It finally happened on Monday.  I turned 60.  Yikes!  How can this possibly be?  I don’t feel old, but 60 is supposed to be old.  My parents were old when they were 60.  And aren’t you supposed to be getting ready to retire when you’re 60?  No way can I even consider retiring right now.  Not that I wouldn’t like to, but certainly can’t afford to.  So I guess I have to do what it seems most others do when they turn 60…pretend it never happened and just go on with life.

Got a call at work Monday afternoon around 4:30 pm from a florist who wanted to confirm that it was my birthday.  She said she had an order for me but had been busy and forgot to check all her orders until just then.  She asked how long I would be at work and agreed to try to make the delivery when I told her I’d be there until 5 pm, but would wait for the delivery since her shop was only about 5-10 min away.  She said she’d try to get it made up and delivered if possible.  However, she said if it didn’t get there in time, it wouldn’t matter since it was a plant and not fresh flowers so it wouldn’t die!  WTF?!

The plant arrived at about 5:10 pm.  It was a birthday gift from my sisters and my niece in Ohio.  It was nice (some kind of a green leafy plant about 2-3 ft tall) but just not what I thought they would have sent.  I sent them all an email thank you that night, letting them know what I received as well as all the craziness associated with the delivery.  Turns out this wasn’t even close to what they had ordered!

Kelly called the florist the next day to complain about the order and to bitch about the woman calling me and spoiling the surprise.  The woman told her she’d had an appointment and got back late, was stressed and was having tax problems.  WTF?!  Kelly let her know that this woman’s tax problems had nothing to do with the screw-up of this order and the woman offered to send me a bud vase with fresh flowers in it that day.  Kelly said no, that she wanted what she ordered.  The florist finally agreed to send me a dish garden with fresh flowers, but said she couldn’t do it until Wednesday…and she wanted me to return the other plant to her delivery person!  What!!!

Finally at about 4 pm on Wednesday they delivered a beautiful mauve colored planter with about 4-5 live plants and a couple of vials of water holding fresh orchids.  It’s really pretty.  The delivery person apologized when I handed her the other plant.  I still can’t believe they didn’t just tell me to keep it because of the screw-up.  Not something I really wanted, but come on.  The name of the florist is Green Art Florist on Walnut in Pasadena.  Don’t EVER use them!

It really was nice of Sally, Kelly and Mandy to think of me on this dreadful birthday and I thank them for the beautiful planter.  The whole thing did make for a great story and lots of fun in the office!

Patrick and Veronica picked me up at work that day to go out to dinner.  They brought a beautiful bouquet of pink roses that are just gorgeous!  We went to dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s next door to work.  I had a whole lobster (it was lobster night!) and they both had steaks.  Dinner was really great and it was so nice to spend my birthday with my son and his girlfriend, two people that I love lots!

Received phone calls and cards from lots of friends and relatives, making me feel really good.  I have to start sending cards to people once again.  Email is great, but good old-fashioned greeting cards last longer and are nice to view after the day is over.

Thanks to all for all the good wishes.  And now, on with my life!