Julie!

Today is my niece Julie's birthday. Here is a picture of her as a little girl, when she was known as "Babba Dool." (This was her sister Liz's version of "Baby Julie.") One of the reasons I like this picture is because it shows what a lot of fun she was, even when she was a little kid.

Here's Julie now with her very first nephew:

(As you can see, she is still very cute!)

Julie lives in NYC with her fiancee, Keith, and their dog Biggie. She works as an associate producer for a company that does some of the reality shows. We tease her about it all the time, but she has some pretty funny - and interesting - stories from her various assignments. She has worked on everything from the very first incarnation of "America's Next Top Model" to "Treasure Hunters" (the latter being one that even she didn't think worked all that well ...)

Julie is a lot of fun to be around, and she has this really great voice, slightly reminiscent of Lauren Bacall. She has a great sense of humor, but is also one of the nicest people that you could ever meet anywhere in the universe. She is loyal, and smart, and I am so glad that she is my niece!

Happy Birthday, Julie!

In case you were wondering ...

Yes, Jetsam did "help" decorate the Christmas tree. He has continued to "help" with any and all other preparations. I guess you could say he has the most Christmas spirit of any of us ... or, you could say he's being a pain in the butt - it depends on what else is going on!

In other news ...

Garden Kitty says: WHAT!?? There's only a week left until Christmas??!!