The Ties that Bind could involve a BlackBerry...

After a few weeks of dead air, I have finally got my blog up and running again. By some fluke I had erased all the graphics on it and while it could have been a simple fix, I was missing my USB drive which had all my graphic software stored on it. (Photoshop CS whatever anyone?) I had loaned the drive to a friend who in turn had graciously loaded coverage of the 2007 Tour De France on it. Viewing about 5 minutes of it last night, I believe it was worth the wait.

Anyway, here we are in March 2010 and I am blown away by how quickly this year is going by. Tess will be leaving for the motherland in less than two weeks and by the time she makes it back into Canada, we'll be hitting the summer season here in Banff/Canmore Alberta. Everyone says that is the busy season and I can see several establishments slowly gearing up for the rush. Being the new kid in town, I'm open to absorbing all I hear and see. As I take stock of where we stand at work, I hope we will be equal to the task although I know we have a learning curve to travel.

I think the big news of the past week has been my new BlackBerry Curve 8520 Smartphone. I have Lily to thank for getting me to sign up at Rogers for this smartphone. While I took my Dad's iPhone for a serious test drive and loved how it works, I knew that the key ingredient that I was looking for on a new phone was the ability to communicate freely with members of my immediate family as well as co-workers. In short, the BlackBerry Messenger application (BBm) is what sold me. Essentially, anyone with a BlackBerry can invite other owners via their individual pins to use this application to carry on a chat style conversation, free of charge, anywhere in North America. This is great because I get to have a day long conversation with my wife, Lily, my work manager Amanda, and others in the BB community without having to worry about data transfer costs. And of course I can still email or text my Dad and Joy (both iPhone users) since I can access those avenues on this smartphone as well.

With my family being in a tight transition period right now, communcation between all the members is crucial to me. I have observed that in the past we don't do well when we aren't talking to each other. Bad things happen. I'll leave it at that.

Yes we are in transition. Tess has her struggles and I applaud each step she takes to resolve them. Dad is finding his way again after a career dedicated solely to working for the church. My two sisters have many challenges that they are facing. I am in awe of what they have to handle and I pray they remain steady on the course. I also pray for Mom who is holding the fort: our rock. I belong to a family of fighters who rely heavily on their faith to make it through each day.

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."