December 26, 2001

The big news is that Haley is now walking, and starting to really talk! She took some tentative steps in October and November, but really took off right after Thanksgiving. By Katelyn's birthday on December 6th she was really walking. She's also saying lots of words like Grandma, Mama, Katelyn (which she says as "do"...weird), bird, bottle, Val, Matthew, bye, hi, up, go, down, please, thank you, cheese, juice, milk, and more. 

We all had a great time at Halloween. Katelyn was a cat, and Haley was a ladybug. Oh,... and I was a punker. The pink hair went over well at work, and Val thought it was cool.

We've been doing more investigation of kindergartens for Katelyn. We're trying to get her into Mills Montessori.

We had Val, Susan, Glynis, Judy, and Donna over for brunch on November 10th to celebrate Susan's birthday. That turned out to be a busy day because afterwards Katelyn had her friend Gaby over for a play date, and then after that Val and I went to a black tie surprise birthday party for her step-brother-in-law Al at the Bohemian Club in San Francisco. What a fun time! We were exhausted by the next day, when I judged the Veteran's Day Parade in San Francisco after sopping by at cousin Jovon's first birthday party. What an exhausting weekend!

Val and I had a lovely dinner on November 17th at JoJo's in Oakland with friends Jane Moyer (from my Xerox days) and her girlfriend Janet.

I continue to coordinate the North Peninsula Lesbian Social (NPLS) group. I've made some great friends, and it's fun to know other lesbians in this area. There are lots in the San Jose and San Francisco areas, but I'm sort of in-between here in South San Francisco. I hosted a social at my house on November 18th.

Val and the kids and I went to her stepsister Jenny's house in San Francisco for Thanksgiving. Katelyn has a great time playing with their daughter Cara, who's just a few months younger. Haley had a meltdown over dinner, but surprised us all by actually going to sleep in their bed for a while, giving us adult time to socialize.

I spent a day working at Oracle's big conference, Open World, on December 5. It was a lot of work but good to interact with customers. And I got a fun T-shirt out of the deal!

The following day, on the 7th, Val and I went to a holiday party sponsored by her company, Triton Container. It was a very formal event at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco.

Babies are everywhere in our family. I missed Andrea's baby shower on the 3rd (we were in Maryland), but went to Lena's on the 17th. New development: Andrea had her baby on Saturday December 8th, which is also her birthday!! Antonio Maximus Mateo weighed 5 lbs 8 oz and is home and doing well.

Katelyn's birthday was the next big event. She had two separate parties. At the first one, on her actual birthday, our usual extended family came over (Susan, Glynis, Judy, and Donna (Val had to work)) and we had a very festive time. She then had a special party at Gymtowne in San Bruno, where she and 5 of her friends got to use the gymnastics sequipment for an hour before enjoying cake and presents. 

Katelyn's definitely on present overload, though, because this was followed by Chanukah, and then Christmas. What a busy time of year for all of us!

My other news is that on Friday the 14th I had LASIK corrective surgery on my eyes. I went from 20/925 in one eye and 20/775 in the other to having vision that's good enough for me to drive without glasses! It's still a bit blurry as my eyes heal and the moisture in my eyes returns to normal, but it's already a miracle. I'm really impressed with my doctor, James Tearse.

On the Solstice, the shortest day of the year, we had a busy day: a trip to work and the eye doctor for me and Katelyn, Temple at night, then Val and I went to a party. Over the following weekend we went to visit Susan, Joe, Lee, and Joel. Mom and I got our "instructions" for participating in Lee's Bar Mitzvah on January 19th.

Katelyn and Haley had checkups on December 26. Katelyn is 41 1/2 inches tall and weighs 38 pounds. Haley is 30 1/4 inches tall and weighs 22 pounds. Interesting that at the same age Katelyn was 30 1/2 inches tall and 21 1/2 pounds. They're almost exactly the same size!

This has been a year of change and growth for me. I find myself overwhelmed at the blessings in my life: my close friends, my family (especially my mom), my kids, and Val, who has brought a deep love into my life once again. I am looking forward optimistically to a wonderful 2002.