A few other recent items of note:

• [Kathy->], as I mentioned in the previous post, took a three day long Motorcycle Safety Course. While I’m decidedly cool on motorcycle riding (mostly for safety reasons), Kathy’s been very keen on the idea for quite a while. Taking the course seemed a good way to help balance both of our wishes in this area. Kathy did very well, by all accounts, and seemed to really enjoy it, though she came back with a sinus infection.
• On Friday night, [Emily->] helped out with the Southside Community Center’s annual Thanksgiving dinner. [Maggie->] and I attended while Emily worked, and enjoyed getting to hear Representative Patrick Rose speak briefly, followed by the San Marcos Mariachi Academy and The Gospelaires. Both were wonderful fun, and reminded me how fortunate we are to live in a part of the country where live music is so available and appreciated.
• Speaking of live music, on Thursday night we enjoyed the 15th Anniversary Party of The Jazz Protagonists, a trio that features my friend Barry, a brilliant pianist whose weblog really needs an XML feed. We had a marvelous time, enjoying an Indian dinner with [Chris->], [Becky->], and [Mom McMains->] beforehand, and the company of even more friends once there. The ensemble played together with the practiced ease of people who know each other extraordinarily well musically — “like an old couple dancing,” as I commented to one of our friends as we watched.
• We’re putting wood floors into our living room to match the rest of the house and hopefully give us an easier time with allergies once the nasty old carpet’s out. We pulled up the carpet and padding, only to discover a layer of vinyl tile beneath. We scraped that up and found a layer of linoleum tile. Pulling that up, we finally got to subflooring. While it turned out to be more work than anticipated, the kids enjoyed the rare opportunity to take hammer, prybar and chisel to the house.
• The kids and I all went to see the new Harry Potter movie. Great stuff, though marred a bit by frequent bathroom escorts and some “tell me when it’s over, Daddy” moments.