It's my birthday. I am 28 years old, and I don't feel a day over 10! This is a picture of me when I was around four years old, on some hiking trip in Arizona. I have to give my parents credit... they took me out in nature from the time I was a baby and probably bestowed me with this love of the outdoors that I have. It's amazing how much has changed in the short life I've been privileged to live... even that photo was taken with a camera that used film and was developed into slides. Then we would put it into a slide projector. My kids won't have any idea what those things are (or were). Home video cameras using tapes and VCR's were invented, and people were just starting to pay an arm and a leg for home computers. Amazing.

Today my gift from John is a bread machine. It's a big Black & Decker machine that makes 3 pound loaves so it has two mixing arms. Very nifty. Why, back when I was a kid, bread had to be baked in an oven! How obscene! Oh wait we still do that.

I should go one to do some things today... the baby is asleep on my lap and the rest are sleeping with Dad upstairs so I will go take advantage of the quiet.