Homeward Bound

Here's yours truly and my partner, Bren at the Capitol in Olympia on New Year's Day.

For those of my friends whom I've gotten to know through the blogosphere, I want to share the following announcement, which I sent out to my friends and family members earlier this week. It won't make any difference to those of us who only know each other through the vast expanse of the Internet, but is likely to have a huge impact on my blogging, my artwork, and my outlook on life overall.

I applied for a job with my regional Alaska Native corporation, Koniag, just before the Christmas holiday. Last Friday, January 4, I traveled to Anchorage for a second interview, returning home that afternoon. Late Tuesday afternoon, I received an offer from Koniag, which I have subsequently accepted. The position is hareholder Communications Specialist, and is based in Kodiak. I will be traveling frequently (every other weekend) around Kodiak Is. (to the villages), as well as to Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, and to Seattle. I am very excited to return to Kodiak working for Koniag, Inc. I start my job on Friday, Feb. 1, and anticipate arriving in Kodiak a couple of days prior to that. My last day at work here in Seattle will be Jan. 25. I will be making arrangements for temporary housing, and then looking at a more permanent situation after I get settled at my new job.

Bren will be staying here to hold down the fort, as tax season is just starting up, and she already has clients beating down the door! Some time after April 15, she will come to Kodiak for a visit, and we will start planning what do to for our long-term living arrangements.

We are both really excited about this opportunity. When the job posting appeared in the most recent Koniag Newsletter, I felt like it was an answer to my prayers to figure out how to spend more time with my Mom and Dad, who are both in their late 80's. This affords me the perfect opportunity to enjoy their company as well as my other friends & relations (at least them who live in Kodiak), have a good career with challenging new opportunities, and a healthy diet of salmon, halibut, and hiking/beachcombing, etc.

Thanks to you who have supported me in this endeavor, and with whom I've worked in the past! I will be in touch as soon as I have a new snail-mail address, etc. In the meantime, the best way to contact me will be via my e-mail or checking in here at the blog. Here's a link to Koniag's website:
http://www.koniag.com