Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Birthday Blues

Just kidding - I'm not really blue about it; it made a good title. But it sure is hard to admit to being older than I used to be sometimes. Every year, it's the same darn thing, LOL. Mostly, I become frustrated because I am not quite back to feeling the way I used to feel before all of my health issues from the past year unfolded. The going is slow now that I'm older. But I keep plugging away, trying to be optimistic as I deal with my stresses, counting my many blessings, focusing on my family and pets as well as all of the wonderful things and people I have in my life instead of the stupid health things which do not seem to end.

My old dog and I both had cancer scares recently - he had another tumor which required surgery last week. It turned out to be benign AGAIN. He is recovering nicely but I did not sleep for a week, worrying about the biopsy results. On top of that, my recent mammogram showed a "suspicious" shadow, which of course required further investigation. That also turned out to be nothing to worry about. TMI, perhaps, some of you will say. But it was another week where I did not get much sleep or quilting done. Hopefully, things have calmed down a bit now and I will be able to get back into better shape again before my next birthday. Attitude is all, don't you think?

You saw the doll bed, mattress and pillow I gave to Julia for her birthday.  We actually share a birthday and it was a good day for me too. Someone commented that I was a good friend. It's actually the other way around - I am surrounded by a few incredibly wonderful, caring friends and for that I am so grateful.


Julia gave me a bunch of BLUE presents, LOL, to go along with my BLUES I guess. OMG, she found a beautiful vintage blue and white doll quilt too! How lucky am I?? The vintage bracelet is a heart locket. So sweet, I love it. She also knitted this adorable blue headband to wear when I walk the dogs when it gets cold . . . . I think I definitely came out ahead this year in the gift department, LOL. She's very understanding and I'll make it up to her.


I thought you'd also enjoy seeing a few of the gifts from my daughter and my husband. They spoil me too. A couple of books, a polka-dotted basket to hold my scraps, a sweater and a necklace. Bless his heart, the sweater is in a smaller size than I wear. I must look thinner than I really am, huh? Or those bifocals he just got are  not working very well . . . . My son is going to take me on an architectural tour of Chicago for my birthday when my knee gets better (a whole other depressing story for later). I've been on a Fossil kick lately. Look - Julia's Fossil earrings perfectly match the Fossil necklace my husband bought! How did they know? In cahoots, I'll bet!

To celebrate last week, my husband and son took me out to dinner (daughter is away at college) at a small seafood restaurant in Chicago and then my son found me a gelato place for dessert. Gelato is hard to find where I live but it is becoming popular in the city and I suspect more shops will spread to the suburbs soon.

If you haven't jumped on the Gelato bandwagon yet, it's a sort of dense ice cream. Like ice cream, but distinctly NOT ice cream. It's churned at a slower speed than ice cream, and so not as much air is whipped into the mixture. Regular ice cream contains about 50% air - gelato contains about 25 to 30 percent air. And it's not completely frozen, but stored and served at a slightly warmer temperature and has an amazing, rich flavor. Not as much fat either, I hear.


I got the single scoop of chocolate that you see sitting up on the counter above. So rich that a small scoop was even too much for me, believe it or not. Me, the woman who can eat a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting could not finish that small cup. Sad. See what advanced age does to you??


The gelato place was in a trendy neighborhood and, as we were leaving, I couldn't resist taking this photo of the Pedal Pub passing by. Everyone was pedalling, laughing and looking so happy and obviously having a great time. I had no idea what it was (or that they were drinking beer! No wonder they looked so cheerful)  but I looked it up when we got home. Maybe you have seen these in your area?? I believe they were first introduced in the Netherlands and have slowly spread to a few cities in the U.S.

They are pedalling about 5 mph.

It seems that it's like a large bar on a bike - you can get a group together and rent these with a driver and pedal your way to different bars in the city for a genuine bar-hopping experience.

I wonder if we quilters can get a hold of one of these to work off a few pounds as we go from quilt shop to quilt shop, wouldn't that be fun?? Without the beer of course. I say we even try a Gelato Shop Hop someday. Then I wouldn't feel so guilty about eating it.


15 comments:

http://thankfullga447 said...

Happy Birthday, I love the blue quilt you received. I am working on a new pattern and it is stressing me out but I think I got it. It is from the Quilter's Academy. Enjoy your day, getting old is all about aches and pains.

Diane said...

First Happy Birthday! Sounds like your very blessed and know it-a blessing in itself!
Second, you are the only other person I know who says 'cahoots'!! too funny.
Third: the Pedal Pub is fantastic-never heard of it-what a great idea-drink and work the calories off at the same time.

Marsha B said...

Happy Birthday! My age never use to bother me but I really notice it when I have to fill out a survey and they have the age brackets to fill in. Every time I move up to a new bracket it bugs me a little more. Now, accumulating birthdays is a really good thing but I don't like that body parts don't work as well or easily as they use to! I turned 61 this summer so it feels like more sand has passed through the hour glass than what is left to go. Gotta make the best of the time that is left to make lots more quilts before the eyes and hands wear out. It is an attitude thing, just keep smiling and sew! Since moving to New Mexico, the thing I miss the most is all the wonderful restaurants in Chicago. I really enjoyed the great food there. Your family and friends did spoil you, but I'm sure you deserve it, enjoy!

trump said...

Just passing through and thought id say hello. Richard from Amish Stories.

Mad about Craft said...

Happy Birthday!!

I am 50 in 3-4 weeks time and I keep getting told age is just a number, trouble is, i wished I believe them!

Cheri back to larkrise said...

Happy Birthday, You are blessed with lots of nice friends.

Kathleen Tracy said...

I know!

Dora, the Quilter said...

Hmmmm. 5 miles an hour? Out here in the wild west it could take days to get from one quilt shop to the next. How many beers, I wonder? LOL

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday...I love the blue quilt too

greetings from germany

Birgit

Delphine said...

Happy Birthday Kathleen! What beautiful presents you have received! I'm happy for you.

Anonymous said...

Good I haven't seen Gelato in my area. It takes things lots longer to catch on here in what I call the outback. LOL! It looks yummy and I can't wait to find it. So glad you had a great birthday. You deserved it after a rough year. I don't worry about the age thing. I just keep acting like a kid. I had a teenager tell me the other day You are trouble. She made my day thinking I was a younger than 70 person.

Linda in IN

kathy osterby said...

HAPPY BELATED B'DAY kATHY. I hope after all you've gone thru this year your knee will heal fast. Question--Is something wrong with the site? No one has been chatting for some time now or is it my computer? I miss seeing what everyone is working on. Kathy O. in IL

Anonymous said...

Happy belated Birthday to you! I wish you so many years in relatively good health (let's be careful what we wish for...) and lots of love from your dear ones!
Thank you for reminding me that I have to focus on the 'little' things in life, which turn out to be the greatest...

Colleen said...

Happy Belated Birthday to you! It's tough to have the aches, pains and other little annoyances that come with getting older but it is better than the alternative...
My doctor's answer to any little issue I have is to tell me I am getting older...thanks doc, as if I didn't know that!
Love all your goodies and the Pedal Pub is a hoot.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Happy (late) Birthday! I have a bracelet like the one you received. Mine was my child's bracelet from over 40 years ago. Glad the cancer news was good.

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