California Dreamin

Last week I was in California for business. In and around the San Jose region.
The weather was like the fall in Toronto. About 60F in the day with 35F in the morning and evening. We had a productive set of meetings with some new goals and direction for 2007.
I didn't get much time to tour around but I did have a chance to take a few photos during the day.
BTW, portions in the U.S. are a bit too big.

Skating

Sunday was our first day skating this season. This winter has been unusually warm and the outdoor rinks were not in good shape until now. After the weekend we were hit with a blast and it's been pretty cold ever since with some freezing rain and snow the last few days.
We all enjoyed the outing as it still wasn't that cold. We spent a couple of hours at the skating trail. They've done a good job. It's a figure surrounded by trees and rocks. This year the tall grass was left uncut so it looked like you were in the woods. Once the trees and shrubs grow bigger I'm sure it will look even better. I don't have a picture from this year so I'll include one from last year. If we go again I'll try to get a new pic.

Bowling

We went bowling on Saturday night. We haven't gone in about a year and the kids did very well. In our first round Angela got a higher score than I did. Now let me say that I am not a 5 pin bowler. I think 5 pin bowling is for kids only. I know many will not agree with me on this but the fact that there is the availability of bumpers on the side to stop gutter balls is a good indication. I did much better the second round after I found out I had to go lower to the ground when releasing the ball which is yet another reason it's for kids. Luckily for us the scoring was automatic because 5 pin has some crazy scoring. There were letters popping up after each frame and when the kids asked me what they were I made stuff up. Problem with that is they remember and I forget what I said so each time they were correcting me.
Bowling is actually quite expensive. I think we paid as much for shoe rental as we did for the time bowling. It's not something we do that often so it was worth it.

Happy New Year

May 2007 bring health, happiness and prosperity to everyone.
As was the case for Christmas things were a little untraditional or at least a bit different than in previous years. We went to Silvana's brothers on New Years eve but there was not a big party this year, rather it was a small faily affair. We ended up leaving before midnight as I felt it would be easier to get the kids to sleep without the general excitement that happens at midnight. As luck would have it I was right but they were still a bit cranky in the morning.
On New Years day we had my sister and parents over. Roast Beef was the meal of choice and once again we got to use our good china. Second time now in the new house. Given it is not stashed away in the basement it's front of mind and easy to get to.
One other tradition was the finding of the money in the pita (spanakopita) although it was not spanakopita but meat pita. I found it this year which is supposed to mean good luck for the year or something. Mom wraps it in tin foil and the kids always think it will be chocolate money. BTW, Mom's pita looks alot better than the photo in Wikipedia.