Tuesday, February 6, 2007

February 6, 2007 - From the new corporate headquarters in Paris, Ontario


I'm finally an uncle!!!  Marty and Jen's little boy arrived on February 4th, just one day before Marty's 32nd birthday.  He was named Leif Peter Olson and was a healthy 8 pounder.  We can't wait to meet the little guy!

We are now all settled into our new house.  It was built in less than 2 months and we are extremely happy with the builder and the finished product.  The first big event we have planned to "break it in" will be Stella's baptism on Feb 25th.  We are planning lunch for 43 as a way of stress testing the new digs.  The style is a 4 level side split which means lots of livable space and lots of stairs.  The whole family has been developing super sized calf and thigh muscles due to the extensive stair climbing, which is not a bad thing considering it's practically the only exercise we're getting these days.  We've also realized that the size of this house no longer allows Ana and I to talk loudly to communicate when in different rooms.  Now, we have to scream at maximum volume to garner attention.

Magnus is very happy with his new "Playboy Mansion" styled bedroom.  In it, he has vaulted ceilings, a huge colour tv, surround sound, a race car bed, a beautiful view to the horse farm next door and, to top it all off, a red leather La-Z-Boy chair courtesy of his grandparents.  The only signs of his existence now is the frequent screams of "MORE MILK" which vibrate from his quarters every half hour.

Stella is growing like a champ and has surpassed the 20 pound mark some weeks ago so is looking quite butterballish.  She has been a star baby in all respects.  The love of her life is her big brother Magnus, who ignores her completely but it doesn't seem to dampen her enthusiasm much.

As for Ana and I, we have been working hard on getting our new business up and running.  We bought our second property yesterday, an interesting 4plex near downtown Brantford so this week we are doing our "due diligence" to ensure the property is up to standards. We are also showing one of the units in our first property to a potential tenant today.  We actually take possession of that one on Friday so all hell will break loose then since John and I are planning to develop the attic space in the upper unit into living space so that will be the first full-on construction project.  I've been focusing on networking with other real estate investors in the area as well as bankers, mortgage people, tradespeople, etc so it's all been a great learning experience and a lot of fun.  That is the name of the game.

That's about it for now, adios.


Kris