Winners & Birthdays!!

Today we celebrate winners of my first ever blog contest and birthdays of very special people in my life. First, the winners:

• Elana Johnson - A random win for simply posting.
• Heather - An easy win since she was the only one who posted a link. =)

Congratulations! Elana and Heather, please email me at kristie(at)kristiecook(dot)com. I need to know your prize choice, an email address and a shipping address.

Next time we'll have more participants (geez, I hope so!). I'm so new at blogging and it was probably way too soon to hold a contest already, but, hey, it was fun and I'm sure Elana and Heather are happy. =)

Of course, the reason for the contest was to celebrate all the birthdays today! First, my beloved sister-in-law Sheree, who passed away nearly eight years ago at the young age of 34. I miss you and love you lots, sis! Second, my middle-son, Austin, who is 16 today. Wow! And yes, he's ready to go take that driving test. Yikes!

And, third, Alexis, my daughter. Okay, she's fictional, but as the main character of my novels, she is very much like a daughter to me and since I never had one, I'll definitely take her. I made her birthday February 19 for a few reasons. First, to honor Sheree. Second, because it needed to be in February to match the story-line. And third, the astrological signs just fit her perfectly - on the cusp of Aquarius and Pisces.

Finally, who knew how many writers celebrate birthdays today?! Some American writers, including some familiar names:

• Kay Boyle
• Carson McCullers
• Homer Hickam
• Amy Tan
• Laurell K. Hamilton - Funny, her books were one of the prize offerings and I didn't even know it was her birthday, too!

 And a few other familiar names:

• Smokey Robinson
• Seal
• Justine Batemen
• Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake)
• Leroy (Smash Mouth)
• John Fishman (Phish)
• Daniel Adair (Nickelback) --->