Rounding the corner towards 60

I had a birthday last week.  It was Number 56.  There's something about passing the midpoint of a decade that gives me pause.  Sometimes it's super depressing.  Turning 36 sucked because there was something about turning 40 that blew me away.  Sometimes it's fun, like when I turned 46 and knew I had four years to plan a blow-out 50th birthday and 25th anniversary party.

But 56?  It was completely unremarkable emotionally.  Is it because 60 doesn't feel like a milestone?  Or am I just not seeing the milestones that lay ahead? Dave and I are already partly retired, both of us working part-time, so full retirement doesn't feel like a big deal.  I don't see weddings or grandchildren on the horizon.  But even if they were...those aren't my milestones.   So I guess my goal at 56 is to coast towards 60 and hope it's just that.... an easy coast.

Anyways....I had a wonderful birthday month.  It started with a fantastic trip with stitching buddies to Woodlawn Plantation to see the annual needlework exhibit.  And to do some shopping at In Stitches, of course!  I wish I had some show photos for you....but the folks at the needlwork show are very stringent with their No Photographs policy. And although I don't understand why - they never put photos of the winners online. I'll tell you, if I had won a ribbon, I'd want it plastered all over the Internets!

Then Dave and I took a 10 day break from a never-ending Pennsylvania winter with a trip to Florida.  It was just what we needed and we enjoyed every single minute of it.

We were home in time for a week long celebration of my birthday.  Let's see...there was a Robert Cray concert to kick things off.  Dinner and a comedy show with a good friend one night, an excellent Italian dinner with my husband another night, and then finishing a fun weekend by going to the Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day.

My mailbox celebrated my birthday, too, bringing these gifts from my dear-heart of a friend, Sue in Kansas.

Here they are a little closer.  A lovely LaDDa wooden box

An extra special cake

A project bag, and Sue stitched the sunflower onto it!  Does this girl know me, or what?

As for my stitching?  I've been stitching small stuff through the month.  I think you've seen one of these LK Flip It Bits - January - already.  But last month I finished February.  And I finished my name tag to wear to one of my stitching group meetings.  I'm really enjoying the Flip Its...They're easy and relaxing.  

Some close-ups

And that's about it...till next time!