It's Official - I'm In My Fifties.

 My favorite birthdays are the quiet ones - I've never had any need of large parties (large gifts of course are not included in that statement) - a lot of the time it's just me and David wishing each other well over a restaurant table, a BBQ, a dog snoring between the pillows.  I went up to Bloomin Yarns yesterday and announced my birthday intentions - I bought a Namaste needle binder with extra sleeves, Lobster Sox in Sky Blue ( sock yarn hand dyed in lobster pots on Cape Cod) and a few other sundry items. David and I gave up trying to surprise each other years ago, I buy yarn and he buys shotgun shells for his weekly range shoot - we are both happy campers. I had  also previously bought a few books for my Kobo ereader -  then Janet and Diane sent me a gift certificate  for Kobo so I finished buying the Christopher Fowler series. I KNOW I yammer on about my ereader on occasion but really, aside from my knitting it's one of the best things I've ever owned.I cart it everywhere I go - I take it outside when I'm running the hound dogs, waiting rooms, between patients. David occasionally will say something about paying attention on the stairs! Watch it! because if it's a particularly good book I cannot stop and this morning found me gripping the stair rail while sidestepping the above mentioned hound dogs (which go down the stairs in a whirling twirling hurtling geyser around me) and feeling the steps with my feet while desperately trying to finish Chapter 32. David did his part by refusing to watch or be party to all this nonsense. For my birthday we met our friends Susan and Roger at Ruby Tuesdays and I had a giant Margarita, a low calorie diet and a Blondie brownie with ice cream for dessert - it's all about balance!  I had a really good time and was so glad they could make it. Jackson called again while we were eating but the cell reception was pretty sketchy - after the second try he gave it  up and was going to bed. Time zone is at 2pm here it's 11pm there. He is getting ready to pack it in the near future and will be leaving the sandy shores of Afghanistan - I for one will not be sorry this is over.