Twisting winding down a decade

Hours from now I can no longer check that box that says I'm under 50.  Odd thing this aging process.  Once you feel you finally get a grasp on the world at large it begins closing in on you ever so quickly.  I am less concerned about things that used to fuss and worry me a decade ago while still aware that the machinery is over halfway done.  Biologically I am past middle age by any actuarial charts.  The odds of me living well into my 100's aren't necessarily null but I am not sure I want to keep working for another 40 years to be able to retire.  Dang I wish that was a joke.  The structures in place in America for the last of the baby boomers (which technically is my era) aren't going to last as they are now with the government borrowing heavily from the coffers saying, 'Foods around the corner' and 'May I have a hamburger today and surely I will pay you on Tuesday' or words like that. 

When I turned 40 I was living in Michigan and flew home for a party.  My mom is a paparazzi sort and has pretty much horrific pictures of all of my friends and family that goes back decades.  She took dozens of pictures and pasted them to a large poster board with the decades of my life.  I had arrived a few days prior to the party and to my utter disbelief saw a few of the shirts and dresses on the board.  Naturally that resulted in an immediate trip to the Mall (said with Cali tones and flair) and I picked up a few dresses and shirts. 

This birthday I will work on the day and Saturday a few of my friends are supposed to show up for a barbecue.  I haven't a clue how many can or will show since May is a busy month.  I've started receiving cards and gifts from far away.  Every day either the PO Box or home has something to make me smile.  This morning I got a box my sister had told me she sent.  It appears to be fifty gifts wrapped.  I've opened a dozen or so laughing the whole time.  Once I get the loot unwrapped I'll snap a picture.  They seem to be from Family Dollar or something like that.  Notepads, magnets, pencil, eraser, ruler, gardening gloves, sleep mask and a table cloth with party hats so far.  I giggled and stuck them all in the back seat to explore the rest later.  It's not about the gifts for me....truly hasn't been ever.  It's the thoughts seriously.  I have had some of the most thought provoking things given to me over the years and some of the sweetest things that I'd never have picked out on my own.  One of my favorite gals sends me sunflower items (she has seen all the sunflower pictures I took over the years) and I have a sunflower apron (somewhere???) sunflower knee pads (for gardening!) a great sunflower drawstring purse and now a sun catcher designed like a sunflower. 

So full moon tonight and a new decade begins tomorrow.  Well, that's if the world doesn't end at 5pm on May 21st like the one man predicts (is that 5pm EST????)