50

Yes. That's right. The big 5-0. I'm okay with that, though I remember a time when I must have been about 8 and I figured out that in the year 2000 I'd be 40 years old! I couldn't even imagine. It was also the summer I recall being concerned by the fact that the sun is expanding and would someday, billions of years from now, swallow the earth up.

Scotte surprised me with a birthday party, the day after my birthday. When I say I was surprised, I'm not kidding. It's not easy to surprise me, as I'm pretty intuitive and fairly suspicious. I truly had no idea what was up until we pulled up outside of my parents' home and saw a whole bunch of cars. Familiar cars. But not cars that I'd normally see at my folks' place. I had a lovely time surrounded by friends and family. The only things missing were our two sons and their wives and my grandson.

In other news, I'm now the Spokane Eastern Washington Travel Examiner. I've had a lot of fun traveling around our region, taking pictures and writing about just about anything that relates to travel to and around our beautiful region. I write about favorite places, driving trips, food or anything that strikes my fancy and may strike yours too. If you have a fun destination or a favorite place to eat or stay, leave a comment with your ideas and I'll see what I can do.


I had the marvelous opportunity to visit our son, Mark, his wife, Bridget and our grandson, Gabe, for 9 wonderful days. I had so much fun. I really loved spending time with my bright, sweet and funny grandson. And I really enjoyed getting to know my daughter-in-law more. It was a wonderful trip. And on my way home, I got $400 in travel vouchers in exchange for volunteering to take a longer, later flight rather than the direct one! Scotte and I are planning a vacation to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary later this year.

I'm still trying to figure it all out. What am I supposed to be doing in this half? I'm not sure I know any more than I did six months ago. I know more than ever that I want to write. And I still yearn to write wonderful creative fiction, but am also still afraid. I feel discontented with where I'm at, but not sure where to go, either.