December 2 , 2006

I can't believe it's been 4 months since I updated this site! It's been a busy 1/3 of a year.

As I mentioned last time, I changed jobs. After a wonderful sendoff party on August 9, I started at Intuit on September 1, exactly 3 months ago. I'd planned on starting a week before then, but ended up having knee surgery during my time between Oracle and Intuit. I'm working on a software product to help consumers manage their healthcare costs. I'm really enjoying working on something for "real people". I'm very much enjoying working at Intuit. While it has a lot of the same problems found at many software companies, the corporate culture is much more in line with my own values: listening to employees and customers, valuing people in general, having fun.

The most gratifying thing that's gone on for us (well, from my perspective) has been the completion of our remodel, inside and out. We got our home theater installed, finished the fireplace (sheet rock the top, new mantle, slate tile on the hearth), got new carpet and a few new lights, and painted throughout. We probably need a few more lights, but other than that, we're done with the interior except hanging pictures that have been in storage for the last 3 years, and of course redoing the kitchen, which will be next year. We also finished the work on the yard. We added a beautiful redwood deck "lookout" near the top of the hill, and winding steps up to it.

Another exciting event is that on November 8, Kate got her green belt in karate. If you don't mind downloading 300+ MB, you can see a video of the event here.

We also have an exciting event planned: Mom, Susan, and I are planning our bat mitzvah, and have our date: August 18, 2007. We have a lot of work to do to prepare, but we're really excited about it.

The girls have embarked on a movie-making adventure. They made one, which I'm calling The Princess Rescues Her Dragon, on 9/16, and another, which I'm calling The Dragon Rescues The Animals from the Evil Witch, on 11/24. Haley starred as the princess in the first one, and Kate played all of the other characters, as well as being the writer and director. I was the camera operator and had a cameo role in the first one as "the finger". They both starred in the second one, and Kate once again wrote and directed. You can see them in their entirety online, although they are huge (about 300MB each):

• The Princess Rescues Her Dragon
• The Dragon Rescues The Animals from the Evil Witch

As usual, we've been busy over the last few months:

• Kate spent a week at Camp Newman August 1-7. She loved it! We're planning on Haley attending that same session next summer, and Kate going to a different session for 12 days.
• I took the girls to see Grandma Frances on August 20. Kathie came with us.
• We attended the Triton company picnic on August 26.
• We had a few visits with our friends Jennifer & Selena.
• I took the girls to Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippor services.
• Val and I had fun at various activities around the Folsom Street Fair.
• We had a fun birthday dinner for Haley at Benihana's, and then she had a party for her friends at the Daly City Party Playhouse.
• Val took the kids and me out to dinner on my birthday, and the following day we had a bunch of friends over for a low-key party. I had a great day with people who mean the most to me.
• We went to Justin's Bar Mitzvah on October 22, spending the weekend in New York. It was good to spend time with my extended family.
• We spent Halloween at Kathie's, along with a bunch of friends. A gang of adults took 4 kids out trick-or-treating.
• Val went to London to visit her Mom, stepdad, and friends November 2-13.
• The kids and I went to Glynis & Susan's birthday party on November 4. (Glynis' had to be canceled back in September because she was sick; Val was out of town so couldn't attend.)
• I went to Virginia Beach, VA on November 11-15 for a user research project for work. We went to people's homes and got their impressions of an early version of the healthcare financial management product I'm working on. While I was gone, Val watched the kids so I could stay a little longer.
• Val joined me at my regular Menttium reunion get-together on November 19; we all brought our spouses, whom we've been talking about for years. It was fun to meet everyone's "other halfs".
• We had 18 people total over for Thanksgiving. It was hard work, but Mom came and helped and everyone brought something, so it was a group effort, and a lot of fun.
• I had a fun visit with my friend Deborah on November 26.

We're looking forward to some fun holiday time with the kids, with friends, and family.