Christmas eve 2011 and the future

It's that time of the year but I am already looking forwards in 9 weeks,
to be exact, when I will turn 80!

There is something magical to me about becoming 80.
I just never in my wildest dreams thought I would ever see that number.

When Bob and I first dated we both had this idea that most of our lives were
already lived. I was 36 and he was 42.
I do not know why we both felt this doom hanging over our heads for a short life.
We decided that no matter what the remaining years would be heavenly...
they were until he became ill. But, we had 42 years together, so much for the negativity of our youth.

Bob read palms in his spare time away from astrology charts.
He kept showing me that he was going to live till about 50.
He made it till 84, he did not want to read mine afraid to see
when I would leave, he was serious about it.
Made my chart before he took the notion seriously about dating me.
"dating" was just going and have some coffee in a coffeehouse full of hippies. It was the late sixties after all and neither of us had money to pay for a dinner.

My mother read palms, she was serious about it too and told many in our office about what would happen, she was on target too. I begged her time and time
again to read my hand and she would just take a slight peak and refuse.
She would have tears in her eyes. I thought "Its that bad!".
So my hands may have told a story but no one would tell it to me
and surely I thought I would be gone by age 50.

Now I am telling every living body that moves and speaks to me that I am going to be 80 soon. It is like a trophy!!!Well, I did have a brush with cancer, suffered years in my twenties and thirties from rhumatoid arthritis. Some times I could hardly walk with the swollen feet.

So this past year I started again to make jewelry, I had done some in the sixties with the hippy craze. I opened a booth in a small mini mall and to my surprise people liked what I did. So come Feb 2012 I am opening my second shop.
It keeps me extremely busy but that is what I want.

I often try to just sit and relax and read a book, love to read, so the problem with that is that I fall asleep. Fault of the writer? Maybe. Fault of the thyroid? Possible. Fault of 79 3/4 age? Perhaps. Having to be busy and counting beads and trying to find a 1mm hole is a challenge which needs me to be very awake.

I love the result because I only make what I would love to wear.
That the whole female population will agree with my taste is impossible but at least a percentage of them will. Besides that I do not overprice.
If I counted my hours I would say that I work in the red BUT most crafters work in the red. It goes with the territory.

My only problem with being 80 and semi retired is that I love to travel, love it, no matter how close or how far I like a suitcase in hand. Now I have the time and a tiny budget but no HEARING. I am very deaf. Yet to find hearing aids which are even 80 percent giving back my hearing. I cant take long trips. I can hear the blaring announcements in airports nor the waitress who wants to know if I like a, b, or c on my salad. I often say the first one and have no idea what I will get.
I am tired of telling people that I can't hear.
I am tired of my kids telling me that I am yelling at the table in the restaurant and people around us just found out what was left in my account.

I am grateful that my eyes are good , thanks to the cataract surgery I can see without my ugly thick glasses. Just need reading glasses...when I read.

The skin is shriveling (is that a word?) and the wrinkles multiply overnight.
For some reason that does not bother me. So I look 80, so what ? I am 80.
I am no longer looking for a mate or to win beauty contests, I am looking to see how long I can stretch that 80. Do I think I will become 90? Absolutely not but
83 would be nice or maybe 85. With the condition that I have all my marbles and can walk on my own and continue to make necklaces.
The world needs more necklaces!!!!