It's my Birthday and I'll have fun if I want to ....

I turned 60 last week!  Imagine that?  During President GHW Bush’s term, one of Wyoming’s U.S Senator’s, at his wife’s 60^th birthday party, toasted her with the phrase, “I never thought I’d be sleeping with a 60-year old woman.”  First Lady Barbara Bush walked out.  Hmmm … my husband is now sleeping with a 60-year old woman.  It seems like a pretty great thing to be alive just now - 60 or not.  I feel like I embrace all that I have or can be part of right now.  I'm living in a place where people smile, wave, help each other, and accept what is while not worrying about what isn't.

In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I pondered what I could do with newfound friends to celebrate this milestone birthday.  It prompted a review of other decade birthdays. 

For my 50^th, I flew to Barcelona to meet girlfriends for a long weekend.  We stayed in an Air BnB before there were Air BnBs.  We ate good food, drank great wine, and wandered the streets in awe of the architecture, the buskers, the color, and the sunshine (we were all living in northern Europe at the time).  S2 and the kids had sought quotes from family and friends to put together a book of quotes for me.  I still have it.  My favorite remains “Revenge is better than Christmas.”

My 40^th is a blur.  I was teaching a class on-campus that semester.  I drove nearly 5 hours to my parents on a Sunday afternoon, left the kids with my parents the next day, drove nearly an hour to the university, taught the class, drove back to my parents, stayed the night, and drove back home with the kids on Tuesday.  We’d bought a house that August.  It was December before I stayed in the house more than 10 days in a row.  Plus, my youngest’s first birthday was that same week.  I had known for a year that would be a far more important event in my life than my 40^th birthday.

My 30^th birthday might be indicative of my nomadic lifestyle.  We were on our world trip then.  I woke in Borneo.  I went to sleep that night in Singapore.  In between:

•         We’d cleared the army of ants out of the panniers we’d stored at the airport in Kuching.  I can still remember the marble floor in front of the left luggage room as we unpacked everything to find what exactly these ants were after.  The best we could piece together was they were after the scant drops of moisture remaining in our water filter.  I can still see the huge white egg sacs they were carrying in their mouths.  They were working toward bringing a battalion of ants to life, based on the less than 1/8 teaspoon of water in our bags.  Yes, water is precious.  Don’t take it for granted.   
•        I was thrilled to eat fresh papaya and mango for breakfast at the airport.  It was something I’d never had for my birthday.
•         I pointed out to the money changer, who had to see my passport, that it was my birthday.  He gave me an Australian dollar coin.  I still have it.
•         I bought an ice cream cake at Baskin Robbins (a train cake – it was all they had) and took it to Raffles Hotel where they turned off the ceiling fans for me to light the candles.  The whole place sang “Happy Birthday”.  I blew out the candles, drank a Singapore Sling, and watched the inspirational tango dancers.  I still can’t dance like that.  Probably will never be able to.  Shoot, I can’t even stand in heels like that, let alone walk or dance.

Perhaps the most exotic of my decade birthdays.

Then, there’s my 20^th birthday.  It was back when we changed clocks on the last Sunday in October.  This meant an extra hour on my birthday.  The boyfriend at the time, an avid hunter, wanted to go elk hunting that day.  I spent the day sitting in the car, in the woods, surrounded by a good 10 inches of snow.  All for love!  Although, when I do the math, and think about the hunting seasons I spent with him, this might have been my 21^st birthday.

ANYHOW … given that my Menopause party was just 3 years ago (took girlfriends to the Thai massage place near our apartment in Germany, ate little snacks and drank champagne before going to the public sauna two blocks away – it was Ladies’ Night), I hadn’t thought much about a good 60^th birthday celebration.  Nonetheless, I pieced together a fun weekend.

 

S2 and I went out for a Turkish breakfast.  A Turkish breakfast will forever be the best breakfast in my mind.  

I managed to FINALLY get to the fabric market, but was immediately overwhelmed by the amount of fabric packed into literally hundreds of stalls.  The color, in and of itself, was overwhelming, let alone the sequins, the beads, the embroidered edges, the eyelet trim, and the mega-meters of fabric.  

  

I battled with my phone to get my 70,000-dong renewal updated so I could get to my 3G access (it sounds like I know what I’m talking about, doesn’t I?).  At 2 PM I met 4 girlfriends at the Villa Royale Downtown Antiques Tea Room for High Tea.  We each were served our own pot of tea and two three-tiered trays of little sandwiches (cucumber, salmon, chicken mango salad) and quiches, chocolate sweets and banana breads, and cheesecake.  Additionally, cupcakes were brought out with candles that spelled out “Happy Birthday.”  

The three eldest of us (of which I’m the youngest) retired to the apartment of one of us and drank an incredibly good bottle of French wine as we discussed our lives; past, present and future.  I got home shortly after 10 PM.  S2 called me twice to see if I was alright.  It’s not often that he takes his phone out to use it!

THAT wasn’t even my birthday!  Sunday brought two lovely long Skype calls with my children.  THEN I met up with two girlfriends (one from the previous day and one who didn’t make High Tea) to go to Golden Lotus Healing Spa Land, a Korean Spa that uses a method known as Jjim Jil Bang. 

It was hours of relaxing time (for me) in three different kinds of saunas, one cool room, one cold room (a glorious 14C/57F), a “cave” with an infrared light (to replenish Vitamin D), a general area to rest and relax, an outdoor hot foot bath and an outdoor cold foot bath, not to mention the more traditional Japanese sento attached to the respective changing rooms.  My level of comfort with northern European saunas (clothing optional) prepared me well for the vaguely prison-type attire required, and provided.  Alright, it’s probably considerably more comfortable than prison garb, nice and baggy though.  Basically, who cares what I looked like or wore – it was a sauna, and I was covered up, as was everyone else.  I was completely baffled by why (let alone how) people were taking their phones into the hot and cold rooms, to read, play games, listen to music, have a family chat or, as I wondered when I sat down next to a young man who clearly didn’t want anyone looking at what he was looking at, accessing porn.  Don’t people want to relax and not think about anything?

It was a lovely afternoon that these two friends indulged me in, as it was a completely new adventure for them.  Afterwards, I did some grocery shopping and headed home.  Neighbors and colleagues prepared my requested birthday dinner, Mexican food.  It was our third time having Mexican food at their place.  All have been glorious!

Until next time...