Christmas already?

Today IS the 15th. November, isn`t it? Or have I lost a month somewhere?

Why do I ask?.......

...........Because......

...opening my mail, brought by the postman a few hours ago, I find my first Christmas card! I couldn`t believe it.

And, no, it didn`t come from abroad, it came from someone in a village about 6 miles away from here!

I`ve not even had my birthday yet, that`s still 9 days away. I definitely don`t expect to receive Christmas cards, before I`ve received Birthday cards. (That`s of course assuming I`ll get some birthday cards!)

So, what am I going to do with the Christmas card? - stick it in a drawer until a lot nearer the time, I`m certainly not going to stand it on the mantlepiece yet, it would look ridiculous so early.

Birthday images

Thought I`d share with you today a view of the 18 cards I received yesterday and some of the presents I received. I`ve still got my Mum`s present of a Tom tom to come, as the shop had run out of the one she wanted to get me.

And, below, a picture of my birthday cake. I had to make it myself this year, which is in a way sad, to think that my mum can no longer stand for long enough to make a cake. I didn`t decorate it, as I couldn`t very well write "Happy Birthday to Me" on it, could I?



If anyone`s interested, it`s an Orange Chocolate Chip Cake, and is what we`ve traditionally made for birthdays over many, many years. [I can oblige with the recipe if anyone wants it.]

Birthday Treat

A lovely spring day today, no work, so I said to my Mum this morning would you like to go for a ride? Knowing ofcourse that she would immediately say "Yes".

Unbeknown to her, whilst she was getting ready, I put her wheelchair and coat into the car. I had a destination in mind that I knew she liked, and thought it would make a nice birthday treat for her. I lightheartedly said to her as we went along the road with her thinking we were just going a short way and then back for dinner, "Where shall we go?" "Lowestoft" she replied, equally lightheartedly, not having the faintest idea that that was the destination I was heading for.

Travelling several miles along the road and about half an hour later, she realised that we were actually heading there - "I`ve not get a coat, or any money, or the wheelchair" etc.. she started to say, and was surprised when I said "Oh yes you have!" - well, I had some money, even if she didn`t.

After enjoying a fish & chip dinner at a restaurant by the pier, I pushed her right along the prom and up into the town and around the shops which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Maybe not everyone`s idea of a birthday treat, but it certainly was for her.

Old Age

Talking to a colleague today about my parent`s forthcoming birthday on Monday, she asked me how old my mother would be, and I automatically replied 88. And then it struck me... that is Old...it`s almost 90. And I found it a really startling thought. Quite a shock really. A very frightening thought.

We know we get older ourselves, but somehow we don`t expect our parents to get old, we expect them to stay the same, it`s in a way very hard to think of them as being that age.
Do others find the same, I wonder.