Well, I am officially 50 years old now and really, I don’t feel a day over 49. Actually, I feel pretty good and although I have never put a lot of stock in numbers, I have to admit, the half a century mark is a little intimidating. How much time do I really have left? Is half my life gone? But then again, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow (though there aren’t a lot of buses in Salida). So I guess I’ll just go on with my life as normal, with extra consideration to the fact that this second half of the century could be more important.
Fun and Memories
Most of my family, from near and far, were here over the weekend to help me celebrate my birthday and we enjoyed a splendid four days of playing, cooking, eating, drinking, laughing and talking story. My son and his three cousins were here and it was really nice to see them all together—two girls and two boys—from both ends of the country, ranging in ages from 14 to 22. One day we drove up to the top of Monarch Mountain for an exquisite view from the continental divide and the next day we drove over one of the highest mountain passes in CO, Independence Pass (the picture here of the one lane road), and had a marvelous lunch in Aspen while my brother tore up Snowmass Mountain on his downhill bike.
On Sunday, my crew and a few of my oldest friends had a BD party for me and although I am not normally big on celebrating BDs (and they were all well warned of this and a little worried about how much they should/would do), I have to say, it will go down as one of my fondest memories in the first half-century of my life.
With contributions of photos and video from friends all over the country, Heidi was able to put together an incredible slide show of my life, starting with me riding ponies—through the evolution of my career. It came with a beautiful book of all the photos so I can pick it up and look at it anytime I want. Thankfully I can scratch that photo album forever off my to-do list.
After a fabulous shish kabob dinner, we watched a video montage that was so incredibly funny that it left me literally rolling on the floor, grabbing my gut, my face soaking wet with tears of laughter. My neck and abs were sore the next day from all the belly laughs!
Thank you to all the people that contributed photos and videos to the project and thanks especially to Heidi, the glue that tied it all together; to Cheryl and Lucy for their extraordinary acting and commentary in the video; to Steve for finding all those outtakes from the show (I’ll remember that Stevey); and to Brenda, for sneaking around to find all my old photos (and to Horse & Rider who conveniently wrote me a few weeks ago to ask if I had any childhood photos of me on a horse, causing me to dig through boxes of old photos). It was a wonderful and fitting present for a 50th BD and it left me and my family with the distinct feeling that I am fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life.
Back to the 5-Pound Challenge
Although my friend Cheryl believes in celebrating your “birthday month”. A week of celebrating was plenty for me. As great as it was, I am ready to get back to work and get some riding in too. And I definitely have to get back to my second five pound challenge! I guess I am lucky that I have managed to keep off the first five pounds I lost, but I’ve made little headway on the second five pounds. I have continued to work out daily and have added a few miles to my walk/run but that just keeps me status quo. I need a little boost. Any ideas?
It’s time for an update on everyone else 5# challenge! How are you coming?? Does summer make it harder or easier to lose weight? What about you feather weights that are just trying to get more fit—how’s that coming? Rich is well into winning his second 5# challenge and he may be at the lowest weight since I’ve known him. Dang it. It’s a lot easier to do the challenge with a spouse or partner who is willing to eat well with you! How hard would it be to lose weight if you were surrounded by people that ate all the wrong things?
Enjoy the ride!
Julie
