Having worked in stained glass for twenty years has meant that I was able to work with a lot of older, more experienced people. The lessons and the wisdom they have to teach us are invaluable. I have had the pleasure of meeting some very cool people thru the years.

I once had the honor of meeting a stained glass artist who had been taught by one of the original artists' who had worked for Louis C. Tiffany.  He regaled me with wonderful stories of how stained glass was done in the early 1900's...Why lead was used and why copper foil was so difficult to use back then. Why Tiffany did overlays of glass...The first American glass company in the 1890's...And, so much more.

Life really HAS changed a lot in the last 100 years...

As the years have ticked closer to my own 50's, I began to ask all of my older friends how their fifties were...What decade had been the best? I mean, I felt like my forties were fantastic, like I really began to understand life and why I was here...

When I turned forty-nine you would think panic would set in. But it hasn't... In less then two months I am going to be fifty years old...Wow. Streaking thru Steak'n'Shake seems like yesterday but that was 34 years ago...Wow.

You know what every single person has told me though? "The forties you understood...but in the fifties, life is good. You don't care about the small things anymore. The drama is gone. You accept your flaws and look at life in a new way...You really enjoy and appreciate life..."

Armed with that wisdom, I personally intend to embrace my fifties with a zeal, a passion and an attitude of "I will not go gently into the night..."

So, to my fellow 49'ers...Work it baby! We are so fine...

Learn to LIKE yourself...and remember that attitude is everything.

Now, go talk to an older person today! They have great stories to tell...

P.S. And to my favorite news anchor guy out there, Matt Lauer, who recently turned fifty...With utmost respect, I just want to say that you're still one of my morning pleasures...like coffee. Yea, that's it...coffee.

That first fall, five years back, when I moved down to the country to live with my future husband, I noticed these green balls all over the ground. When Tim and his friends told me that they were walnuts, I thought they were teasing me... They all got quite a laugh out of it and thru the years, I've been good-naturedly teased about it.

Last week Tim comes in and says, "A boy is out back picking up all of the fallen walnuts." He's quite happy about that because they're such a nuisance when you're mowing the lawn. I went out back on the deck and started chatting with the boy as he filled his plastic bag.

At one point I asked, "So, what are you going to do with all of these walnuts?" "Walnuts? I thought these were apples!" With that, he dropped the bag and ran off.

Moral of the story? I'm not the only who didn't know what the little green balls were...

My friend Sue, from the United Kingdom, sent this to me for a laugh and it was so cute, I thought I would share it with all of you: 

 Imagine yourself to be the nun sitting at her desk grading these papers all the while trying to keep a straight face and maintain her composure! 

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THE WORDING AND SPELLING. IF YOU ARE EVEN REMOTELY FAMILIAR WITH HOLY SCRIPTURE, YOU'LL FIND THIS HILARIOUS! IT COMES FROM A ROMAN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEST.

KIDS WERE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE BIBLE WERE WRITTEN BY CHILDREN. THEY HAVE NOT BEEN RE-TOUCHED OR CORRECTED.  INCORRECT SPEL LING HAS BEEN LEFT IN . 

1. IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE BIBLE, GUINESSIS. GOD GOT TIRED OF CREATING THE WORLD SO HE TOOK THE SABBATH OFF.

2. ADAM AND EVE WERE CREATED FROM AN APPLE TREE.  NOAH'S WIFE WAS JOAN OF ARK.  NOAH BUILT AND  ARK  AND THE ANIMALS CAME ON IN PEARS. 

3. LOTS WIFE WAS A PILLAR OF SALT DURING THE DAY, BUT A BALL OF FIRE DURING THE NIGHT. 

4. THE JEWS WERE A PROUD PEOPLE AND THROUGHOUT HISTORY THEY HAD TROUBLE WITH UNSYMPATHETIC GENITALS.

5. SAMPSON WAS A STRONGMAN WHO LET HIM SELF BE LED ASTRAY BY A JEZEBEL LIKE DELILAH.

6. SAMSON SLAYED THE PHILISTINES WITH THE AXE OF THE APOSTLES.

7. MOSES LED THE JEWS TO THE  RED   SEA  WHERE THEY MADE UNLEAVENED BREAD WHICH IS BREAD WITHOUT ANY INGREDIENTS .

8, THE EGYPTIANS WERE ALL DROWNED IN THE DESSERT. AFTER WARDS, MOSES WENT UP TO  MOUNT   CYANIDE  TO GET THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

9. THE FIRST COMMANDMENTS WAS WHEN EVE TOLD ADAM TO EAT THE APPLE.

10. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT IS THOU SHALT NOT ADMIT ADULTERY.

11. MOSES DIED BEFORE HE EVER REACHED  CANADA  .. THEN JOSHU A LED THE HEBREWS IN THE  BATTLE OF GERITOL ..

12. THE GREATEST MIRICLE IN THE BIBLE IS WHEN JOSHUA TOLD HIS SON TO STAND STILL AND HE OBEYED HIM.

13. DAVID WAS A HEBREW KING WHO WAS SKILLED AT PLAYING THE LIAR. HE FOUGHT THE FINKELSTEINS, A RACE OF PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN BIBLICAL TIMES.

14. SOLOMON, ONE OF DAVIDS SONS, HAD 300 WIVES AND 700 PORCUPINES.

15. WHEN MARY HEARD SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF JESUS, SHE SANG THE MAGNA CARTA.

16. WHEN THE THREE WISE GUYS FROM THE EAST SIDE ARRIVED THEY FOUND JESUS IN THE MANAGER.

17. JESUS WAS BORN BECAUSE MARY HAD AN IMMACULATE CONTRAPTION.

18.  ST. JOHN  THE BLACKSMITH DUMPED WATER ON HIS HEAD.

19. JESUS ENUNCIATED THE GOLDEN RULE, WHICH SAYS TO DO UNTO OTHERS BE FORE THEY DO ONE TO YOU. HE ALSO EXPLAINED A MAN DOTH NOT LIVE BY SWEAT ALONE..

20. IT WAS A MIRICLE WHEN JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD AND MANAGED TO GET THE  TOMBSTONE  OFF THE ENTRANCE.

21. THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED THE LORD WERE CALLED THE 12 DECIBELS.

22. THE EPISTELS WERE THE WIVES OF THE A POSTLES.

23. ONE OF THE OPPOSSUMS WAS ST. MATTHEW WHO WAS ALSO A TAXIMAN

24.  ST. PAUL  CAVORTED TO CHRISTIANITY, HE PREACHED HOLY ACRIMONY WHICH IS ANOTHER NAME FOR MARRAIGE. 

25. CHRISTIANS HAVE ONLY ONE SPOUSE . THIS IS CALLED MONOTONY.

Hey...just checkin' in to see how your day is shaping up...

It is fabulous! It really does go on like a moisturizing cream and then blends into your skin. Your skin seems to absorb the cream and yet, at the same time, it converts to foundation. The result is a feeling that not only were you good to your skin...but you look great too!

I was so impressed with it recently, that after using it, I completely forgot to do the rest of my daily regime of eyeshadow and mascara. Around two in the afternoon, I happened to catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror and realized I must have put on the Almay Smart Shade makeup, liked what I saw, and then got up and went to work. I felt like an idiot...

Think about it though, it's so good, you'll have to remind yourself to make sure you've put all your makeup on!