Jack Calvin
A flying trip to Massachusetts to attend Jack's Christening. Of course, any excuse to be with my kids and grandkids is a good one. We had a busy, but wonderful three days. It's clear to see that this summer at the lake is going to be really fun. Natalie and Lynn appear ready to get up to any mischief together and Theresa and Jacqui had great fun hanging out with each other. Only Juliana is odd man out, no 8 yr olds to play with. In the future, Jack and Philip are going to be another pair to keep our eyes on. What one doesn't think of the other will and they'll both probably tease the girls unmercifully. But for this year and next at least, they'll just be adorable babies to enjoy!

Lynn, Natalie, Theresa, Jacqui, Juliana and Macayla


Philip Calvin - now almost one month old.

I just got back from New York where I went to welcome my new grandson into the world. How easily we forget just how tiny a newborn is, or how sweet to have one cuddle trustingly against one's chest in sleep. I even enjoyed the peaceful magic of rocking him in the dark, quiet hours of the night while his Mommy slept.

It was fun spending time with his big sisters - at least they call themselves big. At 3 and 5 and petite, they are hardly all that big. But they are funny, smart and entertaining. We read books, baked, went to the park, made puzzles and lots of other things. Enjoyed spending time with my daughter too. I get far too little time with her and she's such a wonderful person, that's a shame.

A couple weeks back my sister-in-law sent me the obituary for a man I once worked with in the Cursillo movement. His wife, Ginny, had served on one of my teams back in the 70s and it turned out they had been wintering not that far from where I've now moved. I sent her a sympathy card and included my business card. Turns out the world is smaller than even I thought - one of her sons lives in my own city. It sure was fun catching up with Ginny when she came to visit her son.

At Christmas I got a card from a couple I knew even longer ago - Carol was my roommate in the hospital when my second daughter was born, we hit it off and became friends. But then I moved away from New Jersey, and eventually so did she. But her card informed me that she and her husband, Barry, now spend their winters in Florida. My card going back to her included my phone numbers and last week, she called. Today Carol and Barry drove out to the beach where I live and we managed to gab up a storm for almost six hours - what a fantastic visit.

Like the song I used to sing when I was in the Girl Scouts says, "make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold. I had a golden afternoon today. Thank you, Carol and Barry. I can't wait for our next chance to get together and I'm looking forward to seeing Ginny next summer when I go to the memorial service for Art.

Don't you just love walking on the beach when the breeze is warm and the moon is full?  I sure do. It would be even nicer to share it with someone other than my dog, Duffy, but even so . . . such beauty should be savored.

It's so nice out today, I'm looking for excuses to be out of doors. Maybe I should get back to painting a second coat on the new fence?  The weather report for the northeast just reinforces my pleasure at being where I am. Can you imagine? Boston has already spent over $16 million on snow removal and they are expecting another 20 inches tonight? And just think of all the flight cancellations. That doesn't portend well for discount flights any time soon.

Okay, enough procrastination - time to get back to outlining my new book and filling out the characters so I can start writing again. Stay warm, dry and safe everyone.

Attended the Space Coast Writer's Conference this past couple days and met some really neat folk. Sat in on some really great workshops and bought books by author's I've never had before so I'm excited to get my hammock out and settle in for a good read. A special thanks to Mark Mynheir, T. Davis Bunn, Aimee & David Thurlo and Lois Winston for some great ideas, encouragement and inspiration.

Some folk like to turn back their odometers but not me! I want everyone to know why I look like this! I've traveled a lot miles and some of those roads were unpaved!

I know, I live in Florida now so I should be rooting for the home teams, but some habits die hard and rooting for the New England Patriots is one of them. So, I turn the game on eager to see them roust the Jets, only it doesn't work that way.  Belichick and his offensive coaches should have been reviewing the tapes and finding out how all those holes were happening and plug them. For a quarterback who doesn't get sacked all that often five times in one game is outrageous. Only the first should have been a surprise. The second should have been a wake-up call loud enough to be heard all the way down here. Alas, the Pats were too cocky by half and they got what they deserved. So, how about them Celtics? Oh, wait! That was the Orlando Magic they just beat, wasn't it? Maybe I should just shut up before some local boys come calling.

I have a lot to be thankful for. At the moment, it's that I live here in St Augustine. According to the news last night Florida is the ONLY state in the union, including Hawaii, without snow. And today the northeast and most of my family are getting pounded again with another blizzard. I have a friend in Australia who hasn't yet responded to my queries about his safety with all the flooding there. So, when I find myself whining about the temps being a bit chillier than I'd like, I'll give myself a kick in the you know what and thank God for my blessings!

We had what everyone sings about: A white Christmas, filled with laughter, love and joy, and the whole family together in one place, lots of wonderful gifts, a visit from Santa and great food. I headed north to New England via Long Island to attend a birthday party for my youngest grand daughter and arrived a week early to help my daughter-in-law get ready for the arrival of the rest of the family (I have 4 kids and a step-son- all married, and 11 grandchildren so it's a big, boisterous, happy crowd when we are all in one place.)

Here's 6 of the 11 (teenagers always seem to be somewhere else!)

Lucky for me, the first snow didn't arrive until after I got there, but it was enough for my dog Duffy and grand daughter Natalie to have a grand time playing in and to make it a white Christmas. The day after Christmas, we got another 18 inches! The newest member of the family, Jack born last month, is a snuggler so I got lots of time rocking with him cuddled against me. The girls were full of fun, the youngest two gave us a dance recital to the Nutcracker Suite, the oldest two played their violins for me and my grandson, Kit played a few numbers on his trumpet. One night the men in the family got a fierce game of Risk going while us girls played cards. All in all, it was another grand family gathering and I brought home another collection of wonderful memories to cherish until next time.