It’s a slippery game...

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The polar vortex has broken here, and we’re back looking at daytime highs in the single digits of frost. We have been threatened with more snow, but so far—nothing! And, after ninety-seven days, January is finally over!

Let the healing continue!

The big action here was Wendy’s cataract surgery—both eyes are done now. The painful part seems to be over, now we wait for the healing to be completed and vision to stabilize. She will continue to meet with her ophthalmologist to supervise the healing and to decide what to get for reading glasses. The markets ran badly all month as the Melon Felon kept things in a turmoil. Despite that, I got to quota this week, but then Thursday and Friday happened, so I fell short! The Trade War is wreaking havoc all around the world, and, while USA is suffering the most, we are not escaping scot free. The NHL is playing out their tightened schedule before the Olympic break. Oilers and Penguins are doing well. Leafs are in last place in their division. #14-Kansas was moved up again in the rankings. They played #13-BYU today, emerging victorious and raising the expectation for another rankings hike. My main preoccupation this week was Scotties Curling with three games most days! My favourite, Einarson, has fallen to the semi-final tomorrow afternoon where she will face Sturmay, hoping to advance against Lawes in the final. 

Erica writes, “Big news out of PA this week: I have accepted a new job with Athabasca Health Authority. I will be visiting Stony Rapids once a month and working from home the rest of the time. Eric and I meet tomorrow to review January and how far we got in our plans to make progress on the house… in summary, some progress was made, but not enough. Greg is back home in Kenora after a small stroke and surgery to repair. The doctors say he has a condition where his blood is too thick. We hope the new medications will help. I am making plans with my friend, Tina, for a mom’s trip to BC to see our kids. We leave on Valentines Day. Nothing to add from Liam.”

Erin and Kristian are handling the deep freeze in Regina. Kristian's diesel car managed to operate all week, so that was another positive. He got his first pay cheque this week—impressive! I recall my first official job where I was making about $2.50 an hour building machinery in Kipling—times have changed! My first paying job was stooking sheaves, and I made $3 a day, but I saw that as six boxes of .22 shells! 

Travis and Joanna are struggling through a long January with the rest of us. Now, we move on to the shortest month, and prospects improve! We’re now over a month past the shortest day, so we’re starting to enjoy the longer time of sunshine. 

And that’s about enough for this week.