Happy Birthday to...

My uncle Tim!

Here he is with a bald Tad last spring. He loves that kid. Who doesn't?

Uncle Tim used to spoil my brother and me rotten. Licensed sports jackets, the coolest loud toys, everything. Then he had kids... *sigh* It's a pretty big joke with us now.

Uncle Tim is fun still. He likes country concerts and I've been to a couple with him and my aunt and my cousin. He has good taste in beer (and he always shares). He's weird, but that just runs in the family on my dad's side.

Random story time: when I was little (like, before he had kids) he used to call me "Princess." I was his first niece, don't judge. Well, somehow, I got demoted from "Princess" to "Rodent." Yeah, "Rodent." Or even "Ashley Rodent." I'm still not sure why, maybe because I'm short. Anyway, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles got popular and I went from "Rodent" to "Splinter." Yeah, their rat dad/sensei. Are you feeling the love yet?

Even if I do have a rat as my namesake, I still love you uncle Tim. Hopefully you'll give better names to my kids one day. Happy birthday!