The Year in Review

Or, where did it go?

Or, here are some of the big things in 2009 I meant to blog about, but didn't.  Good intentions pave the road to somewhere?!?

All the way back in May I went to Tanzania and Kenya for two weeks with The Nature Conservancy, which was my second trip to Africa, but won't be my last.  I am grateful for the opportunity to be involved with such an excellent organization and provide some capacity building support to their partners there.

Also in May, my Mom moved to Colorado into a retirement community near me, her grandchildren Morgan and Drew, and my sister Martha.  Sister Wendy moved back to Anchorage, Alaska in June after 10 years in Colorado, so we're holding steady on the family headcount here.  I'm looking forward to having Mom as my date for all kinds of cultural events in the years to come.  Brad can avoid ballet, museums, and symphony henceforth.

I retreated for almost an entire summer of writing at Keystone, which was wonderfully productive and peaceful.  I did manage to blog about that.

I have continued knitting like a fiend this fall.  I made a baby blanket for the adorable Rollie Cohen in blue:

Then I worked for a long time on a scarf for my amazing personal assistant, Kelli.  This is a complicated Diamond Brocade pattern using a beautiful hand-painted 100% alpaca yarn called High Country Vineyard from Lonesome Stone Yarn in Granby, Colorado stocked at the massive and excellent Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in Boulder. 

I was very happy with how this project turned out, and was delighted to make a gift for Kelli worthy of her generous spirit and hard work.

A person new in my life in 2009 that I'm extra grateful for is Colette from Room to Room who has been working with me to organize my life.  It has been amazing to open the last boxes of college papers and throw away anything I don't want anymore.  I'm learning that just because something is useful, that doesn't mean it's useful to me.  I look forward to removing more clutter from my physical world and implementing systems that allow me to focus my time on what I really care about. Thanks, Colette.

One of the areas that I'm spending more energy on and really enjoying is the philanthropic work I do through the Anchor Point Fund, particularly the Anchor Point Internships in Global Leadership at Wellesley College.  I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Joanne Murray, the director of both the Center for Work and Service and the Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs which has its inaugural program in January 2010.  I look forward to continuing to shape the vision of what global leadership means in the 21st century with Joanne.

We funded four internships in Africa during the summer and will do so again in 2010, and many years to come, with the interns presenting their experiential learning results at the Tanner Conference in the fall.

Here is a photo of 3 of the 4 Anchor Point Interns and me in the spring of 2009:

And a different set of 3 of the 4 interns and me in November 2009, along with Salwa Muhammad ('06), Assistant Director of  Internships & Service Learning at the Center for Work and Service: 

 

We each ordered the gorgeous lobster at our celebratory dinner at Blue Ginger Restaurant:

I am deeply honored to have been elected to the board of trustees at Wellesley College and look forward to learning how to be an effective trustee and serving the College during my tenure.

In 2010 I'm thinking of reviving some other dormant skills since the knitting has been so satisfying.  My viola gathers dust in its case and I think I'm going to try to find a way to bring viola back into my life.

We'll be going to Alaska for the month of July, and we love company.  If you're considering a trip to Alaska, come stay with us in Homer.

I'm not making any specific New Year's Resolutions, but I will continue to try to do more blogging.  I have enjoyed tweeting on Twitter, but I think I do have some thoughts that take more than 140 characters to express.  I'll post them here.

Best wishes to all for a healthy and happy 2010!

Comments

[Elise Howes]

Holy cow - those knitting projects are absoluetly gorgeous. Rollie and Kelli are most lucky indeed.

I've been watching brad's tweets for months now and have seen many touching posts about @batchelor...still unsure of your name, it is nowhere to be seen on this page

In any case, I love seeing the full integration of all that women are embodied in your blog: smart capable and nurturing women lead beautifully, teach/mentor, guide, create and enjoy. You show it all here! Love it - a woman who would be a terrific add to any 'girlfriend' list! Keep going - looking forward to seeing more in 2010.

Blessings! Regards, Elise...from broomfield
@HowesBiz