| Ted
/ Dad |
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All in all, 2013 was another very good year for our family although it wasn't without its rough spots.
We lost a couple of good friends, and my Mom had a tough year with more surgeries and installation of a pace maker (but is doing much better now).
As well, my job became a bit stressful - with an extremely divided City Council, several of whom were openly suggesting they should get rid of me. Fortuantly the staff that I work with are very nice people, fun to work with and very supportive.
We did manage to get in some holiday time, visited with many of our friends, and watched our kids (not kids anymore), grow another year older, (and I hope wiser...) |
Ted Snorkeling with Louise in Las Brisas |
I love taking photos...
but I love showing them to people more... |
We did a fair amount of travelling (Although this year it was Louise, not me, that got to travel around the world.)
My year started off with a four full days of City budget discussions with Council during the first week back in January. (Tough discussions because a number of costs had gone up that were out of our control...)
Then Louise and I headed to Mexico with friends Bob and Wilf. We had a wonderful two weeks, relaxing in the sun, reading, snorkeling in the local bay, playing volleyball against the locals, sailing, jet skiing, "stand up paddle boarding", and shopping in the local town. Wonderful to be able to get away.
It was our third tip to Las Brisas, and won't be our last. In fact, as I write this, we are only 4 weeks away from our next trip. Can't wait.
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In February, I participated in the Alberta Senior Games, playing Badminton with a local friend Mike Kostiuk. (You might remember that I turned 55 last year, so am now qualified as a Senior…). Mike and I had lots of fun playing doubles, and ended up just out of the medals with a fourth place finish.
My friend Bob Klatt, who has been my badminton partner for years, couldn't play with me because he is not old enough yet - poor fellow. I hope we can play together at the next games in 2015…
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Mike and Ted at Alberta Senior Games (Badminton)
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Louse and Ted on their rented BMW in Yuma!
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In March, Louise and I took a flight to Yuma to visit Louise's folks. They have been going south for 25 or so years, and apparently Louise was the first of their five offspring to ever go down and visit them.
We flew to Pheonix, where we rented a BMW Motorcycle, and then rode it to Yuma. It was a very interesting driving through the desert with all the cactus - but the roads are very straight and boring. The only relief were the vertical dips wherever there was a dry river or drainage channel (along with a precautionary sign, warning of rapid flooding in the channel during rain events).
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We only stayed for an extended weekend, but we got to see the flea markets, enjoy a concert with Michelle Wright, visit with Ray and Ina Gillespie as well as a few other friends and relatives.
I was even able to attend the Annual Yuma Air Show with Bernie. You can read about it and see pictures here
In April, I celebrated my 56th Birthday. (I thought I was supposed to be retired by now….).
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Bernie in an attack helicopter - chatting with the flight crew about the 50cal machine gun. |
Ted receiving a medal from Queen Elizabeth while in Victoria.....
just kidding - it was part of the entertainment at the conference...
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In May, I was able to attend a couple of conferences, the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators in Victoria, and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference in Vancouver.
While both were interesting, (particularly the first one, which is a gathering of City Managers from across the country), what was really nice was being able to catch up with some of my Nitinat friends. More on that on our Friends Page.
Laura finished her four-year Acting program in May, and both she and Spencer returned home for the summer.
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Laura got a job at our local Casino, managing the wedding events; and Spencer found work with his girlfriend's parents who run a large farming operation.
Later in the summer, Spencer also started working for an oilfield company inspecting and maintaining a well-site in Ferintosh.
Between his job and his girlfriend,Tara, we didn't see much of Spencer over the summer; however, we still got out on the lake occasionally. |
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Louise and I enjoyed several short bike trips around the area. Bruce's Place in Daysland serves an excellent lunch...
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In June (and again in September), I was able to South again to the Columbia Gorge to go windsurfing with our windsurfing group. We had around 14 guys on each trip, and had to rent three condos in order to house us all. On the no-wind days, we road bike, mountain bike, or golf. The trip is lots of fun and a great break. I have fun photographing everyone, and documenting the action in my blogs. Here is a link to my Spring and Fall blogs. (Remember you have to read them from the bottom up, as the first day of the trip will be at the bottom.)
In July, we headed to Kicking Horse resort for Pierre's daughter Amy's wedding. It was a very nice couple of days up in the mountains. Everyone had fun, and we even got to meet Boo the Grizzly bear. More photos are here.
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I took part in the Tour de Alberta, 100km bike tour in July, with my friend Jim Kupka, from Camrose, and also my windsurfing buddies Blaine and Mike. Blaine and Mike bike all the time, so left us in the dust - but we all finished - which was the main objective. I got a few cramps in my legs on the last part of the ride, but nothing serious, and I wasn't much worse for wear the next day.
The weather smartened up a bit in August so we were able to get out in the boat quite a bit to do some wakesurfing and waterskiing. Both Laura and Spencer had some great days on the water with friends - and usually I got to go along as the driver. More photos are on our site under Lake Fun.
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15 teams of professional riders from all around the world participated |
In September, we had a professional Bike Race, the Tour of Alberta (Not to be confused with the Tour de Alberta that I participated in), race through Wetaskiwin. Professional riders from all around the world participated in the 10 leg race all around Alberta. There was a lot of preparation to be done, because all of the roads, entrances, and even driveways had to be blocked about two hours prior to the race.
People were lined up on both sides of the street all the way through the city. The race came and went - in about 35 seconds. The bikes (all 120 of them), were clumped together in one pack, and were travelling at about 60kph. We had sponsored a "Sprint Line", which is sort of a mid-point finish line - where the first rider to the mark won $1000. I guess that encouraged them to speed up a bit….
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As soon as the racers cleared Wetaskiwin, I headed south for another week of windsurfing in the Gorge. Another great trip, although the wind wasn't as consistent as it usually is. That gave us an oppoprtunity to do some biking and golfing.
Laura accepted a small part in the Rosebud fall production of "Our Town". To avoid rent, we drove our old motorhome down so she could live in it for the fall. This worked fine until the middle of October when it ran out of propane - and rather than drive it in to Drumheller to get it filled, she just moved in with a friend for the last few weeks of the performance.
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Brad, Blaine, Ted and Mike - showing off their "Tour of Alberta" shirts in Hood River |
Tara, Spencer, Laura, Louise and Ted
Laura celebrates her graduation from four years of acting school.
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Late in September, Louise and I went south to Rosebud to watch Laura perform in "Our Town", and then to her graduation ceremony.
We love watching her perform, and she looked lovely in her white and red outfit at her graduation.
She has made some wonderful friends, and leaves the school and town with mixed emotions. She is looking forward to taking the world by storm!
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In October we had 55 students from our Sister City Ashoro, Japan, visit Wetaskiwin. The students, along with their chaperones, were hosted in local homes for three nights. Louise and I hosted two of the chaperones, the Superintendent of Schools, Fujishiro San, and Manager of General Affairs Maruyama San.
They were very entertaining, and knew quite a bit of English, which was very good because my Japanese is very limited. The visit was a great success overall, and we certainly enjoyed the evenings with our guests. One night I prepared bbq steaks, with onions, mushrooms, beans and baked potatos. They seemed to enjoy a real Canadian meal. They also liked "Just a little wine". They were very polite, and just a little wine easily turns into many bottles.
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Kazuto Maruyama and Kazuaki Fujishiro
standing on our dock |
 Our Ashoro Student visitors at City Hall
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 A Western Barberque!
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Brian and Paulette's wedding party re-united |
My brother Brian hosted a surprise 50th birthday party for his wife Paulette in October. It was a real surprise - in fact he could tell she was getting upset that he hadn't planned anything for her 50th. (Obviously he doesn't care about her!).
Anyway she was shocked and there were many tears as friend after friend arrived at their lake cabin. Brian had contacted all of her bridesmaids (some of whom she hadn't seen in 20 years). It was a nice day, and as usual, I took way too many photos. You can see them here…
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In October, we also had our municipal elections. Over the last year or two our council had become divided on many issues. This made our council meetings very stressful with many arguments and angry outbursts.
The Wetaskiwin election was also bitterly contested. Four of the fifteen candidates (one running for mayor) were openly telling people that getting rid of me was a part of their agenda. Fortunately for me, the group who were elected seem to be able to work together, and seem to be interested in planning for the future.
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Wetaskiwin City Hall in the fall... my office is still in the top left corner. |
Bitches and Money |
Laura's first performance as a paid Actor was in a Northern Lights performance of "Bitches and Money", in November. Louise and I saw it twice, and both times with friends. I think we had about a third of the theater filled with just our group each night.
Laura, who plays a sultry "bitch" played her part perfectly. (I am not biased at all). It was a very quirky dark comedy about three thieves, who don't trust each other, and can't seem to tell the truth for anything. The story is performed starting in the middle, and then jumping back and forth, so you don't get to know how it all started until near the end of the play. It was very interesting and fun to watch
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In December, we enjoyed watching Mom and Patty sing in the St. Albert Choir Christmas performance. After 25 years, my mom has now officially resigned from the Choir. This was her last performance.
During the last song, you could see Patty's eyes tear up as she held Mom's hand during the singing of Chestnuts on an Open Fire.
We had an early snowfall (or several of them), this year so we are already out skidooing.
It is hard to believe that Christmas is upon us. We are looking forward to visiting friends and family over the holidays.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy Happy New Year!
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It is hard to believe that Christmas is upon us. We are looking forward to visiting friends and family over the holidays and in the New Year!
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I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy Happy New Year!
Ted
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