Holiday Greetings from Pinawa

...at least one more time....and what's happening in Pinawa? That's the first question we tend to hear these days and don't we wish we had an answer! AECL is dealing with a tremendous budget cut and has threatened to pull out of the Whiteshell site (that's us!). After getting pressured by local communities, the federal government, who slashed the budget in the spring, would not allow Whiteshell's closure until all the options had been studied (we get a reprieve). A task force was struck to study ways to preserve jobs and research in Pinawa through privatization and various options. Their report was submitted to the government in June. We hoped that there would be a quick resolution on the question of Whiteshell's future but.....we're still hanging. The government is considering the report and, not unexpectedly, the sticking point seems to be money. Who is going to pay for this? Meanwhile, there have been some transfers, layoffs and a great deal of anxiety. What does this mean for us? Andrew's job seems secure, although we are uncertain of just whether it will be here or at our sister site near Deep River, Ontario. We love Pinawa very much, are saddened by the thought of leaving and we are concerned for the futures of friends. Nevertheless, we are very fortunate. Partly because Andrew will continue to have a job he enjoys, and also because we were able to spend time becoming acquainted with Deep River and making friends when Andrew was there on a term position a couple of years ago.

Now, with that out of the way, we can get on with this letter!

Meghan turned four in January and is presently attending the "four year-old" class at our local cooperative nursery school. She really loves it there. The teacher is marvelous although Meghan says they don't actually learn anything: they just play. Got her fooled! Meghan loves books and is starting to read a bit. She is also attending a gymnastics class and learning to skate. Her greatest love, however, is drawing. It is not uncommon for her to spend 1-2 hours daily scribbling her way through stacks of paper. We solicit donations of paper from every source we can, mostly good-one-side, with clean, white paper reserved for very important drawings. Meghan's creativity and sense of humour keep us smiling.

Lauren was one in February. She's changed a lot since then. She learned to walk early in the year and has been a going concern ever since. Never stops moving. In fact, in contrast to Meghan who used to nap for about 2 hours in the afternoon, Lauren is the energizer bunny. She goes from dawn to dusk. Lauren likes to do anything her big sister does and so spends a fair measure of time at the drawing table as well. She also loves books—“read Mommy”— and music—“more gongs, Mommy”. (Andrew says she also says "read Daddy".) Her language has blossomed in the past year. She's remarkably polite: "pease, pease" and “noank you”. We’re sure that will last only until she really understands what she's saying. She's developed from a cling-on baby who resisted any separation from Leslie to a confident toddler with a devilish smile. Lauren is a great delight to us all, even her ever-tolerant big sister.

Leslie is busy, busy, busy as usual. In an attempt to make her life more reasonable, she resigned her position on the Board of the Eastern Manitoba Concert Association (EMCA). That would leave her "only" care of the children, leadership of the local La Leche League group, a small business, and a correspondence course. Then the chair of the Nursery School Board moved to Austria unexpectedly and Leslie got the job by default (only experienced board member!). So now she's in charge?!?!@#! That is going well, however, as she refines the art of delegation. Leslie considers any meeting a success if she comes away with nothing to do. She's usually fairly successful. Good thing, too, since her course from the University of Manitoba is a study of the Bible. She needs to read almost all of it by April, write three papers and prepare for a final exam. . . just as Lauren gave up napping. Life is hectic, time is at a premium, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Since the atmosphere in many schools is just as tense as AECL (increased work load and budget cuts) she considers this an excellent time to be home with children!

Meanwhile, Andrew has also been keeping out of mischief. Work, as you might expect, has been a challenge with the uncertainty. He has been fortunate, however, to work with a good group that has tried to avoid the distractions. Outside of producing and leading research, Andrew is still very active in Scouts. He is currently starting the last year of a three-year term as Commissioner for the province of Manitoba. So far the position has been quite rewarding as membership in the province has increased for the first time in more than a decade. Serendipity is great! When he has a spare moment, Andrew has been doing a bit of woodworking. One of his projects this year has been a set of bunk beds for the kids. He recently completed them, much to the delight of both Meghan and Lauren. Our family enjoyed some wonderful vacations this year. In June, Andrew and his brothers organized a fortieth wedding anniversary celebration for his parents. We all travelled down for the celebration. The party date was kindly set close to the graduation of Leslie's brother, Michael, from the University of Waterloo. She flew to Toronto early and was able to attend both events. We were even able to get up to Deep River for a couple of days to touch base with friends as Andrew had meetings during our two week visit.

In July, we headed west for two weeks with Leslie's family in Saskatchewan. We spent most of the time at their cottage retreat on an island in Lac la Ronge. Friends from Deep River, the Nishimuras, came to stay for several days, adding to the pleasure of the holiday. The cottage is isolated, quiet, and wonderfully therapeutic. Finally, just before Meghan returned to school in September, we spent a week camping in Wisconsin. We enjoyed being outside and seeing sights such as the Wisconsin Dells, as well as a visit with Leslie's Uncle Jerry and Aunt Dorothy.

We will be spending Christmas with Leslie's family in Saskatchewan this year. Travelling on Andrew's birthday has become something of a tradition. We will enjoy plenty of good food; when Andrew and our brother-in-law, Eric, get together, the food is out of this world! As well we anticipate happy family times, visits with distant friends, and relaxing evenings by the fire. The children are greatly excited and will entertain us all. Meghan sent Santa a list of requests composed well in advance, while Lauren is beginning to suspect that something is up.