Catching up, part I

Last big post (not about a dirty bike) was the Christmas update, and the world did not stop at that point. So here's part 1 of catching up.

Kids went back to school in January, Jake for his last semester at Willamette and Quincy to Southern Oregon. Stu and I made our first trip to Oregon of the year to see Quincy's Winter term play -- Midsummer Night Dream. It is one of her favorite shows, so she was excited to be Assistant Master Carpenter for it.

Oh, yeah. Shortly before our trip to Oregon, Stu had surgery for a torn ligament, torn rotator cuff, and bursitis all on his right shoulder. That was the start of a rather long involvement with physical therapy, doctor checks, and more PT. Looks like I left that out of updates.

Meanwhile, farther north along I-5, Jacob was busy writing away on two theses and visiting graduate schools. During a rather busy week, he visited Washington State University, Montana State University, and Oregon State University. All visits went well, but the program at Montana State in Molecular Biosciences was most to his liking. He got a nice offer, so he committed to become a Bobcat.

At the end of March, kids were back for Spring Break, and we (minus Quincy) completed our 5th Bataan Memorial Death March. Out times were worse than last year, but Stu was barely a month post-op, so finishing was really the goal. The day ended up much hotter than average, and finishing was a bit of an accomplishment. Jacob's friend Janelle marched with us, earning all-around kudos for being willing to walk a marathon on the second day of her spring break. It was a poppy year, so much of the walk was more beautiful than usual.

Kids headed back to school, and things quieted back down. Part 2 will be coming soon.

On a sad note, Annie, our beautiful black mutt who shared our home since December 24, 1999, succumbed to cancer in mid-February. She died in our back yard in the caring hands of our gentle vet. It is always sad when a companion dies, but there is something strangely satisfying knowing that we were with her in the end, and were as loyal to her as she had always been to us. I think maybe Widget misses her the most, and she enjoyed tormenting that dog.

Dirty bike means a good time, right?

Teens no more!

Kids have been home for spring break for a most excellent week of sun, food, conversation, and relaxation. They go back today, and we will miss them. But through a miracle of scheduling, their planes leave within an hour of each other, so we only will take one trip to El Paso!

It was a busy week -- Jacob and Willamette friend Janelle arrived home on Saturday and were up at 3 am the next day for the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon. The weather was warmer than usual, and Janelle, who is from Hawaii, proved plenty tough enough for a 26-mile walk in the desert. Kudos to her.

As usual, the March was a day to remember sacrifice and to march along side current active military.

Quincy celebrated her 20th birthday last night. I was concerned that the strainer we gave her for a present was too prosaic. She considered it to be stylish.

Traveling...

Jake is getting back from a week of traveling to visit grad schools. His travels took him to Washington State University, Montana State, and Oregon State. He really liked all the schools, so now he has a decision to make!

In the meantime, Stu and I are on a plane heading to Medford for a weekend with the Q. More later...

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide

December 24, 1999 to February 13, 2012

RIP, Annie.

Our beautiful, feral, orange-eyed puppy died today. We exercised the omnipotent human option, thus sparing her a longer passing from cancer, which she was diagnosed with in early January.

She was probably the worst dog I will ever miss. Before she died today, she menaced the 18 year old cat and snacked on dirty cat litter. That's just the way it is.

Good friends

One definition of good friends: people who, when you just saunter into their homes on a Sunday morning, ask if you want coffee or tea and welcome you at their breakfast table. Even if you have been out sweating over miles of trail and road.

Time again to train for Bataan. Stu and I have been walking into town on Sunday mornings and showing up at random friends' homes for breakfast. This week we headed west from home into town and went south around A Mountain. Between biking and walking, we are getting to know A Mountain pretty well. Seems like it should be about time, after living in town for over 20 years!

We might have to take a week off -- Stu tore a ligament in his right shoulder and will have it repaired on February 20.

Chateau McGee, 2011 Vintage

Another busy year has slipped by, with Jacob and Quincy moving further toward taking charge of their lives and Stu and Melody transitioning to the next phase (whatever that may be!). Although we left many things undone, we have found that the best of friends overlook the dust and the worn patches to share in the good times. I find myself with increasing faith that cobwebs and garden weeds really are less important than spending time engaged with family, friends, community, books, and our beautiful New Mexico.

Both Jacob and Quincy are in school in Oregon, Jake in his last semester at Willamette University in Salem. He picked up a second major in Rhetoric and Media Studies last year; as part of this program, he spent a couple weeks in Puerto Rico learning about the area from a professor who grew up there. He has loved his time in Oregon's capital, but he graduates in May (his other degree will be in Biology) and will spend the spring semester working on a thesis for each of his majors. He is looking at graduate schools and would like to stay in the Pacific Northwest.

Both kids live in great places to visit: Quincy is in Ashland, Oregon at Southern Oregon University. She is taking on increasing roles in SOU productions as a technical major, and Stu and I have enjoyed seeing the shows she has worked on. She is thriving intellectually in her classes and is also enjoying her first year living in an apartment. Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and SOU tends to feature many of the Bard's works. This Winter Quarter, she will be an Assistant Master Carpenter on A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we hope we will be able to trek to Oregon to see it.

Stu has had a very busy year, closing out his office in the Chemical Engineering Department in preparation for his July move to the Family and Consumer Sciences program. He is part of the Food Science and Technology faculty, and this move puts him in a department that is more aligned with his research interests, has ties to the local agricultural industry, and creates tastier products. (Google NMSU Chile Brownies, and you will get an idea of one.) But his biggest obligation this year has been his service as NMSU Faculty Senate Chair. With state budget cuts continuing and leadership at NMSU settling in after a period of turnover, it has been an interesting year. He ends this service in May, and I suspect it will be a relief to revert to being just a faculty member again.

This will also give him more time to show me up on the local biking trails. Southern New Mexico has about a gazillion acres of desert with nothing but rattlesnakes and thorned plants, so naturally we took to mountain biking this year. While I seem to be discovering all the different ways to come home bruised, Stu approaches each trail like an applied physicist, gracefully managing his momentum and sailing up and down narrow trails, over the many rocky and sandy patches.

Like Stu, I also switched work places (although in the same job) and have enjoyed another year working at NMSU in the student affairs branch. With a change in leadership in my office, I find myself, despite changing jobs fairly frequently, in the strange position of actually being able to contribute to institutional memory. I think it is really the gray hair that makes people think I have been around for a long, long time. I continue to be the crazy woman who commutes by bike, and logged just over 5,000 miles this year on one bike or another.

With two kids in college, our travel has focused on family. We spent time in DC with my dad and brother in June, and took them both to their first national soccer game in RFK stadium (US beat Jamaica, 2-0). We visited both kids this year at their colleges, and spent Thanksgiving on the Oregon Coast with a houseful of family and friends. We had short weekends in Colorado and longer ones in Delaware.

We wish you all the best in 2012.