News Update

Another week has flown by here on the shore of Lake Superior. The blizzard held off until Sunday evening, but then gave us a big dump of snow. Wendy and I were shovelling and snow-blowing for a couple of hours Monday morning. The remainder of the week featured calm, cold weather with one day even dropping to -30—quite cold for here. It's back to a more comfortable -10 to -15 for the end of the week. And yesterday, we got our car back. It has a newer engine (only 84,000 clicks) and the price was $3389.38—just the neighbourhood he was talking about! Now, I have to check out whether this engine has the enhancements to overcome the previous problems—Google here I come.

I've been working with my partner, Wes, in revamping the boardroom at work into a virtual office. We installed the Smartboard, installed the data projector from the ceiling and adjusted the furnishings for the teleconference and the polycom. Wes also gave me a lesson on using the Smartboard, and installed the Smartboard software on my computer, so I shall try to build my next presentation with that facility. On Friday, we had the office Christmas party; that was a nice event as well. I have had a lot of calls for OnSIS assistance as the schools head toward the Christmas break.

Wendy has continued to battle her cold, and we think it's gradually getting better. I came down with the edge of a cold, myself, but have taken some extra rest and seem to have it beaten back. Wendy has kept busy with Christmas baking—shortbread cookies, butter tarts, lemon puffs, toffee, pumpkin loaf; I'm challenged to keep up with the eating of the same! Fortunately, she finally stuck the butter tarts in the freezer—I like them better that way!

Travis has completed his exams, but has kept busy working with one of his contractors on a store renovation that includes an office for Trav! He has been doing quite a bit of graphics work for this guy, and the prospects are now that it may develop into a business relationship as Trav finishes university next May. It's not an easy time to operate a business—let alone start one!

Erin continues with her work and care of Kristian. It's been a great blessing to be able to access the number of professional workers to diagnose his hearing issues, get him fitted for hearing aids, and provide training and support for his language development.

We've been enjoying hearing from many of you with end of the year newsletters as well as the regular updates. In one of those was a photo in celebration of our 38th Anniversary—thanks Tom & Mariette.
Eric and the boys come down on Friday evening to spend the weekend. It's nice to have them around. Erica has remained at home in Kenora to catch up on things there. She's also been working on roping me in to a duet with her on Mary Did You Know? for a Christmas Eve presentation. And that's about it for this week!