Snowy Sunday

If any of you have, by chance, been following the weather in Saskatoon, then you will know that it snowed about 15 - 20 cm this weekend. We have exciting, non-snow-ploughed conditions on the little roads around our house, so when James and I went to the gym earlier today we had a chance to test out the snow tires. Result? They work! In fact, they might have better grip than my snow boots, as I slipped a bit as I walked across the gym's compressed snow parking lot and the car was fine when we left! (And my snow boots are really grippy too, so I suppose the tires must be EXTRA good.)

Our Little House on the Snowy Prairie

I've made a little Christmas wreath and have hung it on the door. Some of the neighbours down the street even have their Christmas lights up already. I will consider putting ours up soon, but I think it will have to wait until after 25 November. My next project is to make some cornstarch clay ornaments - I tried making some salt dough ones, but they were fairly misshapen and childlike. (Of course, this is not a problem at all when I am making them with a class of kindergartners or Grade 1's!) I am hoping that the cornstarch clay will have a bit more of a polished look to it. 

My Paper Wreath

Speaking of Kindergarten, I did not get the K and Gr 12 position that I interviewed for last week, as I did not have enough high school experience. This was not at all shocking to me, as I have only ever taught in an elementary setting. The superintendent, however, was very kind on the phone, and said that I'd interviewed extremely well and if the position had only been elementary, then it would have been mine! Then he proceeded to tell me that there will be some new elementary postings coming up soon and suggested that I apply for those jobs. With any luck (and perhaps some skill) I might get a position in the New Year. 

In any case, I am going to Borden, SK to teach a K/1 class next week and am looking forward to it. Perhaps we can make some salt dough ornaments together! 

James was on call for General Surgery, Friday night and only slept one hour. They were busy all day, then went in to the O.R. in the early evening for an urgent case and didn't finish until close to midnight. This meant, however, that everything else had been piling up while they were in the O.R. and so James had to deal with that before he could rest his weary head. He came home Saturday morning and went straight to bed, not emerging until the late afternoon. 

Last night (Saturday)  we went over to our friends' (new!) house for a Chinese Hot Pot dinner. It's like a broth fondue, so you dip your meat, tofu, wontons, vegetables, and noodles into a simmering pot of broth and scoop it out with a neat metal net when it's finished. Then you eat it, yum! We had a great time inside with the delicious hot pot and good friends, while it stormed and raged outside. It felt delightfully cozy. At least until we had to venture back out into the night and brush the snow off of the car. (Only joking, the snow had stopped by then and it looked like a bit of a winter wonderland, with lights twinkling all over the neighbourhood and the snow sparkling under the lights.)

Hard to believe that 3 months ago the Splash Park was in full swing!

I'm looking forward in going to see the Festival of Trees at the Museum of Western Development (we can practically walk over, it's so close to our house) and also seeing the Parade of Lights at the Forestry Farm. They've both opened up this weekend, so perhaps James and I will visit one tonight! I'm also eagerly anticipating opening up my ski bag and getting my XC skis scraped and ready for the trails. The river valley should be groomed next week, so hopefully I'll get a little ski in. It's nice being able to go and work out inside of the warm gym, but being outside in the fresh air is even lovelier. (I may change my tune about this when it is -40. I will keep you posted.) 

A Subaru in its element. 

All in all, everything is well here. We are well exercised and well fed. The cars continue to start and grip well on the snow. The library is just a short walk away, NETFLIX and HGTV are available for watching, and I've got a good supply of popcorn and hot chocolate. Talk to you all soon!

Love, S + J and J + S

Winterized

Winter has arrived. The snow has stuck and the temperature has climbed down well past zero degrees. With wind chill, it's been averaging about minus fifteen to minus twenty for the past week and a half. However, this means I have an excellent excuse to drink hot chocolate, do lots of baking (bread! brownies! cinnamon buns! pie!), and snuggle up inside with a good book. Or a good Netflix series... All this being said, winter is still a fairly recent arrival. It's not that long ago that we were on the road to Calgary, wearing t shirts with the AC on!

Our back yard now. Notice our lovely rock pile.

Eric and MC's backyard in Cochrane a few weeks ago.
Notice the lovely Rockies in the distance.

We took a trip to Calgary and Edmonton at the end of October, to visit with some good friends and to to a little bit of shopping at stores that we don't have in Saskatoon. We went to a huge board game shop in Calgary, The Sentry Box, bought winter boots at MEC, and had a jolly good time sitting on couches at IKEA. We also went for lots of walks in the foothills and even took a day trip to Canmore to hike up a mountain. (It's true, we do really miss the mountains.) Thank you again to Eric and MC, Rhiana and Cory, and Jane and Serge for their excellent hospitality, delicious food, and great company. Hopefully we'll be able to host you in Saskatoon sometime soon and/or make another trip out to Alberta. We'll probably need to visit IKEA again in the spring, as we'll be moving and likely need to buy some furniture... 

We took the "difficult" trial to prove that we are tough.

Head west and this is what you'll find!

Now that we're well into cold and flu season, I've had a few days of work. I've been teaching in towns around Saskatoon. The most memorable of these towns (so far!) is Asquith - it has a sign that states that it is "The Centre of the British Empire". Impressive, yes? I've also just had an interview for a position teaching Kindergarten and Gr 12 English, a fairly interesting combination! I'd definitely need to be able to switch my hats quickly for that job! However, I think that to teach English 12 here that teachers need to be accredited - it means I'd need two years experience teaching the course and I'd also need to take a specific class to become accredited. Too bad, because I think it would really be neat combo to teach! In any case, I'm happy that they're interviewing me for full time positions! And I'm enjoying discovering new towns and schools in my travels as a substitute teacher.

James has been really busy with his General Surgery rotation for the past four weeks. He's halfway through it now and is thrilled to have a whole weekend without call! He's been working on cases like appendectomies, abscesses, and bowel surgeries, as well as generally taking care of patients on the surgery ward. He's had a lot of 24 hour call days recently, which is pretty tough, but at least he's been getting a few hours sleep when on call. That doesn't always happen! 

Both of our cars are ready with their block heaters and snow tires - James just plugged his car in, as its been getting cold enough over night to make the car struggle a bit in the mornings. We went for a walk by the river this afternoon and made our own "block heaters" out of merino wool base layers, snow boots good to -50, and down parkas. We're ready for whatever winter wants to throw at us. I'm even excited to break out my cross country skies as soon as the trails are ready!

Notice the ice floes in the river.

Winterized.

That being said, I'm sure that we're both really going to enjoy our trip home to Victoria at Christmas time. Not only will there be family, friends and good cheer, but the weather will (hopefully!) be warmer than - 20! 

Love to you all,

S+J and J+S