News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We've had some Spring again, and even one day of Summer before it degraded into white, fluffy rain on Thursday night. Now that's melted and we're back into Spring again. Renovations have continued apace downstairs. I've  installed the new partitions and finished the electrical wiring. Now we're into drywalling and a bit of carpet repairs. The gas insert for the fireplace is now operational. The gas range has been hooked up as well, so, we're enjoying that. The markets have remained difficult. All US indices are in the red this month, and most are in the red for the year to date. The TSX is doing a bit better, but not this week as I experienced four out of five red days. I lost value on the portfolio as two holdings stopped out. The week started with a sports highlight as Kevin Martin ended his career with an 18th major championship. Hockey playoffs continue. I was disappointed to see Detroit lose their series. 

Eric found out that the new contractor has filled the position with an internal candidate, so that is off the table. He continues to explore other opportunities including work with some clients he is currently supporting on a fee-for-service basis. Haaken and Liam are getting home from school 15 minutes earlier due to the teacher job action. Erica rode her new bike over to Chilliwack to visit cousins Lisa and Kara and their respective families. It was a bit tense riding through Vancouver during rush hour, but the trip is going well. 

Spider Man at rest! 

Erin and Kristian enjoyed a good week. Kristian was on school holidays, and enjoyed some special activities as a result. Here he is with his Spidey face paint! 

Trav, Joanna and crew had a pretty usual week until today. Trav & Joanna were at the Elks hockey windup and while there his car was keyed up badly. We hope that's not too expensive or time-consuming to get fixed. It's a shame anyway. 

And that's about enough for this week. 

He is risen!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown! Spring has continued to be elusive as we've had some April showers of white, fluffy rain! School bus driving continues to go well, and I'm on a bit of break as the schools were closed yesterday and again on Monday. The markets have recovered a bit, and I managed to make my quota for a change. Wendy and I have remained busy on the renovations. We have the gas lines in now, and expect to get the range installed, and both fireplaces upgraded in the next week. I've begun framing and drywalling in the basement. It seems a bit overwhelming, but we want to get an in-law suite ready by the summer. The sports week began with the Masters, the first big event of the new golf season. I was happy to see Bubba Watson win, although I was cheering for Jordan Spieth to break through. This week has marked the final major and the end of the curling season. It has been bitter-sweet for me as my longtime favourite, Kevin Martin, has announced his retirement after the event, but he's still curling well, and has advanced to the final tomorrow against Olympic gold medalist Brad Jacobs. So, I'll be cheering for him to go out with his 18th major! Hockey has moved into the first round of the playoffs, and I've been following several teams. 

Haaken is in a group project, working on a play for his drama class. He plays the role of George, a computer worker. Liam had a boring week including a dental appointment. With Eric's employment and benefit plan coming to an end, they're trying to get as much of the dental work and braces completed and billed before April 30th. Eric had two interviews this week. One is just the first stage in a lengthy process, but it's for an interesting job with a focus on counselling. It's also in Saskatchewan! The other was for a position requiring travel to Port Alberni and Campbell River. Erica is into yoga these days. She has been reminded that, as a child, she used to do yoga with her mother. The Mazda 626 seems to be completely out of commission. At 12 years and 300,000 clicks, it has served well, but it seems to be failing electrically, and it doesn't appear to be worth investing in further repairs. In the meantime, they're enjoying the new motorcycles as an alternative transportation, and their location makes it a favoured choice! The family is heading down to Victoria to spend the Easter weekend with the Bailey relatives there. 

Erin has been engaging her domestic side this week and enjoying the cooking aspects. Kristian is looking forward to the Easter bunny's arrival! He also has next week off school. 

Trav, Joanna, Gemma and Andrew joined us for Good Friday supper, and we've engaged them for Easter Monday supper as well! It's nice to have them close by. We're trying to get the basement ready for them so they can be even closer! 

And that's about enough for one week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been spring-like and the snow has been disappearing. Lawns have reappeared around the neighbourhood, and I've been out swinging my golf clubs! We continue to work on downstairs renovations; old structures have been cleared away, and the building materials have been purchased and hauled downstairs. Investors seem to have fallen in line with the idea of a "correction". The markets have been down this week, and all US indexes are in the red year-to-date. Sigh! My portfolio has not been immune, so, I've endured significant losses this week and am well short of my quota once again. Two of my holdings have stopped out, and another is close. Kevin Koe lost the bronze medal game to Switzerland, so we didn't even get a medal in world curling. UConn rewarded my selection with a victory in NCAA men's basketball; that was good to see. Baseball season has begun, and the Blue Jays are providing their usual range of heartache and enjoyment. The hockey season is ending, so, Stanley Cup playoffs are set to begin in the coming week. Unfortunately, only one Canadian team has qualified, but there are several teams in there that play a style of hockey I admire, so I'll be cheering for them to do well. 

It's been a quiet week for the Baileys in Parksville. Liam and Haaken have begun a cartooning class, and enjoyed the first session. Eric has applied for a number of jobs, including his own! He has been receiving recommendations from some of his contacts which speaks to the quality of work he has been doing. Hopefully something will develop soon from this in the form of an as-good-as or even better job than the one he's been holding. Erica has developed a liking for Smoothies, so she's garage sale-ing for a Magic Bullet to replace her failing blender! 

Erin and Kristian are doing fine in Regina. Erin has signed up Kristian for professional coaching in golf this summer, so I'm hoping he will be able to help me! Otherwise, school and work are progressing pretty much as usual. 

Travis & Joanna are hosting Joanna's dad this weekend. Their work and the regular routines of school for Gemma and Andrew continue to occupy their days. Trav is preparing for his major annually recurring task—the Stanley Cup playoffs! 

And that's about it for this week. 

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been in a holding mode, so we haven't made much progress on snow removal until today at 10°. We're expecting double digits with sunshine all next week; that should clear a lot of it away! The markets have been mixed with good advances early in the week before a sell-off on Friday! I was blessed with a great gain, and am very thankful for that as I'm almost back to quota. There are a lot of naysayers out there calling for a crash or at least a correction. I don't know why they feel things are so overheated when I note that DOW is flat three months into the year; even S&P500 is only up 2.2% YTD. Wendy and I continue with renovations downstairs. I've torn out some structures and am rebuilding others. We have a plan for the new bedroom. The fireplace inserts are ordered; we'll have him install a line for the gas range at the same time. I hope we haven't taken on more work than we can accomplish before summer! World Men's curling has been running all week, and I've been busy watching that! Koe ended the round robin in second place, but lost a tough one, 3-2, to Norway in the page playoff, and then lost to Sweden in the semi-final. So, he'll be playing for the bronze tomorrow against Switzerland—go Canada, go! NCAA college basketball is in the final weekend of March Madness. My team is long gone, but I'm cheering for UConn to win it all. The NHL season is grinding to a close, so it will soon be time to start paying attention to results there! 

The boys are back at school. Haaken is glad to be back, especially for his drama class. Liam, not so much, but is happily reconnecting with friends. Liam experienced paint ball for a first time this week at a friend's birthday party—now to get the paint out of his jacket! 

Erica tried yoga this week, but found it surprisingly painful! She was delighted with the gift of a new guitar from Eric for her birthday! 

Eric received disappointing news as his employer lost the bid for the contract that included his job. Now, there'll be a process of developing the service program for these high needs children, employing the new workers, and getting the program running again—is this a system?! We hope Eric may be the one employed by the new service provider. 

Erin and Kristian seem to have worked through their health woes and are fully engaged in school and work once again. This was report card/parent-teacher interviews week for Kristian, and it seems to have been a useful exercise. Kristian struggles with his hearing impairment, but is making good progress. Erin is delighted with the arrival of baseball season, and is keeping track of her beloved Blue Jays. 

Trav & Joanna continue to be busy with work. I see Gemma and Andrew nearly every day as they leave school to catch their school bus. Trav's hockey team lost out in the league final series. Good season, Coach Travis and the Elks82s! Joanna's mom was visiting last weekend from southern Ontario; we enjoyed a supper with the entire crew. 

And that's about enough for this week.