Good Bye to Imphal

We have completed our tour as far as Imphal is concerned. We are now in Kolkata a city of 15-20 million at about 9m above sea level, and 30 degrees above zero! On Sunday, Ray had the pulpit and I had the day off! We enjoyed our time with the Langol congregation, and several young people came back to the hotel to hang out with some of our team. Then, on Monday we toured Joshua's school, Brighter Academy. It is serving about 1000 children in Nursery through Class XII. I had a chance to discuss some aspects of the program with Joshua. It was good to learn about his approach, and have a chance to offer suggestions. In the afternoon, I headed for bed in an attempt at heading off a cold, and the remainder did some sightseeing, and also managed another school visit. I am sorry to have missed the school visit as the reports made it sound quite exemplary. Joshua and I had discussed it, as it is operated by another family member, and he would like to move his school figuratively and literally in that direction. It is located a bit out of town, on a larger tract of land and seems to have many upgrades over his current situation. Tuesday was travel day, so we packed up and flew about one hour south west to Kolkata. I'm feeling better, so the extra rest may be paying off! 

End of the week in Imphal

Another week has ended for us in India. It has been another full week of activities, but also filled  with rewarding experiences. Today, we worked with students from a couple of schools who attended to us on their day off. We enjoyed participating with them, and even took advantage of the occasion to practice some Manipuri—the local language. One of our hosts supplied the lessons, and we made an attempt. Our efforts were to their great amusement, but some admitted to understanding what we were trying to say! Communication is not so easy. It is one of the lessons we are trying to pass on from our time here. Even when using an interpreter, one is subject to the failure of understanding that occurs with a troubling degree of frequency. Did the interpreter understand me? What did the interpreter actually say? One is left to rely on the good faith of the participants to grant you a favourable intention if not an accurate message. As usual we found the students attentive and respectful. The demonstrated great athletic ability during our games break, and we were all struck with their artistry in interpretation of a pencil crayon activity. This was a new aspect of expression for us. 

Back to the more mundane, the markets have been mixed, but at least up a bit this week. I have returned some good gains and am near quota once again for both this month, and the year-to-date. The Riders complete their season tomorrow, and we will cheer that they can go out on a high note. The Jays are in the offseason and player movement is being considered. The Royals at least paid off my call with a World Series victory. 

The internet here has been very poor, and we haven't managed to chat with our children. We have heard from them in other ways, and all seems to be going well. It is heartening to feel that they are well-able to take care of issues that develop in their families even without our being near at hand, but parents always wish to know anyway! 

And that's the kind of week it has been. 

Tampak

We flew into Imphal on Thursday, and immediately started fielding requests from schools and other groups for attention. It is a bit daunting, and certainly encourages us to make maximum effort! Today, we drove out to Tampak, a rural community south and east of Imphal. Our local expert confidently asserted that we could make the trip in about 45 minutes. It is only 70km! However, Ray was not so sure; he felt double that would be optimistic! We left at 8am, and 2 hours later we arrived at the small village school. The children had been informed that the Canadians were coming, and had assembled at the school sometime before 7am. As usual for here, they were waiting quietly and respectfully on their benches in the classroom. The room serves as the educational centre for about 40 children under  the guidance of six staff members. So, it's like a one-room school of my childhood, but containing about 30 additional children, and 5 extra teachers! We worked with the whole group for some time, and then sent the younger ones out for games and sports while we focused our attention on the older students. Later, we switched the groups. It all went well, and we were quite impressed with the children's attention and quick learning both in the classroom and on the playground. Tampak is in a small village area, and this little school is providing the only opportunity for these children to get an education, so we were delighted to provide whatever encouragement we could. Construction has begun on new classrooms, and plans are in place for more. It was a great experience for us; I hope the staff and children benefit as well. 

Bye, bye Guwahati!

On Sunday morning I was privileged to speak at Bread of Life Church. It was with a translator, and I found it hard to maintain the flow of the message. Sunday afternoon, we packed our bags for storage and for the trip to Kaziranga National Park and Wildlife Refuge. As soon as breakfast was over on Monday morning, we packed into the vehicle and headed toward Kaziranga. It is about 200 km, but the vagaries of travel in India turned that into a five-hour drive. It was four-lane for the first half, but still it was impossible to make good time. Thankfully, the driver knew of the lodge we had booked, as I failed to see any road signs pointing to it, and it was several back lane roads off the highway. The lodge appeared Olde English in style, and we estimated it had been built before the turn of the century, the 19th century! There was a great hall adorned with various animal and historical artifacts; that was enjoyable; we took our meals in that room. The rooms were of the era as well. Our room was on the ground floor, and we could see the ground between the floor boards. We were called at 5:30am for our game drive. We boarded elephants for the occasion; that was pretty special. The mahout sat on the neck with one barefoot on the top of each ear. Three of us rode behind him. We had a great time and managed to see several of the one-horned Assam rhinos. We also saw buffalo. After breakfast we stopped by a shop to view the goods produced on the handloom by an acquaintance of Ray's. I enjoyed watching the loom in action. After lunch we drove back to Guwahati. On Wednesday, we had our final set of classes with the schools in Guwahati. That seemed to go well, and there were many heart-tugging good-byes as we realized we would be leaving Guwahati the next morning. Now we're off to Imphal, where the prospects are for cooler weather as we gain elevation from 55m in Guwahati to 785m in Imphal. 

Saturday Off!

Today was a day off for the team. I have not been feeling well for a couple of days, so I took advantage of the occasion to sleep. I did get up for a late breakfast, but then I went back to bed, and finally arose at 3PM. I feel better, but tonight will be the test on how things actually are; if I'm able to sleep tonight, it will convince me that the rest was indeed warranted. 

Last evening, we had a Friday-night-out adventure with the team. We caught the city bus to downtown Guwahati to the Pizza Hut! Take your usual Pizza Hut, remove the beef, add spices, add more spices, add jalapeños and you'll start to approximate an Indian Pizza Hut! We enjoyed it all the same. Then, on the way back the buses were packed, so we opted for India's venerable vehicle option—the Tuk Tuk! It was actually a very nice ride, although the nearness to other vehicles was a bit much. 

Wendy ventured off with a group to the Science Centre here in Guwahati today while I remained in bed; she found it quite interesting. Our plans have changed; we are looking forward to visiting Manipur. It was originally on the schedule, then was removed and now is back on. Angie's enthusiastic response to going there makes us all look forward to it. Other than that, I have been preparing myself for another guest pulpit tomorrow morning.

The markets have enjoyed a good month, up 1.5%, for the first green month since April. Sadly, Friday's sell-off kept me from making quota for the month, but even coming close was nice! Baseball continues with the World Series, and I'm cheering for the Royals. World Cup of Rugby has the final today; I'm cheering for the All-Blacks from New Zealand, so I was pleased to see them prevail over the Aussies. Hockey is starting to gather attention in the young season especially with the great start enjoyed by Montreal. Riders continue to play out the season with today's game against Calgary, but the first place Stamps laid a licking on them, sigh. We tried FaceTime with our children, but only connected with one of them. It was good to talk with Erica, although the connection was flakey. Later on we connected with Erin, and also managed to text with Travis.

And that's about it for this week. 

Oct 28-30

We are back in Guwahati, and I'm trying to catch up! Wednesday, we spent our last day in Shillong. It was a time of more visiting with Ray's contacts from days gone by, and we hope we provided them some encouragement. We certainly enjoyed meeting with them, having more tea, and some excellent meals! On Thursday morning we packed up, and embarked on the same twisty four-lane highway, but this time we were descending and the driver was running the 20 click hairpins at speed while we hoped the door latches would hold! We arrived safely all the same! It would have been a fun ride on a motorcycle! Once back, I worked to complete preparations for a teachers' workshop that was set for Friday. Friday morning, we breakfasted a bit earlier to be ready for an 8:00 departure. Then, we sat and waited for the driver to come. He showed up about 9:00, not the usual reliability we've come to expect from him. Running late, and discovering we had the wrong schedule for school meshed fairly well together; we spent some time observing in the classes, and then held the workshop only one hour later than initially planned. I was pleased with their participation and reactions, but I've been there, so I don't expect much to change after a single lesson. They did ask for more; that was encouraging. I am trying to organize another session for next week. Ray has also reorganized our itinerary, so we will spend fewer days in Chennai, and will get to Manipur after all. We're looking forward to the continuing adventure! 

October 25-27

The last three days have been a bit hit and miss on the internet side, but I'm trying to catch up! Sunday morning, I was the guest speaker at City View Church. The translator must have done a good job because I got a favourable review! In the evening, we packed up for our departure to Shillong in the morning. We were able to leave much of our teaching supplies and extra clothing at the hotel in Guwahati, so that lightened our load. We drove up to Shillong on Monday and enjoyed tea and later supper with friends of Ray in Shillong. The trip was a tortuous four-hour climb, but the air is clear and clean; the sky is blue, and the temperature is a moderate 25 degrees. We are relishing the comfortable circumstances. On Tuesday, we took a sight-seeing tour of the area even further south of Shillong. There were many waterfalls to view and zip-lines to consider. One of our crew took a ride on the zip-lines; the rest of us cheered! Wendy considered, but demurred. We got back to Shillong in time for supper out at a restaurant. It's been an enjoyable three days. We have one more day here, then we head back to the heat and smog of Guwahati. 

Saturday, um, School!

Yes, it's true we spent today in school, and the children, although technically still on holiday, were present in even larger numbers. Since we had a adopted presentations and activities more visual than verbal this time, we felt the outcomes were more satisfactory. I hope they were! Following the afternoon program, we were invited to tea, and enjoyed spending the time with these gracious and thankful people. The community of parents expressed their appreciation by inviting us to a sports and cultural day which is set for November 1st. We have agreed to accept this invitation. 

Later this evening (or this morning back in Canada), we made use of the wifi connection in the lobby to try FaceTime. It worked very well, and we were able to talk to Erin and Kristian. However, we failed to make a connection to Erica and Travis. We shall try again another time. We also try to follow our favourite sports teams, but they seem to be playing though the night! The Blue Jays ended their season today, losing out to Kansas City in six games in the American League Championships. The Riders had a great start against Edmonton, leading 20-3 at one point, but faltered to lose 35-24. We got an update from Eric/A. They enjoyed a relatively quiet week. This weekend Erica is enjoying a ladies' retreat with the church group in PA. She's sworn to secrecy about the actual activities. (What happens at ladies' retreat stays at ladies' retreat) however, she did divulge that there are no classes or homework and that the only scheduled activities are meals. These ladies know how to do a retreat! Eric was asked to help fill in last minute for the Pastor this Sunday. That is very cool! Haaken checked out the college and career group this week. He also attended a drop in art session. He still needs to find work and we hope an opportunity comes soon. Liam finished his first term, but until they figure out the online reporting thing, we will not know how well he did. 

And that's the end of an adventurous week! 

TGIF

In this case, it's not such a big deal for it to be Friday! After spending the day at our second school, we get to return there tomorrow! These students seem somewhat less mature academically, although they tried desperately to get by without a translator. I think we needed a translator. Many small ones seemed completely uncomprehending of our instructions. However, they did pick up cues (and instructions) from their friends, so maybe whatever small grasp they had of our English was supported and enhanced in this way. At least they exhibited the total respect we have come to expect through our experiences in Zambia and now in India. Picture the whole class standing when some strange man walks into the room, chiming a greeting of, "Good morning, sir," and remaining standing until I tell them they may sit down, at which point, they chorus, "Thank you, sir!" Yeah, I know, if your school experiences have been in Canada, you may find that hard to picture! 

Thursday School Work

We've enjoyed a second and final day at the first school. It has been a pleasure to work with these children and staff. After sessions today, we were invited to a nearby home for tea; it turned out to be a full meal deal! It certainly feels good to be appreciated, so, despite lips and tongues burning from the residual heat of the Indian cuisine, we are grateful for the recognition. Tomorrow and Saturday we plan to work in a second school in Guwahati before moving on to Shillong next week. 

Into the Schools

We have passed an excellent day in Guwahati. It was our first day in the schools, and we enjoyed meeting the children and the staff. The children behaved wonderfully. (Apparently respect is not earned, it is learned—but, you have to teach it!) There were some snafus so we have some notes for improvement in our handling of materials and scheduling. It was a daunting task trying to prepare lessons for an audience we had such little knowledge of, but they surpassed our expectations, and we found that all material was eagerly devoured. The headteacher has asked us to prepare additional lessons to improve the teaching bag of tricks for her teachers—that is also very encouraging to us.

Tuesday in Guwahati

It has been a long and tiring day. I was up at 5am to follow the Canadian election results. Later, Ray and I climbed a mountain, and enjoyed watching and listening as school leaders met together for the first time. They reported on the situation in their schools and noted their plans for the future and the challenges facing them. Ray challenged them to embrace a larger vision for their schools and their students. They began the discussion and planning to achieve something bigger. It was very interesting for me to be able to observe these activities.

Living and Learning in Guwahati

Our trip to India has begun. We flew from Regina on Saturday morning, made a brief stop in Calgary and then flew threw the time zones of night to Frankfort. Local time in Frankfort on our arrival was about 8am Sunday morning, but it was only Saturday midnight back in Regina. We delayed in Frankfort Airport for about five hours; then, we flew through several more time zones to Delhi. The Frankfort airport is not a pleasant place to spend any time. I found it shockingly poorly designed. There was only one place to get lunch, and it wasn't much, but, it was through security into a gate area we weren't using. We exited there only to go through security again into the gate area we were using for departure to India. According to staff, there were no other places to eat in that large airport complex, and especially none outside of security. We arrived in Delhi about 00:45, but getting our luggage, changing money and finding transport to the hotel took some hours, so we finally checked into our rooms about 3:20am. Breakfast at 7am, was closely followed by packing our bags, and returning to the airport as we completed the trip to our first working location at Guwahati. I think we are now in the real India. We were treated to spectacular views of the Himalayas as we flew across northern India today. We checked in to our new hotel—it is very nice, and caught a couple of hours of sleep this afternoon. I'm sure it will take some days before we reset to the India time zone, and even more before we adjust to India time! Wendy's phone remained on Regina time, so she was quite concerned to be a half hour later than what I tried to tell her was real time! When I checked it our and noted it said 7pm, when I knew it was 6:30am, I was at least able to figure out what was happening. While in India, we will be 11.5 hours ahead of Regina time. 

Passage to India!

Another week has passed and depending on when we cross the pertinent time zone, we are ending the week on our way from Calgary to Frankfort. We have enjoyed an extra week in Regina, but left this morning heading west to Calgary and then north over the Arctic toward Germany. The next leg, from Frankfort, takes us across the middle east with expected arrival in Delhi about midnight Sunday night (local time). That is 11.5 hours ahead of Regina (CST). I hope to post to this blog regularly while we're in India, but only distribute via email on the weekends, so, if you wish to check in on us, please access the blog address.  Standard operating procedures call for us to travel on Mondays, and then work at schools etc. throughout the week, but what little I've learned so far indicates that standard operating procedures do not apply to India anymore than they did to Zambia! The week has been busy, especially for Wendy who took advantage of the extra days to do even more preparations and shopping! The markets have been a bit better, but the TSX seems to have become unsettled early in anticipation of the election on Monday. Still I had a good week and managed a bit of recovery. India has only one time zone, and it's on the half-hour, like Newfoundland! They do not practice daylight savings adjustments either (like Saskatchewan), so initially the TSX will be opening at midnight, and after our time change it will move to 11pm. The Blue Jays staged a heart-stopping comeback from two games down to Texas, winning three straight to move on to the League championships against Kansas City. That started last night with a loss and dropped another one this afternoon (despite leading 3-0 to the bottom of the 7th) because our manager can figure out when to change the pitcher! C'mon Jays! The Riders are playing out the string on the regular season. They have traded off some players thus affording an extended tryout for some younger prospects. 

We are leaving our children, and their families behind, so I doubt that we'll have much to report on their activities over the next six weeks. We look forward to each contact with them while we're away, and also to reconnecting with them in December. We were glad to have Eric/A and the boys visit us in Regina last weekend. They have enjoyed a quiet week in PA. 

We're very thankful for the care Erin and Kristian provided while we stayed with them in Regina. This included a wonderful time of Thanksgiving with Eric/A, Haaken and Liam on Monday. Each morning, before heading off to school, Kristian ensured that we had a wake-up call and snuggles—so precious! Sadie took me for a walk each morning; it's been good! 

Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew called last evening. Another grandma is up from southern Ontario and staying with them just now, so at least that side of the business is being attended to! 

And that's about enough for this week! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Another week has passed and we have travelled from the shore of Lake Superior to the shore of Lake Wascana in the middle of the prairie. We drove over on Wednesday, as we were preparing to leave on Monday for six weeks in India. Alas, plans have changed. I am told that often happens with plans one makes for India! We shall endeavour to remain flexible. The new plan is for us to remain in Regina for some additional time while some of our group waits for their visas, and then depart next Saturday. This also calls for us to return from India on December 2nd, so our time there remains the same, although schedules are being adjusted. We have enjoyed another week of beautiful weather, and I was able to get out golfing a couple of more times. Yesterday, I was golfing with Kristian here in Regina—that was extra special! The markets have recovered a bit, and I've been able to make some buys and achieve some gains. I made quota this week for a change! We cleaned up a few more jobs around the home place before we left. Our changed schedule means we will have more adjustments to make this week to items we had scheduled for our return. We are not assured of our internet connections in India, so be patient waiting for updates while we're over there. India is currently nine and a half hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. They do not adjust for daylight saving time, so there will be an another hour added when we fall back to standard time. Wendy has continued to push forward with plans and development of lesson material for the India trip. On Thursday, she was back to the doctor for manipulation of her arthritic fingers—ouch! The Jays are in the divisional playoffs against Texas. I was lamenting that I would miss watching them in the playoffs, but it appears they may be solving that issue for me—they're down 2-0 in the best of five playoff! It could be over as early as tomorrow evening. C'mon Blue Jays, let's play ball! The Riders lost last evening to Hamilton which assures them of missing the playoffs. Now they can get on with the task of rebuilding the team! 

Liam had a lengthy week of classes—NOT! Counting two PD Days, he started the Thanksgiving long weekend after class on Wednesday! Liam and Erica stayed overnight in Saskatoon with Chris and Shelley. Liam got a chance to connect with their youngest son, Trevor. Then, on Friday he jammed with the youth pastor in PA—not a bad way to start a five day holiday! Haaken has met some people with Autism Services. He's hoping they will provide some support as he works to obtain employment. Eric had Monday off as a mental health day—an official mental health day, not one of those days when you call in sick because you can find the energy to drag yourself out of bed! What a concept!

Erin and Kristian have had a good week. Then, we arrived on Wednesday night, so they've turn over to being hosts! We're enjoying that! She has also saved a few jobs around the place, so, I'm trying to take care of those while we're here. Kristian took me golfing on Friday as he had a day off school. That was another good time. Erin is lamenting the performance of the Jays along with me, but where there's life, there's hope, so we are hoping for a better result tomorrow! We're expecting the Baileys to arrive tomorrow, and to enjoy Thanksgiving with them on Monday. 

Trav and Joanna returned on Monday evening from their sojourn in southern Ontario. They feel like they've made a lot of contacts and things are going well for Bucket Decals, so they expect PuckShots will gradually build a customer base there as well. Gemma and Andrew went with me to the airport to welcome them home on Monday evening. Now, they're back in charge of the estate! Keep eating those tomatoes! 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. The weather has been comfortable, but we finally got a frost on Thursday night that took out my tomato plants. Now, we have three flats of tomatoes trying to ripen indoors! I haven't been covering them as we are planning to head out next week anyway, so this has allowed me to clean up the garden area. I'm watering down the cedars this weekend. Wendy has me back on some renovations in the house. I installed the new faucet and toilet in the downstairs bathroom—another great upgrade. She has continued lesson development for the India trip, and those are pretty close to ready. I'm expecting there will be a need for many revisions once we see what our students are like! On Friday, we got word that her order of some teaching stuff for India was in at the border store, so we drove down, enjoyed supper at the casino, and picked up the parcel. The markets continued their downward trend through the end of the month. The TSX is now down 9% so far this year. For the second month in a row, I failed to make quota, and am now behind quota for the year as well. The selling has reduced my buy-in to under 5%, so I'm hoping to make some buys in the next week rather than hold so much in cash while we're away. The Riders put up a good game last Sunday, and we beat Montreal quite comfortably. This evening they played in BC; it was not a good effort; it was not close. Time for the airlift; let's find some prospects for next year! The Blue Jays clinched the division championship this week, and now move on to the playoffs. Let's go Blue Jays! Let's play ball! 

Eric had a fun week at work; he travelled to Watrous and later to Big River before settling back at the office. Eric and Erica enjoyed a 3 km hike on Sunday. They didn't enjoy the 104-step stairway at the end of the hike, but they survived! Haaken continues to look for work. This weekend, they are visiting the McLeods and Baileys in Saskatoon and enjoying a visit with Sheena and Aura who flew out from BC for a visit. 

Erin and Kristian have had a good week. Erin has relished the successful season for the Blue Jays. Kristian is enjoying his birthday present. The school reports confirm that he is progressing well at school. He seems to be settling into a nice routine for home as well. It is a comfort. 

Joanna is working with Lorraine to open up the market in southern Ontario, but it's slow developing. Travis has flown down there as well. We don't hear of business developments, but attendance at the Ti-Cat football game, and the Maple Leaf hockey game were enjoyed! Gemma and Andrew remain here with us! 

That's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been cooler with some rain, but we're enjoying sunny weather this weekend. I think Wendy has completed her weeding program, and things look much better in the yard. We donated our old ski boat to Teen Challenge, and they were here to haul it away on Wednesday. We surely enjoyed a lot of trips to the cabin and a lot of skiing with that boat. We have continued our preparation for India, and have now chosen themes and developed materials for most of the situations. We learned of the passing of an important friend of our lives—we extend condolences to the McMillan families and relatives on the passing of their matriarch. The markets have continued to the red; the TSX is now down 8.6% YTD. I am thankful to have some good gains this year, but that didn't happen this week, and I've now fallen into red for this month as well, sigh! I continue to hope things may bottom out and manage to establish a bit of an uptrend before we head off for six weeks in India! I won't be following things very closely during that excursion. The Jays continue to play well; they clinched a playoff berth yesterday, and continue to work toward a division championship. The Riders are set to host Montreal tomorrow—Go Riders, Go! Pre-season hockey is underway as well, and everyone is a contender at this point in the season! 

Eric/A and Haaken carry on with life and work in Prince Albert. This weekend they enjoyed exploring in Prince Albert National Park. 

Erin and Kristian have had a quiet week in Regina after the birthday festivities subsided. We received an update on his school work; that looked very good! Good work, Kristian! Erin is a big time Blue Jays fan, so she's delighting in their play, and in the prospects of post-season play. 

Joanna has flown down to Burlington to assist the PuckShots efforts to break into the market down there courtesy of Lorraine. It's tough sledding! Travis has been busy with the scouting for his new team. Now, the draft is over and tomorrow afternoon the practice sessions begin to build the team. Gemma is happy to see that a young man named Matthew has been drafted to the team! Andrew had a tough week fighting off a cold. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather continues to be beautiful, even unseasonably warm and we've even resorted to the air conditioning on occasion. We had a thunderstorm one night with a good downpour of rain. Wendy has been very busy weeding in the back yard and it's looking much better, but there remains more work to do. I've cleared the thistles from behind the back fence, and readied the boat for donation to Teen Challenge. I've also re-engaged the battle with the ground hog who seems to have taken up residence while we were away. The neighbours trapped one and moved it out of town, and we were hoping this one would leave of his own accord, but so far he's not taking NO for an answer! I've also been working on repairs in the house. I managed to replace the faucet in the kitchen sink, and then installed a garburator and redid the drain pipes—big improvement there! The markets have continued to struggle while we waited for the Fed decision, and then tried to figure out how they would react to it! I had a small gain for the week, and am just short of quota for the month so far. We've made some progress on the lesson preparation for India. Technology allows us to coordinate with the remainder of the team despite that they're spread from Regina to Salmon Arm to Yellowknife. The Riders played Ottawa this evening, and enjoyed having Kevin Glenn back at quarterback, but they still lost, sigh! It was another close one, just 3 points, but rats! The Blue Jays have opened a bit of a lead in their division, but lost today; that didn't help.

Li-Luigi!

Liam came home for the weekend. He said he's home to visit, but there are suspicions that he's just there for Comic-Con in Saskatoon. His costume may have increased that speculation! At least he's having a good time in high school so far. Erica returned from her trip early Friday morning. This is just in time to host friends from Kenora! Eric continues with work; Haaken continues to look for work. 

Erin and Kristian had a big week since it was Kristian's birthday week! I don't quite get it, but it seems that these days a tenth birthday qualifies for a full week of celebration. He is delighted with his big gift of an Xbox, and shared the experience with his friends on Friday evening and night! 

Trav & Joanna continue to be very busy. Hockey season has begun for Trav, and he's been scouting the prospects in training camp for his new team. They have also extended their team photography business moving into other sports this Fall. Gemma and Andrew maintain the usual school schedule and an active social life, so we don't see much of them. 

And that's the kind of week it's been. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful, and we're enjoying that. We've managed to get some things done in the yard, but there remains a lot to do and little time to do it! We're feeling pressured by the list of things we would like to take care of before we leave for India. We're not scheduled to return from India until the end of November, and we could have snow here by then. The markets have remained troubled. The TSX is down another 2.7% this month, so I'm finding it a real challenge to find good investments. Wendy and I have been working on material to use on the India trip. We plan to deliver some classes for children in the schools, and Ray has also assigned me to speak on several occasions. On Thursday, I visited the dentist to get two teeth repaired that I had chipped off over the summer—expensive and painful, and painfully expensive! The Riders won the Labour Day classic over Winnipeg—yay Riders! Today, they played the return engagement in Winnipeg, called the Banjo Bowl—it didn't go well! The Jays continue to play well, and have opened a nice lead in their division. Today they won a double-header over the Yankees to extend their lead. 

Erica is away on a vacation trip to the US west coast, and seems to be enjoying herself very much. Eric and Haaken are holding down the fort at home in PA and not enjoying it quite as much! Liam is at school in Caronport. 

Erin & Kristian are enjoying life, work and school in Regina. Erin visited with the staff at school who work with Kristian, and she's encouraged that he is starting into a good year there. 

Travis and Joanna continue to operate on a very busy schedule. Gemma and Andrew are well into another year of school; this is Andrew's first year of high school. It seems to be going well for the whole crew. 

And that's about enough for this week! 

News Update

Another week has passed, and it finds us back on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown—it's good to be home! The week has gone well. The weather has been great, until it turned to rain today; so, we left! We packed up, and left early this morning; we drove east and arrived just after midnight. We'll worry about unpacking tomorrow. The markets have tossed and turned all week, and took a final turn downward on Friday as Goldilocks failed to come through. The US economic and job data was too hot with GDP strong and unemployment dropping to 5.1%. Investors there decided the Fed would raise rates this month, so, they decided to sell. Here our economic data was too cold, as we entered another recession, and unemployment rose to 7.0%. Investors here decided to sell as well! Friday was not a good day on the markets! However, I had a great week despite my low buy in, and managed to cover quota for the week, and recover a couple of weeks of August where I had failed to make quota earlier! Wendy and I continued with work on Erin's place, and completed the assigned tasks for this time! The Riders failed again in their game with Ottawa. So, they finally made some changes, dumping head coach and general manager. We'll see the new look Riders tomorrow against Winnipeg—go Riders, go! The Jays continue to thrive and are in first place in their division. August fundraising data for our India mission sees me looking at in-law support! I see funding from a father-in-law, two brothers-in-law, and three sisters-in-law! It's more than a bit curious don't you think? I'm suspicious they're trying to get rid of me!! Actually, we are humbled and very appreciative of your sponsoring us. Thank you, thank you! We have about half of our funding in place already. 

Eric/A and Liam brought Haaken home last weekend and combined that with a family trip! Once special event was a visit of the Ghost Town at Three Valley Gap. The arrived back to Prince Albert at 5am Sunday. Travels continued to be the watchword this week as Eric took Liam back to school at Caronport on Tuesday! Liam was not excited about school, but seems to be enjoying friends and is looking forward to voice and drum lessons. Eric has submitted his forms to be registered as a Marriage and Family Therapist. His required hours have been completed, so we hope the process goes smoothly. Erica left on Friday for a holiday trip to the US with some girlfriends. She is looking forward to a real break during which she is no on call! 

Erin and Kristian have had a busy week with school start up added to the daily agenda. Kristian seems to be enjoying his new class, and especially that his best friend, Owen, is in his class. Kristian has his first male teacher; we're all hopeful about how things will develop. Of course, they have been hosting us all week, but now that we're gone, Erin can begin developing a new list of errands for us to work on next time! 

Travis, Joanna and Minnie greeted us on our arrival. It was good to see them again after three months. We are looking forward to catching up on all the Thunder Bay events starting tomorrow! 

And that's enough for this week!