Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Changes
I've made a few changes to the blog. For one, I changed the title from hyperblogianism to MiKenzie, Inc. Why? When I started this blog, it was originally intended to be a place for my online persona, hyperferrianism, to post opinions, humor, and social commentary, much like he has long done on message boards. Instead, it quickly evolved into a venue to keep my family up to date with what's going on in my life. This has been a good evolution. I prefer this to Facebook, which I have hardly touched since starting this blog. However, this leads to my next change: I have a new blog that is going to follow the original intent of this blog (opinions, humor, and social commentary). If you're interested, here's the link: www.hyperblogianism.blogspot.com Some of you might not be interested, and I won't be offended if you don't follow my new blog.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
2008 Year In Review
I meant to do this on New Year's Day, but as I sat down to do it, I read Mum's blog entry that said that MacKenzie was dead, and that distracted me. But, after weeks of procrastination, here it is:
January: I started 2008 as a recent college grad working at the Howard Johnson Express Inn in Lethbridge, Alberta. I was sending out resumes, but the job I really wanted (Alberta Municipal Affairs Internship for Administrators) wasn't availabe until May. I had to have my application package in by mid-February, so that is what I devoted most of my job-hunting enthusiasm towards despite the proddings of my father to get out there and find a real job as soon as possible.
February: I don't remember much happening in February. Life just continued on as it had. Avril was large with child, I sent in my application package to Alberta Municipal Affairs, and I hung out with Noah, Heidi, and my sister-in-law Afton. There was Valentine's Day, so Avril's parents got Kenny for the day.
March: This month was a little more eventful. I had an interview for the internship in Raymond, Grande Prairie, and Trochu/Three Hills. On the way home from the interview in Trochu/Three Hills on March 19, the CAO of Three Hills called me and offered the job, so I took Noah (my travelling companion) to Calgary for a celebration at Swiss Chalet. The next day, I turned 30 years old. Then, on the 24th of March, Avril gave birth to our second son, a cute ball of happiness that we named Alexander Lloyd. No, the name has nothing to do with author Lloyd Alexander, and no, we didn't name him after famous Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie. If you must know, he's named after the main character of a story I wrote, and his middle name is my father's name. What else happened in March? Heidi's dog died on my birthday, which was sad. Loki had attitude and baditude.
April: This was a pretty good month. A little busy, but good. Avril turned 23 on the 9th. Alex did as newborns do. Kenny was adjusting beautifully to being a big brother. We made a couple of trips to Three Hills and Trochu desperately looking for a place to live. Things were looking pretty glum until we finally found a crap-shack to rent in Trochu. We didn't realize how much of a crap-shack it was at the time, so we were very happy. The most exciting event of April was the birth of Heidi's daughter Matea. She was born on April 24th, a family favourite. On the last day of April, we left Lethbridge and moved to Trochu.
May: I started my internship on May 1. I spent that first month working in Three Hills. It was a huge change in my life. Municipal administration is worlds away (and above) working at a motel front desk. Also, instead of being in a huge ward in a city, we were in a small branch in a small town. Alex continued to grow up. Like Kenny, he smiled at a very early age, and it was a very winning smile that he was generous with. Kenny continued growing as well, continually wowing us with his English skills. A few weeks into May, I accidentally made a glass baking pan explode, and I stepped on one of the shards, gashing the ball of my foot. I should have gone to the hospital, but I decided that polysporin and a band-aid would suffice. Other May highlights: I got my first cellphone, and I frog came to visit me in my office.
June: I gave Alex his official baby blessing in church on June 1. That afternoon, since there was a lot of family in town (Avril's family, the Quists, and the Bialingers) we had a birthday party for Kenny, who turned two on June 2. During the first week in June, we went to Edmonton for several days for an orientation for the 24 interns in Alberta. It was nice to meet and talk with my fellow interns and get to know them. While we were up there, we attended a MacKenzie family reunion/Mum's 60th birthday. All seven of us kids, plus our spouses and children were there, except for Cindy and Brooklyn, who had just been released from the hospital. It was a fun day, despite the unseasonably poor weather. It was the first official Lloyd and Pat MacKenzie family reunion. When I returned home, I started working in Trochu.
July: After spending Canada Day at home in Trochu, we went down south for Matea's baby blessing. We had a nice visit with my cousins and Avril's family. Aaaaaaaand, I think that's it for July.
August: After a mere four months as the youngest MacKenzie grandchild, Alex was usurped by his little cousin Baron. Emily and Allan got married, thus finishing off my family. (I'm looking at you, now, Afton!) Avril, the boys, and I roasted in the summer heat in our breeze-free house. Otherwise, life rolled on.
September: The highlight of this month was getting together with my family for the annual MacKenzie Cup golf tournament. This year's tournament was hosted by the Quists in Lacombe. Quincey and I successfully defended our championship, and we had a nice family visit. The end of September kicked off two months of excessive business travel. First stop: Lethbridge for a career fair at the U of L. Avril and the boys came with me, and I left them there with her family while I went to Edmonton for the Alberta Urban Municipalties Association annual convention, which started on the last day of September.
October: I finished off the AUMA convention and went back home and continued working. Avril's parents brought my family back home to me, and we carried on for a time until Executive Week, a conference for the Municipal Interns, in Edmonton. We had Thanksgiving somewhere in there. We decided, sucks to travelling, we're having Thanksgiving at home by ourselves, which we greatly enjoyed. I also started my blog somewhere in there. Also, the house flooded. At 3:30 in the morning, of course.
November: My business travels continued. First, I went back to Lethbridge for another career fair, this one at Lethbridge College, which is where I went to school. I stayed down a couple of extra days so that Noah and I could head over to Medicine Hat for a Matthew Good concert. The following week, it was back to Edmonton for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties annual convention. After this convention, I vowed that I wasn't travelling anywhere farther than Olds until February, a vow I broke two weeks later when I went to Calgary to celebrate American Thanksgiving with Avril's family. November is also the month that the by-law that Trochu Town Council had me put together was passed and blamed on me by the local paper. At the end of the month, we moved from the Trochu crap-shack to a beautiful house in Three Hills, where we are much happier.
December: December was a month of extremes. There were great times and awful times. Avril's grandfather died, and we went to Foremost, Alberta for his funeral in -30 degree temperatures plus windchill. My car doesn't handle the cold very well, and I had to have someone give it a boost several times. Christmas, on the other hand, was wonderful. The four of us spent it home alone in Three Hills. It was a very good day. A few days after Christmas, my parents came down, and we had a nice visit. Avril's parents came up and spent New Year's Eve with us, which was very nice. On New Year's Day, I found out at my cousin's 12-year-old son, MacKenzie Fisher, had died on December 31 due to a ruptured brain tumour. This was one of the awful times I alluded to earlier. I haven't cried that hard since my first fiancee (the one I didn't marry) broke up with me eight years ago. Despite the year ending on such a bitter note, it was, overall, a good year.
January: I started 2008 as a recent college grad working at the Howard Johnson Express Inn in Lethbridge, Alberta. I was sending out resumes, but the job I really wanted (Alberta Municipal Affairs Internship for Administrators) wasn't availabe until May. I had to have my application package in by mid-February, so that is what I devoted most of my job-hunting enthusiasm towards despite the proddings of my father to get out there and find a real job as soon as possible.
February: I don't remember much happening in February. Life just continued on as it had. Avril was large with child, I sent in my application package to Alberta Municipal Affairs, and I hung out with Noah, Heidi, and my sister-in-law Afton. There was Valentine's Day, so Avril's parents got Kenny for the day.
March: This month was a little more eventful. I had an interview for the internship in Raymond, Grande Prairie, and Trochu/Three Hills. On the way home from the interview in Trochu/Three Hills on March 19, the CAO of Three Hills called me and offered the job, so I took Noah (my travelling companion) to Calgary for a celebration at Swiss Chalet. The next day, I turned 30 years old. Then, on the 24th of March, Avril gave birth to our second son, a cute ball of happiness that we named Alexander Lloyd. No, the name has nothing to do with author Lloyd Alexander, and no, we didn't name him after famous Canadian explorer Alexander MacKenzie. If you must know, he's named after the main character of a story I wrote, and his middle name is my father's name. What else happened in March? Heidi's dog died on my birthday, which was sad. Loki had attitude and baditude.
April: This was a pretty good month. A little busy, but good. Avril turned 23 on the 9th. Alex did as newborns do. Kenny was adjusting beautifully to being a big brother. We made a couple of trips to Three Hills and Trochu desperately looking for a place to live. Things were looking pretty glum until we finally found a crap-shack to rent in Trochu. We didn't realize how much of a crap-shack it was at the time, so we were very happy. The most exciting event of April was the birth of Heidi's daughter Matea. She was born on April 24th, a family favourite. On the last day of April, we left Lethbridge and moved to Trochu.
May: I started my internship on May 1. I spent that first month working in Three Hills. It was a huge change in my life. Municipal administration is worlds away (and above) working at a motel front desk. Also, instead of being in a huge ward in a city, we were in a small branch in a small town. Alex continued to grow up. Like Kenny, he smiled at a very early age, and it was a very winning smile that he was generous with. Kenny continued growing as well, continually wowing us with his English skills. A few weeks into May, I accidentally made a glass baking pan explode, and I stepped on one of the shards, gashing the ball of my foot. I should have gone to the hospital, but I decided that polysporin and a band-aid would suffice. Other May highlights: I got my first cellphone, and I frog came to visit me in my office.
June: I gave Alex his official baby blessing in church on June 1. That afternoon, since there was a lot of family in town (Avril's family, the Quists, and the Bialingers) we had a birthday party for Kenny, who turned two on June 2. During the first week in June, we went to Edmonton for several days for an orientation for the 24 interns in Alberta. It was nice to meet and talk with my fellow interns and get to know them. While we were up there, we attended a MacKenzie family reunion/Mum's 60th birthday. All seven of us kids, plus our spouses and children were there, except for Cindy and Brooklyn, who had just been released from the hospital. It was a fun day, despite the unseasonably poor weather. It was the first official Lloyd and Pat MacKenzie family reunion. When I returned home, I started working in Trochu.
July: After spending Canada Day at home in Trochu, we went down south for Matea's baby blessing. We had a nice visit with my cousins and Avril's family. Aaaaaaaand, I think that's it for July.
August: After a mere four months as the youngest MacKenzie grandchild, Alex was usurped by his little cousin Baron. Emily and Allan got married, thus finishing off my family. (I'm looking at you, now, Afton!) Avril, the boys, and I roasted in the summer heat in our breeze-free house. Otherwise, life rolled on.
September: The highlight of this month was getting together with my family for the annual MacKenzie Cup golf tournament. This year's tournament was hosted by the Quists in Lacombe. Quincey and I successfully defended our championship, and we had a nice family visit. The end of September kicked off two months of excessive business travel. First stop: Lethbridge for a career fair at the U of L. Avril and the boys came with me, and I left them there with her family while I went to Edmonton for the Alberta Urban Municipalties Association annual convention, which started on the last day of September.
October: I finished off the AUMA convention and went back home and continued working. Avril's parents brought my family back home to me, and we carried on for a time until Executive Week, a conference for the Municipal Interns, in Edmonton. We had Thanksgiving somewhere in there. We decided, sucks to travelling, we're having Thanksgiving at home by ourselves, which we greatly enjoyed. I also started my blog somewhere in there. Also, the house flooded. At 3:30 in the morning, of course.
November: My business travels continued. First, I went back to Lethbridge for another career fair, this one at Lethbridge College, which is where I went to school. I stayed down a couple of extra days so that Noah and I could head over to Medicine Hat for a Matthew Good concert. The following week, it was back to Edmonton for the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties annual convention. After this convention, I vowed that I wasn't travelling anywhere farther than Olds until February, a vow I broke two weeks later when I went to Calgary to celebrate American Thanksgiving with Avril's family. November is also the month that the by-law that Trochu Town Council had me put together was passed and blamed on me by the local paper. At the end of the month, we moved from the Trochu crap-shack to a beautiful house in Three Hills, where we are much happier.
December: December was a month of extremes. There were great times and awful times. Avril's grandfather died, and we went to Foremost, Alberta for his funeral in -30 degree temperatures plus windchill. My car doesn't handle the cold very well, and I had to have someone give it a boost several times. Christmas, on the other hand, was wonderful. The four of us spent it home alone in Three Hills. It was a very good day. A few days after Christmas, my parents came down, and we had a nice visit. Avril's parents came up and spent New Year's Eve with us, which was very nice. On New Year's Day, I found out at my cousin's 12-year-old son, MacKenzie Fisher, had died on December 31 due to a ruptured brain tumour. This was one of the awful times I alluded to earlier. I haven't cried that hard since my first fiancee (the one I didn't marry) broke up with me eight years ago. Despite the year ending on such a bitter note, it was, overall, a good year.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
I celebrated my first Christmas in 1978, and now here I am in 2008. It has been a good Christmas. No early morning trips to the hospital this year. We spent it at home alone for the first time since we got married. Very nice. One young child and a baby are mayhem enough for one day.
Anyone who lived with me while I grew up won't be surprised that Christmas starts early in the Mike MacKenzie househould. Alex woke up at 5:45 this morning. Avril got him out of bed to feed him a bottle. Meanwhile, the crying woke Kenny up, and he promptly climbed in bed with me. I made the suggestion that we go see if Santa came, and he was all for that idea. We followed the MacKenzie tradition of opening stockings first, then having bacon and eggs for breakfast before opening the rest of the presents in an orderly manner. We were done opening presents just before 8:00, which was the time we were allowed to open stockings when I was kid.
Like many babies, Alex enjoyed the wrapping paper and ribbons more than the actual presents. His favourite presents (once the ribbons and paper were thrown away) were a stuffed Mickey Mouse from his Auntie Afton, and a ride-on train from his Grandma and Grandpa that Kenny is jealous of. We haven't received presents from Grammie and Papa yet, so we'll see if they can out-do their Laqua counterparts.
Kenny is in train heaven. He got a lot of presents this year, most of which was Thomas-oriented, from tracks to movies to remote-controlled trains. He did get a few non-Thomas gifts, such as Veggie Tales, Hoodwinked, candy, a Curious George book, cars, and candy. His favourite toy is Alex's train, but his new Tidsmouth Sheds track set seems to be a close second.
One of Avril's favourite presents is the new blender I got for her. Don't worry, I got her some pretty things, too, along with a score of books and some movies. As for me, my gifts were mostly movies and video games, but I think my favourite is the second installment of The Dark Tower graphic novel.
I also enjoyed the assembly that was required with Kenny's presents.
I hope all of you had a merry Christmas. I look forward to seeing your blogs about it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Mike Through The Ages
Inspired by Mum's recent blog post, here are pictures of me over the years. I don't have any baby pictures on this computer, so I'll start in 1985 (the year Avril was born, so that's close enough).
The famous starving-dungeon-prisoner picture. This was taken in the summer 0f 1985 in Nova Scotia. Mary and I were staying with Grammie and Granddad while the rest of the family did a cross-continent car trip.
Here I am with Jake and Noah in the winter of 1989 in Raymond. Looking good, boys.
This was taken at the beginning of my senior year at Raymond High School, which was the fall of 1995. I was 17 years old and, I've never been better-looking. Man, I wish my hair was still that thick!
And here I am at the end of my senior year (spring 1996) with my prom date, Alison. It was the start of a long, interesting friendship.
This was taken around the mid-point of my mission. This would have been either December 1999 or January 2000. I'm modeling what coconuts actually look like. I'm also skinny. This was in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Philippines.
September 17, 2004. The day I married Avril Laqua. Also the day, I'm told, that Noah and Heidi decided that they were going to get married, carrying on the tradition of Noah's life reflecting my own. Avril and I were married in Cardston, and our reception was in Stirling.
Me and my boys, Alex and Kenny, in October 2008 in Edmonton. I'm not as skinny as I was in 1985 or 1999, and I'm not as handsome as I was in 1995, but I sure am happier.
The famous starving-dungeon-prisoner picture. This was taken in the summer 0f 1985 in Nova Scotia. Mary and I were staying with Grammie and Granddad while the rest of the family did a cross-continent car trip.
Here I am with Jake and Noah in the winter of 1989 in Raymond. Looking good, boys.
This was taken at the beginning of my senior year at Raymond High School, which was the fall of 1995. I was 17 years old and, I've never been better-looking. Man, I wish my hair was still that thick!
And here I am at the end of my senior year (spring 1996) with my prom date, Alison. It was the start of a long, interesting friendship.
This was taken around the mid-point of my mission. This would have been either December 1999 or January 2000. I'm modeling what coconuts actually look like. I'm also skinny. This was in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Philippines.
September 17, 2004. The day I married Avril Laqua. Also the day, I'm told, that Noah and Heidi decided that they were going to get married, carrying on the tradition of Noah's life reflecting my own. Avril and I were married in Cardston, and our reception was in Stirling.
Me and my boys, Alex and Kenny, in October 2008 in Edmonton. I'm not as skinny as I was in 1985 or 1999, and I'm not as handsome as I was in 1995, but I sure am happier.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Little Known Facts
Here's a list of things that you might not know about me:
I hate being late, so I'm usually 15-20 minutes early for everything.
I only ever roll over in one direction in bed. Rolling over the other way just feels wrong.
I once urinated on a dead monkey.
I still feel guilty about a lie I told my parents when I was nine years old. Although, in retrospect, I think they might have known I was lying at the time.
I once ate a plate of spaghetti full of dead ants, and I knew the ants were in it before I ate it. This was near the end of my mission in the Philippines, and I was really hungry, and I wasn't about to throw away a huge plate of spaghetti.
If I look at a clock and it reads 11:11, I have to stare at it until it changes to 11:12.
Whenever I hear a comedian or a TV show joking about how hard it is to assemble furniture and follow the instructions from stores like Ikea, I get really mad, because that kind of stuff is really easy to me, and it just seems to me that they're blaming their own idiocy on other people.
When I worked at Thriftlodge, I was never in a good mood while at work. My mood varied between mildly irritated and apoplectic.
My torso is very long in relation to my legs.
Nothing (besides certain people) brings me more joy than a new pen.
I hate it when people call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day".
Whenever I get a new watch, it needs a new battery within a week.
Quite often when I listen to music, I tap my fingers in a specific pattern to each syllable being sung: index finger, thumb, middle finger, index finger, ring finger, middle finger, pinky, ring finger. I can't stop until a phrase ends on the last ring finger of the pattern.
I eat that big piece of cartilage in chicken breasts.
I love the smell of grocery stores.
I hate being late, so I'm usually 15-20 minutes early for everything.
I only ever roll over in one direction in bed. Rolling over the other way just feels wrong.
I once urinated on a dead monkey.
I still feel guilty about a lie I told my parents when I was nine years old. Although, in retrospect, I think they might have known I was lying at the time.
I once ate a plate of spaghetti full of dead ants, and I knew the ants were in it before I ate it. This was near the end of my mission in the Philippines, and I was really hungry, and I wasn't about to throw away a huge plate of spaghetti.
If I look at a clock and it reads 11:11, I have to stare at it until it changes to 11:12.
Whenever I hear a comedian or a TV show joking about how hard it is to assemble furniture and follow the instructions from stores like Ikea, I get really mad, because that kind of stuff is really easy to me, and it just seems to me that they're blaming their own idiocy on other people.
When I worked at Thriftlodge, I was never in a good mood while at work. My mood varied between mildly irritated and apoplectic.
My torso is very long in relation to my legs.
Nothing (besides certain people) brings me more joy than a new pen.
I hate it when people call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day".
Whenever I get a new watch, it needs a new battery within a week.
Quite often when I listen to music, I tap my fingers in a specific pattern to each syllable being sung: index finger, thumb, middle finger, index finger, ring finger, middle finger, pinky, ring finger. I can't stop until a phrase ends on the last ring finger of the pattern.
I eat that big piece of cartilage in chicken breasts.
I love the smell of grocery stores.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
New House and Christmas Preparations
Well, here we are in the midst of December. Avril, the boys, and I moved from our crap-shack in Trochu to our beautiful house in Three Hills at the end of November. We love having an entire house to ourselves instead of sharing it with basement dwellers who are constantly setting off the smoke detector. Afton and Avril's parents came up to help us out with the move, and we had some wonderful unsolicited help from our new neighbours, which was especially needed getting the ancient upright player piano upstairs.
Once we got the house into livable condition, we wasted no time getting a Christmas tree. I'm always sure to buy the tree on my own so that Avril can't stop me from getting the $55 one. Kenny loves Christmas trees, and he very much enjoyed helping to decorate it. The only problem was he put all of his ornaments in the same small area of the tree. Mommy and Daddy had to spread them out later when he wasn't looking. Alex is fascinated with the tree, and now that he can finally crawl, the tree is one of his regular destinations.
I also broke out Mum's Christmas cook book and made a batch of sour cream cookies. Kenny helped me make them, cut them, and decorate them. Decorating for Kenny consists of getting frosting on his knife, wiping I little bit on the side of a cookie, and then eating the rest of the frosting. Avril, on the other hand, did a wonderful job decorating her share of the cookies.
Once we got the house into livable condition, we wasted no time getting a Christmas tree. I'm always sure to buy the tree on my own so that Avril can't stop me from getting the $55 one. Kenny loves Christmas trees, and he very much enjoyed helping to decorate it. The only problem was he put all of his ornaments in the same small area of the tree. Mommy and Daddy had to spread them out later when he wasn't looking. Alex is fascinated with the tree, and now that he can finally crawl, the tree is one of his regular destinations.
I also broke out Mum's Christmas cook book and made a batch of sour cream cookies. Kenny helped me make them, cut them, and decorate them. Decorating for Kenny consists of getting frosting on his knife, wiping I little bit on the side of a cookie, and then eating the rest of the frosting. Avril, on the other hand, did a wonderful job decorating her share of the cookies.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Blinding Sneeze
So I was driving to work today, minding my own business, when I'm suddenly attacked by a bout of sneezes. On the fourth and final sneeze, as I'm scrambling in the center consul for a napkin, something bounced off of my knee and onto the floor. I wondered what it was, but kept driving and blowing my nose. I noticed that my vision was suddenly blurry. My first thought was, "Oh, great, I got snot on my glasses." But then I realized the truth. I had sneezed the right lens right out of my frames. I wasn't too worried. My lenses have popped out several times before. But after I stopped the car and had a closer look, I realized that the screw was missing. Aw, man!
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