it's a wonderful life

I could be handy, mending a fuse
when your lights have gone
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride
Doing the garden, digging the weeds
Who could ask for more?
Will you still need me,
will you still feed me
when I'm sixty-four?

Second verse of the song by the Beatles

I had a fantastic birthday weekend. I took Friday and Monday off from work and did some things. On Friday, I mostly puttered around the house. I like puttering and I am a good putterer.

Saturday, I started my birthday morning at Jazzercise with a Personal Touch class with Darlene. It's a personal trainer kind of environment, but instead of one-on-one, it is a small class with the focus on technique and strength building. We do a lot of core work. It seems a strong core is really super important. We did a lot of planks. A lot. Planks are hard. I am much better at puttering.

Saturday afternoon I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with a wonderful doll friend and his partner. We sat in his "workshop" surrounded by dolls dressed in his 1950s inspired fashions and drank wine and talked about dolls and love and life. It was deeee-lightful!

He made for me a miniature of the first Barbie Dream House. You can see Poppy Parker holding it in the photo there ... and there was a sweet, pink cupcake and a sweet card to make me feel sweet. It worked!

Saturday evening my darling husband took me out for dinner at an exquisite Thai restaurant I had never been to before. I asked him if he'd brought his girlfriend there. LOL! He's so funny! He goes along with my teasing because he knows I'm so terrible at it!

Sunday was a very laid back kind of day. DH did the grocery shopping, I did the laundry and we napped. My girls came over for a vegetarian dinner and mango key lime pie and they brought me flowers and made me feel special. My brother gave me a lovely gift of a stainless steel anchor with gold trim on a black cord. I put it on immediately and love it! He said I'm his anchor and a few other people's as well. I wonder if that's a good thing ...

Monday I helped a gifted artist install her one-woman show in our little neighborhood art gallery. She's interesting as a person and fascinating as an artist. She's created wonderful collage filled bird cages that are delightful and thought provoking. She uses such odd materials to create her art ... everything from vintage books and papers to store receipts, fabrics, photos and rusty metal. You just never know what you'll find in one of Janet's collages!


Now, it's hump day, the temps are falling and it's chilly by south Florida standards and we're going into a 3-day holiday weekend. You never know what might happen! So far, it's been fun being 64!

Let the wild rumpus begin!

When I get older
Losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a Valentine?
Birthday greetings?
Bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me?
Will you still feed me?
When I'm sixty-four?

You'll be older, too,
And, if you say the word,
I could stay with you ....

First verse of the song by the Beatles 


Some people make resolutions for the New Year. I'm not one of those people. I make resolutions on my birthday, which is a very good day to have a birthday, by the way. It's just far enough past Christmas that I never got cheated on gifts. And, it's far enough before Lent and Easter, so I never got cheated on gifts. (I still feel bad for those folks whose birthdays fall between December 24 and January 2.)

This year the theme is "When I'm sixty-four."
So, here is a list of the things I will accomplish while I'm sixty-four:

1. Print a book filled with 64 photographs by me. I will title it, "When I'm sixty-four." I hope it will be mostly portraits of people I know, but a few cat and dog photos will probably sneak in there.

2. Whittle my voluminous doll collection down. I have too many, my collecting habits have changed, and it's time to sell and give away at least 64 of them, sending them off to adventures with others.

3. Write 64 blog entries. Sounds easy, doesn't it? There are 365 days in the year, which breaks down to one blog entry every 5.7 days. That's more often than once a week, you know. Sometimes I have weeks go by when I can't think of anything to write about, so this one will be a real challenge. I need a good challenge though, so let's have at it, shall we?

Three things is enough, I think.
Besides, I still have three more days until my birthday!

Let the wild rumpus begin!