I realized another benefit for turning 50 years old.  I will qualify for “senior” discounts…only if and when I care to request them!  No one will ASSUME I am a senior and I won’t have to admit it unless it happens to be to my advantage! LOL! 

I can join AARP!  There are numerous benefits of membership that involve discounts for travel, hotels, dining and entertainment!  Why not, I say!

Every Tuesday I can go shopping at one of my favorite department stores and receive my “senior” discount, should the budget allow! 

I have taken advantage of “free checking” for years now.  Having a hubby that is somewhat older than you is also advantageous!  It’s just that now, should they think about it, they will not be able to take it away from me!

One time, years ago, my husband and I were traveling and there were two really nice ladies that were working behind the desk of the hotel where we had decided to stop.  The lady doing the check-in started asking me if we were traveling for business? No.

Well, then, perhaps you have AAA? Again, I said, “No”.

“Well, obviously”, she says, “you don’t qualify for a “senior” discount!  I started to giggle!  She said, “what?” “what is so funny?”  I said “I don’t qualify, but my husband does, giggle, giggle!” 

She said, “oh dear, I don’t think so”!  I said, “But I have proof!  Absolute PROOF!”  “I have his TEETH right here in my purse!”  OMG! They wanted to see! 

So they run outside to the parking lot and up to our truck where my darling husband was innocently waiting!  The lady says, “smile for me, honey”!  So, curling up his cute little face the way people do when they have no toofers, he smiled!  He looks at me like “now what are you up to???”  I am laughing hysterically! 

The ladies and I go back into the lobby and of course, you know, they gave me that discount! 

My 50^th Birthday!

My birthday is almost here. In 83 days, I will turn 50.  There are things that I have accomplished, things that I have learned.  There are many things that I still want/need to do. 

On my birthday I WILL eat CAKE.  The cake will be delicious, rich and creamy, Bakery birthday cake. That cake will have lots of frosting flowers.  I will eat cake, even if I have to get one myself!  The learned lesson is that I can do this “IN MODERATION!” 

On my birthday, I WILL stop to reflect on the years and the lessons.  I will relish the day.  I will acknowledge the wonders of Nature.  I will play and rejoice and be happy.  I will sleep a little late, but not so late as to waste the day.  I will nurture myself from the inside out. 

I will have a pedicure, a manicure, massage and facial.  I will have my hair washed, dried and styled.  I will take a long walk and touch my toes in the water.  I will let the wind touch my face and the sun warm my shoulders. I will surround myself with Love.

I married on my 20^th birthday.  That was the best day of my life.  Today, 30 years later, it is time for making way to the rest of my life.  I will not wallow in vanity and feel bad that I “am getting old”.  I will plan and move forward into my future with eyes open, focused on living happily and living well. 

I guess that I have been thinking about this for some time and probably will continue thinking about it, but in a good way.  My daughter tells me that 50 is yesterday's 30!  With that in mind, here is some of the thoughts I have had recently.

Happy Birthday to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Imagine that right now, right here, today… there is within your grasp not one but several opportunities to redesign specific aspects of your life so that the sum total is a life you absolutely love. Then imagine that the only thing standing between you and your opportunities is a closed mind, fear, habits, concern, worry, drama, or perhaps mental, physical, and emotional clutter. Do you know what a default is? It’s what you get when you don’t choose to get something else and for most of us a default life is average and mediocre with sprinkles of joy in between. A default life is living for the weekend. A default like is hanging on ‘til retirement. A default life is waiting for the kids to grow up, move out, and finish college. A default life is waiting, and waiting, and waiting for things to get better someday…one day.

Most people don’t accidentally have a great life, a great job, a great marriage, a great body, or great children. I don’t know about you but I am not touched, moved, or inspired by mediocrity. I don’t aspire to live an average life, with an average job, and celebrate twenty-something anniversaries in an average marriage. My spirit longs for relationships and experiences that cause me to love deeply, grow profoundly, and see the magnificence in all of life. I can’t have that kind of life if I am settling for the default. My name is Robin Harris and I am a coach, an author, a certified Highlands Natural Abilities Consultant, and I am the CEO of DesignerLife, a transformational business dedicated to helping individuals live by design; not by default. And today I just want to talk to you about designing a life you absolutely love. I call it the DesignerLife.

What’s a DesignerLife? Think of a piece of art that is not only beautiful but extremely functional. Just like a beautiful warm and cozy home provides sanctuary and focus for a family, a DesignerLife provides sanctuary and focus for the soul. Just like each room in that house has its own motif and purpose, each area of the DesignerLife has its own motif and purpose. Just like all of the rooms together, even the hallways and pantry make up the house, all of the areas of our lives make up the DesignerLife. A DesignerLife has been lovingly designed and architected to honor your best and your highest good and it includes spiritual hallways and pantries, too. Mmm, it sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?

I want you to consider a show home that has never been lived in. Everything is just so beautifully pristine and sterile. That’s because it’s for show but when the family moves in they bring their energy, their style, their nuances, their touch and the house becomes a home. It’s not perfect…but it is. It’s not immaculate buts it’s naturally inviting. The DesignerLife is a life you design that is natural, expanding, and very, very inviting not only to you but to other sojourners, also. We have so long been looking to the system, the companies we work for, the businesses we have built, the country we live in to sustain our way of life. Today is a new day, and the comfort of what we knew has passed away, it’s time to excavate, renovate, and develop our most precious resources: our soul’s dreams, our natural gifts, and our talents. It’s time for us to evolve to the next level and some sojourners are going to go kicking and screaming, and some won’t go at all. You probably thought the creation was completed millions of years ago, oh no. Human’s are still in process and every so often life says “hold on, wait a minute, it’s time to shift and leap baby”. You can plod along for only so long before life demands that you run fast or get eaten. The new paradigm is not for survivors, it’s for thrivers; people who are ready to unleash their potential into the world.

You see, the magnificent being that you are is not your doing. You didn’t design it, you didn’t create it, so there no reason to be arrogant about it. It’s a gift. Don’t just say thank you. Gratitude is only the beginning, there’s also a measure of responsibility and accountability that fall on the shoulders of the gifted. And we all are gifted. It is our responsibility to nurture our magnificence, to develop it, and express it profoundly in the world that we live in. Your magnificence is not only going to give you a life you love, it’s going to touch, move and inspire others. Divine intention will help you be great in ways you cannot even imagine. Divine intention will have your biggest mistakes sow seeds of wisdom and contribution to other. Divine intention will have you become the student and the teacher in life’s next evolution. The next evolution will have human beings manifest the Creator’s abundant, loving, creative nature.

What would it look like to have a life you absolutely love? When you really think about it, I mean see it with your minds eye, in living Technicolor, it should be so awesome it sends chills up your spine. I’m not talking about a superficial life where people are pretending to be happy, pretending that the marriage is working, pretending that the kids aren’t driving them crazy, pretending that life is in order when chaos is actually the king. I’m not talking about having more, more, more while feeling less, less, less. I’m talking about a life where your soul is satisfied. This is a life where you have peace of mind, finances in order, and a healthy mind, body, and spirit. This is a life with relationships that inspire and stimulate you, intimacy that heals and thrills you, and family and community for mutual love and support. This is a life complete with meaningful and fulfilling work that uses your gifts and talents and honors your uniqueness. This is a life where there is adequate time for self-nourishment, self-investment, fun and relaxation. And… this is a life where you receive an abundance of joy by contributing to the well being of others who are on the planet with you now, as well as those who will be coming in the future.

I can’t tell you the details of your DesignerLife. I can’t tell you how living a life you absolutely love will show up for you. I only know that the process of designing that kind of life will rock your world. I know somebody out there is saying, pfff you must be dreaming… and my response is “yes, and your point is…”

You see if it were left up to the practical people, the realists of the world, we’d still be huddled in a cold cave without a fire to warm us. I’m not just a dreamer, oh no: I’m a possibility chick with a plan. You see a designer life is not just about dreaming about it, thinking about it, longing for it, hoping for it, praying for it. A DesignerLife is about intention; the kind of intention that produces action, the kind of action that produces results.

The road less traveled is full of uncertainty, but the other road, the popular one can only take you where you’ve already been. Having an extraordinary life, a life you absolutely love is going to seem like way too much work to the average person. It’s not going to appeal to the person courting mediocrity. It’s not going to excite the person who is content with waiting for some day, one day. It doesn’t call to the practical or the realist. So if you fall into one of these categories, cover your ears because this message isn’t for you. I’m talking to the people who caught a glimpse of possibility for their own life, for the sojourners who are ready to unleash their potential out in the real world, and for the people who can’t stand the thought of settling for the default life.

The message I want to bring to you is simple. Your most challenging obstacle is not the present or past circumstances of your life, the things you did or didn’t do, it’s not your age, your gender, your race, it’s not the naysayers or critics or the practical realist who are convinced your dreams and aspirations are a waste of time, oh these are all challenges to be dealt with on their own terms but by far the biggest challenge you will face is your own self doubt, lack of commitment, and fear. Getting over yourself is the single most forwarding action you can take to move toward your own magnificence. I want to ask you for a huge favor and here it is…Get over yourself and just be magnificent.

    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;

Robin Harris is a DesignerLife Coach who works with client's who are ready to live by design; not by default. Contact Robin via web site www.designerlifecoaching.com or by email at robin@designerlifecoachin g.com.

Article Source: htttp://EzineArticles.com/ 

snitched from my gal, sheryl!  kinda cute...

What ranDOM movie quote are you? by merenwen_ruby
Name
Birthday
Choose One	PhoneShoeCDLampHatNail PolishPillowBlanketChairHair Tie
The Quote	"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."-Forest Gump(Forest Gump)
Quiz created with MemeGen!

in case anyone is wondering, april has been working on getting her new laptop up and running in conjunction with her desktop....not an easy task even for the techie geniuses!  doesn't leave much time for goofing off...taking care of a home, business, a momma and 6 dogs AND being an excellent wife to her excellent husband!

she is otherwise wonderful.  she and dave have assisted me and packed my stuff and loaded my stuff and stored my stuff!  they are allowing me and my 3 silly dogs to invade their lives and their home.  she is so much fun to come home to...still getting the "hi, honey, how was your day" when i return. 

the hour or so that i have to drive now is less stressful than the hour drive to my house that should take 20 minutes.  i will pay more for fuel but the other benefits far outweigh that!  i love knowing i am not alone in the world.  i am not scared by myself, but knowing that there are 2 wonderful people in the same house is such a comfort to me.

thank G-d for FAMILY!

xoxox

One thing I detest about today’s society is PRICES for family adventures!  I can only sympathize with a working couple with three or four children trying to survive and maybe even get ahead in today’s economy.  That being said, how in the world are you supposed to raise a family sans family fun?  Just to go to the local ice cream stand would be a strain on a budget of us blue-collar working folks!  Never mind a family movie night anywhere but at home!  This is just WRONG! 

However, I did find a new and wonderfully affordable form of entertainment and spent a wonderful afternoon with my little granddaughter!  A stage presentation by the local reparatory company!  Affordable tickets, affordable treats and an autograph session after the show!  We had fabulous seats.  The characters interacted with the children and the show was timed for the attention span of little ones!  Yeah!

Then a tiggerific trip to the local hamburger/playhouse for a $2 kid’s meal and everyone was happy…playing and noshing.