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California - November & December 2004 I spent Thanksgiving 2004 with Trish & Rachel in Connecticut, but with the onslaught of cold weather, decided to seek a warmer climate for the winter months. I’d never spent much time in San Diego so I decided to fly there and perhaps continue down to Mexico. For a week I explored San Diego, even going so far as to check-out a couple of apartment communities if I should decide to return for a longer stay. My real interest was Baja, but after spending a day in Tijuana, I developed a bad taste for Mexico and changed my plans. I subsequently learned that Tijuana is a poor example of Mexico so Baja is back on my list of places to visit. From San Diego, I flew to Tucson where I spent a week at Canyon Ranch. Here I had a great time and will eagerly return as time allows. In mid-December I headed to Northern California where I planned to spend Christmas with my family. I found a great gym in Novato which I joined on a month-to-month basis and tried to get to every day. Just before Christmas I saw a piece on CNN about an organization named Chinacare established by a Connecticut college student which assists American families to adopt Chinese children. In addition to providing financial assistance to facilitate adoptions, they work with a Beijing based medical group which performs cleft palate surgeries on orphans to make them more adoptable. I was very moved by the program and contacted the group to pledge some financial aid. We celebrated Christmas on the 26th at Carolyn’s house. Halley surprised us by announcing that she was pregnant and was planning to marry her boyfriend who seems to be well-liked. Late in the day we learned of the Tsunami which had struck in the Indian Ocean and were glued to the ensuing news coverage which dominated the airways for the following weeks. In mid-January, I accompanied Mom & Dad to Las Vegas where Dad was attending a 4-day catering conference. Although he was tied up during the day, we were able to see several shows in the evenings including Ka, the new Cirque du Soleil extravaganza at the MGM Grande which was outstanding. |