News Update

Another week has passed on Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie, where the women are strong, the men are handsome and all the children are above average! As threatened, we definitely had some nasty cold weather to deal with this week, but it has moderated once again by the weekend. With January gone, we hope the worst of winter is behind us. Wendy is doing well, and keeps busy with visiting, Bible study, a job interview, and taking care of the rest of us—and she does it well! Bus driving has continued to go well; I have learned the new route and most of the riders. More importantly for my piece of mind, they have learned what Busdriver Bill requires in the way of bus decorum! The markets have continued their troubled ways. All US indexes were down for the month with the most representative S&P-500 down 3.56%. The TSX eked out a small gain of 0.54%, however, I was unable to hold onto my quota for the month. After achieving it in the first three weeks, it was disconcerting to see it fall short in the losses of this week. American football reaches its much-hyped climax this weekend, and I shall be hoping Peyton Manning and the Broncos can capture the championship. The Ladies' Championship has begun in curling, so I'll be busy with that this next week. Alberta and Manitoba won the Junior Championships last weekend. Today, we had a special treat as our Zambian friends, Ba Mateo and Ba Tamala hosted us for brunch and a viewing of their new home—it's not a traditional Tonga home for sure! 

Eric/A and the boys carry on with life in Parksville. The coming week features birthdays of both Haaken and Liam, and that is an eager anticipation. This weekend, Liam is playing in a hockey tournament in Port Hardy and he scored his first goal of the season—congrats Liam! 

Erin got her car in for repairs. She suffered a little driving a rental this week, so, she was glad to get her Altima back on Friday. Kristian had a day off school on Friday, so he spent it with us. I also had the day off from bus driving. 

Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew are thriving in wintery Thunder Bay. We miss the regular back and forth we enjoyed with them. This weekend they're particularly busy at Elks Hockey Tournament. 

And that's about enough for this week.