It started out with one of my employees passing away at work. One of the toughest things I ever had to do was call his wife to discuss what benefits she could expect to receive. This was made particularly difficult because I had never met her. Because I work in a secure area of a military base, family members cannot come into our work area.
To make sure I got to know other spouses, Lisa and I hosted a dinner party of the remaining supervisors and their wives. Now that I know them all, I certainly hope I don't have to make another call like that again.
Spring breaks (Lisa's and David's) came and went without us doing anything. Typically, we use that time to get away, but this year we just stayed home. The only time off of a week or more this year was our trip to Oregon. Lisa has lots of photos on her blog.
After we returned, Corey and Becky finished at Pullman and came to live with us for about a month. Having David, Loren, Corey, and Becky all here at the same time was a little busy, but it didn't last long. David and Loren soon went back to school and Corey and Becky got their first apartment.
David started high school at Squalicum in Bellingham and ran cross country. I thought he did great and I expect he will continue doing that throughout his four years there. I knew he would be a good runner when he pretty easily beat me at the Sound to Narrows 5K this year - he hadn't been training and he was only 13.I am particularly proud of how he is doing with his grades. He is squeaking by with a 3.8 GPA!
This year became the year of new cars. Lisa learned the art of car negotiation - that is, play one dealer against another and don't take any crap from them. She ended up with an outstanding deal on a 2007 Honda CR-V (silver). Corey found that Honda will extend good lease terms to recent college grads, so he picked up a 2007 Honda accord (silver) on a lease. Becky traded her car in on a brand new 2007 Mazda 3 (red). My 2003 Passat was getting near 100,000 miles, so I stepped up and traded it in for a new BMW 328 (Platinum Bronze). I'm sure our neighbors must think we are nuts.
We decided to take our annual trek to Las Vegas to run the half marathon in early December. For once, I was actually pretty well positioned with my training to run well. I was expecting to run about a 1:35 half....but, alas, just before Thanksgiving, I came down with a pretty severe intestinal virus that completely wiped me out. We made the trip down and Lisa ran, but I couldn't.
I think my body is telling me that maybe I should not be a runner. I suffered a torn calf muscle (soleus - very odd tear) in July and actually had to go to physical therapy. My sister-in-law, Heidi, happens to work at Apple PT and got me in quick. Toward the end of the year, I was also nursing a stress fracture in my foot. Hopefully, this year will be a little less injury prone.
Time to start thinking about 2008!
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