On Turning 50

I have been 50 years old for over a week now and it's not so bad. I think I had a harder time adjusting to being 40. But 50 has been easy. My family made it very easy by treating me so specially.

On my birthday, February 28th, I went off to work as it was a Thursday, thinking "just one more day and the kids will be here and I will get to see everyone." My students found out it was my birthday so throughout the day I got sincere birthday wishes and some smart aleck 8th grade remarks about how ancient I was. My friends and colleagues brought me gifts which are always fun. Arlinda gave me lottery tickets and I won $25.00. Still, it was a long day and I looked forward to going home. Since the kids were coming home, I had a bit of tidying up to do. I get home and see Laura's car in the driveway. "Oh goody" I think to myself, "She came a day earlier". I walk in and not only Laura but Casey as well yell "Surprise!" They had sneaked into town the night before and stayed with Nate and Megan. After I left for work, they came over, Megan, too and cleaned my house from top to bottom. I was so surprised and so grateful. My girls are just the best. If I had not received another gift, I would have been well pleased to have such a great birthday gift. But, the fun was just beginning!

Curt and I went out to eat that night with the Danzie's. They are good friends from our ward and Jeanette has her birthday on February 29th, so we go out to eat around our birthdays. the girls were exhausted from cleaning the house and then recleaning it after Halle and Carter got through with it, so I got them chinese food from Peking. After Curt and I got home we visited for a while before we all were ready for bed.

Friday, Cody and Josh came and I think they got there about the same time as I got home from work. Curt cooked us all dinner and we had some good visits. We played guitar hero and sat on the couches in the front room. I had to give in a go to bed around 10pm.

Saturday I woke up to the sound of Carter telling the names of everyone in the family picture I have. It is a very sweet way to wake up, he has such a cute voice. We did various things until around 5pm when we all met up at Jaker's. We made the hostess mad at us right off thebat, but after that it was good. :)

After we had ordered, Laura requested some help in the corner of the room and asked me not to look. So, Cody and I chatted while the others helped with the project. When they were done, they asked me to pop some balloons.

So, I did and everytime I popped a balloon, 20 dollar bills fell out! I was stunned! After I got them all popped, I had about $800 dollars! Then Laura tells me that all of my family had pitched it to contribute to "Get Munge a Big Screen TV Fund" I was stunned! I couldn't believe it. So, we ate dinner and then went TV hunting. The girls part was done and the guys stepped up. I have two incredible sons-in-law plus two great sons. Curt and I kinda wandered around, but these guys knew about TVs. Megan too, she knew what kind of resolution to look for and something else that I had no clue about. She had been looking around already so she knew where to go. We tried Walmart first because, after all, they do have the lowest prices. (but I really hate Walmart) and naturally, they didn't have the TV I wanted in stock. So, we went to Best Buy and found a really nice 50 inch TV that everyone agreed was a good buy. Josh told me about getting a HD dvd player to go with it. Nate and Curt and Josh got the manager to knock the price down a bit. The guys loaded it up, took it home , set it up and we all watched it. It is awesome and every time I look at it, I think of all the special people who made it happen and feel so totally undeserving and very grateful for people who love me. I have the best Mama and best sisters and brothers and especially the very best sons and daughters, whether they are born to me or by marriage. So, being 50 has started off great and it will be a birthday I will always remember. :)) And, I must say, I have the most wonderful grandchildren that ever walked the earth. Just look at this picture and dare to tell me I am wrong.