Dr. Kazimierz Poznanski, my latest SL8.com client
 
Kaz Poznanski, Economics professor at the UW and husband of Dr. Joanna Poznanska in my business school, is my latest web design client.  Joanna bought him the www.kazpoznanski.com domain with my help, and I've created a modest web site showcasing his art.  His color oils are interesting to me, his black and white oils leave me wondering who buys this stuff.  I'm only charging him $80 for my initial work.  But an ongoing site management role will keep him as a client for a good long while.

On Sunday, November 28th, I met with Kaz at McKenna Hall and did a two hour photo shoot of many of his paintings.

Also this month I did a photographic job for Dr. Al Erisman, also from SBE, and he paid me $60 for a single short photo shoot of an art piece done by his brother back in 1965.
 

Divided Government Superior to a Headlong Drive toward Socialism

The midterm election on November 2nd provided a brake on the vehicle of State which has been speeding toward a Socialist future for America with Barak Obama at the wheel.  Time will tell if the new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives will be able to slow the careening nation before an expected crash.  

Annie is Substitute Teaching at BCS
 
What a great way to ease into a profession.  Along with her evening work tutoring at the Bellevue Learning Center, Annie has started subbing right here at Bellevue Christian.  Here she's teaching Jeannie Beth's class in Art. Annie was a paid assistant at Mrs. Grambush's summer art camp at BCS and is her preferred choice as a sub. 
 
She has also been a sub in study hall and math.  $90 a day and it looks good on her résumé.

Seattle Pacific Ends Season in the Snow at Regionals
 
On Saturday, November 6th, at the GNAC league championships on the Apple Ridge course near Yakima (while the rest of us were in Pasco), Nathanael was running to his second 2nd place SPU team finish in two years at "Conference."  The team, by placing 6th, thought that their season had come to an unwelcomed end.  But the SPU administration, knowing that the NCAA West Regionals were being held in nearby Bellingham, let both the men's and women's teams race again on November 20th.
 
The first snow of the year fell on Bellingham the night before the races, and the men started their race at 10:00 a.m. at 37 degrees and through about two inches of snow.  Both the SPU men and women raced to 12th place finishes, about the median of the assembled teams, but well out of trips to Nationals.  For his part, Nathanael ran another strong 2nd for SPU.  At the 5K (3.1 mile) half way mark (left), Nate was in 3rd place on the team, well behind front running senior Jacob "Wally" Wahlenmaier and sophomore AJ Baker.  But at the 6 mile mark (right), Nate had closed the gap, as he often does in the second half of races, and finished only four seconds behind Wally with a time of 34:52.5 for 10K in the snow, and 21.5 seconds ahead of Andrew Van Ness.  Andrew was six seconds ahead of early-season front runner Will Harrison, who just edged out AJ Baker who completed the SPU top five.

From Grandma Jean: ♦  What month is it? "December?" (It was almost Thanksgiving.)  ♦  Who is the President? (She got it right on the third try but her first answer was "Austria," and her second answer was "California.") ♦  What city are you in right now? "I'm not in Salem. I'm in Bellevue." ♦  How many cats can you name that live in this house? (I gave her hints.) "You mean there are three cats?"  (She couldn't name any of them.)  ♦  You've been reading a book.  Who is it about? "An actor, but I can't remember his name."  (She'd been reading about George Burns for weeks.) ♦  Is there anything you would like to say to Laurie?  "No, except that I love her."  Like Nancy says, she remembers what's really important!

I Finally Broke Down and Bought Cell Phones The day before Thanksgiving, the kids and I (and Thomas) walked down in the snow to Bellevue Square; our destination, the AT&T store.  There was a crowd there and I learned that their online prices were better than their in-store prices.  We wandered down to the Qwest/Verizon store (since we have Qwest phone and DSL at home), and were the lone customers.  Nate Zerabruk assisted me, a young black sales rep that made his Christian faith clear and said he was a Baylor grad.  There I discovered that the Verizon and AT&T "family plans" were virtually identical, but with Qwest we could get free activation and a $5.00/mo. discount on our regular phone/DSL bill.  Annie, Nathanael, and I each picked out a "free" phone.  Well, actually, Jeannie Beth picked out the LG Cosmos (pictured) for me, knowing it would be the one she would borrow and perhaps take to college. So the "technology guy" finally owns a cell phone.  I share 1400 minutes with Annie and Nathanael and my new cell number is (425) 999-1605.

Snow in November
 
Snow before Thanksgiving, coldest November temperatures since 1985, power outages, homeward commute times in the six to ten hour range ― this was Monday the 22nd.  SPU shut down at 1:30 p.m. that Monday and we didn't go back until the 29th. I sent the small image at the right to the SBE staff a week earlier and called their attention to the La Niña weather pattern and the claim that we were in for a colder, snowier winter.  So far that forecast has been right on track.   Snow the first week in December is also in the forecast.

BCS was already shut down for the week for the holiday.  We kept mom warm by keeping the the wood stove burning all week.  The cats also did what they could to keep us warm.

Here Annie is taking a break with Shadow.  Annie is trying to write a complete 50,000 word novel in November.