Since my term as IPCA president ended last week, I've been thinking about everyone I've gotten to know over the last two years and how much your friendship has meant to me.

I believe the most significant achievement of the last two years was improving communication between US and international members. There's still a long way to go, but considering that only two years ago we were a US national guild, I believe we've made considerable progress. Kylee Milner, our International Liaison, and Kerrie Venner, our Vice President for Education and Outreach deserve much of the credit. But it has been a priority for our whole executive board, and we've been helped greatly by dedicated members like Christine Dumont, owner and founder of  Voilá. 

I sincerely thank all my fellow board members, who were so generous with their time and their ideas, and past-president Judy Belcher for being a great role model. The Retreat 2009 and Synergy2 Committees contributed greater service to the Association than I can adequately acknowledge. Thanks to Denise Graham and Debora Orndorff for their work on the slide banks and library, respectively. And many thanks to Cynthia Tinapple for welcoming us into her home in 2009, for helping with the Progress & Possibilities 2008 catalog, and for keeping us informed and inspired every day.

On a more personal note, some of you may know that serving as IPCA president was something of a "bucket list" item for me, as I was diagnosed and treated in 2008 for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I'm happy to report that I've had no symptoms since then, and I can look forward to many more years of claying.

I'd like to say "bye-for-now" and show my appreciation by offering a mini-tutorial . I hope you have fun with it and make a lot of beautiful things.

Your friend,

Suzanne