February 12 , 2003

In some ways the last month or so has been very routine, and in other ways it's been exciting.

Val and the kids and I went to see Grandma Frances January 18-19. She'd had a fall and was recuperating at a nursing home. Luckily the stay was short and she was back home a week later. She's quite frail and has little strength to get around. But the folks at Heritage Pointe do many many things for her, so she's still able to live in her own apartment. Not bad for 96 years old!!

Work has been fun. I'm totally swamped; my "to-do" list is waaay too long. But I'm having a lot of fun. I'm also going to be hiring a college student to assist me. Boy, can I use the help!

I've been doing some advising on UI design for a small company called Cotagesoft, with an old colleague of mine. Interesting work...

The kids got to spent an extra day with Aunties Glynis & Susan who watched them over the MLK holiday. Haley has now started accompanying Katelyn sometimes. The kids go over there once a month together, and then once each individually. That way everyone gets alone time with each of them. Very fun!

Both of the kids are now in swimming class through the SSF Parks and Recreation department. They're both little fish - they love it! Look for pictures next time.

Val & I spent Superbowl Sunday with her dad & stepmom, Gavin & Nelee. Too bad Oakland lost, since they're one of the bay area home teams. Especially for Val, who actually lives in Oakland.

A big piece of news is that last night the girls slept together in their new bunk bed. I'm quite excited. The plan is to make Katelyn's room the play room, so perhaps I'll actually be able to move the mass of toys out of the den/public area and reclaim some of my house.

We got a number of visits from friends since January: Judy & Donna on 1/4, Judy herself 1/21 and 2/9, Pam and Samantha on 1/28. Glynis seems to have re-started her regular Tuesday dinners now... we love her company!

Mom is off on a trip around the state. She's visiting all of her step-kids and many friends, and even a friend from the neighborhood where she grew up, someone she hasn't seen in 50 years! She'll probably be back in a couple of weeks.

I had a great time on 2/7, attending the reunion of folks who worked in my department at Xerox, in my first job after graduating college. That particular group of people has remained close over the years. I think it was something about being involved with state-of-the-art technology in a very exciting time. We worked on the Xerox Star and its related hardware/software. This was the precursor to the modern desktop-icon design you see on all computers now, as well as the sophisticated networks that connect them. We were doing e-mail back in the early 80's, when most people hadn't a clue what that was. Anyway, it was fun to run into old friends and reminisce. Seeing what others have done with their lives in the last 20 years has made me very proud of what I've done with my life.

On 2/8 Val and I spent the afternoon/evening at our friends Jennifer and Selena's house, for Selena's birthday. We learned a new game called Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers. Val liked it so much I got it for her for her birthday.

I finally got some good pictures of Mom; check out #1 and #2. Hey, I hope I look at that good at 65!

I've also done some really mundane things this month, like have two fillings replaced and getting the air ducts in the house cleaned. Ho hum.