The Zog Blog

Except we’re not, really. Returning to California feels like the vacation, our time in New England like home. I don’t know exactly when or how, but I’ve got to get back there.
It’s impossible to pick highlights, because even with all of the moving around and illness and difficulty, I had such a wonderful time [...]

So far, Hanukkah and Christmas are running neck and neck. Hanukkah has singing books, which are pretty cool:

But Christmas definitely has better hats.

Time: 6:52 AM.
Temperature: 24 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dude’s scraping the ice off of his windshield in shorts.
(At least he was wearing a fleece vest.)

The holiday season is upon us. Hanukkah has started, and it’s much more enjoyable this year due to Jacob’s vastly increased ability to grasp the whole thing. “Happy Hanukkah!”, he shouts to random passers-by. “Hanukkah a HOLIDAY!”

He’s really enjoying the little safari animals we’re giving him this year, and it’s so much fun to see [...]

Wednesday was a pretty good day. Jacob decided in the morning that he didn’t want to attend the Mommy & Me-type class we usually go to (”Jacob no go class today pleeease, Mommy?”), so we stayed at home and Jacob helped me work.

But my favorite part of the day was unwinding at the end [...]

Today was a good day pretty much all around. Jon and I had one of those Important Conversations, and it both went well (no fighting) and was productive (a plan for our future that we both believe in). I cast on for some fun new knitting projects. We figured out how to save a sizable [...]

I think it’s a good idea to try (at least for the next two weeks, before we head back east) to post a daily “good thing”. Just a moment during the day that I really enjoy, to try and balance out the bad I post here so often lately.

Today, it’s Jacob “reading” to himself. [...]

A wonderful blogger recently prompted me to think about what I believe in–what rules I try to live by. If she’d posted such a query two years ago, I would have shared the following:
Life is good.
Be happy now.
Let it go.
I still like this, but it just doesn’t quite ring true for me at the [...]

My grandfather’s given name was Lewis, but everyone called him Tinker. When I was young, he was a tinkerer, a trader, a man who always liked to have some plan hatching or project going. He slowed down a lot as he aged, like everyone does I suppose. For the past few years, he mostly sat [...]

Me [looking blearily at Jon]: I’m starting to waffle on going to this new parent social event.
Jon: (nod)
Jacob: Jacob want waaaffle!
[Jon and Amy look at Jacob]
Jacob: Jacob want waffle pleeeeeeeeease!

We had a house full of visitors this weekend, which is just the way I like it. I got to bake, which I don’t do very often, and made a cheesecake I haven’t made in years. It was yummy. Jacob had lots of playmates, there was Nintendo, there was a hike, great conversation, wonderful people. [...]

Though it has been pretty gray and foggy for the past week, I snapped this shot of our new backyard when it was sunny. And since it seems like most people I know need some sunshine in their lives right now…

I’m still working a lot from home, here, with a babysitter. It looks like [...]

My father’s sister Terri passed away Sunday afternoon in her home in Brewer, ME. She was 60. She is survived by her husband, children, and two granddaughters.

What that doesn’t tell you about my aunt Terri is that she made the best cream puffs this side of the known universe. My dad’s family got together [...]

(Is a very, very, very fine house.)

Things continue to improve and we’re all settling happily into our new home. I don’t know quite how to describe it, but this house has such a lovely, lovely feel to it. It’s light, and spacious, and has enormously high ceilings with exposed beams, and even though we’re not [...]

Well, I think it’s pretty safe to say we’re all immensely enjoying the new computer. One of Jacob’s favorite parts is the new Photo Booth program, which lets you take pictures through the built-in web camera. It’s not exactly an SLR, but it is mighty handy for taking quick family snapshots.

It’s so much nicer to [...]