Where did the week go?

Seven days have disappeared........ I've been painting, painting, painting........ the master bedroom is done, and looks beautiful. Gone are the white inside-an-eggshell walls. The room is now a rich beige and everything in the room looks brand new and more vibrant. I've already started painting my sitting room.... one wall at a time... and by the end of this week, I hope to have this room done also, and then I'll start on my dressing room. Same color for all three rooms..... when you find the perfect color, stick with it.

We've had warm weather this past week...... Spring-like..... some cloudy days without rain, but it was still warm so I'm not complaining. My cousins in NY have already had snow and ice..... snow shovels and ice scrapers came out of closets and car trunks. I do not miss that northeast winter weather, and I wish my cousins didn't have to deal with it either.

I had a ladies-only lunch here this past Thursday, for friend V who drove up from our old neighborhood..... I invited J and J to come over for lunch as well, to meet V and enjoy the Valentine decorations that are already up in the living room and dining room. Invitations have gone out for our Valentine party, and we're looking forward to that. Our first Valentine party since we moved here, although we've had a couple of small Valentine dinners in this house.

When V got here on Thursday, she came walking down the path with her usual sing-song "Helllloooooo" and it sounded like the old days back in Clear Lake. V lived next door to us, and when we moved into that house, she was the first of our neighbors to come over with a plate of cookies and welcome us to the neighborhood. V was the best next-door neighbor, and her two little girls came in and out of our house from time to time, having tea or ice cream with us, or showing us their Halloween costumes or talking about their latest projects at school or Girl Scout camp. Now V's daughters are away from home... one up in Dallas, the other off in Germany. Not little girls anymore, certainly, but I still remember those little-girl faces smiling at me when they knocked on my door and asked if they could visit with Gracie and the cats.

So that's been the week...... painting.... lunch with the girls..... delivering Valentine invitations.... and counting down the days here till my birthday. The big 6-0. How can that possibly be? I look in the mirror and don't see anyone there who looks older than 45. I don't see anyone in that mirror who even feels older than 30, for goodness sakes. So how in the world could I be getting ready to celebrate a 60th birthday? I remember when I turned 50...... my dad said to me over the phone "Gee, you're getting up there, aren't you?"

Well, I'm still getting up there, but somehow, 60 doesn't seem old to me anymore, and it doesn't look old or feel old, so maybe 60 is the new 30, or the new 45. At least in my mirror. My Aunt Dolly will be 99 this coming June. Last year, before her 98th birthday, she told me that when she looked in the mirror, she saw an old lady. I told her that she needed a new mirror, and that's what I brought to her when we went to Florida for her birthday last year. My Aunt Dolly didn't start looking older till she turned 85, and even now at 98, she still doesn't look 98. At least not in my eyes. When I told her that, she said that her own eyes still remember what she looked like at 19, "and I didn't look like this when I was 19!"

Well, 98 is not exactly the new 19, but we should all be lucky enough to be celebrating a 98th birthday and still have the health and energy of someone 40 years younger. My Aunt Dolly is a little Energizer Bunny, still going and going and going. And if she can still keep going and going at 98, then I can certainly enjoy this upcoming 60th birthday and not worry about the number.

But gee whiz........ 60..... Give me a blessed break.