Happy New Year!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very mild with rain; we're not used to that at Christmas time! However, they're threatening a blizzard early next week, so there is that! We enjoyed a good week. We had a Christmas Eve service with our congregation. We spent Christmas Day with Trav, Joanna and crew. We went over there for brunch and gift exchange, then, in the afternoon, we engaged in our Christmas tradition of taking in a movie. This year, it was the newest, and, potentially, last, Star Wars movie. Finally, in the evening, they came over for turkey supper with all the trimmings. Wendy got out one of her puzzles, and we spent the evening building that.

Hard at it—Looney Tunes! 

Otherwise, we enjoyed a quiet week, and managed to avoid both pre-Christmas and post-Christmas shopping mania. We are currently working on puzzle #5! The markets were thinly traded, and thus volatile, but I was blessed with the full weekly quota despite only having 2.5 trading days, so I'm thankful. Fortunately, Trump has been fully-occupied with his impeachment, so nothing has come of his tariff threats. Hockey is a special feature this time of year as the World Junior championships take place. This year's event is in the Czech Republic, so we enjoy early game times. Our guys won their first game over USA, but were crushed by Russia in their second—Go Canada, Go! In the NHL, the Oilers had the ultimate insult as they lost to Calgary—yikes! Leafs continue to thrive, and Pens are starting to get players back from the injury list. As expected, Kansas was demoted to #5—Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk! 

Eric/A celebrated Christmas in PA with Haaken and Liam home to help them enjoy the season. 

Erica scored a lovely crystal

Liam's new hat!

Then, they spent the rest of the week celebrating their 26th Anniversary—Congratulations!

Erin, Kristian, Sadie and Lucy enjoyed Christmas in Regina. Shawn, Astrid and Liam came over for gift exchange and Christmas Dinner.

Jays Jersey for Erin

Fit-Bit!

Astrid's Gift!

After scoring nice gifts, Erin also took advantage of the post-Christmas sales to pick up a new Smart-TV to replace the one that has been dying down in the Family Room.

Travis and Joanna are enjoying a holiday from work, but they have a lot of assignments ready for them to get back to as well. We enjoyed spending time with the entire crew at Christmas. Travis and I worked on the dishwasher, but in the end we couldn't find the drainage problem, and left that to a professional! It still required a bit of work taking it out and reinstalling it. 

Working on the Dishwasher

Joanna has flown down to Toronto for a family-care visit after Christmas.

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The cold snap has broken, and we're back in above zero temperatures. The driveway has melted off, but the eaves are dripping to create new icy spots. It's been a long two weeks, but Wendy returned home late last night, make that early this morning, as the air travel issues continued to the very end. In the final leg from Toronto to TBay, Wendy got boarded, but then had to deplane and change planes! Meanwhile, Erica was doing the gate dance in Toronto as well before flying, also late, to Saskatoon. However, they had a great two weeks of various adventures, including travel, and Erica completed another surgical episode in Germany. She seems to be recovering better than usual this time, and we're grateful for that. Wendy has added more to her adventures as she's dog-sitting over the holidays!

Charlie

William

I have managed some progress on a couple of projects here. I installed, temporarily, the LED lights in the china cabinet. There are four wires in those little flat ribbons, and some of the solders did not survive the installation, so I'll need to find the broken connections and redo them.

Rider Flavour in China Cabinet

I also added the support to the island countertop and got that attached to the island. The boss hasn't noticed that yet, so we await final approval there! I worked on the sliding door, but have discovered that it's a bit warped, so I'm watching you-tubes on repairing warped doors! My eye is looking good and seeing a bit better each week. I keep hoping the progress will continue long enough so I can see well. I am sometimes able to read words from the screen, but it tires quickly, too. Trump seems to have been completely distracted by his impeachment, and the markets soared as they worked unimpeded. I had a good week, but it would take more such weeks to complete the year on target after the disaster last week, and the closing days will be aggravated by holidays. My Oilers continue to flounder, losing about seven of their last ten, so they've fallen to third place in their division. At least they managed a win tonight. The Leafs are flourishing under their new coach, and have moved into playoff contention; they also won tonight. The Pens, somehow, continue to win despite all their injuries; but they failed in Vancouver tonight. As expected, my Jayhawks were elevated to #1 in basketball. However, as feared, they fell victim to this season's #1 curse. They lost by 1 point to Villanova today, so they'll likely crash out of #1 in the next rating, sigh! Rock Chalk Boys! 

Miss Adventurers!

Erica writes, "Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement. And a big thank you to mom who has been incredibly giving and supportive. I feel so rich in love! I’m back in Saskatchewan. We had previously booked a hotel and I’m so glad as, in the end, my flight didn’t get in until 1:30 AM. I had a good night’s sleep and a bath, and I am feeling better. I have MLD therapy this morning and then we will head home. Mom and I went to visit Dr. Busch on Thursday for a final check on my healing and to make sure I’m fit for travel. He was happy with the progress to date and had no concerns with various spots mom asked about. He also spent some time discussing next steps. He thinks that there is likely one more surgery on Lipedema fat in the leg. However, he also said it depends on how my pain is and whether I want to do another liposuction after I see how things settle out after this surgery. So, we will wait and see. We also discussed the possibility of skin removal and tightening. Again, it is good to wait and see how much the skin retracts on its own. I can also explore getting skin removal and tightening in Canada. I ask for your prayers for healing and God’s wisdom and guidance as we weigh the risks and benefits of any further surgery. Friday was a very long day. We were out the door by 5 AM German time. By the time I landed in Saskatoon it was 1:30 AM Saskatchewan time—27.5 hours of travel time! I did manage a couple naps on the plane, but I don’t sleep well in a sitting position. I keep hoping that the airline will upgrade me to one of those bed type seats, but it hasn’t happened yet! My trip was capped off with a big delay and multiple gate changes in Toronto. Gate 41 to 45. Then, we were told to move to 37, but while I was getting a Starbucks on the way to 37, we got another change—back to 41. Then we were moved to 22 which was down a different wing of the airport. Thank goodness for mom who is a trooper and also so very strong. She moved me around until she had to go to her own gate. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Walking—my app is all messed up now with the time changes. But, I think I had about 4 km on Thursday and about the same on Friday, even though I did get wheelchair assistance from the airline. I always feel a little guilty asking for this help, but I know it would also be difficult with the long walks in the big airports like Heathrow and Pearson, and standing in line is even more draining than walking. So I just keep telling myself, 'It’s okay!' Merry Christmas! God Bless all of you!"

Erin and Kristian FaceTimed with me last evening. They're doing well. Kristian had me editing three articles online with him this week. On one occasion, he was online at the same time, so it was cute watching him repair the situations while I was highlighting them! He discovered John Denver, and has declared his new favourite song, "Take Me Home, Country Roads". One of my favourites as well! Kristian is looking forward to school break and Christmas next week!

Travis and Joanna are so busy they hardly have time to plan their next move. Then, they had the added distraction early Wednesday morning when I locked myself out of the house! Thank you, Trav for rescuing me! It had snowed, so I was out early clearing the driveway, and somehow, I locked the door behind me! Getting old! Otherwise, they've added some extra personnel and managed to push out a bunch more product. Gemma and Andrew are on break; and Andrew is looking towards his next adventures "in the Navy!"

Merry Christmas to All! 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned cold with overnight temperatures dropping to -20° and colder, but we haven't had to face further snow shovelling, so there is that! Wendy is in Germany with Erica, and it seems they are making good progress there. Erica was discharged from hospital, so they are continuing the recovery and healing in the BNB. Erica seems to have snapped back quicker than usual, and we're all quite encouraged. They even got out shopping today—would have been enough to make me ill!

Shopping Success!

I have done a little work on the sliding door, but really have had a pretty quiet week on the project front. Curling and Golf are both on TV and I can hardly keep up with all the coverage! Meanwhile, I was back to my ophthalmologist on Monday to follow-up on my eye surgery. He was well satisfied with the healing and progress. I am seeing somewhat better and even manage to read things on the screen from time to time, but it's still mostly obscured, and is not satisfactory to me yet. I am able to read street names while out driving, so that's a good sign. On Tuesday, I had blood work for my regular doctor as she is getting ready to complete my physical we began in the summer. Also in line with that physical, on Wednesday, I had a colonoscopy. That always has the delightful kool-aid preparation—do not like that stuff! I paid more attention to the whole rigamarole this time. I had been surprised to be conscious last time, so I watched the folks coming back to the recovery room, and sure enough, most of them were unconscious. I'm sure I would have had no trouble driving myself home, but I wasn't allowed. Thank you, Joanna, for accompanying me, and ensuring I got home safe and sound—actually not sound, I was considered legally impaired for the next 24 hours, and not allowed to sign documents, etc. They found and removed a polyp; that was interesting to watch. I'll get an analysis of that in due course. The markets suffered under the trade wars most of the week, but finally a deal was announced on Thursday, so I got some recovery on Friday, but not enough to cover four days of losses. #2 Kansas had an easy win early in the week, and another tonight. With the loss by #1 Louisville, I'm expecting KU to be elevated to #1 this weekend. The Oilers brought a three-game skid into tonight's game with the Leafs, but hey, one of my teams has to win when they play each other! Tonight, it was the Leafs. The Pens continue to press on with good success despite more injuries and illness depleting their ranks; they won in a shootout tonight. The curling was the Grand Slam event from Newfoundland. My guy, Kevin Koe, advanced to the playoffs, but lost out there. It'll be Jacobs vs Edin in the Men's final, while on the women's side it will be Jones vs Hasselborg.

Erica began her week with misadventures in air travel. She was on her way to Bonn, but couldn’t get off the tarmac in Saskatoon. Fortunately, Mom was on the job and she managed to get things worked out so they were rebooked to a later flight out of Toronto and could still travel together. She had her surgery which appears to have been a success. She has been discharged from the hospital and has tested out her new legs with a short walk on Friday, and a longer walk today. We continue to pray for healing and no negative side effects. Haaken changed jobs. He applied for and got a job with Costco which is closer to home for him. So far it is, “All right.” Liam is busy with RU practises and work and drawing his web comic. He is hoping to start publishing it online in the future, but it sure is a lot of work. Eric is managing life alone this week by fitting in a quick trip to Saskatoon for a card hockey game, some visiting and dropping off gifts. He’s been picking up the gift delivery and mailing slack. He was grateful to be assigned a sleep-help in Saskatoon!

Sleep Help for Uncle Eric!

Not much news from Erin and Kristian this week. Things seem to be going a bit better for Kristian in school, so that's good. Erin is in catch-up mode at work, and has accomplished that very well. It's been a busy week all the same. Erin has almost completed Christmas shopping with just a few items left to find for Kristian, Astrid and Liam. Today, they were able to relax.

Relaxing Saturday!

Travis and Joanna are very busy trying to complete Puck Shot and Bucket Decal Christmas orders. They are still taking more team shots as well just to add more to the backlog.

Andrew's Birthday

On Friday, they hosted us all for a special birthday celebration for Andrew.

Montana's special recognition!

Good food, good company! Thanks folks!

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. I am now found alone here as Wendy left today to travel with Erica to Germany for the next surgery in her long series. We pray they will experience good travel, and successful surgical outcomes. I know Wendy will be a big help, just as she was for me in my recent trip to Toronto. My eye continues to improve; I have a followup appointment on Monday to see just how well things are going. One of the things I've noticed is that the vision is returning differently from before. Now, I need reading glasses for my left eye only—the renovated right eye manages without! However, vision is still cloudy there, so we wait to see! Wendy hosted a gathering here on Wednesday afternoon, so all decorations are fully up,

All decorations in place!

and all tools are fully hidden—mostly in the spare bedroom! She also had a Sweet Adelines Christmas sing-out—a full week!

Wendy is in the middle of things!

The Keto Gingerbread turned out well, so I made another batch this week.

Wendy laughed at my thickness guides! 

Looks good! Tastes good!

This week on the markets started off very badly as Trump mused about not completing a trade deal with China until after the next election! Then, he started threatening a trade war with Europe. By Thursday, his admin was walking those back and announcing progress in the negotiations with China, so we had a big relief rally on Thursday and Friday, and I managed to complete the week in the green. Oilers had a good week, and have returned to first place in their division. Pens are coming off back-to-back shutouts! Now, if we can just get the Leafs flying—good game tonight, boys! As expected, the Jayhawks were rewarded for their tournament victory in Maui. They've been elevated to #2 in the country. Now, to live up to that status! They won tonight, but it wasn't good enough for me—21 turnovers! Bake Shop Jayhawks!

Erica reports a busy week—wrapping up projects at work and gifts at home before her departure to Germany today. She was advised that for the low, low price of $2300, she could upgrade to business class—she remained in coach! She suffered through a number of flight delays out of Saskatoon, and her plane was finally declared mechanical. So she had to rebook, while Wendy sat and waited in Toronto. Eventually, Wendy convinced AC to change her flights so she could accompany Erica across to Europe—always an adventure with those two! Liam made an epic wrapping job of a package of batteries for his RU Christmas party. It looked like a dinosaur. Impressive!

The reality!

The Fantasmologisaurus! 

Eric discovered that he gave his students until the 20th to turn in their major paper. Good news, he won’t have to mark papers for a few weeks. Bad news... well, lesson learned! Haaken continues with work and animation projects in Victoria. He will be heading home next weekend.

Erin and Kristian had a busy week in Regina, but at least Kristian had Friday off due to a school PD Day. He managed the cleanup of the family room, and then assisted in the assembly of Erin's new chair.

Lucy and Sadie's new chair!

Apparently the cat and dog approve of the new install! Today, at Winston Knoll High School, they had the Christmas Party put on by Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services—lots of fun, games and pizza! Erin is trying to manage it all, and catch up at work where they've been short-staffed lately. Good work, mom!

Travis and Joanna continue to be very busy, and are now in the particular crush of getting orders completed and delivered in time for Christmas. They put in some extra hours this week for sure, but it will all pay off next month when they are sitting on the beach at Punta Cana!

And that's about it for this week! 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. It has been quite a week for us. On Monday, we travelled down to Toronto for my eye surgery. We met with the doctor that afternoon, then, on Tuesday, the doctor removed an advanced pterygium from my right eye. It had advanced across the eye and completely covered the pupil, so that was an additional concern for her. After removing it, she extracted some tissue from above the iris, and transplanted it into the area of the wound. She has found this extra step a necessary and effective one to prevent the pterygium from regrowing.

Patched up for night 1

She applied a temporary patch over the eye until the next day, when she took that off and examined her work. She pronounced it "good", and discharged me to return home on Wednesday evening. Wendy and I also enjoyed a few special eating out opportunities while in Toronto, but now we're back to our more normal routine at home.

Sore, light-sensitive

My eye is very sensitive, and enjoys it when I close down the lids! I've been prescribed T3s, but I haven't had to resort to those after the first day or so. I also have medication to apply to the eye four times daily during these first two weeks. Then, I switch medications for another two weeks of healing. After that, I'm hoping that I'll be seeing well from that eye once again. I'm already noticing some improvement in that I no longer have multiple images from that eye, but it's still rather obscured. I still cannot read with that eye; that'll be a big day when that happens! The markets were mostly favourable this week, although the volumes were considerably down in light of the US holiday. I managed to complete the week and the month on quota, and with another month like this, I'll manage quota for the year as well. Sports this week has featured the Canada Cup of curling. Kevin Koe has advanced to the final where he'll face John Epping. On the women's side it'll be Rachel Homan facing Tracy Fleury. The Jayhawks won three games and the Maui Tournament. I expect their ranking to improve again this weekend. The Maple Leafs continue their improved play under the new coach, winning four of five. The Pens continue to fight through a plague of injuries while maintaining good effort and satisfactory results. The Oilers are at the top of their division, but they lost to the Canucks, tonight, sigh!

This week Erica was busy wrapping up files at work, getting ready for her trip to Germany. She asks for your prayers so the surgery goes well like the first three and she doesn’t get an infection afterwards, like last time. Both Liam and Haaken continue with work on animation projects. Liam is also developing a web comic which he hopes to have out soon. Eric is done marking his minor papers. He still has 25 major papers of up to 20 pages each. That’s 500 pages of marking—fun times!

Also a pic of their Christmas Tree!

Kristian has been enjoying a week of mathematics homework every night! Aside from work, Erin has been busy with home decorations and other Christmas preparations. Kristian helped her prepare for the staff Christmas party. They were short-staffed at work, so Erin got to be the boss! This weekend, Callum is over and the boys are having a fun time.

Chicken Strips, Fries & Veggies! 

Travis and Joanna continue through their busy season. They're trying to hold it to ninety hockey teams before Christmas. Travis celebrated his birthday on Wednesday, and we took them out to supper on Friday to continue that recognition.

Birthday Supper at BP

Andrew has decided that college is not for him and is applying for entry into the Navy. Gemma continues to thrive at university.

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. On Thursday morning, we woke to a dump of snow,  about 19cm (8"). It was wet and heavy, but Wendy and I managed to push it to the side, and then I got the snowblower out and pumped it up onto the lawn. We're back to above zero this weekend, the streets have melted, and the driveway is clearing off as well. Wendy bought a new Christmas tree, and set it up. It's has the built-in LEDs and multiple programs for how they light up. Now, she will begin the application of decorations. 

New LED Tree

Wendy has pretty much completed the prep on the new sliding door; I'm looking forward to seeing it all painted up. I got the extra shelves installed in the cupboards, so I think that job is now complete. We have a rail strike distressing the markets here, and then Trump decided to do some more tweeting about China, so it was a bad week on the markets. I remain at quota for the month so far, but with next week being a short week, it'll be a challenge to get a full week's quota and complete the month properly. Sports have been a bit distressing this week. It started off with the Riders unable to score a TD despite being to the 5 yard line about 5 times. As a result, we'll be watching the Bombers playing the Grey Cup tomorrow against Hamilton. I'm picking Hamilton to win it, although I'd sure be happy for Collaros if the Bombers can pull it off! Then, the Leafs continued their losing ways, and decided to lose their coach as well. I was sorry to see him go. I hope they'll play hard for the new guy. They have won their first two under the new regime. The Pens continued to suffer more and more injuries, but still manage to stay in the thick of the playoff standings. The Oilers are doing well, and hold top spot in their division. KU has been raised to #4 in the rankings; they managed a comfortable win this week, but still had over a dozen turnovers—too many! Next week, they have a game that's on TV up here; it'll be nice to see them play. Rock Chalk, Boys. 

Erica spent a couple days in the North Battleford and discovered that they have at least two great restaurants and a good Danish bakery. Eric continued to survive in her absence. It was tough, but he made it through despite almost impossible odds. Liam is working on some animation projects. Haaken is back at work at Tim Hortons after a brief break for their renovations.

Erin and Kristian 'enjoyed' Parent/Teacher conferences on Tuesday. Kristian reports that it was not all sweetness and light, so I guess he'll need to renew his focus and efforts. Erin was not impressed with the teacher's attitude toward Kristian. If you hold low expectations, you can be pretty sure the student will not surpass them! They also need to go back to the audiologist to see if they can get his fm working for his hearing aids. Then, Erin is in charge of the staff Christmas party, so she's been buying and arranging presents for the party tomorrow. At least they had time to decorate their own tree.

Erin/Kristian Tree

Travis has been batching most of the week while Joanna was helping out in Toronto. She is back now, and not enjoying our snow! Meanwhile, they keep getting more and more hockey teams signed up for team and individual pictures. As a result, Travis is unable to keep up with watching his Pens play hockey! Still, things are progressing well with their work, and he got his new printer today! 

And that's about all for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We experienced a bit of snow and a lot of cold in the first part of the week, but it has returned to above zero temperatures and the snow has melted. Wendy enjoys her singing with Sweet Adelines, but with the upcoming trips escorting me and Erica, she will miss out on the Christmas production. She continues to work on the second side of the kitchen door—she's making good progress. I was cutting material for extra shelving for the cupboards today, now I need to get the edging ironed on, drill some additional holes and get them installed. I did a carb service on the snowblower, and it seems to be running fine, but the snow has disappeared, so false alarm! The markets were very helpful this week and I managed quota again. Impeachment pressure seems to be pushing Trump to settle with China, and investors are encouraged. The semi-finals were played on Sunday, so we look forward to the conference finals tomorrow with Hamilton hosting Edmonton in the East, while Saskatchewan hosts Winnipeg in the west. Go Riders, Go! Hockey continues to progress with about a quarter of the schedule played. The Oilers are doing well; the Pens are hanging in with an injury-depleted line-up, but the Leafs are fading, having lost five in a row. The Jayhawks are playing better, and cutting down on their turnovers, but their ranking has dropped to #5—rock, chalk, Jayhawks!

Erica spent the week working in Calgary. She claims it was kind of nice to stay in a hotel, have all her meals made, have someone make her bed—she's wondering if she could manage to make that happen at home! Eric spent the week at home. He says it was boring without Erica. Haaken found out his Christmas work-hours and all were pleasantly surprised that he has a few weeks off over the Christmas break. He is off from Dec 16th to Jan 4th, so he's planning to come home, so now they need to find some affordable flights. Yikes! Liam continues with RU and the Tunnels of Moose Jaw. This weekend Eric and Erica have snagged tickets to the Western Final in Regina. Erica has a presentation on Audit Committees, so they also have a hotel room. They are shopping for some warm Rider gear today. 

Erin and Kristian had another routine week in Regina. Kristian has given up bowling, but claims he's going to take up basketball this season. Erin is shopping for new skates for Kristian—it seems his feet have grown since last winter—who knew? He's been invited out to a friend's place in Lumsden this weekend, so that should be fun. Erin got her Roomba this week, so they spend exciting evenings watching it clean the room. 

Travis, Joanna and crew began the week by hosting us for supper. That was a nice occasion—thanks guys! Otherwise, they continue to be busy with work and school. I guess that's a routine week as well. After the snow last weekend, Travis got his winter tires installed this week. Joanna also had her car in for service, so I guess we're all ready for winter now. 

That's all for now. 

Novembrance Day

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown, and it's Remembrance Day weekend! The weather has taken a decidedly colder turn, and we even got a dusting of snow last night. It's been melting on the streets today, but not on the lawns, so, this could be here to stay! I've been cleaning up some trim work on the cupboards and also turned the barn door; Wendy is now working on the other side of that door. I finished the drawer and got that installed. It worked out well.

The Glue-up

Adding the front

In place

Wendy continues to be very busy learning her barbershop music, especially the quartet music. I have put the truck away for the winter in the back storage pad, and removed the batteries from both the truck and the Cougar. I got out the snow shovels and the snowblower today. I need to do a carb service on the snowblower to prepare it for the season. The markets ran pretty well for most of the week, but then Trump stuck his oar in, claiming he wasn't agreeing to the trade negotiations his admin was making with China. So, the US markets took a dive, and we lost value as well. At least I had a good, green week, and the hope of better gains to come. The CFL conference semi-finals run this weekend, while the Riders rest and prepare for the final next weekend—Go Riders, Go! The Jayhawks lost to Duke early in the week, but came back to win their home opener. Rock Chalk Boys! The Leafs have picked up the pace winning three of their last four to improve their standing. The Oilers are in first place in their division. The Pens are getting a few guys back from injuries, and are having some success, but then tonight, Crosby was injured, sigh! The curling event this week is the Tour Challenge; Kevin Koe has advanced to the playoffs, but lost in the semi-final to Brad Gushue. I'm enjoying watching. 

Erica writes: "Haaken was back at work this week and he reports it was good. Liam’s work schedule has lessened with the change in seasons. He is now working about 3, shortened days a week, but he says he is doing okay because he saved when he was getting more hours. He saved—that would bring a tear to my cold accountant heart if it was capable of emotion! Eric and I had a pretty normal week, the last one for a bit as I will be travelling the next two weeks for work. I have concluded my pre-surgery medical tests and everything seems pretty good. Mom and I will head to Germany in a month. Our Lipdema group met with government this past Monday—first with the Sask party’s human caucus and then with the health critic of the NDP. We feel like they heard our concerns and they’ve committed to take the lack of support for Lipedema forward. We just hope something will happen. Lipedema is estimated to affect 60,000 women and 6,000 men in Saskatchewan. Our big request was to get a specialist, perhaps an Endocrinologist specializing in Lipedema, so patients have someone to see for advice and to champion their case when surgery is the right option for them." 

Erin and Kristian had a routine week. Kristian seems to have lost enthusiasm for bowling—don't know what went wrong there. He did forward me a writing piece he was working on, so I helped with the editing. Lucy had her final vaccination this morning. They have done some shopping for Christmas decorations, and probably will get serious about that next weekend after the tree is set up. It's Shawn's birthday tomorrow, so they'll have a celebration for that.

Trav and Joanna are here most days as they're very busy with PuckShots and BucketDecals. They often have multiple teams to shoot pictures on any given day. Trav is looking at buying another printer to ensure production in case of down time on his current machine. Gemma is recovering nicely, and following doctor's orders to take it easy. 

That's about if for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been cold, but dry. We drop into freezing temperatures most nights now. I had a job briefly! I picked up a flyer delivery route, I made my first delivery on Thursday to 66 houses in this neighbourhood. Thought it would provide an excuse to get out for a walk!

Flyer Boy - Short Career!

However, it also required a couple of hours of collating the various flyers and ads into my carry bags, and my arthritic thumbs just couldn't manage that, so after doing it one week, I quit the flyer business! Wendy keeps working on her Sweet Adeline music; she has a library of their regular music to catch up on, as well as the Christmas music they're preparing for the season, and the special selections for her quartet! It's been very musical around here lately. She's working the keyboard and singing along with the downloaded documents as well. Today, she was off all day learning some new choreography for their songs. I've made some further progress on the drawer I'm building for the kitchen. Wendy has pretty much completed repairs to one side of the kitchen door. Now, she'll prime it, and I'll turn the door around so she can work on the other side. There was a big turnout for Hallowe'en this year, and we almost ran out of treats—the final four chocolate bars mysteriously disappeared early the next day! Despite the TSX being red for the month, I managed to eke out some gains although not up to quota. Now, we are into November—these final two months are usually good ones on the market, so we hope Trump will be occupied by his impeachment and leave world trade alone. The World Series played out as a complete surprise to everyone as for the first time in MLB, NBA or NHL history, the visiting team won every game. I was also surprised to see the Nationals win it all—congratulations to the former Montreal Expo franchise on their first World Series Championship. The Leafs are falling in the NHL standings—pick it up boys! They did manage a shoot out win over the Flyers today. Oilers continue to play well. I was treated to an Oiler/Pens game this afternoon with the Oilers winning in OT. Riders played their final game of the season without their QB who was injured. So, that made it tough. However, they prevailed to clinch first place and get a week off before the Western Final. Go Riders, Go! The Jayhawks have finished their preseason games in good form and are ranked #3; I guess that means they'll have to try much harder! Rock Chalk! 

Eric is back from his week of teaching. He’s been busy marking papers: 25 students x 6 minor papers and 1 major paper—whew, too much like work! Liam is home this weekend as he has another iron infusion on Monday. His iron has been holding around 100, but the doctor wants to see it increase to more normal levels like 130. Haaken has enjoyed a break from work while the Tim Hortons has undergone renovations. He’s back at work on Monday. He has also continued to apply for animation jobs and we are praying the right position comes along soon. On Monday, a group or ladies, including Erica, are meeting with government to convince them to do something about Lipedema.

Kristian was ill, and did not complete his bowling on Sunday evening. Callum and Kristian enjoyed Hallowe'en activities.

Kat-Kid!

Kristian got his new ear-moulds; he reports they fit better, look better...

and hear better, too!

Trav and Joanna have been very busy with hockey team photos. He even missed his Pens game today while taking more shots of six more teams! And they're still pumping out the Bucket Decals as well. On the concerning side, Gemma has fallen, and is currently suffering with a concussion. We hope she's feeling well again, soon. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've had another wet week, but it's nice this weekend at least. We've enjoyed a quiet week. I got some stuff done in the shop, Wendy cleaned up a few more things in the house. I installed the sliding door to the kitchen. She'll do more finishing while it's hanging there.

Sliding Door

I took advantage of the opening to work on my dust collection system. It works! It may need some tweaking as some dust is still getting through to the Shop Vac.

Double Bucket Dust Separator

Thein-Separator in top bucket

Wendy has been very busy learning her music for Sweet Adelines. Today, we walked over to Shoppers and got our flu shots for this season—didn't hurt! The markets have remained troubled, the TSX is now down 1.8% for the month, but I managed another green week. It was not up to quota, but I'm just glad to see green at this point! Hopefully, Trump will get so desperate for a distraction from impeachment that he'll sign some kind of trade deal with China. The pundits keep calling for a rally into the end of the year, and I keep waiting—nothing! The NHL continues to develop the story lines in the young season. Oilers and Pens are showing well; Leafs dropped one to their arch-rival Canadiens tonight. The World Series has surprised with the visiting team winning every game to leave them tied at two games apiece. The Bombers did us a big favour by knocking off Calgary last night, and the Riders battled back in Edmonton with a win on a last second FG to maintain our first place standing. Go Riders Go!

Eric was Professor Bailey this week. He taught a block class in Eclectic Relational Interventions for Change. You might be surprised to know that ERIC made up that title. He found it enjoyable and stressful all at once. Now he just has a bunch of papers to mark. Liam drove up Friday to attend and play drums for our friend’s funeral. The funeral was a nice mix of Craig’s faith and his love for Star Wars and Super heroes. Haaken is on a break from work as they finish up some renovations at the Tim Hortons. So he’s working on his animations.

Lucy had more vaccinations this morning; Kristian played the role of supervisory dad! Then, they went shopping for Hallowe'en stuff for Kristian. Callum's parents have asked if he could do trick or treat with Kristian this year. Erin has ordered a Roomba so Lucy won't get too comfortable! Aunt Erica suggested that Kristian make use of voice accessibility on his iPhone to assist with his reading. It's working well so far!

Travis and Joanna keep up the busyness in the business. Photoshoots, Bucket Decal orders from far and wide keep them occupied and keep the business thriving.

And that's enough for this week! 

Home Again, Home Again!

Another week has passed and I have returned to the shore of Lake Superior and my hometown. It's been another great week, and I'm feeling well blessed. I opened the week on the shore of Lake Ray Hubbard. I enjoyed a great time in Texas with three rounds of golf and an amazing football game. Sunday featured assembly with CARE Church in Dallas in the morning, a delightful Mexican lunch, and an uplifting song service in the evening. The Cowboys were the only fly in that ointment! Then, on Monday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with tasty BBQ'd Ribs a la Jonathan. This included most of my Texas family; it was delightful to see them again. A family reunion is under consideration for next Fall in Dallas. Early Wednesday morning (2am is early, but is it really morning?), Viggo took me to the airport to catch my flight to Toronto, and thence onto TBay. All went well, my luggage arrived with me this time, and I'm glad to be home. Wendy has cleaned up or disposed of the extensive collection of kitchen stuff that was in our spare bedroom. She has also begun the redecorating project there. It will involve new flooring and a paint job, but otherwise that room is in good shape. We may look at reflooring our bedroom at the same time, but it requires other repairs. Today, she scored a piece of countertop for our island. It is the same arborite as is on our counters, so it was quite a catch.

Island Top

The markets have continued to veer wildly with perceptions coming out of the US administration. Now, an investigation has begun over whether this involves insider trading against the wacky tweets—it would make sense of it at least! I had only four trading days this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but at least I managed to make some gains. With under two weeks to go, I need some help! The Baseball playoffs continue with Washington Nationals advancing to the World Series where they will face the Houston Astros. I'm still picking the Astros to win it all! The Riders beat BC this week, but Calgary beat Winnipeg to rejoin the Riders in first place. C'mon Bombers! My Oilers have opened the NHL season in good form. The Pens are also doing well, and the Leafs picked up a nice OT win tonight. 

Erica writes: "This was a heavy week. A good friend of ours was in the hospital for what we thought was just an infection. We were fully expecting him to be back out. Unfortunately we discovered that he was much sicker than anyone realized and on Tuesday evening he passed away. He was only 43. Eric is in Winnipeg this weekend for a conference and then heading over to Caronport to teach his block class next week. Liam is back in Moose Jaw working and Haaken is in a Victoria working at Tim Hortons and developing his animation. We got to have a family chat over the phone on Thanksgiving. I miss us being together." They also installed Roman Shade curtains in their bedroom and living room.

New Roman Shade for Bedroom

Erin and Kristian had another appointment with the audiologist. While she confirmed the hearing loss in his right ear remains unchanged, she also reported that Kristian's brain is making the desired adjustments, and he's hearing much better from that side than he was in the previous assessment. Brains are amazing! Kristian has ordered new ear moulds: black, red and white! Great-Grandpa helped him with the purchase, so that was special as well. Meanwhile, Lucy has found a box!

Lucy is, apparently, a cat!

Travis and Joanna had a few recent disasters. Joanna lost a tooth she has been babying along since she was a teenager. So, that'll require some time, effort and cash! Then, another of Trav's tires died ignobly in a local pothole. He's about ready for a complete set of new tires, so that may encourage him to upgrade to better tires, but still it's also an unwanted expense. However, they continue to get and complete new orders, and they took pics of four hockey teams today, so that part is good. Gemma is enjoying her reading week, trying to catch up on sleep after midterms. Andrew is looking forward to reading week next week.

And that's about enough for this week. 

Boomer Sooner!

It's been a special week for me. I have travelled to Dallas and been treated to the OU/Texas game in the Cotton Bowl, along with another 100 thousand casual observers. Jonathan and Jennifer heard this was a bucket list thing for me—to see a big-time college game, and they offered to take me to the game if I'd come down to Texas. So, Wendy arranged the flights, Viggo & Nancy offered to host me, so I'm in Rowlett, on the shore of Lake Ray Hubbard, enjoying my time with them. We've managed to get out golfing twice which was great as well. But the highlight was today's renewal of the Red River Rivalry.

It helped that my team won!

Jennifer insisted that the experience must include Texas treats: Corn Dog, Funnel Cake, and a Turkey Drumstick. It's possible that some of them were not keto-friendly—I just hope I don't have gout tomorrow morning!

Corn Dog

Funnel Cake-Zero Carbs!!

Turkey Drumstick

Back at home our roomer has moved in. He's a pilot with Bearskin Airlines. Wendy has been assembling bedside tables for the guest bedroom as she moves that project forward. The markets have remained volatile, and I was able to make a little but not up to quota. The baseball playoffs have moved into the league championship round. The Dodgers lost, and I had them slated for the final. Now it's Yankees/Astros in the American League; I'm picking Astros and cheering for the Yankees. In the National League I'm picking and cheering for the Nationals over the Cards. The Riders lost a hard-fought game in Calgary on Friday night. Let's Go, Riders! 

Erica spent a few days in Toronto this week for training. While there she also got to catch up with friends from PA who live there now. They marked the occasion by taking her out to the Poop Cafe!

Friends: Pickin' the good cafés! 

What great friends! Liam is home this weekend for Thanksgiving. They're planning to make a Thanksgiving Meal featuring Rutabaga Lasagna. Eric continues preparing for his class—it starts in a little over a week. Haaken is working on animation projects of his own to start posting on the web.

Kristian bowled on Sunday night. He had two good games, but the other two were below average. Lucy had her surgery this week, and also got a chip implanted and an identifying tattoo in her ear. She seems to be right back to full activity as if nothing happened. Erin is serving as the care-giver for grandpa this weekend, while Kristian is providing cat-care for the family next door. Quite a responsible young man! 

Travis & Joanna are off to Minneapolis this weekend.

Pens run Wild in Minnie

Tonight they're enjoying taking in the hockey game between the Wild and the Penguins—a comfortable win for the Pens, and a great time for Trav & Joanna.

Date Night in Minneapolis!

Wendy is caring for Minnie and the bird. Gemma and Andrew are taking care of the house. 

And that's about enough for this week.