To those of you turning 40 this year

I know you're out there, and you're thinking about it.

Well, think about this: 49 is staring me in the face. It's giving me the big old hairy eyeball that leaves crows feet wherever it touches and makes my joints crackle when I get out of bed. It reared its ugly head this spring when I took a wrong turn after dark, pulled over, grabbed my Thomas Guide and discovered I could not read a thing by the pathetic glow of the dome light. It presented me with an inconvenient bout of bunion pain right in time for Pennsic just to show it cares. (Ha! I thought. I shall walk you into submission!) Oh, and just for fun, 49 decided to lob a two pound weight gain at me this week for no reason whatsoever.

Screw you, 49. I walked four miles yesterday without breathing hard. Siddown and shaddup until December,  when you will be duly commemorated so that my nephews can have cake, and I will quite possibly flip myself the bird in the bathroom mirror just to show I care.

Are you going to let a stupid NUMBER intimidate you? Think about that, my friends.

Autumn winds

It is insanely windy today, the kind of wind that made my afternoon walk an adventure. I came home to find two huge branches off the big maple in front of the house. Being as the camper shell on my truck already has a battle scar from being smacked with a branch from the same tree earlier this summer, I parked away from it.

I've been doing the Friday Night  Waltz thing for six months now. The ballet flats have been all right, but they have stretched out  so much that I've been forced to stuff the toes the last few outings - which is only going to make them stretch more at some point. I saw these on eBay last week, lightly used, in a 9M. Shoe fit for me is sometimes a crap shoot. I can take anything from an 8W to a 9 1/2M depending on the vagaries of modern shoe making.  I am also a danger to myself and others in high heels, so I thought these would be nice for the more casual dance evenings I attend. I had to place a bid before I left for work about four hours before the auction was due to end and see what my shopping karma would be. I won them for less than $20 including shipping. They arrived today. They fit beautifully. (And of course, I can't go dancing this weekend because of Coronet!)
 

EDIT. Oh poohhhhhhhhhhhhh!  In my haste to work on the hiogi, I laced it so it looks beautiful fully opened - and will not close. I need to start all over again. There's no way it will be painted in time for Coronet, so it's going in as an in-progress project.

EDIT, problem is fixed. I remembered what the trick was: two parallel lines of thread through parallel holes. Pics are up at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70104978@N00/1410871118/in/set-72157602079676542/



Looks huge, doesn't it? It's supposed to be. Ladies' hiogi were as much about hiding in public as keeping cool.