Tyler is now an official 17 year old. His birthday party
went off without a hitch...except I cooked the noodles
too long for the Pasta with Blue Cheese Artichoke Sauce.
I do hate mealy pasta.

The two Hatties (ages 9 and 96) made pies. (Grandma
Opal's real name is Hattie.) I also made a pie. Old Hattie's
Pumpkin Pie and Young Hattie's Chocolate Pie had far
more pieces eaten than my Lemon Pie did.

I sat at one table and played Peanuts with my Hobbit Mom,
my sister, Tandy, and our friend Jenn. Grandma Opal
and Tyler stood Kent and Hattie in High Five. The birthday
boy and his great-grandma lost. G'ma Opal doesn't take
losing with very good grace. So my mother, who is VERY
competitive in her own right moved over to take Tyler's place.
Her words, to Kent and Hattie, on sitting down as G'ma Opal's
partner were, "Now you have some competition." Alas, Kent
and Hattie are not easily intimidated. G'ma and Mom were
losing heavily; G'ma even resorted to a bit of cheating; they
still lost.

I hope they were able to sleep okay last night. Their
dreams were most likely haunted with hands of cards that
just wouldn't go together.

Oh, and the birthday boy, who took Mom's place in Peanuts
scraped by me in the last hand and won by two points.

Happy Birthday Son.

Everyday living is a joyous gift from our Father. May He keep
us faithful in it.