Erin's Middle Name

One of my favorite Honorary Nieces recently had a birthday, and I'm not going to say which one it was, because it makes me feel sooooo middle-aged. I still remember a beautiful day in May- some years back- when I saw her mother grinning even more broadly than usual- and she announced that Erin Nicole was on the way. Everybody else in her family calls her Erin. However, *I* always call her Erin Nicole, partly because I think that is a Beyond Way Cool name, and partly because, after being around her parents house when she was a little kidster, I figured it might be helpful to remind her that her middle name was *not*: "*Stop*... *running*... *around*!" or "*Will*... *you*... stop*... *that*... *running* *around*!" or (my personal all-time favorite) "If you don't stop that running around you're going to trip over Uncle Kent's legs, fall down, and hurt yourself......and then Uncle Kent will feel bad." (rotflmao!)

I remember being around her parents' house for breakfast one day many years ago. I was interested (and a bit relieved) to see that Erin Nicole had yogurt and orange juice. I'd been getting ready to tell her parents, uh, look, *ordinarily* nobody would second-guess you on your breakfast menu- but if you don't stop giving that kid triple Turkish expresso coffees every morning, Children Services is going to be out here. (Just kidding!)

Somewhat to my astonishment, Erin Nicole has not won any Olympic Gold Medals in sprint events, however, now that she's graduated from San Diego State, I'll not be the *least* bit surprised if she someday wins a Nobel Prize in Science or Medicine-(you heard it here *first* folks!) -she is a very smart young lady.

(I hope her parents will give her a very big hug for me- *if* they can *catch* her first!)