Check off one more item on my electronic "bucket list". I just installed Skype and am ready to have a video chat with any of you, just ring me up!

Why, you ask, have I gone out and bought a web cam for my computer when the bulk of my acquaintances these days hardly can manage e-mail? Because I will become a great grandma in 2011, and by golly, if I can't be in Jacksonville in person, I am definitely planning to be there via video.

Our family is an interesting study in contrasts. I had to literally walk my technically challenged daughter Andrea through the installation of her webcam only to find out that my older sister Fran has had Skype for several years. She installed it herself when her grand-daughter Laura was in Prague for a semester. So much for thinking the new technology is only for the young.

Anyway, I had my first video phone call with grandkids Adam and Amy last night. The two of them were in their usual post-work positions, side by side in bed, each with an open laptop on their lap. I even got a cameo appearance by my grand-dog Layla and a video tour by Adam of their new enclosed sun room. What a hoot!

I suddenly realized there will be no more sitting at my computer in my nighgown, or worse still, my underwear. Vanity insists that I put on a full face of make-up and be sure my hair is looking good before I make or answer a call, so don't be surprised if I don't answer on the first ring. It takes a village these days to get ready for the camera. . .a village named Bobbi Brown, Maybelline, Clinique, etc. etc.

So ring me up please, I need the practice. . .my Skype name is ggjojo11. . .that's greatgrandmajojo11 (Jojo was Adam's name for me when he was very little. . .he long ago shortened it down to just Jo) and the 11 is because Skype added it. . .don't ask why.
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Photo: Add your name to my list, please!