What a Week!

       Well, it's been a pretty exciting week! I've just published my first novel, Strange Loops, as a Kindle book at Amazon. Actually, it is a book I co-authored with my daughter, Jenny. We had so much fun writing it together and it feels good to actually see it as a finished product now!
       So, what to do next? I'm thinking of publishing a childrens' book I wrote and illustrated a few years back. It will probably be a lot of work to format it, but I had so much fun with the last one that I'm ready to dive in to a new project.
       The best part of the week, though, was having my family here for my birthday. Jenny and her husband, Ken, actually live just up the street from me (which I love!!!), and my parents live only a couple of miles away which is also very nice. They came bearing gifts (thank you, everyone!!!). Jenny, who is a wonderful baker, made me the most beautiful, delicious chocolate cake with this divinely creamy peanut butter icing. It tasted like a giant Reese's cup, which must truly be the food of the gods! My son, Kyle, and his girlfriend, Kristina, came all the way down from Atlanta to help me celebrate. Kristina's mom, Sandy, also came over to join the party. Honestly, it doesn't get any better than family and good friends and I am so happy that they were all here for the festivities! We feasted on pizza, beer, and wine before we cut into that scrumptious cake I was telling you about. Ahhh, Heaven!!! I won't tell you how old I am, but I will say that I'm old enough that it was a really big deal to me when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. (Dinosaurs did not sit behind me in Homeroom, though.)

My beautiful birthday cake!
(Thanks Jenny!)

                                               

       Now you would think things couldn't get any better, wouldn't you? Family, good friends, good food! Well, let me tell you what happened next; right in the middle of the party, Kyle walks over to Kristina and gets down on one knee. Then he reaches into his pocket and pulls out this gorgeous ring and -- you guessed it -- he proposes to her! We all knew it was coming, but Kristina was stunned and delighted! She cried and she said "yes!" So, this will be the year I got a new daughter for my birthday!

Kyle and Kristina admiring her ring!

    

      I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I know it will be difficult for me to ever have a better birthday than this one and I am so grateful to all the wonderful people who made it so special for me. Thank you one and all!