Beautiful June Days

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. While we have watched in horror as storms raged across the prairies, the weather has been beautiful here, and we are thankful. We have been able to make some progress on several of our initiatives. The back yard fence is progressing, but much remains. The lawns are looking about as good as I have planned—my goal is to allow them to live, but not thrive so much as to require frequent mowing! The rhubarb is ready for picking. I have cleaned the firewood out of the garden area, but we have not intended to plant a garden now for several years as we're planning to be away during most of the summer. We have a house-sitter lined up for those months, who will also take care of mowing the lawns. Wendy had her concert on Monday night, so her choir practices are ended for the summer. The generator has been repaired (I hope) with the installation of a new AVR, but now a fresh concern has arisen over the house battery; it doesn't seem to hold a charge well, so, I'll have to get that tested. It was newly installed just last summer, so this is a bit of a puzzle, and I can assure you, it is not fun crawling underneath there to uninstall it! The on-again, off-again Orange War has the markets whipsawing. We hope that the fighting will end soon. The Blue Jays are getting some players back from the injured list, so, we hope they starting getting better results. This evening, the Riders had their first game of the season against the BC Lions, and won an exciting contest. The Stanley Cup playoffs are through five games and the Canes have the 3-2 lead. This week was the Canadian Open in golf, so I've paid some attention to that. 

Erica writes, "Eric and I are both up north this week. Eric has been getting settled in at Stony Rapids and his new job in Black Lake. Some locals remember their teachers, Mike Koops and Sheena Koops and are pleased to make the connection. He spent three days learning the new job and two days in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) training. It uses eye movement to connect with various parts of the brain during trauma reprocessing. I left him to fend for himself and went up to Uranium City. The place was roughly half the size of Yellowknife in the 80’s. Now it’s a few houses and buildings and a forest that you can drive through and see streets and cul-de-sacs, the remains of houses, fire hydrants and fences through the trees. In one place I could barely make out the roofline of several 3-story apartment buildings. There is a closed and empty high school. In some ways it is sad. But, in another way, it was hopeful to see how the forest has taken back the land—it was interesting to experience. I returned to Stony on Thursday to find that my quiet sanctuary has been taken over. The fridge and cupboards have been filled, and we have to make proper meals again. I kind of enjoyed my quiet evenings of popcorn and bagged salad. On the upside there was a cup of coffee by my bed this morning. That was lovely. I don’t have anything to add from the kids this week, so, I assume they are all well!"

Erin and Kristian braved another thunderstorm in Regina. It included some hail, but that does not appear to have done any damage to their vehicles or their condo. Erin has put in extra time at work this week so she can take a break for Trav's visit next week. Elly has been misbehaving by running away, so she has been banished to indoor locations only! Kristian upgraded to delivering a customer's car and bringing back their loaner. He also scored another work BBQ, and a work supper at the Keg, mmm, good steaks there! 

The big event in the Travis & Joanna family was the double graduation for Andrew and Rosie. They have both completed their Practical Nursing program, so we enjoyed their ceremony yesterday. It was followed by a lovely BBQ dinner and family evening over at their place. Gemma and Jonas are still here, so it was good to catch up a bit with them. They're back to work next week in Vancouver. Travis is set to head to Regina tomorrow to spend a week with Erin and Kristian. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

What is so rare...

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been lovely, with only one too hot day (31°) when we put on the AC and retreated to inside the house! RV preparations have continued; I got the hitch installed yesterday, and I've been working with the mechanic trying to problem-solve on the generator. We put on a new breaker switch, but that didn't produce regular electricity. We have now decided that the AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) is the problem, so we have a new one ordered, and expect it to arrive next week. I have finished the side fence, and have moved on to the back. It is higher, so I may need help moving the panels once I get them released.

Back Fence

You can see how much the ground has shrunk away over the years—it may have been fifty years since these were installed, and that gap is higher than Kali. We've enjoyed a couple of fires in the fire pit—shouldn't be long until the mosquitoes arrive! Wendy has been extra busy with choir as their Spring Concert is this coming Monday. There have been practices, extra practices, home practicing, and lots of arrangements to be completed. The markets continue their erratic way in the Orange Days of our Lives! All of them are in the red so far this month with the Nasdaq leading the way down at -5.4%. No one seems able to conclude which way to jump, except for the corrupt insider traders. Football has begun in earnest, but the Riders have this week off. The Blue Jays continue to struggle with injuries and poor performances—C'mon Blue Jays, let's play ball! At least they won today! The Stanley Cup finals are tight at two games to one in the best of seven series.  

Erica writes, "Liam is back in Caronport. We miss him around here. Now it’s back to just Eric and me and we are making plans to go up north next week. This will be Eric’s first trip and he’s doing a lot of thinking about what to take. He also had a doctor’s appointment and several tests and it turns out he’s getting old. We wrapped up the week by renting Song Sung Blue about a Neil Diamond tribute band. It was nostalgic. Greg and Kiersten celebrated their 2nd anniversary on Monday, June 1."

Erin and Kristian had a pretty much routine week. Erin is still short-staffed, so she's having to work extra to keep up. She did pick up hooks for the patio lights and hanging baskets. Now, the gardening boxes are ready for development. Kristian is not finding time to practice golf, so I'm figuring grandpa can stay ahead for one more year! 

Travis and Joanna joined us for cards and cornbread last evening. It was a lovely time, and I have to thank the women for throwing the card games in our favour! Joanna reports that she has finished off one of the African Violets, and that the others are well beyond their life expectancy by this time! Gemma arrived today for a visit. We are all glad to have her home! Puckshots has picked up the photography assignment for the girls' softball league here. 

And that's enough for this week!

This May End!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful and hot, finally, and I even had the AC on one day here in the house. There is an amazingly brief period between furnace and AC! Outside work has beckoned as I have continued preparations of the RV along with yard work, and the annual battle with dandelions! Both lawns are freshly mowed, which seems to encourage the emergence of yellow heads. The generator in the RV runs fine, but was refusing to produce electricity, so I took it to a local small motors mechanic who seemed to understand how generators work. We put it through its paces, flashing the field, testing the voltage regulator, brushes and stator, before finally concluding that the problem was the breaker switch! I have contracted another firm to put a new hitch on, and that was supposed to be accomplished yesterday, but they ordered the wrong part—maybe next week! I got two more panels done on the side fence—just one more to go there, and then I can move on to the back fence. On Wednesday night, I took part in a sleep study to assess whether Sleep Apnea may be the cause of my high hemoglobin.

19 probes attached, now sleep!!

That was a complicated way to get a bad night's sleep! Wendy has been busy with her usual choir work—they are in the final stages of preparation for their Spring Concert. Wendy has begun the bedding plant program, pricey—used to be able to fill the flower beds with $50! She has also been preparing the guest room for our summer house sitter. We expect Amanda to move in soon, and then take care of things while we're away. The main markets have not done much in the face of the Orange War. Even after that concludes, there will remain a lot of world-wide economic damage to be repaired over the next years. NHL playoffs have reached the finals featuring two teams I did not pick to be there! I'll be cheering for the Canes over Vegas. This is the final weekend of preseason football, but Riders have a bye in week one action, so they will be a bit behind the rest to start the season. The Jays continue to struggle with the injury bug, but are making some headway and had made it back to .500 before their terrible meltdown today! 

Erica writes, "We have enjoyed having Liam home all week. He blessed us by organizing the middle room into usable office space and helped us with other chores around the house. Thank you, Liam! Eric has been attending a conference in Boston, virtually… starting at 6:30 AM! He says it’s worth it. I’ve been working from home and thinking more about central air as the temperatures climb to over 30°. Haaken has continued to work on some paper work to get additional support in BC. We didn’t hear much from Greg this week."

Warm summer evening!

Erin enjoys her patio in the summer, both on sunny summer days, and warm evenings. She has begun a new phase of her work at Taylor Motors. It will involve further upgrading and another promotion—we are so proud of her! Kristian continues his work, and even detailed his mom's car when she was over at the main dealership for some meetings. Kristian writes, "Lately it has been getting slow at work, so, I’ve been working with some of our lube tech workers. I also had my first work bbq yesterday. I got my hands on a cute Lego set that I’ve been waiting for since I saw it come out."

Yikes!

Joanna reports that the African Violets, against all the odds, are still surviving! Andrew has joined Gemma & Jonas in southern Ontario, visiting other grandparents. Joanna's work hours are gradually being reduced as she looks to end her employment there. Travis has been keeping up with his work and lamenting the NHL playoffs along with me. 

And that's enough for this week. 

May we continue?

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been comfortable, but does not have the heat we've been expecting for this time of year. The golf courses are open, but I haven't been out yet, although I have been practicing—it appears my swing is as good as ever!! Sigh! I have continued the preparations of the RV for our first summer of use. It used to have a trailer hitch, but it broke, and was removed, so I'll be replacing that. The generator has failed, but I've found a local electrical shop willing to investigate and repair. The yard is looking green, translation: the lawn mowing season has begun! The perennials are showing themselves, and Wendy is planning the installation of bedding plants. I am enjoying playing in the shop and I am also continuing the major project of rebuilding the backyard fence. The markets remain troubled over the economic issues tied to the Orange War. Now, with the local Iranian neighbours, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates calling for the war to be over, we are starting to be hopeful. The NHL playoffs continue in the semi-finals. I have only one team left, and they are down 2-0 in their series with Vegas. I am cheering for the Habs in the Eastern series against the highly favoured Canes. The Blue Jays are hitting a bit better to match their excellent pitching and are now on a 4-game winning streak. The football preseason is coming to an end: Go Riders Go! 

Erica wrote, "This week in the far north I got to land at the Uranium City airport, as we picked up a board member and then flew back to Fond Du Lac. Along the way I enjoyed beautiful views of Lake Athabasca and some of the sand dunes in the distance. At Fond Du Lac, we stayed at Haley’s Lodge, which is a beautiful home with many rooms… but they were full so we stayed in the addition which was two ATCO trailers. It was a bit like being back at the cabin in reverse as you had to leave the warmth of your bed to make the mad dash back to the main house to use the bathroom. The main dining area was “help yourself” with coffee, juices and various snacks like Dads Oatmeal cookies. When someone asked if they had orange juice, the answer was no, but they have red and purple! So I enjoyed purple juice and a Dad’s cookie! We had some catered meals during our meetings which featured caribou! It really felt like being back in Yellowknife. I returned home on Thursday night. It’s a fun adventure, but it’s also good to be home! Eric has been keeping busy with regular work, teaching for University of Lethbridge, and making plans to start his new job up north with me. Liam drove to Caronport on Tuesday to deal with some business there and then returned to us on Friday for a visit and to play in our worship band. He arrived in time to see Mystery Train play at the Army and Navy!  He is newly single so he has a bit more time to hang out with us old folks. Greg’s big news is he won a bull moose tag for this year’s hunting season. I’ve already started sending in my order for moose meat! We haven’t heard from Haaken, but I’m sure he’s doing well."

Erin and Kristian are enjoying the arrival of warmer weather in Regina. She delights to sun on the patio! Kristian is helping out by working extra time at work while they are short-handed—what a good employee! Erin has also had a remarkable week at work. We are so proud of them! Erin found a way to hang her patio lights: 

lacks a bit of presentation!

Travis and Joanna are keeping up with work and the dogs as per usual. We enjoyed an evening over there for dessert, dogs and hockey! Then, they returned for cornbread and cards tonight—fun! Andrew and Rosie are about to finish up their clinical time before they graduate from the RPN program. Gemma and Jonas are in southern Ontario visiting other grandparents and will end up in Thunder Bay sometime before 10 June. Joanna has bought some African Violets which she is planning to kill off soon! 

and her broccoli sprouts

And that's enough for this week. 

May Long!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Spring has developed very slowly, but the warm weather has finally arrived and the golf courses have opened. We hit a high of 28° yesterday, which is even warmer than I like! It has been a busy week, but Victoria Day weekend has arrived, known locally as May Long! This marks the earliest it can be, but it still marks the traditional start of gardening and camping season. I have unwrapped the camper and brought it out of winter storage and around to the driveway. Since we just bought the RV last November, it is our first time de-winterizing and preparing for summer usage. It had already been winterized before we bought it, so it has been a learning experience for us.

The original awning had long since failed, but we have purchased a new one, and yesterday, we got it installed. I have tried out the fridge, microwave and range. I have hooked up to the garden hose, and flushed the antifreeze out of the plumbing. Then, I connected the water heater and confirmed that operation. I guess I could have tried out the AC yesterday, but that is awaiting another warm day. We are planning a few short local outings, and then planning to embark on a trip to Yellowknife beginning at the end of June. We intend short drives, and one or more night stays at various locations along the way. We expect a little longer stay in Regina, whenever we get there, as I want my mechanic there to check over the vehicle. Wendy has been helping me with the RV, but also doing a lot of gardening, getting the flower beds ready for the perennials to show themselves.

Mölkky

I built a set of Mölkky pins, Wendy painted their faces, and Trav is preparing the number decals. They're supposed to be round, but we'll see how these ones work! The markets continue to confound, but at least they're green so far this month. The Blue Jays are playing poorly, and their star, Vladdy Jr is in a 0 for 22 slump which surely does not help! The NHL playoffs have nearly completed round 2, and, so far, only one of my picks has survived to the final four. 

Erica wrote, "It was a very sad week! After a very exciting on the road win in Everett, the Raiders lost the next 4 games. The season is over, but they did win the division title and they gave us an exciting season. Liam was home for a visit this week. I got to see him before leaving for Stony. His meds have been working and he’s put on some healthy weight! He also suffered through two of the Raider losses. Eric has accepted his half time position at AHA (Athabasca Health Authority). He will start in June. He will continue to work part time with CFS (Catholic Family Services). After some discussion it appears this is actually good for CFS, too. They have some younger people who could grow into their roles, so Eric can continue to mentor them for a bit! Win-win! Kiersten was recognized as a mental health champion—we are so proud of her. I’m continuing to work up north, trying to fix processes and get work caught up. I had the pleasure of working “on-call” as we had several people away in the manager and director level. I got to step in a bit here and there to help where I could—though apparently, I’m not cleared for surgery—LOL! I do have a wee bit of medical training from our visit to Africa!"

Kristian noted that one of his colleagues in the wash bay is off for a few weeks, so they have brought in another worker to help take up the slack. Erin is enjoying the long weekend in Regina despite the weather. While checking out the window, she noticed that some folks are overcoming the new rules on attaching items to the privacy fence! She has similar patio lights, and we're brainstorming a way to hang them over her patio. We had extensions added to the end posts of the fence, and then the lights swagged out from the house, across the yard, and back to the house. It was very nice, but when management replaced the fences, they decreed that nothing could be attached... 

but, they attached their patio lights!

Travis and Joanna remain busy with work and dogs! But their prominent activity in our regard was taking us out for a nice meal at Applebys to commemorate Mother's Day. Joanna and Wendy will be shopping for a new duvet as part of that appreciation. Then, the mothers let Trav and I win at FastTrack for a change! 

And that's enough for this week! 

It is Spring. Isn't it?

A plan originated from Kristian who included the aunts and uncles and grandpa to develop the budget for this year’s Mother’s Day! So, we have been able to do the following for grandma/mom: flowers, a nice dinner at Applebee’s, ice cream at Merla Mae’s and a new duvet! Thank you children/grandchildren for your thoughtfulness! 

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. By this time, we're expecting mid-twenties, but we're not seeing it! Most days were only around 10°, and maybe one day over 20°. I managed a bit of work in the shop and in the yard. I'm preparing the remaining fence sections to become straight, plumb and level. That will keep me busy for the next weeks, I'm expecting. I have begun preparing the RV for our first camping trips. I plan to bring it around to the driveway next week. Wendy keeps too busy with the dogs, and the choirs, and me! We had company one night as friends from Yellowknife were travelling east and spent the night with us. The markets continue to be wildly troubling with hundreds of points up one day, and hundreds down the next. Fortunately, I have managed to remain on quota so far, but I keep wondering whether there's a crash coming! The Stanley Cup playoffs are well into the second round. Although I managed five accurate picks in round one, two of my misses were very bitter as the Oilers and Pens lost, and I had also projected them to win this round! So, I have only two live picks left of the four in this series. Baseball season continues, but the Jays not are playing up to my expectations. 

Big news of the week from PA: Raiders take a one game lead on the opener against Everett on their ice. Game 2 is Saturday night. Erica has been home all week which has been nice. Mystery Train had a gig at Mr. Mike's on Thursday evening—the music was enthusiastically received. She has been preparing for the Rotary annual Lobsterfest Fundraiser which will be held on Saturday night. We hope it will be a lot of fun and will raise funds for Rotary’s community projects! Eric is ironing out the details on his plans to balance two jobs. He also has a temporary third job at the moment, teaching a night class for University of Lethbridge. He’s a busy guy!
Eric adds, "The rest of the family is, I assume, getting ready to shower Erica with love for Mother’s Day!"

Erin writes, "Still busy with month end and still short staffed. But I was invited to Toyota’s annual accounting year end supper on Thursday, so, I got fancy steak two weeks in a row. Last week our software company took the VW managers out. Not sure if I told you that. The job I have is hard and stressful sometimes, but the perks are nice :) And the weather’s getting nicer too. I went outside this morning but it was a bit chilly so came back in.  Kristian asked me to have a movie night for Mother’s Day, with snacks. It's an avatar movie; I didn’t know there was another new one. Should be fun though!"

Travis and Joanna have returned to reality here in the north. I hope they brought warm weather with them.

4 in the bed...

In the interim I have been struggling through with four girls in my bed! 

And that's enough for this week! 

Forever Young!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Our big effort and big feature was our Spring Concert with Silver Sound Choir. It was themed around the song Forever Young, and covered many of what we imagined as uplifting songs.

by the not so young! 

If you click on the poster, it should take you to the YouTube of the concert—see if you pick out your favourite senior citizens, and enjoy! The weather has been cool and rainy until today. Apparently, this is the alternate weather curse for retirees: poor weather all week, and good weather on the weekends! Wendy keeps busy with her choir work and the current batch of dogs! The Orange War continues and has now driven up our fuel price by almost 62%, as the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. Another month is in the books and the USA markets have joined the TSX in the green for the year—that certainly helps! The Oilers and Penguins have both disappointed me by losing in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The second round has now begun, and I have two live picks remaining to advance further. The baseball season moves into a second month. The Blue Jays are playing a bit better, but still are under .500, and in third place. I hope that as more players return from injury, they will become more consistent. 

Erica writes, "Liam was here to celebrate Eric's birthday, play drums on worship team, visit his new specialist doctor, and catch up on Reno plans. We enjoyed the visit; it was over too soon. The doctor thinks his results are looking good. He headed back on Thursday as he had an appointment for his new medication back in Moose Jaw. Kiersten, and presumably Greg, celebrated her birthday Friday. I’m told they will continue with a party tomorrow. I was up in Stony for a few days, trying to get yearend transactions entered. When I left PA, it was winter. Upon my return the snow is almost all melted. This was a much nicer return than the blizzard last Friday. Eric has received an offer to work up north in a half time position: 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. He’s been in discussions with his current employer to try make this work. This way we can enjoy this adventure together. On Friday night, we were back at the hockey rink for game 5 of PA Raiders vs Medicine Hat Tigers. Go Raiders Go. Raiders won and lead the series 3 games to 2!"

Erin and Kristian have been carrying on their work as per usual. There has been a major improvement in the weather and they have been able to begin the reestablishment of their back yard functions.

The question of how to hang the patio lights remains up in the air, while the lights do not! Kristian has developed a possible solution that may also provide a option for hanging the planter baskets. 

Travis and Joanna remain on the beach under the hot southern sun. They report temperatures around 30° each day—not my kind of thing, but they enjoy it. 

Oh, look! A hammerhead!

And that's enough for this week. 

Gone to the Dogs!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. Travis & Joanna have headed for a warm weather vacation, and we've inherited two energetic Pomeranians: Marigold and Jasmine.

Kali, Jasmine, Marigold

Together with Kali, it makes for quite a busy and noisy household! Wendy got them all groomed and posed this morning! Her next challenge will be to get them all posed in one photo! Our week has been fairly quiet otherwise. Wendy had her usual choir business and practice. We had our Silver Sound practice. I did a bit more work in the shop. I'm sanding the wooden lawn chairs and wondering whether I should be applying a stain or a finish (or both)... The markets had a wild and negative week as reality resumed, at least briefly, over the Middle East chaos. I keep hoping Trump will declare victory and go home, so normal business operations can begin the path toward recovery. It will take many months to clean up that mess—I am not looking forward to the fuel costs for our camper trip this summer! Fuel was 99 cents a litre when this started, got to 158, and has settled at 145 this week. Baseball season continues; the Jays are playing a bit better, but injuries are a big story so far. The NHL playoffs have begun and my picks are doing pretty well except for the two teams I care most about: Oilers and Penguins—sigh! OIlers are down 2-1, and Pens are down 3-1! C'mon guys! 

Erica writes, "I enjoyed another week up north in Stony Rapids. It’s been busy trying to get things wrapped up for yearend and budget prepared. There were no further issues with my apartment. The weather has been bipolar—as I type this I’m in the airport in Saskatoon. The plane couldn’t land in PA. We were advised this was not an issue as we would be flown to Saskatoon, and then bussed to PA. That sounds great, except when we got to Saskatoon there was no bus, no flight agents and no instructions. So, we’ve been calling and talking to multiple people and it sounds like we might have a bus. Some of the people have given up and made their own arrangements, but the rest of us are waiting. This is the fun of travel in the north. By the time the bus showed up our group of ten was only three, so we enjoyed a big coach bus to ourselves. I made it to PA for the first intermission of the Raider game. It’s round 3, game 1 against the Medicine Hat Tigers. We’ve contracted with a local company to come help us with sorting and organizing tomorrow morning. So, I figured I’d better get home." 

Erin and Kristian suffered through another week of wild weather in Regina. They've enjoyed all of that they can stand! Kristian has completed his cat-sitting task. He says things are rather slow at work these days, but it's going okay. Erin just wants Spring to arrive for certain, and let her get operating in her back yard. 

Travis and Joanna got work and business cleared up at home and have headed to warmer climes... poor kids! 

Suffering in the Sun!

And that's enough for this week. 

April Showers

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has turned very nice with several hard rain-showers and the snow is disappearing quickly. The rhubarb is up, the fairways are showing up on the local golf courses, and I'm rehearsing my swing once again! The shovels and snowblower are put away; the golf cart and lawn chairs have been brought out. We got our Spring round of Covid shots on Friday. There have been quite a surge of Covid hospitalizations, so we're glad of the protection. 

Levelling Ramps

I got the levelling ramps built for the camper. The top level fits fairly well on the tires, and you can use 1, 2 or 3 levels, but even at maximum correction, that's only 4.5", so we will need to find fairly flat parking spaces. I'm looking forward to getting it out of the backyard parking space soon, and beginning preparations for our first RV experiences. We hope to make a few local trips before embarking on the big trip to Yellowknife in July. I have also completed one shelving project in the shop, but have plans for two more sets. You can never have enough places to lose your tools and other paraphernalia! The Orange War continues, and Trump keeps trying to find a way out. He continues to make wild claims that many suspect are simply to manipulate the markets! At least all indices are back in the green for the year, so that helps me. The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun, and that will be the big sports story for the next months. Oilers are playing the Ducks, while the Pens are playing the Flyers. Travis runs playoff brackets for multiple family members. We showed our expertise last year by allowing the Dogs to easily win! I'll be cheering for the Oilers and Pens, but I've picked the Avs to win it all. Baseball is active in the early season, but the Jays are not playing well, and are suffering from multiple injuries. I was happy enough to see McIlroy win the Masters, although I was cheering for Rose. 

Eric writes, "Erica flew north this week to an exciting discovery—water issues at the place she stays. Eric is holding down the house in Prince Albert. The Raiders won in four and now we wait for the third round. Snow again this week but it’s melting well." Erica adds, "I had to bunk at one of the other houses due to the broken water pipe. Fortunately, maintenance was already working on the issue and my place was ready for me on Thursday evening. We have an extra statutory holiday this week, but I’m working through so I can take the day back at home."

Erin and Kristian endured another mini-winter in Regina. Kristian was glad to have his new tires providing an extra measure of safety. Kristian has been expanding his work experience into customer service as he takes care of some aspects of their seasonal tire change.

He also has branched off with another gig starting this week: he's cat-sitting! 

Travis had a nice week in Vancouver with Jonas and Gemma, celebrating her birthday week. He got back on Wednesday. She's now getting to an age where she can celebrate for a week, whereas, at our advanced age, we tend to celebrate for a month! Joanna has cut back on her work schedule and enjoys that respite. 

And that's enough for this week. 

Real Spring? Really?

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has improved a great deal, and we've seen double digits above zero, and even nights where it remained above zero. So, we're getting a lot of melting, and we're encouraged, that this, indeed may be Spring! The shipping season has begun, and the salties are arriving for their loads.

Still some left! 

Wendy's choir was moved to Wednesday because of the holiday, but then it was cancelled due to a bomb threat at the school. We had our usual choir practice on Thursday morning. When I ran the RV this week, I found there was some dripping from the kitchen skylight area, so I will need to get that repaired. I have chosen a design for a set of levellers, and have begun constructing those. I will build two sets so I can raise either side, or the front, or the back.

New Toy for Wendy

Wendy was the happy recipient of an Air Fryer courtesy our Indian family in Winnipeg; he was our first student resident downstairs. Now, he's married with a daughter, and has named us as the Canadian grandparents! We enjoy the recognition. Trump seems to think he is a Sith Lord, and threatened the genocide of a civilization this week! The USA is now a terrorist regime, engaging in War Crimes! Fortunately, he backed off, and we've all breathed a sigh of relief, but he's back this weekend with more criminal threats against Iran. The world economies and the stock markets continue to suffer in the turmoil. Basketball ended with Michigan winning the championship. The NHL is in their final few games. The Pens have clinched a playoff spot this week, and the Oilers may do so today. The Jays are struggling under the injury bug which has cut into both the pitchers and the hitters. And the Masters is on—I don't watch much golf on TV anymore, but I still take interest in the majors, and this is the first major of the year. 

Erica writes, "We returned home from the visit to beautiful British Columbia. PA held on until we got home to give us the last (hopefully) blast of winter—an exceptionally large snowfall. Eric got stuck in the alley Wednesday and had to work from home. The snow is rapidly melting now, so we use a canoe to get to the car. We are now watching the second round of the Raiders playoffs. Erica points out that Cootes (Canucks draft pick) is in the playoffs, but the Canucks are not. Raiders won their first game last night. Greg & Kiersten news: Kiersten is presenting at a conference in Toronto later in April. Liam is wrapping up classes soon. Mercedes is working. Haaken is doing some paperwork that hopefully will help address some of the supports he should have already had." 

Special Detailing Client for Kristian!

Erin and Kristian are enjoying the nice weather in Regina, but not before they had another Alberta Clipper blast through. Erin got the new tires for Kristian's car, and also had it serviced over at VW. Kristian is busy with some Spring clean up around home for the cat area. He also bagged up the SarCan recycling and hauled that over there.

Two Ton Garden Box

The backyard is pretty much all thawed out, but now they face the challenge of getting the garden boxes moved back into place by the new fence. Erin estimates their weight at two tons! [She USED to be good at math!]

Travis, Joanna, Andrew and Rosie joined us for an Easter family supper on Monday evening. As usual, we closed the evening with a high stakes FastTrack tournament, and the Men fought back from a two-game deficit to win it in five! Jasmine is pretty much healed and back to normal. Their back yard track meets are just about over, although we still have lots of snow in Thunder Bay. Travis is out in Vancouver this weekend, visiting Jonas and Gemma in preparation for her birthday next week! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Showers!

He is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We have moved into April, and as noted in the canon, “April showers bring May flowers!” That forms the backdrop of my contention that all precipitation falling in April through October is rain, so it is not a surprise that we’re have a white, fluffy rain shower today. The milder weather finds me puttering about a bit in the shop. I have a few projects on the go, with the most pressing one being a set of levelling blocks for the camper—shouldn’t take long once I choose a design. Wendy has her unusual level of business (makes me tired just to watch!), along with the two choirs. This week she prepared batches of peanut butter-chocolate-marshmallow fudge, and some butter tarts—mmm, frozen butter tarts! Otherwise, we did make a side trip on Thursday to LifeLabs as we both had some bloodwork due. We are deeply distressed by the melon felon’s war in the Middle East. It seems no atrocity is too dastardly for him and his henchmen. Of course the markets remain distressed as a result. Through the end of March: TSX: +4.4%; DOW: -2.9%; S&P: -4.7%; Nasdaq: -7.6% As a result, my ETF plays on the USA indices are losing money, and only my TSX plays are keeping my head above water. In the world of sports, Basketball is completing the championship run with Michigan taking on UConn in the final. NHL is completing the regular season with more teams clinching or being eliminated regularly. My Oilers have ascended to top spot in their division, but it’s a tight race. The Penguins are also holding down a playoff spot. The Leafs have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Blue Jays started the season well, with a strong pitching staff, but have stumbled since with underwhelming hitting, sloppy defence and injuries. C’mon Jays! 

Erica writes, “We are out in Victoria this week, visiting family. We also had an appointment with BC Community Living to get some support for Haaken. Eric has an interview for a half time job in Stony Rapids with AHA. Hopefully he is successful and then he also works the same weeks I am up there! Eric has been watching curling with Sheena. They are cheering on team Canada, and I hear they are doing well. Liam and Mercedes are doing well. Mercedes got a job with Brown’s Social House in Moose Jaw. Nothing to add from Greg and Kiersten.”

Erin and Kristian enjoyed an extra dose of winter in Regina. They are very ready for better weather. Kristian is looking forward to getting new tires for his car. Erin has the service folks at work on the assignment. Erin has had a busy week at work, but she’s enjoying a quiet long weekend. 

Joanna has returned from southern Ontario, but has brought her concerns for her mother’s health with her. It seems they will need to consider changes to her level of care. Trav made a quick tour to Winnipeg for the AEWrestling event there. We have plans to get together for a celebratory turkey dinner over the weekend, sounds like it will be on Monday. We’re always glad of those events. 

And that’s about enough for this week. 

Spring

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been decidedly spring-like with some melting each day and a few snow showers to add to the sloppy mess. We had Marigold over for a few days; she and Kali formed quite a sloppy, sandy, muddy pair by the time they got back from a walk. We had our usual choir and chorus rehearsals, and I tried out the new cornbread moulds!

Individual Cornbreads

Travis came by to try out the cornbread! I had my dental cleaning last week, and Erika, my hygienist, took note of what might be a chipped tooth, so I’m scheduled to go back next week to see the dentist. The Orange War continues to trouble the economy of the world. The TSX has rebounded into the green, but the USA indices are all in the red, with the Nasdaq down over 10% this year. So much winning! With the damage he has done, I expect it will be a long time before the Oil prices return to normal. Gasoline is now up 49.5% here since he attacked Iran. Einarson lost the Curling World Championship to Switzerland, and her team has now broken up. There are many teams going through a transition as we begin another Olympic Quadrennial. Some players are retiring from competitive curling, so we’re expecting a very different slate of teams come Fall. The Men’s Championship has now begun, so I’ll have another busy week! Our rep, Dunstone, started off with two wins, but lost to Scotland today. The regular season has begun in baseball, and my Jays have opened with dominant starting pitching and two wins. NHL is down to the final ten games. Pens and Oilers are still holding playoff spots, but nothing is locked down yet. March Madness continues, but without my Jayhawks. After this weekend’s action, it’s down to the final four. 

Erica writes, “I spent this week in Saskatoon at the AGM for my work. I enjoyed meeting our board members and the community leadership. It was a good week. Eric came over on Thursday, then, on Friday we flew to Calgary to hang out with Margaret and her WFG (World Financial Group) crew.”

Erin writes, “We had a surprise mini winter this week, but it’s back to spring today. I took Friday off just for a break. Next week is going to be very busy with month end while my good accounting girl is still helping out at Audi. I’m also starting to train one of the other part time receptionists to help out with payables. And my Jays have started the season on a winning note!” Kristian reported that diesel price has jumped 50 cents per litre in Regina, but his car only needs a fill up about once a month. 

Joanna was down to Toronto for most of the week to care for her mother. Travis was taking extra care of Jasmine who had her spaying surgery this week, so we took care of Marigold for a few days. 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Spring Surprise!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The calendar says “Spring!" The sun’s cross of the equator says, “Spring!” But the view out the window says, “Surprise!” Another late Winter flurry is turning our world white, and our hands back to the shovels and snowblower—sigh! I thought we might be done with the snow-blowing, but Surprise!

Surprise!

We keep busy with our choirs and Wendy often adds a business meeting or two. I had a colonoscopy on Thursday afternoon, so that was a wonderful feature of starvation for two days, and a 4L jug of their awful Koolaid! The Melon Felon continues Israel’s war in the middle east. He keeps calling/demanding NATO to help, but NATO is only obliged to help if a member has been attacked, and it’s not expected to help at all in an Asian battle. Meanwhile, the stock markets keep crashing—all North American indices are in the red for the year now. Gasoline price keeps climbing—it’s up over 41% here since the start of the war! No end in sight, although Trump seems desperate to find a way to declare victory and go home. We’ve been busy with the Women’s World Curling Championship this week. My gal, Kerri Einarson, has guided her team into the playoffs and will play for the gold medal tomorrow against Schwaller of Switzerland. The World Baseball Championship concluded with Venezuela winning—it seems many of those Caribbean nations produce some great ball players. MLB is closing in on opening day, and final cuts are being made. The NHL is into the last dozen games of the regular season, and there are many playoff races still to be settled. March Madness is maddeningly underway, and my Jayhawks got a #4 seed as expected! My bracket is already busted, of course, but KU is still alive. Rock Chalk! 

Erica writes, “I ended my first ten-day stint up in the Athabasca basin. The highlight of my time was sitting in the copilot seat of a Cessna Caravan on our quick trip to Fond du lac. Being up here reminds me of growing up in Yellowknife. The quiet, the cold, the dry air. I’m going to have to stock up on moisturizer! Our friends, Tina and Guido lost Tina’s brother to ALS last weekend and so we are in Red Deer to support them this Saturday. Liam and Mercedes were up last weekend and returned on Monday. I missed them. They are doing well. We are haven’t heard from Haaken, Greg or Kiersten. So, I assume they are doing well!”

Erin reports that the weather is fine in Regina, but things are a bit stressful at work. They got some rain, but would like some more to clear away the remains of winter snow and ice. She saw a bunny the other day, and it was turning brown, so… winter is over! [that’s what we thought, too!] Kristian notes that everything is going well, and that they have a new guy starting on Monday. He’s featuring a movie night tonight, but his cats have their own TV! 

Ellie's on TV

Travis and Joanna keep busy with work and dogs! They had a movie night tonight as well. They took in the Project Hail Mary! I’ll look forward to hearing their report, as it’s kind of a multi-dimensional sci-fi kind of movie. 

And that’s enough for this week. 

Raging!

Build your own flowers!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained mild with melting each day, but we have also had a couple of snow showers to keep us tethered to the reality of early Spring weather. We are also painfully connected to the realities of the raging war in the Middle East as our gasoline has increased by over 36% since Trump & Bibi opened war on Iran and other situations in the area. The stock markets are crashing in concert and all USA indices are in the red for the YTD (year to date). Only the TSX remains green, and not by much as the pull back this month has reduced our profitability as well. We keep hoping cooler heads will prevail, while observing no evidence that cooler heads are even in play! We enjoyed celebrating Wendy’s birthday on Monday as Travis, Joanna, Andrew & Rosie joined us for the celebration. We had our usual choir practice on Thursday morning, and I have been working at the Northern Ontario senior curling championships as a timer.

Wendy's new prize!

We enjoyed Christmas in March this week as deliveries of several items took place. Wendy got her prized new vacuum cleaner, and a new pair of leather mitts. I got several items for the camper. The sinking snow encourages our anticipation of our first camping experiences in our newest acquisition. The NHL continues its late season jockeying for playoff position. Penguins and Oilers are holding onto their spots, while Leafs are shining up their golf clubs. Basketball is already in the playoffs with the brackets being widely discussed before they’re released tomorrow. I’m expecting a top 4 seeding for my Jayhawks. The baseball world championships are concluding and the regular season is nearing—Go Bluejays! 

C-C-Cold up there! 

Erica writes, “I am back up north this week—from March 11 to the 20th, which means I'll celebrate my birthday up here. Eric is on his own for worship leading this week, so Liam is home for the weekend to help. He brought along Mercedes for the visit and they enjoyed playing some tunes together. It was almost a hootenanny! It has been cold in the Athabasca basin. One day, my truck wouldn't start so I got a ride and the maintenance team had to go give it a boost. I'm enjoying the adventure up here and hope Eric can come up soon for a visit. We continue to think about finishing the renovations on our house. Eric has identified a possible solution for the space around our downstairs shower unit—puck board. It is supposed to look just like the material of the shower.”

The weather in Regina was a bit better than expected. Erin has managed to get ahead of schedule at work, so she was able to take a half day off on Friday to watch the Canada/USA baseball game from the World Baseball Championship. We did better than ever, advancing to the playoffs for the first time.

Kristian Lunch Celebration

Kristian had an outing at work as one of the guys is moving on to a new job, so eight of them had a farewell at Smoking Outlaws—looks yummy! 

Wendy's Flowers from Family

Travis & Joanna joined us for Birthday supper on Monday at Applebys, then Andrew and Rosie added to the celebration for birthday cake back here at Kensington Manor. The Poms got the beauty treatments and hair cuts this week. All the dogs are enjoying the back yard track. 

And that’s about enough! 

Grace!

Grace Elaine Sorensen  1936-2026

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been mild with melting each day, and Kali keeps dragging us out for walks. We had our choir practices early in the week. And Wendy had a followup on her cataract surgery. Things seem to be progressing as expected, although she complains of the focus being out of alignment between the two eyes. We’re dealing with the news of our cousin Grace passing, and sorry we won’t be able to travel out for her Celebration of Life. I have a lifetime of experiences with Grace & Elvin as they were our neighbours in my youth, and their older children, my cousins, were some of my early friends. We enjoyed visiting with them in their retirement in Moose Jaw and, later, with Grace in Regina and White City. Otherwise the Orange war continues and is very dangerous for all concerned including the world economy. The USA lost jobs again last month, and revealed that it had also lost 100K manufacturing jobs last year while its trade balance actually increased. Now, his tariffs have been found unconstitutional and he’s had to admit that he hasn’t been safekeeping the collection so he can make th required refunds. I imagine the USA taxpayers will have to bail him out. Anyway, the stock markets are not responding well to this chaos with the USA indices in the red, while the TSX is up only 5.4%. Meanwhile the price of Crude has jumped due to the war, and fuel here has increased over 25% at the pumps. The NHL featured the trade deadline this week and several teams tried to add players in preparation for the playoffs. We hope the Pens and Oilers have made some good improvements because they’re not doing so well recently! The Leafs were sellers as they’ve given up on the playoffs and are trying to rebuild for next season. The main focus of my attention was the Brier. My guy, Kevin Koe, has delighted me with an undefeated week and has advanced to the final tomorrow. The #14-Jayhawks tuned up for the Big XII tournament and prepared for March Madness by blasting K-State today. 

Erica writes, "Eric was back to work this week. He still has some lingering health issues. He lost his voice and has been rasping through presentations and counselling sessions. He’s trying to emulate Louis Armstrong! I had a gig on Friday night with Mystery Train. It was a lot of fun and many couples were up dancing. However, about half way through Working 9:5, I lost m voice! I managed to make it through the rest of the night, but we dropped one song and my band mate sang another for me. Next Wednesday, I’m back up north for a 10 day stint. It’s melting here—not so much in Stony Rapids/Black Lake. We haven’t heard much from the boys this week, so, I assume, they are doing well!"

Erin had a good weekend with Erica in Moose Jaw, and writes, “I had to let one of my accounting girls go yesterday. My boss did most of the talking, so that was good. Now, I’m starting a new girl on Monday. F1 starts this weekend. Snow is melting. I’m making steaks for supper and Kristian’s out getting a Blizzard at Dairy Queen for the dessert. We’re a crazy household!”

Travis and Joanna were over for a dessert and cards night early in the week. We always enjoy those evenings, and the women let us win some games! The dogs are really enjoying the track in the backyard. 

And that’s enough for this week! 

War!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been mild, but we’ve had another dump of snow, so we were back out playing with the snowblower again. But that’s relatively small potatoes when we see next door and across the world that USA is waging war, on its own people and on the Iranian people. Those battles are heart-wrenching. Wendy keeps busy with her choir and our choir. We’re feeling behind in our preparations for the Spring Concert in early May. PuckShots accepted another hockey team today, so I dug out their chairs from the shed. We hope the snow will begin disappearing soon. Year end economic data shows weak economic growth in the USA as they only grew 1.4%, experienced an even greater trade deficit, and actually lost manufacturing jobs. The magical tariffs were supposed to create the hottest country in the world, maybe in the history of the world! The reality was dismal—lame! In conjunction with this, the markets are suffering, and it keeps me on edge deciding what to do next! Team Canada dropped the gold medal game, and the NHL has returned from the Olympic break, so, I’m back to watching my three teams. Pens and Oilers are nicely in the playoff position, while Leafs are pretty much out of hope! #14-KU was dropped in the rankings, but came up with a strong win early in the week before losing to #2-Arizona today. Soon, we will get the actual seedings for March Madness. Rock Chalk! Spring baseball has begun, and everyone has dreams of the World Series at this time of year. Jays are looking promising, and we certainly expect them to be back in the playoffs. The Brier opened this weekend, and my longtime favourite, Kevin Koe is there representing Alberta. Maybe he’ll be up for one last hurrah! 

Erica writes, “Eric was very sick this week. He did some testing and found he has RSV, and, given his issues with asthma, the doctor advised he take the week off! And, being better [better than whom?!] at following medical direction, he did that. I had my first work-from-home week. It was good with lots of learning and figuring out how this job works. This weekend, I joined my sister at Ladies Retreat in Moose Jaw. I was asked to share on a panel about finding hope in the mud. I shared my experience of getting infection in my legs and being very sick and what I learned from that experience: God uses the mud to help you see things more clearly in yourself and about Him; when we get angry it’s okay because being angry allows God to burn out impurities in our lives; when people are in the mud, we don’t have to fix it, sometimes we just need to sit in the mud with them as they find their way out. We don’t have to fix things, we just need to show up. Liam and Mercedes are now thinking they will be staying in Saskatchewan for another year. They have decided to not ‘Calgary' at this time.”

As noted, Erin has joined Erica in Moose Jaw this weekend. The week of work was busy, but went well. Now, Kristian is managing the household and cats for the weekend! 

Travis and Joanna had their usual work weeks, but then added to it with a PuckShots photo session today. They got some encouraging news on a couple of troublesome appliances at home, so if they can run down another spare part, they could be back in freezing and drying once again.

Dog-Cross

They have developed a trail system in their backyard for the dogs. The Poms, in particular, love racing around, the Boys—not so much! 

And that’s about enough for this week. 

Snow Job!

Another snowy week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We have experienced prolonged and heavy snowfall that finally ended Friday night. We have cleaned out the driveway three times, easily our busiest week of the winter!

Kali loves to play in the snow!

Wendy had her usual choir events, but the snowstorm led to a cancellation of our Thursday morning choir practice. Anyway, the Olympics were on, and they needed my attention and advice!! On the economic front, we had big news as the USA Supreme Court declared the Melon Felon’s Tariff regime unconstitutional. Of course, the Tariffs have been devastating the USA economy and causing a lot of damage to the world-wide economic system, so the rational decision coming out of this would be to change course, blaming the Supremes for preventing you from achieving your plans forward. However, rational is not an adjective to describe this administration! He immediately declared a world-wide tariff of 10%, and then, today, vowed an increase to 15%! You can’t make this up folks. In the world of sports, the preseason MLB schedule has begun, so our interest returns to the Blue Jays who fell one game short of the World Series championship—maybe this year! In Basketball, #8-Jayhawks moved up again, but did not distinguish themselves this week. They won on the road against Oklahoma State, but then lost today to Cincinnati at home! Unacceptable! Rock Chalk Jayhawks! In the Olympics I have been focusing on Hockey and Curling where we expect our athletes to excel. The Women lost the final in hockey to the USA, so they only achieved silver. The men play the USA in the gold medal game tomorrow—Go Canada, Go! In Curling #1-Homan fell short of expectations, but did win the bronze medal. #5-Jacobs won the men’s gold medal—hurray!

Erica writes, "I spent the first half of the week in Victoria, visiting with Haaken and the Victoria Baileys. We had a few outings planned including: visiting a Fort and lighthouse, driving up to Port Renfrew, visiting the Royal BC Museum, seeing an IMAX show about Sharks, going up island to our old haunts, and having a spa treatment. It was a good reconnection and a change for Tina and me to have some fun, too. On Thursday, we relocated to Vancouver and visited with her kids: Anthony and Amie. We went to Granville Island, the Science Center, and the Planetarium to see Darkside of the Moon. We planned to go to the Chinese New Year festivities today, but my legs have been aching, so I’m taking a day off of fun to rest. We head back to PA tomorrow. Eric took Ramadan and Elizabeta to a Psychologist for some assessments for Ramadan. We are hoping he will get a diagnosis, so we can get him some additional support.” 

Eric writes, “We got snowed in. It started Tuesday afternoon; I barely got into my garage. On Wednesday morning, I nearly got stuck a few times. When I returned home Wednesday I navigated the back alley using the full extent of my Saskatchewan driving skills and some special features on the car to avoid getting stuck. I shovelled my walking path. On Thursday morning, I shovelled the back alley to get out, but then called in sick. I’m still coughing today. The car is replacing the back alley snow drift and it is starting to feel less like I’m going to get stuck. Our neighbours usually put their garbage collection bin on the street beside the house. I looked at that today and I’m not sure the garbage truck could get it through the snow if they placed where they normally do. It appears we got a lot of snow the past few days.” [Sounds like the storm that hit us starting on Wednesday!]

Erin and Kristian suffered a frigid week in Regina, but the weather has broken finally. Erin has been busy at work catching up on all the smaller tasks that got put off while she was completing her yearend reports, and her January month end report.

KLU-Detailer

Kristian has carried on with his work and his medical appointments related to the drug trial he participates in. He got his uniform, and sent us a photo with it. I would certainly let him detail my vehicle! 

Travis and Joanna are also snowed in! The Poms enjoy getting out into the snow, while the Havanese have proved to be wimpy and refuse to got out!

The Pomeranians love it!

We enjoyed having them over on one evening to play some cards and eat some dessert—worked great!

And that’s enough for this week! 

Melting!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has remained mild, with melting each day and the streets and driveways clearing away the ice and snow. As a result, Kali has been taking us for walks each day, and returning home quite wet! Wendy keeps very busy with the two choirs and other business meetings. She completed her accounting project this week, submitted that, and got paid! Tonight, since it’s Valentine's Day, she took me out for Chinese food supper—sweet and yummy! The markets continue to be troubled as tariffs come and go, while threats of various kinds continue to be issued. The S&P500 remains in the red so far for the year. This week saw impressive numbers out of the USA government on both Jobs and Inflation, but investors are wondering whether they can believe anything coming from the Melon Felon. After all, when they gave him bad numbers, he fired the folks in charge! The Olympics are on and we are closely following our hockey and curling teams. Both men and women have moved into the medal round in hockey. Our curling teams are about half way through the round robin portion, and certainly have work to do to make the playoffs. In Basketball, #9-Jayhawks thrilled me with a win over previously undefeated #1-Arizona at home on Monday, but we got a reality check from #5-Iowa State on the road today! 

Erica writes, "I ended my job with MNP on Monday and flew up to Stony Rapids [only about 60 km south of the NWT border] to start my new job with Athabasca Health Authority. It was a week of meeting new people, making connections and trying to get all my tools and technology connected! It seems like a very friendly group of people, and the environment makes me feel like I’m back in Yellowknife. I have a housing unit so I can leave things there between visits. So far, I’m really glad for the change, even though it’s weird to be learning a new job again after 10 years of doing the same thing. Eric has been practising music, and is even looking at stepping in this week for Worship service as another leader is sick. There is ongoing changes in his job as his director is moving to a new role and there has been internal shuffling to meet the needs in the short term. I’m heading to Vancouver and Victoria this week for a Mom’s trip with Tina. We are going to visit our kids and have some fun. We leave late Saturday and are back next Sunday. Haaken has taken a few days off work to hang out with us.”

The mild weather has continued in Regina, so streets are clearing there as well. Kristian is surprised that there is not more traffic of muddy cars needing a cleaning. Maybe folks are thinking this is a false Spring, and worried about a return of stormy weather. Kristian’s uniform has arrived, so we’ll look forward to pictures next week. Erin finished both yearend and monthend this week! She was pretty pleased with that accomplishment, and we’re very proud. 

Travis has been commiserating through the Olympic games along with me. Joanna is feeling better, well actually, they both are. And the dogs—they have also recovered. Time for fresh haircuts! Or maybe that’s where they’re picking up the germs! 

And that’s enough for this week.