The Decade Part Three, The Boise Years

Good Morning South Carolina.  Nasty head cold still hanging on today.  Neck is getting tired of holding up a 50 pound head full of snot!  Not a pretty picture I paint.  Sorry but have lost patience with this little inconvenience.  Frozen water pipe this morning to thaw out.  All these folks headed to Florida in the park are moving fast.  We hear it is cold in northern Florida as well so what's the hurry.  Too much Spanish moss and live oak lined streets to enjoy here in Savannah and rural SC.

2006


Only half way through the decade and I am getting tired. Got to slow down. Best way to do that would be to retire which I did on January 1, 2006. Little would I know how quickly retirement would become work. But first Meg and I made a cross country ski trip back to the UP through Yellowstone’s trails, Minnesota’s ski resorts and Active Backwoods Resorts where nephew Eric and Angela hosted our visit with more skiing then we could handle. We quickly skied our way into shape and then it was back to Boston for Meg and Tom skied his way back to Boise. Projects on the new house occupied Tom’s first months of retirement and when these were done he made his way to Seattle to work on Tate and Jeff’s house, or at least to start that project.

In May we returned to Boston to watch Meg graduate with a masters in public health from Tufts and one in something else too. Tom then drove her to UNC at Chapel Hill for her start on a doctorate. We would see her again in the summer for Gabe and TJ’s wedding in Wenatchee, and then again on Labor Day weekend in Seattle when Tate and Jeff tied the knot. The whole fam damily showed up and got them off to a rousing start to their new life. Life is moving to fast I was thinking.

I began remodeling work on Suzy’s sister Teri and Al’s house in Olympia in the fall, commuting from Boise every few weeks. It was a bigger job then I thought but it was fun to work with Teri and Al and share their little trailer as we made the house livable. Finished my part of the project before Christmas and headed back to Boise to rest. Meg and Tate and Jeff joined us for Christmas and we played in the snow.

2007

The year began with a full scale assault on the basement of Tate and Jeff’s house in Seattle. I commuted to Boise every few weeks and Jeff and I and his dad Frank made significant progress in turning the unfinished basement dungeon into a new living area with bath, laundry room, bedroom, and family room. Jeff and I pushed the Crispy Crème stock to new highs as we stopped every time on the way back from material runs. About the time we were finishing the basement I got a job offer from a consulting company to do some work in Seattle. The pay was good and the challenge better so I took it on. We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff and Tate before Christmas in Boise. Not sure I like this working again but Suzy has another year to vest in Idaho’s system so we shall see. Besides the skiing is good as Gabe and TJ joined Meg and I for a trip up to a backcountry yurt on Banner ridge where we spent a few cozy nights.

2008

Looks like this year will be another working year as a new consulting job stretches out from a couple months to the whole year. Suzy and I joined the boisterous crowd in Boise to listen to Barrack Obama inspire the crowd. What vision and hope! In June, Meg and I rode the Lance Armstrong Cancer Fund Raiser in Portland. It was a 100 mile day and Meg pulled me home the last 15 miles as I sucked on to her rear tired and whimpered. After the ride we joined Les and Steve and did a ride through Oregon’s covered bridges, think we did ten bridges and 120 miles or was it 120 bridges in ten miles? July saw the 90th birthday of Suzy’s mom, Marge in Olympia where a family reunion was also held. Good to see everyone again and to marvel how young a 90 year old mother Suzy has. Thanksgiving was in Seattle at Tate and Jeff’s again and we enjoyed the young folks enthusiasm. Christmas in Seattle was special as Meghan brought her new friend, Rusty. We had been wanting to meet Rusty and could easily see how Meghan had fallen for him. After Christmas, Rusty, Meg, Gabe, TJ, and I went back to another back country yurt in the Idaho mountains. We started the trip in to the yurt in a blizzard and it didn’t stop snowing for 36 hours. We broke a lot of trail and ate like dogs. What a great way to spend time in the winter.