Happy Hanukkah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Felice Navidad! Joyeux Noelle! Merry Christmas! Season’s Greetings! Happy Holidays!

Charles Dickens, a former resident of Lant Street. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Whatever your thoughts and whatever your beliefs, I wish you the best of the Season. Remember that celebrations are not about a single day or a single event, but about family, friends, and food. Share some of each with another and remember to remember something good. Button up loose ends. Think about the best of the year gone by and plan for better next.

“Christmas time! That man must be a misanthrope indeed, in whose breast something like a jovial feeling is not roused—in whose mind some pleasant associations are not awakened—by the recurrence of Christmas. There are people who will tell you that Christmas is not to them what it used to be; that each succeeding Christmas has found some cherished hope, or happy prospect, of the year before, dimmed or passed away; that the present only serves to remind them of reduced circumstances and straitened incomes—of the feasts they once bestowed on hollow friends, and of the cold looks that meet them now, in adversity and misfortune. Never heed such dismal reminiscences. There are few men who have lived long enough in the world who cannot call up such thoughts any day of the year. Then do not select the merriest of the three hundred and sixty-five for your doleful recollections, but draw your chair nearer the blazing fire—fill the glass and send round the song—and if your room be smaller than it was a dozen years ago, or if your glass be filled with reeking punch, instead of sparkling wine, put a good face on the matter, and empty it offhand, and fill another, and troll off the old ditty you used to sing, and thank God it’s no worse.”
― Charles Dickens, Sketches by Boz

Stuff to do…

Stuff to do….
http://www.goldstar.com Where to go for discount tickets to events around the Puget Sound. I have used this site many times with very good success.
http://www.zoo.org Where to go with the kids on a Saturday afternoon. Bundle up and take an umbrella. The Wild Lights are fun too.
http://www.stgpresents.com Where to go for tickets to the Paramount Theatre, Moore Theatre, and the Neptune Theatre.
http://www.opentable.com/seattle-restaurants Where to go for last minute dinner reservations.
http://www.bellevuesquare.com Where to go to spend money and stay warm and dry.
http://www.bellevuebotanical.org Where to go for local holiday lights. Inexpensive and a good activity for children.
http://www.yellowtaxi.net Where to go for a ride… cuz ya just don’t wanna be in a jam!
http://www.seattletowncarservice.com Where to go for a better ride and not too much more money.
Metro.kingcounty.gov (do not use the www…) Where to go for bus service and planning.
Or http://www.soundtransit.org This is for the North end.

From the President…

Last month I talked about being away in warm weather locations, well this month I’ve been here along with you dealing with below freezing temperatures. I for one don’t mind the feel of winter during the holiday season it makes it more festive even without snow on the ground (yet).
As the year draws to its close it is a time to reflect on the past year and maybe start thinking about next year. Here at ParTerra I believe we had a very good year; we washed windows, coated the parking lot and resurfaced the decks that were overdue. We had very few setbacks like roof leaks and pigeons moving in, we had a few too many fire alarm system failures that caused us to wake in the middle of the night and join each other in the parking lot. On the positive side we under ran our budget continued to build our Reserve Account (even though it required that nasty “special assessment”). Sales increased during the year giving several the opportunities for others to move on to a bigger and better or more affordable housing instead of feeling “stuck” since 2008. The property looks very good; our landscapers continue to do a very good job, David keeps it clean by vacuuming the halls, dusting, cleaning inside windows and picking up outside after the few that tend to litter or leave dog waste. You must be tired of hearing us “hound” those that don’t pickup but it really is a careless act by the guilty. It has been suggested that we start charging a fee to dog owners similar to other community properties. We will discuss this at the Annual Meeting; speaking of the Annual Meeting I want to remind everyone ours is being moved to February instead of the usual January meeting. So please put February 19th on your calendars for the most important meeting of the year. Election for three board positions and the opportunity to talk about dog poop and other important issues. At this time we don’t have any Reserve Study items or repairs due next year so we will continue to grow our Reserve Account for future major items.
We have one more important bit of business to do for 2013 and that is to ratify the budget for next year. All owners should have received in the mail a copy of the proposed budget and adjusted maintenance fees that were approved by the board. The ratification meeting gives you the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns about the budget and possibly convince the board to change their views on certain items?
I will save next month to talk about how we can do better as residents and owners on a few serious items, but for now I want to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season. Christmas is a special time of year to reflect on our lives and family and I hope the New Year brings lots of joy to each and every one of you. Since we all live under the same roofs we are a family and we should look out for each other with kindness and caring that we would our own flesh and blood.
Golf report this month – non existent, too cold, frozen greens and maybe I’m not as dedicated I should be?? This leaves me enough space to send out a special thank you to my fellow board member Kat Molik, Marnye Moore, Nancy Buergel and Mason Emanuel for their time and energy spent on board business. They are a special group of owners who dedicate their time to serve our community; they are a pleasure to work along side as we do our best to serve ParTerra. And to David Metz for being all we could hope for in someone that looks after our property, with a smiling face and willingness to try new things to learn his position and to continue to save us money by doing repairs and general work that we used to pay for at a high price.
Thanks for listening!
Ken Schoolcraft