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2009
Olson Christmas Letter
Season’s
greetings!
So tell me, how was your decade? That's right, 2009 is the
last year of the “oughts”, the “noughties”, the “Oh-oh's”, the
“Zeros”, the “Zips”, the “two-thousands” or my favourite, the
“iDecade”. Our lives have changed in almost every conceivable
way in the past ten years, and these changes have all been
entirely positive and welcome. The one thing that hasn’t
changed is our love of travel and, as usual, we spent a lot of
time away from home this year.
It was a great year for beach holidays. We started the year
with a week in the Dominican Republic with my Dad and Loretta
at an all-inclusive resort in the Punta Cana area. We learned
that it is possible to eat three gigantic meals per day and
still pack in thousands of empty beer calories between
feedings. This was actually the first time we’ve spent a week
at an all-inclusive as we usually try to find local
accommodation for rent. It was definitely a good value, but
to be honest it started to feel like the movie “Groundhog Day”
as one day slipped into the next and before long it was over
and you couldn’t really remember actually “doing” anything,
besides getting a great tan.
We made two trips to Florida, one in April to the Fort Myers
area, where Ana's folks John and Maria joined us, then another
trip in December to the Fort Lauderdale area with our
neighbours Andrew and Jess, which was superb. While there we
squeezed in a day at Disneyworld, which was...interesting.
Stella loved having her photo taken with the Disney
Princesses, while Magnus liked the jungle safari ride and all
the kids play areas. Ana and I had to experience the joy via
the children as it seemed to us that all we did for the entire
day was queue up and wait. Let's just say that a single day
in Disney was plenty! The weather for the beach part of the
trip was a bit of bust - overcast but warm, but definitely
better than the long weekend trip to Bahamas we took in
November which was actually cool. To make it worse the kids
were both sick so that little holiday was a bit of a bust. I
guess they can’t all be zingers.
In what seems to have become an annual event, we rented a
cottage for a week on Lake Huron with Ana's extended family,
this time in the town of Port Franks. We have become very
fond of this area of Ontario and have made numerous trips
there, each time discovering something new. Like any good
family event, the highlight was the drunken soccer match, with
the only rule being that participants must be exceptionally
unfit for physical activity and inebriated well beyond the
point of feeling physical pain. The catalogue of injuries
included sprained knee, broken toe, gashed leg and broken
ego. We also managed to get in some quality fishing time.
Ana’s cousin Glen caught a five pound catfish, which we kept
and subjected to an autopsy on the cabin’s ping pong table.
After an hour of exploring catfish bone structure (or lack
thereof) we finally extracted several pounds of meaty fillets,
which we battered, barbequed, and consumed. The taste and
texture was universally declared as “better than expected”
which is hardly a ringing endorsement, but hey, it’s always
good to try new things.
Speaking of new things, I did my first Great Lake crossing on
water this year. Our neighbour Andrew, who has been hinting
all year to be mentioned in my annual Christmas letter, bought
a beautiful 32 foot Sea Ray powerboat in Cleveland. We drove
down there in April to pick up the boat and we piloted the
boat across Lake Erie to Port Dover on the Canadian side. It
was about an eight hour trip, including a quick stop to refuel
in Erie, Pennsylvania, where we met some of the local crusty
sea dogs. Andrew has become a sort of fixture in our home.
We have this informal arrangement where we provide him with
hot meals and rum and his dog with exercise and bathroom
breaks, while he, as a hotel manager, gets us cheap hotel
rooms. Oh, and he also helps us haul gravel and dig trenches
for our yard projects, but you need to give him extra rum for
that.
October and November were spent doing a massive back yard
project. Where was once grass and concrete patio stones is
now a backyard retreat complete with covered, brick patio,
lights, music, wood burning fireplace and a large lighted deck
with composite decking and a built in hot tub. It took a lot
of early mornings, late nights, sore backs and heated
arguments, but in the end, it turned out even better than
imagined. If you happen to stop by our place, and we don’t
answer the door...you know where to find us. The best part of
our projects is that we encourage visitors during the critical
times so we don’t have to pay for labour. In fact, Dad and
Loretta and my mom and Rick were there at different points
during the project and they were put to work. Of course,
Ana’s folks were an integral part of the operation, which is
good for everybody because if John is not kept busy he goes
berserk and starts smashing things.
We made a couple trips back to Saskatoon this year and
actually spent a full week at our cabin at Fishing Lake in
August. In what seems to be the theme for the year, the
weather was atrocious and we spent most of the time in winter
jackets. On the bright side, my aunt Tammy and her family
joined us there for a few days, which was the first good visit
we’ve had with them for years. The other trip to Saskatoon
was back in June, when my brother Marty was also there. We
spent a couple days at the lake for a "family friendly"fishing trip in lieu of the yearly extermination mission up
north. The fishing was okay, but the beautiful weather (which
was practically the last nice weekend of the summer) made up
for it. Both Magnus and Stella came out fishing and Magnus
even caught a nice walleye! Stella was more interested in the
boat ride.
This was finally the year that we made it to Las Vegas. Ana’s
folks joined us and we spent a hectic, exciting, overwhelming
few days there in September. I was last there over 15 years
ago and the changes were amazing – everything was bigger,
louder, faster and brighter. We visited most of the casinos
on the strip and walked for miles each day. Ana’s folks
joined us and were quite impressed, especially since you
didn’t have to gamble to have fun there. Actually, in the
airport while waiting for our flight home, John finally
succumbed to the peer pressure and spent five dollars in the
nickel slots so now he cannot honestly claim he’s never lost
money to a casino!
As for the update on the kids, I found these two posting on an
online kids forum that I came across:
“My name is Magnus, I’m a five year old warrior living in
south eastern Vinland. My preferred weapon is the short
sword, but I also keep a dagger in my boot, an axe in my
waistbelt and a pack of throwing stars hidden in my shirt. I
know the alphabet and can count to thirty in both French and
English. I am forever accompanied by my faithful legion of
plastic animals, numbering in the hundreds. I like biking,
throwing spears, computer games, cartoons, hot tubs and
protecting my little sister.”
“Stella is my name and if you don’t like it we can meet out
back later. I dislike ponytails, following instructions,
speaking quietly and going to bed early. I am stunningly
beautiful and have a lovely collection of pink clothing and
fancy shoes. I feel no physical pain though my feelings are
easily hurt if I feel I’m not getting my way. I love giving
hugs, headlocks and my favourite drink is milk. My best
friend is my brother and if you try to hurt him you will pay.
My hobbies include colouring, playing with Barbies, singing
and picking scabs.”
They sound an awful lot like our kids, though I don’t know how
they got so proficient with the computer. It’s the “Net”
generation, I suppose.
Ana is doing very well, busy with work, busy with the house,
busy hunting down the “ultimate deal” and especially busy
keeping her three kids happy. Her only real hobby, besides
retail warfare, is keeping up with celebrity gossip. She has
become very close with her cousins since we’ve moved to
Ontario and we spend a lot of time with them, usually eating,
drinking and having fun, but also participating in the most
ancient of Portuguese traditions; gossiping.
As for me, well, I can’t complain. I have two beautiful
children, a gorgeous and perfect wife, a great home, good job,
zany family and exceptional friends. Work, traveling and
maintaining our real estate properties leave precious little
spare time, but when I do find some I try to keep up with some
writing. I have a book in progress.....slow progress, but
there’s no rush. I continue to receive my five dollar weekly
allowance, which I usually spend on comics. By the way, did
you hear that Archie finally got married?? He chose
Veronica. I always knew he would.
To finish off we wish you all health, happiness, love and a
gigantic, double shot of karma for 2010!
Kris, Ana, Magnus &
Stella
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