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May is Bike to Work Month

Bike To Work

May is bike to work month and there are several PBA staffers who are participating in the Group Health Commute Challenge. Somehow I have found myself nominated as captain of this team and I’ve got the T-Shirt to prove it.  Captainship, has actually turned out to be pretty fun and easy at the same time. Each of our 4 team members can log into an account on the Cascade Bike Club website and log each of our trips and how many miles we’ve ridden over the past week. At the end of the month, we get to compare our data with other companies around the area. The last time I checked there were over 6500 riders participating which is super exciting. It’s not too late either, so if you’re interested come join in. Who couldn’t use a little exercise and fresh air? And, hey, you can compete against the best bowling organization in the world.

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The Printer

***Warning: This is a long post about printing our wedding invitations…click on any of the blue highlighted words to see pictures!***

My brother Phil has a super old printing press set up in his garage. I asked Phil if Barry and I could possibly print our wedding invites using his tools and skills. Phil seemed thrPhil’s Garageilled and very excited from the get-go. I had no idea what an undertaking this project would be. Thankfully Geneviève kept us fed through the whole process.

We headed to the Paper Zone to pick paper. Yeah, it sounds simple, but we were in a store called the Paper Zone….to pick paper. I had no idea there were so many colors and textures of paper. was super sweet in helping me make the decisions, listening to all the reasons I did or didn’t like certain colors. We still had our work cut out for us:

Phil with paint

1. Pick font from the massive amount available.

 

2. Set Type & mix paint: white with red makes PINK!

3. Print! (watch the printing movie to see all the action)

4. Check the goods and keep printing.

Basically, this went on for 4 days with a million steps in between. It happened to be freezing and I busted into Phil’s camping gear and put on his boots. They didn’t quite fit, but my feet were

Bundled up!

 

 

better off because of them. Geneviève carved the wave that is on the back of the envelop out of a linoleum block. She busted it out and I, as always, was amazed at her artistic ability.Carving Hands

We didn’t just spend our time at PW Elverum Print Studios, but had to make a run to Bayshore to photo copy the directions sheet. If you have never been to Bayshore Office Supply in Anacortes you should go, it’s a funny small town experience. Phil is a regular there. Speaking of Anacortes, two of my favorite family members, Nancy and Midge, stopped by to see the work in progress….I think they got cold.

One thing that I really appreciated about working with Phil on this project was his ability to see how he wanted it to look in the end based on they vague description I shared with him. He started by drawing a mock up and that mock up kept changing…until we got to the real thing. (Check your local mail box to see the final invite soon!)

Phil’s initial mock up

invites

swatch

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Are You Hip?

SydSydney and I went up to Anacortes for this past week. I had Spring Break (Whooeee, Spring Break ’08!!) and my mom had hip surgery. Plus, thThe Printeris was a time that I was able to meet with my brother to talk in depth about wedding invitations. (We finished printing them!)

Everything went really well for my mom’s hip replacement, but it was kind of surreal to see my mom, whose nickname is Fidget, in the hospital. I had the opportunity to see her hip joint, which looked like a small bald alien head. She’s been plugging away with bone rubbing on bone, ouch. Queen Janet is home now and doing awesome!! Nurse Sydney nursed her though the rough, tough times. Notice the crown?

dsc023291.JPGMy mom was not the only thing getting wacked back at the Elvrums’ North home. My parents are having a bunch of trees cut down to increase the amount of sun light that hits their porch. It doesn’t look as shocking as I was expecting, but the loggers aren’t done yet, so it could be a significant amount.