Today is the last Friday of elementary school for Hudson. The countdown is on: just four more days of 6th grade. I felt myself get a little teary watching the kids at a school sock hop today. We’re talking about promotion/graduation and 6th-grade-dance style and so maybe doing a little shopping this weekend. Anyone with sixth grade boys? What are yours wearing right now? We’re also gearing up for a switch from Gizmo to Apple Watch (holding off on the phone, hopefully, a few more years) and I’m rewriting the Common Sense Media family tech agreement for our needs. Thanks to those who recommende ..read more

I keep promising a new travelogue and I’m sorry it’s taking me so long if you’ve been looking for it. I’d run into some problems getting the photos off of my phone, but I think I’ve got it all figured out now. Honestly, photo organization is forever on my most-requested gift list. I just want someone to come in and figure it all out for me! Any tips welcome. Our week was packed with soccer and baseball (both Hudson) as the seasons wrap up and new teams are formed. We also have been celebrating a lot—moms, anniversaries, birthdays—and are quickly accelerating toward a lot of elementary school ..read more

It’s been a rough week for our community. It made national news, so some of you may have read—we had a series of stabbings and, for about a week, no idea when the killer would be identified and caught. Until yesterday, when an arrest was finally made, just blocks from the kids’ school. The randomness and the closeness meant that we were all incredibly on edge. Businesses and the University cancelled all evening classes, sports leagues and families cancelled afternoon and evening activities, and we stopped letting kids ride their bikes to school or play in the park. The sound of news helicopte ..read more

Happy Friday! I’m looking forward to going to the kids’ school in a few hours and picking up Hudson, who has been away all week at a 6th grade camp. It’s been so strangely empty in the house without him. Can’t wait to hear all about his adventure. He gets back just in time for Davis’ big campus-open-house called Picnic Day. He also has a soccer game, baseball game, and we will try to watch a bit of the Warriors/Kings game (Go Sacramento!)—so it’s going to be a packed welcome home. California’s Superbloom is everywhere in photos right now and I’m lamenting that my favorite route to our own lit ..read more

The ice cubes over on Discocubes are stunning! These spheres feel like they sum up the current mood around here especially well: frozen spring. Everything is in bloom but we’re all in countdown mode to warm, sunny days as winter persists. In good seasonal news, just a few more days until the sun sets after 7pm! And Davis Picnics-in-the-Park were just announced as returning! And summer camp sign-up anxiety has hit, so that means summer is still coming… So I should just try to enjoy all this rain (the “atmospheric rivers”) on behalf of our state, right? This weekend holds plans for a Little Lea ..read more

There’s some big news in my life—I’m still sort of processing it! I’ve found someone to be the new Editor of The Dirt! The Davis Publication I took over in 2019, and re-launched this December, has a new owner. I’m really happy about the transition! My goal was to build it into a magazine-like-newspaper that supported the arts and local community, that brought people out to local events and businesses, and which could support itself through advertisers and sponsors and then find someone to carry it on—and I feel like it’s in really good hands! I’m really proud of the work that went into it (so ..read more

I’ve got manicures in mind as an activity with Skyler this weekend. It’s going to be just the two of us while Hudson and Aron are away for a soccer tournament. What are you looking forward to this weekend? Some links of note…  Cool nails! Nice to see for short-cuts! (pictured) Finneas reveals everyday sounds in his songs. The Bad Guy one is amazing! Enjoying Joanna’s playlist—now I need another one from the comment section. Getting targeted with these pants a LOT and… how do they know!? Going to try them. How to act around books. “Sampling” on Sesame Street, when the word was first being ..read more

Today I was downtown and there are blooms on all the trees—when did that happen? It made me realize that I spent far too much time on my computer this week and not enough time outside enjoying the shift toward spring. I’m so happy the sun is out, and I’m going to make myself get outside more next week to make up for it! In other news, recently: Skyler turned nine on Sunday! She proudly rode her bike home all by herself a few days later and told me, “I’m nine now, after all.” Then, as if to keep me grounded, I discovered she’d poured my very precious Skinceuticals serum down the drain so she c ..read more

Sorry that the title “weekly” has not been accurate lately! It’s another week in which the news is hard to look at. “The U.S. has seen 39 mass shootings so far this month. More than 60 people have been killed.” It’s not even February. I saw this poem on Kottke and it really captured that horrifying feeling of how routine it starts to feel. It’s unfathomable, all this loss and grief around us all the time. I’m so sorry for the families and friends of those shot in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay right now. Collective Nouns for Humans in the Wild, by Kathy Fish (Source) A group of grandmothers ..read more

Happy New Year! I saw a meme featuring Larry David saying that you’re only allowed to wish people that up to January 7, so I’m making it in just under the wire! We greeted the new year with friends (kids, too) at a long table playing truth or lie and Cards Against Humanity. Afterward, on my “more” list for this year, I added “dinner parties”—they’re so much fun. In my “less” list column, I put “scrolling,” which prompted lots of questions from the kids. “What’s scrolling?” The problem is that now they point out to me whenever they see me doing it. No one holds you accountable quite like they ..read more