Progress without the evidence!

Okay, I FAILED at taking potos of the disaster that is my basement! But I have made some progress since I last wrote.

First, last Friday I climbed onto the roof (while D was still here) and shoveled snow all morning.


It was actually invigorating and fun, and turned out to be very necessary. I discovered that we had a very large ice dam in the west eave, under the spruce. D cam home and cleaned that out, and we have not had a problem with melt water in the hose or porch

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On Monday, I emptied the boxes that have sat on the desk in the basement for however long. Many books into storage, many to go to charity. All in just a couple of hours. Thursday, D helped me by hauling boxes out of the storage room. We sorted through a couple of dozen boxes: stuff that we moved and did not unpack, stuff that has been taken out of the kids bedrooms, yada, yada. Ended up with some treasure:

My first teddy bear:





Alex's kindergarten scrap book, Katie's sixth grade writing, a full set of Portmeirion dinner ware (who knew that was sitting there all these years).

And we ended up with a van full of stuff to take to Goodwill.

Wednesday, ATCO arrived (unexpectedly, and with the house looking like a tornado hit) and they will be moving the meter this spring. Timing is good, I hope, and their work can mesh with the reno. However, outside they will need to dig up the front yard!

The renovator came by for some measurements Friday and so things are really progressing! A few more days of emptying and sorting, aggressively getting rid of 'stuff' and we should be ready to finally whip that basement into shape.

The next thing to get into shape will be me!

Projects

So I have some pretty big projects underway, and I really need to focus my efforts better, so I am hoping that writing about them and keeping track of them in photos will keep me on track.

First is basement clean out and renovation.

A big part of cleaning out the basement will be figuring out where to put or what to do with our "stuff". A possible storage location would be the garage, but then that would need to be cleaned out first! :-)

Anyway, I shall take some "before" photos tomorrow, sometime between shoveling the roof and my shift. And I will take a progress photo once every two days, minimum!

Other projects include my two big photo shoots this spring, and getting fit.

It's March!

Good grief, time really has been flying by. March 6, 2009. And it is -25C today! Bleck!

I've been working for SmugMug for a month now, and it is great! I am quite enjoying the job, settling in to a new schedule but still struggling with using my other time well.

I had intentions of walking with Kelso daily, but the truth is I am a fair weather pet owner, and the weather has just not been fair most of the month. We have gone out a couple of times, and that has been great.

I also intend to get the basement totally cleaned out and get rid of all that junk. The thing that will force me to do this is we finally have a renovator lined up. YAY! And we will be giving the basement a really good makeover, starting with moving the laundry into the back corner, building a bath between the laundry and Colin's room and then opening the whole remaining space into one large room. The little space on the back side of the fireplace will become a guest room. I am really looking forward to this; there is so much space down there but it is soo poorly organized. And right now, it is just full of junk! We are getting close to setting a schedule, so the junk must go.

I want to have that well under control so that I can start garden clean up as soon as the snow is gone. I will have a great garden this year, and I will get some serious landscaping done.

I also have not done very well at a PAD project. I figured that I would at least make some progress with that by using my iPhone and SmugShots! But, I just don't take a photo a day, and am not sure random snapshots are a great way to "push" my skills.

We are still waiting for resolution with our two insurance claims. Katie slid into a tree with her car, and it has been written off. That claim is mostly finalized, but her replacement car is not in her hands yet.
The repairs and replacement of all things broken or taken during the "party" has been finished, and now it is up to the insurance company to process that claim. It will end up being a $10K "sweet sixteen" :(

Last Day

Tomorrow, Jan. 29, 2009, is my last day working at Micralyne, Inc. I started there late November 2005 as a contractor, engaged to help hire 30 new employees. I started a full time salaried position with Micralyne February 1 , 2006.

It has been a very good three years. I have learned so much about MEMS in general and MEMS processing in particular, and also about business to business sales. I have had great coworkers and a wonderful, supportive and intelligent work environment.

And yet, I have made the decision to move on. I have a new job starting Feb. 2 that I know I will enjoy, but my decision to move on wasn't motivated solely by the new opportunity. The decision came because I believe that I had reached the end of the growth available to me at Micralyne.

So it was time to move along, down a different path on this journey of mine. I am very hopeful that this path will have many photo ops along the way, and that I can take advantage of those to explore this passion of mine and really start to get creative with it.

Tomorrow will be a melancholy day. The hardest part is over - making the decision and then letting people know was very hard. I have some very good friends at Micralyne and I hope I will be able to maintain those friendships. Saying farewell to customers has also been difficult. Tomorrow will be hugs and maybe a few tears, and hopefully a few beers as well!

The Dentist

I have a totally irrational fear of dental work. Avoid it like the plague. No regular check ups in this girl's daytimer! And it is truely irrational, as I've never really had a bad dental experience.
Last fall, a molar that was giving me 'grief' for many months finally broke. There was just no way around it, I had to finally go to the dentist. Hadn't been in something like 12 years! (If it aint broke, why fix it!).
I have pretty good dental benefits, so not only did I agree to having the tooth fixed, I had them all cleaned. Fixing the tooth required a root canal! Yikes! Memories of my last root canals just aren't all that pleasant.
Dr. Frank had some really cool gadgets at his office, including a very slim syringe for freezing. No more giant silver needles in your mouth, just this unobtrusive needle on the end of some very thin rubber tubing. The root canal was no where near as unpleasant as the anxiety before hand would have predicted. The freezing came out quickly, with far less trauma than I remember.
Step two was prepping for crowns for that tooth and its neighbor, also a root canal tooth. That happened Thursday, and that was more unpleasant, more uncomfortable, but still not equivalent to all of the fear and loathing that I have for dentists.

So, what about that wisdom tooth Ms. McRae? You know, the one that was supposed to come out 15 years ago, the one that has erupted sideways and pretty much hurts all the time? Well, thanks, but it can stay where it is for now!

Happy New Year 2009

Well, here I sit, attempting for the third time to start this post! I am torn between the classic New Years type of message, reflecting on the events of this past year - and there are many - or a more forward looking post, outlining my goals and hopes for the year ahead. Perhaps both are necessary: the past lays the groundwork for the new year.
I read through last years posts: frequent in the first half of the year and then non existent in the last quarter.

Some things have not changed: I still hate winter!

Others have: I no longer attempt to follow the 'Eat to Live' diet, my mothers health is greatly improved.

My garden was an unmitigated disaster! 20' x 30' and a yield of one meal of potatoes! The raised planters were much more successful, and I ate fresh baby lettuce all summer long! I cannot even say that I grew a good crop of sweet peas this year! Didn't finish any other garden projects. Didn't finish any other house projects!

I have a new boss, new job description as the whole department gets a shake up. I am still not convinced that this is the right job for me, for many reasons (decision making structure, my lack of technical expertise, the whole desk job thing, and the list goes on). However, with the media perpetuated 'economic downturn', I may be lucky to have a job. And, this job has many positive attributes too. I have travelled to Boston twice, Chicago once, Toronto, Vancouver & Seattle, for work. I've managed to incorporate photography on each one of those trips! I enjoy working in a scientific environment, with some really great people and truly great clients. But, I was too long my own boss, setting my own hours and making my own decisions. I want that kind of responsibility and that kind of freedom again. The call of photography is sooooooo strong.


The kids continue to grow up and have each had many 'life lesson' moments this year. Both Colin and KT got their drivers licenses this spring. They also both bought their own cars. We are now a four car family, and as ridiculous as that sounds, it does have benefit in that it greatly reduces the amount of time I spend on the road.

Colin has had some driving 'experiences' that have hurt his bank account, but not him. Katie, so far, has a clean slate in the driving department. And Alex has just turned 14 so is actually eligible for a learners permit....I am certainly not ready for that.

Colin returned from Germany in December 2007, and finished Grade 12 in the second semester (Feb - June 08) this year. He made the decision to apply at the U of A, Faculty of Engineering. Initially I was really put off by this - he could be off somewhere more interesting than Edmonton, playing soccer and doing an undergrad degree. However, he is here and really seems comfortable and to be doing well in engineering. The U of A is among the very best Engineering schools in North America, so there is no fault to be found in that decision. He isn't playing soccer right now; however, he did finish his 'youth' soccer days on a high note. His team won Club National Championships in October; a gold medal finish to so many years of dedication.

One of the biggest 'life lessons' this year was experienced by KT, and by us as it was probably our most difficult parenting thus far. At the end of it all, the only damage was to property, the offender has served the deemed punishment and is expected to make retribution, and we all (I hope) have learned from the experience. It has forced KT to return to the workforce, giving her spending money ( & money to pay for retribution & speeding ticket money) which she relishes.
KT does well at school, could do better, and currently has aspirations of med school.

Alex has changed soccer teams; he moved on from the team he had been with since U10, and from being coached by his dad and some close friends. He is on a team that he really enjoys (with a better record than his old team) and thus far the move seems like the right choice. The old team certainly provided him with familiarity - perhaps too much. With the new team he needs to earn his spot and the respect of his teammates, and he seems to be doing so. What this has meant for us is a move outside our comfort zone, away from friends that we have spent so much time with. We miss that group dearly, but must say that the new team has certainly given us a warm welcome!

We also travelled as a family a bit: to Medicine Hat for Alberta Summer Games with Alex, to Tofino for a vacation with KT, Alex and KTs friend, to the GTA for soccer nationals and finally to Vernon for Christmas with the Burd clan.

So, what will 2009 bring? Who really knows?
My goals?
Do more photography, maybe even earn a significant portion of my income from it! Actually carry through with a PAD project. Travel and shoot more.
Get into shape! The Wii fit that we got for Christmas is going to kick start that! (So much fun!)
Travel more.
Get somewhere with the house - renovate, remodel, rebuild....pick one!
Shoot more.
Continue to watch the kids grow up, and be amazed at how time flies.
Travel more.
Continue to watch mom thrive under dad's care, continue to be amazed by dad being retired. What will he do next, now that the garage is organized?
Shoot more.
Visit all of the relatives again!
Travel and shoot more!
Grow a decent crop of vegetables.

Enjoy my days. Relish the moment. Do something that matters.


Happy New Year!

At the end of the day I need to know I did the right thing

That is one of those truisms that we all hear over and over again. That one, and others like Seize the Day, Live life to the fullest, Live like there is no tomorrow, and many others. They are smug, possibly even trite. But you know what???? There is merit in them all. Really and truly, at the end of the day YOU (and I) need to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say I did the right thing today. The right thing by all of the people in your life, your boss, your neighbor, strangers, and of course not least your family. Time is fleeting, you rarely get a second chance, and you do not know when all will come to an end. Live each day like it is your last, and in such a way that at the end of the day you know that you acted with dignity, honesty and integrity. And at the end of the day you can then look in the mirror and know, no matter how tough it was, that you did the right thing.


Dedicated to a very special friend, KD-G, and thank you for reminding me that no matter what load we struggle with, someone else's load is greater!