2005 Season’s Greetings to our Friends and Family
We hope the season finds you well. For those who are interested in our activities during the past couple of years, here is a summary:
We moved back into our renovated house Memorial Day weekend in 2004. There are still a few things we are meaning to do before we can consider the project “complete” but life has gone on without finishing them. A little description and pictures of the house and renovation can be seen on the contractor’s web page.
In 2004, Jim took advantage of a weight loss program through the Pro Sports Club (a Microsoft benefit) and lost 50 pounds. He continues with the habits of exercise and meal tracking that the 20/20 program teaches and has kept the weight off.
This year, Jim developed sciatica which eventually led to back surgery, a microdiscectomy which was very successful and has gotten rid of the pain without having to be very invasive. The surgeon, Dr. Richard Rapport, whom we really didn’t see all that much, turns out to be a very interesting guy who has published a book and an interesting little memoir.
Jim continues to work as a Software Architect at Microsoft on a versioning solution.
At the beginning of 2005, Barb co-taught a class at the University of Washington Experimental College. The topic was James Joyce’s Ulysses, and the majority of the class of 20 admirably rose to the challenge of reading the 800+ page book in 7 weeks and engaged in lively discussion to make the class a success. A co-sponsor of the class was the Northwest Classics Society, in which Barb continues to participate.
In 2005, Barb completed the Practicum for the Bellevue Neighborhood Mediation Program and continues to volunteer with the program as a co-mediator. The program includes a book group, which has read several interesting books, including Difficult Conversations, and I Thought We’d Never Speak Again.
Barb has had several CD and performance reviews published on the Opera Today website. The remuneration is that the reviewer gets to keep the CD. To read them, type “Barbara Miller” in the search field of the web site.
Barb and Jim have both been active in performing. Jim was in the chorus for the Seattle Opera performances of Lohengrin and Wagner’s Ring cycle. In addition, we both sing in the choir at the Congregational Church of Mercer Island . In May, Barb gave a solo recital of art songs themed around the moon.
Our travel this year has included trips to the Oregon Bach Festival (for the U. S. premiere of a concert version of The Uncle from Boston, an opera written by the teenaged Felix Mendelssohn), the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to celebrate Barb’s 50th birthday by seeing several plays, and to Spokane, Washington, to celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary by hearing Thomas Hampson sing a recital benefiting the renovation of the Fox Theater there .
We had planned to go overseas but postponed that for Jim’s
back surgery. We plan to take a tour of Turkey in
April. In preparation for this, Barb has
been studying Turkish
this year at the