Briarpatch Birthday Brunch and Ten Thousand Villages

I turned 50 today!  Woo hoo!  Five decades and counting!

My kids decided to make this milestone birthday extra special, so it's been quite the day already. Five of my daughters took me out to brunch at the Briarpatch, a beautiful restaurant on Park Avenue in Winter Park.  (That's the ritzy section of town!)  Too bad my fourth daughter is in Australia right now!  We would have loved to have her join us!

We ate outdoors under 

a cheery yellow and white sun umbrella.

I couldn't decide between 

the raspberry lemon cream pancakes

and the kitchen combo (pancakes, eggs and bacon)

so I asked them if I could combine the two.

This is the SHORT stack of the raspberry pancakes -

the full one has four!

Why yes, I do have leftovers 

in the refrigerator for the morning...

After brunch, I asked if we could step into the 

Ten Thousand Villages store.

My oldest daughter had bought some

beautiful Mother's Day presents for me there,
including the necklace I'm wearing today. 

Ten Thousand Villages is 

a fair trade organization in partnership 

with the Mennonite Central Committee.

Everything in the store is made by 

artisans in different Third World countries, 

providing those who might live in poverty

with a decent income for self-sufficiency.

I LOVE THIS CONCEPT!

This is the sequel cookbook to 

More-with-Less, a Mennonite cookbook 

that my sister gave me over 20 years ago.

Mine is dog-eared and spattered with food ingredients...

A gift from my fifth daughter 

from Ten Thousand Villages.

I picked it because I need strength of all kinds

for my next 50 years.

I didn't see her buy the mini dark chocolates, too!

It's not just around the world...

It's down the street.

People are needy everywhere.

I was talking to my second daughter 

this afternoon about the homeless ministry 

she and her husband organize 

every other month,

and how they are thinking 

of expanding what they do.

I can't tell you how much 

this blesses a mother's heart.

My two oldest, ages 24 and 26, are both married.

Back at home again, my third daughter 

supervised a small army of younger siblings 

to prepare a late lunch - a pasta and salad buffet.

They grated parmesan cheese, chopped tomatoes,

set out the silverware...

Eclairs for dessert!

Yes please!

 The birthday celebrations aren't even over yet...

My husband is out of town right now, 

and he's taking me out for dinner on Monday night.

In the meantime, he sent flowers!

And next week,

my daughters are throwing me

another birthday party with some ladies 

we've known for a long time.

So here I am, 

thinking about my first 50 years

- and my next 50 years.

I may be over the hill now,

but now that I'm past the foot hills,

I still have mountains to climb...

My life goals from here on out?

To love, worship and serve God.

To nurture each member of my family, 

whether they live in the same house as me or not.

To cultivate excellence in writing and teaching.

To work for justice and mercy

in the world and in my own community.

Grace and peace,

Virginia Knowles

www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

P.S. #1: 
Please visit the 
Ten Thousand Villages web site.

P.S. #2:

Years ago, I had decided 

that for my 50th birthday,

I would compile a memoire 

of my life story (in vignettes,

photos, poems, and essays)

and call it Pilgrimage and Jubilee.

It didn't happen. Yet.

What I'm going to do is a blog series

called Pilgrimage and Jubilee.

I don't know what all I will include yet.

Stay tuned.