I Love Being 60!

Today has been a great day. It has been day two for me being 60 years old and if today is an indicator of what's in store for me in the future—I love being 60!

When my dear friend Karin came out this morning we went over to the Lodge to drink some of Kinky's delicious coffee and to visit with him and we had a blast over there. During our fun time I started telling him the story about two Sundays ago when we took Karin to eat her first chicken fried steak, in the John Wayne room, at the O.S.T. in Bandera. "Kink, after we ate lunch, on our way back to Trigger, Tony whispers to me, "Can you smell that bad odor inside Trigger, because he is really stinking?"

And then Kinky interrupted me and jokingly says, "Okay, so Karin s*#@ in the truck." And Karin and I burst out laughing and her face turned ten shades of red. Then Kinky started laughing.

"No, Kinky. I did not s*#@ inside Trigger," Karin says, in broken English, because she was laughing in between each word that she spoke.

"Tony was certain that the foul odor was from a dead mouse that had died in the fan housing," I said. "Well, later that evening Tony comes inside the trailer and warns me not to jump into Trigger, because he knew it would make me sick and then he calls Aaron and asks him to please come out and remove the dead mouse. Well, Aaron drives out here at 7:00, works on the engine to get to the fan deal and they discover that there was no dead mouse and the bad aroma was some rotting steaks that we had bought several days earlier, that had slid under the driver's seat!" Which made Kinky burst out laughing.

After we had talked about books and Karin's fun adventures in Texas, I said, trying to sound serious, "Kinky, there is only one bad thing about Karin's visit—I don't talk like I used to. She speaks good English, but because she only understands us when we talk real slow—I'm now talking real slow, in three or four word sentences and using my arms to act out what I am saying." Then Karin and Kinky started laughing with me. "Seriously,...I...now...talk...like...this and I can't help it!"

"Karin went to see the Alamo all by herself and she got a $100.00 parking ticket, because she accidentally and illegally parked at a college campus to catch a bus to downtown San Antone."

Kinky started laughing. "Don't pay it Karin," Kinky said, before laughing again. "Tell them to come to Germany to get you."

"I told Karin not to pay it too and to keep it as a souvenir, even though she will never be able to take classes there..." After our fun visit with Kinky ended, Buttermilk took us back over to the rescue ranch. Then Karin treated T. and me to a delicious lunch at the Apple Cider Store, in Medina.

When we arrived back at the rescue ranch, Aaron was already here, finishing up my painting project, Tony's birthday present to me, because he had asked Aaron to come out and help me paint the high parts and the trim of my writing cabin, because I am short and as of yesterday—now a 60 year old woman.

Around 3:00, as Aaron finished painting my beloved cabin, Karin told us that she needed to leave and get back to Kerrville to pack, because today was her last day to see us, before leaving for Germany, early tomorrow morning and it made me tear up, because Tone and I have fallen in love with this brave lady (Born again, Texas Cowgirl) and we have truly enjoyed her visit here.

After she had thanked us for showing her our Texas, we thanked Karin for coming to Texas, and after hugging each other—I teared up again for a few seconds, because I knew that I was going to really miss my new German friend. As Karin waved goodbye to us and slowly drove away, I half-hollered, "Hagen Das, Karin!" Because she told me the other day, after she had read my blog, that Hagen Das was not a German word and it is now our little, private joke between us.

One hour later, after Aaron had finished painting my cabin and we had put my outdoor decorations back up on the exterior walls, I took a picture of it and then T. took a picture of me standing in front of my once dull, barn-red colored—now pink cabin!

And tonight, when my brother Ronnie called me I told him, "Ronnie, when Tony asked me what I wanted for my birthday the other day, I told him, that I wanted to go to Home Depot, so he could buy me buckets of paint and brushes and rollers, because I wanted to paint my cabin pink, because I am now 60 years old and I can do whatever I want to do and I don't have to ever explain to anybody why I do the things the way I do to make me happy, because I am old and going to spend the rest of my life having fun and laughing as much as I can." Ronnie agreed with me and then we laughed about us getting old and not believing it.

Before winding this post up tonight, I want to thank Cathie B. and Bob S., from Denton, Texas, for their thoughtful "Turning 60—Care Package" gifts, which I absolutely love—especially the pink journal, pink crystal candle-holder, the battery-operated fake tea candles, so I don't burn my trailer down by accident and the cute pink cowboy boot, "Does a Bear—Sit in the Woods?" refrigerator magnet note pad, the hilarious pocket note pad "I'm Afraid My Train Of Thought Has Left The Station" and the "Tickled Pink" greeting card to wish me a happy birthday! "Please come see us sooner than later and please tell Donna that we miss her, too!"

Y'all have a great evening and please keep praying for us to get some more rain! I love being 60—thanks to all of y'all and thanks to Tony for my beautifully painted, pink writing cabin!