Birthday in the Boondocks!

"I feel no shame
I'm proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks"

Little Big Town

Twenty-eight years ago today, the space shuttle Columbia touched down, successfully demonstrating the first re-usable winged spaceship. Twenty-eight years ago today, Volcano Girl sent me a dozen roses, the first I'd ever received. Twenty-eight years ago today, there was a birth in the boondocks. Little did her parents realize that their little girl would grow up to dislike mayo, ketchup, Jell-o or pudding. Yet, love broccoli and chocolate ice cream.

Their little girl ended up being the middle child. In spite of their best efforts, she grew up to be a bit of a tomboy. Played all the sports, and was pretty good. But she got her culture taken care of too. She played the trombone in high school (chick + trombone=hot!). Nothing says culture quite like the trombone... Now it's been twenty-eight years. OK. Dork alert here. If you've been here already, you'll notice that the picture on the left is different than earlier in the day. I put up the cropped picture of her sister. I couldn't tell. Though now that she mentioned it, it's completely obvious. Sorry, hon. I'm a dork.

She's a great mom to four kiddos (every one of them inheriting their mother's lookin'-good genes. Even the adopted one!). She's been a foster mom for a number of years. She's a coach. She's a secretary (by title), but can teach you how to drive a school bus in no time, and tell you the best supplier of urinal screens in the tri-state area. She's got freakishly small feet and hands. She's re-discovering life and old friends, and making lots of new ones. She's also about to embark on a new chapter of her life.

Sometimes you meet someone new, and you just "click". No real reason, but it's definitely there. I've been fortunate enough to run into that quite a bit out here, but this one "clicks" a bit more than most. And I've had the wonderful opportunity to meet her! Happy Birthday, Mere! You've turned into a dear and special friend. I hope that you have a great day today! And give yourself that gift that you need... You deserve it! The rest of you go wish her a happy birthday too! She shares her birthday with two great men. Click on Lenny's picture to see who else!