Snow Blows

I am officially sick of all this freaking snow - seriously. Today the snow was totally wet and weighed like a ton. The snow banks around our driveway are now taller then me.

I had taken some time off from July 27 until today. But.... when you work out of your home, and then you don't LEAVE your home, its kinda hard to transition into holiday mode. Whenever I walk into the home office, I am back in work mode.

Consequently, I think it would be wise in the future that when I take holidays, I actually physically leave Port Moody. There is a good possibility I will be doing that next month. In part of my negotiating for this position with my church, they asked me apart from my salary, what else I needed. I told them I need to be able to purchase books to help me write my sermons, and keep abreast of current ideas and thoughts. I also needed a small expense account for gas and meals, when I take people out for lunch and coffee. And then in terms of professional development, I asked for a conference budget so I could attend up to 2 conferences per year - one local, and one away. The local one I attend is the Regent Pastor's Conference. This year I will most likely attend the National Pastor's Conference in San Diego. This is the largest conference of its kind, with a lot of great speakers and workshops.

I'm not really gaga or starry eyed about large pump-em-up conferences. My theory is that I can read a speaker's thoughts by reading his book, and don't necessarily need to hear it live. But.... there is something to physically getting away, and placing yourself in a context where you are with like minded people.

So, when I go to San Diego, it is likely that the family will come as well for a mini-holiday. The conference is Tuesday-Friday. So we will probably stay an extra couple of days, hang out on the beach and drive up to Disneyland. I have relatives we can stay with part of the time which cuts down on costs - and then we have some really close friends in the entertainment business in Los Angeles, that we would like to see.

Hopefully, it works out and we can go. Beats sitting in my house surrounded by snow while on "holidays".