Lion

So far the movies we've seen this year have both been excellent.   Lion was captivating from beginning to end.  Shockingly 80,000 children go missing in India each each.

Kent and I differ on this - but I really want to visit India.  

Hidden Figures

Last year we saw 91 movies! Wasting no time, we saw our first movie of the year in Atlanta on New Year's Day. We both enjoyed it very much. 

Long Time Friends

There is certainly something to say about life long friends. Especially in this day of Facebook or other social media sites that allow you to connect with so many people.

Like many people I have a lot of acquaintances and many friends. What I have fewer of are deep friendships that span 20-30 years. They are rare and precious. I'm talking about the kind of person I'd call first to share good news, call if I were in trouble or rely on for a shoulder to cry on in a time of grief.  

This holiday season I got together with a group of friends that I used to work with while working for Providence Health System. I worked there from 1989 to 2002.

Pictured from left to right is Tracy Brown, Peggy Duquette, Chris Tunick and finally Jennifer Holmes.  While all are great friends, Jennifer is one of those rare one's that I know I can always count on. What a wonderful group of people. 

One of the first people I met when I started at Providence was Cheryl James. She and I have known each other for nearly 30 years now. Another great example of someone I know I can count on for anything. I've been blessed with great friends in my life. 

This is a picture of Cheryl and I taken yesterday at Sharkys Beach in Venice, Florida. As you can imagine in a nearly 30 year friendship, we have experienced a lot together. I'm so grateful that we've remained connected!

Here we are with our spouses - Bobby and Kent. Kent and I are headed to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl and built in the extra time to spend a few days visiting. We need to get back more often.

I love traveling to Florida at this time of year. Last year at this time Kent and I were in Key West for New Year's Eve. If the Huskies win the Peach Bowl - we will be back in just over a week. Additionally we are going on a Caribbean Cruise in Febuary 2017 and will once again find ourselves in Florida. The photo above and the ones below are a few random shots from our current trip. 

We will be in Atlanta tomorrow.  More to come following the Peach Bowl! Go Huskies!

Where the hell have you been?!

That's what I imagine absolutely no one saying about me or my blog. It's been nearly two and a half years since my last post and not one person has asked me about it - and I'm totally cool with that. My blog after all was never really about having a following as much as it was an opportunity to document my life in Seattle with my husband and our pups.

As often happens, life takes over and blogging falls to the bottom of the list. I'm going to give it another shot. In some ways based on where I'm at in my life - I've got much more interesting things to write about. I've always found writing to be theraputic - but as with going to the gym - just because it's good for you does not mean we continue the practice.

I won't spend a lot of time talking about what's been going on (and there has been a lot) - rather I will write about it over time. What I will tell you is that while many of my interests remain the same - I've got a lot more to say about - parents and parental health, sibling relationships, recovery and behavioral health, friendship, social media, social justice, personal health issues, alzheimer's, retirement, saving money and personal finance, debt and wealth management  and paying off our house. I can't help but think I'll also post about celebrity entertainer and president elect, Donald Trump - talk about a nightmare. I will not remain silent!  

I am still an active runner - next marathon is April of 2017. It's a bucket list one - Big Sur!! I still love gardening and and continue to find it rewarding and theraputic. Kent and I just celebrated our 19th anniversary as a couple.  We officially got married since my last post in a surprise wedding that will always remain a highlight of my life (deserving a a post of it'd own sometime). We still have three rescue pups that are both a complete blessing and a nightmare at the same time. Anyone with more that two  dogs will totally understand. I got a promotion at work that I'll write about - I've got an amazing job - it is both challenging and rewarding and at times feels like it's going to swallow me alive! Husky sports continue to play a big part of our life. As a matter a fact I am writing this post from a hotel in Atlanta - we arrived today to attend the Peach Bowl - #4 UW will play #1 Alabama on New Years Eve. It's been a great football season - Go Dawgs! In the meantime we will visit our friends Cheryl and Bobby in Venice, FL for a few days. Super excited for both the visit and the game! 

This is a picture of Kent and I today at Seatac Airport before we boarded our flight. 

That's enough for now. I'll end with a few holiday pictures - just because of the season.

Our beautiful 2016 tree. We went back to an artificial tree this year. They sell trees across the street from our house at the UW Urban Horticulture Center. Last year we went back to a real tree. Unfortunately, this year the sale was on the weekend that the Huskies played Colorado in the PAC 12 conference championship game and game vs tree was no contest!  

I took this picture on Christmas Day while Kent and I were out for a morning run. This is in front of the UW football  stadium. That's my Santa hat!

I fucking love fresh flowers! I spent way more than I care to admit on fresh flowers and plants over the holiday season but I do believe they make a house a home. 

I love our living room. It's so warm and welcoming. Kent and I are so blessed to have a lovely home in a great Seattle neighborhood with the best neighbors anyone could possibly wish for. We are filled with gratitude!

It's great to be back! 

More from Stockholm

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Stockholm Marathon

We made it to Stockholm and I completed the marathon! Super tired as we left Seattle on Thursday and arrived in Stockholm via Paris on Friday.


Friday was a tough day to stay awake! But we made the best of it!


Then I turned around and ran the marathon on Saturday. The marathon started at noon which was 3am at home.



We are going to spend the next three days here in Stockholm and then take the train to Copenhagen for a few days before flying home a week from today. Stockholm is a beautiful city!
Jim


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Tragic Mud Slide

This is a picture of a mud slide that occurred in Snohomish County about 50 miles north of Seattle. It's a terrible tragedy with 8 confirmed deaths, 18 people missing and 30 homes destroyed. This happened without notice on Saturday morning at just after 11am. My heart goes out to the families who having missing loved ones, lost a family member, pets, or their homes or property.

From Seattle Times

8 confirmed dead in mudslide; more than a dozen still missing
With more than a dozen people still missing and hundreds waiting to hear about the fate of loved ones in a mile-wide mudslide, officials said rescuers have not heard any voices from the slide area since Saturday.

ARLINGTON — Hopes dimmed Sunday for finding survivors in the nearly one square mile of muck and debris left by a mudslide that killed at least eight people and demolished dozens of houses.
Officials confirmed eight dead during a community meeting Sunday night in Darrington. Just a few hours earlier, the death toll had stood at four.
Tod Gates, an incident commander, said that as he and other rescuers flew in a helicopter to the Darrington meeting, they spotted the four additional bodies. The dead were not identified Sunday night.
More than a dozen remained missing, but it was unclear just how many.
“We didn’t see or hear any signs of life out there today,” said Travis Hots, chief of Snohomish County Fire Districts 21 and 22, during a Sunday afternoon news conference.
Darkness and shifting debris forced rescuers Saturday night to abandon efforts to reach voices coming from a buried structure.
By Sunday, they heard no more voices, Hots said.
Casualties are likely to rise as the search continues through the wreckage that is all that remains of neighborhoods along the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River. In addition to destroying 30 or more homes, the slide buried a milelong stretch of Highway 530 under 20 feet or more of mud.
Gov. Jay Inslee warned of grim days ahead during a news conference at Arlington City Hall. “I have a sense we are going to have some hard news here,” he said.
The rain-soaked hillside that slid away Saturday morning was the same one that had partially collapsed in 2006. The area is about 16 miles east of Arlington.
With no positive news forthcoming, relatives of the missing crowded into the Darrington Community Center looking for answers.
Relatives handed photos of missing loved ones to rescue personnel in hopes they might turn up unconscious at a hospital.
Those reportedly missing ranged from Oso-area homeowners to repairmen on work assignments and a group of girls at a slumber party.
Ron Thompson, whose home was destroyed, stopped by the evacuation shelter at Post Middle School in Arlington to find out if his friends turned up alive. “We lost a lot of good kids. I don’t know what else to tell you. It hurts,” he said before driving away.
A 4-month-old baby and her grandmother were also among the missing.
The baby, Sanoah Huestis, lived with her grandparents, Christina and Seth Jefferds. Seth Jefferds, a volunteer firefighter, was not home at the time of the slide and arrived to find his house flattened and his wife and granddaughter missing, said his brother-in-law, Dale Petersen.
“He said it was just like a bulldozer ran over the house,’’ Petersen said.
Although the names of the people killed in the slide were not officially released, one is former Darrington librarian and School Board member Linda McPherson, 69, according to Pete Selvig, a member of the Darrington emergency-response team and a retired U.S. Forest Service employee.
McPherson’s husband, Gary “Mac” McPherson, was also injured. His condition was not immediately known.
The couple’s house and that of their niece and nephew next door were both destroyed, Selvig said. The younger couple were not at home, but their dog was trapped in the debris, he said.
Rescuers tried to get to the dog after hearing whimpering Saturday night, but had to give up because the mud and debris were moving, Selvig said.
McPherson was branch manager of the Darrington library and served for about 15 years on the School Board, said Selvig, who served with her.
He said her approach to the business and challenges of the small rural school district was professional and methodical. She was part of a Darrington contingent that lobbied the state Legislature for funding to rebuild the district’s three aging schools. “Her name is on the plaque on the new elementary,” Selvig said.
Seven people injured in the slide were being treated at area hospitals Sunday.
At Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a 6-month-old baby boy and an 81-year-old man were in critical condition in the intensive-care unit. A 37-year-old man and a 58-year-old man were in serious condition. A 25-year-old woman was in satisfactory condition.
At Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington, one woman was in satisfactory condition. Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon reported that a 68-year-old man was in stable condition.
Witnesses described a frantic scene when the slide hit Saturday morning.
Neighbors rushed to retrieve a mud-covered baby within moments, said an Arlington woman who was driving by when the catastrophe occurred.
“We thought it was a car accident,” said Sierra Sansaver, of Arlington, who said she was driving to Darrington to find the road was blocked by mud. “Then you realize there’s a house in the middle of the road.”
“We heard screaming from a house 100 yards from us. A whole bunch of men went in there and pulled out a 6-month-old baby,” Sansaver said. Firefighters also were arriving, she said.
“There was mud, household items everywhere, people screaming, crying, running into the rubbish.”
“Everybody was covered in mud. A lady next door who saw what happened, she was giving them blankets to hold the baby in. They got in a car, and left,” said Sansaver.
The infant at Harborview matched that scenario.
In Darrington, a search-and-rescue team of about 20 people was advised Sunday morning to mark dead bodies if they saw any and keep looking for survivors.
Some workers emerged from the meeting bleary-eyed and dispirited.
One volunteer firefighter who had stopped working around 11:30 p.m. Saturday night said many tragic stories have yet to be told. He watched one rescuer find his own front door, but nothing else — not his home, his wife or his child.
They’re in the “missing” category along with many it is feared will eventually be listed as dead.
“It’s much worse than everyone’s been saying,” said the firefighter, who did not want to be named. “The slide is about a mile wide. Entire neighborhoods are just gone. When the slide hit the river, it was like a tsunami.”
By noon on Sunday, the dammed-up Stillaguamish River was starting to break through a hole in the mile-wide mud wall near Oso, releasing some flow downstream. But officials said that was not a cause for alarm.
“It’s not flowing at a rate that causes concern. There is water coming through. They don’t feel it is going to be a catastrophic burst,” said Shari Ireton, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
Even if the water breaches the blockage, it is unlikely to cause major flooding downstream, said Brent Bower, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.
The forecast for the area near Oso looks dry for most of Monday, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle. Rain could return Monday night and into Tuesday, but Burg said “we’re not forecasting anything heavy” — maybe a tenth of an inch.
Through March 19, Arlington had recorded 7.14 inches of rain for the month — just a couple inches short of the wettest March on record. A flash flood warning remained in effect.
Inslee, who cut short a political trip to Montana to fly back to Washington state, thanked rescuers Sunday, and said he was awed by the destruction he witnessed after flying over the scene.
“The devastation is just unrelenting and awesome. There is no stick standing in the path of the slide,” Inslee said. “But there is another powerful force of nature, and that is empathy and compassion.”
Staff reporters Jim Brunner, Lynn Thompson and Nancy Bartley reported from Seattle. Staff reporters Mike Carter, Mike Lindblom, Mike Baker and Christine Clarridge reported from Arlington. Alexa Vaughn reported from Darrington. News researcher Miyoko Wolf also contributed.


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Office Selfie

It's a selfie! I've been famous for selfies for more years than I can count and long before they became the rage! I took this picture from my office to send to my parents after they sent me a comic about selfies. Thought it was only fitting!


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Big Birthday Coming!

Somebody will be 50 soon!


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Crisis Clinic

Busy day that included a great visit and tour of the Crisis Clinic - a great community partner.

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Harry

This is Harry one of our three pups. He's a sweetheart despite the fact that he's kinda high maintenance!

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The Great Beauty

This is the movie that won best oscar this year. We had been wanting to see it and low and behold it opened at the Seattle Sundance Theatre this weekend. I'm not sure I got all of it but it was beautifully shot and I enjoyed it a lot.

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Little Free Library

I


love these neighborhood little free libraries. I ran across this one tonight on my run home through the Eastlake neighborhood. Kent and I love books and I think I'm going to put one up on our block when we put up our new fence.


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Spring on the Quad

Beautiful spring day in Seattle! This evening we walked from our house through the campus of the UW to to Chipotle Grill for dinner. We walked through the qua and as you can see there were plenty of people out and about enjoying the sun. The cherry trees are just waiting to hit full bloom in a few short weeks. Today I went to an all day meeting on change management. It was pretty good. Hoping to use some of what was learned as we transition our system.


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Little things make me happy!

Little gift left in my office from one co-workers for my new office.


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Stockholm Tickets!

Spent much of the day at the office getting my new office set up and getting caught up. Then Kent and I had a fantastic Vietnamese meal at Ba Bar. So what does all this have to do with the picture of the day? Well this is a picture of Kent purchasing our tickets to Stockholm! Super excited - we are flying into Stockholm and out of Copenhagen. Start week 5 of training this week. Hopefully my leg does not give me much more problems. Feels a little better today. Tomorrow is a 6 mile run so I'll get to test it out.

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Third

Busy Saturday that started with a 7 mile run which resulted in a slight injury. Hopefully it's fine in a day or two. Basketball mid day - final game of the season. Huskies ended up 9th in the conference. Kent and I will not travel to the PAC -12 tournament for the first time in 5 years. Very sad about that! Tried a new place for dinner over in West Seattle La Romanza. It was very good. Ended the evening seeing the play - Third at Arts West Theatre. It was excellent. I highly recommend you check it out!


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Seahawk 12K

Yeah! Signed up for the Seahawks 12k today! Some of my co-workers brought it up and had started a team so we signed up! Looking forward to it! Also on a side note I made it through my first week as the new director for King County Mental Health and Substance Abuse Division. It was a great week albeit very busy! I find it invigorating and challenging. I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many talented co-workers.


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Season almost over.

Basketball season is coming to an end. This Saturday is our final home game of the year. Huskies lost to UCLA tonight after starting out strong.


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New Baseball Park

The new husky baseball park is almost done! We are super excited and just picked out our season ticket seats today! The seats are part of the home base club and give us access to club room to get out of the bad weather. Makes baseball in Seattle totally doable! The red dots in the picture are our seats.

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