Happy Birthday Madeleine!

Madeleine is one year old today. She was the best Christmas present I ever received - a new granddaughter! Last year at about 10:30 in the morning Debra's water broke while she was standing at my kitchen sink. They took off for the hospital, and in about three hours Madeleine had arrived. Happy Birthday Madeleine!

Madeleine was a little under the weather when this picture was taken. I wish I looked that good when under the weather!

So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger

A well crafted tale from start to finish. Enger has an amazing way with words - poetic prose.

Matthew turns 2

Matthew turned two today. He is another one of our December treasures. He was born two days after I broke my arm the first winter we were here, and it was very hard to hold him. That is indeed sad for any grandma. Luckily he is very snuggly, and lets me hold him all the time now. My favorite thing we do together is rock-a-rock in the rocking chair.

Happy Birthday Matthew! I love you!

Australia

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman

We went to see the movie Australia last night. It's nearly three hours long, but I didn't even notice the length (usually at about 75 minutes I keep straining to see my watch and how much longer a movie will be.) It was delightfully romantic, with just enough adventure in it that Ray said it made it a tolerable chick flick. Very clean. I liked it a lot.

White Christmas

This morning we had a lot of snow. I hunkered down for the day, and decided to do some sewing. Audrey came over with the boys, and we decided to watch White Christmas. (Sorry Beth and Debra, I'll watch it again with you if you want.)

I first saw the movie White Christmas in 1970. We traveled all the way from southern California to Mayville, New York for Christmas that year. Mayville is where my grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousins on my mom side lived. One night the adults went out to dinner or something - they were gone for the evening. My sister Cheryl and I turned on the TV, and White Christmas was just starting. We had never seen it before, and we immediately fell in love with the movie. In my mind I was Betty, and Cheryl was Judy. I have no idea why, or what Cheryl thought, but that's what hatched in my little brain. Maybe because I liked Betty's clothes better. I also like Betty's songs better.

We thought we had discovered some great new movie. Imagine our surprise when our parents said, "Oh, that movie. It's been around forever." Well, I say thank heavens it's still around! I think I've seen that movie at least once a year ever since that first time. I still love it every time I see it, and I still cry at the end every time. It's one of my favorite memories and traditions of the Christmas season.

Happy Birthday Beth!

Yes, that's right. Another December birthday in our family. In our extended family, we have 16 birthdays in the month of December. In my own family of four children, we have two. Ray and Beth.

Beth was born ten days before we had to leave for Ray's sister's wedding. We were sweating whether she would be here on time or not (she ended up being two days past due date). She was an easy delivery - two hours from start of labor to delivery.

I'm so glad Beth is part of our family. She is a math whiz, just like her siblings. She has musical talent coming out her ears. I used to love being in choir with her so that I could draft off her. She has a great ear, and great voice. She plays the piano and organ. She's accompanied Ray a few times when he has sung.

She is our baby, and we've had some great times with just her because of that. She's taken cooking classes with Ray, and gone shopping with me as well as being my fashion guru (aka geek patrol for mom). We had a few television shows we watched together. She beat me constantly at rummikub her last two years of high school. I'm so glad she lives nearby right now!

Happy Birthday Beth!

Beth and Bruce

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder

I think I've been reading this book for at least a month. It was fascinating. I love biographies, and this one was great. Warren Buffett is a very interesting man.

This book is not a fast read. It is jam-packed with information - over 800 pages for the text of the book, and 90 pages of notes. I started out reading the notes as I went along, but felt a little overwhelmed. I decided to just enjoy the book as written, and know that I could look up the notes later if I wanted to.

Happy Birthday Ray!

Today is my son Ray's birthday. It's snowing like mad today, and it was snowing on the day he was born - in Kirkland Washington. Ray was my easiest baby to deliver (15 minutes after I arrived at the hospital), and he's been pretty darn easy ever since.

Ray is a gentle soul. I can't remember a time when he said or did something mean or cruel. He likes things to be smooth and peaceful.

That said, Ray is also an adventurous person (like his dad). In fact they enjoy doing quite a few things together - shooting, and SCUBA diving to name just a couple. If I were ever in a dangerous situation, I would want to have them with me. I know that if Ray were ever in a situation like that, and if there were any way to get out of it, he would. He is a good man to have on your team.

Ray and I share a couple of interests. One is reading. We don't always read the same types of books, but we both love to read. Ray is an extremely fast reader. When our family would buy a new popular book (i.e. a Harry Potter book), Ray would read it first (usually in a few hours), then me, then Audrey, then Beth or Debra. Another thing we do is play Scrabble together. I've posted about that before. Ray is a good sport to play with me, and we have a great time.

Happy Birthday, Ray! I hope you have a wonderful day.

Ray and his sidekick Madeleine.