Beside the Chip Aisle

There are a few clues around town that it really is winter. Those outdoor thermometers they sell down south have frozen up on cold days, only registering to -40. When you walk out the door in the morning you get a little bit of bronchospasm that reminds that the lungs prefer heated and humidified air. The days are short, but now getting longer. And most of all my favorite display of the season has appeared at Northmart. The centre aisle of the store, an aisle reserved for the best seasonal merchandise, is now a sales lot for ski-doos. You know it's winter when the ski-doo aisle is next to the chips!

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We had a great holiday, and even managed to get a couple of days away from work. My Mom came up for a visit, which was nice (she even made us dinner a few times!). It was a fun, but quiet christmas. We had another couple over to share christmas dinner with us and went to bed early. On New Years we went along with most of our friends down to the Legion to celebrate! It was a fun night and a great experience, and only in a small town is the Legion a centre of socialization!

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The New Year marks the half way point of our stay in Iqaluit. It's been a rewarding, challenging and fun experience. It's also been a good lesson for us in the benefit of taking some risks to see new things and meet new people. Since we've arrived we've made many new friends and had lots of interesting experiences. We've been involved in a move to a new hospital and have met and helped many patients here in Iqaluit. Hopefully the new year brings us not only more of the same but also more of the interesting and challenging things that can't be predicted but which make life so interesting.

Happy New Year everyone. We wish all our readers a safe and prosperous 2008.