...and we're back

We've returned from our 2009-2010 Mid-Atlantic tour. Thank you to all who hosted us, and apologies to all those we didn't get a chance to see. After two weeks away from the homestead, we were very excited to return. All is well here. We're slowly unpacking our stuff and unloading the camera, so details will be forthcoming. We wish you all a Happy New Year and we look forward to a fabulous 2010!

Holiday Cheer and Reindeer

For any of our readers who are in striking distance of Stoneham, MA, we highly recommend Zoolights at the Stone Zoo. Sure, pictures with Santa are all the rage this time of year, but how about pictures with an actual live REINDEER!

Given Lucy's experience with Santa last year (also see here), we thought perhaps the reindeer encounter would be preferable. And indeed, it went quite well. But Zoolights is more than just reindeer: a whole area of the zoo is seriously covered in lights, and there's this path you walk through with all sorts of wacky animatronics in various Christmas and seasonal themes. The usual, a train set, penguins, various wintery animals and the like. Also, there was a large alarm clock with crazy hands that spun fast. I overheard a little kid walking by ask "A clock?" I kind of felt the same way.

Lucy loved the whole thing and ran about gleefully asking "What's that called?" (her new question, asked at a rate of roughly 4 times a minute).

In other news, 83 Durant has been receiving some exciting packages from Santa. And what I mean here is that for the past two days, we've received packages with no indication of who really sent them. We received some lovely bicycle-engraved pint glasses, and then a set of six beautiful glasses etched with a tree design. We love them! Secret Santa, wherever you are, thank you!

Conversations with Lucy

Second (?) installment

Grandma has been visiting for the past week, so things have been rather exciting for Lucy with an extra person around every day to entertain (and be entertained by) her. She enjoys spending time recounting past glories, such as Halloween ("I wear Carter costume!") and trick-or-treating ("I saw Curious George. He scared me." [true story]) and, more recently, the holiday parade downtown ("Kids gave me candy!"). This is great fun.

This evening at dinner, we were talking about an upcoming wedding we're attending in January, and Lucy, hearing the word "wedding" assumed (reasonably) that we were talking about the wedding we just went to a few weeks ago. "I go Christy's house!" she gleefully announced. To simplify the matter of where we were going for the wedding of Christy and Eric, we just told her we were going to Christy's house, so I believe that it's possible that at this point, Lucy believes that the whole of the church and reception hall where Christy & Eric were married, and perhaps even the hotel where we stayed, are "Christy's House." Sweet! Nice diggs, Christy.

Anyway, to get to the best part of the conversation, we asked Lucy if she remembered what she did at Christy and Eric's wedding. Here's a fairly accurate transcription of the rest:
Lucy: "I played!"
Me: "Did you dance?"
Lucy: "Yes!"
Me: "Who did you dance with?"
Lucy: "A little boy."
Me: "That's right!"
Lucy: "His name Nathan."
[It is true that his name is Nathan, but I really had no idea that she even knew his name, let alone that she would remember it three weeks later. We were all very surprised by her detailed information!]
Me: "Yes, that was Nathan. Nathan Laub. Those Laubs are good eggs."
Lucy [immediately]: "Good eggs come from chickens."

OK, so I really don't know why I said they were "good eggs"; though of course they ARE, it was a funny thing to say. But her response cracked me up. Like an egg. A good one.

So thanks again, Christy & Eric, for a super-fun time. I think there are some images on Flickr that show just how much fun Lucy had. And Nathan, you're on notice: you have an admirer!

Roof Fixed

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers. We certainly have many things to be thankful for here at 83 Durant. For one thing, our roof doesn't leak! The roofer came on Monday, right in time for Lucy's nap. The leak, as you'll recall, went into her room, and the missing slates (the source of the leak) were above her room. Thus, there was NO! NAP! FOR LUCY! She made that quite clear to Grandma, who was babysitting. Yikes.

But all is well. Twelve slates were replaced, and now we're once again watertight (or so we hope).

Jake is cooking up a storm and Lucy and Grandma are having a grand time playing in the tent. Enjoy your feasts!

Roof Update

Our roof guy called and let us know that there are a few missing and/or broken slates up towards the roof ridge that are probably causing our leakage. So we'll be setting up our roof appointment very soon. But probably not soon enough to avoid Friday's 80% chance of rain. Argh. What to do about that? Towels in the attic? An elaborate system of plastic sheeting? A whole-house umbrella? Suggestions welcome.

Also, in other news, Lucy had her Birthday yesterday and will have her daycare party tomorrow. So far she has really enjoyed being the Birthday Girl.

Roof Results: Inconclusive

Jake went up the attic hatch, but sadly, has not been able to determine the source of the leakage into Lucy's room. We have a call into our roof guy, and we await further information. Or rain. So far, clear skies ahead until Friday. Updates as events warrant.

Roof Woes

There is a leak in the roof. We must investigate tomorrow. While we were away this weekend, it leaked into Lucy's room. This makes me very sad, because Lucy's room was the one we fixed up (insulated ourselves) and had drywalled just two years ago (yes, she's almost 2!).

Argh.

Further updates as we figure out what's up.