As 2006 progressed, both Mira and I worked at defining what it should mean for us to be "semi-retired". Both of us have active clients, but neither of us is busy, full-time, doing work for clients. Indeed, we're busy enough with our non-business activities that we don't see how we ever had time for a regular job. It's a good combination of some paying work, some volunteer work, and more time spent doing our own things.

The Friesens and the Roosen-Runges joined us to welcome in 2006 at dinner on New Year's Day. Early in January, Mira and I were back out at the cottage. There was snow on the ground, but with the fire burning in the fireplace, it was warm and comfortable inside. And there's a Winter quiet that we only find out at the cottage. Downtown Toronto never has the same quiet feel, even during heavy snow falls. (Click on any photo to see an enlarged version; use your browser's "back" button to return.)

Paul, Mira's nephew, and his partner, Jonathan, visited us in February. It's only a six or seven hour drive from Columbus, Ohio where they are now established. The "boys" are regular and welcomed visitors. And Paul has beeen sending us small packages, often interesting spices or unusual condiments. They now have a full family, being an active part of all phases of the life and development of twins born to a lesiban couple in the city.

In March, Mira and her sister, Doris, went off for a big trip to Egypt. Zoltan, Doris' husband, arranged the entire trip. They saw the pyramids and temples, traveled up the Nile and got a feel for life in modern Egypt. I watched the video taken on their Nile cruise ship with some amazement - it's far from clear that I would have enjoyed the "entertainment" provided to them by the cruise ship. But they had a good time, and that's what's important.

Just before Mira left for New York City and then on to Cairo, Tom Modly (Doris' son) and his son Zak came for a too brief visit. Zak had an athletic event in Buffalo and they took an extra day to drive up to visit us in Toronto. Tom has an interesting and demanding job at the Pentagon, ... his job is to improve the business and financial processes used across the US Military. No small task, but he's already had some real success. We would welcome more visits by the children and grand-children of Doris and Zoltan, but they're all busy.

By April, Mira was back in Toronto and we were back out at the cottage. This year we had an unusually large amount of floating reed clumps drift into the tiny bay in front of the cottage. Mira got a photo of me working at moving the reeds off to one side (a job that I continued to work at during much of the summer). And it was a sad day when Mira's old and no longer faithful car went off to car heaven. It just doesn't make sense for us to maintain two cars when we live in downtown Toronto.

Mira's mother died the previous fall at age 94 after difficult time with late onset Alzheimer's. Marie, Mira's sister, spent much of the previous two years taking care of her in Bakersfield, California. Marie moved to Bakersfield years ago and Mama joined her a number of years ago. In May, the family gathered in Bakersfield for a small memorial service. Marie spread her ashes over a hillside that Mama particularly loved. The whole family was gathered with all of Mira's siblings, their partners, and a number of their children present. It was good to see the whole family together.

In June, Marie made her second visit to Toronto (in 35 years). All three of us went out to the cottage, and Marie reports that she can now understand what draws us out there whenever we have a free weekend. June also is the month of the Toronto Gay Pride Parade. We live just on the edge of the Gay district in Toronto and the parade is a very loud weekend for us. This year, Mira had client business which kept us in Toronto. I went up on the roof of our condo to get this shot of the parade passing by.

The summer was spent doing nothing all that exciting. Both of us had some client work, and we took advantage of every free weekend to spend at the cottage. Mira continued to work for the Ontario Financing Authority and I on material for the Ontario Corporate Chief Technology Officer. Mira was very busy with clients and volunteer work; I had it easier.

We were forced to miss the annual Beausoleil picnic in September - I had to attend a "fascinating" itSMF meeting about By-Law revisions. Beausoleil is the small sub-division where our cottage is located. I'm Vice-President of the Community Association. The sense of community in Beausoleil stands in stark contrast to the absence of a sense of community at our condo. I've helped build the Beausoleil community, but have yet to find a way to build a community at the condo.

In November, the Borodins returned for another of their monthly visits back to Toronto from Seattle where Allan is taking the first part of his sabbatical. It was good to see them back in the city and we look forward to their being around full-time next year. Later in the month, Bill and Karen Bode left Beausoleil. Bill played a major part in revitalizing our community association. The community farewell party was at our cottage.

It's been a good year for us. I've made progress with developing the first practice standard for IT professionals. CIPS has accepted that IT professionals have risk management responsibilities. I'm leading the Task Force that will define what that means. I find my work on best practice standards to be intrinsically rewarding, and it has even led to some consulting assignments.

2006 also marked the second time in her life that Mira voted, again in the US, and again for an anti-Bush candidate. This time, fortunately, the anti-Bush forces won the day. In Canada, Stephen Harper, our new Conservative Prime Minister, continues to tip the country to the Right. I'm hopeful that the new Liberal leader will provide a healthy counter balance. Politics improved, our life-work balance is comfortable, and we're looking forward to 2007.