12/20/2005 Christmas, Chanukah and various other holidays are fast approching and I find myself busier than ever. Oddly enough, most of the things that are keeping me busy have nothing to do with those holidays. Dory and I switched gyms recently so that I could start going again, our old gym didn't have child care to any real extent, but the new one has a great staff. I started out with a free personal training session which has jumpstarted me into a great workout routine; my hope is that it will condition me sufficiently to hike some 30-mile days this coming summer. Dory is happy as well; they have two pools, one of which is outside. She swims in the morning and has watched the steam rising off the surface of the water while the sun comes up over the horizon all of which is enhanced by the nice view of the bay and hills from the pool deck.

Bryce is managing to keep me busy as well. We have had a couple appointments with the audiologist to fix a problem with one of his ear molds and to do some additional testing. He will go in for testing about every three months for a while...then every six months for a while after that. I was speaking to our teacher from the SFUSD, Mindy, when I realized that I make a trip over to the audiologist about every two weeks for one reason or another.

I took Bryce to the park for the first time to go on some swings; he was interested but not completely thrilled. I think we will be trekking to the park a lot more once he gains more mobility, but for now he is light enought that I can swing him around without mechanical aid.

We also went with Dory on a business trip down to Monterey; I managed to meet with the sensei for the Monterey bonsai club while I was there. He has a fantastic collection of pines and cypress of the variety that are endemic to that area. I was so fascinated by his designs and styling that I took a scenic drive around the area and ended up at Pt. Lobos state reserve. It is one of only two small locations where the Monterey Cypress and Monterey Pine grow naturally. I was thrilled to see these trees in their natural environment, and I wholeheartedly agree with the quote on the map which says "it is the most beautiful meeting of land and sea." I really like spooky trees, and this was an occasion where certain parts of the forest definitely fit that description. The trees form a dense canopy and have many dead limbs below; it makes for an eerie feeling. We wandered around for a couple hours taking photos, but Bryce wasn't in a cooperative mood, so instead of carrying him in the backpack I had to carry him in my arms. By the time I had hiked four miles this way I was glad to get back to the car.

My freelance work has started to pile up, which is the reason that everytime I look at this computer I start to get numb. Finding time to do all the work and to write for this site and the bonsai newsletters is getting quite challenging. In the end, the newsletter and this site will suffer for it I suppose; afterall, we all must make money somehow. But really, the reason the work is piling up is that I have been spending so much of my spare time doing bonsai; then my friend Ben came to town and took us on a "tour" of the Anchor Steam Brewing Company...which ended up being a tour and a drinking (or "tasting") session. I had a lot of fun at the brewery, I am amazed that I have lived here for 7 years and never gone on the free tour that provides free beer as well.

My neighbor Shane has been stripping and painting his house, which has caused me some anxiety. He used a mechanical stripper which is kinda like a grinder, a large spinning disc of rough sandpaper strips the paint. I went out in my backyard a few times to find everything covered in a fine layer of paint particles. Needless to say, I tried to keep Bryce away from the back yard and Shane's house, and I kept the windows and doors closed to minimize entrance of the dust. He also used a pressure washer, which seemed to work well on the stucco of his garage, and which I found amusing to watch with him in neon raingear.

11/17/2005
10/27/2005
10/8/2005
9/11/2005
8/26/2005
8/9/2005
8/1/2005
7/20/2005
7/5/2005
6/17/2005
5/27/2005
5/1/2005
4/15/2005
4/5/2005
3/24/2005
3/13/2005
2/5/2005
12/28/2004
11/29/2004
11/3/2004
10/2/2004
9/10/2004
8/23/2004
8/8/2004
7/21/2004
7/2/2004
6/8/2004
5/4/2004
4/20/2004
3/28/2004
3/10/2004
2/10/2004
1/15/2004


To reach entries prior to January 2004 click on one of the older entries on this list and scroll down to the bottom of that entry.

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