And on to the next generation: Thomas Ralph Dandino Jr. was born Friday. His parents are Thomas and Shayna Dandino Sr. Thomas Sr. is the stepson of my sister, Penny (aka "Grandma"). Which makes me Thomas Jr.'s great-uncle, I think. My parents, had they lived just one more year, would have been great-grandparents -- which was what my father's parents became before they passed, when my Aunt Mildred's girls gave birth.

Trying to do the smart thing: Last weekend Bill-the-Honeybear and I invited over his friend Karen, who happens to do contracting work for older/historic houses, to take a look around our house, give us her opinion, and give us advice on our plans for renovating the joint. The upshot is that we're spending this year getting the exterior (or "envelope") -- the roof, the siding, the gutters, the windows, the doors -- in shape before we do anything with the interior. She'll be in touch with some of her contacts about preliminary prices, then come back to us so we can decide with whom to go. Our next step is choosing workers and scheduling spring/summer work dates. Karen's scheduling advice? Start from the top and work down, which means the roof and gutters get done first, followed by siding, windows, and doors.