Happy Birthday to ME!!!!

Actually as I write this, it is January 28th - not only the month - but the new year seems to be speeding by. My mind is constantly abuzz with thoughts that I would like to share on my blog but it seems they stay buzzing in my head rather than me getting them into my blog. But I will share some of thoughts that my old 64 year old brain can remember.

I had a wonderful birthday. It was on a Saturday so everyone was here except for Tina who had returned to Mississippi earlier in the month. But of course I heard from her several times that day. I heard from 2 of my sisters, Cathy, back in Montana and Connie, down the street. My cousin Judy and her husband Paul sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips and my son Jeff brought me a gorgeous vase full of flowers.

It was a beautiful day so when Erik and his family arrived we were able to go outside and the kids were able to ride bikes. Chloe rode Matt's old bike and Benji zipped around on the bike he got for Christmas. It was fun to watch them and I'd love for all of us to go down and visit Erik & Seni on a Sunday when they close Golden Gate park and let bike riders ride all over without having to worry about cars.

The newest member of our family, Rhone, was 3 months old on my birthday. We had pizza for dinner and it was just a very special day for me. I kept saying "I want a picture of me and my 7 grandkids before everyone leaves" and for once we actually didn't run out of time and I got a really nice picture of all of us. It's very unusual for me to ask for a picture of me with anyone (I don't like to have my picture taken). But what I said to myself was "Get over it!" So although we couldn't get Rhone to look up, I think it's a very cute picture!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~I LOVE IT!!! They are all so cute!~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next week a very good friend of mine took me to lunch and bought me a "decadent" birthday cake, it was delicious!! So, turning 64 was great for me!! I really have never been hung up on age, my theory has always been, if you're not getting older, you're dead!! So, I hope I live to be a 100! Also, when I was thinking about my birthday blog I wanted to put the Beatle's song "When I'm 64" on the blog, somehow playing in the background but I never figured out how to do it. I was a teenager when that song came out and now "when I get older, losing my hair, many years from now - will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine - will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64".

I've been doing a bit of sewing which I am enjoying. For Christmas I finished some placemats that I had started years ago and decided this was the year I needed to finish them. I made 19 of them - 18 for our family and one for my sister Connie. They were very time consuming but turned out great, as you can see! Well, actually, you can't see them right now. I've been trying to get the pictures to this spot for about 45 minutes. So I'm abandoning that idea right now and hopefully I'll be able to put some pictures on the sidebar. Anyway, I've made a couple pair of slippers and a blanket for Rhone. And I've done it with material I already had, so hopefully I'll keep it up!

When my children were little we always watched "The Waltons" I'm pretty sure it was on Thursday nights. Well I've bought myself some seasons of the Waltons on ebay and Amazon and Mike got me 2 seasons for Christmas so now I have seasons 1 - 5. I have been watching episodes every day and I have enjoyed that show again, 35 years (or more) later, so much. It was such a simpler time then and the show holds up well because it's set in the 30's so it's not like you're watching a show from the 70's that looks ridiculous. The cast is wonderful and each person fits their part so well, I look forward to an episode or 2 every day. I won't get any seasons after John Boy leaves and the other children are older, I never enjoyed those as much, but will have to figure out if any more seasons will fit what I'm looking for. Our daughter Tina used to always say goodnight to us the way the Walton family did every night.

Good night Tina!

Well, I guess I've gone on and on and it's time to wrap up this edition of Life in the Retirement Zone. I really do enjoy writing on this blog. I will try and be better about posting because now I have so many posts on it, it's like a diary of the past 2 years. As an update, my husband, Kenny is doing better. Not better enough for his liking but he says he's about 80% of what he thinks he should be. I think that a huge improvement over him not being able to get out of bed by himself!!!

As for me, to steal a line from Oprah, What Do I Know For Sure ~~~I know that I am loved, I know that Life Goes On (whether we want it to or not), I know that my Mom and Dad are with me and listen when I talk to them, I know that God works in mysterious ways ~ His wonders to perform, I know that friends and their friendship are as important to me as my family, I know that a sense of humor is an essential part of living and I know that I am a caring, compassionate person who aches for the injustices in our world!!

To all that read this blog, Thank You So Much!!

My message to leave you with this time is: Listen to some music, read a good book, go out and plant some spring flowers! Life isn't waiting, go LIVE IT!

Until next time . . .