2014 Christmas Letter

As I sit here still eating Thanksgiving leftovers and looking at a snow covered yard, it’s time to recap the year and get Christmas cards in the mail. To save you time I think we’ll give a “Top 10” list. For further details you can read on after the list.

The year in summary:

10. 10 years that Lynn has been breast cancer free!

9. Tahoe for Frank’s 75^th birthday (bottom left picture on card)

8. Mariners, Huskies, Eagles and Seahawks games

7. Singing, singing, singing

6. Lots of boat time

5. Seahawks Super Bowl champions (top left picture on card)

4. An engagement (Jess and Kyle)

3. A wedding (dad & Lil – bottom right picture on card)

2. Lost job - Microsoft

1. New job – King County

That’s the summarized version. Now for a quick month by month of the year that was.

January: We started the year as we have for a while now visiting with Kevin and Heather in Lebanon, Oregon. The trip never lasts long enough but is a great tradition. Of course, now that we have a guest room (true empty nesters) and Dave is the only one of the foursome still working, we may have to change this year and have our celebration in Edmonds. We’ll still have a great time wherever we hang out. And in January we watched the Hawks win their playoff games to have the opportunity to face the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII. This was also the beginning of Lynn’s new duties with Rotary as an assistant district governor responsible for helping five clubs locally (Ballard, Northshore, Edmonds Daybreakers - breakfast, Edmonds - lunch and Seattle Metropolitan).

February: Seattle 43, Denver 8. Enough said. In other February happenings, Lynn sang a thirty minute set of jazz standards at a Seattle jazz club, Tula’s, with a live combo after lessons with Greta Matassa. And she began another retirement activity becoming the director for the 2014 North City Jazz Walk. Work began with meetings, planning, web site updates and other logistics.

March: As a semi-healthy activity, we (along with Kimberly) participated in the “Hot Chocolate 5K” (top right picture on card). Due to Dave’s lousy knees we walked it together (at an acceptable fast pace) and were rewarded at the finish line with hot chocolate (obviously) and other healthy stuff to dip in chocolate like bananas, marshmallows, pretzels and a rice krispy treat. This was also the month where Lynn and Kim went to Jess and Kyle’s place to help spread gravel and topsoil in the pouring rain in order to get sod in place for Molly and Lucy to have a place to wander. Dave was not able to participate as he was at work. But not for long.

April: As of midnight, April 3^rd, 2014, my 10+ years of employment came to an abrupt end. Crazy part was, I felt better driving home after the meeting then I have for the last couple of years. And so, after taking the weekend to clear my head it was on to a daily routine of searching the job boards, turning in applications and recording my activities in my unemployment log. And that also triggered filing my State of Alaska retirement to have benefits in place.

May: That meant that as of May 1^st, 2014, we were both officially retired. While Lynn’s retirement provided actual money to live on, Dave’s retirement provided medical, dental vision and prescription benefits. So the job search continued. But we also had time to spend several days with Frank and Esther for some golf and quality distraction. And as the weather turned beautiful early we took numerous trips to the boat. And we sang with Buck and Elizabeth at the Kitsap Harbor Festival (where it poured rain all day).

June: In addition to searching for work, Lynn decided it was time for us both to get healthier. So we started the Shoreline 3 million stair challenge. Three times a week we headed off to Saltwater Park to climb the 188 stairs as many times as we could. Abby loved it, Dave hated it. But this was also the month that included multiple rounds of interviews for an IT job with King County. And we sang at the Lake Forest Park Secret Gardens event; visited with our friends Joe and Chris at their cabin on Lake Cavanaugh and celebrated Lynn’s good friend Mary Rennie’s retirement in Yakima. Oh yeah, and more time on the boat.

July: Success! A job offer from King County. After 23 years in the private sector, I returned to work for the government. But before starting back to work, we sang with Buck and Elizabeth in Lacey; went to a Mariners game (which they won); spent several days on the boat with Buck, Elizabeth and Casper (Abby had a friend); spent a week on the boat with Kevin and Heather; spent time on the boat with the kids and went to a concert at Ste Michelle with our friends Al and Tara. And while we were at the concert, Dave received a text from his dad that he was officially engaged.

August: Having a job felt very good but we still found time for more boat trips (and more crabs – our best year on record). This included a special weekend meeting up with Joe and Chris in Blind Bay with our boats (and eating more crab). And we sang with Buck and Elizabeth at the Taste of Edmonds (an annual tradition) as well as at the Evergreen State Fair (another annual tradition). Plus all of Lynn’s work throughout the year led to a very successful 2014 North City Jazz Walk. Planning is already underway for next year as she will continue as director. And most importantly, August 31^st marked the 10 year anniversary of Lynn’s win over breast cancer. But August had one more exciting piece of news. We got a call on August 24^th from Orcas Island where Kyle had just proposed to Jessica. The wedding will be sometime in 2015 (we’ll leave those announcements for them to make).

September: More boating, more crabs, more friends (Kevin and Heather, Susie and Robert, Tamra and Dee and dad). And a chance for another EWU vs UW football matchup. The game went back and forth but eventually the Huskies won. Much to the chagrin of one very faithful Eagle fan (Timothy) who cheered his best. We also had a great visit from Dave’s cousins Tom and Deanna as they ended their 29 year sojourn in Anchorage, Alaska and moved to Circle, Montana. We now know you can fit a 32’ motorhome in our driveway. And thanks to a birthday gift from Erin, Lynn started kickboxing in September. Look out world, she’s in fighting shape already.

October: Off to Harstine Island for a quick overnight with Frank and Esther and then we sang at Oysterfest with Buck and Elizabeth. And off to Victoria to deliver a wedding dress to dad’s fiancé, Lillian. And off to Anacortes for an overnight with Dave and Terri (Dave’s uncle and aunt) and to prepare the boat for winter. And off to Tahoe with Frank and John (Lynn’s brothers) and their wives (Esther and Linda) to celebrate Frank’s 75^th birthday.

November: First day of November and dad is no longer a single man. We had a lovely wedding and reception at the Olympic View Golf Club. And staying in the wedding mode, Lynn had the pleasure of joining Jessica and her bridesmaids (and maid of honor, Erin) for wedding dress shopping. After that it was off to Mexico for Lynn and Erin for the week before Thanksgiving. A good time of year to leave Seattle for some 80+ degree weather. Then back home for all the kids joining us for Thanksgiving dinner. And an awesome Apple Cup Husky victory!

December: Our plans include our annual Christmas event/show with Frank and Esther, our annual visit to the Lights of Christmas (and singing with Buck and Elizabeth) and cheering the Hawks on to victory against the San Francisco forty-whiners on December 14^th. There will be no Microsoft holiday party this year (we had eleven straight) but we will have the family here for Christmas Day (including dad and Lillian). Then it’s time for New Years and 2015 planning.

2015: Although things can always change, we expect to be reporting in next year’s letter about a trip to Europe (postponed from this year thanks to the changing job scenario) and another wedding (Jess and Kyle).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our house to yours!

Lynn and Dave