Oh my…it seems I start every entry (as few as there are) with something about “where has the time gone” but it truly flies by. I’ve been asked why I don’t write more often but besides it being time consuming, do you really want to read about my computer fixes or cars that are being detailed?

We HAVE been busy. We made a short, five-day visit to Ontario right after Thanksgiving (the Canadian version) so I could meet Ryder, our latest grandchild (he is VERY cute) and to see family. The whole visit was literally one appointment after another and there just weren’t enough time slots to see everyone we wanted to. Fortunately, that particular week was somewhat quiet at AllCare and I had no Nerd calls prebooked so it was an easy getaway.

Since we got back we have been ultra busy despite of or because of the recession… it seems people are cleaning up their cars and computers rather than buying new ones. We’ve made two more visits to Trader Joe’s and haven’t seen any blatant signs of the economic downturn in Bellingham other than the fact that gas is cheaper and our dollar doesn’t go as far.  Here construction has slowed (even stopped on some developments) and gas prices have dropped but of course, not as much as everywhere else!

The weather has been surprisingly drier than normal and until Saturday, it has also been very mild. However, we did receive a small blanket of snow on the weekend and the temperatures haven’t gone over 0C since, so the ground remains white.  Sunday, Monday and yesterday we enjoyed beautiful sunshine so on Monday we walked along the seawall downtown in Stanley Park…it was wonderful. This morning I woke up to see that the snow has returned and I am beginning to feel like I am in Ontario once again.

For the past few weeks I have started to use one of the treadmills in the building's exercise room for two reasons…now I can read in peace uninterrupted for 40 minutes (no one else seems to be there at 5:30 AM) and I can eat…real food…without adding anymore inches to my waist. (My hormonal fluctuations seem to make me gain weight simply eating lettuce and cucumber!) Gawd…I just LOVE aging!

Last month we sold the Yaletown condo to Jay so now he too owns real estate in BC and we are no longer landlords. The building next door (or the remnants of it left over from the summer fire) is being cleared away slowly and just yesterday they tore down the remaining pool/rec centre so now our view has changed once again…if it weren’t for the snow, you’d be able to see more mountains in the distance.