It has been a busy fall!

 I guess it has been many months since the last post - this one will be a big catch up post before we head into the Christmas season.

Ruby continued to adjust to her new family, and learning new things.  She chases her tail, loves the back (patio) room, and absolutely adores going out in the back yard. She also has quite a side-eye/sassy attitude at times.

Ruby loves to be outside in the yard!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8QRN8aXJxmCHe6ii8 

In October, Wendy and Eric visited Manitoba and were able to be part of the Thanksgiving celebration. While in Portage, Wendy got her hair coloured – all pink this time. Adam was up in Attawapiskat (west side of James Bay, about 1100km north of home) for work, and Ruby was with Parker and Jaclyn at their place. During our week of vacations, we also went to a hockey game, toured the Western Canada Aviation Museum, visited Camp Hughes (1.5 hr west of Portage, where Eric’s grandfather trained prior to heading to France during WW1), and did some hiking at the Spirit Sands in Spruce Woods Provincial Park.

Arriving in Winnipeg for a week long visit!

The Thanksgiving crowd

We all fit around the table!

Fully pink!

Spirit Sands - there was nobody there!

Spirit Sands rope ladder

Sand was in whatever direction you looked

On returning home, Ruby started Level 1 puppy training class at McCanns (15 minutes from Dundas). Adam took part in some November 11th activities and we actually got a photo of him in uniform! Jaclyn had a big birthday celebration in November and we went out to dinner with Jaclyn and Parker plus her father and brother before going to do some (dark) bowling. Adam travelled to Wainwright AB for a Canadian Armed Forces training course and graduated around the same time that Eric’s parents celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Comfy and happy

Jaclyn's birthday party

Captain Seidlitz

She is a happy girl!

At puppy class

In December, Eric’s classes ended, and Wendy’s office moved within the hospital. Ruby learned all about snow (she was originally from San Antonio TX) – she seemed to enjoy it. 

We also began our most recent renovation project to change the look of our living room fireplace and mantel. It was too formal for us and hadn’t been updated since 1964… so a refresh was in order. We will show more details in a later post, once it has been completed. 

This week, Ruby graduated from her Level 1 puppy class this week to move on to Level 2. 

Getting ready to be evaluated

She passed!

Next post will after our fireplace renovation is completed... and, in all likelihood, it will be after Christmas as well.

Spring changes around the Seidlitz house

Hi everyone,

I see that I haven't posted since December - oops! Lots of things have happened since we finished our bathroom renovation. 

The first big event was the birth of a little great niece in the end of December. Wendy went out to Pembroke to help and was absolutely thrilled to be around a baby again! 

At New Years, Parker's girlfriend Jaclyn dropped by to ring in 2022. 

Maddy was happy to start playing with her new soccer balls (two different sizes, but she adores the large one). Maddy turned 11 in February and enjoyed her once yearly eating at the table.

Valentines day saw Parker and Jaclyn get together for an official photoshoot (with me as the photographer).

Wendy and I went to Toronto for a short vacation during the February break week. We hit the Art Gallery of Ontario, went out to dinner with several friends two nights in a row, and stayed in an apartment that overlooked the Island Airport (so I could watch airplanes). Wendy was also able to go to the new Chick-fil-A, and we went to Krispy Kreme on our way home.

Seidlitz Powder sign in Kiehl's (Yorkdale Mall)

Art Gallery of Ontario

In March, Wendy and Adam went skiing with our niece and family in the Kitchener area. We also went for dinner with the family while my sister was visiting (on her way home from Pembroke, before heading back to BC). The restaurant we went to was directly across the lake from Justin Bieber's house. 

Parker finished his real estate course and is now licensed as a real estate agent. He continues to work with Fair Square (previously called Purple Bricks) and hopes to learn as many aspects of the business as possible. 

One of the students in my program recently wrote a series of articles after interviews with people all relating to the topic of "I am not my illness". She published it online the night before my birthday. The link to the story is pasted below.

https://healthydebate.ca/2022/04/topic/thyroid-cancer-remission-professor/

Wendy and I are planning a few trips this year (pending the pandemic). We are going with friends (Terry and Theresa) to Newfoundland in July, and are going to Disney World in mid-December (likely with Parker and his girlfriend, plus our friends Mel and Murray). A couple of days before Disney, Wendy and I plan to go to a concert - Andrea Bocelli at Madison Square Gardens in New York City! We will likely go out to dinner and wander around the city before we head to Florida from there.

For me, the winter term has just ended and marking is now the focus for the next several weeks. After that, I am teaching two courses in the spring term (May to mid June), so there won't be much rest for a while. The spring flowers are just out and the weather is warming up. We went to Dairy Queen the other day to get Blizzards for dessert - since it was so warm and since my family were experiencing an April blizzard in Manitoba. 

I will try to post again soon, as we are having some new people move into our house this weekend (a young couple from Ukraine). Will tell you all about how it is going once they arrive.