News Update

Another week has passed and we continue our sojourn on the shore of the Pacific, far from our hometown! The weather has continued to be beautiful, and we're enjoying getting out to enjoy it. Dave has been with us most of the week; it's been great to have him around. I've managed more golf practice and finally my first game of the winter on Friday. The game revealed many shortcomings, so more practice and play are in order! It's been a terrible, no good, bad week in the markets. The Saudi oil glut, the French turmoil and the Swiss central bankers have destabilized investors. The TSX fell to 4% in the red on the month before getting some recovery on Friday. I have suffered big losses as well; I have declined from being at quota after week 1 to being in the red after week 2—sigh! More practice and work are in order! Wendy keeps very busy supporting Haaken's schedule! She has added to it by establishing some sketching lessons for him. He has completed one sketch already; we thought it was striking! In sports, Canada completed a dominating win in the Continental Cup of curling. This weekend is the Curling Skins game; I'm enjoying that as well, even though my guy, Kevin Koe got knocked out this morning. It will be Brad Jacobs versus John Morris in the final. Ohio State earned an impressive victory in the first US University Football championship. The NFL playoffs featured the elimination of Peyton Manning, and also of the Dallas Cowboys, so I won't be paying attention to that any longer. Today, we made a short trip up island for a visit with long time friends. It was good to reconnect with Tim & Shirley of Yellowknife by way of Zambia, and also with Kathy, not only a long time friend, but also a relative. 

Haaken's latest Sketch

Eric/A continue to adapt to the life with an empty nest. Erica's car pool to Saskatoon is disappearing, so they've spent some effort looking for a second vehicle. They also test drove a Prius, but decided on a Toyota Corolla. We hope it serves them well. Liam was on hand to watch the finals of his school's gotcha tournament, and elastic band contest. He also dug his skates for the first time this season. Grandma has arranged art tutoring to help Haaken fill out his portfolio, and they were blown away by his newest effort. 

We haven't heard much from Erin and Kristian this week, just the regular school and work activities. Erin tried selling her sister a car, but she is glad they decided on the Corolla they found in PA. Kristian got a fresh haircut—I did, too, but I'm understanding his involved a lot more cutting! Kristian went swimming last evening on the event of his friend Zachary's birthday party. 

Trav and Joanna have a big hockey tournament this week in TBay. They are working PuckShots photography there, and Trav is also running hot tweets on the results. Joanna checked out the security system on the house. It works, and she also learned how to disable it! 

And that's about enough for this week.