Where do I start tonight......

First I want to share with all of you what a great weekend we had in the Benallick household.

It all began on Friday, as Christine and I enjoyed a wonderful, adults-only evening with Doug and Tanya Dolbear. We ate a great meal and then sat around and chatted until 10:30. We moved on to Saturday, which was busy (errands in the morning, yardwork in the afternoon) but capped by a wonderful dinner for two at La Spaghett on Upper James. If you like homemade Italian, this is the place to go. A bit pricey, but worth every penny. Oma and Opa looked after Aidan and Christine and I sat in a quiet restaurant taking our time over a great meal.

Capped it all off on Sunday by having a great morning at church, which saw T-Sound (in my opinion) raise the bar on their performance skills with their new song. God was really working with us, as it was probably the most challenging song we've ever done and, hopefully, God was able to use it to touch hearts in a powerful way. I really love singing with T-Sound. I cannot think of a ministry that has given me more joy and satisfaction in the 9 years since I was saved.

But wait.......it gets better.

Oma and Opa served up an awesome midday meal (roast beef, mashed taters, homemade strawberry shortcake) that was devoured after church. Then, we came home.......

......and all SLEPT from 4 - 6 PM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend, God knew exactly what our little family needed. A little rest, good fellowship, quiet time for Christine and I and GOOD, LONG NAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, onto other things.

I really want to talk a bit more about last night's Leaf game. I was disappointed that they lost. However, I was pleased with the effort. I think the Leafs are going to do some damage Wednesday night, especially if they can play the bulk of the game like they did the 3rd period. I think Robert Esche (the Philly goalie) can be beat and the Leafs just need to get to him good for one game to rattle his confidence. I thought everyone except Antropov and Kaberle played well and it was good to see Sundin back. That behind-the-back pass he made to spring Wilm on a breakaway in the third brought me to my feet. Too bad such a beautiful pass had to land on the stick of a guy with cement hands. Oh, well. Another good effort by Eddie and Domi had another good game and continues to earn my respect by being a real role model for anyone who coasts through a shift. No time for that in the playoffs and Domi's showing everyone what the phrase "playoff hockey" means. Haing said that, when one of your "goons" is the best player on the ice, you're really just making excuses for why your team isn't winning.

Last week's issue of Business Week has some very thought-provoking stuff on the latest events in Iraq. Now I usually don't sojourn into politics, since I don't have the time to do near enough research to fully support any thoughts I may have, but I'm letting what the writers at Business Week have to say percolate in my brain. Who knows, this may be enough to finally make me pay Instapundit a visit. Once I have a formulated position, I may write something, if only to trigger some back-and-forth with my good friend, Austin.

I'm PSYCHED about 24 tomorrow night. As one of the other blogs I read, which is written by a fellow from the prairies named Scott Keith (Warning: Strong Language), it looks like they're building towards a downer ending that could make the end of Season 1 look positively Christmas-cheery. We'll have to see.

Before I exit, here's a few more '80s tunes upon which to test your brain:

Top Jimmy
Fire Woman
Love Plus One (bonus points if you get that one)
One Thing Leads To Another
The Things We Do For Love (may be late '70s)
Wouldn't It Be Good
Moments In Love (could be drifting to the early '90s here)
The More You Live, The More You Love
Don't Walk Past (Tonight's Canadian content - double bonus for this one)

Answers on Wednesday.

See ya.