A Week of Winter!

Another week of winter has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. It was positively frigid for most of the week down in the minus 20s, but it has now moderated to single digits of frost and we're looking at melting temperatures once again. The cold weather has not been such an issue for us; we're blessed with a warm house, and with the cold weather, we haven't had to worry about fresh snow, so we've had no real reason to be outside! Besides, it's been Scotties week, so I've been busy, busy, busy! There have been surprises, especially for the pundits who only acknowledge the high profile professional teams. Local hero, McCarville, accorded no chance due to not playing the pro circuit, has won her pool, and played her way into the semifinals! Unknown Nova Scotia, team Black, has knocked off high flyers like Lawes and prohibitive favourite, Homan! We have three teams left: Jones, McCarville and Einarson. Wendy was down with a bug for a couple of days, but is feeling better again. She is working diligently on the business contract and will finish that up within the next week, I'm estimating. The markets continue to be no good, very bad and terrible; all indices are in the red for the month. Investors are seeing solid economic indicators coupled with worrying inflation data and concluding that the FED is going to keep on raising rates. I'm only partly in the market, but I've managed enough to be within reach of quota for the first two months. The hockey world is consumed with continuing trade action which will keep the burner hot for another week. Of my teams, only the Leafs are performing well, and have also made some news on the trade front. Oilers are near the top of their division, but showed their goal-tending and defensive weaknesses in today's loss. Pens are also needing an injection of talent, but have been doing little, to the frustration of their fans. My Jayhawks were elevated to #3 in the rankings and keep winning, although today's game was closer than it should have been. 

Erica is away this weekend at a Ladies' Retreat, and also taking in the Lipedema Association meetings. Otherwise, it's been pretty routine work schedules. 

Kristian has been off this week for winter break and the weather cooperated with temperatures in the -30s in Regina. He heads back to school on Monday. Erin has been pushing through yearend busyness at work, and now is into new year office transition as they're packing up and moving to the Lexus building. 

Travis and Joanna keep very busy. Surely that's a good thing when your operating a business, but we'd like some time with them as well! 

And that's enough for this week.

Spring Training!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained pleasant except on Wednesday when a blizzard wandered through. This left us with another driveway cleanup, but not such a bad one as the storm came with a wind that blew most of the driveway clear! We got that cleared away and the sun has taken the necessary steps to return the pavement to black. Spring Training is when baseball players prepare for the upcoming season, and we prepare for the upcoming season! Curling has begun again with the Scotties launching last evening, so, I shall be spending a fair amount of time ensuring that the right shots are called and properly executed! I begin the week with a fair number of favourites, and an expectation that Einarson, Homan and Jones will rise to the top. Our local team, Krista McCarville, often surprises the bigger names, and made it to the final last year. I'll be cheering for her, for sure. I have managed a little bit of my walking program, and added to my stretching program in my efforts to overcome my spinal stenosis. It seems my back is more tender this week—that's not progress.

Pegs & Jokers

I got my first rendition of the new game completed, and we had Travis and Joanna over to give it a trial! Reports were favourable, but I'm still not happy with the connection system. The photo shows the set up for up to four players, but additional paddles can be installed to accommodate five or six players. The markets were mixed as FED Fright dominated thinking and served up some severely red days. However, the three green days provided a small gain for me. The NHL is slogging toward the trade deadline date at the end of the month, and several teams have put together surprisingly complicated deals. It is not only desirable to obtain better players, but it is necessary to accommodate their salaries within the maximum salary cap established by the league. Oilers & Pens have only managed to win 5 of their last 10 games, so they aren't gaining in the standings. Leafs have won 6, but gained little. This week, the #5-Jayhawks won a tough road game in Oklahoma and returned home to beat #9-Baylor today! 

Erica writes, "Eric has a restful Monday and then taught a community class that evening (5 Love Languages of Teens). We are both busy with work stuff right now, but it is not too tiring, as we had a good vacation. Not too much else going on."

Erin and Kristian have spent the week basking in the glow of his curling medal.

Kristian's Construction

He has also returned home with his final wood-working project from semester 1—looks great! Erin is turning her attention to the Blue Jays as Spring Training begins. They have begun using Hello Fresh for their grocery provisions. The menus and meal choices look pretty appetizing! 

Travis & Joanna continue to be busy with PuckShots production and photoshoots. Andrew keeps up with work at SuperStore.

Both Hands Wood-Fired Oven

On Thursday evening, they all joined us at Both Hands Wood-Fired Pizzeria for a nice outing and great pizza. Then, they came over here to try out the Pegs & Jokers game. The gals beat the guys two games to one. 

And that's enough for this week!

Ground Hog√

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned positively salubrious with temperatures above freezing and sloppy streets. We topped out at +6° today. We took advantage to get out for walks although the sloppery(making up words!) sidewalks did pose some hazard. Wendy kept busy with chorus work as is usually the case. It is surprising to me how much call there is on a volunteer treasurer! She also performed my quarterly haircut—looking kempt(again!). On Friday we started, and I completed our seasonal teeth cleaning exercise with the Confederation College students. They usually work pretty slowly at it, but I had a third year student, and she plunged ahead relentlessly and completed the work in just one session. Today, I got my long-awaited meeting with the Low Back folks. They confirmed that the MRI shows Spinal Stenosis. I have three options: a program of exercises; minimal surgery to remove some of the impinging bone mass; fusion surgery to lock the impinging bone mass into a more favourable position. I gladly chose option 1! She assembled a raft of exercises designed to improve flexibility and the shape of my lower back. She also accepted my goals of being able to walk 18 holes of golf, and being able to curl again, and confirmed they were viable. Currently, I am able to walk 1km each day; I can walk 2 km, but then, I can't walk the next day. My target is 5 km; if I get to that, I feel I can walk a round of golf. Now, that I've had this consultation, I feel free to try curling at any time. The markets continued to whipsaw all week as the strong economic data raised the fears that the FED would keep raising rates. At least the green was stronger than the red, and I was able to make some money. In the world of sports, the #9-Jayhawks stood out. They claimed comfortable wins over #5-Longhorns early in the week, and over the Sooners today. I predict an upgrade in their ranking over the weekend. The Oilers, Pens and Leafs came out of the All-star break and need to get back to their winning ways. Oilers have moved to just one point back of first place in their division with their win today, but Leafs, inexplicably dropped a game to the little sisters of the poor tonight. The Pens lost their game today also, sigh! Much time this week was spent following the provincial curling championships in Manitoba and Alberta. Of course, I was following my guy, Koe, in Alberta; he made the playoffs, and is now in the semi-final. 

Erica writes, "This week we started in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, then journeyed to Bogotá, Columbia, Toronto, Saskatoon and finally to Prince Albert. Boy—we love adventure!! Eric put in a full week of work while I took a day off. I’m finding that the swelling in my legs is a regular side effect of air travel, and causes a lot of sore and achy body parts. It took a couple days to get back to “normal”.We are celebrating Valentine's Day on Saturday as Eric is teaching classes next week. We will take a romantic stroll through Costco which doubles as a meal, followed by a movie. Liam is considering the possibility of missions; so, pray as he has further talks about this. Nothing new with Haaken or Greg."

Bronze Medalists

Medalist!

Erin kept us updated via text and photos as Kristian and his team competed in the Regina City HS Curling championships. The team played great and achieved a bronze medal—congratulations! 

Travis and Joanna had as normal a week as they usually manage during the busy hockey season. We haven't got to see them all week, although there have been several phone chats, and many exchanges of text. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Ground Hog?

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Wintry weather prevailed most of the week, but with the weekend, milder weather and some snow have taken their turns. The cold weather and the wealth of curling on TV have kept me from the workshop, so no progress on the game boards. I got an update from the ENT doctor. The MRI of my head shows as completely normal—who knew?! Wendy always seem to find things to keep her busy. She's been well occupied with chorus practice and chorus business as usual. And she's begun work on her annual business books assignment for a local company. We have had some light cleaning to do on the driveway, but as I noted, the cold weather has kept most of the precipitation at bay. Some snow arrived last night with the arrival of the warming trend. We've been caring for Minnie while Travis and Joanna were in Punta Cana. They got back Thursday evening, Thursday night, Friday morning... finally got them from the airport and home about 3:30AM after frequent flight delays by West Jet out of Toronto. Their cars have also been staying with us since their street requires vehicles to be moved to the opposite side every day. They've taken Minnie and the cars back home now. The markets spent the early week worrying about what the FED would do and say on Wednesday. That turned out to be reassuring, but then the USA put up blow-away jobs numbers on Friday, and fear that good news for the economy is bad news for the markets reared its head again. TSX proved to be the steady index through this and I had a good week. In sports, I had lots of curling catch up from provincial playdowns held last week, and then Saskatchewan had men's playdowns this week. NHL hockey has been in a lull for the All-Star game. My Oilers have been playing well, but Leafs and Pens are pretty much marking time. #8-Kansas played well to take down rival K-State this week, but then played sloppily to lose to Iowa State today, sad! I predict a further drift down the rankings. C'mon boys! Rock Chalk Jayhawk! 

Enjoying Punta Cana

Eric and Erica spent this week in Punta Cana with Travis and Joanna. Their reports and photos show that they enjoyed themselves a great deal. Now, they're on the way home, via Columbia, no less! We are happy to hear of their safe arrival in Canada. Liam celebrated his birthday by going to summer camp! (Hate to tell you, but the ground hog ain't no meteorologist and summer's still months away!)

Winston Knoll Curling Team

Kristian is in transition to second semester. He reports that his courses this time will be Social, Mathematics, English and Art. They won their playoff game in curling this week, so they've advanced to the semi-finals. We wish we were there watching the games! 

Last Supper!

Travis and Joanna continued to enjoy Punta Cana right up to the last minute, and then headed for home. The transition through Toronto did not go so smoothly as West Jet kept delaying the flight. We fully expected the flight would be cancelled, but finally they arrived, we accommodated the vehicle swap and they got home about 3:30AM. Minnie and the boys have done well while the grownups were away. Andrew did a good job of taking care of things over there, and Wendy did her usual excellent job of taking care of Minnie! She even had me trim Minnie's nails! 

And that's about enough for this week.