Did I say my life is speeding up…more like whizzing by…last week I felt like a regular jet-setter…where in the world is Judi…I felt like that book that my kids used to read…”Where in the World is Waldo?” (wonder what happened to that series of books?).
Let’s see…ah yes…Monday I was jet-setting to Toronto…luckily I remembered my passport…good thing I left myself a handwritten reminder or with my fifty-something memory I would have likely forgotten to bring it along…and my colleagues in Toronto had a surprise belated 50th birthday cake for me at lunch…it was so nice…and they gave me a special 50th birthday present…a book called “Fifty Things To Do When You Turn Fifty“…a perfect present for a 50 year old like me…I can’t wait to read it…the back cover caught my attention right away with it’s caption: “if you are among the 50 million North Americans who will turn 50 during the next ten years, this book might just be the thing that enables you to approach the experience with optimism rather than dread”…that’s me…that’s me…yep…can’t wait to read this book…I think I’ll add it to the book pile…the ‘before retirement reading pile’…the ‘read it soon when you have the first chance pile’…yep..this book is going to the top of the pile!
Blink…blink…if it’s Tuesday it must be New York City…yes…on Tuesday I was jet-setting to a black-tie dinner in NYC…in my new Judi with a capital “I” strapless dress…yes…yes…yes…it was sure a night to remember…I wore one of my new evening outfits…my first-ever…strapless dress…my brown strapless short bubble dress…with high-heel sandals…only issue was that as I sat in the limo riding up to NYC…yes…as I sat in the limo the stays from the dress felt like they were starting to cut off the circulation to my upper body…and the elastic from my strapless bra was not helping matters either…this fifty-something body felt like it was being attacked by her first-ever strapless dress…but not to fear…no I was not going to let this dress get the better of me…me…me…nope…when I arrived at the restaurant I went straight to the ladies room…I looked left…I looked right…then I said good-bye to my strapless bra…straight in the garbage…two stays were enough to keep me intact for the evening…ah…it was great to breath again…ah…the life of a jet-setter.
I was ready to put my life back in slow-motion as I boarded the plane for Fort Lauderdale on Thursday…ready to sloooow down…yes…I said sloooow down…and spend some quality time with my 86 year old mom and my almost 22 year old daughter…it was such a great way to end the week…three generations of women all spending quality time together…no email messages to catch up on (my mom doesn’t have a computer in her condo…no internet access in this senior development)…no strapless evening dresses to put on…no make-up…no high heels…just good conversation…lounging at the pool…and taking things nice and sloooow…I love spending time with my mom…we eat sloooow…we walk sloooow….we talk sloooow…we drive slooow…we go to Kmart to buy clothes….we go back to Kmart the next day to return the clothes…we go to the $3 movie theater that plays movies that are out on DVD (no DVD at my mom’s condo…no…I don’t have to worry about how to turn the DVD on with the TV…no HDTV either…just plain regular TV…in 19-inch size not 60 inch plasma)…nice and slooow…simple living.
It’s Monday…and I’m jet-setting back home…after my worldwind week…I’m sorry to leave sunny Florida…but glad to be back home…my 7-day jet-set pass is expired…need to do some revving up before I get back on the runway this week.
Judi