Birthday Weekend

What getting old looks like:

(No, I don't have any photos. I forgot to put the memory card in my camera. Actually I forgot where I put the memory card.)

Friday night six of us were out for dinner, to Beatnic's Bistro, to celebrate Rose's birthday, 7 weeks late.
We made reservations because we are not fans of waiting around for a table.

Have you ever been there? Super cute. And food was delish.

See what I mean about the cute?

But.
This is the layout inside:

Do you know what that means?

When the place is packed, like it was on Friday night - it's noisy in there.
Surprisingly, there was a table of men sitting at the table behind us (surprisingly because, of The Cute. DO men generally choose restaurants for their adorableness? Not in my experience,) also celebrating a birthday. And they were noisy. And they also totally showed us up by actually singing Happy Birthday to their birthday boy. Which we did not do for our birthday girl. We suck sometimes.

I don't know what those guys were talking about, but our conversation was riveting. Anything you ever wanted to know about diet/healthy eating/regularity/menopause/and how noisy it was so next time we'll check to make sure the restaurant has some sort of dividers between tables ... Hahaha. Oh sometimes it sucks to be over 50.

And then, on Sunday evening, I attended another birthday party. This time it was a home party - the crowd was slightly younger and everyone brought their husband. So yeah.

Which was OK, but weird because the men sat in the living room and the women sat in the family room. And then when we ate, the women sat in the dining room and the men at the kitchen table just like the Mennonites of old did probably. But 'cept, this wasn't a menno crowd. I was hanging with The Baptists. So go figure.

I don't know what the men were talking about but our conversation dealt with our old eggs and the evils of gluten. So, diet/healthy eating/aging.

You'd think it'd rub off on me, wouldn't you? I've got handfuls of friends who are diligent in healthy eating. I am diligent is just plain eating.

The birthday girl's birthday wish was that we'd sing.
So the piano was carried out of the music room and placed in the front entrance and lyric sheets were handed out. The host/pianist is mad talented at playing. She did it all by ear. I mean, she used her hands, clearly, it would have looked interesting but silly if she used her ears to pound the keys... but she didn't have sheet music, is what I mean, so she just played from memory and by what sounded right. I have so much respect for people who can do that.

Everyone? Like the 12 other people in the room? Sang with gusto. Men and women alike. They just went for it. It was pretty cool. I sat and listened.

Because I didn't know the songs.

And yes, I too wondered HOW COULD THAT BE?
I've attended church my entire life. I've sung/heard hymns for over 50 years. Surely I know them all? I know! I was shocked too. I didn't think hymns were denominational...but I guess there was a Baptist Hymn Book and a Mennonite Hymnal and there wasn't much overlap. Except Great is Thy Faithfulness. I knew that one.

How about you?
How many of these songs do you know:

• Create In Me (Create in me a clean heart, oh God and renew a right spirit within me...)
• Give Ear to my Words, O Lord (Give ear to my words, O Lord, Consider my meditation...)
• Wonderful Grace of Jesus (Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin...)
• Make My Life a Prayer to You (Make my life a prayer to you, I wanna do that you want me to...)
• My Eyes Are Dry (My eyes are dry, my faith is old, my heart is hard, my prayers are cold...)
• Mansion Builder (I've been told that there are those who will learn how to fly...)
• Glorious Day (One day when Heaven was filled with His praises, one day when sin was black as could be...) * this one seemed familiar to me.
• 10,000 Reasons (When the sun comes up, it's a new day dawning, it's time to sing your song again...) * I knew this one, but it's a new song. Not an old hymn. 

How'd you do?

How much holier are you than me?

Hahaha. 

So.

There you go. 

If you're reading this and in your 20's and 30's - this is what you have to look forward to.

It's not so bad. 

In fact, it's pretty awesome.

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Three things I'm thankful for:

1. The good thing about being over 50 is that alot of my friends are over 50 too. We're in this together.

2. Only 4 more sleeps til the weekend.

3. Church on Saturday night. Keep an eye on that Andy Steiger - he's a great communicator. Great sermon on Mercy (how we crave it when we've screwed up) and Justice (how we need it to happen when other people do very bad things.) And how Jesus is the perfect solution to God's Mercy and Justice. 

Shalom,