Catching up

Hello friends~
I am running a little behind lately.  I started off with really good intentions for this school quarter...but I have managed to have more on my plate than I anticipated.  I have a PowerPoint project due in 4 weeks and it has to be done on something business related  while completing a large list of requirements that I will be graded on, i.e. embedding a hyperlink, changing a gradient fill, adding a chart or graph...etc.... ugh!  I struggled with this until, with the help of Mark and two of my classmates, I have come up with creating it on packing for business travel.  Something I have/had a lot of experience with in my former work life.  Combined with this quarter's business math, keyboarding,  English, PowerPoint and outlook classes...it's been crazy.  Adding to that, I have enrolled in my gym's 6 week Biggest Loser Challenge.  Logging the food, getting in 5 workouts a week, and going to school....crazy!

Some catching up from January....there was some wacky weather that came thru the Pacific Northwest last month.  And that resulted in us getting outta Dodge before the major part hit and heading over to the Bitterroot Valley to check up on M's folks.  Because of M's schedule, we didn't get a chance to get over there for Turkey wknd or Christmas, so we were due.  And it turned out to be a blessing were went over when we did, so that we could accompany EC Roberts to the appointment with the heart surgeon the next day.  Based on the angiogram (sp?) he had 3-possible 4 blocked arteries.  The surgeon wanted to get him on the schedule sooner rather than later.  He ended up scheduling him for 2 weeks out (Feb 1).  So after getting some things in order back there and rallying the troops to line up some back-up for E during his recovery time, we came back home and made plans for M to fly back there for the surgery.  While we were out of town we had Mandy at the house dog sitting the girls when the power went out for a couple of days.  It was Friday when I got the call that she was at a coffee shop charging up her phone, power was still out and she didn't know what to do and didn't have word on an ETA for it to come back.  So I made the decision to have her take the girls to the kennel for the weekend so she could at least get back to her warm apartment. 

Fast forward to Jan 31 and we found out that E developed an UTI and surgery had to be postponed.  M made the trip anyway, and came back next day and jumped right back into work.  Only to receive a call Friday before last, for a special request for him to come up to AK to work.  They needed him to do a little damage control.  He packed a bag in a mad rush, in the dark, because the power went out that afternoon for a couple of hours.  The good news was that it came back on that night so he could at least take a shower before leaving the next morning.

M was in Dutch for a week, came home for 36 hours and flew back over to the Bitterroot for the rescheduled surgery, yesterday, 2/14.  How ironic huh?, heart surgery on Valentine's Day?  =)  Good news all around, surgery went well, and he was up to receiving visitors today.  M is on his way back tonight and I am on my way to the gym to get a cardio work-out in before I have to pick him up. 

Never a dull moment in the Valley of Maples.

Happy New Year from Stella, Jenette, Maggie & Mark!

What a year 2011 has been… and if you haven’t visited the blog before, here is a little re-cap of some highlights of our year….or, if you have the time, you are more than welcome to scroll thru the previous posts.

M:

He is still employed with NC Power Systems here in Tukwila and has been going non-stop with work.  The only real time-off he has been able to take was a week in June for a rugby trip to Belgium with the Valley Kangaroo boys and a few days in October for us to do some fishing with his sisters and their husbands over in Forks, WA.  That was a ton of fun and I hope we can make it an annual excursion.   

The big news on his end is he applied for and was accepted for a position in Dutch Harbor, AK that will start in Feb of 2012.  This is a possibility that he has talked about and hoped for, for a long time.  I remember him talking about it when we started dating.  Have no fear; this change does not entail us having to move up to Alaska (sorry Chevonne).  Instead, he will be on a 30 day on – 30 day off rotation.  We are super excited that this opportunity presented itself so that we might be able to actually plan things now, like making it to more Griz games and a few more fishing weekends over in Forks.

J:

I was able to visit the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial in January while I was there on a week of work assignments.  That was a very powerful and moving experience for me and I am so grateful I was given that opportunity.  Next up, I cashed in some air miles and was able to take a friend to Texas for a few days in celebration of her 40^th birthday in February.  It was a fantastic trip and I can’t wait to do it again.  

I was kept busy from there with lots of work trips to Montana and Oregon and locally here until June 6^th when I was let go from my job.  I must say, it has been a BLESSING!  I submitted, and was approved, for Commissioner Approved Training so that I could attend school for worker-retraining.  I am enrolled at Renton Technical College for the five quarter Executive Assistant Program.  So with fingers crossed, I should be done by this time next year with an AAS degree in hand.  I am loving school, and my instructors are fantastic.  I have already learned so much and am very excited for what lies ahead. 

M & J: 

We turned the big 4-Oh! this summer.  So we celebrated it with a big ol’ birthday BBQ at our house over 4^th of July weekend.  It was a great day spent with lots of friends and family, complete with Elden, Judy, Laurie and Ed making the trip from MT and Dennie, Tommy, Shelley and John made the trip up from OR.  It was the first time all four siblings had been together since 2008.  I was the lucky recipient of a Memory Quilt, put together by my hockey girlfriends with major assistance from Celeste and Mark.  Papa Pete was even commissioned to do a square.  It is beautiful and will be treasured for a long time.   

The four-legged kids are all doing well.  Stella will be turning 4 in a couple of days.  She is still my sensitive child, meaning when I am scolding Maggie and even raise my voice, Stella will slink off to her crate.  Maggie turns 5 in April and is our 65lbs lap dog.  She behaves like a two year old sometimes when I see the red droopy eyes from chasing things all day but still wants to follow me around the house like a shadow.  “Can’t miss anything.  must. stay. awake.”  There wasn’t any hunting action for her this last year, but we are hoping to change that this year.  Sassy-pants is still around (turning 9 in August), but keeping to herself whenever the girls are in the house.  There is still no love between them. 

The house is still standing and a mole has taken up residence in the back yard.  Grrr……  We are looking forward to Mark’s 30 days off so that we can complete a couple home projects and he can have some time to work on the Bronco.   

That’s about it in a nutshell for us.  We hope this finds you all doing well and wish you happiness and good health in 2012.