I have just completed my 70th trip around the Sun!

Our Granddaughter Audrey just celebrated her 5th birthday

So we partied together.  She is 14 times younger than me now, but when she is 10, she will only be 7.5 times younger than me!

According to my spread sheet calculations, I have traveled 916,942,800 miles since I was born and that is not calculating the distance the Sun has traveled, or the distance traveled due to the rotation of the earth. (Audrey has logged over 6.5 million miles)

Click on the pictures below to see the full resolution.

Luke woke up from his nap and was ready to party.

All Luke needs for a party is some chips and dip.

I let the kids dig into my birthday cake.

My Birthday Cake took a beating.

George Carlin on HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay them.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.  I play hockey every Friday and stay out late with my cheerful friends.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's. I enjoy writing and posting the Duffer News every week and can't wait for spring so that I can get out and till my garden.

4. Enjoy the simple things. I have been enjoying my snow blower and taking pictures of the beautiful snow

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. I do plenty of that every Friday night and every time I see my grand kids.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive. I have done this

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge. I certainly have done this. Our grandkids make me smile, my garden gives me food and a work out.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. I love my new hips.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is. I leave for Nashville on Thursday with my sons, click here for more Vacations

10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.  I have done this, but I will do this more often now that I hit 70!

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. Hockey takes my breath away every shift.

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . .You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"
May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!  

I put on my 2002 USA Olympic hat and went to Nicks in Lemont to have lunch with my old friends.

I ate one half a 1 pound burger and brought the other half home for Carole.

This is Karen, our all time Hall of Fame waitress.

I came home and fed the birds.