Xmas 2008
A text version for all of you mobile device scrollers out there:
Wow. I’ve put this off until the last minute as usual and now the pressure is on to make the last twelve months sound exciting. Fortunately, this was another soap opera year with the usual drama, so with a little luck I can meet the growing expectations of my loyal Xmas letter fans out there.
January found the family bringing in the New Year snuggly relaxing in a yurt during a hellacious hail storm at the same spot Lewis and Clark wintered on the WA coast a couple hundred years ago. By mid-month I was making 13 new friends courtesy of the King Country court system, when I came up for jury duty and for the first time actually got picked. It was a criminal case that had it all from drugs, firearms, prostitution, and many adult themes that don’t belong in a Christmas card.
I found out the Safeco ‘jury leave of absence’ policy was poorly written, as my three day judicial ‘vacation’ turn into a SEVEN week ordeal (all cif it paid). After convicting half the defendants and letting the other half go to offend another day, we where told that this two-month tour of citizen duty was a RE-trial. We had deliberated in six hours what TWO previous juries had spent weeks arguing about and still came up hung. That’s what you get for picking people who can make a decision. Since the trial was over on a Thursday, I decided to play hooky from work Friday and finish up some ceiling painting in the house. That ended early as I took a screaming fall off the extension ladder. From the marks my shoes left on the wall my feet were over ten feet above the hardwood floor, which I got a good look at when I rolled off the mangled pile of aluminum which beat me down there and kindly landed on its edge. As the air which had been donkey-kicked out of my chest came back, I felt around for any lost teeth, and in the end came out with only stitches in the chin and pretty painful sprains to both wrists and an ankle. I’m guessing whatever is beyond this life wasn’t quite ready for me just yet.
But enough about me. Work has been interesting, for both myself and Nancy, as Safeco was acquired by the Liberty Mutual Group this fall. The Safeco name is staying, but a lot of changes in strategic direction, organization, and culture are underway as we shift from a corporation to really big mutual company (which, ironically, at times acts like a poorly run corporation. Go figure.). My worker bee status in IT seems to have secured a spot (for the time being) going forward.
Especially since IT at Liberty is reminiscent of the late 80’s (except for the big hair). Nancy is up a little too far in the management food chain and won’t know her fate until the New Year. But as long as one of us keeps cashing a paycheck I’ll be happy. I just hate changing my work email address after fifteen years – its really going to mess up all of the online accounts I have established from shopping during ‘core’ hours.
Jae is in the 6th grade and will be moving up to Junior High next year. She swapped the clarinet for the saxophone, is a voracious reader, and enjoys her classes (still in high cap and still challenging). Soccer still takes up an exponential amount of time, although volleyball is coming in as a strong second. She also entered the world of orthodontia this fall. The teeth that fall out are all gone, so instead of slipping quarters under the pillow I’m writing checks for the next two years to a guy who puts metal on teeth and makes entirely too much money. If I had put my hands in other people’s mouths when I was growing up instead of automobile hood, who knows where I’d be now (telephone pole poster, back of a milk carton, medium security prison).
Mitch has taken his stubbornness to the 1st grade with him. We had to work out a little behavior management plan, since rampant non-conformity would bring the public education system to its knees in no time. Soccer is taking some of the spite out of him, but he maintains a love for Lego’s and anything he can build (or destroy) with his hands. Within all of the noise and confusion that comes with growing up, he still likes a good book, video games, believes in the Easter bunny, and has a boyish smile that can be infectious when he chooses to share it. He also has the ability to break just about anything, and keeps my workbench very full of things to fix.
We put our chocolate lab Kintla down this summer. Over the last year her health and control of bodily functions drastically diminished, and a hard decision had to be made. She ran hundreds of miles along my side over the last fourteen years, and was a great family dog thru two tail-pulling and ear-tugging toddlers. I held her as she faded away because it was the least I owed her; she leaves a void our three year old lab Cassie may someday fill.
It was a big year for the house stuff; Nancy finally got her kitchen done. Just a couple years left on the mortgage, local schools are great, the neighbors have finally learned to tolerate me, and I even planted a tiny red oak in the front yard. If that doesn’t say commitment, nothing does. The remodel was from the studs up; we lined up most of the subs ourselves and had a general contractor for the bulk of the demo/install stuff. I’m still working from home, so pretty much did the follow
Summer was crazy, as usual. It started off in June with a 30 mile bike ride around Lake Quinault in the rain forests of Olympic National Park. It was sponsored by a cancer support non profit, leaving Jae with two skinned knees, me with a sore butt, and the family with a wonderful afghan hand stitched by the elderly volunteers with yarns of love.
KFC (Kelso Family Campout) was another great outing with weather to match (compared to the previous rain & mud fest). This year kids out-numbered adults, with lots of time at the swimming hole and floating the river. Some of the dads even found a little time to sneak off and do a little target shooting. I recently found out how easy it is to get a collectors Federal firearms license, and have an appreciation for the simplicity of design and great stock wood in surplus military rifles. Of course, getting use to how some can kick like a blind angry mule is an acquired taste. But I love a country where you can buy a gun with a built-in bayonet and grenade launcher and have it delivered right to your door with just a signature (of anyone over 18, of course).
The crown gem of the summer season was a week long trip thru central Oregon to Crater Lake National Park. I’ve been wanting to start these long family trips, but anything with a NP take a solid year of planning. We did a combination of camping in the high desert of Oregon and staying at the historic Crater Lake lodge on the lake. The kids had a great time. We watched the ant lions feast at the LaPine State Park, touched the biggest ponderosa in the state (OR), trekked thru the pumice desert, hiked the obsidian fields, wondered thru cold and dark lava tubes, and walked thru wildflower meadows. At the High Desert Museum we saw a replica of a 1915 lumber mill in full swing with open drive belts and unguarded blades everywhere (cool). At Crater Lake we climbed the highest peak in the park, explored fire lookouts, and even got to drive (with ranger escort) a part of the annual Crater Lake Marathon around the lake in the truck (talk about sneers from the runners). We couldn’t visit Wizard Island (high winds ripped off the boat dock this summer), but we did take the steep trail down to the shore where we dipped in the 55F water and I tormented pesky golden mantels with super soaker water guns. Good times. Next year will be Glacier Park – let me know if there is any interest in hitching your wagon to our caravan August of 2009.
Crater was followed up by a week camping up on Orcas in the San Juan Islands. Family friends invited us to join them in boating, fishing, big campfires, and spectacular sunsets. Even summer time can be spotty that far north, but the weather window we hit was just incredible. The days were long and warm, while lazy wafting of the tide was enough to leave anyone peaceful and content. And you really can catch crabs with hot dogs in the shallows off the end of a dock.
And the season ended at the annual pool party and wine tasting trip in the Tri-Cities. A day of kids splashing around until they started growing gills followed by a day tasting at the many local wineries in Washington’s internationally recognized wine region (where we also grow beer hops for 80% of the world). I wore my new kilt for the outing, and found that people are not as open minded as they say they are. But I’ll save that story for another time, as I think this is more than enough for one year and this small print has surely made for tired eyes.
Merry Christmas and seasons greetings, wishing the best to you and yours.
