On the 3rd, Kathy dragged Jef on a 4 mile hike around the block.

On the 5th, did the draw for tennis tournament, skipping it myself due to back injury.

On the 6th, went to TP brunch after helping Kathy make 4 big quiches. Later that night, had dinner at the Krazy Coyote, briefly meeting Steve, Steve, and Kimo who had just gotten back from Indianhead hike. Steve F showed his war wounds, including an agave point embedded in his shin.

On the 7th, saw the finals of the tennis tournament. Around sunset did a 4 mile hike with Kathy and Tiki, looking unsuccessfully to reverse path of our Borrego Spur loop.

On the 8th, back to work.

On the 10th, hiked Borrego Spur loop to find NW passage for next reverse hike. Midway in hike, we stopped at Kendall's and had some lunch.

On the 12th, shopped in SD, played a little pickleball, lost 4 at poker.

On the 13th, made a drain for back patio. Went on 4+ mile hike with Kathy around sunset.

On the 14th, due to cold weather, spent most of day indoors.

On the 15th, back to work.

On the 16th, rain hit the valley, and we experienced our 1st cold rainy day of the year. Holley performed in the Xmas concert (she plays Alto Sax) with the Middle School Band. We saw her science project while there. (She grew 2 plants. One in sun, and the other using a "Grow Lamp".

On the 17th, watched rain build up water in back patio, and pool drain into our room addition. Removed more bricks to create a new drain. Used dad's new printer to print Xmas cards, as our printer didn't have the proper set of ink cartridges after one ran out.

On the 18th, noted snow in mountains -- below 4000'. Then, another busy day at work. Got dad's new laptop. Left work at 9:30 pm.

On the 19th, Stacey picked up Holley and took her to SD. After work, Jef and Kathy drove to Palm Desert and checked in at the Embassy Suites there. We had dinner at Don Diegos. It was okay.

On the 20th, went xmas shopping at the Mall after brunch at the hotel. Then, after Target, went to see movie The Day the Earth Stood Still. Not bad, but not great. Had dinner at Matsuri's.

On the 21st, had another great brunch at Embassy Suites, checked out, and got an Xmas tree, did some grocery shopping and a little more xmas shopping, and returned to Borrego.

On the 22nd, back to work -- a grueling day. Our Borrego calendars came in, and we commenced giving them away.

On the 23rd, an even more grueling day at work. Stacey, Holley, and Marley returned from SD. They put up a lot of lights outside house that night.

On the 24th, worked hard all day cleaning inside and outside of house. That evening, trimmed the xmas tree. Shirley V attended while we had pizza and other snacks. Eusebio came with a sampling of Oaxaca-style tamales (wrapped in banana leaves). Santa dropped a bunch of presents under the tree! Stacey and Holley completed the lighting display in the front yard they started the night before. Had nice prime rib dinner with family this windy, and sprinkly nite.

On the 25th, eventually got up and collectively opened presents with the whole family: Jef got speakers, measuring tool, wine bottle stuff, t-shirt. Kathy: bedding, earrings, mobile. Stacey: bar-b-q, towels, and stuff. Holley: clock radio, books, clothes, and stuff.

On the 26th, Stacey drove back to SD, and dropped off Kathy's RX, so Jef and Kathy could take it easy at home this day.

On the 27th, hiked with Kathy and Tiki up about half a mile up Tilting T Wash (5 miles total). Had one of Eusebio's tamales that day.

On the 28th, went on another hike with Kathy, doing the reverse Borrego Spur loop. Looking at houses around Bending Elbow, we saw a dead coyote (died in last 24 hours) and met Dan Shanahan and discussed people and houses in the area.

On the 29th, back to work for 3 long days.

On the 31st, after a full day at work, we drove over to Dawn's and attended a little NY Eve party with Jan, Sally, Kathy, and a couple others.

On the 2nd, Kathy and Jef went on a 5 mile hike from home that went up the Borrego Spur, and found the NE passage down to the country club.

On the 3rd, back to work.

On the 5th, on day off, Kathy wasn't up to hiking, so Jef worked on drywall. Kathy gave a class to the local Homecare business that afternoon at the clinic.

On the 7th, Jef drove to SD, eclipsing 208K on Mazda en route, shopped, lost at tennis with partner Sid against Gerry and Hank, 3-6, 3-6, 0-2, before losing 16 at poker.

On the 8th, rested, mostly. Just a little drywall work.

On the 9th, noticed the windstorm from previous night had blown the swimming pool over the orange tree, forming an "igloo". Went over and trained Juan to take over primary duties in taking care of Norm's place. Went on 4 mile hike with Kathy at dusk.

On the 10th, Grace, Jim, and Dave B, came over and helped removed pool from tree, and set up in old spot -- this time weighing pool down with rocks. Then off to work. After Holley was dropped off at home, she was scared due to noises coming from outside the house. The next morning we saw some big tracks outside, and heard a big cat was seen in the valley.

On the 11th, Holley had a day off (Veteran's Day), and we looked around for evidence of the mountain lion that morning before Jef and Kathy had another long day at work.

On the 12th, drove with Kathy, Jill, and Kathy to Agua Caliente, where we "partied" and spent the day. We met Mike there and hung out for a few hours.

After Mike left, we walked around the campground, finding a swing set, and we watched the moonrise from the local amphitheatre:

On the 13th, Kathy was ill, so Jef cancelled a record 11 patients that day.

On the 14th, Kathy went back to work. Jef drove to SD, shopped, won at tennis with partner Sid against Shimon and Gerry: 3-6, 6-0, 3-1, and then lost 11 at poker in San Marcos.

On the 15th, Stacey dropped by for the weekend, and we drove down to the Salton Sea so that Stacey could take some pix for her photography class.

On the 16th, went out on another photo expedition with Stacey, hitting Clark Dry Lake, Burke's Bench, and Font's Point.

On the 17th, back to work.

On the 19th, drove Kathy to doctor. We had a nice lunch at Shogun's, and did some Thanksgiving shopping, including buying a 12# turkey.

On the 21st, went to the dentist to find out I need 2 more crowns. Big winner at poker, up 33.

On the 22nd, stayed home, installed new lockset in bedroom.

On the 23rd, Kathy woke me up about 1 a.m., after she had fallen on her face. It took half an hour to stop the bleeding. Later that day, installed 2 new locksets at Dawn's, tried fixing lockset in our new door, but ran into problems.

On the 24th, Kathy struggled thru a day at work while hurt.

On the 25th, Kathy took day off. Applying ice on her shoulder and face all day got swelling and pain down. Jef finished spackling outside of addition and put on a primer coat.

On the 26th, we had a soaking rain. Kathy decided to put in one last half day of work before the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend.

On the 27th, Kathy, Stacey and Holley started cooking dinner at 7:30 a.m. Jef fiddled around in Deep Well, took pix of new sculpture (Big Bird) and Mammoths while there. At about 5, Dawn stopped by, and we enjoyed some good company and great food, culminating in a Thanksgiving feast, featuring Stacey's fancy mashed potatoes and Kathy's bacon wrapped, seasoned turkey. Also, stuffing, pumpkin and apple pie, salad, string bean casserole, spaghetti casserole.

On the 28th, Stacey went back to SD and the rest of us took it easy, after doing some more cleanup from prior day.

On the 1st, went over to check out Chidester, Herrlin and my house in Deep Well, and noticed the 16 new statues erected a couple days earlier in that area. Stacey dropped by to go to El Centro with Kathy to get Lojack installed in her new car.

On the 2nd, Jef hooked in new electrical, but found some things not working properly. Stacey headed back to SD, while Jef and Kathy returned to work.

On the 3rd, came in to work to find brown-out conditions. About 1pm, the reverted to blackout. Power was out for the whole mall, so couldn't do much work at BPT, but Kathy had no problems seeing several patients. After doing some shopping in SD, played some pickle ball at Craig's and then won 9 at poker.

On the 4th, removed dead grapefruit tree from Kathy's back yard. Got Norm's pool going (pump, diatomaceous earth, chlorine, tabs). Slipped and fell on thigh while rushing to save Kathy's chicken from Tiki at dinner this night.

On the 5th, Stacey showed up and we went 4-wheeling on the Goat Trail. We had Kathy's Birthday party later that night, after which, Stacey drove back to SD.

On the 6th, another long day at work.

On the 7th, another long day at work.

On the 8th, put together most of Norm's new lawn furniture -- an aluminium table and chairs. Went to parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Wann, discussing what to do about Holley being negligent with her homework.

On the 10th, after a mostly full day at work, packed up and drove to the cannon party in the Mojave. We had dinner at Adelita's in Lucerne Valley. It was excellent. We arrived at the C.P. around 10:30p.m. We set up camp, visited the "Lost Boy's camp" before turning in.

On the 11th, after coffee and viewing a few cannon shots, Kathy led an expedition to circumnavigate the dry lake. We tested the security of the private rocket launch facility, until we saw someone running. We then cut thru a private farm, but found it abandonned. Did some visiting with others at the C.P., took a few pix, had a nice carnitas dinner (cooked by Kathy), and retired after some fireworks. Weather turned from cool to cold and windy during the night.

On the 12th, after a miserable night, packed up and headed home. We had a nice dinner in Lucerne Valley at China House. We arrived back in Borrego just after dark.

On the 13th, had a very busy day at work, followed by a pretty busy day on the 14th.

On the 15th, we drove to SD to see Kathy's doctor. Had lunch at Casa de Pico, and did some shopping.

On the 16th, survived another busy day at work.

On the 17th, after working at BPT, Jef went to SD (had to reroute to Sunshine Hwy after an accident was blocking access thru Cuyamaca too long -- nice fall colours were seen along way), did some shopping, played some pickleball (losing, with partner Tim), and broke even at poker.

On the 18th, Jef took Kathy and Holley to dinner at Assagios, after a nice rest day -- Jef did some work on addition.

On the 19th, Kathy was not feeling up to the hike she wanted to do, so took it easy. Jef did a bunch of blocking in preparation for Mark's arrival on Weds.

On the 20th, another busy day at work.

On the 21st, Kathy saw 9 patients -- a very busy day! Jef snuck out and did an hours worth of work at Norm's.

On the 22nd, Mark came over and while he removed most of plywood on remaining exterior wall that is now interior, Jef did some more blocking and started installing insulation between rafters. Mark then removed window and wall beneath it and Holley's old exterior door. Jef and Mark then wrestled a 12' piece of drywall into place on the new ceiling, and installed. Finally they installed the new door to the guest bedroom. Jef, Kathy and Holley took Mark out to Carlees for a going away dinner.

On the 23rd, another busy day at work.

On the 24th, got some grub at the Rotary breakfast, and after a long day at work, ran the draw for the tennis tournament.

On the 25th, participated in tennis tournament, losing 8-2 to Fred and Roz, dropped by parade to watch it with Kathy for half an hour before returning to club to come from behind to win with my partner, Barb McClure, 9-7 over Ken and Bonnie. Ran out of gas in 3rd match after leading 7-4, to lose to Sheldon and Mary Q, 9-7. Dropped Holley off at club for potluck while Kathy and I recuperated from a long day at home.

On the 26th, watched most of finals and covered awards presentation at club. Recovered from sore feet from prior day's tennis. Steve and ... paid a deposit on renting my house.

On the 29th, Mark came over and we finished putting drywall lids on ceiling of new room, ripped some window sills, and started drywalling walls.

On the 30th, a very busy day at work!

On the 31st, Kathy wasn't feeling well, and so only did a couple of home care patients. Jef drove to SD and braved Halloween traffic to do some shopping -- a problem, as some malls invited trick-or-treaters to swamp the parking. Won 1 and lost 2 at pickle ball before losing 6 at poker.