Our
friends Jack & Camille joined us (including Mark) for a great New Year's
Eve Dinner. On the menu was pork roast, saurkraut, mashed potatoes & gravy,
glazed carrots, cheesecake, and cookies galore. But, the hit of the evening
was Shirley's famous homemade eggnog! The five of us drank most of the large
bowl that evening, and had a wonderful time listening to Jack's crooning, talking
and playing Jenga. We watched the ball drop in New York City (they re-televise
it here 3 hours later) and sang Auld Lang Syne accompanied by Jack's guitar.
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Laurie has been the traveling queen this month spending 3 days in San Francisco, 5 days in San Jose, and 5 days in Chicago! If she had to pick her favorite, Chicago was the best. She went to the top of the Sears Tower, some blues bars, a jazz restaurant, the Navy Pier, and took in a very funny show at the Second City theater. Her boss has promised to make an effort to keep her in Los Angeles more often, so she can actually spend time with her husband. |
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We experienced our first "shake-up" on Saturday, January 13th. There was a loud "thud" and the groud moved for maybe 3 seconds. By the time Laurie looked at Eric and said, "Is this an earthquake?" it was over. The cats slept through it (we thought animals were supposed to be extra sensitive to that stuff), and we had to turn on the TV and wait for the news flash, just to make sure it was really an earthquake!
Scott Sickles, a New York playwright and good friend, spent an extended weekend with us. He won the Julie Harris Playwrighting Award in 1999 for a play called Lightening from Heaven, given by the Beverly Hills Theater Guild. They produced a seated reading of the play, and Scott came out to help with the rehearsals and be present for its reading and a question and answer session following it. The reading was a success, and we had the pleasure of showing him around town while he was here!