A Very Busy Month!

The month of March has always been busy in our family for as long as I can remember.
When we were teaching, of course, we would look forward — longingly, during many dreary winter weeks — to ‘March Break,’ the time for getting out of the classroom and doing some travel!
Easter or the preparation for it, usually took place during the month, and it was always a busy time.
This year, it has been busy for a host of other reasons:
— On the home front, our nephew, his wife and their 10-month-old daughter, Amelie (a.k.a., La niña), arrived at our home in Bedford, to begin a new life in a new country.

The family ‘Welcome to Canada’ program could've been a little bit .. ah, warmer, as we awoke the first morning to no heat (which was quickly fixed by a team of excellent service technicians), and then a day-long early spring blizzard! This weather feature was quite the adventure, because neither of the girls had ever seen snow.
However, everybody is happy. As we watch Amelie learn to walk, we are all chattering away in English, French, and Spanish — sometimes simultaneously!
— The biggest story on the world stage has been the disappearance of Malaysian Air flight #370 on March 8. More than three weeks later, while Navy ships and military planes from 25 countries search an area in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, Australia, we have only the slimmest leads.
The families of the 239 passengers and crew have had to endure a series of clumsy and insincere attempts by the Malaysian government to deliver some kind of truthful explanation.
Naturally, hundreds of conspiracy theories have been advanced, ranging from outright terrorism hijacking to a suicide attempt by the pilot, while the attention of news channels around the world shifts from the latest piece of evidence to the next.
— All of this is going on as Russia has annexed Crimea from the Ukraine, through a questionable, bogus referendum, which was thrown together within 10 days, and supported by former Russians who had moved to the country, and backed up by a large Russian military show of force along the border.
Governments from Europe and the USA — who had to refrain from military retaliation — have been put in a position to impose only a series of weak sanctions. Does Russian president Putin have any further territorial grasping plans, such as attacking the Ukraine? Only time will tell, as diplomatic talks continue.
— Locally, nursing staff from Capital Health are carrying a last-minute negotiations with their employer to avert a strike, slated to begin in two days' time. The main issue involves the nurses' union asking that a specific staff-patient service ratio be inserted in their contract. The employer has refused to even discuss this point.
A few weeks ago, the provincial government legislated Homecare nurses back to work, by assigning their work and essential service.
The old adage goes: ‘If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion.’
We are getting freezing rain and heavy rain in this area right now.