THE BIG FIVE-OH

This year both my auto license and my driver’s license expired, so that had to be done and I must say the two renewals were the most efficiently handled experiences in all the years I’ve lived in Atlanta. It took me only 15 minutes to get in and out of the car tag office, and 45 minutes at the DMV for the driver’s license. And what made the whole experience even more pleasant was that I was able to renew the driver’s license for TEN YEARS. Wow. It will be interesting to compare the photo on this new license with the scary little face that may be looking in the mirror back at me in ten years…

So this year was the big FIVE-OH birthday for me. I am now officially eligible for AARP, but, unfortunately, no senior citizen discounts. I’m not THAT old yet. I can hardly believe I have hit the half-century mark. I still feel like I’m in my twenties (and act like I’m twelve)!

Since I took Friday afternoon off from work to do the DMV trip, I had a longer weekend than usual and it was all birthday celebration!! Friday night a group of us went ice-skating for the evening session. Once we got there and ‘lived the experience of Friday night public skating’ I promised myself I would never go on Friday night ever again. The rink had maybe forty people, but 80% of them were teenagers and the hormones were raging rampantly almost to the point where you could see them jumping off the bodies! The boys were skating much faster than common sense dictated and they were doing quick snowplow stops dangerously close to a huddle of girls, sending shaved ice flying and evoking giddy screams. For the average leisure skater and the people practicing figure skating in the middle of the rink it seemed like an obstacle course, except in this case the obstacles were moving. We left a little earlier than closing simply because it ceased to be fun. I think we’ll stick to Sunday afternoons - - even though there are more people skating it’s generally a much safer environment.


After leaving the rink (which was about 10:30pm) we drove to three different places to find a pizza! For some reason we couldn’t find a pizza place with a dining room or pick-up desk open that late. We drove to back to the house and I called Pizza Hut and pleasantly discovered they were still open for pick up as well as delivery until midnight! I went to pick up two large pizzas which were annihilated to crumbs within minutes (four of us chowing down). For dessert - - BIRTHDAY CAKE!


Saturday was day 2 of rain and cooler weather, with the temperature barely peaking 40 degrees. Lola had horseback riding late that morning and no matter how many layers and polar fleece I put on that day I simply could NOT get warm! Afterward we went to our favorite noodle place to have lunch and thaw out and then on home to stay warm. I did a couple loads of laundry and I helped Lola study for her Social Studies test on Tuesday.

Sunday was day 3 of rain and officially my birthday. We went ice-skating that afternoon and saw Lola’s ESOL teacher again for just a little while before she had to leave the rink.
Lola decided she is now ready to take skating lessons. I had offered to let her take them back in January, but she decided at the time she would rather just skate for fun. Now that she has seen her ESOL teacher do spins and jumps she wants to learn, too. A new lesson session is to begin this week so I signed her up for Saturdays at 11:40am. I knew the leisure skates she has been using are all wrong for figure skating, so we did a quick visit to a local sporting goods consignment store and found a pair of figure skates that fit her just right. The price was just right, too!

Sunday evening was pretty quiet, with a bit of dinner, more birthday cake, and present-opening. Lola and Kimmi had gone shopping a day or so earlier and Lola knew just what to pick out for my gift. While Lola and I were staying at an apartment in Moscow in December 2007 to get her American passport and visa, we made tea and boiled water in an electric pot made just for that purpose. The speed at which the water heated up was quite impressive to me ( perhaps I’m just easily impressed) and I made a mental note to look for one when we got home. Once I got back to the states I didn’t really see any I liked as much as the one in Russia. But I must say when Lola and Kimmi went out to find one for my birthday they chose the PERFECT water-pot! It’s tempered glass and stainless steel and sits on a platform to heat up. It is both beautiful AND amazing! It now ranks up there neck-to-neck with my GreenPan no-stick cookware. Lola and I now have tea every morning for breakfast and with things being hectic getting ready for work and school it’s pleasant to know that in just about one minute we can have steaming hot tea on the table with our breakfast!