Snow!

On Sunday some of the Chute family gathered for a Christmas celebration. It was supposed to be a turkey dinner for 19 but ended up as dinner for 12 because of a snow storm! Some people did not chance the roads to come to Bridgewater and others left early to beat the storm and others got storm-stayed at Nilda's for the night.  This was a very different day from the previous warm weather.

Simon's Spring-like Birthday

Today we celebrated Simon's 16th birthday at the cabin! It was a sunny and warm day -- unusually warm for December. We barbequed and ate and split wood and sat in the sun. It felt like a Spring day.

Cookies!

Yesterday Max and Simon attended a Christmas Cookie sale. They purchased an empty box for $5 and then proceeded to fill it with home made Christmas cookies.  There was a large selection of cookies and a chance to join Nana in one of her fun and delicious activities!

Christmas anticipation

Our home decorations are small but have served to get us excited until our trip to Canada today! In anticipation of Christmas we have participated in several seasonal activities: Christmas banquet, Christmas luncheon, carol singing, decorating, Secret Santa, and annual True Love gifts for the 12 Days of Christmas.

Lisa's Social Groups

As the semester comes to a close so does Lisa's social activities. This week was her last Aquafit class until February. Aquafit met two mornings a week at the outdoor pool at the Clubhouse. This week the air temperature was just 12 degrees which meant for very cool shoulders even during the workout. Quite a change from 39 degrees when the class began in October. The pool is cooled in October and warmed in December. This fun group of women went for breakfast together to say goodbye for Christmas -- some of us are traveling to India, Canada, Australia and some are staying in Doha for the break.

This week was also Lisa's last Book Club meeting until January. The Book Club meets monthly to have dinner and discuss a book. This was a special meeting because one of our members is permanently returning to Canada, so we gave her a "gift of words" send off! Each person wrote a favourite quote or poem and wrapped it as a gift. This group has shared lots of fun, laughter, great food, and a few tears.

Convocation 2015

November 26 was the date of the annual Convocation for the University of Calgary in Qatar. This year there were 84 graduates from the Bachelor of Nursing program. These students were among the first that Lisa taught when she arrived at UCQ in 2012. More than half of these graduates had been in one of her classes over the last 4 years. This was also the first time there were graduates from the Master of Nursing program at UCQ -- nine graduates in total.

Because Lisa is not teaching this semester she was not part of the academic party on the platform but had lots of fun catching up with people afterward.

   

At the Racetrack

This past weekend Doha hosted the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The Losail International Circuit is north of the city and has hosted many international motorsport events since it opened in 2007. Tim, Max, and Simon have attended races with Porsche GT3, MXGP (Motorcross), and Superbikes.  The circuit and facilities are magnificent. The only downside is that races are usually held late at night when the temperatures are cooler.

Qatar's most famous motorsport racer is Nasser Al-Attiya. He is a World Rally Champion and recently won the Dakar Rally -- reigning champion 2015. He raced on Friday night. Attiya is also a sport shooter -- he won a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London for skeet shooting.