1. Stopped for a pedestrian and spaced out, got honked at

2. Went into a one-way street

3. Crossed a stop light

4. Took Lucia to the airport, Luke came along for the ride.  On our way back home Luke had a little accident in the car.

5. Brought my friend's kid to Sleepy Hollow (in the middle of the movie, the film melted)

6. Won at Wizard (never had won before)  This is a good thing, yet still out of the ordinary.

9. At about 1:00 am on Saturday after a whole day of fixing the lights outside, trimming the tree, and Christmas decor, I decided to take one last look at the tree and survey my accomplishments before I went to bed. I did some adjustments, and as I was doing my "very last" adjustment, I leaned forward and my buttocks  hit the window which exploded with glass crashing down 30 or so feet onto our driveway.

10. Sunday-Phone is dead.

11. Luke had a convulsion at 3:15 am Monday and whines the rest of the time

12. Two different repair men came, phone and window.

13. Luke has another seizure 1:15pm on Monday

14. Wednesday we had to put our sweet little angel pup Lukie to sleep.

15. Discovered pulled ligaments on my right leg from the fall.  It hurt like heck, and had difficulty walking.  Why symptoms appeared on Wednesday 4 days after the fall, who knows?    

Ay, yay, yay!  The curse is over.

Lucia returned on the 14th, we had a neighborhood Christmas party at one of our neighbors' house.  

I went on a short business trip to Costa Mesa, California on the 20-21st.  On the 20th, I took a drive to San Diego to visit my sister and family.  It was so much fun to see the kids.  My sister, Eileen and brother-in-law Jules are the proud grandparents of four!  James, Victor and Patrick, are Pamela's and Joe's and Alessia, is Penny's.  All gorgeous kids! The only one I missed was Jay, who is now a San Diego Fireman and was on duty that night.  All are doing well, healthy and happy.  My sister cooked a favorite Filipino meal, "Mechado" and baked a delicious lemon meringue pie.

I headed back to Costa Mesa at about 9:00 pm and got lost in the  Southern California freeways.  It always happens to me down there.  In fact I also got lost trying to return the car the next day.  I had the car rental company on the cell phone with me directing me all the distance until I parked at the rental return.  Oy vey!

On the 23rd, we took a small fun tour of Oakland Christmas lights.  The Oakland Zoo exhibited a Christmas light show depicting animated animals and an expansive  waterfall which you could view by riding the zoo train.  We also visited the Mormon Temple where they have a big light extravaganza every year..

Isa came up on the 23rd.  Pat and family had a Christmas Eve dinner in their new house in Rockridge. Her mom, Pat and sister Teresa were visiting from Southern California.

Christmas day, (Sunday morning), we opened our presents under the Christmas tree.  Isa opened the first present.  To her BIG surprise, she found her oldest Teddy bear in the box accompanied by her stuffed snowman.  Both toys she first received on her first Christmas 27 years ago.

Her dog Oso, who is still a puppy and loves to chew on and rip things, got a hold of Teddy and tore his face apart!  This was in the summer.  I took it home with a picture of Isa as a baby and me when she first received it, hoping to find a repair person.  As it turns out, Lucia's receptionist at Sybex is a professional Teddy bear restoration expert.  She fixed Teddy up, with special hard-to-find soft satin red ribbon and all!

It was a hit.

We all loved our presents and are thankful for them all.

Next on our agenda was the traditional brunch at Hilton-Marchi's.  It was a treat to see everyone- four generations from Great Grandma, Grandmas, Moms, Children and grandchild-Albertino, a handsome little boy.  We had the special opportunity to capture a photo of everyone in the extended family in the same position as we once did in 1990.  

We left at about 3:00 pm to prepare for the grand prime rib dinner at our house.  

Isa and I were responsible for everything else but the beef and potatoes.  The roast was Lucia's specialty.  We had 15 adults and five children.  We never know how we ever manage these big parties in our little house, but we did it again.  The meat was at it's best.  Every year a comment is made that this is the best yet!

The next day we saw "The Talented Mr. Ripley" with Vic, Florence and Isa. We went to a small Christmas gathering at Shelly's and Barbara's followed by dinner at Autumn Moon.

Isa and I visited my Aunt Grace the following day (27th). Later, Isa left  to visit her friends in Marin before heading back to Santa Cruz.

Lucia went back to work on the 27th and I on the 28th. 

ON New Years Eve, we watched TV throughout the day watching the rest of the world celebrating the coming of 2000.  It was very exciting to be able to share these events live with the rest of the world.  

Our big New Years event was the BIG "Y2K on the Bay" party which we had been planning for many months with five other friends, Shelly and Barbara included.  It has been referred to as the "She Boat."  175 women cruising the bay in the most elegant way.  Dancing to the tunes through the years in celebration of the past decades and the coming of the new millennium.

This was a success beyond anybody's expectation!  The music was great, the people were wonderful, the views of the SF skyline at this time of the year were spectacular.  The ferry and restaurant crew were professional and as happy to be there as we were, even if they had to work.  The fireworks were grand from our vantage point with hundreds of boats sharing the bay with us.  A surprise rainbow pyrotechnic display was most appropriate as it emerged from the ferry terminal building!  

On New Years day, I slept off my champagne and soaked my aching body in the hot tub after dancing all night.  Lucia was designated driver and really doesn't drink much, therefore she was up and her usual self the next day.  

We joined our new friend Randi who had organized a New Years day ritual at Ocean beach in San Francisco with a few others..  We proceeded to discard from our psyche all those things which we wanted to shed from our lives and manifest all those things we wanted in our lives.    One thing we had in common was the desire for more laughter.  Laughter is good-bring on those endorphins!  It turned out to be a beautiful day and got to soak a few rays.

We got home and everything was already in motion.  Lucia had already been putzing early that morning for the grand finale event:  the pork and sauerkraut dinner.  A German tradition that is celebrated at our house.  It was smaller than usual, (not a cast of thousands).  We decided (in retrospect), that we like it that way.  There were eleven of us and we had dinner at the table, remained sitting for coffee and dessert and long conversations afterwards.