Thursday's News

The Magnolia Warbler

The female downy Woodpecker

Work awaits me, so I will try to make this quick even though I have lots to say! We are still bird crazy - we saw and identified two more species (I feel like I should adjust my glasses here to keep in line with the nerdy picture I'm painting of myself), the Downy Woodpecker and the Magnolia Warbler. We also spotted a FAT robin sitting in the tree outside of our bedroom window, and check out the gaggle of girlies (or boys) that these two geese are trailing around...

Fat Robin


The view from our bedroom window... it's lovely!

More bird news (sorry, this will be it for today) - Steve said that he came home to three geese on our lawn - EATING OUR WEEDS! I haven't done a thing with the garden (the retaining walls are rotting and falling apart too... it's screaming for attention!) and voila... the geese are doing it for me. They are also probably fertilizing it. Whether this is good or bad, I'm not sure.


Just in case anyone noticed that I didn't blog after bball last night, it wasn't because my lungs internally combusted and took the rest of me with them - I was lazy. And tired. And procrastin-waiting. HA! Er, anyways, we got some big news yesterday... Team Canada Men are moving. The women are staying in Winnipeg, but the training center for the men is moving to Ottawa/Gatineau... as of January 2009 (I think that's the date). Both Winnipeg and Gatineau made bids for the men's team but the guys are moving, and it's a bit sad. It sort of feels like the end of an era - the team is beginning a new phase - a new cycle with a fairly new team. There was a pretty solid group of guys that made up the core of the team and because a trip to the Olympics in Beijing isn't happening, many of these long time players are retiring and moving on to new things. And just like many of these vets will be looking to start non volleyball-oriented lives, these new, young players will be starting their careers, with the London 2012 Olympics in mind. That's not to say that none of the players from the past quad or two won't be looking to do the same... but, it will be different. It really does seem like the end of an era. Sad, but exciting at the same time. Hopefully Gatineau provides better training facilites and a great support system to help these athletes and the program achieve their goals and potential... and that the centre here in Winnipeg continues to strive for the same for the women.


What all of this means for us is uncertain at the moment, but the main reason that we bought a house here was the volleyball. Maybe we'll be moving? I don't know. For now, we're trying to stay focused on banishing the uglies and making some changes around here. We'll think about "the move" (volleyball and, potentially home?) later. Here are some pics of the reno'd rooms.