Saturday, December 7

News Update

We've had a cold and snowy week on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Winter has arrived in earnest, and we've had several deposits of snow. I have finally had to get the snowblower out as I cleared the driveway. We even had a snow day on Thursday as the rural roads were so treacherous they cancelled the buses. Wendy has received disquieting news that her employer, Big Lots Canada, is shutting down. Perhaps it should not have been a surprising move seeing how disorganized they are, but they just spent big money completely refurbishing the store here and had a grand opening about a month ago! Sigh! Better economic data out of the US has hit the markets this week. Investors are afraid it means the end of easy money, so they sold most of the week. Finally, on Friday the news was so good on jobs both sides of the border and increased GDP in the US, that investors became afraid of missing out and began buying, so we got some recovery. I'm hoping it leads to a year-end rally! All markets were down about 1.5 to 2% for the week, but I was blessed with an excellent week and an above-quota gain—thank you, Lord! The Olympic curling trials in Winnipeg have drawn my attention all week. This afternoon, my favourite, Kevin Martin, lost in the men's semi-final. I'll be cheering for Brad Jacobs in the final tomorrow. This evening, Jennifer Jones won the women's final and will represent us well in Sochi.

Haaken and Liam are involved in Bethlehem Walk, an annual production of the church that draws tens of thousands from the Island and mainland. They are playing artists in Bethlehem who specialize in illustrating Old Testament stories, and featuring a few drawings inspired by an unusually large star that has appeared lately. Liam got new shoes; he's moved from size 9 to size 10.5 since the start of the school year—yikes! Haaken has been experimenting with voice-overs on the computer. Eric is playing a Rabbi in Bethlehem Walk. He is already demanding script rewrites and his own trailer. Erica is busy with school closure meetings most evenings. She'll be glad when that is over. She awarded herself a trip to the spa for a facial and an evening of relaxation on Friday, and has decided she needs to negotiate that into her next contract! 

Erin and Kristian are enduring some nasty winter weather in Regina. She has her winter tires installed, got a new battery and is installing a remote starter for her car as well. Sadie had a hair cut, so she's ready for indoor weather only! Erin has been called for jury duty, so we'll see how that develops. 

Trav got winter tires for his car this week. He's enjoying the improved traction! He and Joanna are keeping very busy; I guess that's good. Andrew is having a birthday, so we look forward to celebrating with them all. 

And that's about it for this week.

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