Winter 2019

As winter began, believe it or not, I found myself almost looking forward to busy season.  Things were just a little too quiet, I was getting a little too soft.  I was eager to jump in and begin the first year of my own practice.  Rachael and I made a last hurrah up in Portland, having dinner with all our best friends at an old school steakhouse and then living it up in a funky suite in NW.  It was a nice way to celebrate and kick off the new year and the new job.

Before long things were rolling ahead full steam.  I can’t believe what an incredible difference it makes working 1 mile from home!  I was able to stay way more connected with Rachael and Josef.  My general routine was to head in around 6am, come home for dinner around 5pm, and then go back until about 9pm.  Saturdays I’d only do about 6 hours, and Sundays I always took off.  

Saturday afternoons I’d try to spend some quality time with Josef, and Sundays I’d try and do as little as possible!  Usually I’d go do a strenuous workout with my buddy around the corner in the morning, and then spend the rest of the day recovering…  The one Sunday that I took Josef skiing was enough to convince me that I should under no circumstance attempt to do anything on my day off!  I was pretty much wrecked the following week.

The ski trip was a huge success, despite the fact that I forgot every item that I borrowed for Josef to use, except the skis.  We ended up buying/borrowing/renting everything in a mad dash in order to get him to the lesson on time.  Skiing used to be a big part of my youth, and while it doesn’t mesh well with a CPA’s schedule, I hope that next winter we can try and get in a few more days before busy season begins.

In February, Josef transitioned into the 1st Grade at the Waldorf school.  He began learning his letters and numbers, math, playing the recorder, painting.  His teacher is wonderful and the class welcomed him immediately.  He really benefited from having greater structure and being challenged to pick things up quickly.  He is quite proud of himself for being a “grader” now.  He gets to take part in all the assemblies in his dress shirt and black slacks.  It’s incredibly dear.  We had a little ceremony for him to commemorate the change.

I continue to struggle with WordPress’ new user interface, thus demonstrating that I am officially an Old Person.  In lieu of captions, below you will find pictures of: Josef’s first ski trip, a German feast we ate in honor of Opa’s birthday, Josef’s first art show contribution (row3 col4), his first play, his first day of 1st Grade, and more!

Also, here are some videos.

passport photos