Around the turn of a decade

Dear Diary,

Right, blogging. I'll touch on the highlights:

Mom's 60th was more a present for me. She took the family to see Wicked in the city. Amazing. I also made a red velvet cake for the first time ever for the event. I think it turned out rather well. Love you, Mom.

Christmas was a lesson in partnership. It was the first Christmas I've ever had to share with a significant other. Previous ones where simply with my family over a school break. I got an idea of it early Christmas Eve and finally had it verified by others after the holiday, but the trick to the season is this: Don't plan things with the boyfriend; plan things with the boyfriend's mom. Still, I enjoyed having Nick with my family and getting to try to figure out who's who in his. It's pure magic the way kids and animals automatically adore him.

New Year's was saved by my brother who, having broader social connections in the area, knew someone who could and did like to host. It was a chill evening with good food and good drinks. Thank you Phil.

More recently I finally took my GREs. I did all right, but there is definite room for improvement. I plan on taking them again in the summer after studying some more, postponing applications to grad school until next year. With that is the responsibility to actually work on applications early so I'm ready for deadlines. Something my parents do not approve of, but it's how life seems to be fitting.

Katie had her fifth surgery. Nick and I went out to Stockton a week before to shave both his and Katie's heads together. A week after the surgery, he and I went down to LA to see Katie and Kathy. Katie is doing great post-op. She was able to walk for quite a while in Venice Beach and then was wheeled along on the Santa Monica Pier. We had lunch at a 50's diner in between. She recovered from the outing in time for her doctor appointments on Tuesday. Kathy is hanging in there for another bout with chemo. She's able to get around pretty well. While us young'uns were down that the beach, she and Trish headed to the hills for some LA snow, and not the kind you snort. It was nice to see them all and to see Katie doing so well after her surgery.

So that's what's been happening around turn of the year. The next couple months should be pretty full to. I'm excited.