Arriving home!

Another week as passed and we have completed our journey south and returned to the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Our quick trip got us as far south as Stillwater OK where we enjoyed a visit with Jack Bayles and family—thanks! We celebrated his 88th birthday and enjoyed our time there.

Happy #88, Dr. Jack Bayles!

Then, we began the long trip north. I got to enjoy a Jayhawk game in Lawrence—thanks Marti! And, we prevailed upon the hosting of Aunt Helen again—thank you!

The Crew in Lawrence

On Wednesday evening, we enjoyed our first Pizza and Praise evening with our friends in Lawrence—it was tasty and we enjoyed the singing! Then, on Thursday morning, we packed up to continue the trip home. The temperatures ranged from +32° in Stillwater to -3° in Minneapolis—can we stand it?! We spent Thursday night in Minneapolis, and then journeyed northward through some significant snowfall. Fortunately, the snow petered out before we reached Duluth, and we have returned home to fall weather (9°), but no snow here in Thunder Bay. We were planning a more extensive trip, but that didn't work out this time. Maybe there will be a later time! We got home Friday evening, and enjoyed a good night's sleep until 11am—I thought I was tired! Wendy has set upon laundry catch up and preparation for another arrival. The markets were troubled all week by various news items. Strong economic data in the USA caused investors to fear there may be no more FED rate cuts. This drove equities down. Weak USA jobs data on Friday finally gave us some recovery, despite that it was probably caused by the twin hurricanes and the Boeing strike. Also, concerns over the election are playing into market sentiment. We hope this gets settled next week! I only achieved about half of my quota in October, so I need a good November! It's football playoffs this weekend. Toronto prevailed in the east and will meet Montreal in the eastern final. Riders beat BC in the west, and advanced to play Winnipeg in the western final. Go Riders, Go! Oilers, Pens and Leafs all won their games one night this week—I'd like to see more nights like that! Oilers have lost their top star, McDavid, to an injury. He'll be out a few weeks at least. Sooners easily won their game this week. #6-Texas had the week off. #3-Gushue dropped his final two games and failed to get a medal at the Pan Continental curling event. #1-Homan did us proud, going undefeated to bring home the gold on the women's side. The big cash spiel in Edmonton sees #20-Koe advancing to the playoffs in the Saville Grand Prix. The Dodgers blew out the Yankees in five games to win the World Series!

Erica writes, "Happy Halloween! Eric had the treatment on his left eye on Monday. He spent most of the week in a dark room, catching up on sleep. On Thursday, he was feeling well enough to teach his class. We had an uneventful Halloween—fewer than 20 trick or treaters."

Kristian has been trying to work with the DHHS folks in his job search, but has not heard back from them this week. Finally, after more enquiries from Frank's business, declaring their interest in him, he has completed his application there. Now, we wait to see how that all plays out. Good luck! 

Bucket Decals completed October with a new record for most orders ever: 227, breaking the old record of 222 from 2021. Congratulations! Joanna had to get a molar extracted this week. It was abscessed, and may have been contributing to her sinus issues. We hope she finds improvement once the surgery heals.

Kali has arrived!

They completed delivery of the Yorkshire Monster this afternoon. Wendy has named her, KaLita, or Kali for short, and short, she is! 

And that's about it for this week.