Late-Breaking News Flash

Hold on! News flash! Stop the presses!

Oh, wait, this is the Internet. Never mind the presses.

But make room, anyhow, for an important piece of late-breaking news that came in just at this week's publication deadline. Mackenna Marie has arrived.

She was born at 5:11 a.m. on January 21, weighing in at eight pounds, one ounce. When a lady is brand new, everybody wants to know how much she weighs. It's only later—after she's old enough to talk, maybe—that it's nobody's business but her own.

My morning started with a phone call letting me know Mackenna was here, a beautiful baby with all her fingers and toes and everything in perfect working order (including her lungs—I could hear her over the phone).

After a second cup of tea to celebrate, I went off to Curves for my usual Friday workout. Of course, I shared the good news. I'm sure the breathlessness of my account was due strictly to excitement rather than exertion as I huffed and puffed around the circuit.

Since all the other women working out were also grandmothers, it was the perfect place to celebrate. We agreed that grandchildren are wonderful and graciously allowed each other to take turns recounting the virtues of our own. We were jointly pleased at the shared hands-on parenting of today's young fathers. We appreciated the blessings of becoming good friends with grown daughters. It was an exercise in enjoying families as much as fitness.

By the time I got home, Mackenna's picture was already up on Facebook. She is, of course, beautiful, and no, she doesn't look anything like Winston Churchill.

Stop the Internet for a nanosecond and take note, everyone. Mackenna just joined the extended family of the World Wide Web.