Tuesday, November 29, 2011

40 years, 40 beers


After almost nine years, Ana finally got intoxicated.  The occasion?  Her 40th birthday party, which was on Saturday, and somewhat of a surprise - if not the event itself, most certainly the quantity and quality of attendees.  They came from near and far to rally together for a magnificent send-off into adulthood for dear Ana.  It was an excellent affair.

It's been quite some time since my last posting, chiefly due to too much work work, and it's knock-on effect, no exciting news.  But the party certainly changed that, and in less than we week we take off for a trip to the Dominican Republic to enjoy some sunshine and relaxation.  After that, we are looking forward to a very quiet Christmas - no big functions at our house, so we will play the guest this year at others' homes.

We have recently liquidated two of our investment properties so it's felt like a very heavy weight has been removed from our family shoulders.  It's taken much longer to sell than we expected, but it's finally done and I'm still getting used to the idea of not having to fix toilets during my lunch break.  We are now left with a single student rental house and a vacation property in Saskatchewan, a much more manageable portfolio.  Lessons learned?  Stay tuned for the e-book.

We have recently decided to take this extra time we've recaptured and focus it on our children's' education.  Is the school system doing an adequate job?  Ontario and Canada seems to rate quite highly in education testing for children overall, but when we look at our kids progress....we expect more.  We have them in what is probably the best local public elementary school, and they are both in the French immersion program.  We have made a conscious decision to not try and "fight the system" and instead put our focus on spending time with the kids teaching them what we think they need, or where we see their schooling lacking.  I would also really like to improve my own French so that is something I'll be working on to help support the kids.

Hmmm, this is a pretty boring posting, no humour at all, must not be in a funny mood...I will try harder for next time.




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