News Update

Another week has passed on Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. School is out for the week, so I've been on holidays. As expected the car needed a new wheel bearing; the repair was completed on Tuesday. Storms have blasted around us, but we've remained pretty much unscathed. The highways in the province have been dangerous during the storms and closures have been announced. Kristian was ill and spent two days with us as a result. Between all that and Wendy's departure on Friday, we did not get over to Moose Jaw—maybe next week. Wendy is in Kensosee for the Ladies Retreat this weekend. She left her cell phone at home, but took her iPad; times have changed! Markets continue to be roiled by successive headlines. The week started off very well, but then had down days during which I was reduced to only three holdings instead of my quota of ten. Friday was another up day, and, all told, I had a good week, but now I'm only 20% in the market, so I need to plan some buys. It has been great to watch the Scotties; Sask did not make the playoffs, and the teams I don't cheer for did, but the curling was even better than what I experience with the seniors at Highland Curling Club! Homan beat Jones tonight to move into the final. Jones will play Nedohin tomorrow in the semi-final. 

Eric is in The Pas where his work continues apace and with positive recognition. Although he is looking forward to it being over, he is also reinforced by how well it is going. Erica is very busy with budget development—how to do more and more with less and less! If she learns to manage it, she can help us through retirement on a defined contribution pension plan! Haaken has moved into a new semester in high school. He received all credits in his first semester, and a plan is in the works so he receives full credits plus good marks in the second semester! His own plan includes music and preparation for his driver's licence. Liam has completed the regular season in hockey but continues practice in preparation for two hockey tournaments. No goals yet, but he's coming close, so we hope that big moment may come during one of his tournaments in March. 

Kristian was ill this week, so he convalesced with us! Cold and flu seems to include eye infections for him and we don't like that. Erin's week went fine and she bought a new deep freeze as well. Mark and I got to carry it up to her apartment. Kiara had her scans this week; we hope for helpful and positive feedback from this. 

Trav, Joanna and crew continue to keep up with things back in TBay. We are missing our regular connections with them while we're away. Trav's hockey team has been in a funk which has resulted in a four-game slump! They need to snap out of that as playoffs are coming soon. 

That's about enough for this week! 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. The weather has remained mild, with a bit more snow from time to time. A blizzard blew through mid-week, but we seem to have missed most of it! Another one is threatened for this weekend—I hope we miss it as well! School bus driving continues routinely, and now school is out next week, so I'll have a week off. The markets ran up nicely the first three days, but then someone reminded traders of the damaged economy in Europe and we had a sharp sell-off that returned me a small loss on the week. Dad continues with his home workouts, but his scheduled outing for the week was postponed due to the expected storm on Thursday. Wendy keeps up with therapy on her finger. It seems to be moving more and hurting just as much! Yikes! Scotties curling begins today, so I'm looking forward to a week of that. Manitoba and BC won the junior championships, and I'm sure Manitoba will be a favourite at the Scotties, but not with me! NHL continues their compressed season, and Dad has even worked out how to watch his beloved Leafs on his laptop! We enjoyed our time in Gravelbourg last weekend—thanks Gerry & Lorna! Thanks also to the congregation there for providing warm fellowship. We tried to catch Elvin & Grace on the way home, but after missing out then, we are planning an excursion over there in the coming week. The car began whining on the way home from Gravelbourg, and we think it's probably a wheel bearing, so I took it into Kal-Tire today. I'm sure they have a long list of stuff they would love to do for me, but I will be happy for them to replace the wheel bearing! 

Eric has returned to The Pas; Erica has returned to being Mr & Mrs Mum and taxi service. Liam's hockey season is ending, but he looks forward to some further hockey play in tournaments. Haaken continues with school, guitar lessons and life as a prospective driver! 

Erin, Kristian and Mark are doing well. Kristian enjoys activities with the Roberts side as there are many cousins over there. Mark and I play Farkle regularly and Scrabble irregularly! Some people think the scheduling has to do with the success rate he enjoys in the respective games!! Kristian has a fresh haircut to go with his missing teeth. 

Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew continue with work, sports and life in TBay. The latest action for the Elks hockey team is described on Trav's blog.

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the snowy shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. The weather has been pretty comfortable, but we've also had more snow. The residential neighbourhood streets become narrower and narrower as the snow is piled up on the edges and it is a challenge to maneuver the bus through. The children have become used to my routine, so things are going fine in that regard. I seldom need to offer even a word of control. The markets have been troubled all week, but finally turned up on Friday and paid me off! Wendy has continued with the consultation on her arthritic fingers, and I now engaged in regular therapy in an attempt to cause extensive pain with the potential toward some greater range of motion! Dad works faithfully at his exercises as he tries to improve his own mobility—it is impressive to see. This weekend we accepted an invitation to sing with Dave & Heather and Lorna at the seniors residence in Gravelbourg. It was a lot of fun. It had an additional bonus as we got to share some time at Gerry and Lorna's place and catch up with many people in the congregation there. We did a lot of talking, singing and eating—it was great! We are thankful. I was able to pick up three curling games this week and enjoyed that as well. 

Eric is on his way back to The Pas. The family remaining in Parksville is missing him already. While at home he assisted in the celebrations of birthdays for both Haaken and Liam—that was special with meals out at their chosen locations. They also enjoyed lava cake, cupcakes and a chocolate iced chocolate layer cake—mmm, good! Eric/A also celebrated with a seafood dinner out—it's not even their birthdays! Liam is nearing the end of his first hockey season; he had made great progress in his hockey skills development. Eric is also enjoying the Canucks season progress. Erica is into a busy time at work with budgets and too many activities chasing too few dollars. It is her responsibility to make it some how work out! It seems the peculiar province of social service to always have to accomplish more with fewer dollars! The Kenora house is listed for sale again/still and has been attracting some interest. We pray the interest will develop into a suitable offer. The place they are currently renting in Parksville is also up for sale, but hopefully it won't move soon and they'll be at least able to finish the school year. 

Kristian had a good week. First off he lost two teeth on Sunday and thus scored big time with the tooth fairy. Then he wrote a plaintive note to the tooth fairy and managed to get his two teeth back! Mark was scoring impressively in Scrabble once he got his new iPhone, but recently he has been taking it easier on me. Erin is doing well, and was even able to join us for supper on Thursday before we took off for the weekend. 

Trav and Joanna are handling things back in TBay. Gemma and Andrew got report cards recently and both are doing well at school. Trav has posted his write-ups and reactions on the recent Elks hockey tournament. 

News Update

A frigidly cold week has passed on the shore of frozen Lake Wascana. We got to -35 midweek, with a windchill of -49 and my bus refused to start that morning. However, with a replacement bus that refused to produce heat we made our way to school anyway—it was not a good experience! Otherwise things progressed well on the bus driving front, and I have been assured of holding this run for the remainder of our time in Regina. Tag up and down the aisle (and over and under seats) ceased the first five minutes of my regime; now, they have even learned to stay seated most of the time—progress. US investors were surprised to find that cutting back on government spending has a deleterious effect on GDP, so the markets took a kicking most of the week, however, good jobs numbers turned things around on Friday, so I made significant recovery. It was not enough to overcome the early losses, so it was a down week. The women's curling did not turn out as I hoped for or expected—don't know what to expect from the Shumay team at the Scotties. The men's tournament is this week and I haven't been impressed with the curling there either. Surely, we can't be looking back wistfully for the days of Pat Simmons, can we? Dad had his last out-patient physio session this week, and has begun a series of at-home exercises. Wendy continues to search for a suitable machine to aid his workouts. 

Eric is on his way home as I write, and that may be enough said about the status of things on the Island!  He eventually arrived home the middle of the afternoon. Haaken and Liam continue anticipation of their birthdays in the next week. 

Kristian had a special week as he starred in his class play at the assembly on Thursday. (Clearly spoken lines is the definition of starring in grandpa's eyes!) Otherwise they survived the cold weather with the rest of us. Kiara and Kori are here this weekend, and Kristian has been at pains to have mom and Mark get the Lego project completed in time for the visitation! 

We haven't heard much from Trav, Joanna and crew this week, but we assume that can only mean good news. Perhaps they've been too busy counteracting cold and snow! He did enter the report on the most recent hockey game. 

That's about it for this week!