April 5, 2002

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated the web site. Sorry about that. Let's see, what's been going on since January...

The girls continue to thrive. Katelyn is getting to be a real little girl, very bright and with an amazing vocabulary. Haley is talking more and more and running around after her big sister whenever she can. She had a slight mishap a few weeks ago, injuring her ankle. She couldn't walk for 5 days... ended up crawling and getting carried a lot. She seems OK now.

I had another meeting of my Menttium support group. This is a group of women who were part of the Menttium Executive Mentoring program a number of years ago, and who have continued to keep in touch and support each other. It's been great having continuity in a group to use for support and advice in career and life decisions. We meet over dinner every few months.

Val and I spent the afternoon on February 3rd with her dad and stepmom (Gavin and Nelee) watching the Superbowl. That day I also got a visit from Kelly Braun and her daughter Josie. I hadn't seen Kelly in a while and I had never met Josie, who was born last May. Katelyn and Haley had a great time playing with a person smaller than them but still able to get around and play.

My eyes are still recovering nicely from my LASIK procedure. The right eye is pretty much 100%. The left eye has had a bit of blurriness. Nothing serious, but I'm using some eye drops and the doctor is watching it closely.

My work is going well. I'm working on both the Application Server product, on installation and configuration, and on Enterprise Manager, Oracle's system management products. I'm having a lot of fun.

I've also started helping out with various high school visits to Oracle. It started with a visit by the Academy program from Carlmont High School, which I helped to coordinate. I've also done presentations for a couple of other visits, describing what it's like to work at Oracle, stressing how important it is to get their college degree, and how much you can make in high tech.

I took Val out for her birthday (Feb 14) to the Carnelian Room. It was fun getting dressed up and enjoying an outstanding meal on the 46th floor of the B of A building in San Francisco. The evening ended with a surprise bouquet from Val for Valentine's day.

On February 16th, Val and the kids and I flew down to visit Grandma Frances for her 95th birthday. It was a quick trip: down on Saturday, the visit, then back on Sunday. Tiring, but fun.

On March 1, my friend Shannon and her twins, Seth and Lily, came for a visit. Shannon and I were trying tog et pregnant at the same time, and she succeeded a couple of months before me, so her twins are just a bit older than Haley. It was fun to have all the kids playing together, although the house was a complete mess afterwards!

On March 2, Katelyn attended the 5th birthday party of her good friend Jessica. It was at the Lemos Family Farms in Half Moon Bay. It was great, complete with train rides, goat-petting, and pony rides. Katelyn had a great time!

We capped off the weekend by having Val's stepsister Jenny, her husband Al, and their daughter Kara, over for brunch. Needless to say we were tired at the end of the weekend, but it was all fun.

Mom celebrated her 65th birthday quietly on March 7. Judy, Glynis, and Susan joined us to celebrate.

On March 9, Val and I led a workshop at the Expanding Your Horizons conference. I've done this many times over the last few years, but this was Val's first time. It was a great success.

There were other birthday parties in March. First our friend Pam Burton's surprise party on the 9th. Then her daughter Samantha's 10th birthday on the 16th. On the same day we went to our friend Alyssa Amezquita's 2nd birthday party. Very busy!

We're still working on getting kindergarten sorted out. Our current plan is to send Katelyn to Spring Valley Elementary in Millbrae. We've been granted a release from the South San Francisco district, and are awaiting our acceptance from Millbrae. One reason we're very excited about this is the after-school care offered by A Child's Way. There is also still a chance she'll get into Mills Montessori, but they're pretty full. We may move Haley over there because it will be easier to move her there for kindergarten when the time comes, plus Katelyn will get preference there next year as a sibling if we decide we still want her there.

The biggest event of the month was mine and Val's trip to Europe. I'm working on a page chronicling the trip...stay tuned.

We (me, Mom, the girls, and Val) went to Sue's house for Passover (click here for a picture of the table setting). We had a nice Seder with Sue, Joel, Joe, Lee, Joel's sons Josh and Nathan, Joe's dad Dick, and a friend of Lee's. Click here for a picture of the table before the Seder.

We're now looking forward to going to New York for cousin Brittany's Bat Mitzvah on the 20th. Whew! A lot of traveling! We're just going for the weekend. Haley won't be going... to difficult and short a trip for a little one. Val, Katelyn, and I will go on Friday and come back Monday. Mom will stay longer, for two weeks. I'm sure we'll have news of that trip in my next entry!