The morning after .......

Well, that was fun! Thank you, everyone, for your lovely birthday messages and cards......I had a lovely day.

I had decided not to do anything special, just to potter about, and somehow the day ran away with me, starting with a visit from a friend on her way to work. At 7.15am. The doorbell rang and I looked down at myself, and decided, oh who cares, and marched to the door, dressed in my gown, wrapped in a blanket and with hair which looked as though I had had a close encouter with a tornado. She laughed as I said....and now you see the glamorous side of being 54! But I was delighted to see her, and she was not in the slightest bit phased by my stunning appearance. That is what good friends are for, after all.

Between answering phone calls, I decided to make a cake. Well, all I can say is that this was perhaps taking multi-tasking a step to far. The cake got made, but I could just have left something out. It looks a little odd. I certainly did get the order of mixing things wrong, but anyway, my son says it is edible. Strange, but edible. That is good enough.

So my day was great. Lots of visitors, and lots of calls, and in the middle I managed to re-pot the tomatoes, and just enjoy it all. The moments. Birthdays are fun.

I look at the photo Diana posted and wonder how it is that that same little girl having fun watering the plants can possibly be the woman I see in the mirror this morning. So many good things have happened in her life. So many adventures lay ahead of her when that photo was taken, and she didn't have a clue. She didn't worry about turning 4 or 24 or 54. She just enjoyed the moment. I should have re-created that photo yeterday while I was watering the tomatoes, perhaps. And then when I am 74, I could look back at it and say....so many good things have happened in her life, and she didn't have a clue back then what was lying ahead, couldn't I?

Good things, bad things. But when I look at that photo, all I see is the joy. I don't remember it all, just things from that period of my life, and you know what, from the distance of 51 years, they all seem to be good. Wonderful. Happy. Joy-filled moments. I am absolutely certain my mother could relate the dark side of me being 3. But she never photographed those moments for posterity, so they vanish into the ether, thank heavens. I mean, who really wants to have a photo of themselves in the middle of a temper tantrum??

I want to be like that little girl, just enjoying the moment. Maybe that will be my motto for this new year of my life. Enjoying each moment, without expending too much energy worrying about the "what ifs" of my life. I don't have a clue what kind of adventures there are lying ahead for me, but if I am excited about all the possibilities, that has to be a great start.