Playing catch up, this will be a long one. Apologies for being incommunicado. Now, having regained the ability to type with both hands, I can provide a recap.
1. Currently six weeks post-op, the hand pain is down to 2.5 out of 10 and the swelling 1 out of 10. The stitches are gone and I'm feeling enough improvement to appreciate the results of my CMC joint replacement. It helped to meet a woman who had both hands done, the first requiring three months off of work, the second was the more typical 4-5 weeks.
2. The holidays, despite being tainted by pain and family fluiness, contained enjoyable high points: Christmas Eve dinner and our annual Frokost in Palm Springs, meeting my daughter's future in-laws, a family picnic around a campfire in Joshua Tree National Park, three half day watercolor workshops with artist Diane Morgan, spending time with grandson Rye guy, and a girls day at the spa thanks to Travelzoo.
3. Survived my son's dental tourism trip to Los Algodones, Mexico, not without its complications. Bottom line is I'd do it again, but not at a large clinic. My daughter had a good experience at a one woman dental office in Mexico, one where credentials could be checked in advance. The trip was blogable and will occupy future print space on Lifesastitch.
4. I did something I really didn't know how to do. It terrified me for days. When something in life matters a lot you want to do it right. I boldly walked toward my new life, as directed in the reading of my daily devotional, and announced my impending retirement to my staff and board. Scary. It resulted in this nice message from my board of directors to the community:
"Dear friends, supporters, contributors and colleagues,
As the President of North Shore Community Resources it is with a sad heart that it falls to me to advise you that our beloved Executive Director, Li Boesen will be retiring after 15 years of leading North Shore Community Resources through many changes and achievements effective the Spring of 2015.
Under Li’s leadership, despite the fluctuating climate of the nonprofit sector, the agency demonstrated countless examples of success in program development and community collaboration. Li’s wisdom and people skills enabled her to build a strong staff team across diverse programming, resulting in a BC WorkLife Award of Merit and a North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award.
Li and her husband, Chuck, will begin their retirement adventure with a trek on the Camino de Santiago across Northern Spain and plan to live in a quiet community to further develop their artistic talents.
The board of North Shore Community Resources has formed a search committee and retained the executive search expertise of Wayne Hanna and Associates to lead the recruitment process for the next Executive Director.
Please join me in thanking Li for her lifetime of dedication, energy and enthusiasm for our sector and our organization. We all wish her much success and happiness in her retirement."
Now that was a month!