We have two winners of the “Same Kind of Different as Me” signed book giveaway.  Congratulations to Kathy from Charleston Yaya and Lisa from Glad Chatter. If you will send me your mailing address, (email me at awgeffert@gmail.com) I will be thrilled to send you your signed copy of this beautiful story of friendship that breaks barriers of prejudice and social status.

And the real winner this day is me. I am so blessed to have this life filled with love and relationships and family and friends and amazing Grace. Today, I celebrate life–mine. I’ve just completed my 49th year on this earth and don’t have any real wisdom to share, but I surely have a full heart. It makes me want to get on an exercise kick so I won’t be fat and old, but truthfully, I am so happy just to be here, to know life’s greatest joys, and to ride the ups and downs because the fertile valleys make a faith-filled reserve for the steep days of cold mountain treks. God has been amazingly good to me and so today I give thanks. Especially for you who read along the daily adventures of a very ordinary woman, you encourage and build community and sweet friendships along the way. Among my list of all the things I love, each of you who share my life, my joys, my prayer requests, my dumpy days are a big part of my blessings this day.

So, want to know what I’ve done so far? I slept late (7:30) and woke up to coffee and chocolate covered strawberries from my dear husband. I put on my jeans and threw my hair back and had breakfast with two of my dearest friends, Cathy and Trisha. We shared a Morning Glory muffin and several cups of coffee over some real talk–none of the superficial stuff–well, until we decided to go have pedicures, and shared a lot of the People magazine headlines. Because we’re not all about deep. We can go for a little shallow in the day, too–a good laugh or a good cry is always better shared with friends! So, back to the day, by that time, it was 12:30, and I was off to run a couple of errands. I stopped in the really good running shoe store and bought myself a new pair of walking shoes, two lightweight tees, and some socks. Next door was the contact place so I grabbed a new box of my contacts (which my old eyes need to be able to read!) Then I stopped in the spray tan place and got my fake tan, and will be whitening my teeth over the afternoon, after the protein shake I had for lunch. Just a moment ago, a beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived from my three children. Lauren sent me an iTune mix created just for me, which I have listened to all afternoon. Greg and Lindsay gave us a cooking class from Central Market which Mike and I will enjoy together later this month. This afternoon, I had some sweet time with the Lord to just tell Him how thankful I am for His presence and His shaping every aspect of who I am. Every good thing comes from Him. And it’s all good. In a few minutes, Abby and I will go for a power walk, then I’ll shower and spiff up to meet my sweet husband (whose birthday is two days from now) at Damian’s, in downtown Houston, where we will wine and dine the evening away, celebrating both of our birthdays with friends. What a sweet day surrounded by people I love. Life is good. Jesus is Life. And tetering on fifty is a gift.

This video is our classic Christmas picture day. My last line before we get that picture is “Look like you love each other!” Of course they do, but it’s such a riot getting the perfect picture. So…now you know why you didn’t get a Christmas picture from us this last year. Actually we didn’t get around to it. This video may be a little offensive to those of you who do not have adult children, but the rest of you will get it. I love you guys!