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Only two months since last writing - maybe this is
a positive trend!
The week I wrote my last entry here was the begining of a very busy time. In
four days:
Our arrival from New York and Val's arrival from Europe coincided
within the hour on June 1.
Life continued to be busy after that:
- Friday, June 4: We got two new additions to the
family, Katelyn's new baby lizards Tepin and Zaftig.
- Saturday, June 5: Val watched the kids and I spent the whole day at the NoLose
conference in Oakland. I was there until the wee hours,
having a great time!
- Sunday,
June 6: I had a Menttium mentoring sessions with Deepali. Then Val and
I went to the Exiles Budget Committee meeting, followed by the regular
business meeting.
I got to travel again, leaving June 11
(which also happened to be the last day of school) for the Desire event
in Palm Springs. After an amazing time I was supposed to come back on
Monday evening. The plane had a mechanical problem so I and 7 others
got stranded in Palm Springs. Hey, there are worse places to get
stranded, and worse people to get stranded with! I had a great time.
Then
Val took off! The following Saturday, the 19th, she left for Genoa on a
business trip. While she was away, Katelyn took off! She took a train
down to Aunt Susan and Uncle Joel's on Monday morning, returning back
on the train with them on Thurday. Haley and I had a nice time, just
the two of us, while everyone else was away.
In preparation for
Pride, Kathie and I went to the Dykes on Bikes Bike Wash at the Eagle
on Saturday, June 26th, just before I picked up Val at the airport.
Then on Sunday, as usual, Kathie, Glynis, and I rode to SF and met
Susan and the kids and rode in the Pride Parade.
Kathie rode both of the little ones, Adrian and Haley, but got in
trouble for doing so. Afterwards Val and I spent the afternoon at
Leather Alley. After a really fun afternoon I returned to my motorcycle
to find that my jacket, gloves, and cargo net were stolen off my bike.
:-(
The following (holiday) weekend we had a lot of fun. First,
we had friends Ruth and Tyler, and their adorable kids over for hanging
out. Then the next day was BBQ, games, and fireworks at Glynis &
Susan's, where we always go because "safe and sane" fireworks are legal
in Pacifica but not many other places around here.
Then came our
family vacation. After doing a road trip to Susan's with Kathie in
November for Thanksgiving, we had such a good time that we decided to
do another road trip. So we went to Lassen Volcanic Park, by way of the
Avenue of the Giants. We were gone from July 9-14, and Judy joined us
on the 11th. Sees lots and lots of vacation pictures here.
After
returning we all went to see Val's stepmother, Nelee. On July 4 we
found out that Nelee had been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive
cancer, leaving her with an inoperable tumor on her spine. She's
basically bedridden and on pain medications. Her daughters are taking
care of her. As I write this, Val is visiting her, and will be home
soon to report how she's doing.
On a similar note, we're dealing
with cancer in another way. Mom's friend Ed has been diagnosed with
inoperable lung cancer. He's still investigating options, but doing
well considering. So Mom is spending most of her time these days in
southern California where he lives.
Even with all of this going
on we're getting on with life. Last Sunday Val and I went to the Eagle
to pick up a check from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who gave a
grant to the Exiles for our Orientations. This is particularly exciting
because it's the first grant I've ever applied for as part of a
non-profit and we got it!
On Wednesday I took the kids to temple to meet the bus for Camp Newman. They're away until the 1st. I love my kids, but what a nice break to have while they're gone.
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