Winter!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned decidedly colder, as we remained below zero most days this week. We also have received our first skiff of snow—not enough to shovel, but enough to see it in the grass, so we are convinced of the changing season. We are in the final throes of preparation for our Silver Sound concert which is scheduled for tomorrow. I plan to post a YouTube link of the concert once it is ready. Wendy has two more concerts with her Sweet Adelines chorus, and I have joined another choir for a cantata: Touched by a Child, Touched by a King; that one is on YouTube as well. Then, we have tickets for a Steve Bell concert in the middle of December—busy, musical times. We love it! Kali continues to mature and cause mischief, keeping Wendy very busy. The markets have completed another excellent month, and I remain on quota for an excellent year—thanks Uncle Joe. We got a further taste of the chaos associated with the new guy as he posted threats of tariffs on Canadian and Mexican products. That crashed USA markets for a day, but then, sensibly, folks recalled that he's not taking over for a couple of months, and that he seldom follows through on his threats. Mexico is the USA's biggest trading partner, and we're pretty high up on the list as well. 25% tariffs would be a tough pill for Americans to swallow on all those food stuffs and manufactured goods. The initial conclusion is that Trump likes tariffs because he can rake in that tax money in a targeted way while using carve outs to exempt his corporate friends and the other rich folk from having to pay it. In the world of sports, I managed to get out for my first curling practice, yesterday. That went okay, I didn't fall down, or experience any pain, and I had a team invite me to join them! Still no pain today, so I plan to keep at it. The curling event this week is the National in St Johns. My guy, #22-Koe is, as I feared, too far down to get an invitation, so my new favourite team is #8-McEwen who made the playoffs. My gal, #5-Einarson also made the playoffs, but both lost in the semi-finals. It will be #1-Mouat vs #5-Jacobs in the Men's final, and #1-Homan vs #6-Hasselborg in the Women's final. In basketball, my #1-Jayhawks continued their winning ways, moving to 7-0 on the season—Rock Chalk! College football is closing the regular season with conference championship games; #3-Longhorns prevailed today over their interstate rival #20-Aggies. My Sooners lost to LSU. In hockey, my teams are performing a bit better. Leafs have moved near the top of their division, Oilers are about in the middle of the pack and Pens are still vying for the #1 draft pick! 

Eric wrote,"We haven't erected the snow shed as it has been cold. The car enjoys when we go to work and it gets to sit in the underground parking. This week was the calm before the storm. On Friday, the local professional association (SK Branch of CACFT held its AGM in Saskatoon. I have stepped down from being president (staying available as VP to assist the new president). We stayed overnight as Erica had her regional Christmas party for work Saturday night. We used the opportunity to finish some Christmas shopping in Saskatoon." 
Erica added, "We spent some time Christmas shopping and managed to get clothes for both of us, but I guess the rest of the family is out of luck this year!"

Erin wrote, "Nothing really new in Regina. The weather has been pretty gross. The RAV is wonderful, but other drivers aren’t so great, so it takes way too long to get to work and then back home, stuck behind them. Long days, but we relax at the end. I'm thankful it’s American Thanksgiving as there’s extra football to help the relaxation inside at night 😊 Kristian’s still sleeping today, as he was up late doing chores. Machining classes don't start until August, so he’ll still need to find something to do until then. For one of our hangouts, he gave in and watched some F1 with me. I taught him to like Ferrari. Then, I gave in and watched some Cobra Kai with him. We’re pretty boring this week, but mostly keeping warm, at least. "

Happy 43rd Travis!

This was Trav's birthday week, although I told him that he's too young to celebrate for a full week! On Monday evening, we went out for Novemburger (local fundraiser for United Way) at Outlaws. The burgers were great—first time there for us. Wendy prepared a birthday cake for his actual birthday on Wednesday, but by then Trav had fallen ill, so they decided they shouldn't pass that along to us. They stopped by to pick up the cake & ice cream, and let us sing happy birthday to him. Joanna has joined Trav in the illness brigade, and they are still not feeling well. 

That's about enough for this week!