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Employment Evolution

At the New Year, people usually reflect on the past year. I’ll follow that well-trodden road with an emphasis on my employment situation, because this year and next year are shaping up to look so different as to be unrecognizable to one another.

This year saw me reach a tipping point with my Client Service Administrator (CSA) job at Kaizen Financial Advisors, a job I haven’t mentioned much due to compliance and confidentiality concerns. Remember that spectacular sunrise picture I’ve posted more than once? Continue Reading >>

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Christmas Giving – to Charity Results

Last month I mentioned that we were going to donate to charity rather than buy lots of Christmas gifts to people. This really just expands on a tradition in my family, where we’ve had a Christmas donation component for many years. The big difference was that this year, we didn’t buy anything for adults in the family. I wanted to share how it went.

The overall idea was wonderful. I know that I, personally, felt far less stressed out than usual at this time of year. With being super sick for part of that time, it was especially helpful not to be responsible for obtaining gifts for everyone. It also felt just way more fun and easy to hang out with our families, just appreciating each other and enjoying Benji’s excitement, with no stuff to get in the way. Continue Reading >>

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Pike Place Market 2016

Yesterday we did our annual Ferguson family Christmas trip to Pike Place Market to obtain fish, crab, and sausages for our Christmas seafood dinner. This year, we took a bus from South Kirkland and met the Fergusons at the Sheraton, where we always see the truly astonishing gingerbread houses. This year, there was a Hogwarts castle with moving staircases and a Number 12 Grimmold Place that slid open and closed. Benji didn’t really appreciate it (how could he?), but he did like recognizing the candy. Continue Reading >>

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Merry Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas to you all!
Christmas 2016

We can’t believe it’s the end of another year!
Joe-Katie-Mare Silly

I remain most grateful for the blessing of our immediate families, living so nearby and getting to take such an active part in our lives. I also am thankful for the opportunity to continue building meaningful friendships and to keep learning and growing as a wife, parent, friend, and person. Nothing’s perfect, but I’m thankful for what we have.

AND I am grateful for the opportunity to start riding my bike again, even if it was quite painful and slow. I’m not worrying as much about the usual metrics as figuring out a plan to build back up to where I was — and hopefully surpass it!

I just felt so happy out there, and when I got home — and then got to do it again today! I rode about 7500 miles this last year, with a goal of 8,000 miles; I got close, and I think I could’ve made it, had bacteria not intervened. But hey, there’s always next year, with whatever it holds. Continue Reading >>

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Feeling Better

My blog posting tapered off this week because after about Monday, it seemed like the antibiotics really kicked in and I started feeling better. I still haven’t ridden my bike (I missed at least two days it was dry and above freezing — darn it!), but I’m hoping to try it on Saturday and see how much I’ve lost.

Fortunately or unfortunately, this recovery has coincided with my last full week at work, in which I’ve been trying hard to wrap things up as much as possible. I also spent a good amount of time documenting specific job duties and how to do them, hopefully to help the next person in my position. Continue Reading >>

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How Lumpy the Dragon Saved Christmas

As you remember from our first story, Lumpy the dragon and the boy became good friends after they saved the forest and village from a giant. This is a new story, about how Lumpy the Dragon saved Christmas in the boy’s village.

As summer turned to fall, and fall turned to winter, Lumpy the dragon got skinnier. Unlike most dragons, he subsisted primarily on nuts and berries, as well as fish and honey. Now, an adult dragon like Lumpy outweighs a grizzly bear several thousand pounds, even if they have the same diet. As everyone knows, bears have to spend most of their time foraging for food — and they sleep most of the winter. Lumpy did not hibernate, but he did get very hungry by the time spring came around, with its abundance of fresh berries and shoots. Continue Reading >>

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Grateful for My Immune System

Mountain Sketch 2
I often come back to mountains and sunrises — around here, mountains almost always frame the rising sun. New days, new hopes, new beginnings; grace, hope, renewal; all these come together when I see mountains lit afresh by the sun. Wintertime can bring some of the most staggeringly beautiful days, with snow in the mountains and skies washed clean.

Okay, so my skills as a digital artist don’t exactly reflect the glory I’m describing. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on making it my day job… But it does mean I’m able to stay vertical and semi-thinking long enough to do something. Which is progress! Also probably signs of improvement are my noticing and starting to feel alarmed about the fact that suddenly we’re barely a week from Christmas, and I have a ton left to do. I guess I had planned on doing it the last couple weeks, when instead I just subsisted. Continue Reading >>