Judy Green's birthday!

We love to celebrate birthdays! Of course, mostly it involves eating somewhere, which, of course, we also love to do. Here are some pictures of our recent celebration of our friend Judy Green's birthday dinner. Unfortunately, my camera and I were not good friends that day, either, and I'm afraid the picture with Tracey acting like a goofball is the one that turned out the best - go figure! Here's to another wonderful year, Judy Green!

Blueberry muffins!

Recently my niece, Maria, came over to help me make blueberry muffins (that's what she always wants to do when she's over). This time she also wanted to learn to knit. So here's a few pieces of photo documentation of what was happening that day. For some reason (probably operator error), the pictures are fuzzy. I'm really trying to be electronic savvy, but it's difficult these days!

Maria wanted to wear an apron - you can never be too careful when baking, you know!

So we dug out my Christmas penguin one - she likes mighty fine in that apron!

 The best part, of course, is licking the bowl!

Here's a few of the mini blueberry muffins we made for her to take home to the family!

Then, of course, we needed to take a rest and watch some tv - one of the most important parts of baking!

Then we did some knitting. When I took Maria back home, she said, "Aunt Debbie, I feel older now". When I asked her why she responded with, "because now I know how to knit"!

Time...it's slipping, slipping, ....

We're approaching my favorite time of the year...again...already...didn't I just say that a few days ago? I can hardly believe how quickly this year has gone. It seems my list of things to do always gets longer instead of shorter each day. I try to make a conscious effort to be present in the happenings of my days, and enjoy each day as a gift, but it seems all too easy to put myself on "auto-pilot" and not really focus and pay attention to the things going on around me (right now a bunch of you are laughing as you remember how you've waved or honked at me as we've passed each other on the road at one time or another and I totally didn't even see you!). But seriously, how many times have you not even noticed things around you? While standing in the checkout lane, while waiting for your bus, while waiting to be seated at a restaurant? Those of you who have smart phones probably feel exempt from that list, because we all know you were productively multi-tasking with those little black boxes, so you have an excuse for never looking up or talking to us, let alone looking us in the eye during conversations - don't let me get started on that rudeness! My point is, one day we wake up and realize some things: I'm actually the age that I think in my mind my mom and her sisters are; my children are way older than I think they are; I have 2 grandchildren; my eyes are getting horrible - oh, that last one is true, but not really pertinent to this point. Time flies - especially as we get older. I used to think people who said that were loopy, but now I understand what they meant. Hold on to each person you love. Tell them you love them. Don't wait til tomorrow - we don't know if we'll have tomorrow. Kiss and hug your children. Squeeze your grandchildren tight. Tell your friends how important they are in your life. When someone is kind to you out in this big ol' scarey world, tell them thank you. Don't just assume people know how you feel about them. That's my advice on this rainy Saturday morning. Make sure today you reach out and contact someone you care about or appreciate and let them know how you feel. As for my favorite time of the year...well, we'll discuss that tomorrow! Can't wait!