wrinkles...crushed violets...BIG adventures...

I wanted to tell y’all about my birthday celebration! Humour me, okay? I'm old. Ish.

63. I cannot believe that. But apparently it’s correct. Honestly? I don’t really care how old I am. I care not one teeny tidbit that I have wrinkles. Grey hair. Some extra poundage in many places on my body. I only want to be able to walk! Move! Grammy Nanny my Grands! So far—so good.

I don’t need gifts—not at this point in my life. What I’d rather have are experiences! Lunch. Dinner. A card. A text. A phone call. A movie. Time with family and friends. (PLEASE DON’T GET ME WRONG: I’m deeply and truly grateful for every thoughtful gift I receive! They’re just never necessary. I’m fairly certain most women my age would say the same thing. And yet I also buy gifts for family and friends. You hate not to. I realize this.) But let me try to tell TLC not to get me a gift. That does not go over well. She is, IMHO, Queen of Etsy/Nordstrom/IG. She deals in “DEALS!” She is, without one doubt, a Shopper Extraordinaire. (She needs to make a living with this talent…I’ve never been more serious. She also wraps gifts beautifully!) She’s ALWAYS going to buy me a gift whether I want one or not. Same goes for My Sweet Hubby. Therefore, I’ve learned to be proactive and, well, frankly, instructive. One might say BOSSY. Oh, well. I am who I am.

In February-ish, I told TLC I would love a Mark Twain saying I cherish to be printed and/or framed.

Here it is: (It’s placed, in our bedroom, near my great-grandmother’s rocker—which was brought to Texas from England in the early 1900s. Her daughter, my grandmother, Nana? If y’all have been reading our blog very long, you might remember how important she was to me.)

And…up close:

My Nana loved African violets, violets and pansies. This beautiful saying is especially significant to me because of the violet reference. But also because I’ve had problems with forgiveness in my past. Well, maybe still. Up to this moment. As I type.  I feel I can, and do, forgive. Eventually. I struggle with forgetting what someone has done—or not done—to or for me. Basically, I suppose, to sum this up: I hold grudges. I’m not proud of this. I’m only wanting to be completely honest. And to change.

To forgive someone the very SECOND they hurt me? (The moment the violet is crushed it forgives the person that crushed it…the MOMENT.) Like Jesus Christ, Our Savior. Right? Hmmm…I’m not good at that whatsoever. I must start to improve. Soon.

Now I look at this beautiful "art" every day—morning, noon and night. And I think about it. I let it challenge me. I treasure it and could not love TLC more for finding the perfect person to make it for me! Thank you, Daughter. You ROCK.

MSH did two WONDERFUL things for my birthday:

First, he (through TLC, His Personal Shopper) bought me a pair of Kendra Scott earrings I’ve coveted. I’m not obsessed with Kendra—not as much as TLC. I’m more of a Brighton Kind-O-Gal. These are positively LOVELY. Turquiose. Not too big—not too little. (Yes. He gave me some small Kendra turquoise earrings Christmas before last. I determined I needed these, too. Winky. Wink.)

THEN—sort of last minute-ish: He took me to Fredericksburg, Texas! Y’all know how much all three of us—me, TLC and MSH—ADORE Fredericksburg. None of us had ever been there—in all of the many, many trips we’ve made over the years—during “Bluebonnet/Indian Paint” season!

We left our casa a week ago this past Monday. Dropped Buddy Boo Bear off at our Vet’s clinic for boarding. Arrived in Fredericksburg by noon and loved every single second of our adventure for the next 48 hours! I got to see Sunny’s Sweet Sister, Gunny, at a store on Main Street called “All Gussied Up!” Is that the most precious name EVER? It’s got GREAT clothes, jewelry, etc. A must if you’re in Fredericksburg! Lucky TLC received two beautiful tops from there. Because I am the BEST Mom. It’s early Mother’s Day, TLC. Remember that, please. Gunny and Sunny could be twins. I kid you not. It was MAJOR fun visiting with her and one of her co-workers. Sweet, SWEET, funny, charming women!

Here’s the best part: I gained no weight! Not even an ounce! In fact, I actually lost a couple of ounces. Woo Hoo and Yippee! I haven’t been able to go to a Weight Watchers meeting in three weeks. Tomorrow morning I’ll find out how much I’ve officially lost in that amount of time. I have high hopes it’ll be at least three pounds. Pretty much devastated if it's less. I shall, however, trudge through the trauma and move on.

I’ll pray each of you gets to have A Magical Adventure soon! We all need them. No matter how old we are, right?

Smooches and BIG HUGS,

ELC