Busy End of Year

Katy Dickinson, Lee Satterfield, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022

As 2022 is ending, I have been reflecting on how busy these last few months have been. In October, I mentored the remarkable and inspiring TechWomen Team Tunisia, and was one of the 21 mentors honored by the U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for ten years’ service to the TechWomen program. (I was the TechWomen Process Architect 2010-2011, and have been a mentor each year since.) Also that month, my husband John Plocher said a fond goodbye to Apple, and started a new job at Ford Greenfield Labs.

Katy Dickinson, TechWomen 10 Year Honor, 20 October 2022

Katy Dickinson, TechWomen Honor, 20 October 2022

Katy Dickinson, Tunisia TechWomen, 16 October 2022

John Plocher with Ford Mach-E

In November, John and I became grandparents with the birth of baby Alex to our daughter, Jessica Dickinson Goodman, and son-in-law, Matthew Holmes.

Jessica, Matthew, Baby Alex, 19 November 2022

I helped our son Paul D. Goodman manage two successful craft sales in December 2022. Yesterday, I turned in the final paper for the Fall term of my Berkeley School of Technology – Doctor of Ministry program. Also yesterday, as part of the Saint Joan’s Chapel and Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy team, I gave holy communion to 92 Elmwood jail inmates. Our team gave communion to 198 prisoners in three visits, starting on Christmas Day. The guys inside were happy to sing and dance with us to the tune of “Feliz Navidad.”

Looking forward to my next adventure!

Paul D. Goodman, 17 Dec 2022

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Learning with TechWomen Team Tunisia

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

I am honored to help mentor five TechWomen Emerging Leaders from Tunisia during their visit to the USA. The U.S. State Department – Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs – TechWomen program connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by providing them the access and opportunities to advance their careers and pursue their dreams.

So far, our team has spoken online, been to a kickoff event hosted by Twitter at their San Francisco headquarters (I got to wear the embroidered cape I bought in Tunisia in 2015), and enjoyed dinner together at my house in San Jose. We are learning about each other, and working on the project again online, Tuesday night! This term, I am happy to be a TechWomen Co-Mentor with Darpana Pendyala (Hardware Design Engineer, Marvell), and Priyanka Sahay (Director, Product Marketing, LinkedIn).

TechWomen Team Tunisia 2022-09-23

TechWomen Team Tunisia at Twitter 2022-09-29

TechWomen Team Tunisia at Twitter 2022-09-29

TechWomen Team Tunisia with WP668, in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

TechWomen Team Tunisia in San Jose, CA 2022-10-1

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Last Day of Beatles Year

The lyrics of “When I’m Sixty-Four” by Paul McCartney of The Beatles start, “When I get older losing my hair, Many years from now, Will you still be sending me a Valentine, Birthday greetings bottle of wine. If I’d been out till quarter to three, Would you lock the door? Will you still need me, will you still feed me When I’m sixty-four?” Tonight, I end my Beatles Year!

I start my new half-decade tomorrow. Such a delightful adventure!

Katy Dickinson 1957

Katy Dickinson 1961

Katy Dickinson 1967

Wade, Eleanor, Mark, Peter, Katy Dickinson, Bachelor of Arts Commencement, University of California at Berkeley, 1979

Katy Dickinson 1980

Wade, Eleanor, Katy Dickinson with baby Jessica 1989

Jessica and Paul, Nut Tree Railroad, 1995

Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Wedding 2000

Jessica and Matthew wedding 2011

Jessica and Katy, Beirut, Lebanon, 2013

Katy Dickinson, John Plocher, Lalibela, Ethiopia 2014

Katy and Jessica, Sierra Leone 2019

Katy and Jessica, Horseshoe Bend, Arizona 2019

Paul D Goodman and Katy Dickinson, Cielo Lodge, Golfito, Costa Rica, August 2021

Graduate Theological Union, Master of Theology Commencement, 7 May 2022

John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

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2 Summer Trips

John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Our family went on two short trips this summer. John and visited the Plocher family at Loon Lake, Wisconsin, in June. At the end of August, John and I and our kids took a road trip through Northern-Northern California, including a ride on the Skunk Train from Willets. John and Paul and I were in one car and Jessica and Matthew were in another.

Loon Lake, Wisconsin

Plocher family, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Loon family, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Plocher boating on Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Dragon fly, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

Osprey fish eagles, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

John and Naomi Plocher, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

John and Naomi Plocher, Loon Lake, Wisconsin June 2022

California Road Trip

Dickinson family, Willits, California, August 2022

Wild Turkey, Red Bluff, California, August 2022

deer, Northern California, August 2022

Road Trip, Northern California, August 2022

Road Trip, Northern California, August 2022

John Plocher, Katy Dickinson, Paul D. Goodman, Road Trip, Northern California, August 2022

Road Trip through redwoods, Northern California, August 2022

Skunk Train tunnel, Willits, California, August 2022

Skunk Train, Willits, California, August 2022

John Plocher on Skunk Train, Willits, California, August 2022

Skunk Train, Willits, California, August 2022

John Plocher, Paul D. Goodman, Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California, August 2022

John Plocher, Paul D. Goodman, Katy Dickinson, Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, California, August 2022

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Fixing What Doesn’t Show

Starting construction, 19 July 2022

John Plocher and I are in the process of fixing up our 90-year-old Spanish Mission style home in Willow Glen (San Jose, California). One of the duties of homeownership is maintenance, particularly fixing what does not show. We just completed Phase One of a maintenance project, including adding new French drains to redirect water away from the house, repairing some rocky tiles on the side porch, replacing a front porch post, adding better support for the ground floor so that the front door opens all the way, and replacing a walkway-with-a-step with a ramp. This work will not meet the realtors’ goal of “increasing the value of your home” for resale, but since this is our family’s forever home, it is enough that the work increases its comfort and value to us. We got virtual tours of the ongoing work under the house using FaceTime.

Some of maintenance challenges come from ours being an old (if well-built) house, and others from the land being part of the original Willow Glen swamp of the Guadalupe River. The ground shifts annually with seasonal moisture changes, causing stucco cracks and sometimes making doors stick. The most unhappy person with the construction has been Princess, our porch cat, who resented the disruption of her royal domain. Phase Two is being planned now!

Porch post with gap, July 2022

Original side walkway, July 2022

John Plocher raking weeds, July 2022

Resetting porch tiles, July 2022

Repaired side porch tiles, July 2022

Cat judging front porch construction, July 2022

Digging french drain trenches, July 2022

French drain trench complete, July 2022

French drain lining and rock, July 2022

Completed french drains, July 2022

Painting new porch post, July 2022

Pouring new side ramp, July 2022

Smoothing new ramp, July 2022

New ramp walkway, July 2022

FaceTime of work under house, July 2022

End of walkway drying, July 2022

Fixing front door, July 2022

Princess the cat hiding, July 2022

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Reached My Weight Goal!

Katy Dickinson, 17 July 2022 (with earrings erased by John‘s iPhone Portrait setting)

As I wrote in April, I have been using the  Noom program for weight loss and wellness. I am proud of myself that as of today, I met my 145 pound weight goal – hooray! Changing my eating patterns, losing over 60 pounds, and reducing my size from extra large (XL) to small (S) was not easy. There were many frustrating weeks when nothing seemed to happen. When I started in October 2021, Noom’s original estimate for my completion date was months ago. Nonetheless, today I am in the new phase of weight maintenance rather than loss. I had fun buying new clothes for my changed figure, since nothing but my shoes and scarves still fit. I have discovered by trial and error that I am now a Talbots size 8, Chico’s size 1, t-shirt size small, Gloria Vanderbilt size 10, Land’s End size 12 swimsuit but size 10 shirt, and Zuri medium size dress (but small shirt).

Read to the end of this post for a funny poem by my Grandma…

Katy Dickinson, 11 Oct 2021-17 July 2022 Noom Weight Graph

Weight management is a family problem, as illustrated by the following poem written by my Grandma, Evelyn Van Gilder Creekmore. I expect to work on maintenance for the rest of my life but am happy to have reached today’s milestone. Thank you to friends and family who have patiently supported my journey toward better health.

Visiting Grandchildren

Katy came first, a slender girl
Afraid to gain one ounce of weight,
Her diet worried me no end –
Grapefruit was almost all she ate.
But next came Pete, a teenage boy
Who loved roast beef, and cake, and pie,
Milk by the gallon, ham and steak –
(We gained a few pounds – he and I)
Then after Pete his brother came,
I stocked the freezer well with meat,
But Mark’s a vegetarian now –
So I fixed salads and cracked wheat.
Then after Mark came Rip whose diet
Consists of steaks (by choice T-Bone)
So we lived high on rare cooked steak,
(I couldn’t let him eat alone.)
My budget fluctuated much,
As likewise did my weight,
In matching menus day by day
To choice of food each grandchild ate.

(p.58 in Day’s Journey by Evelyn Van Gilder Creekmore, Copyright 1985. All Rights Reserved.)

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Graduations

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

Spring is graduation season and this year, I joyfully walked the stage in-person for my Graduate Theological Union – Master’s – Theology degree, as well as graduating three of my own student-mentees from the University of the South – School of Theology – Education for Ministry (EfM) extension program.

My GTU – MA and Master’s hood were officially presented online last year* but GTU offered the 2020 and 2021 pandemic-years graduates an opportunity to walk in-person this year. I was hooded by Associate Dean of Students, Dr. Wendy Arce in a ceremony at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley. I was also awarded the Interreligious Chaplaincy Certificate, as only the second person to complete the new GTU – ICP program. Part of ICP is completing a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), which for me meant working part-time as a Chaplain Intern for five months at Stanford Hospital during a pandemic surge. Several of us from Stanford Hospital – Spiritual Care Services graduated from GTU together this year. I was happy that my family which lovingly supported me during my long educational journey was present for my graduation.

Co-Mentor Karen LeBlanc, with whom I have led EfM seminars together for over twelve years, celebrated with me the graduations of Joel Martinez (graduated 2020, diploma presented 2022) and Beth Hopf at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, CA), and Mark LeBlanc (Karen’s husband) at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church (Cupertino, CA). Joel, Beth, and Mark faithfully completed four years of EfM study and theological reflection on the Bible, church history, theology, and ethics.

*Read my thesis here: “Range of Chaplain Engagement with Prisoners”

Katy Dickinson GTU – Master’s diploma 2021, tassel 2022

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

GTU Commencement 7 May 2022

Education for Ministry graduation, 12 June 2022

Education for Ministry graduation, 12 June 2022

Education for Ministry graduation, 26 June 2022

Education for Ministry graduation, 26 June 2022

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