this is me.

This is Joyce.

She's our neighbour.  She lives across the cul-de-sac and slightly above us on the hill.  

She openly admits to stalking us and says its her neighbour-ly duty, like block watch but better.

Judah knows her as "Granny Joyce".

Up until a year ago, she called me 'Vanessa' and Jody was known as 'Cody'.  And, yes, we corrected her.  Multiple times.  Now its a running joke and on particularly sassy days, she still hollers 'Hey, Vanessa' over her glass balcony.

On Mondays, we usually watch Dancing with the Stars as we drink wine, I paint her nails and she tells me old stories that occasionally begin with sentences like "One time, when I was skinny dipping..."

Recently, we celebrated her 83rd birthday with her.  

Her husband has just moved into a local care facility and none of her children live on the Sunshine Coast, so we invited her over for a mini, impromptu party.  Jody made us a delicious dinner of bbq steak and sauteed prawns, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed spring veggies.  Fresh lemon tarts topped with a single candle topped of our night.

Joyce says she doesn't usually like babies.  

But, luckily for us, Judah won her over with his baby charms and we have begun sharing our lives with this funny, vivacious old lady who lives across the street who reminds us not to take life too seriously, keep a sense of humor about things, and rock the red lipstick until I'm old and grey.