Hello Again

Well, what can I say. It's been a while, once again.

Much has happened in the last few weeks, but I won't bore you with all the details. But, in brief, I lost a friend a few weeks back in a car accident. Evan was too young, at 20. He and his family were among the first to welcome us to Gimli back in 2001, when we arrived. He was 12 at the time and I watched him grow up in this small town, where everyone knows everyone. He went from batboy and spectator to player on the slo-pitch team his father and I played on. He went from school boy to working man at the local grocery store. He went from trying to sneak into the bar I worked at, to walking in legitimately. And through it all, this kid had an omnipresent smile that he shared with one and all.

I still feel sick for his family— a really great group of friendly, outgoing people. He came by his smile and sense of humour honestly.

About a week later, my mother's husband passed away. Elvin was one of the most easy-going, friendly guys you'd want to meet. I am happy that I was able to enjoy one of our shared passions, fishing, at least once in the time we knew each other. We spent a week together a year or two back, fishing the Winnipeg River near Kenora. It was a good week and my first real opportunity to get to know him. He will be missed.

But I'm back and, I hope, will continue where I left off in my life as a stay-at-home dad.

So, it's Monday morning. The boys are still asleep, as is Neomom. I'm half an hour away from my morning treadmill run.

I'm also anticipating the arrival of my brother, sister and father. They are driving in from Kelowna, BC, leaving this morning. Should take a few days. Sonwun is very, very excited about them coming and asks each morning if they will arrive "this day."

He has big plans for them. They need to see his room, they need to go swimming, they need to see him play soccer and they need to go bowling with him. And that's the abbreviated list.

This morning, it's swimming lessons for Sonwun and then soccer tonight, weather permitting.

Anyhoo, that's all I've got this morning. I hope to resume my regularly scheduled blogging in the coming weeks. I miss the writing and the feedback.

Have a great day!