December 4 , 2005

The last couple of months since October 10 have been incredibly busy! Highlights, by month:

• October 13 was Yom Kippor, and I took the kids to the children's service at our temple.
• On October 16, Val and I attended a housewarming party at our friend Julie and Amanda.
• We had a whirlwind day on the 22nd: first we carved pumpkins, then we went to a going away party for my friend Lea, who moved to Wichita Falls, TX shortly thereafter, then we went to Nelee's house for her birthday, which had been earlier in the week. Whew!
• On Monday, October 24 we attended Simchat Torah services, where new religious school students, including Haley, were consecrated.
• On Tuesday, October 25, Lea came to visit us at home.
• On Halloween my group had a party, the kids had a parade at school, and we all went trick-or-treating at Kathie's. You can see the pictures here.

November was just about as busy:

• On Thursday, November 3, Val left on an 11-day trip to London.
• On Friday, November 4, I presented a paper at the DUX conference in San Francisco.
• On Saturday, November 5, I took the girls to visit Judy and Donna for the afternoon
• On Sunday, November 6, I judged the Veteran's Day parade in San Francisco.
• On Tuesday, November 8, Kate received her yellow belt in karate.
• On Friday, November 11, we had some small construction work: some touch-ups in my bathroom, we moved a heater vent in the family room to make room for our new hutch.
• On Monday, November 13, Val returned from her trip.
• During that week I had a severe attack of bursitis, dealing with a lot of pain and doctors for several days. I ended up having a cortisone shot in the shoulder on the 20th, and am doing much better.
• On Saturday, November 19, Kate took 3rd place in her first karate tournament. Good job, Kate!! You can see pictures here. Then we spent time at Burton Park in San Carlos with my friend Michelle and her 3-year-old twins Ariella and Miriam.
• On Sunday, November 20, Christopher came over for a visit and we caught up on things since we hadn't visited for a while.
• For Thanksgiving on the 24th, Val and I went to her stepsister Jenny's house for dinner. The kids were with Kathie, and she dropped them off over there so they got to have dessert and visit a bit.
• On Friday, November 25, we took delivery of our new hutch.
• On Saturday, November 26, I spent a few hours at the car show in SF, while Val watched the kids.
• On Sunday, November 27, Val and I took the kids to see Cirq du Soleil, the "Corteo" show, in SF.

December is shaping up to be just as busy. It's only the 4th of the month, but already we've done this:

• On Saturday, December 3, we had the tree in the middle of our yard cut down to make room for the landscaping we're getting done next month. Here's a "before" and two "after" pictures (#1 and #2). We also had a large pine tree cut down, as it was growing over the top of our redwood trees.
• Also on Saturday, Kate, as part of the Spring Valley Glee Club, sang at the lighting of the Millbrae Christmas Tree.
• Today, Kate had her birthday party with her friends, at Gymntowne in San Bruno. Pictures here.