Hello one -- and all, if there is an all,

If I keep up this birthday cake business, rest assured, I shall not be around for birthday 51. Heck, I won't even be around for next week. For some reason, a humongous cake was ordered and it just won't go away, no matter how much of it I eat. It's starting to have a twang to it, but that doesn't deter me, oh, no.

My husband is touring around Lake Tahoe, and I'm fixing to wheel the garbage can to the curb. Who said life isn't fair?

This organizing lady claims that your stuff 'n junk is finite. I just remembered that when tonight I removed several (a small sack's worth) oldy moldy books from someone's house, someone who wants to declutter, minimize, condense, and, in general, be repelled, repulsed, revolted and any other re-word you can think of from acquiring, accumulating, retaining new junk. So, even though a weensy sack seems like a grain of sand from the seashore, it's one less grain. Somehow...that thought does not hearten me. Nevertheless, 'tis true, no matter how much junk you have, there has to be an end to it, even if it's plucked from the piles one piece of sand at a time (in which event, you won't live to see the end of it). I shall properly dispose of these nasty looking, foul smelling books on the morrow. They are inspirational type books, if the fumes don't kill you first.

I tell you, it takes a certain strength to live cleanly, I don't know if I have what it takes, to be honest. By cleanly I mean junk-free.

Well, friends, time to make my move and go clean the kitty litter box. And roll the trash to the street. But I will dream of being on a lake. Man, I just heard about the coolest lake ever. My dear friend's mother passed away on Sunday. In the obituary it talked how she loved to spend her summers in the family cabin on Torch Lake in northern Michigan. Well, KEM'S old ears perked up on that one. I Googled it and it turns out to be the most exquisite lake ever. The water is the color of the Caribbean, teals, light blues, aqua-marines, crystal clear. I never. It makes my darling Paw Paw Lake look like a cup of coffee. Well, Alicia's mother thought Torch Lake was the most beautiful spot in the world. Now, guess who has to go see Torch Lake?

But Alicia's mother was so beautiful. She had a smile to end all smiles. And her eyes smiled to match. She grasped the point of life and made it her point to bless everyone who crossed her path. Wow, I'm so inspired. Even in her death others are being reached by her life, people like myself who knew her as a child, but only briefly. But I remember her. She's unforgettable. Dear Lord, please bless Alicia and her family.

KEM