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.