Wednesday 27 February 2013

Turning 65 - the Senior's 21st?

Late February I turned 65 and I reckon that is like a Senior's 21st Birthday and so pretty darn great to get there.  The day started out normal enough with Darcy (The Dapper Dog) and Jackie (The Princess Dog) greeting me - Jackie immediately jumps off the bed as soon as she hears the alarm, she is not a "meeter and greeter" type dog, having come from the Griffith, NSW Pound at about 9 mths of age and quite timid and anti-social to people and other dogs. She is a Jack Russel X something.  I have had her 8 months.
Now Darcy is a different kettle of fish.  I got him 2 weeks ago from Moorook Shelter in the Riverlands at 7 mths of age.  He is a Jack Russel X however I think he is more of a Fox Terrier X and he has joie de la vie in every waking moment.  His idea of "good morning Mummy" is to plant kisses which I try to avoid by hiding under the sheets.
It is then a quick dash to the back door as Darcy is still learning to be an indoor dog and he needs to do a morning whiz very soon after waking.  
A lovely phone call from a Sister in Hervey Bay and a good chat catching up on bits of news with each other.  I opened a card received the day before from my Husband and had my morning coffee and checked emails and Facebook.   Lot's of Happy Birthday greetings and a lovely post from younger son Matthew and one also from his gorgeous wife, Aida.  Matt said he would phone me during his smoko and when he did, he advised he and Aida would call up about 6 or so after Aida got home from work, pick up some Chinese food and head here.  I then went to check the letterbox and 3 cards - 2 from my other sisters and 1 from my friend since school days.  Later my Little Aida phoned - I thought that was so lovely as they are so busy with work and still remembered Mum.
I had to visit the Doctor today as I have been having dizzy spells for the past couple of weeks.  It seems so hard to see the doctor now having to make appointment about 7 days in advance.  It turns out I have Vertigo! Fancy that... I always thought Vertigo was a fear of heights and have since read up on it more and see it is quite common.  Doc was pleased with my blood pressure reading as it came out spot on and I can only figure this was because on 2 January I quit smoking and have stuck with it.  Seeing as sometimes my blood pressure reading could be 180/120 I was pretty chuffed finally I had it under control.
I had a couple of small strokes in 2004 and  I had quit a few times but somehow thought "oh, just one won't hurt".  But it does and this time it is forever.
Next appointment for the day was to the Hairdresser and a cut.  To fill in a bit of time I went into Spotlight as I had a Birthday voucher and with a sale on planned to buy some new fitted sheets.  Got an absolute bargain with 2 fitted sheets (why does the fitted sheet get more worn than the top sheet?) and also picked up 3 metres of fabric that was on sale.  Haircut and then home.
A missed call from elder son whilst I was out was on the answer machine and I was pleased to hear from him.  Surprised no end later in the afternoon when my ex daughter in law phoned to say Olivia wished to say Happy Birthday to me.  Olivia is my 6 1/2 yr old Grand Daughter from my elder son, John's first marriage.  She is the delight of my life and I was thrilled to hear from her and very surprised her Mother made the phone call.  My friend Kay also phoned and we had a good chat and we shall go out to dinner Thursday night.
Matt and Aida arrived with the Chinese dinner and also a fantastic chocolate cake from The Cheese Cake shop.  We ended up eating in front of the telly as the kids have been following My Kitchen Rules (a reality TV show) and they had to fight off Darcy who wanted to sit on their laps along with their dinner plates.
All in all I had a great 65th Birthday as I had been dreading it somewhat.  Not dreading turning 65 as I consider every Birthday a great milestone. Just that I reckon 65 is a real milestone (retirement age, health issues) and that for this epic day I would be alone.  But I wasn't alone.  I am surrounded by family and my friends and I have to remind myself of that when I have feelings of "poor me".  
Yes, I am truly blessed and thank you God for giving me a great day.