50 Things I’m Thankful For On My 50th Birthday

My 50th birthday “cake”.
Well, this week marks an important date in history…..
Half a century ago, a wonderful little girl was born…..me!!! 😉
It’s never really bothered me too much to get older.
Thirty was absolutely no problem!
At forty, I still wasn’t bothered, but I did note that it felt weird to remember clearly when my mother turned the same age.
But FIFTY???
*****THE BIG 5 – 0 !!!*****
I’ve been thinking of how to celebrate this momentous occasion for awhile now. My husband turned fifty this past January, so it’s already been on my mind for some time. These are some of the options I decided against:
- Crying and flipping out over being a half century old.
- Drowning my sorrows in fifty pounds of cake and ice-cream (although that one was tempting; and I will indulge in at least a little!)
- Attempting to blow out fifty birthday candles on my cake (before someone calls the fire department).
- Running away from home (to “find” myself).
- Doing fifty push-ups (although my Pilates workouts have helped me get closer to this one; OK, not close, but at least I can do a few now), or running fifty miles.
After all that contemplating, I decided that the best way to celebrate fifty years of life is ….. to CELEBRATE!
And what better way to celebrate than to think about the things for which I am thankful?
So for my 50th birthday, here are “a few” things I’m thankful for (some serious; some silly), in no particular order.
50 Things I’m Thankful For On my 50th Birthday:
- my good life
- health & wellness
- hot coffee in the morning (here’s my favourite; see point # 48)
- the warmth and light of summer
- a wonderful, faithful, loving, fun, handy husband
- my thoughtful and clever oldest son
- my sensitive and creative youngest son
- our cute and slightly mischievous cat, Chester
- our skittish but affectionate cat, Buster
- a very nice home
- my godly and creative mother
- my silly but wise father
- a sister who is a best friend (& her dear family)
- a grand-mother who is healthy for her age of 98, who is the remaining one of two great-grandmothers that my sons have had the privilege to know
- precious memories of years with my other grandmother (who passed away this past summer at the age of 93)
- two very different, yet equally special grandfathers (who have both left this life many years ago)
- ice-cream (a single food that solves so many of life’s problems!)
- growing up on two acres in the country
- a physically demanding, yet therapeutic summer job (on the farm)
- picking up our fresh farm shares from June to October (CSA)
- pleasant surprises in the mail
- cold-brewed iced coffee (the other temperature for my favorite drink)
- watching sci-fi movies, old television series, and Lord of the Rings with our sons
- having experienced the best homemade dill pickles and fruit pies (in the whole world; and I’m not biased!), made by my grandmother
- the grace of God (and mercies that are new every morning!)
- living beside grandparents for the first part of my life
- planting my new plants and herbs
- enjoying the hummingbirds who come to eat and visit our home in the warm weather
- a thriving, exciting, friendly, balanced, fun church
- the opportunity to minister on our worship team (at church)
- my online Pilates instructor (Robin Long of The Balanced Life), workouts, and community (the Sisterhood)
- Jesus’ incomparable gift of forgiveness and eternal life
- extended family who love and serve God and love each other
- Downton Abbey (first tv show I watched just for me)
- the opportunity to attend Bible college at Elim Bible Institute
- having a good relationship my aunts, uncles and cousins
- the Bible (my road-map for life) – here‘s a nice one 🙂
- my girlfriends (you know who you are!)
- doing something creative
- USA – a great country in which to live and have my family <3
- photography, photos, and scrapbooking
- sitting in the warm sun on my front porch watching nature (with a coffee)
- my long, quiet dead-end street
- nice neighbors
- connecting with friends and loved ones on Facebook
- relaxing with a good novel
- the changing of the seasons
- the opportunity to be born in Canada, but living in New England
- baking and eating it
- fruit tarts (better than cake!)
I hope you enjoyed my list and found it at least a little inspiring or entertaining.
Now I’m off for some leftover Chinese food and a nice piece of fruit tart. 🙂
*****
God bless you on your fiftieth birthday, Ann! (You look young and fit, so I wouldn’t worry about a number.)
Love you!
Aunt Sylvia
Thanks, Aunt Syl! I hope to keep up with all of my “young and fit” parents, aunts, uncles and grandmothers!