Menopausal Mother

This past few weeks, the nosey fly watched us celebrate two family birthdays---my grandson turned 5 and my oldest daughter turned 37 (how is this possible??) Time is passing way too quickly!! My grandson's pirate party was held at a park--there were more kids there than I could count, but it reminded me of the old days when I hosted kid parties in my backyard. You name it, we had it---clowns, bounce houses, Power Rangers and pinatas....again, where has the time gone?? A little quieter celebration followed for my daughter a week later---with good food and drinks at a western-themed restaurant. As always, her birthday is a mixed bag for us since it is the date her twin brother passed away (you can read Jason's story in my debut NYT essay about twin loss HERE) 

There's something so special about the relationship between a mother and her grown daughters. My girls are my besties, my sunshine, my life. We had an amazing Girls Day lunch recently, which included book shopping at several stores in Ft. Lauderdale (one is designed similar to the library in Beauty & The Beast!) We are avid readers and members of book clubs, so this day was PERFECTION for us. I walked away with 12 books just from a consignment shop, and several more from the other stores. Guess what I'll be doing this summer?  My faves are psychological thrillers, but I'll read just about anything. ***What's your favorite genre? Drop a line in the comments below!***

My husband is getting ready to retire from a job he loves, working at a condo where so many of our friends live. This is a really tough (and scary) decision for him, but he works outdoors and at almost-age 70, the South Florida heat is really getting to him. It's too dangerous to continue, so it's time to go. The lovely folks at the condo are throwing him a party next month, so a few of them came by recently to firm up the plans and share some mai tais in the tiki hut with us. 

 

Speaking of the intolerable heat, this is the time of year where we slow down on RV trips---it's just too hot (and buggy!) to walk nature trails in the summer. Instead, we hit up the RV resorts that have POOLS and air-conditioned restaurants. We just returned from Naples/Marco Island and had a great time. Made some new friends and played a lot of Blackjack (which I learned from my 8-year-old granddaughter during a recent sleepover. YES, you heard that right. She's a card shark!)