60 Years and one day

Sunday, February 5, 2023

I don’t know how far back we started talking about our 60th birthdays, but it was a while. It seemed like as good of an excuse as any to do something special. I am not a fan of when people go on a trip or something else within the year of their birthday and saying it is for their birthday. I say go for it – you don’t need an excuse to live life!

But, I also thought why not do something actually on my birthday to gather friends and do a thing, since the day was conveniently on a Saturday. My friend, Daniel, suggested some besties go somewhere for a get-away, but that was during the fall (when things would have had to been planned) and I thought I would be still at the high school, doing half time, so that didn’t work. We could have jumped on the idea at the end of December when I knew I was done, but since we are going on a huge adventure in two weeks, that didn’t work.

I spent time researching a group trip to the Dells – which should still happen – but couldn’t quite get what I wanted. I thought of going to an escape room, because I love escape rooms, but they are only for smaller groups, so that didn’t work. I thought of just saying, “C’mon over and hang out,” but NO! I wanted something better than that. I started rolling the idea of a scavenger hunt around in my head and was pleased with the idea. My friend, Louise, and I walked the Mall of America spotting interesting things to find in a hunt. I invited people I like (obviously) but also people whom I thought would want to scavenge. I think I was right – everyone reported that they had a good time (I have nice friends. If they didn’t have a nice time, I think they would have lied, and I appreciate them for that).

There were four teams of four and they had 75 minutes to find and photograph (or video) as many of 80ish things as they could. I wandered along with different teams, watching how they did it. It was great fun to see how differently each team worked and how NONE of them did it at all like I would have. Afterward, we gathered here for soup and salad. I was surprised how much people seemed to enjoy having soup. Three choices (gumbo, cheeseburger, and Italian sausage) of soup seemed to be fun for many – lots of people opting for two or three different kinds.

Today felt like the day after Christmas when you are eight. All the anticipation and excitement are over, but there is a nice little glow.

Now I am thinking about Keith’s big birthday coming up in 2 months. Our idea for his celebration is for him to be able to do his favorite thing – which is playing in a concert. Metro Brass is having a concert in White Bear Lake on the evening before his birthday – April 15 – and I hope to get a good audience, so please put it on your calendar now and plan to come. It means so much! We invited a musician friend last week and her response was that that was tax day (it’s not actually tax day, because it is a Saturday) and she would be busy. It is always one’s right to do what makes one happy, so I can’t be upset she isn’t interested in coming, but it was disappointing she wasn’t interested in supporting a fellow musician. I hope it would make you happy to come. (I think there will be cupcakes.)

OH! I didn’t explain the POTD. We got new pots and pans yesterday. We have needed new ones for a while, and Keith researched the heck out of it and finally decided what he wanted. He told me yesterday morning that he had ordered them and they were arriving, but that they were not birthday presents. Um. What? Big boxes of fun new kitchen toys are not a present? Why? MMmmm. User error, I’m afraid. Definitely should have been considered presents. Today, we cooked noodles – with breadcrumbs for me and spiciness for him. Our first new pan cooking. Yay.