Our First WR baby

One of our newer friends has recently given birth to a beautiful new WordRampage baby. As far as we know, he is the first baby born to a "practicing Rampager" since the site originated in June 2008!

Maygan, who has been playing at WR for a few months, gave birth to baby Ryan on March 5th. He's an adorable little guy who entered the world at just 6 pounds 12 ounces and a smidgen under 19 inches.

We're so happy that Maygan was kind enough to share pictures of her little man with us. The first was taken the day after Ryan was born, and the second is at almost a week old. Congratulations, Maygan!

By the way, Ryan wouldn't happen to be your new son's middle name, would it? I'm thinking William Ryan or Walter Ryan or even Wesley Ryan would be nice. Anything that would give him the initials WR!

April Book Discussion

The Handmaid's Tale led to interesting conversation on topics from conformity to suffrage to religion at today's book club meeting. For April, Marla has chosen The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. This book was originally written in Portuguese but has since won the Guinness World Record for the most translated book by a living author, having been translated into 67 languages! The discussion for this book will be on Saturday, April 11, at 9:00 a.m. EST. If you are interested in participating, please speak with Anissa, Cross, Faith, Janet or Marla so you can be sent a copy of the discussion questions via email prior to the meeting.

This is a synopsis taken from the Reading Group Guides website:

Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, has a dream about finding a treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. A gypsy woman and an old man claiming to be a mysterious king advise him to pursue it. "To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation," the old man tells him. "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

This story, timeless and entertaining, exotic yet simple, breaks down the journey we all take to find the most meaningful treasures in our lives into steps that are at once natural and magical. It is about the faith, power, and courage we all have within us to pursue the intricate path of a Personal Legend, a path charted by the mysterious magnet of destiny but obscured by distractions. Santiago shows how along the way we learn to trust our hearts, read the seemingly inconspicuous signs, and understand that as we look to fulfill a dream, it looks to find us, if we let it.

Author: Paulo Coelho; Publisher: HarperCollins, 1993; 197 pages

Limericks

We have a talented new member of the family here at WordRampage. Mad Giraffe had been boggling at another site for a couple of weeks. Then, about a week ago, Marla invited her to join us at WR. She's been hooked ever since...and why not? We're pretty much irresistible! During a conversation earlier this week, Marla and MLO encouraged Mad Giraffe to write a limerick about her experience here. She did such a great job, we just had to share it with everyone!

There once was a sane giraffe
Who boggled just for a laugh
Many a 3-letter word
She found quite absurd
And now her poor brain's split in half

My life now just isn't the same
And boggling takes all the blame
I'm in a huge rut
Husband thinks I'm a nut
But I just can't stop playing the game

Vern is apparently an aspiring poet as well. The parents of each student in his daughter's third-grade class were asked to write a limerick about their child. Here's what our clever WR member wrote.

A glass-slippered princess named Allison
Had a pumpkin to ride to the palace in
But it didn't suffice
'Cause her cats ate the mice
So she rode in the car that her pal was in