I can't believe I've never done this

It's my mother's birthday, and I've never in three years done a Five Fabulous Things About Kate post. Well, color me tardy in the extreme, and let's hold forth!

The real challenge for me will be paring it down to five. You, however, are under no such obligation. Please add your own Fabulous Things to the comments.

1. Kate drives her life based on love. She does the things she loves, with and for the people she loves, and expresses that love with a generous spirit. This makes a great example for people raised under that influence, which leads us to Fabulous Thing #2...

2. Kate is a fantastic parent, aunt and grandparent, not to mention daughter. She finds joy in the mundane pleasures of family life, and she is exactly the person you want around in a crisis. In recent memory, she has put her shoulder to the wheel for the care of sick or injured grandchildren, children, and presently her own mother, and for the support of extended family members who are caring for *their* family members during moments of crisis. Just call her the Countess of Sandwich (Generation).

3. Amongst those family ties, Kate keeps her knots loose. No matter how far away family members' lives and opportunities take them, Kate keeps up steady contact sans guilt.

4. Kate is creative, and committed to nurturing her artistic abilities, which are considerable. She's a pillar of her local community theatre circle, has forged national ties as a playwright, paints, draws, knits, crochets, and develops original beauty all around her life. Again with the great example for people raised under the influence.

5. Kate is never bored. This is probably directly related to the other four Fabulous Things, and numerous additional Fabulous Things that had to be eliminated from this numerically limited list. Kate lives her life with zest, and free of the unnecessary drama that folks sometimes create to fill up dull empty time. She knows how to have fun while working hard, and how to have fun while not working at all.

Viva Kate! Many happy returns!