7 Quick Takes

This is pretty late for the quick takes, but it is still Friday so why not?  I was busy celebrating again and shopping.  

1. I turned 50 on Thursday.  Yep, I've been here half a century already.  I'm aiming to stay another half, which would be one century or 100 years old.  We'll see; time will tell I suppose.
2. I've been celebrating since Thanksgiving weekend when I had a birthday party.  At one point, I looked around the room that night and thought how blessed I was that almost every person who I had hoped would be there to celebrate with me was there. I realized too that I loved them all not only because we celebrate and had fun together, but because we are there for each other in the trials and sad times of life as well.  
3. On my actual birthday I had a long, fabulous lunch with a friend and some Pinot Noir.  I went to Mass and the priest prayed for me during the intercessions.  I've worked in many parishes and while I've been sung to after Mass, I've never been prayed for like that.  It was awesome.  After Mass, Fr. told everyone I was 21, which I'm good with.  After Mass, dinner with family and friends.  Interestingly enough, I had no birthday cake but had ice cream at both restaurants. The ice cream at dinner was huge, all eight of us had some!
4. Here's how I've aged in 50 years:

yesterday

my dad and me at my Baptism, one month old

5.  I think I am done with my Christmas shopping except for stockings.  I went to the mall today to have (birthday again) lunch with some friends and then shop.  It took me forever to find a parking spot and the mall was so crowded, but when I went into stores and made purchases, lines were short, shoppers pleasant and it was a pretty painless experience.  Of course, since I was not parked in my usual area in the parking lot, it took me two tries to find my car when I was ready to leave.  It is times like that I miss the big, white conversion van we had for a time.  It was hard to miss!

6.  I have a Nook which I enjoy very much.  Sometimes though I wish I had a Kindle since there are lots of great deals on Amazon. I think a basic Kindle is about $50. My daughter was horrified that I was considering this.  She abhors electronic readers of any sort.  I told her that she was the only person I know who is an avid reader who dislikes readers so strongly.  She said is wasn't just her, her best friend feels the same way!

7.  I rarely have funny kid conversations to tell since only one child lives with us but the night of my birthday party:
Peter:  Elisa, can I borrow some hair spray?
Elisa:  No.
Peter:  Why do you have to be like that, it's just hair spray?
Elisa:  I don't have hairspray!
Me:  Here, use mine.
Have you heard of a 25 year old woman without hair spray?    Okay, this was probably funnier in person.  Oh, she has gorgeous hair!

For more Quick Takes and funnier conversations, Conversion Diary is where to go!