On Turning 51...

What is it about impending birthdays that make us look back.... or does that only happen as we get older? As a child, I looked forward to the next birthday, getting older, closer to the major goals in life:

• moving from elementary to jr high;
• from jr high to high school;
• first dates;
• first kisses;
• going steady;
• learning to drive and getting a license;
• graduating high school;
• college days;
• turning 21;
• turning 25;
• first babies;
• turning 30; 35; 40;
• grandbabies
• turning 45; 50.

man, where does the time go ?
Here I am, coming up on 51. Is this the down side? It sure doesn't feel like it. And yet, I'm aware of more things: how fast time is going. And how many things I want to get done. We all chuckle a bit when it comes to a "bucket list" , but what better way to make things happen in your life? While we may not have unlimited resources to get these things accomplished, it's possible to achieve things if you put your mind to it.

I sat here and pondered all the changes I've made in the last year. I spent my 50th birthday with my family in California, trekked through the redwood trees and spent part of the day on the beach. I saved up and bought a house! My one big dream was owning my own home by the time I'm 50, and I did it! Had to have major surgery. I also got a tattoo! And a new car!! Then I took a another trip to California... a surprise to my folks. I pulled up in front of the house, and tooted my horn. "What are you doing here?????" I got asked. Geee, like I can't come home for a visit any more??? ~cheeky grin~

It's definitely been a year of happenings. I keep wondering ... what next? There are a lot of places that I want to visit, now that I have reliable wheels, here in Arizona. And I'm dying to take a trip to Southern California. (Starts singing: One way or another I'm gonna see ya, I'm gonna meetcha meetcha meetcha meetcha, One day, maybe next week, I'm gonna meetcha!!!) ~~grin~~

• You don’t get wiser with age, but you do get more perspective.
• The thirty-five years that separate 16 from 51 passes in a heartbeat. Trust me.
• The older you get, the more you become like your true self.
• Age is just mind over matter; if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.

Who knows what this next year will bring....
But I'm looking forward to every moment of it!!

HUGS to everyone!