September 13 , 2002

Our big news is that Katelyn started Kindergarten last week, on 9/3, at Spring Valley Elementary in Millbrae. We're getting in to the routine with getting up earlier and actually having to be there at an exact time, as opposed to showing up when we got there for day care. She seems to enjoy her class and her teacher, Mrs. Roddavero.

Katelyn finished up her first Karate session, and will be doing the intro class again in the fall. She really enjoys it, and has been teaching Haley karate moves and some Japanese words. It's hilarious!

We had several social engagements over the last months. We had a visit from friends Terry and Carmen on 8/18. See the picture of the girls playing twister. Lots of fun! We had lunch with Gavin and Nelee, Val's dad and stepmom, on 8/25, and also stopped in at my friend/colleague Michelle's baby shower. She's expecting twins!

That day ended with the car breaking. The gear level somehow got disconnected from the transmission. I had to have the car towed, but the dealer was great and paid for a rental. It all went smoothly, except for the fact that it happened again a week and a half later! The dealer was once again very good, but it was frustrating that it happed at all. I got the car back two days ago, and so far so good.

I took a short business trip to Nashua, New Hampshire 8/21-8/23 to meet with some of my colleagues at our development center there. Although the trip was quick, it was fun to just get away and think about nothing but work.

We had a relaxing labor day weekend, staying home a bunch, going swimming and Judy and Donna's (with Glynis and Susan) on Sunday. We needed it to recover from the bout of strep throat that Katelyn had the week before. We caught it before it got really bad, so mostly she just enjoyed the day she got to go to work with mommy.

Val and I had a wonderful time seeing Blast! on September 11. That's right - what a day to see it! It turns out that last September 11 we had plans to see it with Aunt Arlene and Uncle Bob on Broadway in NYC, but of course that didn't happen. So we figured this was a good way to celebrate the anniversary. If you get a chance to see this show, do it! Especially for drum corps folks, it's quite nostalgic.