Today - the first day of my life as a 73-year-old. Oh, my! I thought I'd document my day, so some of you younger ones will know what it's like to be retired and not-so-young.
Dan took me to dinner last evening, at Longhorn Steakhouse, as an early birthday meal. He also was ahead of the game when it came to a gift, having bought me a drawing/art tablet right after Christmas. A few birthday cards have already come in the mail, in the past couple days. Thank you friends!
My day started way too early. I awoke around 3:30 this morning, to make a trip to the bathroom. I climbed back in bed, afterward, but could not fall back to sleep. My mind was turning somersaults, and I'll explain about that later. At 4:30 I finally gave up and got up to start my day. Our custom is for me to get up earlier than Dan, and for me to wake him at 7:30. So I had a whopping three hours to myself this morning, before time to get him up.
The first thing I do every morning is to do my daily Bible reading. This morning I read about Moses meeting God on the mountain, and God delivering to him the ten commandments. I was reminded, in that reading, that at this time, when God made an important covenant with His people, He required all of them to purify themselves in anticipation of their acceptance. It reminded me that commitments with God were not, and are not, to be taken lightly.
Following my Bible reading, I prayed: Godly wisdom, guidance and protection for my kids and grands; comfort and healing for several friends; confession for my sins; thanksgiving for forgiveness, for letting me see another sunrise and for all His other blessings.
It was still early! I turned to my tablet and played a few rounds of Wheel of Fortune. I always hope that puzzling out the words and phrases in this game help keep my mind sharp.
Next I went to my desktop computer and worked a bit on the itinerary for a trip I'm planning for this summer (that's what was causing those sleep-preventing mental-somersaults early this morning). For Clara's "sweet sixteen" gift, I'm taking her to my old hometown, Juneau, Alaska, for a week this summer. I have the air travel taken care of, and I have reserved a lovely place, right on the water, for lodging. But I still need to make reservations for some tours, and I still need to resolve what to do about a car while I'm there. So I worked on all of that for about 30 minutes, before I got a surprise text from my dear friend, Wynn! It was a happy birthday message.
I couldn't believe she was up as early as I was! We spent about half and hour texting back and forth. We seldom get to see each other, so we had lots to catch up on. How sweet that she thought of me on my birthday! She says she may be coming to Temple one day in February. She promised to call, so maybe we can visit in person for awhile.
It was finally about 7:30. I woke Dan, who managed to say, "Happy Birthday," even before he opened his eyes! How sweet! While he was sitting in the bedroom, reading some things on his tablet, I went into the bathroom, brushed/flossed my teeth and washed/mositurized my face. Then I made the bed and went to the kitchen to empty the dishwasher. After that I spent a few minutes washing my hair in the guest-bathroom sink and drying it. I often use that bathroom in the mornings, so Dan can have the master bath for his shower. Finally, I put on my clothes, including a warm sweater, because, although the sun was up and the sky was blue, it was a chilly mid-30s morning outside.
Then came breakfast! Dan always fixes our breakfast, but this time there was a fun birthday card sitting near my plate. When I blew the candles out, it played "Happy Birthday"! Here it is, beside my morning cup of tea.
And just after I took that video, the doorbell rang. It was a delivery person - with a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my sweet Tim. I am touched!
Once the breakfast dishes were cleared and put in the dishwasher, I started working on some artwork for an invitation. I'm planning a small "Cold Case File" detective party for six of us. I'm hoping to host it in the first half of February, but haven't firmed up the date and time yet.
In the midst of working on the invitation, I got a birthday-wishes text from my wonderful friend, Shelley - who has been a true best friend for 64 years, by my calculations. We met at the beginning of 4th grade, and were inseparable throughout our school years in Juneau. She lives in Washington state, so we are separated now by many miles, but close in heart.
The other errand I ran was to Staples, where I picked up a couple of decorative folders to start collecting all of Clara's and my travel documents.
When I got home it was after lunch time, so I cut a crisp, sweet apple into skinny wedges and ate them and a few pretzel sticks, with some peanut butter on the side, for dipping. While eating I watched Antiques Roadshow ... at least until that 3:30 a.m. wake-time caught up with me, and I dozed off a bit - not for long, maybe 20 minutes.
This birthday has been a great one, and the sweet scent of the Tim's flowers keeps reminding me of the love I've felt all day long. I couldn't have asked for a nicer birthday.
