Boxing Day

Another festive week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town. We have enjoyed another round of giving and receiving; and we now acknowledge even more blessings. We have been glad to spend time with our family here at home, and also to FaceTime with the crew who gathered at Erin's house in Regina. What a special blessing it is that Erin & Kristian now have a nice place to set up their home! We certainly rejoice with them. Eric/A and the boys have a nice place in PA as well, and both have work that is rewarding; we only wish their work places were closer to each other! Travis & Joanna, Gemma and Andrew have established themselves in the downstairs suite here, and that has been a double blessing for us as we not only have them close by, but we can hit the road whenever we wish! The weather has continued mild with above zero temperatures again this week, and some rain to wash the streets clean. We got a dusting of snow for a white Christmas at least. The markets have finally launched a Santa Claus rally, and even though they were only open 3.5 days, I managed to gain more than a full week's quota. The Junior World Hockey Championship is underway, and Canada dropped their opening game to the US—Go Canada, Go! There are a plague of college football games on the TV, but I'll only be following the playoff games and cheering for Oklahoma—Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner!  

And that's about it for this week! It will be the New Year before another weekend rolls around, so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all the best in 2016! 

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! 

Home Again!

We enjoyed a wonderful family reunion in Regina last week, closing it off with a celebration on Sunday as a morning of fellowship at Glen Elm was accented by a great Sunday dinner at 55 Laird, where we noted the engagement of our niece, Ashley, with Barry. Feeling suitably recovered from jet lag, we set out Monday morning for TBay, but we didn't make it. Plenty of fuel in the car, but I ran out of gas at Dryden, so we stopped there for the night, and completed the drive home on Tuesday. It is good to be back home, and we are enjoying catching up with the family here to complete the reunion cycle. The weather remains unseasonably warm and I managed to get the leaves cleaned up from the lawns, and watered-in the cedars. They are promising snow overnight, and winter must arrive soon. The markets were volatile this week with three very bad days around two good days. The action leaves the TSX down 4.7% this month, 12.6% for the year—sigh! I was down for the week, and with the US Fed rate story next week, and the holidays coming up, I am despairing of making quota for the year. My man, Kevin Koe, won the Canada Cup of curling on Sunday. This week is the Canadian Open, and Koe once again made the playoffs. He lost his semi-final game tonight, but it was another good showing. The hockey season is about 1/3 through, so I'm paying a bit of attention to the playoff races there. Basketball season has started, and I've watched three Jayhawk games since we got back—all wins! Rock Chalk. 

We caught up with Eric/A and the boys in Regina last weekend, as we were getting our recovery time at Erin & Kristian's. They are looking to have Christmas together in Regina, but we're planning to stay home for Christmas this year. Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew are off to Minneapolis this weekend for a hockey tournament. We're hosting their other creatures here at home! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

The Voyage Home

Tuesday was a quiet day for us as we prepared ourselves for the departure from India after midnight, and the 14-hour flight to Toronto. There was some shopping, much resting, packing, and Carter was trying to work through a case of Delhi Belly. We boarded the flight as scheduled and flew ahead of the sun before finally arriving in TO about 5am Eastern. We cleared customs there, and prepared for the morning flight to Regina. That marked the end of our team travels, although Janelle and Carter still had to travel to Salmon Arm via Kelowna, and Tyler had to fly home to Yellowknife. We began the process of time zone adjustment at Erin's place in Regina, and plan to drive home next week. The first three nights have featured interrupted sleep, but we're gradually feeling more clear-headed during the day time. We're certainly appreciating a quiet, downstairs room here at Erin's. My eye has continued to improve, and now I remain only to complete the regimen of antibiotics. We drove over to Caronport to retrieve Liam on Thursday evening as he and Kristian both had dental appointments on Friday. Grandma took them to their appointments. Eric/A and Haaken arrived on Friday evening, so we are enjoying a reunion with them as well. Canada Cup of curling is on, occupying some of my awake hours! My guy, Kevin Koe, is in the final tomorrow. The markets have been troubled by various news stories all week, but ended with a bit of a rally on Friday, so I was at least in the green for the week. As I had called it, Edmonton won the Grey Cup; now, it's time for them to change their nickname in keeping with the times. 

And that's about all I remember from this week!