As of today I am an official AARP card carrying member!

Yes it's true, today I turned 50. I received a card from my good friend Jan who says that life in the 50's is the best. I guess I will have to believe her as she has been doing it for quite a few years now (couldn't resist Jan!)

For the past couple of hours I have been sitting here drinking my coffee and thinking about when I was a kid. By the way, what is it about this memory thing? I mean, I can remember events from when I was small but can't remember things that happened two years ago or what I had for supper last night! I've been blaming it on chemo and the rest but now I have a double reason don't I....I AM 50.

The other day I had a curl (my first to return) spring up on the back of me head. The damned thing is just totally flipped up and unruly-much like my pre-chemo hair was. This very first curl reminded me of when I was young and used to wash my hair and then go to bed with what we called then- a granny cap- plastered on my head. I did this in hopes of straightening my hair. Well what I woke up to was straight hair down to the point where the ends of my hair hung out of the granny cap. These ends were flipped up just like my one little curl is now. What the hell....At 50 do we start reverting back to our child hood????

And another memory of my having wonderful long hair (this was in about kindergarten I think) down to the middle of my back which was of course very curly. Mom had no patience for combing my hair because it of course knotted like crazy with all of those curls. AND I was not very cooperative in the combing department. I do remember lots of ouches probably being screamed! There came a day when mom told me she had made an appointment to get my hair cut, I am thinking this is a trim like all the others. NOT. What I got much to my dismay was a pixy. That was a cut much like what I have now (OK perhaps a bit longer but not much!) and they called them pixies. Oh my was I pissed...Oh I was mad at her..... Poor mom.

One year not too long ago (or maybe it was quite a few years ago who's to say......) David and I were talking with mom and dad about the old days and I made the comment that I didn't remember ever having birthday cakes when I was a kid. Mom decided that I would never again go without a birthday cake and every year she made me an angel food cake for my birthday. My last momma birthday cake was in 2004 and I hadn't had one since....until along comes Kelly into our lives (Lenny's fiance) who this year made me a raspberry cheescake for our little celebration. OK now Kel, you have big shoes to fill.....I expect to have a cake every year of some sort!

Oh boy here's a memory for you. Remember the May Day's of our youth? We would do up these may baskets, take them to our friend's houses, knock on the door and run away (Deb this would be when I lived in your neighborhood). So, as I remember it, if you put one at a favorite boy's door and he caught you he was to give you a little smooch. I had a favorite boy in front of who's door I placed a May basket, rang the bell and ran. BUT I didn't run too far and certainly not very fast hoping he would catch me. Damned he didn't even look for me! What the heck was up with that anyway! Shoot Deb I don't even remember who it was just that I did it....who lived across the street from you guys. It seems to me that's where he lived.

I have another friend who is only a few hours older than I am. Jo B was born just before midnight on the 10th and along came me just after midnight on the 11th. Her mom and my mom were good friends and I spent a ton of time at their house as a kid. Jo not only sent me one card, she sent me two. In my card to her I wondered if the age had gotten to her as well...had she forgotten that she had already sent me a card? Anyway, the second card that she sent made me do a double take. It has two grey haired ladies riding in a convertible with funky looking glasses on and their arms up and the breeze blowing through their hair and their saggy arms. To me this looks like her mom (who is still with us) and my mom. Her mom being at the wheel. It may not totally resemble the two of them in features, but if you knew them both you would see the resemblance. Here it is, judge for yourself-

Yup that's mom and Jackie to be sure.

I told the three ladies that I was with yesterday that I was going to blog what we had done and I really do have to make good on my threat. These three, Jess, Jo and Jean, had a BIG day out planned.......they were going to go the the Fleet Farm in Owatona. For god's sake who in the hell does a day outting to go to the Fleet Farm? They invited me along and I went just knowing that it was going to be a day of laughter and it was. I am still amazed that we made a day to go to the Fleet Farm......and on the first real snowstorm that we had. It was an adventure and was fun.....life's little pleasures.

Message for today this day of my being an official card carrying AARP member....enjoy the little pleasures that come your way. Like this deer that I caught in my camera in the northland