Here are two pictures from last night's dinner. It was our time to say farewell to my parents, who as I type, have headed west to my sister Andrea's for a few days in Saskatoon before going home to northern Alberta. My brother-in-law, Steve, is always telling me to get pictures of Mom without her oxygen hookup, so I am pleased with this particular photograph.

The other picture is of my eldest daughter, who was seated, unexpectedly, next to Dan Jones. I recognized him when we entered the restaurant (an Indian buffet, in deference to Dad's predilection for buffets and our preference of Indian food). He is, of course, the author/producer of one of my favourite blogs, doberman pizza. He is a Baha'i from Ottawa, whom I know more from reading than from our rare meetings, and it was a pleasure to see him and have him join us for dessert. He already knew another of our dinner companions, cousin Jack McLean; apparently he is Jack's Ruhi tutor! After the dinner, Jack came home for the evening and when I arrived home after my Assembly meeting, I joined Jack and Mom until the wee hours, hearing family stories I had never heard. Jack has a tremendous memory and of course he is somewhat older than I so he remembers Mom from the time she was fourteen years old, and could tell us stories of Grandpa & Grandma Halsted, as well as Auntie Vi.

Our time shifts, now, with Dad and Mom gone, back to some sort of routine, I suppose. Tomorrow night we will miss my parents at our Ruhi class. Next week, however, we will begin to welcome other family: my sisters Laurel and Andrea are both coming with their families over the holiday, and I expect to be cooking for a gang on Boxing Day. This year I am going to experiment and make a mincemeat cheesecake and a cranberry one, in addition to the regular pies. We will have to get an extra large turkey, and I will try and figure out a good vegetarian treat for my second daughter, who will be working most of the day but will join us in the evening. Our place will be full of cousins!

I have almost finished preparing for the course I will be teaching next semester at Ottawa University. It is exciting to think about how I can make it interesting, and I am looking forward to offering my lectures and to meeting many young people again.

The writing continues. Wish me well, as I wish all of you a happy time and safe travels if you are en route somewhere to someone special.