Green November!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned colder, but we're still seeing daytime highs above freezing some of the time! We have no snow, which at the end of November is very welcome, but we realize we're on borrowed time in that regard. Wendy had some major medical testing this week. Tuesday is was the Holter test on her heart; Wednesday involved multiple pulmonary (lung) capacity and function tests. They are still trying to determine the causes of her coughing/congestion issues which are now running to six months, and causing us much concern. We continue with our community choir practices each Thursday as we prepare for our concerts on December 10th and 17th. Wendy had a choral event this week with her Sweet Adelines, and she has more events in December. The markets were thinly traded this week as the USA indices were closed over the last two days. However, they remained green as November is now looking to be the greenest month of the year, so far! Now, we hope, this is just the start of the Santa Claus rally to end the year well. In the world of sports, I had my greatest triumph of the year as my pick of the Bombers for the Grey Cup ensured their loss despite them being the prohibitive favourite! Otherwise, my Oilers continue their dismal season despite a big win last night over Washington. The Leafs and Pens continue in mediocrity, but both are doing better than the Oilers! Anyway, they played each other tonight, so one of them had to win—it was the Pens 3-2 over the Leafs. #1-KU lost in basketball, but came back the next day with a solid win. Still, they will drop in the rankings. Rock Chalk boys! #13-Sooners and #7-Longhorns, both demolished their opponents this week in college football. 

Erica writes, "Big news of the week: Eric got a new iPhone 14 Pro! It’s very fancy with an extra special camera which we will have to use on our trip. This morning, our MNP office served free hot chocolate at the Santa Claus parade. It snowed just during the parade and then stopped—Perfect! Eric has had a full week with the sleep apnea machine and his sleep scores are looking a lot better. The down side is that with better rest he gets more snarky! That’s about it for this week."

Kristian began the official curling season this week, winning 5-2 over Riffel in a well-played game. He played second. I played front end all of my competitive career–I always loved the sweeping, and it's my point of emphasis with Kristian this season. Erin continues the push to train her replacement, and enjoyed a social gathering/house warming with her, as they have bought a place in Harbour Landing. Kristian continues to enjoy his Machining Class boot camp each Friday. 

PuckShots continues through the busy season of photo-shoots and photo development. I think 11 teams in one day is the current record for this season! Wowsers! Joanna keeps up her regular work, and also works the photoshoots and and photo package developments and customer service. Plus this week, she's been preparing for Trav's birthday celebration coming up tomorrow evening. 

And thats about enough for this week! 

The Green Continues!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown! The weather has been beautiful, touching 15° several times, but they are threatening seasonal weather in the coming week and also snow, so this could be our last hurrah for this year! We've had a fairly standard schedule with Wendy's Sweet Adelines practice on Monday evening, and our community choir practice on Thursday morning. The community choir is on target for two carol festivals in December, and then we'll reassess our participation there. It is quite enjoyable, and I would like it if Wendy would drop out of the major time consumption that Sweet Adelines requires and just do the community choir. A family Zoom was held on Tuesday so we could gather with the Regina family members on the anniversary of Ellis' passing—thanks, Bern. I am in the planning stages of some more woodwork, and we are both ramping up some renovation work in our house. The markets had another great, green week due to another win for Bidenomics. I'm beginning to think that Sleepy Joe is in fact, brilliant in his understanding of what makes the economy tick. Job creation at unprecedented levels, unemployment at levels not seen in 50 years, salaries rising, and inflation easing—all unexpected. Even the GOP in congress knuckled under and agreed to fund the government at least until the new year. Maybe the beating they took in the recent elections got their attention! In any case, the market has responded with big gains, and I am enjoying that. The Grand Slam event concluded on Sunday with Gim (Korea) winning the women's title and Retornaz (Italy) triumphing on the men's side. The Oilers replaced their head coach, and reeled off three wins, but dropped their game today. Leafs are in Sweden, and won their first game over there. Pens are doing better, but they lost their game tonight. In college football, my #14-Sooners won a tough battle over BYU today, after losing their QB for the second half. #7-Texas survived Iowa State. #1-Jayhawks trailed for much of the game vs #17-Kentucky, but pulled it out in the end to remain undefeated in Basketball. Tomorrow is the Grey Cup game, and I'm picking Bombers to beat Montreal for the championship. 

Nicely set up! 

Erica enjoyed a big weekend in Edmonton, visiting her cousin Margaret, taking in a Shania Twain concert, and having a ladies' road trip. She even tried to take home the giant Easter egg from Vegreville! Eric and Erica are busily planning their 30th Anniversary trip to New Zealand. "This weekend we had fun with our friends at the YWCA fundraiser music bingo. If you are like us and had no idea what a music bingo is, let me explain. You get a bingo card with songs from a specific era. Then they play part of a song. If you can figure out what the song is, and you have it on your card, you mark it off. We did 3 rounds: 80s, 90s and 2000s. We had a much easier time with the 80’s then 2000’s. We all got close, but none of us won. However, Eric and I did an air band and won a prize for that! Eric picked up a machine for sleep apnea on Friday. He seemed to do well for the first part of the night, but then he woke up and had trouble with it. So, he’ll have to figure it out."

Kristian has completed curling pre-season games, is enjoying the play, and looks forward to the regular season that begins next week. Youth Group was Thursday night; they enjoyed a newly decorated room for that. Today, he was back to school to help setting up for the school play. He is looking forward to his first Machining class next Friday. Erin bemoaned her Jaguars dismal performance last Sunday, but had a good week of work training her replacement. 

Arizona State - Sun Devils

Travis and Joanna managed to work through some issues in the ordering system and the PuckShot orders are now working properly. BucketDecals got an order from the Arizona State Sun Devils to highlight this week. They photographed another 11 teams today—wowsers! 

And that's enough for this week! 

Still in the Green!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We have had a couple of flurries, but it melts on arrival, so we're still in the green here. We have had a busy schedule this week, and still have a couple of medical appointments coming up. Wendy had a chest X-ray on Monday, and later a phone call with her doctor to explain that no issues of concern showed on the X-ray. She is still scheduled for a two more tests over her persistent cough issues. I had a follow-up with my ophthalmologist on Wednesday; he was well pleased with my vision. Wendy had choir practice on Monday evening with the Sweet Adelines, and we both practiced with a community choir on Thursday morning. My spinal surgeon called on Wednesday and wants to schedule another discussion about my back issues. He didn't mention what that was about, but I look forward to hearing anything new! The markets struggled under relentless threatening by the FED over rate hikes, however, the strong USA economy gradually took over the sentiment and we continued November in the green, and on quota. In the world of sports we're watching the conference finals in football. Montreal surprised Toronto in the Eastern final, while Winnipeg continued their domination of the West. I expect the Bombers to have an easy time of it in the Grey Cup game. In hockey, my Oilers continue to flounder at the bottom of the league—yikes! They finally won their third game just tonight. Leafs are winning their share of games. Pens had a great tour of California, winning three games and really improving their situation. In college football, #17-Sooners took quite a tumble in the rankings after losing to Oklahoma State, so they took it out on West Virginia today. #7-Longhorns continue be just on the outside of the playoff scenario, and they were not impressive against TCU today. In basketball, #1-Jayhawks opened the season with two blowout wins! Rock Chalk! I have spent several hours watching the Grand Slam event out of Nova Scotia. Four of our Canadian teams lost out in the tie-breakers leaving just Bottcher carrying our colours on the men's side. He lost in the semi-final, so it's and all European final: Retornaz (Italy) vs Edin (Sweden). On the women's side we qualified three teams into the playoffs, but Einarson and Homan played each other and Jones lost to Tirinzoni. Only Homan remains; she will take on Gim (Korea) in the final. Clearly, the rest of the world has caught up and even surpassed us in curling. 

Erica writes, "Not sure what Eric is up to this weekend. I left him in PA and took off with a group of ladies to Edmonton. We are hanging out with cousin Margaret for the weekend. We plan to shop, hang out, enjoy the hot tub and see Shania Twain." 

Eric responds, "I joined Guido (another of the abandoned husbands) for a Timberjacks game (local Junior B hockey team) it was a good game. I might get with the guys again some time over the weekend."

Erin is enjoying good health, but very busy with the training program for her replacement. There is a lot to learn in a compressed period of time. Kristian is busy with school as usual. This week, curling started. He tried out his new curling shoes, but has decided the older ones suited him better. We're glad to see him enjoying curling as it is one of the sports we've enjoyed for a long time. Next week, they have an exhibition game and then the final arrangement of the school team will be settled. His skip from last year is helping with the coaching. 

Travis and Joanna are very busy with hockey photo shoots. The new arrangements for Puck Shots photo distribution are still needing some tweaking, but they're confident it will pay off in the long run. They have eight teams scheduled for today.  Last night, they hosted us for a delicious pulled pork supper—thanks guys. We also enjoyed the Leaf game, and several games of Fast Track—thanks Ladies! Andrew was there for supper with his new Subaru—looking good! The dogs have had fresh haircuts. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Remember!

in Flanders' Fields

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my home town, and we have moved into November! There is still no snow here, but they keep threatening us! The daily highs keep struggling into the positive numbers, so we are able to enjoy getting out for walks. Wendy has had several medical appointments this week with followup on her cataract surgery, and further consideration of her ongoing cough and congestion. The lens replacement seems to be working out well. She is now scheduled for chest x-rays next week to further investigate her cough. She was also prescribed another puffer, but I keep hearing her coughing and clearing her throat! Our choir practice was cancelled this week as our director has contracted Covid. We hope she recovers quickly, and in addition, we continue our diligence toward safe practice in our various interactions. I had a short curling practice one day. It went okay, but my back and legs complained a lot the next couple of days. I will try again to see if I can build up my capacity. The spinal surgeon encouraged me to give it a try, and I am! The colder weather makes for shorter sessions in the shop, and all glue-ups have to be done in the house. Wendy is encouraging me to add heating capacity to the shop, but I hesitate to spend so much money on a hobby. Besides, what with our new shingles, fascia, soffits, eavestrough, windows and doors we have pretty much tapped out our funding for this year. I have begun deliberations and the search for our next vehicle. We'd like another SUV, but hope to try out a PHEV. The markets have enjoyed a wonderfully green week with major gains on all indices. The USA economic data noted continued strong growth, but with inflation dropping—thanks Uncle Joe. Our economic data was not as strong, but we were encouraged by our major partner doing so well. The World Series ended quickly as Texas won 4-1 despite my choosing them! The football playoffs began today with Montreal and BC advancing to the conference finals next weekend. I'm cheering for BC and Toronto to win those, while expecting Winnipeg to win it all (Just so Tom knows how to bet!). The PanContinental curling championships ran this week. Our teams advanced to the playoffs, but Einarson lost the bronze medal game, while Gushue won the gold medal on the men's side. In hockey, the Leafs are holding their heads above water, while Pens and Oilers continue to lose—only the Pens won tonight! In college football, #7-Texas were surprisingly tested by KSU, and were lucky to escape with the win. #9-Sooners played their in-state rivals in Stillwater for a final time and took the loss. The exhibition season is over in basketball, so I'm looking forward to the distraction of KU basketball beginning next week—Rock Chalk Jay Hawk! 

Erica writes, "Last weekend Eric and I hung out in Saskatoon. It was a good, if tiring, weekend. Who would have thought talking to people would be so much work? The majority of people we talked to had not heard of Lipedema—we need to get the word out. This week, we were busy with last minute items for the Rotary fundraiser. The event is Saturday night, and should be a classy evening with a wonderful meal, live entertainment and some artists. With that, practising for playing keyboard on Sunday, and Eric running to Saskatoon to pick up our meat box for the month, it’s been a full day. We are looking forward to some quiet time on Sunday."

Erin is feeling much better now and we're glad to hear that. Taylor Toyota has chosen her replacement, so Erin is fully engaged in training her. She expects this will take some months. Thereafter, she will be able to begin her new job at Taylor Volkswagen. Kristian continues with his regular schedule at school and youth group. Next week, he is set to start curling with a couple of practice sessions scheduled. 

Travis and Joanna are very busy with PuckShots photography. They have initiated a new partnership with a photography firm in town which should ease their workload in the longer term, but at start up there always seem to be a few other issues to solve! Minnie had another vet visit; she is on new meds. 

And that's about enough for this week.