My Last Week at Work

There is no way I'm going to be able to include everyone, but here are a few:

Barb Salge is an amazing woman! She has taught me that there is no age limit on being a personality and a force in the universe. I will miss Barb's wackiness and ferocity.



Clarice Wong is a dynamo, lightning quick worker with a strong fashion sense.



Barb and Derethia DuVal ham it up. I only recently began getting to know Derethia and she is a delight! Witty, fierce and my kind of politics.

Tornado in Vancouver

Ok, so this is a little bit of old news, but there was a TORNADO in Vancouver this past January. The last one before that was in 1972.



This is just one picture of trees cut in half. You could see whole neighborhoods with new roofs and a few stores replacing siding.

Did I mention the front page story while I was there was about the Portland / Vancouver area being second only to California for immanent earthquakes. Egad!

What a difference a letter makes ...

One of my errands on my visit to Vancouver was to get a library card. As I filled out the form I instinctively wrote CA in the "state" field. I caught myself and corrected it to WA.

Maybe my blog should be called CA to WA. It's a small thing - but sometimes those are the ones that hit home.



My new online link will change from sfpl to fvrl = Fort Vancouver regional library.

Notes from the Northwest

I went up to Washington over the weekend to retrieve my keys from the management company and take a look inside. My house smelled and looked as fresh as the day I bought it.

I'd never seen these bloom at my house before. The tenants always told me there was year-round "color". I'm not a camellia fan, but must confess these are pretty.



It will take a while to get used to seeing snow-capped mountains on my daily errands. The Cascades, Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helen's (below) were all in their full winter glory! This tiny picture doesn't do much to convey the majesty of their presence.



A morning walk after a night-time rain found the streets peppered with earthworms. It was hard to walk without stepping on one. This was a first for me.

Gone

In anticipation of the desk coming down my staircase, I sold my two 4 ft. planter boxes at the foot of my stairs.



Flowers on my staircase have been my signature. Here they are in their former glory.



Of course, the round pot was stolen shortly after it was placed on my banister. One of the planter boxes was recently shoved off its footing in an act of vandalism.



These malva were quite striking -- but short lived.

Canceled!

This is my desk "after" removing all non-essentials. Wisely, I left the computer and printer hooked up.



Unwisely, I did not check my email before moving all my furniture to clear a path to the front door.



Only after a wide path was cleared last night did I take one last look at my email and discover that my buyer had canceled out. His fellow mover had bailed.

Home Office

This is my desk at home, "before". It's HUGE and too bulky to move. It's not really suited to the computer. So I've decided to sell it. I got a call within a few hours of putting it on Craig's List.

This really should be the last thing out instead of the first. It will take another day to clear a path out the front door and down my steps (still heavily populated with potted flowers).



After two days, the contents of the desk now cover my dining and coffee tables. I'm leaving the computer set up until the very last minute. I did my taxes last night (with Turbo Tax of course). Quicken is the only application that I can't easily move to my laptop.



It took several hours just to shred all but one year of my bills and statements - banks, credit cards and utilities.



This is the downhill slide. I'm really moving now!