50

Today is my 50th birthday! For one day I'm 50 years old and then I begin turning 51. (Geof has continued to make this clear to me over the last few days! Isn't he cute?) So for today I am going to relish life at 50. I'm going to bask at the top of the hill. Really, I feel like I have climbed to the top of a mountain and I'm looking out over the whole wide world. What is that all about? Maybe today is meant to be one of those mountaintop experience days. Wow. cool. It certainly has started out that way!!

One of my best friends in the whole world and a woman who is my sister started it off yesterday. Now the funny thing is that she is on Wilderness Trek in Colorado even now - she really is on a mountain! But before she left she made sure I knew how much I mean to her. She gave me a bright red basket full of the coolest stuff which she made me promise not to open until today. I'm so good. I really did wait. Yesterday I got an e-card from her so she could be the first one to wish me a happy day. And then today I got another one from her, which was really fun. But the basket - oh the basket! It held 50 very cool things. Here's a picture of the stuff.
Now since you can't possibly read the fine print, I'm going to share! 1 card, 2 old fashioned cameras to remember the good ole days, 9 delightful chances to take a break (Hershey's dark chocolate sticks), 16 Italian treats (Dean Martin's Italian Love Songs!!), 11 samples to soothe the old bones (Burt's Bees), 2 socks for 2 foots (Lamb socks!), 4 hours of entertainment (Moonstruck and all the commentary), 3 examples of the journey as Kingdom livers (Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son), 1 reminder of The Lamb (statuette of girl holding the lamb), AND the one that blew me completely away - a homemade card from Blondie! All the way from Calgary!! Now how in the world did Tracy get a hold of that??? That's it with the big 5-0 on it. I tried to load a picture of the front but it just wouldn't work. darn it. Maybe later...Meanwhile, Blondie and Tracy - you two are the best! You are precious and you MADE MY DAY!

In case you hadn't noticed I also got a Bose IPOD docking station from Geof. How cool is that?? He also ordered me a new lense for my camera. YES! I'm ultra excited about that! So, for my birthday this year I have already received the gift of music, love songs, new eyes with which to see the world, hours of escape, dark chocolate breaks, reminders of the journey and the Lamb, and so so much more!

I just wanted to share how great 50 is with all of you. Have a great day!