Fifty til you're sixty

Tonight was birthday dinner night for the youngest of our group, 'Woman of Many Talents'.  There was  a bit of fun, a few laughs, many drinks, a couple of D&Ms, cake and candles, a short ride home on the courtesy bus and it was all over by 9.30pm!

Woman of Many Talents looking FABULOUS at 50!

The times, they are a changing!

Remember the times, that don't seem THAT long ago, when we could party for three days and then after one night of sleep, begin partying all over again?

These days, if we party til after 10pm, we need three days to recover!  Another sad side-effect to the ageing process :o(

Still, as my sister-in-law once told me ... think about the only alternative to ageing and what would you choose???

Speaking of the alternative to ageing ... today was supposed to be the end of the world!  Somebody on facebook suggested that today was actually 'Judgement Day' and that the end of the world is next year in December.

Somebody else then asked 'How do I know if I've been saved?'  Good question.

So far, in my fifty one years on this earth, there have been approximately eleven 'end of the world' dates that I can recall, off the top of my head.  I am still here.

I promised a photo of my little Chicklet with her new toy.

Hours of fun for the whole family!

I can't begin to describe the overwhelming joy that fills my heart every day, spending this time with her and Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef.

I never dreamed that being a grandmother could be so amazing.  It's one of those experiences that you simply cannot comprehend until you live it.

In the meantime ... the new rule is ... YOU ARE FIFTY TIL YOU ARE SIXTY so I have another nine years of being a fifty year old grandmother.

Ya gotta love that!

Check! Check! Check!

We've planted more veggies in the garden and bought some corn seeds and zucchini seedlings today.  In a couple of months, we hope, our garden will be abundant with goodness and deliciousness!  There will be photos!

I hope I can find lots of recipes for beans because Adoring Husband has gone a little overboard with beans in the garden this season.  I hope he loves them as much as he thinks he loves them!

The second thing checked off my 'fifty two things to do before I turn fifty two' list is watching all of the Twilight movies in one day.  Vegan Chickie and I had a Twilight marathon last week and I think we might even do that again some time in the near future.  You can never get too much Twilight!

Last but not least, today I visited the Optometrist and had my eyes tested for reading glasses.  I have worn distance glasses since I was aged thirty, but now, alas, I require reading glasses ***sad face***.

In a good deal, I got distance glasses, reading glasses and two pairs of prescription sunglasses.  I haven't worn sunglasses for about twenty years, so I am looking forward to having better protection for my eyes ... especially now that we are living in Queensland where the sun is a bit bright and harsher than down south.

Clothes fade on the washing line in the Summer.  I spend about twenty minutes in the morning sunshine every day when I ride my tricycle to the boat ramp and I have a suntan just from doing that.  So I figure, the bright morning sunshine can't be doing my eyes too much good either.

The trusty trike was taken in for a long overdue service today.  I have ridden it every day for almost three years and it has never been checked.  Today it was given some TLC and I hope to get another couple of years worth of safe pedalling.

Chicklet has a new toy as of today so that she can lie on her back and practise her hand/eye co-ordination skills with lots of bright colours and sounds ... I will add a photo tomorrow.

She also has a bit of a 'thing' for Zac Efron.  We watched 'High School Musical' today and when Zac came on the screen, she talked very loudly to him!  It was so cute :o)

So, my 'Fifty two things' list is being checked off nicely and I am ahead of schedule.  The tougher items on the list are yet to come :o)

Perfect as it is!

This is our local dog whisperer.  His name is Chris.  He and his partner own a local B&B in town, which overlooks the river.  They bought it last year,  renovated,  added a deck and were open for business before Christmas.

These are his dogs that paddle with him every morning like this!

His partner does Yoga and Zumba classes in the local hall, while he does his dog training here, in The Bay and in another town thirty minutes from here.

Unfortunately, my mission to get Adoring Husband to the dog whisperer at the next session, has already failed.  He will be away doing a photography workshop that weekend, so I have to aim for the fortnight after that instead.

Our town is very small but there are so many activities available for all age groups.

As I've mentioned already, there is dog training, Zumba and Yoga.  We also have indoor bowls, lawn bowls, tennis, tai chi, cards, mahjong, bingo, dancing (tap and jazz ballet), singing, tae kwon do, craft, out rigging, two fishing clubs (amateur and blue water), darts, quilting, aerobics and three golf courses within fifteen minutes from town.

There are 'Grey Nomads' who regularly come to town in their camper vans and caravans to stay for the Winter, and who come join the groups every week to play.   They travel from all over Australia because our Winter is so mild compared to the southern States.

It just occurred to me that I really shouldn't be hitting the sales pitch for our town, because I don't want more people coming to live here and pushing the population to the limits.

I love our small town just the way it is!

State of Origin

First of all, our Sushi last night, was delicious!

Healthy and delicious!

Next week is the first 'State of Origin' match between New South Wales and Queensland.  For those of you who don't follow the football, Queensland have won the series for five years in a row!

This makes me very happy because I was born in Queensland and I love football!

So my reasoning goes like this.  Because Chicklet's first address in Australia is in Queensland, THAT makes her an honorary QUEENSLANDER!!

The Dreaded Dynamos!

Adoring Husband bought me some State of Origin dreadlocks made with Queensland colours today and they looked pretty darn good on little Chicklet!  Now she has dreadlocks just like her Mum!

Next week she will be dressed in full Queensland State of Origin regalia and there WILL be photos!

Grandmotherly Duties

Sushi for dinner tonight :o)

It's been a very enjoyable day for me today.  It started with water aerobics which was most invigorating.

Morning tea afterwards with Aussie H, Beauty and Lady Lynne.  We sat in our usual spot soaking up the Winter sunshine, sharing some laughs and welcoming Aussie H home from her caring duties with big loving hugs.

A bit of house keeping and then Vegan Chickie and the Bare-chested Chef gathered all of their courage and, for the first time, left their beautiful little Chicklet in the very capable hands of .... MEEEEEEEE!

They only went to the local supermarket, which is approximately a four minute drive from home, but I checked my watch when they left and expected that they would return in about ten minutes.

To my delight and surprise, they were gone for an entire twenty five minutes!  Chicklet and I got a nice dose of Vitamin D while we wandered around the garden for ten minutes.

I showed her the plants and flowers in the alfresco area.  We watched the builders across the road where they are starting construction on a new home.  Lastly we watched the puppies chasing each other around the back yard.

She intently took everything in and was still very happy and relaxed when her Mum and Dad came home from the supermarket.

As they began to make their lunch, little Chicklet fell asleep in my arms, so I crept into the lounge room and slid down onto the couch.

Vegan Chickie handed me a little packet of lollies and a bottle of water.  Adoring Husband handed me the baby blanket so that I could protect her from the cool breeze blowing through the front window and I settled down to thirty minutes of pure grandmotherly bliss as she slept soundly with her head resting on my shoulder.

This is what being a grandmother is all about.  Feeling the love and soaking up the happiness.

Quality vs Quantity

In short, my day consisted of twenty minutes of excellent quality cuddling time with Adoring Husband while I gathered the courage to leave the warm bed to prepare for nine holes of low quality golf.

Short, but high quality, hammock time.

Two medium quality dvds - being 'The Lake House' and 'A Star is Born' (Barbra & Kris), which created lovely quality Vegan Chickie time.  

A number of brief, but top quality, Chicklet times.

Poor quality kitchen time, which in turn produced poor quality food.

Proof of a genuinely high quality son-in-law who ate all of the poor quality food.

Good quality fun and giggling around the dining table triggered by hysteria from low quality sleep.

Toss of a coin quality junk food for after dinner.

Sad quality attempt to post something here at almost 11.30pm when I have to get some sleep before an early start tomorrow morning for water aerobics.

I can't even stay awake long enough to replace quality for quantity.  Let's try this again tomorrow :o)

  

A Milestone!

Chicklet rolled over for the first time this morning from her tummy to her back!  It was a most exciting moment.  She did it twice, just to prove that the first time wasn't a fluke!

Now she's sleeping against her Dad's chest while he reads.  They look so perfect together :o)

She loves her Daddy :o)

One of our neighbours just dropped off a bag of different types of chillies and two chilli plants.  There will be cooking with chilli over the coming weeks I feel.  Good for the metabolism!

Adoring Husband planted the chilli plants in the herb garden and then climbed into the hammock with Psychotic Dogs, who appear to look so 'unpsychotic' in photos!

Have heard nothing but glowing reports about our free dog whisperer in town.  I spoke to four different people with dogs yesterday at the markets, after they had been to the park to check him out.  They all raved about how great he was.

Some of them had uncontrollable dogs on the leash, others wouldn't take their dogs OFF the lead while on the beach because the dog would run off and not return when called, others needed advice about barking, digging and other various problems.

Next fortnight, I'm going to make it my mission to get Adoring Husband and Psychotic Dogs to the dog whisperer.  I do believe Adoring Husband requires some training as well!

They DO say that it's the owners who require training more than the dogs!  If I can get Adoring Husband there, it will be another milestone!!