Home and Abroad 2009

We started off 2009 in sunny Mexico, again. As planned, we returned  to the Mayan Riviera with our friends Mike and Lori. We stayed at another amazing hotel and did plenty of snorkeling and visited Sian Ka'an, an ecological park and UNESCO Biosphere habitat. Joce has finally found paradise -- see the picture below.


Other than a couple trips to Waterloo (to visit Jocelyn's sister) and Toronto (for a marathon) we spent the rest of the year at home. No trips planned for 2010, but that could change any time.

We decided to invest in finishing our basement instead of more traveling this year -- and it was well worth the investment. We now have a comfortable, warm and cozy basement, perfect for watching films and exercising.

We also decided to add to the family one more time: we have been fostering Shiraz, a five year-old German Shorthaired Pointer since April. She is actually Bogart's half sister. We will be fostering her until her last litter (scheduled for Winter/Spring 2010) and then we hope to adopt her permanently. She and Bo have become fast friends and she is a real little snuggler.

We also bought a second car, since the Matrix has now officially been converted to the dog-mobile. You can often see Joce zipping around town in her snappy little red Hyundai Accent.

We also had the opportunity to volunteer at two dog agility championships held in Ottawa this summer. What an amazing thing to watch these highly trained dogs perform up close. In order to give our two dogs a bit more variety, we are also looking at getting them involved in dog-powered sports: cani-cross, skijoring and scootering. (For more information on what this involves see skidogs.ca.)

Speaking of the animals ... Our "senior" cat, Roxane, is still kicking along, but we have noticed her slowing down considerably. We hope she will still be with us for many more years. She and the dogs seem to agree to keep out of each other's way, but Lily loves to egg on the dogs.

Rich

Rich continues his work as a Trademark examiner with the federal government. He has also been busy with his running this year, achieving 4 new personal bests (in 4 different distances). Part of his success is probably due to changes he has made since his diagnosis with celiac disease in the summer. Once we switched him to a gluten- and wheat-free diet, he has had a lot more energy and seems to be feeling much better overall. (For more information on celiac disease see http://www.celiac.ca/.)

Joce

Joce is still on full-time French training in order to get her required French levels for her position. She is scheduled to go for her oral exam on December 16, so fingers crossed that she will be successful this time. She has also decided to make some lifestyle changes recently, and started an exercise and nutrition program at the end of August. (She even completed an eight-week learn to run program). She is about half way through the program at this point and is happy with the results so far.

Family

Fortunately, our extended family is happy and healthy. Our only oops in the year was Jocelyn's mom, who broke her ankle and foot in October (but is now well on the way to recovery). We are looking forward to spending time with both families over the Christmas holidays.

Wishing you and your families a very healthy and happy Christmas and New Year's.

Rich and Joce
RichAndJoce@gmail.com
http://theeverbelladventures.blogspot.com/