Christmas Blog 2002

Seasons Greetings...

to all our friends and relatives at this holiday season. We hope that the year has been good to you and that this message finds you happy and well.

For the most part, we had another year of good fortune, but we experienced one large and unexpected loss when Celeste’s father passed away in August. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition in the Spring, but it did not appear too serious and he was still undergoing evaluation when he suffered a heart attack at a Roughriders football game. Thank you to all who expressed their condolences.

Carla and her boyfriend, Tyler, have been in Australia for the last year. They left in early November, 2001. They spent a few months in Sydney, then moved on to Melbourne where they were treated royally by Barb and Tony Jones and family. From there they headed west to Adelaide where they joined a tour going north through the outback to Darwin. There they bought an old station wagon equipped with camping gear that served as their home for the rest of the trip. They drove to the northeast coast along the Great Barrier Reef. Finally, they returned to Sydney where they sold their car and departed for New Zealand in mid-October. They should be back in Vancouver by December 15 to visit Darren and back home for Christmas. Along the way they worked in telephone solicitation and picking squash, probably the most educational part of the trip.

Darren has had another successful year at UBC in Vancouver. Summer jobs were hard to come by through the co-op program though, so he applied at Cominco Engineering Services, where he worked when he first went to the coast. They were happy to have him back and made him Group Leader of mechanical services during the plant refit, supervising a technician and a graduate engineer. At the end of the summer they offered him a one-year contract to stay on as the manager of mechanical systems, responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the production systems. Although this will delay his graduation for a year, it is at least equivalent to a job he might have obtained as a first year graduate anyway, and it will help to finance the last two years of his degree. It should look pretty good on a resumé too. His girlfriend, Sue, completed her degree in the Spring and obtained employment on the Vancouver area.

Laura continues to excel at the University of Regina. Her desire to pursue a career in pharmacy is firming, although other options still remain open. She left her job at the answering service and signed on as an assistant in the Superstore pharmacy. So far she is enjoying the new challenge. She spends most of her time studying, working, and squeezing in a few moments with her boyfriend, Devin.

Celeste’s workplace changed significantly in a provincial government reorganization in the Spring. The busiest and most interesting parts of her work unit were spun off to other departments and some new pieces were added. Overall, the work is less hectic, but also less interesting. She continues to walk several miles every day, with Glenn in the morning, and on her breaks at work.

Glenn had quite a little surprise when he was diagnosed with diabetes in January at his annual medical for work. Because blood sugar can become too low during treatment, causing confusion and fainting, he was not allowed to work until his condition was stabilized in early July. With some medication and some fairly minor diet modifications, everything now seems to be under control.

The upside of the diabetes scare was that Glenn’s refresher course in Vancouver was canceled. Since we had already booked Celeste’s flight and a rental car on Air Miles, we booked another flight for Glenn and spent a pleasant week holidaying in Vancouver in February. We enjoyed our daily walks in the balmy climate and took Darren and Sue out for supper every evening. We also took the opportunity to explore retirement communities in the area. Talk of retirement between Glenn and Celeste is becoming more frequent. We enjoy hanging out together so much that we can hardly wait to do it all the time! Are we deluding ourselves? We hope not! We plan to put it to the test in about two years.

From our family to yours, may you enjoy a festive Christmas season and a happy and prosperous New year.

Glenn, Celeste, Carla, Darren, and Laura