Weather

I added a new feature on my blog. On the right hand side there is a little drop down menu that will show you the current temperature in Saskatoon, Lexington, Brandon, Toronto and Nairobi. I put the temperature in Fahrenheit for the benefit of my American friends. They are always asking me what the temperature is here and I always have to use a calculator to figure it out for them. And then I figured out to put a second bar in Celsius for us Canadians. So you can see the temp where I live, where I used to live, where my sister lives, where my brother lives and in Kenya where my family used to live.

Our new dog Bree

So when we were in the Bahamas Jeff brought up the idea of getting a new dog to keep Bailey company. Since Jeff is usually the one telling me not to get a dog, I decided to take advantage of the situation and run with it. So after a few weeks of searching I found a dog. We had to interview and her owners liked us and we got the dog. She is 3 years old. She was a breeding dog and they have retired her from breeding and wanted to find her a forever pet home. It killed them to sell her but they know they can't keep every dog they breed. Her name is Bree. Bailey was a little upset at first. But they are becoming friends. She is still adjusting, but getting better. She barks, so I had to buy a water bottle. Well I have had to spray her 2 times. That's it. She is so upset that I was upset with her that she won't dare make a noise now. So CUTE! She is very cuddly and just wants to please you. So far so good:)Jeff with Bailey and Bree.
Bree on the couch with her stuffed pig. It's almost as big as her, but she carries it everywhere.
So cute.
Waiting for Jeff at work.

Winter in Saskatoon

So the week that it was like -54F without the windchill and -50 C with the windchill, I talked to my friend Dana from Kentucky. I was telling her how cold it was and about the snow. So I promised I would take some pictures of the snow etc. Well I didn't take any pictures that week, why? Because it was too too cold. So I waited until last week, and it wasn't really that cold anymore, and we have had a few days when the snow has melted a little bit. So these pictures don't really show the worst of our winter, but I thought I would post them anyway. And I think they are kind of pretty. So Dana, here you go.
The outdoor Meewasin skating rink in downtown Saskatoon.
A park bench along the Meewasin trail.
The Vimy Memorial. You may remember this from our wedding pictures.
The wier in the South Saskatchewan River
The picnic benches outside of Jeff's work.

Missing my friend

Feb 7th marks 10 years since my friend from high school died. Her name was Laurie Mathiason. If you don't know the story, you can google her name. I don't really like to talk about the details, and definatley don't like to argue about it. The fact is that no matter how it happened, my friend passed away.

When you are 20 years old, you shouldn't have to go to your friends funeral. I had no idea how to deal with the pain and grief at the time. And now each year I still have a period of sadness. I wish I could have seen what she would become. Even if we had just grown apart (as high school friends often do), I would still love to catch up with her.

So this time of year is always a little bit hard for me.
I miss you Laurie.