Random tidbits

1) Yay Mom! Jan arrived Monday night for a visit. We've been having lots of fun. I've also been blatantly using her for babysitting so I can write my final papers from the summer courses. She doesn't seem to mind much, especially because Xander loves her and insists on giving her wet open-mouthed kisses.

2) Osher pretty much lives outside now. The weather is so nice that he only wants to come in to eat. This means that Simcha and Yentl are now best friends. He lets her play with his tail, they wrestle, they chase each other. It's especially cute because she's about one-fifth his size (according to our scale, he's 15.8 lbs, she's 2.3). I still feel badly about not keeping Hemingway, but he and Simcha did NOT like each other. I guess it's different adopting a 10 week-old female kitten than an 8 year-old male established cat. With Yentl, Simcha still knows that he's alpha cat in the house.

3) I never wrote about our anniversary! Jonathan and I have been officially married more than five years now (June 4th, 2004). For our anniversary Sarah babysat and we went out to dinner. I made Jonathan a scrapbook and he, the not-so-closet romantic, totally outdid me and made an amazing 80-page photobook that chronicles our six years together. He wrote such mushy stuff I cried.

4) We went to the zoo with Deann and Claudia last weekend. I didn't actually like it much, but then again, I was comparing it to the San Diego Zoo, which is probably unfair to poor Cinci. They did have manatees, which rocked (I'd never actually seen one in person). It was so hot I didn't want to wear Xander in the wrap, so we popped him in the stroller and halfway through, he fell asleep from all the movement. When he was awake, I think he enjoyed it, but obviously, he'll get much more out of it when he's older. Claudia is two, and she had a ball.

5) My Talmud prof said something interesting about halacha (Jewish law) that I've been thinking a lot about: Reform Jews tend to disconnect halacha from values. So I don't consider keeping kosher (the dietary rules) that important, because in my mind, they're not associated with Jewish identity, tradition, or values of belonging. He made a really good point when he said that Jewish law aside, we very often do identify rules with values, even if we don't recognize it at the time: e.g. eating organic food is connected to values of caring for the environment, caring for animals, wanting food that is natural and not chemical, etc. It makes me rethink Jewish law a bit, and wonder how and if I would want to reconnect aspects of halacha to values within my own life.

6) I've lost 62 pounds!! (Yes, before you ask, when I was pregnant I gained enough that Jonathan and I were in the same weight category in boxing.) I had given myself nine months to lose it all, and I still have 8 pounds to go. But as of today, I'm officially quitting my diet and considering myself back to normal.

7) Shout-out to Savta and Avraham. You may have been quiet on blog comments, but we know you're there! Sending love and hugs.

8) There is no 8. You have all been fooled.