My baby brother, the geezer

Jim turned 40 today. We had a big crowd, including my mom, me, all of Jim's kids and his future daughter-in-law, and some of Bridget's family, that went to church with him this morning and then went to his house for grilled burgers and the best slaw EVER! Jim made this recipe. It was awesome and I think I'm taking it to the next potluck that he doesn't attend. Julianne had spent the weekend with a friend and got home this afternoon in time for soccer practice so she wasn't there. Our weather was GORGEOUS--warm and sunny. I burned my chest a little in my v-neck top. Jim's head is red. It smells like summer--charcoal and cut grass. I'm lovin' it!

Jim's whole clan is pictured below--wife, kids, step-kids, and future kid-in-law.

Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On

We've had some excitement! Julianne woke me yesterday morning as she was on her way out the door (going to school extra-early to work out). We had an earthquake in the wee hours and it woke her. She thought I was shaking her bed to wake her up. When she found that I wasn't there she hit her snooze button for some light and saw that her whole room was shaking. She had left her window opened a couple of inches (and got a lecture for that later) and it slammed shut. She looked outside and saw that everything there was shaking there, too! What kind of kid awakens to an earthquake and then goes back to sleep without waking parents? Is she a fabulous, fearless female or what? I never knew a thing. You can drive a train through my room! J is usually a pretty sound sleeper, too. Later in the morning I heard something in the kitchen fall and noticed the time because I was thinking how long after the quake it was for something to fall (nothing else had come off of walls or shelves). I found out later that we had a pretty good aftershock at that time but I didn't feel anything. Most other folks said that their pets were upset. Mine didn't even wake up until the window slammed.