Bob says: I had a very eventful year. In March, I left the startup I'd worked at for three+ years and took a well-deserved break after nine years in the startup pressure cooker. I worked heavily on putting the Quilt Museum's computers on a sustainable basis, using a technology grant to buy new computers for the first time in the Museum's entire history. I wrote several new  simulators and worked on more animé projects than I care to admit. But eventually, even a life of leisure begins to pall, and when the cats started to view me as a permanent fixture in their lives (and sleeping patterns), I went looking for a new job. Despite the economy, I found a new position as Vice-President of Engineering for the Systems and Technology division of Unisys.  It's a big job, and it will entail a lot of travel, but I’m looking forward to the challenges (and income) of a regular job again.

Martha says: It was lovely having Bob home for much of the year for bike rides, and long walks. Our only vacation was at Timberlock this summer with Ben, Lori, and my Presberg-Greene cousins. Bob and I were also glad we had time to join his sister, Lee, as volunteers for Obama in New Hampshire. Since the New England Quilt Museum now has several new staff members I'll soon be handing over the webmaster position after 10+ years. I continue to train more library volunteers and hope to find one who will take over running the library from me before Bob retires for good. I’ve made several more quilts and am thrilled to be completing the “Summer Sunshine” wall-hanging I started in 1995 on two Caribbean vacations. It is heavily hand quilted (every 3/8 inch) and sat untouched for years because I could no longer see the pencil marks I made too lightly. Recently it seemed less daunting and I’ve tackled it again, one section at a time. That’s been my model for handling life's challenges this year with Bob’s career change.

Ben says:  Thankfully, we had a calmer 2008 than 2007. Ben's company successfully launched a version of X-Plane for the i-Phone. In October, Lori and I adopted a petite (5 lb.) gray tabby kitten and named her Nublet. She routinely snuggles with our 45-lb. Lab mix Cece while our cranky 12-lb. cat Nala swats at them. In November we spent 2.5 weeks in India, starting in Mumbai and traveling all around Rajasthan and the Golden Triangle, as well as Goa. We left Mumbai 5 days before the terrorist attacks there, arriving home in time for Thanksgiving, appropriately enough.

Jonathan says: Greetings from puppy land! The puppies have matured a lot in the last year. We can hardly call these well-behaved dogs puppies now, except that they're still very cute. Also the cats are on their way to ruling the roost once again, as is right and proper. Unfortunately, the dogs’ black fur doesn't photograph well (it looks like a black blob), so no good pictures yet. We got the bathroom replaced, and the new one looks great. It's been an eventful year. Especially, a lot of our friends have been getting married. We're now both working-- Larissa at Genarts  in Cambridge (a visual effects company) and Jonathan still with Funkitron. We both enjoy our jobs. Larissa's already shipped two versions of her company's product. Funkitron shipped Slingo Supreme, Jonathan's first lead-development-credit game. We're spending New Year's at a ski resort in Bozeman, Montana with Jonathan's college roommate for our first vacation in over a year.