Happy Birthday, Dawn!

Today is my little sister's birthday.  Okay, let's face facts... She isn't "little" anymore.  However, to me, she will always be my little sister.  To you, she is Dawn.  To me, she is Monkey.  To you, I am Jack.  To her, I am Frog. But, I digress...

On this joyous occasion, I would like to share a sampling of the reasons why I am so very grateful for her birthday.  Let's begin...

• When she was born, I didn't just get a new sister - I got a buddy-in-crime.
• She is the funniest person on the planet.  No one makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts and eyes water until I'm blind.
• Speaking of funny, no one laughs better than she does.  I've received a lot of compliments on my boisterous laugh.  I've been told that when I laugh - people smile.  When my sister laughs - people laugh.  Not because they are laughing at her, but because her laughter is so infectious.
• She has this great ability to not let me slide into being an asshole.  Yes, I said it.  But I have such a high potential for being an asshole, yet I've never stepped over the line.  Why? Because of her.
• No matter how badly I screw up, she is still on my side.
• No matter how amazing I think I am, she believes I'm even more amazing.  But she also tells me when she believes I'm not as amazing as I think I am.
• I have a permanent co-pilot for every adventure I go on.  And, sometimes, she tries to take the controls of our adventure(s).
• Every day she tells me I'm "stuck" with her "forever" and when I ask her if that is a threat or a promise, she tells me "it's both" without missing a beat.
• She will eat all the strawberries I'm allergic to, and I don't have to share my chocolate because she is allergic to chocolate.
• She is someone I can talk to about cameras, movies, and adventures.
• She is always willing to roll up her sleeves and participate in my hair-brained ideas.
• She misses the U.K. as much as I do and is always ready to talk about plans for a return trip.
• She wants a puppy named Lucy to go with the puppy I want to name Ethel (one day!).
• When I said I want to go to Antarctica and photograph the place - she asked what she should pack for the trip.

 And those are just a few of the reasons why her birth was the best thing to happen to the world (and me).

So today we're celebrating her birthday.  I admit, we started a little early.  Here she is with the bouquet of flowers she picked out.  And, chances are, we'll be celebrating her birthday for the rest of the week.  Why not? There is no better reason to have a celebrate!

And here she is with another early present... a little balloon bouquet - complete with Tinkerbell.  One day I'm going to have to get around to taking her to Walt Disney World... she loves Tinkerbell.    That's going on my "to do" list.

Hope you enjoy the day as much as we are going to.

Happy Monday! Happy Labor Day! And, Happy Birthday, Dawn!