April 27th –
Yesterday Was My Birthday
I turned 59 years
old yesterday. It’s hard to believe that I’ve experience so much in my life –
some good, some bad. There have been so many changes in our culture, our
science, our day to day existence that I literally marvel at the wonder of it
all.
I’m also a little
afraid of it. We can be watched, spied on, followed, and photographed by anyone
at any time. We have to be more aware of our special codes and specific
accounts. We have passwords for everything. Litigation has spread like wildfire
and we are afraid of everything.
Children no longer
enjoy the freedom of riding a bike and letting the breeze blow through their
hair. Adults carefully watch what their children eat, with whom they play, and
monitor their every move with a cell phone or an in-home security system.
We are living in
1984.
While that scares
me, I try to exist in this time of constant surveillance by becoming invisible and
staying blissfully under the radar. Except for this blog and my Facebook
account and the fact that I have numerous publications that are listed on the
internet – no one knows I exist.
Anyway, I digress.
I was going to talk about my birthday. I decided I wanted to go to the piney
woods. I love their smell and it is my second favorite place to be when I am
stressed – the first being the beach. So, my husband and I took a drive up Mt.
Lemon to have lunch and sit by the lake until it was time to have dinner with
family at Pinacle Peak’s. The weather was not our friend, but we went prepared
with a second shirt and rain gear. Rain gear is awesome for rain, not so
awesome for hail. As we were sitting in the restaurant it began to hail. FUN! I
thought I was having a bad day until I noticed two motorcycles and two open air
off road vehicles parked next to our Jeep. I felt really bad for them.
But we made it to
the car without much damage and proceeded to the fudge shop where I purchased a
½ pound of fudge and walked outside just as it began to hail again.
Going back down the
mountain, we ran out of the hail in a just a few minutes, so we decided to pay
the $9.00 fee and go to the lake. Beautiful! The smell of pine mixed with the
smell of rain made an intoxicating potion and I took several deep breaths of it.
I felt hail on my head and one of the little bugers nailed me in the eye before
we made it back to the Jeep.
Okay, enough. Back
down the mountain with about 2 hours to kill until dinner. I wanted to go to
Mesquite Valley Growers to look for some small plants for my backyard. I fell
in love with a kinetic wind machine, but couldn’t afford the hefty price tag.
So, I settled on a pot full of succulents. Hail once again met us just as we
ducked into the Jeep.
I looked like a
drowned rat, but we couldn’t go home and change, so we went to the restaurant.
I hadn’t been there in ages and it was quite fun walking around the old town.
The rest of the family arrived and we were seated. Now, it’s an unspoken rule
that when we take me out for my birthday no one tells the wait staff that it is
my birthday to avoid embarrassment. But the news leaked and along with a free
scoop of ice cream with a candle on top, the entire restaurant sang happy
birthday to me. So much for staying under the radar.
Other than the
hail, it was a good day. My father called and asked me how old I was. Both my
brothers called and my neighbor called. I received some beautiful cards and my
mother-in-law made my favorite cake.
Starting Monday, I’ll
be in a whirl again. I see my General Practitioner on Monday and then I’m
having a pedicure. Tuesday I’ll stay home and do laundry and make sure
everything is in order at my house. Wednesday I’m attending a daylong seminar
on living with Cancer that includes nutrition and a lecture on sex and
intimacy. Wednesday afternoon I have to call to see what time my surgery is the
following morning.
Thursday morning is
the big day. The procedure will take place at University of Arizona medical
center under the expert hands of Dr. Larsen. They told me to dress comfortably
with a button down shirt, so I bought a new pair of jammies. Why not? They’ll
be comfy and they button down. I don’t care if I’ll be in public, it’s at a
hospital for goodness sakes. Then I’ll start recovering at home under my
husband’s watchful eye until he returns to work on Monday. I’ll see my surgeon
on Tuesday for my first follow-up. I’ve asked my in-laws to take me, just in
case I’m not ready to drive yet.
I plan to have
Randy take a side shot before the surgery and each time I get saline
injections, but no undressed shots will appear on this blog.
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