As we walked through the neighborhoods, I chatted with other church members, and initially tried to stay tucked into our “pack” behind the First Parish Chelmsford sign, while trying to navigate a stroller around the crowds and potholes.  But after a while, I was able to let go of trying to stay close to the rest of my familiar group.  As our Religious Education director reminded me, part of the day is to mingle with other people, start up impromptu conversations, and observe.  We continued along the route as residents sat at their windows or on porches, many seeming unsure what to make of the 100s of people meandering along the street.  We waved and smiled, especially at the mothers and the children.  Cars passing by honked their horns in support.  I wondered how many people felt it ironic that a peace walk was loudly interrupting their morning quiet or blocking traffic along their way.  I didn’t feel like joining in on the bullhorn call-and-response of “what do we want?” “PEACE!” “when do we want it?” “NOW!” because peace, to me, is more quiet and introspective, not something to be demanded.  But to many of these people, peace is something they actively strive to foster on a daily basis, something they will shout and fight for.  There were dozens of people wearing T-shirts and carrying posters with pictures of loved ones, lost too young, to violence.  Some were victims of an attack or shooting, others the collateral damage of a broken life lived with guilt and sorrow that led to depression and even suicide. One speaker asked, responding to the familiar “RIP” next to the name of a departed loved one, “What about Live in Peace or Grow Up in Peace?”  Some people quietly held signs advocating peace and hope as they walked along.  A little farther down the road, the woman with the bullhorn changed up her questions, talking about the importance of forgiveness as part of working toward peace.

I could listen in on conversations, observe the architecture of the buildings, think about the economics of the area.  One block was full of Vietnamese signs, businesses and shops.  Not far away, I saw a market advertising Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American and Caribbean foods.  I thought about the different places that people came from, all living together in close proximity, probably bringing different ideas of culture, ethics, lifestyles and survival.  I tried to recall how long it had been since I took the Red Line to explore a new area and felt really out of my element; I was glad to be able to come today with people I knew, surrounded by the crowds, and feel safe.  So many churches, many of them housed in former auto-repair garages and store fronts, with friendly volunteers handing out water along the way.  As we marched down one block, a fellow walker described the street as being one where shootings were common, and then recounting a story of when she was caring for children, and heard gun shots on the street.  How they asked what the popping sound was, and what they should do.  “We need to stay inside for now, then when the sirens come, we’re going to get out of here.”  How she had seen a body laying on the street as the police arrived, and she ushered her charges home.  Teenage girls recited chants in singsong voices that peace is possible, desiring peace in their neighborhood.  Returning to the park, where dogs met one another with wagging tails, we reunited with our group, commented on the beautiful weather, admired my sleeping son, and made our way home to other activities in the safe-feeling suburbs.  I was thankful for a few hours to be on the move, but with a quiet mind, meditating on the question of what I can really do to encourage peace, a question without any concrete answer.  For today it is enough to bring my son to Dorchester, thankful that I have him, and hopeful that he’ll grow safely to adulthood.  To be part of a movement of humanity, surrounded by others who put aside their other daily activities and priorities to literally take steps toward a more peaceful world, starting with a more peaceful neighborhood.

Sue, with your sparkling eyes and contagious smile

We’ve loved you being with us all the while

We’re gathered here today to honor you and Brian

For all the things you say and do

Behind the scenes, all the work

Never a duty did either of you shirk.

Composing letters, phone calls, always always lots to do

And, God love Brian waiting patiently

Keeping track of what you were doing and where you would be.

Both of you such a joy and help to us,

Doing things quietly, without a fuss

I knew when I met you that first day

We would be friends, and that will stay that way.

Sue, you joined the cantata group

We were surely one heck of a troop!

A lovely voice, you love to sing

Our concerts, joy, to many people did bring

And all the events we planned came out fine.

With your hectic schedule you always found time.

I know you and Brian entertained at home

Your cooking skills were really well known.

Being loyal to a small church is a hard thing to do

But we always knew we could count on you.

Brian, a wonderful quiet guy

Was our Treasurer and a great one was he!

A good thing they didn’t pick someone like me…

I can’t add one and one and have it come out two;

That wouldn’t be good for me or you.

We all worked the suppers and fairs, A lot of work for all

But we put out best feet forward and really had a ball.

Now, circumstances have changed and you will move away

We really love you both and wish that you could stay.

Our thoughts and prayers will be with you

No matter where you are,

whether near or far

May God and our blessings go with you!

Love, Pat Sayward, January 29, 21012

Following Kristin Armstrong’s advice, I’ve been enjoying the natural break of the holidays.  I ran a few times during our trip, mostly to revisit favorite routes and regulate my energy, but I tried to not be overly concerned about the distance or frequency.  I’m definitely ready to get back to training for Boston and also focus on regaining core and upper body strength next year.  Visiting family and participating in their routine, trying on their pace, and enjoying their favorite foods is fun and helps me to connect with them.  It also makes returning home feel like putting on your favorite slippers, well-worn and comfortable.

Work has been thoroughly enjoyable this year, rewarding, and more successful than I expected.  I took on a new position in April leading the ISR, Mission Management and Fusion technical group.  I have had the luxury of a new boss who was clearly dedicated to his team, the guidance and assistance of my former boss who became his deputy, a terrific group of peers who genuinely value collaboration, the mentorship of a good friend who first hired me to the company 8 years ago, and the benefit of having the VP of Finance as my formal mentor.  My group’s leadership team is experienced and engaged.  We have grown in numbers this year, not as fast as we’d hoped, but the new crew positions us well for an even better 2012.  I’ve particularly enjoyed being part of the company’s Women’s Forum and recruiting at the Society of Women Engineers convention, resulting in 3 promising hires for our Burlington site and great networking opportunities.

Though we have loved and dedicated many hours to People’s United Methodist Church in Newburyport over the past 10 years, it’s time to move on and find a local church near our new home in Chelmsford.  I’m looking forward to attending church with friends for the next few months, which I’ve not done since college, and eventually getting involved in a new church.

We learned a valuable lesson in 2011 about taking advantage of local opportunities.  We went kayaking for the first time with some friends from work, walking 2 blocks to the kayak rental company and another short distance to put in our kayaks in the Merrimack.  After living in Newburyport 10 years, this was the first time we took advantage of a great natural resource in this way, and we had a fantastic time, wondering why hadn’t done it sooner!  We vowed to avoid the same error when we moved to Chelmsford.  We live just behind a state park that has groomed cross country ski trails in the winter.  So, we pooled Christmas money from Dad and Grandma to purchase skis so we are ready to enjoy the park when we finally get snow.

2011 was a pretty good year, overall.  I’m excited to see what 2012 has in store.

The first measure that comes to mind is miles. Brian has been logging his miles on the road (950 miles biked, 575 miles on foot) and meters in the pool (60km) this year. I’ve run over 370 miles since June, when I started logging miles in my new running shoes, and “miles” is the third most used word in my facebook posts in the last year. This training was motivated by 5 races each – a 12K, a half marathon and a 10 miler before Brian’s two triathlons (sprint and international distances) and my 25K and marathon. We also have driven quite a lot of miles, between our July trip to the midwest and our holiday four-state tour (about 2000 miles per trip) and my 38 mile commute each way to work (I put on about 20,000 miles a year on my car). The number of days carpooling was lower than it probably should be – a good reminder to make a better effort to share rides in 2010.

We ate local for 27 weeks this year courtesy of our farm share, with some additional support from our garden, our family’s gardens and Tendercrop farm. I’m sure I can’t count how many bunches of Chinese cabbage we ate – too many! We’ve eaten out less, have spent less money, and have eaten healthier than in many past years, plus we know where more of our food originates.

Dollars recovered comes to mind when I think about my year at work. When I took over a new project in April, it was projecting a $1M overrun by the end of this year. I’m very proud to say that we are now on budget, we’ve got some excellent results from our recent flight test, and we’re expecting our next phase to start in January. While there have been plenty of challenges, in many ways this year has seemed very easy from a work perspective. I couldn’t ask for a better team of colleagues at BAE Systems, on the government team or with our subcontractors, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know and work with them despite a fairly rough business environment overall.

We could count hours volunteered. Brian has continued as a legal advocate at the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center, spending a few days each month at court, and also volunteering at the office to set up a database, work on files and do legal intakes. My work at MIT continues at a lower level – I’m on the IRDF board, am serving as a Community Catalyst Leadership coach and president of the WILG corporation board. Then we’d add on hours spent by Brian as our church treasurer and by Susan on grant applications and meetings and newsletter articles… perhaps we shouldn’t count.

House guests at the Juddmansee B&B is a fun metric! Dan Sheldon is in the lead for naming rights to the guest room at this point, but Mary Obelnicki is a close second. Isaac Sheldon came to visit us for the first time for Brian’s birthday, which was great fun. Brian’s Mom and Grandma drove out and stayed with us for almost a week. These are just a few of the folks who have stopped by. We love having friends and family visit! There is no way to measure the joy and love of our friends and family.

How do you measure a year?

We really enjoyed having friends come visit the Juddmansee B&B. First Mary came for cooking and games during her cousin-ween trip. We were very excited to tackle a pile of greens from the farm share, play games, and make apple pie with her. She inspired us to try some old “Road Trip Orchards” wine and check out the peach wine Sarah and I had made. Her sister Anne is credited with phoning in the proper instructions to “take out the pork loin now” at the perfect time, as well as inspiring Mary and me to try the new Revitalife raw foods cafe with her.

Next up was Beej’s 36th birthday, celebrated at Smith and Wollensky with many good friends. Isaac stayed with us for a couple days and Dan stopped by for dinner at the Grog. We enjoyed thoughtful conversation, camaraderie, and another opportunity to play Settlers of Catan.

In the mean time, we transitioned to the late season farm share. First we were inundated with spicy greens and squashes, then we got confused about the pickup time and missed last week. It turned out to be an error in our favor, because I went on travel last week and we’ll finally catch up on perishable farm share items this week. Last week’s lettuce and optional spicy greens (= opt out!) plus greenhouse peppers and tomatoes meant tasty salads and a manageable share.

And yes, the snap dragons are still blooming in the back yard.

It’s also been a busy time for church stuff. We had our annual meeting at the end of October, then our normal business meeting the 2nd Saturday of November followed by an additional strategy meeting last Monday. The Angel Gabriel Christmas Fair was a big success and our “talents” fund raiser is going well. We also have had another congregation express interest in sharing our building, and meanwhile we’ve submitted applications for two grants and are working on a third. I’m cautiously optimistic about our finances, but we’ll see what transpires between now and January.

Last week I traveled to Dallas and Fort Walton beach. A highlight, other than flying our system on a P-3, was checking out the state park across from the hotel. I often wish for good running routes when I’m traveling, and this one was too good to pass up.

I flew back on Friday, just in time to hear Shawn Colvin at the new Tupelo Music Hall in Salisbury. We are psyched!!! First, that we have such a great venue so close – only 10 mins drive from our house. Second, that they have some great musicians booked. We enjoyed hearing Liz Longley open for Shawn Colvin, and we’re considering seeing Ani DiFranco in January.

Finally, I’ve been working on completing my Advanced Project Management courses on line. The final week of on-campus courses at Stanford was planned for September, but I was not able to attend. Luckily my registration was transferred to the on-line course offering, but it’s been a challenge to fit in the videos and reading on top of my normal workload and schedule. I managed to complete Mastering the Project Portfolio last weekend, leaving just one more module to go – hopefully I’ll make more progress this weekend. I keep forgetting that on top of our race schedule and other “normal” activities, I’ve been completing a graduate certificate this year.

So please don’t fear that we’re wasting away our time in boredom and have nothing to write. We’re taking a break from racing for a couple months, we’ve got the yard under control, and we’re just enjoying fall in New England. Happy Thanksgiving!

window boxes 2009

Painting was more of an adventure than you might expect.  First, a minor mishap occurred when I was getting ready to paint.  I shook the can to mix the paint.  Unfortunately the lid was not well sealed.  Red paint sloshed on my shoes and the garage floor – luckily not on the rest of me nor on my car.  Brian, responding to my hollers from the garage,  grabbed a bunch of rags so I could clean up.  If you visit us, don’t worry about what died in the garage doorway – it was just my clumsiness and very messy bright paint.  Second, I decided to paint the window boxes without taking them off.  I was careful and managed to avoid splattering the house.  I had another mental lapse in painting without checking the forecast.  After I finished, I discovered thunderstorms were expected that night.  I imagined red paint streaking down the green siding at 3am when the sky opened and thunder clapped.  Again I was fortunate and the paint did not run; it had dried sufficiently well in the 12 hours before the rain began.  I asked Brian why he let me bumble through such a simple task without pointing out my imminent (and avoidable) pitfalls, and he noted that it was good for me to remember how long these “little chores” take and what can go wrong.  Point taken.  No permanent damage and fresh memories that painting is tedious.

In addition to sprucing up the front, I also got sets for the garden.  I was allowed to do whatever I wanted, which meant we have a new strawberry patch, tomatoes, eggplant and hot peppers.  I planted some snap dragons around the lilac and some cosmos and asters for the back fenceline to fill in the bare patches.  Last year I tried tomatoes there, but it didn’t get enough sun.  This year we have pink, white and purple flowers until we decide what fast-growing barrier to plant as a privacy and noise buffer to our backyard neighbors.  They aren’t loud, but we can now see one another directly each morning as we sit on our respective patios and have coffee.  Better to have a bit of colorful natural screening.

The pernnials continue to grow amazingly well.  The lilac and bleeding hearts are just now fading, the azalea has bloomed out, and the rhododendrons are going strong.  I transplanted lamb’s ear so it has room to expand in front of the lilac, and one poppy survived from last year.  I expect next week the seedum and salvia will be blooming – the buds are set and ready for a couple sunny days to open up.  The lenten rose has its first bloom, only 2 monts after expected!  As the name suggests, this plant typically is the first color in late winter, blooming about the same time that crocuses pop through the ground in March or early April.  This one took a bit longer, but I’m pleased that it is showing signs of health with one single pale pink nodding flower.  It promises to grow into a pretty ground cover in a few years.  Here is a shot of the blooming rhododendrons through our tall bee balm, bushy black-eyed Susans, purple salvia and spikey seedum.

Now you can virtually experience sitting on the swing, looking to the right side of the yard.  Have some lemonade and enjoy the warm afternoon!

Since it took 2 weeks to actually write this post, I’ll also note that we started a “pot luck” garden at church.  The new sign was installed so we could finish the planting.  Various church members dropped off plants and helped plant them.  We also spent time weeding along the driveway and the back of the church.  We pulled a whole bag of little maple trees, bamboo and various weeds encroaching through the mulch and stone.  We still need to tackle the side yard, but in the mean time we’re ready for a church picnic.  Several neighbors stopped by to complement the new sign and the fresh, neat and colorful look to the church.   It feels good to dig in the dirt and it’s satisfying to see the end result.

This was just the start of Christmas preparations. Until Tuesday night.  Then, the cookies started. Now, it really is the Christmas season.

I love making Christmas cookies. I always enjoyed making cookies with Mom, being funny with the sprinkles or an elaborate frosting scheme.  I have fond memories of making snickerdoodles with Grandma Woodmansee, too.  I have the nice airbake cookie sheets, my grandmother’s rolling pin and nifty stacking space-saving cooling racks.  I have a Cookie recipe book, a gift from Arley Kim that has continued to offer new baking adventures for almost 15 years.  And I have a really top notch taste tester and shopper.  All the right ingredients for baking success.

The catalyst this year: caroling at church.  We’re going tomorrow, and that means we need cookies!  This year is all new recipes: Lemon Bars on a shortbread crust, which were made Tuesday; Gingerbread dough that was made Tuesday but cut-out and cooked tonight; and Cinnamon Diamond dough that was made this morning and cooked tonight.  In retrospect, the Lemon Bars are good for a “one fell swoop” cooking event, though I have to disagree that they are as “easy” as the recipe suggests.  The Cinnamon Diamonds (or any refrigerator cookie that you put in a log of wax paper and slice later) are the more time-efficient choice, if you can split the dough-phase and the cook-phase with sufficient cooling-and-butter-solidifying-phase time.  But who can resist Gingerbread with 5 spices? (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, allspice and white pepper – the secret ingredient) There are now dozens of tasty treats downstairs, waiting to find new homes on Purchase Street tomorrow.

Regardless of whether Advent is a time of reflection, a time of celebration, a time of preparation or an annual rollercoaster of stress and excitement (which do you think I tend toward?), it is here!  And tomorrow we’ll share some Christmas spirit with the neighbors.  Bon Appetit!

We have glasses. Brian got his first and he wears his more often. After 15 years of wearing contacts and letting my glasses prescription become obsolete, I finally got new glasses too. I don’t plan to wear them all the time, but I can wear them around the house or in case I need a back-up to contacts. I like them so far.

Also new – Sox Tickets! The home opener is April 8. I have 12 games this year. Go Sox!

Today was our church cluster Cantata. Our director is moving to NC, so we don’t know how the Christmas cantata will happen, and it was both sad to think about him moving but at the same time a celebration of the fun we’ve had singing with him for 8 of these events. Today was a thoughtful program about joining Christ in his sorrow, a good way to start Holy Week.