Saturday 6 December

N and I had a full day of grandparenting--just what we had imagined when we made the decision to move to NB. The big event was G's violin recital. We drove to Austin, met up with E and his family and then headed over to the big event, housed in a music center bearing the name "Armstrong" (presumably created by the philanthropy of Lance Armstrong). E tells me that there are many facilities all over Austin that bear either the name of Armstrong or Michael Dell (the computer manufacturer).

We heard an hour of violin music primarily performed by youngsters between the ages of 3 and 10. A few sour notes, to be sure, but lots of beaming parents, grandparents, and assorted other family members. G performed splendidly! She told us her knees were shaking, but we couldn't tell it. Afterwards we celebrated at Starbucks.

In the evening E and K attended the firm's Christmas party and N and I did the full-time grandparent thing. Managing the children (who were excellent) was nothing compared to managing the three dogs--Sallie, Izzy, and Sammy! Best of all, I got to take care of the baby while N played with the other children. It's been a long time since I was able to spend so much time with a nine-week old baby. What a precious doll she really is.

After the children were all asleep, N and I reminisced about how my mother used to come and care for our children (often for a week at a time) when we were the busy, active parents and we felt so good to be able to do the same for E and K.