A long time ago, during the days of my newsletter, I used to write a few paragraphs here and there about what was going on in my personal life and those of my wife Susan and our three kids. It became very popular and always generated lots of e-mail, especially from folks who knew members of our family personally. With the change over to a blog format, it didn't work as well.
So, I decided to write the occasional personal blog in addition to my tech blog, usually on the same day as a tech blog so as to not cheat my tech readers. Today, as I promised a few days ago, is the day I write that second blog about what is going on in our lives. So, here goes.
First, I am going to mostly exclude me and save that one for another day as a lot is going on in my life. As for Susan, she is still working away at Family Services of Grant County. Because of federal budget cuts on the Head Start Program, she now only works 32 hours a week, in a four-day week. She would like to work more as the loss of income hurts a bit, but she is torn as she really enjoys being off three days a week. Right now, she is right in the middle of putting together a three-day retreat program for women at her church, which will occur in the next weekend.
We finished our back yard project during the summer (thanks to Lynn Sanders for all her hard work) and if you are interested, you can see some of the pictures on my website. Bear in mind that these pictures are a couple of months old now and many new plants and ground covers have been added.
She was able to travel with me for a few art shows this summer including Coeur d'Alene, Richland, and a couple of shows in Leavenworth. Her help is always greatly appreciated. As I think I mentioned a few months ago, we were able to take a trip in early May to Yosemite for four days before the start of the art show season. There, we met up with my brother David and three of his friends from San Francisco and Oakland (our friends, too). We spent four nights together in a cabin up in the Wawona area and spent our days in Yosemite Valley. It was spectacular as the waterfalls were filled to overflow. There are also a few pictures of our time together on my website, although these are mostly just family pictures. The spectacular pictures of Yosemite are in process now and will be put on my regular website when I get a chance.
As for our kids, there are a lot of changes since we last talked. Starting with our youngest, Aimee, she has made some major changes. I think the last time we talked, Aimee was working as a full time substitute teacher in the choral department, replacing her mentor Chris Youngberg, who retired. The plan was that Aimee would then be in a good position to be hired as the full time choral teacher. Well, that did not happen. To everyone's surprise, another person was hired because the school wanted to "go in a different direction" for the choral program.
We were all shocked and Aimee was very sad because she and Brian loved living here in Ephrata and being close to her family. But, somehow I had a premonition that this was going to be a good thing for Aimee. And, it turns out, I was right.
In almost no time at all (or so it seems), she was hired to be the choral director at an academic high school in Pocatello, Idaho, so they moved there in August. The school wanted someone to build up their program, as opposed to Ephrata who wanted to cut back. And she has risen to the challenge. Already, students from the non-Academic high schools are applying to be part of Aimee's program (you can do this in Idaho) and she has been asked to be a part of the city's wonderful symphony organization. Her first review by her principal was excellent, so she is really blossoming in this new environment.
Meanwhile, her husband Brian is still working as the sound technician for the music group m-Pact. Their bookings have really started to increase as has their income so Brian is working more often for more money, although his work takes him away from Pocatello, which is difficult for both the kids. Lately he has been working in the US, but will head for Europe in December.
As for our daughter Kristen, she moved in late August from Seattle to Chicago (What?). She wanted to give her relationship with her boyfriend Kevin the best possible chance to mature and grow. She and Kevin don't live together, but she got a nice apartment in the same building as Kevin in Chicago's South Side. She is not working yet as of this writing. According to her latest reports, she is not crazy about Chicago and doesn't understand how it could be so cold and windy in October. We reminded her about Chicago's nickname, "The Windy City."
No word yet about whether or not her relationship with Kevin is going to work out. They just returned from spending some time with his family in Georgia and she enjoyed seeing the southern states.
The good news for Kristen is that she does have family close by. Her Uncle Don and his wife Noreen moved from Iowa to a suburb of Chicago several months ago. And her Uncle Kent is only a few hours away in Decorah, Iowa.
Lots of changes going on in our son Eric's life. First, he and his wife Kim amicably parted ways in the summer. It just wasn't working and Eric really wanted to leave the cold environs of Bellingham. He is a warm weather person. Eric, Susan and I are all still good friends with Kim and communicate with her on a regular basis.
Eric moved to the Tacoma area and went full time with the National Guard. To his surprise, he was recommended for promotion. Then he was really surprised when got it and was made a sergeant in the medical corp. He spent much of the summer in Yakima, both for his own training, then on loan to other units for his medical abilities. Then, to our surprise, he volunteered for the border mission in Arizona. He spent a month down there until the mission ended.
But, he was asked by his colonel to put together the medical operations for a new mission to Arizona, which he did after he came back. We got to spend a weekend together in Ephrata and Leavenworth before he had to go back to Tacoma to help organize the new mission. After two weeks of preparations, he and his units headed back to Yuma, which is where he is today.
He has had many interesting stories to tell about this mission, which we can only shake our head at. One thing he told us was that the troops are not allowed to patrol in vehicles, because of a treaty with Mexico. So they sit in their parked vehicles at the border (24 hours on, then 24 hours off), and notify the Border Patrol when they see illegal aliens crossing into America. The Patrol then shows up to nab the poor folks crossing into America looking for a new life. They must be doing a good job as illegal immigration is down 85% since the Guard showed up.
Eric's job is to drive from unit-to-unit making sure their supplies and medical needs are up to speed. Because he is in a moving vehicle, he is not carrying his weapon, as that would be considered patrolling. What a world we live in. But, we are all proud of Eric and what he is doing with his life. Being in the Army is probably the best thing that could have happened for him.
So that's what going on with us. I will write another blog soon about what I have been doing and the major changes going on in my life as an artist and photographer. Thanks for reading.
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