47

 
just when did this happen?

a few memories ago i was 8 and taking school pictures with the little butterfly pin my grandma pinned to my collar,  then i was 23 eating lunch everyday at the grill in the student union at UNLV, and then i was 28 and my feet hurt and letting my two aunts straighten out the damp one dollar bills hastily shoved in my pockets after a waitress shift when they were visiting, then i was 33 crying in the car during the bar exam, and then i was 38 picking out flooring for my first house. and now i am here.

here. at 47.

the first day i was 47, the alarm rang at 7a and although i love the early morning, i do not love to get up. it takes a while to get dressed and going.

i opened my first gift that was waiting for me: two gifts cards from starbucks and bath and body works. both perfect shopping spots for me.

i met my best friend for an early breakfast at a very crowded waffle house. and because we both dont like waffle house coffee,  we went to starbucks and sat in the crowded space and enjoyed better coffee (flat white), and we kicked ourselves and wished we would have gone to the local coffee shop in the old house in the antique village instead of the starbucks in the little strip mall. because, the times are numbered that you just get to sit and have coffee and you have to take advantage of it.



















then I found bouquet number one.  unexpected flowers greeting me at the front door. maybe the loveliest thing ever to come home and find.  i was a little teary-eyed. they are currently living in my breakfast nook.

then i vowed to be productive, rounded up all the brushes, cleaned them with hot water, turned classic rock (103.3) on loud and got back to my recent hangout, the ladder.  determined to finish this long painting job in the bathroom.

then my oldest sister stopped by to comment on the bathroom progress, my rose beds and blanche, and to give me another gift, a book that all my friends are reading, written by a girl i went to school with and written about the small town we grew up in, the feathered bone. and it was autographed. i love it.

then back to painting.

then a friend i hadn't seen in two years paid a surprise visit and i stopped to eat chicken pot pie as a late lunch sitting in the sunshine in a rocking chair on the front porch.

then arranged a different friend and her truck to take a little trip in the not so nice part of town ... it was deep in the 'hood.... to pick up a raised garden bed i had bought for $10 from a yard sale the day before.

then i found bouquet number two at the back door. more surprise flowers. no teary eyes on this one, just jubilation and confirmation surprise flowers are the best to come home and find. they are currently living in my living room.

then a really great dinner and happy birthday apple pie with ice cream that was swimming in butter and soooo good. and here we are.

at 47.