Downtown in 20 minutes

Bryce and I are trying to explore more and get the most out of Seattle that we can while we're living here. We decided to do Happy Hour, but ended up walking from Belltown to Downtown in order to find Dragonfish, a sushi place I was craving. It took a little more than 20 minutes to walk there-- and that's me in my bad work shoes. My work shoes were so bad that I got a new pair at Nordie's--aahhh, shoes that fit! Turns out I've been buying the wrong size for oh, lets say the last 10-15 years of my life.

We're starting to figure out the "bad" streets to walk down at night (2nd and 3rd ave) and the better ones: 1st and 5th ave.

ASHA-grrr

Today was a bit stressful. On a positive note, I counted up my continuing education hours and I have the 30 hours needed to continue my SLP certification with ASHA for a few more years- phew! On the bad note, I called ASHA and asked why they haven't sent me or the NZSTA a letter saying that I am in good standing with them-- ASHA said that that was not in their policy. I couldn't believe that ASHA wouldn't say that I have no ethics violations against me. I give this organization $200 a year and really get nothing in return except for extra letters by my name. The only reason why I even stay with them is in case I want to work in private practice or medical setting somewhere besides WA state one day.

I wrote NZSTA and explained to them the situation about ASHA-- they wrote back only to say that my e-mail would be forwarded to their Review Board for consideration.

I really hope that this glitch with ASHA doesn't get in the way of us going to NZ!!!

Autumn Leaves and Good-Bye

This year, the Seattle area has had the most colorful leaves in recent memory.


I took these photos in Issaquah on the way from an augmentative communication conference in Bellevue to dinner at Lombardi's with Bryce's grandma, Bob, and Sheryl and Herb.

Bryce's grandma and Bob are leaving for their new condo in Florida in a couple of days; they're staying there until the Spring.

When we said good-bye, we realized that we won't see them again until we get back from New Zealand :-(

ASHA--hello??

Still no word from ASHA about getting an "in good standing letter" to me for the NZSTA. I went ahead and resent them my e-mail asking for the letter.

ASHA

No word yet from ASHA about the "in good standing" letter, which is weird. They are usually prompt with their e-mails. I popped over to the post office again on my lunch break to send off the copy of my marriage certificate. For somehow I couldn't figure out international postage from the internet-- the postal service guy told me that a regular letter of up to 4 sheets of letter costs 94 cents for every country but Canada and Mexico. Canada and Mexico is something like 72 cents. Good to know...

NZSTA application incomplete (?!)

I got an e-mail this evening saying that I need to send NZSTA a copy of my marriage certificate to prove that my college transcript is really for me (whoops). NZSTA also said that an ASHA letter I gave them verifying my membership status was not enough-- the letter specifically needs to say that I'm "in good standing." So I shot off an e-mail to ASHA asking for the letter.

Enchantments

Still recovering from a cold after doing the enchantments with Ryan and Chris.

Rough facts:
1,200 ft start
7,400 high camp
8,440 ft summit reached (#70 on Washington 100)
Lots of larches in their prime(a relatively rare coniferous tree that has needles that change bright yellow in fall)
1 goat raider looking for goodies
5+ cold looking lakes
sub 30: our tent temperature on Sunday morning.
One of the most beautiful places. Every thing above 6400 ft is either small meadows, bright yellow Larches, white granite, and blue water.