Foxy!

Hey! We have a fox that lives by our pond in back of our apartment. He was out today, ice skating. He ran across a corner of the pond (Johan was hoping he would fall through the ice!) and seemed to be looking for food. We have seen him occasionally since the summer and I don't let my cat, Toto, outside as a result. But Toto was watching him today, from the safety of the sliding glass window.

Foxy is actually in these bottom photos -- he's just onshore at the bottom left corner of the pond. Pretty winter wonderland view -- all from our balcony.

The Iowega Gang

Well, November was a busy month, with a week-long business trip to Chicago (Johan came along) followed by a full weekend with my best bud Nancy, her husband Steve, and their 6 fantastic kids, and finally a Thanksgiving reunion with my dear friend Eric and essential local friends Spencer and Deb up in Frisco, CO. I met Spencer, Eric, and Nancy all in my first year out of college working for EDS. Spencer's wife Deb is the only one of us still hanging in there at EDS after all of these years (but I didn't know her then). It was really great to catch up with everyone. Here are some photos.

Wedding Clarification

"We got your invitation, but have a few questions...?"

OK, here are all of your wedding questions answered...

• Yes, there is a mistake on the date. Ignore the Saturday part. It's December 30th (Sunday). Sorry 'bout that. How embarrassing.
• Yes, we have changed the location. Mexico didn't work out because we couldn't get Johan legal to return to the U.S. by the wedding date. So he can't leave then. So we have to get married domestically, and why not the great state of Washington?
• Yes, we have changed the date. Why? Because my parents and sister can still take the trip to Mexico. And right after the holiday seems like a good "down time" to pick to reschedule it. Yes, we moved it a whole month earlier. See first blog entry about being insane.

I guess that probably does it. Bummer, all, so I'll sign off, but we still expect it to be a great event! My awesome parents and sister have come through 210% to pull this together in almost no time. Thanks, guys!!

If you've never caught the radio program "etown", well you should find it and catch it this week. Why? Well first because it's an excellent and entertaining music and music interview show that also highlights current world issues like global warming and non-profit organizations doing good, but also because I was on the show this week. Yup. You didn't know I had musical talent or worldly do-gooding talent, did you? Well, I don't really, but I was an audience member and you might hear me Wooo here or there, and it was a really awesome show. I went because 1) it's an awesome (did I mention that?) national show I heard in Seattle (KUOW) but it's recorded weekly in Boulder, and 2) because this week's show featured a musician from the band Gomez, which I like. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that the "other musician" Matt Nathanson was even better, and totally rocked, and I recommend that you give a listen if you like discovering new great up & coming musicians. He's touring Seattle and Portland this week, too, if you want to catch a Matt Nathanson concert. You can learn about etown at www.etown.org., and it's often broadcast on NPR-hosting radio stations. This week's worldly do-good featured an organization that gathers and donates shoes. To tsunami victims, to hurricane victims, to African homeless refugees. It was interesting. But it's really because I was in the audience that you should listen. You'll recognize my clapping, I'm sure.

And speaking of worldly do-gooding, that brings me to my second topic. I friend and former co-worker of mine (also named Michelle but with 2 "L's" but she's still cool) also happens to be a Burmese woman. And if you've tuned in even occasionally to the news the past few months you know that Burma has finally hit a rolling boil with all the government and human rights issues that have been going on for years over there. Monks are protesting and getting killed while doing it, and people are fleeing the country to escape with their lives. Well for years now I have known that Michelle (who is a very successful business woman in San Francisco and an amazing manager who I respect a great deal) has been running a school in Burma itself. She and I always shared in common our tendency to leave for month-long vacations and experience other places in the world, but she always went to Burma for that month to run her school. Well now with all the refugees coming over the border, she has set up a school right at the Burma border in Thailand. I've pasted her (one page) mission statement below, and I'm considering that a future world trip for me (maybe next year?) might be to go to her school and volunteer teaching English to Burmese refugees for a couple of weeks.

This is as close to the source of helping as it gets, folks. It's not some big corporation, but a few hardworking individuals who understand the language and the culture and know what it's going to take to get these refugees moving forward in the world. If you read her mission statement and have any interest in either volunteering time (here or there) or donating money, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with her directly. The other thing to consider here is that I know Michelle and I really KNOW that she does things right -- the money will be used efficiently, effectively, with the right priorities and a human touch. I thought you all would at least be interested in hearing about it, and if you can't help today just know that this situation will unfortunately probably continue for several years in the foreseeable future, so if you have more interest in a year or two, it's probably not too late.

Just in case it matters, Michelle did not ask me to do this. She just called up to chat and told me about what she's doing, but I really think it's so great and such a rare opportunity to contribute to something so directly that I am doing something a bit out of character and sharing it with all of you. Please pardon the mass solicitation -- you know I don't do this normally. But I sincerely thought you might find it interesting and relevant and may just appreciate knowing about it all.


ENDOWMENT FOR DISADVANTAGED
BURMESE YOUTHS


Statement of Purpose


Founded on December 1st, 2006, the Endowment for Disadvantaged Burmese Youths (EDBY)* is a non-profit charitable enterprise whose goal is to provide children and teens with education and testing toward the achievement of all levels of competency up to and including a General Educational Development high school equivalency certificate. As the national Burmese educational system currently offers classes only through the tenth grade, a G.E.D. certificate is necessary for those students who wish to further their education to the college level.

Beyond the tenth grade limitation, Burmese education has often been subject to disruption due to school closures or a family’s need to flee political persecution from the repressive military government that has existed in the country since 1988. Recent events in Burma have brought the brave struggles of the monks and perilous conditions of the general population to the forefront of world news. Many families have been forced to flee Burma and have become refugees in Thailand and other nearby countries, or have sought political asylum in the United States. In other cases, parents of school-aged children have been jailed or murdered leaving their dependents to fend for themselves.

With the aid of teachers who have generously volunteered their services, several schools have been set up in Thailand along the Thai/Burma border to accept a growing number of students. Additional students will be enrolled as further resources become available. Classes are divided by age and previous education of the students. A program of up to two years is offered toward the goal of earning the G.E.D. certificate.

Donated funds to provide food, lodging and educational supplies inclusive of books and computers for both students and teachers are held in trust by the Charitable Alliance of Burmese Americans (CABA)*, a registered non-profit corporation. All donations are gratefully received and tax deductible.


* Make checks payable to: CABA for EDBY
Charitable Alliance of Burmese Americans
P.O. Box 1786
Burlingame, CA 94011-1786
(650) 348-7625
IRS 501(c)(3) EIN: 20-1807455

Beautiful Days

We took a day and went up to Rocky Mountain National Park and enjoyed another beautiful sunny day. These are some photos we took that day -- a herd of elk had wandered onto a golf course and made for some spectacular imagery. We joined the park as it is open year-round and we intend to go see it all 4 seasons. Almost every day here is just gorgeous weather still. It's October 25 today and it's 80 degrees in the apartment with the windows open and sun streaming in. I'll throw in another photo (to the left here)of the view from our balcony today. THIS is why I moved here!!!

Twue Wuv...

A serious post for a serious topic... marriage (or mawwiage as they would say in "The Princess Bride"). Yes, in record-breaking time, Johan has proposed! Yes to me. And I have accepted. Yay! No date has been set yet, but, true to form, it keeps moving sooner the more we talk about it. I tell Johan he is not South African, but rather Russian, because he is always RUSHING (get it?). OK bad joke, but we always laugh... It promises to be a small event, though. Stay tuned. Here are some pictures of my ring, which he had made for me, and then hid in the apartment in a scavenger hunt for me.

Apartment of Wonder!!!!

OK, it's a little hard to make an apartment sound exciting, but DANG is it exciting to finally be unpacked. Geez that lasted forever... Here are some photos of the finished product. Not too bad!

The big Boulder move!

I am insane. How many people do you know who would move simultaneously in 3 locations and rent their house out while on the road? You probably just know one -- me. I moved 1) from one apartment in Boulder to another apartment in Boulder, while 2) moving from Seattle to the new apartment in Boulder while 3) moving my office (twice -- to another space in Seattle and then to Boulder).

My insanity is further illustrated by the fact that I did this while renting a truck that was too small. I truly needed at least a 17' truck. I had a 14' truck. I'll attach photos. Crazy. Evidently Labor Day weekend is the busiest moving weekend of the year, so when I went to get a bigger truck a couple days before the move, there were none to be had. I jettisoned some furniture and loaded my car which we were towing and tipped my movers well to fit an incredible amount of stuff in that truck. And most things I wanted did fit.

We counted (yes, counted) 326 moving trucks/vans/trailers on the road during our drive. That averages out to about 1 every 3.3 minutes.

I also had difficulty finding a renter for my Seattle place, so ended up doing a lot of it from the road -- got credit checks, created and modified a lease, figured out how to get the deposit, and got the renter the keys before we unpacked in Boulder!

Obviously there was no way I could have done this without a ton of help, and my boyfriend Johan really, really, REALLY did a lot of work. OK, most of the work. He arranged movers to load my truck, packed everything up while I went to work in Seattle, drove the truck more than 1/2 of the distance, carried everything heavy that needed carrying... I think he loves me! And is probably insane also (or is that obvious if he's dating me?).

His insanity is further illustrated by the fact that he still wanted to take the cat in the truck with us. Fortunately, my parents (who were also a ton of help with the cleaning of my Seattle place) said "stop the insanity" and insisted on taking the cat to the airport to fly to Denver instead. He won't be flying first class ("some tuna please, ma'am?), but I think he probably will enjoy that ride more than flying Uhaul.

My friends Wendy & Steve also deserve acknowlegement here for helping a ton -- they offered to help me deal with jettisoned items (we all underestimated the amount of that, I think), shredding personal papers, and making sure I got my deposit money OK. What I would've done without all of this help, I don't know. Maybe they're insane, too...

So now we are in Boulder, and surrounded by boxes and about 1/2 of the square footage that I had in my previous house. Good thing I jettisoned that furniture! Every box is an adventure -- open a box for the bathroom, oh, wait, I have no room in this bathroom... go to the store, buy a medicine cabinet, vanity for over the toilet, and a small hallway closet... go back home and assemble them (Johan again), and are finally able to unpack that box a day later...

Did I mention that I only took one day off of work? I am insane... Mail! Crap, I have to get the mail changed... OK, enough for now, I have some work to do...