Happy Birthday to...Us!

My family threw me a great party last night, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that was involved in the planning and preparations for it. It was awesome! There were frogs everywhere...and not an over-the-hill embarrassing gag gift to be found...they were actually nice to me, believe it or not.

I would also like to take the opportunity here to wish a very happy birthday to my "twin cousin" Bonnie. She's even OLDER than I am, having been born at least a few hours before me! When we were kids, we were always the same height and weight, and both had blond hair and blue eyes. We even had a few people convinced that we were twins. We celebrated every birthday together, but then she moved to Iowa...and then on to places like Chicago...California...the remote island of Adak in AK...and finally to Washington state, which has made it a bit difficult to get together for birthdays. She had hoped to come for a visit and celebrate with me this year, but is now planning to visit this September. I can't wait! Here's a picture of her, as you can see...we don't look a lot like twins anymore. Happy Birthday, Bonnie!!!

On my and Bonnie's 11th birthday, (which was also a Monday), I believe we had celebrated the day before, and then I spent the night at her house. My mother was pregnant with baby number 10, and we kids were all "farmed out" to the cousins, because the doctor had scheduled Mom to be induced that day. I was pretty excited that I was going to get a new little brother or sister for my birthday. Yes, I really was...even though I already had 5 sisters and 3 brothers! We waited anxiously for the phone to ring all day, with the news of my newest sibling. At last, it came, somewhere around 4 pm, if I remember correctly. I'd gotten a brand new baby sister for a birthday present. Her name was Kathleen Jo, and she looked as different as night and day from Bonnie and me, with tons of black hair and almost black eyes. She was a beautiful baby...and 39 years later, she's still beautiful. Happy Birthday, Kathy!!! See you tonight!