another relaxing weekend

for the second weekend in a row, we are sticking close to home, relaxing and getting a few good things done here. it is still beautiful weather here in northern california. it is gettng a bit cooler as we lose a more daylight each day. we are actually looking forward to some storms to get the mountains ready for ski season.

so while today and this weekend is a bit more mellow, we are looking forward to this short week of work, time with family in the area over thanksgiving dinner and heading up to the house we leased with another family for the ski season up at alpine meadows. i am really looking forward to a couple more days this week to catch up with friends and family and usher in the holiday season.

just for kicks, another couple of pictures of greta from halloween...

fun with grandma!

we were lucky enough to have my mom come and visit as our final planned grandparent visit of the year last week. she was here for a week and greta absolutely loved having a visitor.

the last couple of times that the grandparents have visited greta has been thrilled with the company (and attention), which is a nice departure from points during her first year, when she was a bit less excited about people she didn't see on a daily basis.

now, it's a whole different story. my mom left thursday morning and greta asked about her several times this weekend. they had a great time drawing, reading and just running around the house. it was fun for everyone.

it was great timing, as evan went to vegas with his friend barry for approximately 36 hours during the middle of the week. why, you ask? barry and his wife cristy went to one of those things where you get a free trip to vegas out of it. after jumping through 20 hoops to get it set up, he was nice enough to bring evan as his parter in crime. while my mom was here, evan and i even got a date night and went to dinner and a movie. we saw role models, which was great for a not-serious funny movie for a saturday night.

happy veteran's day!

today, i had the pleasant surprise of having the annual veteran's day parade in san jose go right outside my office building. i haven't worked out of san jose long enough to know that it happens every year. i took a break from the daily grind to go out and see the parade, both the participants and the crowd.

although i only stayed to watch for about 10 minutes or so, there were so many good things that struck me while i participated in the festivities to honor our veterans. as someone on the news said, every day is veteran's day, but it's always nice to have a parade to gather and show appreciation as a group. after such an engaging election and so much focus on civic duty in getting out the vote, etc, it is a nice bit of perspective to remember all the wars and struggles (and peace keeping times) that the country has been through. so i express my gratitude to all the veterans and remember those in my family who served in wars and peacetime and the part they played in our history and present.