Happy (belated) Birthday, Beth!

Good friends don't forget each other's birthdays. But I did. My friend Beth, who lives in Florida (a fantastic place in January but beastly in July) turned -?- this week. She remembers my birthday, which isn't easy since it's right after New Years. And I missed hers. Darn!

She told me to either send her a funny belated card or feature her on my blog, so here goes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETH! And my sympathy to your dear mom, who birthed you in July in South Florida. whew!

I'm even including 'then' and 'now' photographs. (OK - I'm not, after spending an unsuccessful hour looking for the 'then' photo - trust me, we looked pretty good)

If we looked a lot better in 1982, blame it on our kids. She has two and I have four. These photos - which you will see when I find the old one - make it plain that full-time mothering will age you and cause your body parts to head south. And the hair! Beth and I are proud of our gray hair (see Proverbs 16:31) but wow, we look like a 'before' photo for a Clairol ad. Um, she's the one with more gray, btw. Come to think of it, maybe we aren't exactly proud of our hair, but we just don't care when others have a problem with it. (Read the book Going Gray by Anne Kreamer.)

That's ok. In this new season of life, we can catch up on our dozin' and even act silly if we want, without kids around, rolling their eyes. In fact, Beth and her husband will be visiting us in October. We probably will act silly . . . and the gray hair stays!