Virginia Hilkemeier:  

LIFE IN THE GREAT NORTHWET: I enjoyed living in the Redmond, WA area from 1975 through 2011, owning a home on a wooded acre near Redmond since 1983. I worked for 16-1/2 years at Costco Wholesale, had probably the best job in the company (real estate paralegal, Exec. Admin. Asst. to the General Counsel in the legal department, among other responsibilities), and retired from the pay-check-driven working world in July, 2007. We spent that summer enjoying our weekend home on Camano Island, a great place to start our leisurely retirement years. But then a quick vacation to Prescott, AZ changed all that. We bought a home in the high mountain desert, and am now enjoying the best of all worlds by spending winters in sunny Arizona and summers in The Bluest Skies You've Ever Seen -- Seattle. For 14 years Del and I co-owned a small manufacturing company in Washington (Morris Magnets); perhaps you have one of our acrylic magnets on your refrigerator, they're everywhere! Del was the magnet magnate, a job he handled with pride and tremendous talent. We sold our portion of the business on 12/31/09, and have enjoyed ful...Expand for more