the best 50th birthday in my life

Yesterday was my birthday. Not only was it the best 50th birthday I've ever had, it was also a day filled with friends, family, good food, good times and only a bit of melancholy. This is how I will remember the day:

1. Happy birthday greetings throughout the day from friends and family--some in person, some by phone, and some in tender feelings.
2. Yardsailing with Sugar--only four or five stops, but what amazing stops they were! The Annual Brighton (pronounced brite-un) High School Cheerleader sale, followed by stops at two homes that were selling mostly brand new, still with the tags, baby clothes, and mostly brand new, still with the store tags, 50- year- old- women- sized- clothes- for- women- who- probably- don't- dress- exactly- their- age- clothes. Sugar and I couldn't decide if we really believed the explanations from the still-tagged clothes' owners (too many baby clothes to use, and his mother-in-law buys so many clothes that she will never wear them so we're selling them) or if they were all hot and we just bought a bunch of stolen stuff. By nature I am a trusting soul, so I chose to believe the explanations. In between the two new/tagged clothes houses, we stopped at a place that was selling two sofas--a teal colored leather sofa, and an oxblood colored leather sofa with fabric cushions. Both in brand new condition, one with the tags still on. Only $300. For both. Delivered to my house. The only bummer was that the lime colored faux leather chaise was already sold.
3. Food and more conversation with Sugar at IHOP, using my buy one get one free card, with an excellent server who understood us for who we are and kept the diet coke coming.
4. Time for blogging and dog bathing during the middle of the day.
5. Present time--a new Schwinn pearl pink Roxy coaster from Jack that I rode around the store and parking lot before we took it home on Thursday. A powder blue helmet from Stu, Shi, Audrey, Herschel and Jr as well as a basket, a bell, and an ah-ooh-gah horn for the bike. Two kid-safe tea sets from Jessie, Cory, Breanne, and Janey for many years of tea parties at gramma's house. Funny cards from family, friends, and the cats.
6. Barbeque dinner with Jack, the kids, and the darling girls. I sat in the comfortable chair in the corner of the dining room and watched as they prepared everything. Steaks, salad that contained spinach, peanuts, shredded cheese, diced apples and poppyseed dressing, fresh fruit, chips, soda. All on the deck out back in the gardens. Lovely.
7. NASCAR racing at night on the high-banked track of Bristol in Tennessee. Lots of action, lots of emotion, lots of fun. True I would have preferred to see the 88 car take the checkered flag, but that's racin'.
8. Yummalicious warm birthday brownies baked by Jr in between the coats of paint he was applying to the walls of his new bedroom.
9. And now, three years later, I did not spend most of my birthday with the intense feeling of the loss of my gramma. Losing her on my birthday three years ago was hard, painful, devastating. But it wasn't as bad yesterday as then or as last year--more like a twinge every now and then, that after allowing myself to feel instead of trying to bury or dismiss it, seemed very much okay.

All-in-all, it was a good birthday. I recommend 50th birthdays to all of the people in my life. They are not as scary as I'd been told.