A few photos of the house... and the truck

150 boxes later

Finally our container was "released" from customs at the port - and our furniture and belongings were trucked to our new home. The road to our house is pretty rough (many potholes and uneven cement) and our driveway is incredibly steep. Full marks to our moving company - not only did they get everything safely from Vancouver - down to St. Thomas - but the truck drivers managed some tricky terrain and inclines to the house!

Four men, two trucks and 150 boxes later - we had a house. Actually - we had a toy store with some furniture. Needless to say, there was a lot of excitement. Train sets, cars, electronics. What to play with first? Julian and Max were also very excited.

Last weekend was spent unpacking and organizing and now we have a place that feels like home.

I am still uncertain as to what we packed two feather duvets and a quilt - but was relieved that neither a space heater nor ski gear got mixed up in our loads. While we clearly over-packed - everything seems to have a home.

This past week at work has been busy - but short. Carnival festivities in St. Thomas began last week but the big events have been running from Wednesday through Sunday. What this actually means is that there is another unofficial holiday when no one works. As of Wenesday lunch - everyone disappears to town to sample local cuisine and warm up for events later in the evening. Julian and Max had time off school and many businesses are closed. Take for example our water delivery - no one in the office since Tuesday afternoon, so we have had to get water elsewhere...

What is Carnival? From my limited knowledge, Carnival is a celebration based on folklore, culture and religion.

There is an energy and buzz on the island. The events and parades are loud, colourful and joyous with elaborate costumes, steelband competitions, calypso music and food. It's a family affair - young and old dancing and clapping. Ancient African traditions of parading through villages in costumes and masks are important to Caribbean festival arts. The parading and circling was believed to bring good fortune, heal problems, and "chill out angry relatives who had died and passed into the next world". Feathers are a huge component of the costumes and are symbols of the human ability to rise above problems and illness - to travel to another world to be reborn and to grow spiritually.

Today was the Children's Parade - starting at 10:00 (also known as 11:00ish Caribbean time). While I know I 'll receive little to no sympathy when I say it was incredibly hot today, I've never seem the perspiration roll off Max's face as I did at the parade. We wandered along the street - had a johnny cake and beef patty - and watched steel bands, small children with batons and very colourful costumes parade by. Both Julian and Max's respective schools had floats in the parade - and we saw their teachers and other new friends from school.

After a festive morning of Caribbean celebrations, we drove over to the St. John ferry dock to drop off Julian and Mark. Mark was going to do a quick check in with a client and took Julian for the ride over and some lunch on the island. Max and I went home for other duties including a nap.

Our Canadian theme of the day happened when we purchased a new barbeque at the local Cost-U-Less. I had discovered what looked like a fairly decent bbq to replace the one we'd inherited at the house that recently met its final demise. After we transported our new purchase home and hauled the 120 lb box into the house - we discovered the bbq was in fact, fabrique en Canada. Mon dieu - Canadian products show up in the oddest spots! Speaking of which - why is maple syrup cheaper here?

trucks, ships and toys.

With two weeks of working in the Import Supply business under our belts - we are slowly transitioning from the "what do I do now?" state of shock - to stumbling though a few decisions and learning about the business.

One of the first orders of business related to the lifeline of daily service calls. The fleet of Import Supply vehicles. And I use the term fleet very loosely. In fact, after closer inspection, a couple of the vehicles were sold our first week to the highest bidder for what I can only assume to be parts and scrap metal. Another two SUVs will be on the auction block as soon as we can secure some replacements. Island vehicles take a good beating from the road conditions, heat, and general vehicle apathy. We have bought another service van and an older Toyota 4Runner and are now looking for a couple of vehicles for ourselves. Buying vehicles in Florida makes a lot of sense from a financial perspective and we may end up doing this as pickings are slim - and very tired!

On the business front - we have had a busy time learning the ropes. From the accounting-side to understanding what the office people do and how the technicians operate - there is a lot to grasp. As we approach hurricane season - there is not only a big push to ensure everyone is serviced but a number of quotes for new sales. The work is steady.

Getting to know the team will take time - but they have been very friendly and helpful - especially after they received their first pay cheque from us.

We have had a spectacular stretch of warm and breezy weather. Today was the first day of rain in almost two weeks and I was wondering whether we should check the cistern level. After the amount of rain we had today - I would guess it has been nicely replenished. Tonight there is thunder and lightning and the sound of rain on the metal roof is deafening!

Julian is thriving in kindergarten - reading with confidence, improving his printing and speaking some Spanish. The teachers and resources at Antilles are great and we've been very impressed. Max is tolerating his new school and is taking a little longer to show his enthusiasm. When we tell him he is going to school in the morning, he replies "No cool. Po-po (aka pool)"

After a quick call to the shipping company today, we were informed that our shipment will arrive tomorrow and could be delivered on Wednesday. While I won't hold my breath - the sheer fact that it has been located is cause enough for celebration. I literally will be able to break out the champagne glasses. Well - hopefully not break them. It will be lovely to have something more than deck cushions to sit on in the evenings. The boy's toys will feel like new again and I probably won't even see Mark for a couple of days as he figures out how to hang the new plasma TV and set up the satellite equipment. Days and days of entertainment. Looks like I'll be doing the unpacking....

We had a very busy weekend with a dinner and auction event for Julian's school. We also had swimming lessons, sailing lessons, a beach visit and a wrap-up event for the Rolex Regatta. A lot of fun.

IS under new management

April 1, 2008

News Release

ST. THOMAS, USVI - M&C Holdings Inc, LLC announced today that its acquisition of IS is complete. IS, located in St. Thomas is the leader in generator sales and service in the US Virgin Islands. Effective April 1, IS will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of M&C Holdings.

M&C Holdings' successful acquisition closed Tuesday following six months of negotiations, planning and newly acquired grey hairs.

"We are thrilled to be finally doing business in sunny St. Thomas," said M&C's co-president, Mark van den Driessche. "It's a great little community that has a growing demand for back-up power. And of course, the sailing doesn't seem too bad either."

Founded in the early 1970's, IS has been meeting the needs of US Virgin islanders in a territory that faces an inconsistent and unreliable power supply. With frequent power outages, businesses and residents have been turning to back-up generators for reliable power alternatives to ensure they can do business and conduct daily life activities.

"It's a pretty exciting time and it will get even busier as we learn the business during this lead-up to hurrican season," said M&C Holdings co-president, Charlotte Wardell sporting new flip-flops for the occasion.

IS sells, installs and services generators throughout the US Virgin Islands. With a team of 12 employees, IS currently services over 500 generators located on business, government and residential sites.

- 30 -

Media Contact:

Julian van den Driessche

340-779-6513

rolex regatta

The east end of St. Thomas was buzzing with boats, people and extra traffic to and from the St. Thomas Yacht Club this weekend.

There were 90 boats in this regatta - and both Mark and I had the chance to work on race committee - volunteering over the three days of racing.

I went out on Friday - working on the committee boat. There were eight classes - so that meant eight race starts for two races. From J-24s to a Frers 80 and Andrews 68 - there was some amazing sailing to watch. Having said that and despite some serious distractions, there were times to record and sequence flags to hold up. There was no lounging in the cockpit drinking rum cocktails while watching the race. No sir. In fact, I made the mistake of bringing my camera out on a couple of occasions between my official duties - before realizing that this was not the time to be sneaking photos. In fact, there was a fairly stiff breeze around 20-25 knots and some large rolling waves. Our committe boat was a 47-foot catamaran - and the motion slowly turned a few people interesting shades of green.

Mark worked on a different committee boat with the IC-24s laying marks over two of the days and also had a great time, meeting a number of interesting local people.

Other than sailing and drooling over boats, we have had a busy few days preparing for our business close. Today Mark and I made our way to the laywer's office - hopefully for the last time for a while - where we signed the final papers. Tomorrow we drive to work and start our new venture as the new owners. It will be a very different week - exciting and terrifying - and there will be a lot to learn.

Max has started his school and trundles off with his little knapsack and lunch kit. He is slowly adjusting and finding sufficient transporation-themed toys to occupy his time.

Off to get some extra sleep and will report more soon.

flip flop four...finally

I write this after finally getting our internet working after no access all Easter weekend.

Not only did we get it connected - but now have wireless router allowing us to actually use the laptop in the office or any other area in the house.

To back track a little, we left Victoria after four weeks staying with our families. We arrived in St. Thomas March 19th after four flights.

Four really seems to be our number.

Despite a lengthy trip flying with connections in Vancouver, LA and Philadelphia - we not only arrived ahead of schedule - but our TEN pieces of luggage, boxes, and car seats were the first to arrive off the plane. Hindsight has me wishing I had taken a picture at the airport with all our belongings. However, the reality of the situation was an emotional departure from Victoria and an exhausting arrival in St. Thomas keeping two small children, our bags and my sanity together.

From the airport, we drove to our new home. Mark and Max were finally able to see the house they've heard so much about. It was about the same as I had left it - and fortunately no new tenants lurking in cupboards.

Our first full day in St. Thomas was very busy. After the boys managed to sleep 13 hours - we decided Julian could handle school the next day and dropped him off. Mark, Max and I went to Import Supply to meet with the current owner to discuss final closing details and next steps. There was a mountain of mail waiting for me in the office.

The rest of the day was filled with administrative tasks and shopping for supplies. After paying bills, getting groceries and trying to get our social security numbers we collapsed back at our house. The evening was spent lying on chaises longues cushions on the floor (our temporary sofa) eating pizza and drinking Caribs (and apple juice).

Arriving just before a four-day weekend meant a bit of a stall in our very long list of tasks to be accomplished before month's end - however - it did have the advantage of allowing us to catch up on some sleep and enjoy the island as a family.

It seems so much busier on the island right now. The airport was a zoo when we arrived and hotels, beaches and local attractions seem to be hopping.

We went to the yacht club for dinner on Friday night and signed Julian up for pee-wee sailing lessons. The upcoming Rolex Regatta begins next weekend so Mark and I volunteered to do some race comittee and other work for the race. A number of race boats are here now - so it's fun to see. In fact, Mark thinks that Renegade is anchored in the bay just below us right now. Binoculars are packed and in transit - so it's hard to tell.

We visited some beaches on the weekend - Max can't get enough of the "po-po" (which incidently is a Max word for: puddle, pool, ocean - any body of water...and it can also mean pillow - so one has to carefully assess the translation).

We were also encouraged to participate in the Easter Egg hunt near out home and the yacht club. A very large number of children scrambling for eggs. Julian loved the event running as fast as he could collecting eggs. Max threw a classic terrible-two tantrum and screamed and cried.

Our furniture and belongings are on a train right now. They will travel across Canada to New Brunswick and then will be shipped to St. Thomas. In the meantime, we are making do with with our few bits and pieces. It is making us realize that we don't really need a lot of our "stuff".

Busy week starting tomorrow. Julian back to school, Max starts his new toddler school and Mark and I get ready to learn more about our new venture.

I really need to get to bed earlier.

Victoria. Vancouver. visas....vamos!

Good News - we have our visas! What a lot of work and excitement for what is essentially a stamp in our passports. Mind you, a very important stamp for us.

We have spent over two weeks as a family in Victoria. And as of next Tuesday - we will be getting on a plane to St. Thomas to start this new chapter.

In the meantime - we have been busy finalizing our move. Sold a car, the boat and have organized the last of our things. Our furniture and household items are ready to ship now we have the visa and should be there in 3-4 weeks.

Enjoying our time with family and have greatly appreciated all the help and hospitality!