katakat.com bytes from a participant observer

As you may have read in the 2005 edition of my annual newsletter (only recently sent out, I might add!), my parents are moving here to San Diego. Mom had a one-way ticket out here in December, and Dad has already come and gone, as he has to work another month before finishing up the packing and loading up a U-Haul to head on out here. Yes, I said U-Haul, and yes, he is crazy. Evidently, he and my Uncle John will be driving out the biggest one they can get hold of, plus trailing the station wagon. I don't even want to visualize this extravaganza of potential disaster.

look

Yesterday was spent at Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa checking out various hot baths, showers, mud, and lounging activities. I don't think I've ever taken so many showers in one day. The weather held out for a good bit of it, so clear blue sky coupled with towering palm trees, birds of paradise, and other floral landscaping definitely lent an air of paradise to the place. That, and people walking around in bathrobes and flip-flops, some with towels on their heads.

Getting this site up and running: I was inspired to do this a few months ago, having seen what other people do on the Web. My old website was pretty lame, and the appeal of blogging was the chance to easily update the content to keep it lively. (Also, I was bound and determined not to mail out my holiday newsletter until I got this done!

Here is my first try at a holiday centerpiece. One of my co-workers had a party at a florist's shop and after we'd all had tea and cake, we made centerpieces. Yes, the greenery and flowers are real. I'd never done something like this before. It was really fun, and so different from doing things in the virtual realm.

I just spent 10 days at my parents' house in Ohio sorting through boxes and boxes of paper, carefully wrapping fragile knick-knacks, and trying to figure out how they will ever fit 3,000 square feet of stuff into a 1200 square foot house in San Diego. They are moving to SD permanently in February. It was quite strange seeing the old house stripped down to bare furnishings-- knick-knack-less and paperless, as it were.