The Usual Suspects

Just in case you were wondering who I'm talking about.

Mom and Dad.
They've been married for 48 years - wow. They live in Orange, California, although Mom lived in Hawaii from

September 2001 until May 2002 while teaching a class. I enjoyed spending Thanksgiving 2001 out there with her! She came home for the holidays at the end of 2001 and returned to the Aloha State in early January 2002 to finish teaching until mid-spring.

Dad is a real Disneyland pro, and keeps me up to date on the So Cal Thoroughbred horse racing scene. Mom is the family historian, and the most dedicated writer I have ever known - she sends me an e-mail every day. EVERY day. Think about it.

Laurie, Sarah, Steph, Bonnie and Sonya.
Collectively known as The Trollops. Insane friends. We're all strewn about the country. Probably just as well, since if we were together all the time, I'm sure they'd have to lock us up. They probably should anyway.

Here's four of us at Trollop Fest 2001 in Sonoma, California. That's Steph, Laurie, me and Sarah, all looking rather spiffed and respectable if I don't say so myself. Of course that all changed by the end of the evening. *blorg* T-Fest 2002 is in Philadelphia - be afraid....

Friends and Associates.
I have met many wonderful people on my scuba diving trips, especially Gary, Mark, Nick and Beth.

The HOUSE is obviously a consuming project for me in all respects: time, money, concern. So I will mention Richard often.

How lucky am I, not only have I had the opportunity to work with great people, but several of them have become very good friends over the years. Some of those I may reference include: David (his wife Kim and their twin boys Connor and Ian), Jennifer/John and their son Ethan, Andrew and Ellen, and Carol (my fabulous assistant). I am also fortunate to include among my business friends Maura, John, George, Don, Joe and Harry, Kathy/Marc, John/Jane, Anne/Jeffrey, and James/Carol.

My Family.
Most of my Dad's family lives in either Southern California or the Seattle area. They are all such fun! My Dad's sister, Aunt Mur, lives in Palm Desert, and his brother, Uncle Dick and Aunt Claire live in Yorba Linda. My cousin Jeff and his wife Lucia live on Whidbey Island, Washington and Jeff is a real motivator for keeping this site up to date. He keeps a daily journal and works harder at being retired than most people do at work. Jeff's brother Ron and his wife Pam live in Burbank, CA - read about their son Jim's wedding in Scotland.

The Alien.
I was Alien's human for 15 years. She developed squamous cell cancer that affected her systemically and was put to sleep on April 22nd, 2002. She was a wonderful soul and I miss her deeply.

Suki.
And now we have Suki. I waited a couple of months after Alien passed and then went to the Morris Animal Refuge here in the city where I was adopted by a "tuxedo" cat. Suki has the same coloring as Alien, but is much rowdier. Her name means "love" or "pet" in Japanese. She is a real hunter - she is fascinated by the fish cage and spends much of her time stalking her toy mice.