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