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!