Just got back from another trip back to the east coast, this time for Christmas. Similar to Thanksgiving, I flew in and out of Atlanta, spending a few days at my parents house in Atlanta and then a few days on Tybee Island, about 5 hours away on the coast of Georgia. My younger sister Leslie and her family did not make it to Tybee, so we had a nice Christmas dinner at her house Saturday. My older sister Lara and her family drove up from Tybee for this (and other reasons), so we had the whole family together Saturday (Yay). After dinner on Saturday we exchanged a few presents, including my gift to my family – a 8×10 149 -picture Flickr/Qoop photo book (a great success).
Sunday we drove down to Tybee Island to spend Christmas day on the beach. We got to see Amazing Addy (my niece) and Super Sam (my nephew) take part in Christmas eve services at the local church. Then we went home, had our usual homemade pizza, set out milk, brownies, and carrots for Santa and the reindeer. Christmas morning was not as hectic as in the past. The kids opened presents around 8am, I got to play with them while we snacked on sausage biscuits, egg and ham casserole, and apple cinnamon bread. Then my parents and I hit the road back to ATL to catch my flight back to California.
Over a year ago i talked about getting health insurance. As I discussed in that blog, I ended up with Blue Cross PPO. Over thanksgiving health insurance was being discussed, this time with my sister and her family, and decided I should re-survey the landscape. Especially since Blue Cross jacked the price in March 2007 from $127/month to $170/month.
This time I went with Blue Shield’s PPO 4000 plan. Basically its $96/month for $4,000 deductible. Once deductible is met, Blue Shield covers pretty much everything, as long as i see in-network doctors. But until deductible is met, i pay for everything myself except regular doctor check-ups, which are $35. Of course, you never know if everything is really covered. Once again, thanks to eHealthInsurance for making it easy to find and apply for my current plan.
Friday we went to see Kooza for Fritz’s Birthday. Kooza is the name for the Cirque du Soleil show here in San Francisco. It was amazing. It’s my third Cirque du Soleil show, not the best, but none were better – they are all awesome in their own way. Music, Lighting, Showmanship, Story (yes, the show sorta had a story), and unbelievable acts. My favorite act was the 2 dudes running in 2 giant metal circles as they spin around like a ferris wheel. I also love the couple dancing while the guy rode a unicycle, as well as the 3 crazy gymnastical girls. But the whole show was awesome and I highly recommend going. They’re in SF till Jan 20 and then San Jose till March 16.
Like last weekend, this was another busy one with friends. Too many parties and events. Even with my cold, I still made it to House of Things party friday night, a little bit of Santacon Saturday, and still had enough energy to help my friend Juan move on Sunday. Last weekend involved Amnesia, Shooting Ranges, more house parties, and Birthday expedition to the Exploratorium.
I also returned my 42″ Panasonic to Costco (after 88 days and no box, no questions asked, cash back, Hurray) and bought Juan’s Sony 40″ Bravia. I did it cuz i wanted a better picture (the panasonic sometimes was off with the colors), but some have complained about a sony backlighting issue. We’ll see.
Did i ever mention i love my friends? Well, Emily got the girls together and made this HOT calendar. Pictures were taken earlier this year, and they just had their release party last night at Shine. From the back of the calendar
“While visiting a friend’s garage, I noticed he had no girlie calendars displayed. Instead of buying a calendar that had some unknown hot women, I thought it would be much more appropriate to create a calendar featuring my own hot friends. Thus, with tireless help from talented photographer and friend Gwen McKay, this calendar was borne. What this calendar doesn’t reveal about these women is that not only are they beautiful, but they are also incredibly smart – a deadly combination. I am fortunate to have such an amazing cast of friends, and I want to thank them all for their participation in the creation of this calendar.” – Emily The Great.
These 2008 calendars cost $20 – lemme know if you want one.