberals and the Conservatives. What I find so amusing about this whole thing is this trumped-up Liberal moral outrage whenever the Tories take what might be called a cheap shot. Liberal leader Stephane Dion has consistently reminded the press that he won't go negative, but will instead push a positive message for all Canadians.

This is just rich.

TORONTO -- Pre-election sniping continued Wednesday as Liberal Leader Stephane Dion attacked Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a short-sighted hypocrite.

In a well received speech to about 750 Liberal supporters, Dion accused Harper of having nothing positive to show for his year in office.

"Never before has a Canadian government done so little with so much," Dion said, as some 30 members of his Toronto-area caucus looked on.

"Never before has a Canadian government missed such an opportunity."

Dion criticized the recent Conservative budget as "written by a pollster" that panders rather than builds a strong economy.

The budget, he said, did nothing for the poor or children, while the scrapping of the tax-free status of income-trusts was a broken promise for which "a million Canadians paid the price."

Even Harper's declaration on Wednesday of a wait-times guarantee for one health-care service in each
province can be considered a "failure," Dion said.

That's because Harper promised such guarantees in five different kinds of surgery.

"Delivering a guarantee in only one of five promised areas is not delivery, it's failure," Dion said.

"We need a wait-times guarantee for Conservative wait-time promises."

Dion, a former environment minister, accused the prime minister of cloaking himself in green now that polls show Canadians want action on climate change.

The Conservatives, he said, are running a "con job" on Canadians when it comes to the environment.

"Stephen Harper has no conviction," Dion said.

At one point in his speech, Dion accused Harper of "blackmail and electoral manipulations" in a quest to strip the federal government of its powers. (emphasis added)

This is politics and all politicians do it. It may be a low-blow but at least the Conservatives aren't pretending to spread a message of love, joy and world peace. If the Liberals want to whine and throw their collective hissy-fits (boo-hoo, they're so unfair) only to turn around and use the same tactics they gripe about, they only expose themselves as the hyprocrites that they are.

New Beginnings

Having spent at least part of the last year-and-a-half on the good ship S.S. Blogger, I've at least learned a thing or two about what I want to be able to do with this. I love being able to talk politics and had some fun spending a little bit more time with conservatism in Canada. The challenges in sharing a more unique take on things later became a deterrent for writing. Why blog when who knows how many others have written about pretty much the same thing.

This is merely my attempt to start things anew and broaden my perspective. Politics will undoubtedly rear its ugly head on these pages, but I want to be able to address other topics of interest without feeling constrained to follow a certain framework or pattern with my writing. For those few choice souls who share this little stroll with me, I look forward to hearing your comments and feedback where possible.

In the mean time, don't forget to look both ways and hold out your arm.