Coucoumellisms

Maryssa: Mommy, were you in Grammie's tummy? Me: Yes. Maryssa: Why are you here now? Me: Ummm, not sure what you mean. Maryssa: Did they give you away? (February 18, 2006)

This is from Zenit: Open Season on Christianity A Little Respect Is Harder to Find CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, FEB. 25, 2006 ( Zenit.org ).- The recent publication of cartoons satirizing the prophet Mohammed brought many calls for greater respect of Islamic beliefs. Christians could rightly wonder when they, too, will receive some respect. As controversy over the drawings continues, a television station in New Zealand chose this moment to show a "South Park" episode ridiculing the Virgin Mary and the Pope. The "Bloody Mary" episode of the animated series has scenes showing a bleeding statue of Mary, whose spurting blood covers the Pope, reported the New Zealand Herald on Monday. Plans by the C4 TV channel, owned by the Canadian media chain CanWest, to show the episode brought strong protest from New Zealand's Catholic bishops. The bishops issued a pastoral letter, read at all Masses last weekend. "The way in which Mary is portrayed in this episod

Mon épouse infidèle, je vais la séduire, je vais l'entraîner jusqu'au désert, et je lui parlerai coeur à coeur. Et là, je lui rendrai ses vignobles, et je ferai de la Vallée-du-Malheur la porte de l'espérance. Là, elle me répondra comme au temps de sa jeunesse, au jour où elle est sortie du pays d'Égypte. Tu seras ma fiancée, et ce sera pour toujours. Tu seras ma fiancée, et je t'apporterai la justice et le droit, l'amour et la tendresse ; tu seras ma fiancée, et je t'apporterai la fidélité, et tu connaîtras le Seigneur. ( Livre d'Osée 2,16-17.21-22 )

It's been really cold this past week, which is great for rinks and stuff. Today we all went out, and I finished clearing the snow off the pond (Jean-Alexandre had started it last night). We didn't go skating, (I didn't feel like going back in, getting out the skates and trooping back out again...) but maybe we'll go tommorrow. I'd like to take them to the canal too maybe, to go skating. It's pretty cold, but when you make sure you dress warmly, then it isn't so bad. I had TWO coats on today, plus a sweater and I was just fine. My coats aren't really winter coats, they're more like spring/fall coats. So they're just no good in any weather below zero. I always wear a sweater underneath, and today I just added the second coat. The pictures on the left are of the kids skating on the pond a few weeks ago, in early February. We were actually out there skating for over an hour. It was great exercise, even for me. Even Gabriel has skates, those little

This is probably all too much information, but this is my blog and I get to say dumb and uninteresting things on it if I want to. I've mentioned before that my jeans are all falling apart either at the crotch at the knees or both. Certain tops are also getting quite worn at the seams and in the armpits. Well, my socks are mostly all worn at the heels as well. I throw them out when they develop holes, but most of them are so thin right now, they are see-through. I have had to do a zig-zag stitch on most of my underwear because it too is wearing out. (I know, I know, you didn't need to know this.) But the worst is, just a couple of days ago, I noticed that even my bra is wearing out! Now THAT I've never had happen before. Okay, maybe the metal support might come out and the strap might wear out, but I'm talking about the cup here! A little more and Nicolas will have direct access to milk without me having to unclasp anything! This is getting ridiculous.

I discovered that the scale I was using was actually off about 5-10 pounds. Which means I wasn't 15 pounds overweight, I was 2o - 25 pounds overweight. That means that at the doctor's office, when I thought I saw 180 lbs, it was probably 180 lbs. Good news is, I probably went down to 175 pounds pretty quickly, but thought I was bouncing between 165 and 170. My sister gave me her scale since she never uses it, and I weighed in at 175 at her place but the next day I was at 170 lbs at my place (and 165 on the scale that doesn't work) so I threw the old one out. Anyway, at the doctor's office, I was 180 lbs at one month post-partum. I could just do up my belt to the first hole. By that time, my uterus was pretty much contracted, so the rest was just fat. We are almost 3 months post-partum and on this new scale I am at 170 lbs and today I did my belt up to the third hole. So I've lost about two inches around the waist, and apparently 10 lbs on the scale. Bottom l

We finally asked A. to be godfather for Nicolas. A. is polish and although he is Marc's friend I had never met him until November I think it was, and one thing struck me. He kept telling Marc how he'd found himself a good woman, that very few women these days will accept to have so many children, and he was just so supportive of of the whole big family thing and valorising the role of a woman in that,... it was really nice to hear. I think that's worthy of Godparenthood. I don't know exactly how religious he is, but hey, he's Polish right? How bad can it be? (wink wink) It certainly can't be worse than some other options I had. Now all that is left is actually planning the baptism itself.

Got this from Jennifer over at A Voice that Carries Interesting Death Facts! Interesting Fact #1: Eunuchs are MOST likely to be threatened by the mafia. (Thank God I'm not an euneuch!!!) Interesting Fact #2: Guys are 10% MORE likely than gals to answer random math questions. (I answered the one on this test) Interesting Fact #3: Guys are 8% MORE likely than gals to answer random math questions CORRECTLY . (I'm willing to bet that I got it right too...) Interesting Fact #4: Those who claim to "use to have guy parts, but now have gal parts" are predicted to die the soonest at 40; next are eunuchs at 42. Interesting Fact #5: Approximately 3,500 people take this quiz DAILY .

And just to remind you that I can look scarier than this when I want to... Here is the hippie picture again: Ok, so this is not one of my better photos,... I hadn't done my hair at all, and I had no make-up on at all either, which usually I do... not to mention the lack of smile and the big eyes... but anyway... Now you see how scary I can look. Hee hee.

I was talking with C the other day, about M entering the monastery, (and there was something to do with mass as well) and she happened to comment that M probably wasn't entering the monastery for the mass, but more for the prayers. This is the same person who talks about being a good christian and having a relationship with God, without necessarily having to go to mass all the time... How did we get to where mass is this thing to be shunned? We might complain that masses (especially in Quebec) are pretty lifeless, and that there isn't much community within the parish, and I might agree with that, but since when does that make mass something to be put away on a shelf and forgotten? How can you even think like that? First of all, mass is also a prayer, not some "Church function". Mass is the most important prayer of the whole Catholic faith. I think people have got it in their heads that they're going to mass to be entertained or to be fed comforting stuff like God

Just got a letter back from M in which he says he would rather not be godfather because he doesn't feel that he would be very present. So I am back to square one. No godfather. Unless we ask JF or S, I think I would prefer S, but Marc would prefer JF. It's just that, for someone who used to thrive on books on mystics and other mysterious saints,... I don't know,... maybe it's just an impression I have, but I think he's gone a long way in the opposite direction. I mean, I don't think he thinks mass is all that important,... I'm not sure what his morals are anymore,... I happen to know he's pretty much addicted to pot,... even if he is my friend, and I do like him, is that who I want for a godfather?

Okay, I will now go take a (badly needed) shower, do my hair and take my picture AGAIN. Because phase two of my "makeover" is now completed. I received my new glasses yesterday. And I have to say, (more shameless self-promotion) I look pretty cool... :)

I would make such a good godmother... Just in case anyone is looking for one... I would not only remember the child's birthday and Christmas, (typical godsanta here in Quebec, where most everyone gets their kids baptised, just because,... well it's always been done. Except mostly, the godparents don't serve any purpose except to buy presents for the godchldren on their birthday and at Christmas.) I would remember every baptism, first communion and confirmation anniversary with nice little religious gifts as well... I would pray specially for him, bless her when I saw her, write him, ( at least once in awhile) ... etc,... etc... Ahhhh, I would make such a good godmother, if only....

We finally agreed to ask Auntie Rose Anne to be the godmother, and M to be the godfather. M is my friend that just left to enter the monastery. I am hoping that he can and wants to be godfather because I really want a godfather for Nicolas that has some faith. Once that is settled, I can start thinking about dates...

I know you've all been in suspense since I left you hanging on the 14th... (not) As I said, Marc happened to change the channel and we caught the end of someone talking about morality. Which I happened to think rather interesting... I only caught the last 2 or 3 minutes,... too bad. The guy who was talking quoted St-Augustine, "Love and do what you will." But then said that we do not always love truely and properly. This is where morality comes in. Morality replaces love when we do cannot feel love or cannot love truely. Morality IS love. He mentioned such phrases as "devoir conjugal", (Conjugal duty - an old expression used in French when talking about sex between married partners.) How void and empty that must seem when it is considered no more than a duty. Obviously this "duty" is one accomplished (or should be) with love. Such is morality. Morality is no more void and dull than one's "duty" to his/her married partner. I wis

iAbolish - Ending child slavery in India To provide one rescued slave with a month's medical care costs only $7; To feed him for one month costs $30; his entire six-month rehabilitation adds up to a mere $344. Will you take this chance to help rehabilitate child slaves in India? Two weeks ago I wrote to you about our most recent effort to rehabilitate child slaves in India through a collaboration with the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) . I'm pleased to tell you that, since then, we have raised nearly $3,000 . That already brings us three-quarters the way to our goal of $4,000! We hope to raise the last $1,000 by February 28 — the last day of our campaign. These funds will directly support a program rehabilitating rescued child slaves in desperate need of the most basic care: food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. Our joint program will enable these children to experience a warm, nurturing environment conducive to a healthy ch

Well, I didn't have time to talk about anything yesterday, and probably won't again today. I'm on the computer to look at messages, but can't take too much time... Maybe tommorrow?

A reminder to myself, to talk about this tommorrow: Marc was watching TV just now and he changed the channel to watch something else and we caught the end of a show on morality. I'm pretty sure it was Catholic, because he quoted St-Augustine, and I liked what he said. To resume, when we love, we have no need of morality. Unfortunately, we do not always love truely, and morality is there to fill in for the lack of love. I'll explain tommorrow. (and talk about "devoir conjugal")

Nicolas is two months old now, and what a sweetheart! I am enjoying him so much. When he cries, I pick him up and he stops right away. This is not a sign of a spoiled baby. This, folks, is the sign of a baby who knows that Mommy will tend to his needs and he doesn't need to cry anymore because Mommy is there. He gets excited now when I put him in that position which means he is going to get something to drink. His breathing gets quicker and he waits eagerly for the shirt to lift so he can get his milk. That is so cute. The children love him to pieces. Even Toby wants to play with him. Toby (the dog) keeps putting his toys on Nicolas's lap when Nicolas is sitting in his little seat. Silly Toby. Well, I think I have done enough writing today. I left Nicolas upstairs to do the male bonding thing with Marc, so now I think I will go and see how they are doing, and maybe have some of that porto with my husband?

INVITATION À LA PRIÈRE (par La Famille des Puits de Lumière) Deux dates : 2 mars en famille 7-8 avril en couple ou individuel PRIÈRE FAMILIALE (MESSE ET ADORATION) Le 2 mars 2006 Vous êtes conviés à venir vous joindre à nous pour un temps de prière familial avec vos enfants et vos adolescents. Une messe à l’Esprit-Saint sera célébrée suivie d’un temps d’adoration de 20 minutes. Les enfants et les adolescents seront au cœur de ce temps de prière avec des chants, des gestuels et une petite activité préparatoire à l’eucharistie. Donc, un temps de prière adapté pour eux ! Le temps de prière sera disposé comme suit : À 19h00 : les enfants et/ou adolescents se retrouvent pour une petite activité préparatoire pendant que les parents débutent la célébration (15 min.). Les enfants reviennent à l’offertoire pour le reste de la célébration où nous les attendrons à bras ouverts. Les adolescents décident ou non de prendre la célébration avec nous du début à la fin. Selon leur choix ! Ensuite, c’est

Gypsy Queen, where do you come up with these guys anyway? Poor Gypsy Queen came visiting recently and told me of her most recent encounter with the species known as hominus malus. Gypsy Queen has been renting a villa, which she no longer desires to rent. So it was up for lease by the owner. A couple came calling the other day, to visit the villa, and have decided to rent it. The husband came back a few days later for some technical reason, and Gypsy Queen and he got to talking. They were apparently having a good conversation, when the husband started complaining about the mentality in this place, how friends couldn't "love" each other and whatnot. Gypsy Queen could see where this was going, and wasn't very surprised when the husband proposed. His proposition was that since Gypsy Queen and he were now friends, she should sacrifice herself so they could have sex together. Gypsy Queen had a different proposition. He could open the door and leave. That woman he was with?

Marc came home early from work today, because he really wasn't feeling well. So it is a good thing that we are too lazy to go out and find a babysitter and a place to eat, because we couldn't have gone anyway. Instead, Marc lay down and slewpt most of the afternoon. Since Gabriel and the baby both fell asleep in the car, there was no noise to disturb him until the oldest children came home from school. I sent them all downstairs to play, so it was fairly quiet for a long time. I made French toast, cut out pieces of bread into heart shapes and then cooked both the hearts and the pieces that the heart had been cut out of. The pieces with the heart-shaped hole got filled up with fruit salad. I poured maple sirop over that and squirted on whipped cream too. Then I placed the heart-shaped French toast beside it and dribbled maple sirop on that. It tasted as good as it looked. Yum! For desert we had the leftover heart-shaped cookies and some ice-cream. Maybe I'll go have

I am a prisonner. I do not always feel it, I often forget it, but the fact remains, no matter how beautiful it is, no matter how content I feel on certain days, no matter how accustumed I become to the situation, I live in a prison. Lived in a prison. Perhaps I still do. One would think this desert island to be more of a prison than living in society, but liberty is a relative concept. Society is a prison. It is those who are different who realize it. I am more free here on the small island where space is limited than many places I have been before. Repression, I have felt. I have been the target of attacks. Here, on my island, there is neither.

Last night (or should I say this morning?) I was up until 1:00 am making heart-shaped cookies and decorating half of them. I was already tired and would have gone to bed at 9:00 or so, but I was determined to do something to please my little munchkins and their classmates, and so I suffered, nay, toiled through hours of labour... but of course I enjoy doing this sort of thing, or at least I enjoy the thought of them getting some pleasure out of it. One must suffer for love you know. I will most likely be suffering for it this evening as well, and wanting to go to bed. Nothing special tonight for Valentine's Day. I think we are just too lazy. You know, we'd have to find a babysitter for four children, and then we'd have to decide on a restaurant, (trying to find one that didn't have a 10-15 minute wait in line at the door would probably prove difficult), etc, etc,... and we are just too lazy to do that. I am thinking I will make French toast tonight, with bread cut

I guess it kind of sounded like I was complaining about Marc in the last two posts there. The last one was supposed to be funny, you know, how lack of communication can get out of hand? And for the record, I will now set up a blog for Marc, in which he can complain all about how messy our house is because I don't actually do any dusting, sweeping, vaccuming, etc,... So yeah, partly my fault for being such a lazy person... umm, oh, and tied down to a nursing baby too. (I can use that as an excuse for my laziness for a little while at least.)

Marc: (in slightly surprised tone) What did you do to your hair?! Me: (laughing while putting groceries away) I got it cut two days ago. Marc: (now on the defensive) Well, I got in really late two days ago and I went straight to bed after coming home yesterday. Me: (still laughing at him) You saw me in the mornings, and besides yesterday you were with me watching Jean-Alexandre play soccer before coming home. Marc: (still on the defensive) Well, what did you expect me to be looking at at soccer?! Me: (still half-joking and now indicating the groceries to be put away) So, are these going to put themselves away, just like that? For the next 5-10 minutes I get the cold shoulder. Oops I guess I shouldn't have asked him to help out in quite that manner. Not to mention I made pizza for the kids but there's none for him, just that leftover horrible meat that's kind of tough and full of fat and that I really regret having bought, with a bit of rice. I suddenly wonder if, wi

The rod upon which we hang half our clothes in our (Marc and my) closet is sagging in the middle because with the weight of all these clothes, one of the screws holding the middle support came loose and the support itself just straightened out until it is no longer supporting the rod at all. Something that can be easily fixed by screwing it back in again. But of course the clothes have to come off the rod first so we can lift it back up to where it is supposed to be. Since we're taking clothes of the rod, we might as well throw the ones we haven't put on in the last 3-5 years right? The ones I'll probably never put on again, unless I am really depressed, because they do absolutely NOTHING for my figure, look really frumpy, or I hate the pattern,... or whatever. I filled up two black garbage bags full of clothes to take to charity. That's two-thirds of my closet. Yes people, two-thirds of the clothes on my side of the closet were in there just taking up space, because I

http://www.pictureframes.co.uk/pages/saint_valentine.htm There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine's Day . Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D. , the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer's daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it "From Your Valentine". Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine. Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers . The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers. There was often a social gath

The New Hair This is how I have it styled today, but it can be styled in a number of different ways, so I think I will be having more fun with my hair (which is what a hairdresser is supposed to do, right?) than before. Phase two : the new glasses. I should have those by next week. Phase three : lose 15 pounds... Oh gee... I don't know when that'll happen... Phase four : buy new pants/jeans to replace the old, worn out ones. (I could even replace the worn out tops as well.) You know you're going downhill when most of your pants are worn out either on the knees or in the crotch, and most of your nicest tops are worn out in the armpits or coming apart at the seams... Add to that the hair that hadn't been cut in 2 years, the saggy belly from just going through another pregnancy, the bags under the eyes from sleepless nights with a new-born... I think I looked just a little WORN out. (Hey! It's a pun!) My, how mothers can let themselves go! Actually, though, I kind of l

I got my hair cut today. Just taking off that inch off the bottom did my hair a LOT of good. I hadn't had it cut in almost two years I think. And the layers look great too. I should have done THAT a long time ago. Maybe I'll post a picture soon.

Dominic tried out for and was accepted into the training camp for the Celtix. They play at a slightly higher level than the Haut Richelieu Soccer Association, and he'll be getting training from them now, every Saturday morning at 8:00. Jean-Alexandre's coaches say he would surely make it as well, but he doesn't want to be part of the team. I think he feels that those who are on the team are kind of snobby. He also apparently doesn't want to have to travel. I'd like him to try it out just for a year and see if he likes it, but I don't know if he'll want to.

Yesterday I was in Headache City , and last night, after "Two advil, two HUGE mugs of coffee and some peppermint essential oil (rubbed on my temples and forehead)" I couldn't get to sleep. I mean, I was tired enough, but just too high on caffeine. Problem is, when you have a two month old baby, from the minute you put him down for the night, every half-hour that goes by before you fall asleep is one precious half-hour less sleep for you. Nicolas went down at 10:00 last night. I went to bed at 11:00 because I just wasn't feeling sleepy, and then couldn't get my brain to slow down, got up to drink some milk. Got up again for something else. Finally I just got up and started reading a story. That helped, but still, it was close to 1:00 am before I finally got to sleep. I suddenly jerked awake and listened. I heard nothing. I turned to look at the clock. It read about 3:30 am. That's about the time Nicolas has been getting up to drink each night. But

Hello, my name is Jeanne and I'm addicted to What Not to Wear , A Makeover Story and 10 Years Younger . Not that I really enjoy the shows that much, I just like to see the transformation. I am a hairdresser and in the fashion business after all... If only we could see more of the actual techniques of some of the cuts. Actually though, half the time, I don't like the style of the hair. Sometimes I like the cut but not how it's styled. They have a tendancy to want to style the hair in the face too much, and much of the time I think the hair would look much better just a tad less layered. I don't always agree on what clothes are nice, but most of the time it's not too bad. I usually never watch TV and now here I am spending half my day in front of the darn thing. You see, I sit down to nurse, and I put on the TV. I did that once, and now I'm hooked. HEEEELP!!! I am also (slightly less) addicted to Trading Spaces , Clean Sweep and While You Were Out . It'

I went to bed with Nicolas at 8:30 pm last night. Just as I was drifting off to sleep, Dominic came and woke me up. And then I couldn't get to sleep again. I was just too wide awake. In fact, I couldn't sleep at all until Nicolas woke up at about 11:00 to drink. He was up again at about 3:00 am and 5:30 am. I have to get the kids up at 6:30 for school, so I didn't get all that much sleep. So by this afternoon, I was starting to get a major headache. I ended up having to banish the kids all outside for awhile after supper, because they were all making so much noise and hurting my head even more and it's always when I have a headache that I don't have energy to keep them quiet... Jean-Alexandre doesn't shriek anymore, but the others can't talk without yelling, they all still have high-pitched voices and half the time they are shrieking because one is doing something that the other doesn't like... so I had the baby crying, three kids shrieking, the

Nicolas isn't baptised yet. We don't have a date set yet either. In fact, we don't even have godparents for him yet. R A has said she'd like to be godmother and I'd like her to be godmother, but I also really want at least ONE of the godparents to have some kind of faith. Not that R A has no faith, but she questions it and although I don't have a problem with that, (Maryssa's godmother is Marc's sister who is probably even farther off the Catholic path than R A), I'd like at least one godparent to have a STRONG faith. So who to ask? My mother has been giving me suggestions, ahem, that... were I the only parent, I might consider... and some I wouldn't because, although they are very Catholic (without being too, ummm... weird...), I barely know them. Unfortunately I have a husband who would likely be less than enthousiastic about any of these suggestions so far. The last suggestion was for a couple I knew back in Prince George and that my mother m

Four Jobs 1. Cook 2. Head-lice inspector 3. Webmaster 4. Ship's mate Four Movies I Would Watch Over and Over: 1. Swiss Robinson Family 2. Veggie Tales Jonah 3. Star Wars 4. Castaway Four Places I Have Lived: 1. Luque, Paraguay 2. House boat 3. Canada 4. This deserted island Four TV Shows I Love to Watch: 1. Don't get much TV out here... 2. 3. 4. Websites I visit daily: (err, not daily, but whenever the wind is right and my satelite phone gets charged...) 1. Coucoumellisms 2. Two Sleepy Mothers (but I let Coucoumelle, AKA Jeanne, do all the commenting) 3. 4. Fav Four Foods 1. lobster 2. macaroni salad 3. pina colada 4. fresh mango Four Places I Would Rather Be: 1. back home in Canada 2. on the summit of a high mountain 3. Heaven 4. back on a boat Four People I Am Tagging: 1. You 2. You 3. You 4. You

As a follow up to tagging : Four people I am tagging: 1. Rose Anne, dear, get yourself a blog and start it off with this. It is unacceptable, totally UNACCEPTABLE do you hear (?!) for the professional writer in the family to be blog-less. 2. Jennifer, now that you have a new blog... 3. Juana la Cubana 4. Anyone out there who has a blog or who would like to start one up now. Just leave us a link, ok?

Dear Chabot, I am Barr. Don Mayor, an Attorney at law, and the Personal lawyer/friend to late Engineer M.A. Chabot , a foreigner who used to work with Shell International, Lome, Republic of Togo, Hereinafter shall be referred to as my late client/friend. As it may interest you to know, I got your contact through the internet professional Data Base by divine inspiration as I was going through some directories. I decided to contact you in order to champion a business of this magnitude without any problem. On the 21st of April 2002, my client,his wife and their two children were involved in a car accident along Kara-Sokode expressway while arriving from a Holiday to Lome. All occupants of the vehicle unfortunately lost their lives. Since then, I have made several inquiries to their embassy to locate any of their extended relatives and this has also proved unsuccessful. I am contacting you to assist in repatriating the funds valued at US$8.5m,(Eight Million, Five Hundred Thousand United St

Marc wants to officially adopt Jean-Alexandre. He's had me do some looking into how to go about doing this in the last two days. Jean-Alexandre already has his last name. But at school, Marc is only mentioned as his step-father. And anything official can only be done through me. So adoption would be a good thing. A couple of years ago, when we were still in BC, we had thought of doing this and I was all for it, but we apparently needed to hire a lawyer to go through with it, because we had to have a lawyer exlpin to us all that this would entail. If we didn't, we couldn't go through with it. Which is weird if you ask me since we pretty much live as if Jean-Alexandre were Marc's. I mean, what could an adoption entail that having children together wouldn't? In terms of spousal support and custody and all the rest? Anyway, needless to say, we didn't go through with it, since hiring a lawyer would have cost a lot of money that we just didn't have. But now, sudde

I just heard on the radio this morning that Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks scored a hat trick yesterday, leading them to victory. I had to smile. In fact, I had to grin with elation. Jonathan Cheechoo comes from the same remote village I grew up in. In fact, I knew his parents. His father was paster of the Cree Gospel Chapel in Moose Factory. I went to his house once with the youth group. I saw Jonathan a couple of times, but never paid him much attention because he was this little kid I barely knew and I was in my late teens, so I didn't have much contact with him. But, like anyone from Moose Factory, I am extremely proud of him for going all the way to the NHL. There aren't all that many people from remote regions in the NHL, even less First Nations people. But he did it! Way to go Jonathan!! We went to Moose Factory in July, 2004 for the Gathering of our People . Jonathan Cheechoo happened to be coming home for this event, and was signing autographs and posing