Twas a week before Christmas!

Merry Christmas! 

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown! The promised snow has arrived and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We received a dump of slushy snow on Sunday afternoon and Monday, so it's been difficult on the streets as drivers fail to adjust quickly to the vastly changed driving conditions. I've been working on the steps and driveway most of the week, and it's gradually getting better. I think today's scraping has the steps in good condition. The rain, snow, and near freezing temperatures have conspired to leave the driveway in less desirable condition. We don't have an expectation for any sunny days in the near future, so we'll keep at it with scrapers and salt.  I have decided to cover some of my cedars against sun burn this winter, so I worked on that for a bit. I think I'll need some ropes to tie their white robes on—it looks like the clan is in my back yard! Wendy has been busy with shopping and Christmas baking. I'm enjoying omitting the former, and engaging the latter! The market has continued to be troubled. There was a buying frenzy around the US Fed Rate hike, but that died out into big losses Thursday and Friday. I had a very good week despite some pull back on Friday, however, I only have two holiday-shortened weeks left and much quota left to earn! A new face won the Canadian Open as John Epping beat Brad Gushue in the final. Rachel Homan won the women's Open, continuing her dominance. NFL is nearing the playoffs, but Peyton is not playing, so I haven't been watching. Jayhawks won big again today in university basketball and are ranked #2 in the young season. Riders are making a big splash as they hired the Grey Cup winning coach away from Edmonton, and fired about half their players! Can you say, "Rebuilding?"!

Eric/A and Haaken continue with life in PA. Liam has completed exams at Caronport. They are arranging Christmas and Kristian-care together, which has relieved us from another trip west—thanks guys! Erin suffered an infection of some kind in her finger. She had to get it lanced, and is now on antibiotics. We hope this will take care of the problem.

Trav and Joanna have been very busy—too busy with PuckShots, Bucket Decals, and the other aspects of Ulrich Design. They even got the old man into the harness briefly this week! Apparently, I didn't set them back too far! Gemma and Andrew have completed the term and are on break from school. They both came home with excellent report cards.

And that's about it for this week. Merry Christmas!