Ridiculously Tardy Last Day in Phoenix Photos

I suspected I would come in on my last day in Phoenix, April 18th, to a decorated cube but I didn't expect this kind of exuberance. It was awesome.
That's me, second to the end in the group of women. Yes, I have gained weight. Thanks for noticing. There's a really cute group shot of about twelve of us but it's a full length shot and I can't stand how I look in it. When I first moved to Phoenix I was relatively thin (the 'About Me' photo to the right on my blog is from that time) Hopefully I'll be there again soon. Anyway, I'm surrounded in this shot by Kendra, Nicole and Meghan, all super-nice women who I miss.
The happy woman in this photo is Kathy, the finance counselor on my team. Her cube was right behind mine, and we had to confer constantly about students,so we got to know each other well. We shared a lot of laughs. She was great; I miss her. The scowling guy in the hawaiian shirt is John. This is not a representative photo, since he is normally a smiling person. His cube was right in front of mine so we got to know each other really well too. He cared about students as much as I did and was a great coworker as well.

Memorial Day Weekend

I took the train from Tacoma to Bellingham right after work on Friday. The train travels so close to the Sound it almost seems like you can reach out and put your hand in the water. This sunset was somewhere around Edmonds.
On Saturday my mom and I took the Plover ferry, which is about 100 years old. It's a 20 minute ride that goes to the other side of Blaine. It circles the harbor on the way to take in the sights.
They kind of look like a bunch of duffel bags just lying there, but these are actually adorable harbor seals. You do know that if you click on any of these pictures, you can enlarge them, right? I suggest you do that with this one so you can see the totally cute puppy-like faces.
I think these birds get paid to pose on this sign.

More Views from my Apartment

When I first saw my apartment, as a prospective renter, it was on an overcast day. After living here a few days the sun came out and I saw that management had thrown in Mt. Rainier at no additional charge.
This is the view from my desk. Having this view brightens my outlook about sitting down to do schoolwork after a long day.
I like this vaugely corny mixed metaphor

Busy

I dearly wish I could take a week off to get fully settled into my new apartment, but no such luxury is forthcoming. I've also, more than a few times in the last two weeks, wished I didn't work in a high-walled, dressing room-like cubicle but there's not much I can do about that either.

The good news is I am indeed happy to be back in the Northwest. It's mid May and still cool and overcast. Love it. I love working in downtown Tacoma. One of my biggest complaints about where I worked in Phoenix was that we were in the middle of an ugly and bad part of town with only a McDonald's and Mobil station store within walking distance. On Thursday, two blocks from my office, there was the first farmers' market of the season. There was not only fresh produce and flowers but all kinds of art , jewelry, and other cool stuff. I'm also surrounded by lots of funky coffee shops, Thai restaurants, art galleries, and several wonderful fountains including quite possibly the coolest one ever which takes up almost an entire block and has all kinds of waterfalls and different effects. As mentioned in a previous post, flowing water has a profoundly beneficial effect on me. So...working in downtown Tacoma is good. The job? Um, well, time will tell. I had my first appointment on Friday (meaning I managed to elbow aside a prospective student's "I'm too busy to go to school now" and persuaded her to come in) and it looks like she is going to sign up, so after much what-else-is-new anxiety I seem to be off to an ok start.

Views from my Tacoma Apartment

I've been in my apartment for a week now. It's on the 14th floor of a 16 story highrise, about a mile from where I'm working in downtown Tacoma.