Cookie Decorating Fun

Today we accepted an invitation to decorate Christmas cookies next door at "Miss Page's" house. Norah and Justin call her "Miss Page's" due to the way we use her name in conversations. (For example: "Let's go to Miss Page's house." or "Don't pick Miss Page's flowers!") The kids were on cloud 9 as they saw an impressive array of sprinkles, icing, piping and all manner of decorating paraphernalia. This appealed to everyone's creative side, and we all had a blast. Justin covered 5 consecutive cookies in thick green icing, sometimes even with green sprinkles, but eventually branched out his color palette. Norah started with red icing, but Miss Page made some pink icing for her, which was more to her liking. We initially thought this would take 30 to 60 minutes, but we ended up happily spending the whole afternoon decorating cookies. It's amazing how such a simple thing can entertain so many people.

It must be said, our neighbor, Page, is one of the most generous people we've ever met, which causes us to be careful with our words. You cannot complain about lacking anything or she will remedy the problem. Your lawn mower is broken? She'll give you hers. Your dog is sick? She'll administer the medicine and bring over a care package that would make the Red Cross look stingy. She also knitted blankets for each of the kids when they were little.

You don't have to mention needs to be pampered, because she may just come over with unsolicited goodies at any time. She's an excellent cook and is just as likely to deliver expertly decorated and perfectly baked pastries for us, or homemade dog food made with a whole turkey, carrots, and rice for Missy.

She truly is remarkable and unique. We learn something different about her every time we speak, but the really shocking thing is her diversity of traits. She always keep us guessing.

In some ways she seems like a creative homemaker type. She can cook, bake, sew, and knit.
She's also an artist and sculpts and paints creatively.
She loves her tattoos, makes dangerous holiday punch that rivals Grandma's margaritas, likes fishing, and is a vocal feminist.
She is handy with tools, can install flooring, build shade canopies, loves gadgets, and is an avid gardener, with an eye for color.
She is also a gulf war Navy veteran from a hospital ship, and seems to know everything about health care and science.
She's also an animal lover and knows an incredible amount of veterinary medicine tricks.

Her list of hobbies and skills is impressive, and she does everything particularly well, but what makes her remarkable is her heart. She's a giver and expects nothing in return.