Today, my parents are headed to Las Vegas with “the group” which is what they call the friends my dad has has known since high school and my mom has known since meeting my dad. My mom and one other lady share the same birthday, today!

Fall is her favorite time of year and I love it, too! Her cooking enthusiasm kicks in and she whips up meal centered around pork roast and apple pie “because the weather was nice, the trees are turning and it’s a great day to go out the orchard.”

If I was still in grade school, we would be in the thick of Halloween costume brainstorming. In third grade, we recycled old costumes and belted a pillow to my rear to create a little old lady and take third place for my grade (who knew I could have just dressed up in an orange sweater turtle neck and brown skirt and been Velma?!).

Two years ago, I made this Sour Cream Pumpkin Bundt cake, which mom said was fine enough for breakfast ( a good thing because when there are only two people eating it, it would have gone stale if it was just eaten for dinner).

She’s a fine cook, a crafter, a working wife & mom, devoted Oma…I could write more because she’s a thousand kinds of awesome, but I’m making something to give to her instead. Birthdays are a good time to remember to express those things we think, but may not remember to say.