News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very mild, with some days above zero, and we've enjoyed getting out for walks on the slushy streets. We expect the weather to turn colder in the next week, after all, there remains another month or more of winter yet to come. I have completed my intended electrical work in the garage, although Wendy is calling for some new electrical fixtures out there yet! Wendy has cleared the kitchenette floor down to the cement in readiness for tile, however, I think she is planning to hold off on further development down there until we get back from the Prairies in April. She completed the 1000-piece jigsaw of Ottawa, and has moved on to another puzzle. She also has completed a set of reindeer ornaments that she began way back in YK days! The markets have been roiled by the Trump administration who announced four differing stories on their dollar policy in the matter of three days! Finally, on Friday, investors determined it was all nonsense, so the US dollar resumed its decline, while the US markets surged. The TSX has not kept them company, and has barely struggled into the green for the month. I did not make quota this week, but I remain on quota for the month. The Canadian Open ended on Sunday with Switzerland's deCruz winning the men's title, and Chelsey Carey winning the women's title. In junior curling, New Brunswick won the women's title, while BC won the men's side. This weekend, the Scotties has begun; I shall be well engaged in that for the next week! Hockey is in a brief hiatus for the all-star break, and all teams are assessing their situations, and deciding whether they should be stocking up, or selling off! My Jayhawks lost in Norman OK this week, but returned home to win today over Texas A&M. They were raised to #5 in the rankings, but it is questionable whether they will be able to keep it after this week's mixed results.

JigSaw #3

Who said I would never get done?!

Erica spent the week busily engaged with driving and work on the road between PA, Regina and Saskatoon. She was hoping to get some some visits in with family. Unfortunately, the time not spent driving was working or sleeping. It was a busy week. She did get one evening in with Liam, which was nice. Eric had a busy week at home fending for himself and he even made some progress on the living room. It looks much more spacious with the boxes and building supplies out of the way. Haaken and Liam continue with school. Haaken is following up on his student loans. He has been approved and submitted his banking information, but payment has not yet arrived. Eric has been selected for a radio assignment on Valentine's Day where he'll be discussing relationships.

Kristian put up two excellent sets of bowling this week. He first caught up for his missed games last Saturday, and then bowled consistently good games in league action this morning. He averaged over 135 in the first set, and then pushed it to 142 this morning! He's doubled his average since last year at this time. He got his hearing aides repaired this week, so he had to spend some time without them, and other time with less adequate loaners, but he's back to hearing (and listening) once again!

Travis and Joanna continue with a lot of work at their various assignments. We're glad to see them around the office here most days. Trav has also been experimenting with some of our keto recipes, and really enjoys the pizza dough. The rest of the crew gave it an approval as well.

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been mild with some night time temperatures even remaining above zero. Along with these systems, we've had some fresh snow and also some rain! At Wendy's insistence, we've taken time to clean the driveway down to the pavement. I've also taken the opportunity to work outside, doing some electrical upgrades in the garage. The garage is my next area of focus as the main house project remaining is the kitchen, and that's just more money than we can manage right now. Wendy is removing a piece of carpet in the kitchenette in preparation for tile in that part of the room. We have purchased 1/2" tiles for a thermal-break from the cement floor, so that's about ready to go once the painting is completed. Wendy has also put many hours into a 1000-piece puzzle; there are still a few hundred pieces left to go. The markets have continued their volatile ways, made more-so with the political chaos across the line. If it weren't such a concern, it would be amusing to see how a party in control of the legislative branches and the executive can't get legislation passed! The TSX is not moving up much (less than 1%), while the US indices are up over 5% this month. The main index down there was up 24% in Trump's first year—bigly! However, it falls far short of Obama's first year (35%). The main concerns for the US is that job gains have fallen to the lowest level in six years, and they're putting all their eggs in the trickle-down basket, so their dollar has fallen 10% in the last year. At any rate, I had another good week; so far, so good! The Continental Cup came to an exciting conclusion on Sunday with the North American team eking out the narrowest of victories over the World team. It was also a wonderful display of sportsmanship as the players seemed to realize that it's just a game and no one's national pride was devastated by the result. This week the curling feature is the Canadian Open. My guy, Kevin Koe, made the playoffs, but he lost the semi-final to Edin in an extra end. It will be Sweden vs Switzerland in the final tomorrow. On the women's side, it's Englot vs Carey. It is also the week of national junior championships in curling for both men and women. Good thing I have a PVR! KU moved up in the rankings to #10. They managed a big road win this week, and then returned home for this evening's win over Baylor—far closer than it should have been! In the NHL, Pens and Leafs are sitting in playoff spots, but the Oilers remain a long way out. C'mon Oil! 

The Baileys are enjoying their new/old house through their first winter. We look forward to getting updated on that project when we're out that way in the next month or so. Otherwise they continued with organizing and moving into their master bedroom. They sorted through clothes and have a big pile going to Value Village! Liam had a ski trip to Fernie. No news from him, except that he made it back. It must have been a fun time! Haaken continues with school.

Kristian was not feeling well this morning, so he missed his league bowling again. In his make up games earlier in the week, he put up some nice numbers with an average of 125. He'll have to make up today's play as well. Erin has decided it was time, so, she took down the Christmas tree today! 

Trav and Joanna returned from Punta Cana on Sunday night, and have got back into the swing of work and home. Trav is taking an adult hockey skills clinic, and finds it quite a bit of work. 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been crazy, with above zero temperatures and rain early in the week, turning to a deep-freeze and fresh snow later to create quite a mess on our front steps and our vehicles. We've managed to get that mostly cleared away, but they're threatening milder weather and more snow tomorrow. We've made some progress on the projects downstairs. With Trav & Joanna away, I've taken advantage to do some work in their office area. I built a small cupboard to cover over the water metre and the plumbing connections for the new kitchenette. There's still the painting to do, but my part is done! The TSX is struggling here while the sinking US dollar and corporate tax drives the US indices forward. At least Oil has recovered value as a result, and that helps a large industrial sector here. At least, I'm managing to make quota this far into this new year. The big sports attraction this week was the Continental Cup. Kevin Koe is one of the teams representing North America; I've enjoyed watching these games. North America holds a 1 point lead over the World team heading into the final day. In basketball KU is ranked #12; they managed two wins this week, although not impressively! Oilers continue their mediocre season in hockey—I was expecting so much more after their playoff run last year. Pens are doing a bit better at least, and, along with the Leafs, are sitting in a playoff position. 

Plumbing Cupboard

The Baileys are enjoying being home after their travels over the holidays. One special activity during the break was attending the wedding of their friend Tamara where Erica was part of the entertainment. They have also completed the master bedroom, and have now moved in there. It looks good. Plans are coming together for Liam's grad. Hard to believe how the years have flown by. 

At Tamara's wedding

Looking like home!

Erin and Kristian are hunkered down against the cold in Regina. In the cold this morning, Erin was hoping the car wouldn't start so they wouldn't have to go to bowling! But it did, and they did. However, the bowling did not happen as the computerized scoring malfunctioned and, apparently, these kids can't figure out how to do manual scoring! So Kristian will have to make up those games on Monday evening. 

Trav & Joanna have been enjoying their time in Punta Cana. Wendy has been occupied with caring for their animals, and supervising the children. They sometimes come by to eat, but truthfully, Gemma and Andrew have been doing a great job of taking care of things at home. We expect Trav & Joanna to get back tomorrow evening. 

And that's about it for this week!

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've had a cold introduction to the new year as we've seen the temperature drop to near -30, but they're telling us that it's over for now, and we're looking toward single digits again. We've stayed near the house most days, and have enjoyed a quiet week. I had an appointment with my oncologist and he's agreed to go with an MRI instead of another prostate biopsy—colour me: relieved! Wendy keeps plugging away on the puzzle, and I throw in a piece once in a while. She has also taken down Christmas decorations, so our rooms have returned to near normal. I've begun planning improvements to the workshop in the garage. We're nearing the time when we will get the last of our appliances out of there, so I'd like to rearrange the saws and workbench so we can get the Santa Fe inside. My hope is to have plans ready for work come spring. In the meantime, I need to complete the kitchenette, so I've also turned some attention there. The markets have opened to the green these first three trading days. On Friday, we got impressive jobs numbers as our unemployment rate dropped to the lowest since 1976. US had their poorest year of job growth in the last six years, so that's a concern as the US dollar weakens, and our exporters face the headwind. There are further concerns that the Bank of Canada will raise the prime rate, while the US Federal Reserve, suffering poorer performance, may not. So, I'm playing things cautiously. Trav & Joanna left for a week in Punta Cana, so we have Minnie living with us, and we're supervising over at their house as well. The sports calendar continues to be busy. I've started my month of league curling—fun so far! The Junior Hockey World Championships concluded this week with our boys bringing home the gold! Olympic Trials for Mixed Doubles curling have been running all week, and I've been following that. We're into the playoffs now, and my favourites, Gushue/Sweeting, have advanced to the final game against Morris/Lawes. The Oilers and Pens continue to have inconsistent performance in the NHL. C'mon man! The Jayhawks lost a home conference game while putting up a poor performance. Rock Chalk boys! That is unacceptable. They had recovered to #10 ranking, but may drift quite a distance after that effort! They played much better tonight for a road win.

The Baileys found a break in the weather to make the return trip to PA. The roads were good and they enjoyed the good hospitality of Uncle John (thank you) on New Year's Eve, and found a great hotel deal in Banff. It’s funny how a trip that they used to make in a day now takes three! They’ve mostly relaxed this week as they all came down with colds along the way. But they also made some headway on the house, finishing the floor in the master bedroom and purchasing a new mattress for Liam. They filled out the week with efforts to make gluten-free cookies for Liam. Haaken heard this week that he has been approved for a small student loan as well as a grant given in recognition of his autism; that will help with his schooling.

Master Bedroom Floor

Erin and Kristian are back to work and school. Kristian had his regular league bowling today, and rolled all three games over 100. His average has been bumped to about 110! Good job! He is backlogged on Lego projects as he got too many for Christmas! Just kidding—according to Kristian, one cannot have too much Lego!

Travis and Joanna cleaned up as many orders and work as they could; then, they left on Thursday for a week at Punta Cana. We've assumed care of the children and animals—Wendy has done most of that! She spends each night at their house, while Minnie stays here with me. Gemma takes care of driving Andrew and herself to school and other engagements, so that's very handy. The vehicles are running fine now that they have new batteries. 

And that's about it for this week.