What the McCabe's have been up to in 2005.

Even though Kevin was dealing with regulatory issues and Susan was trying to be the perfect student, we still managed to do a bit of traveling, see a few plays and operas, and have a few visitors this year.

January 2005 - The year started quietly, having spent New year's Eve at home...I think we managed to stay up to toast in the New Year but can't promise us we did.  We also had a few visitors...Lyn from Australia and Ian from the UK.  Both are old friends and have visited before so we enjoyed each others company by eating, shopping and relaxing.  Kevin had a company meeting in Las Vegas at the end of the month so Susan got together with other Wells fargo wives ( we called ourselves the WOW...Women of Wells) for a lovely dinner.  Susan also took Chinese Brushpainting classes that month before her Docent classes started at the end of the month.

February 2005 - February was quiet...Susan had her schoolwork and volunteering at the Asian Art Museum, while Kevin was doing quite a bit of traveling...Phoenix, Minneapolis, LA.  We managed to squeeze in a weekend in LA with Giorgio and Shelley (of course not the same time Kevin had to be there on business) to watch the USA Rugby Sevens.  We also had an Oscar party with members of the Museum Movie Mavens (MMMs), a group which sees a movie a month (old or new) and then gets together to talk about it.  It was the first month of its existence so we decided to start off with a look at last years films.  Of course none of us had seen all the nominations for Best Picture, but we still had fun voting on what would win...if memory serves it was the guys who had the most correct picks.

March 2005 - Kevin had a meeting in New Orleans so Susan tagged along.  As it turns out we were very lucky to go given Katrina's devastation later in the year.  There were a number of spouses who accompanied their spouses and we ended up going to a cooking class, seeing the sights of New Orleans, visiting a Plantation. (see photos)   we were lucky as the weather was very pleasant until the morning we left when the humidity had doubles along with the temperature.  When we returned to San Francisco, Holly and Sandy (from Colorado), and their daughter Beth and her husband Kevin (from Santa Barbara) came for a visit.  We had lots of fun taking in the sights, walking around the neighborhood, and visiting with Kevin's sister and husband (who also live in SF).  Before we knew it Easter was upon us and our friends Virginia and Randy visited us from Santa Fe. Even though all this activity was going on, Susan had a painting due for her docent class (see photo) and Kevin was busy with the regulators.

April 2005 - April was a quiet month.  Kevin was away to Las Vegas for a few days and Susan had a make-up midterm (since she was in New Orleans when it was given) and a final, so her days were spent studying...so much fun!

May/June 2005 - May and June were very busy months.  It started with a trip to Hawaii for the wells Fargo Sales and Service Conference.(see photo)   The day we returned, our friends from Virgina, Hunter and Nancy stopped by for a visit.  Susan dropped them of at the airport in the morning and then that evening we started our round the world holiday.  We stopped first in Hong Kong in order for us to get our new HK ID cards, and of course catch up with friends (see photos).  Then it was off to Singapore for an overnight stopover which allowed us to catch up with David and Monica.  We then flew to Istanbul for the hightlight of the trip...a cruise!  As you might remember our past cruises are with a number of Australian friends...we are the token Americans.  Well this time we were able to have our friends Virginia and Randy from Santa Fe join us, so while the Aussies still outnumbered the Yanks, at least it was a bit more balanced.  Of course that was just in the small group of us, since the ship was 90% Australian.  One of the reasons for this could have been that we were going to stop at a few places that many Americans are not yet comfortable going...namely Syria, Lebanon, and Libya.  We had a great time as you can see from the attached photos.

July 2005 -  Our nephew, Eric cam to visit us 4th of July weekend...he is in the Marine reserves and was stationed in Southern California.  It was his first time to SF, so we showed him the sights as well as taking in a Oakland As baseball game. (see photos)  We also had a visit from our friend James from London, who was in the US on business and managed to come through SF so we could catch up...and Susan could practice her qualifying tour for the museum.  James and Kevin were a perfect audience and Susan passed her tour with flying colors.

August 2005 - We started out the month with a business trip to Minneapolis. They were having a heat spell with temps in the 90s.  From there we started our summer holiday with a short visit to our friends Hunter and Nancy in Richmond, and then onto Cape Hatteris for a McCabe family reunion.  We rented a great house with a pool, one block from the ocean.  Although we did get a bit of rain, we had a great time relaxing and seeing the sights as well as catching up with the family. (see photos)  We then traveled to New bern to catch up with Susan's family and then back to see hunter and Nancy at their summer place.  When we returned to SF, we had another visit from Ian...it's good we usually get to see him twice a year, and this time he was able to help us celebrate one of our holiday's...Labor Day.

September 2005 - Susan started her classes and Kevin was back in full swing at work.  As mentioned, we had a BBQ for Labor Day which was fun...the weather was nice, not too hot and not too foggy.  In the middle of the month we were off to Nashville, where Kevin had a MAX conference. Suffice it to say, we got our lifetime fix of country music.  We went to the Grand Ole Opry, visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, and took a paddleboat ride down the river. 

October 2005 - Kevin had to be in Minneapolis for meetings at the beginning of the month and we were able to tie it into a trip to St John's University Homecoming Footbal game, a visit to their Master Potter, and a day of apple picking at the Haeg orchard on the Mississippi.  (see photos)  Susan then went to Martha's Vineyard to visit with Tom Goodale, and Don and Carolyn Rowland and help celebrate her friend Carolyn's significant birthday. (see photo) The time consisted of Carolyn and Susan shopping and eating...who could ask for anything more!

November/December 2005 - Most of November was relatively quiet...Susan was studying for her final at the beginning of December, and Kevin had Board meetings.  We managed to get to the opera and theatre...went to see Billy Crystal in 700 Sundays which was great. We had one last business trip of the year...to Phoenix.  Susan tagged along as she finds it easier to study when she is away with no distractions...having said that   some of the other spouses were there which allowed some much needed distraction though.  Enough studying was done for Susan to feel very confident about her test results.

Well Christmas is upon us, and as I promised in our Christmas card, I have finished this letter before Christmas. Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday!