The year 2002 has been an eventful one for me. I’ve been making a bigger effort to keep in touch with friends, especially since I figure living in the same state should make it easier! It is still hard to make schedules mesh, however. I traded for a week at a resort in the Bend/Sisters area of Oregon last Spring and went with Mom and Dave. My favorite memory is of Mom and I being mobbed by chipmunks and ground squirrels while trying to feed them blue corn chips. We had a really good time and we took a slew of digital photographs (see below). Then, we only had to have the ones we really liked “developed” by uploading them to an Internet processor. I joined the “mammogram club” and invited Mom and my sister Anita to go whale watching with me in June to celebrate my 40th birthday. We spent the night at a hotel in Everett and took a cruise the next day. We had to go North nearly to Bellingham, but we saw the orcas. Between this and reading a great book, Eye of the Whale, I decided to set going to the gray whale nursery lagoons in Baja, Mexico as my goal for my 45th birthday. I’ve got money from my paycheck going directly into a savings account for that trip. Visitors camp and go out twice a day in small boats where the mother gray whales bring their calves up to be introduced, touched and rubbed. Wayne and I spent a lot of time discussing our relationship and how we wanted to live the rest of our lives. While our goals seem compatible, Wayne feels that we operate too differently day-to-day to get there together. He is currently on a 1-year tour in Korea, but we’re still in touch. We expect to postpone the divorce for a while due to financial considerations. He has moved much of his stuff out of the duplex and will remove the rest when he comes back from Korea for a visit in March. I expect to retain “custody” of all our pets. I still love my 1995 Mustang convertible, but this year he turned seven and has been letting me know it. I had to have the transmission rebuilt in August and seals on the engine repaired in November. Fortunately, the engine was still under warranty from when they installed it in November 2000. Since Wayne will be keeping the Jeep Cherokee, I will probably look at getting a second utility vehicle in a year or so. Since I’m maintaining all our animals (including both our dogs, our cats, and my parrot), living alone and taking care of the house and yard is a bit of a challenge. On one of Mom’s recent visits we sent out an SOS to my landlord when our water stopped running. We were getting orange murky dribbles and lots of air. It turned out that a cow had knocked the protective housing off our well and the pipes were freezing! Ah, country living. My sister Anita celebrated her second year as a small business owner by becoming a limited corporation and making enough to cover all expenses. She’s actually operating in the black and has hired a part-time employee. I’m still doing her web page (www.glasscottage.com) and I’ve been up to Everett to take a couple of classes at the shop. It would be easy for me to get hooked on fusing and slumping glass. (As though I need yet another hobby!) Mom is still working part-time for a chiropractor in Longview and Dave is immersed in building an enclosed back deck. Wayne’s family is doing well. His parents are still down in Toledo. His sister and her family live nearby in Graham. I still keep in touch with them and we occasionally get together to do something. I’ve done considerable reorganizing since Wayne left in late August. I’ve consolidated my crafts and craft materials and spend many an evening watching TV and (lately) knitting. I had DirecTV satellite installed, figuring I’d be going out less often and am enjoying that and listening to books on tape. There’s a great online service where you can download audio books to your computer or MP3 player for a fraction of the usual price: www.audible.com Working at the Education Center on Fort Lewis remains interesting, sometimes challenging, and well paid. By the time most of you get this card and letter, I’ll have been home in Washington state for three years. I’m looking forward to many more (with the minor caveat that I might move back to Alaska if the right opportunity presents itself) and hope you have a great holiday season.