Family Time!

It’s Christmas time, and we are feeling very blessed as all the family have come home. Eric, Erica, Haaken and Liam arrived on Monday. Erin and Kristian on Wednesday. Gemma and Jonas flew up from Vancouver, so with Travis & Joanna living here, and also Andrew and Rosie, we’re just missing one grandson! Our house and hearts are full!

Blessing of Family

The weather has been consistently mild all week, but we did have some substantial dumps of snow. Fortunately, Haaken and Liam helped with the clearing of the driveway. We enjoyed a feast around the roast turkey with all the trimmings, as they say. Along a spaghetti supper, a charcuterie special, and assorted leftovers, we’ve pretty much been feasting all week long, .In addition to the presence of family, there were plenty of presents, with the central ones being Saskatchewan Roughriders Championship bling! The markets were thin and volatile this shortened trading week, and we expect more of the same next week. The sporting world adopts a specialized schedule around the holidays, and features some special events like the World Junior Hockey Championship, so I’m getting plenty of TV watching. The Grand Slam of Curling event ended on Sunday with the Swiss teams of Schwaller and Tirinzoni sweeping to the gold medals! In the NHL, the Oilers continue to play well, and have ascended to the top of their division, while Pens and Leafs have descended near the bottom of theirs—c’mon man! In Basketball, the #17-Jayhawks did not rise as I expected, but they put up another strong win, and are now set for the beginning of conference play. 

And that’s enough for this week! 

Storming!

A stormy week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We experienced one multi-day storm, and are currently in the throes of another! The shovels and the snowblower have been fully employed this week, along with Wendy and me. Wendy has enjoyed more of the shovelling as she likes heading out there early in the morning, while I try to gauge my participation by checking the forecast and at least waiting until after breakfast! We started the week with a pot luck with our small group from church, and then Wendy’s chorus sang in the Rotary Carol Festival. And, still on Sunday, we went over to Trav/Joanna’s place for a birthday celebration for Andrew. Wendy is very busy getting ready for Christmas. The Bailey family should arrive on Monday; the Ulrichs from Regina, on Christmas Eve. The markets remain troubled and I’m having trouble making money this month, however it has been a good year so far—bring on the Santa Claus Rally! In hockey, my Oilers are playing better and have risen to a playoff position. Pens have been blowing leads, and have fallen just out of the playoff lineup. Leafs are even further back. In college football, the playoffs have begun. My #8-Sooners lost to #9-Alabama, so that was like two losses! Now, my only remaining interest is in seeing Alabama lose! The Canadian Open is playing out in Saskatoon this week, as we see the strength of curling world wide. Of the top 16 women’s teams, we only had two Canadian teams, #1-Homan and #9-Einarson. Meanwhile, there are four Japanese teams, three from Korea, two Switzerlands and a partridge in a pear tree! At least our teams made it to the playoffs, although they have lost out now. Championship game tomorrow will be #2-Tirinizoni vs #10-Fujisawa. On the men’s side we had six entrants, but only two made the playoffs: #3-Jacobs and #23-Gushue, who only got to play by a sponsor's invite. But, like our gals, they lost out in the playoffs. Nothing but international teams left! Championship game tomorrow will be #5-Whyte vs #4-Schwaller. In basketball, the #17-Jayhawks rose in the rankings and won again, so I’m expecting another elevation. 

Erica has been ill part of the week, so we hope she’s on the mend. They are on their way here for a Christmas visit. They picked up Liam in Regina, and plan to meet Haaken’s flight in Winnipeg tonight. We’re looking forward to seeing them. 

Your Forklift Operator

Kristian had an eventful week as he took forklift training. He enjoyed it and it went well. He feels confident in operating a forklift now, so that’s nice addition to his resume. Erin has had a productive week at work. The downside was a winter storm that included freezing rain. It coated their cars and proved very difficult to remove. It also made the streets very icing and treacherous for driving. 

Travis and Joanna hosted Andrew’s birthday party last Sunday. We were pleased to take part and enjoy the pizza and birthday cake. Andrew and Rosie are doing well. Andrew is preparing for more exams. Rosie is building up her massage therapy clientele. 

Dog’s Xmas Pix

And that’s about enough for this week! 

Merry Christmas!

A little relief

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We began the week with a joyous Christmas Carolling at a local seniors’ residence. Kalli came along, and was a great hit even though she can’t sing a lick!

But she’s so cute!

The temperatures have moderated a little, but we also got some more snow. I even got the snowblower out one day, as Wendy had pushed the snow to the edges and I blew it up onto the lawns—worked okay. My choir practices are completed for now, but Wendy still is working with the Sweet Adelines’ stuff, especially on the business side. They have a Christmas Party coming up, and another Carol Festival tomorrow evening. We also have a small group potluck tomorrow as the festive season brings lots of special events. Preparations are underway hard here at the house as Wendy prepares for the arrival of the family for Christmas. This week, the tree came out and sprouted a star! Tonight, we enjoyed a special festival as Trav hosted us to a multi-band tribute evening at the Centre of the Arts. It was central bank week, and that brings lots of varying actions, messages and interpretations! BoC reflected on our surprisingly strong economy to hold the line as we added many jobs and lowered our unemployment rate. The FED noted economic weakness in the USA with job losses and a slowing economy by lowering their prime rate by 0.25% even as they acknowledged that inflation was up and rising, so many felt they should hold. As a result, investors swung wildly in both directions as the mood varied through the week. In curling, the Olympic play-in tournament ended with the final two teams qualifying on both sides to complete the 10-team fields. It was USA and China for the men; with Japan and USA for the women. The cash curling games are in Swift Current, this week. My guy, #30-Koe, has qualified for the playoffs. In the NHL, I had two of those special nights this week where all three teams I follow, played. Sadly, on both occasions only the Oilers won, but at least it was my Oilers who won! Today, the Pens took a 4-goal lead in the third only to cough it up and lose in OT, sigh! In basketball, my #19-Jayhawks rose in the rankings as expected and won a tough road game today in North Carolina, so I expect them to rise again. 

Erica writes, “We are wrapping gifts! This week was busy with several social events and training. So Saturday we decided to give our social batteries a recharge and stayed home wrapping presents. We got a dump of snow this week and our not-a-garage experienced some structural failure on one end. We will work on fixing it when it’s not minus 22! It’s still useable. I had the opportunity to move to a new job but decided that I am happy where I am! Which means continued MNP golf swag for Dad! That’s about it for this week. Next week Liam completes his exams. We hope those go well for him.”

Kristian says there was nothing new for him this week. Erin writes, “Financial statements were submitted yesterday morning. Now, I'm starting year end preparation along with regular work. It’s a busy job. Once one deadline passes, another is looming. Weekend naps are extra nice and needed lately. I just woke up from one, haha. Staff Christmas party was so good last week. I went out for supper with a friend last week, and taking my girls for lunch this week, and year end work supper coming up this week, too… I do like this season even though it’s so busy. Also, I need the extra pounds for the weather here. It’s gross. Oh, but I sent Kristian out for an errand last night and the Golf started—good little car!”

Big fans of ABBA for 50 years!

Travis and Joanna remain very busy, and combined with the extra seasonal busyness, it can be too much. Trav took us out to the tribute bands tonight, but Joanna didn’t feel she could afford the time. Anyway, it was great, Cher—just so so, Bee Gees—good and ABBA—very good! We had a great time—thanks guys! 

And that’s about it for this week. 

And getting colder...

Another week has passed on the shore Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned even colder with no day time highs above zero, and overnight lows approaching -20°. We have very little snow yet. We had our concert on Sunday afternoon with our Silver Sound choir—that was delightful and now we’re off for a month or so. Wendy had a concert with Sweet Adelines group on Monday evening—also delightful, and they continue practicing and having more concerts. 

Snug as a bug...

The new awning and the cover for the camper arrived. We have installed the awning on the wind-up pipe, but not on the camper. We installed the cover on the camper. Wendy has continued her preparations for the arrival of family later this month. She has bought a queen-sized bed, and is negotiating on two single beds. And there, she got one of those! The markets are not thriving these days. USA investors are fretting that sometimes bad news is just bad news, but they occasionally raise their hopes in the expectations of a FED rate cut. Canadian investors have decided that the economic news is too good as the jobs' report was very good and the unemployment rate fell. They fear the BoC may initiate a rate hike! International curling is in the spotlight this week as eight teams compete on both the women's and men’s sides in an attempt to earn one of two remaining spots at the Olympics. We are among the teams who have already qualified. In the NHL, I enjoyed a special night this week as Oilers, Pens and Leafs all won—small victories, I’m enjoying small victories! In football, the #8-Sooners held their position in the playoffs, while Texas rose to #13 only, and appear destined to miss the playoffs. In basketball, #21-KU rose into the rankings as expected, but lost to #5-UConn this week. Rock Chalk boys. Beat Mizzou!

Erica writes, “This week was a little less busy, which is good because I have been recovering from a cold. Eric had several meetings with FACT-SK, a group trying to bring regulation to therapy in Saskatchewan. We spent some time and money on Thursday and Friday finalizing our Christmas gifts and I think we are almost done, assuming Amazon delivers on time. Liam and Mercedes had a crazy trip to Victoria to pick up their friend Bella. They left Thursday and drove through the night. I am reminded of times Eric and I did something similar and Mom and Dad said we were nuts. I now understand Mom and Dad’s point of view.”—[smile!] Greg writes, “Grandpa would be proud, even though I didn’t get him. I stalked a Whitetail through 10km of bush yesterday, but he used an open swamp to lose me—it was snowing and super windy! It was so much fun!” I am proud, and I agree that the hunt is the fun part; once the animal falls, it’s hard work!

Erin and Kristian are working through their various opportunities and interests in Regina. Work is progressing well for Erin, and she has her staff Christmas Party tonight. Kristian’s new diesel VW is performing just fine despite the frigid temperatures. Kristian begins forklift training on the 18th. He has his training booklet already. There is also the prospect of employment as a forklift operator flowing directly from the training session if all goes well—very encouraging! 

Travis and Joanna keep very busy. Joanna has also had a bit of fight with a cold and sore throat. Wendy is feeling some of those symptoms as well. Rosie is expanding her client list in her massage work. Tonight, Trav came over with some pizza to help us with moving beds. Thanks! He didn’t bring any furry friends this time, although, confidentially, I doubt they would have been of any help!

And that’s about enough for this week.