Danica Diane and Eric Steven made their desires to be out in the world known last night. Kristi came through her C section with flying colors. Moms and babies are nestled in at AV Hospital.

The twins are beautiful beyond compare (She writes through tears of joy and with a giddy Victorian flair. ) They have the cutest fingers and toes and the right number of each. They are of a fair complexio with deep blue eyes and golden brown hair. Danica weighed in at 5 lb 15 oz and Eric a hefty 6lb 5 oz.

How wonderful that I was able to be here to see them before leaving tomorrow morning for Mexico.
By the time Bob and I get back, the babies’ two mommies will have them home and settled.

If it were not enough that Kristi has made me the happiest and proudest Nana in the world, I just had a phone call that Bob’s Grand daughter Monique had a baby girl on Monday. Can you believe that? A Nana and a Great Nana in a space of 48 hours. Poppa Bob is going to have a hard time getting me to come back down to earth. These are the moments of miracles. I don’t have a photo of Tara yet, but her big sister Arianna, told me she was “soooo cute!”.

border="0" />

I am thrilled that my friend Joyce has taken my invitation to post as a guest blogger on my site seriously. Please welcome her and after reading her post, I hope you will take a moment to make an encouraging comment. I would love to see this woman with a Blog of her own. She has so much to say. Meanwhile, she is welcome to use Silverfox-Whispers whenever she feels like it. This was fist posted as a comment on my return from Chicago. I frequently have Friday night dinners with a small group that includes Joyce. Her observations of my behavior are sadly and yet, astutely true.

I’m tickled to have Maria home again also! I get lots of puppy appreciation and more peanuts than I should eat, but I haven’t seen Maria in some weeks and am missing her chortles/giggles and above all her thoughtful, taking-your-measure looks.

It occurs to me that blogs blot up spare, and not so spare, thoughts that trot/slide/glide through our consciousness. I’m thinking that I may know why Maria is so much quieter on Friday nights while daintily sipping her Mexican shrimp cocktail, which is really warm tomato sauce with bits of shrimp in it.. I do notice lately that Maria’s “cocktail” is a bit more poshly served than the dishes served to the rest of us at Casa Corona.. .that hers has quite recognizable whole shrimp in its very elegant bowl. A bowl the likes of which is not offered to the rest of us ordinary mortals who expect Cold Shrimp perched and hanging on to the edge of their holds-no-surprises Cocktail Service until we choose to dip them in a spicy, tangy, respectable Cocktail Sauce which is Never eaten with spoon. It is apparent that Maria is now the Darling Lover-of-All-Things- Mexican because she appreciates and truly enjoys what she considers to be a tasty treat.. and which I at least will forever consider to be an abomination … a yucky abomination.. a stinkin’, yucky abomination. Maria is a SuckUp.

Anyway, returning to Blog Personas, it’s my guess that Maria (and probably many of you) spend much time listening, editing and mentally writing your reactions to the babble of Real Life that surrounds you. putting it all into sound Blog Shape for Tomorrow’s Words to your cyberfriends.. saving the best of your thoughts for publication, rather than waiting eagerly to offer them Unedited and Untitled and Unsorted to your Old Pals who miss you!

Yet. yes.. yet I’m thinking about adding my own untested Words of, hopefully, Some Use to a blog of my own… or maybe just join Maria’s since she’s done all the work.

Then I and My Quiet Little Friend Maria, who usedto be Chatty Maria, can BOTH sit with our buds at dinner happily nodding and smiling to ourselves as we contemplate the Rich Bits of goodies we can share later with our Hungry Bloggers, who are likely somewhere Out There at this moment collecting wonderful
images sifted right out of their own minds, which will then be offered to
the rest of us come tomorrow morning.

Can’t wait.

Joyce
In the Mojave Desert of California

Yesterday, Bob and I saw a very funny movie with a astute political message. It was Man of the Year starring Robin Williams. Since my husband and I have a running joke about our votes cancelling out each other most issues, it is not often we find ourselves in agreement. We both found lots to laugh at and lots of small and some not so small truths about American politics to ponder.

I wish they had not used so many of the “best” of Robin Williams lines in the promo. This is an
ongoing irritation for movie previews. It rankles me to have already seen the very best of the film before entering the theater. In this case, however, there were still many surprise comedical parlays and I enjoyed the added suspense of the story line.

I came out of the theater feeling good, feeling better about politics and the American people, and believing one vote still counts. I also walked out with a heightened cynical attitude toward red and blue states and with a re-newed apprehension about electronic voting.

Does this movie compare with Wag the Dog, or Good Morning America? Probably not, but it is entertaining. Man of the Year speaks words of wisdom, raises a few red flags, and it sure makes for a pleasant afternoon viewing

A wonderful package arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon. It is a little pillow with lettering that says, “When a Child is Born, So is a Grandmother.” It came from Mary over at Momma’s Corner. I cannot thank her enough for her sweet thoughtfulness. I am thrilled with Grandmotherly love every time I look at that pillow and with awe for the wonderful person who thought of me in this way.

There is a nostalgic twist of fate in all of this. The day it was confirmed that Kristi was expecting , Bob and I were at a beach community in Ventura. As we walked past a gift shop, I glanced in the window to see a pillow with these same words on it. I told him, “Someday, I want a pillow like that.” Miracles of miracles, it arrived in the mail! Yes, I do believe in angels . . . especially the human kind.

The good news is Kristi is scheduled for a C-Section on Nov. 3rd which is also Bob’s birthday and our fifth anniversary. The bad news is that we will be in Mexico from Nov. 1 - to the 8th. We scheduled this anniversary trip over a year ago and would not be able to get refunds from hotels or airlines, so we will not be here for the blessed event. You can bet I will be burning up the highway to Palmdale as soon as we get home.

Again, thank you Mary . To the rest of you, aren’t our blogging friends the greatest treasure?

Sometimes life has a way of throwing smiles your way and last night was one of those times. The Daily Independent, our local newspaper, had a large photo of the Homecoming Court on the front page.

I scanned the photo quickly looking for a former student that I knew was in the Court and almost missed seeing Whitney. She was so beautiful that it almost took my breath away. Now I am going to get terribly sentimental on you, but bear with me because it is a right of old teachers to do so on occasion.

Whitney had been in my fourth grade class years ago. She was the bright, freckle faced kid with the knobby knees, sandy red hair, and a smile that could light up the whole classroom. If that was not enough she ran like the wind and already exhibited a flair for soccer.

I wasn’t at the game, but one of the perks of living and teaching in a small town is the rapidity with which news travels. I had not been home long from dinner when my friend Lydia who had been at Homecoming, and with whom I taught for many years, called to give me the good news. Whitney was the Burrough’s Homecoming Queen.

Proud! I couldn’t be prouder if I had crowned her myself. This is a worthy honor that our High School has bestowed on Whitney and one of which she is most deserving. So Queen Whitney, today while you have the world by the tail, give it a whirl for Gateway School, Room 14, and for 4th Grade memories.