Another Radio Interview for Sheila!

Sheila is interviewed by Women's Watch host Carolyn Firestone on WBZ out of Boston.

Click here to listen.

Give me an "A!" Give me another "A!" Give me an "R!" Give me a "P!"

On the way back from Crested Butte, I stopped for the night in Gunnison, Colorado. Little motel on the edge of town, one of the few not filled up by the softball tournament that had packed the area for the weekend.

The plump young woman behind the desk said, "Two queen beds, $59."

I nodded, "Okay."

"Got any discounts or anything?"

"No." I never have discounts. If I ever manage to clip coupons, I always leave them wherever I'm not. "Oh, wait! I'm a member of AARP! Does that count?"

"Sure does," she smiled.

I was psyched! My first discount as an Elder American! Woo hoo!

I felt like I had made a rite of passage. Small, but significant.

You see, for years I heard my friends complain, "I got an invitation to join AARP! Man, do I feel old!"

As each of them passed the fifty year mark, we'd razz them. "Did you get your AARP card yet?" Ha ha ha.

So, when it came my turn to see the big 5-0 on the horizon, I decided to get pro-active. I joined them before they could recruit me. I had my membership before my 50th birthday. Embrace the change! Be proud of your age! Bounce right out of your 40s and into AARP!

I signed my name with a flourish and strutted down to my room.

Peg does event in Crested Butte, Colorado

Here are some pics from the reading and signing event at Blue Moon Books in Crested Butte last Saturday. It was a nice, intimate gathering. This is the sandwich board out front. Can you make out where it says "Tonight Only!" I love that. As if authors normally do nightly appearances for a month or something. Anyway, it made me feel special.





Here's David, the owner and proprieter of Blue Moon Books. See how he cleared off the back wall to display our book? Nice, eh? He also hopped on his town bike (everyone rides everywhere in "CB" as the locals call Crested Butte) and rode up to the liquor store to come back with wine and a 6 pack of............drum roll please...........Blue Moon Beer! He was very hospitable. Thank you David!



And here we all are - the intimate gathering of which I spoke. Five guests made it a close and casual event. That's me in the middle in purple. Some of the others are locals, some were visiting from other parts of the state. I talked a bit and read a bit and we had some nice conversation about aging and other life topics.



Thanks again to Blue Moon Books! I highly recommend this cozy shop if you're ever in the area.

More Rocky Mtn photos

There is still plenty of snow on the ground, but water is pouring off the mountains everywhere you look. Spring is just beginning here. These little sprouts become plants with huge leaves that staff runners use for costumes in the 4th of July parade in town.

Back in the Colorado Rockies

Last year and the year before, Sheila and I came up to this idyllic spot in the Colorado Rockies for writing retreats. This year, book finished, I'm here solo, in my usual role as camp doc. I drove up from Albuquerque today, arriving about an hour before sunset. Now I'm seated in the familiar cabin, starting to shiver in the night that is expected to reach 29 degrees F by morning, listening to the roaring of the river, engorged by Spring melt. I'll have better pictures to post later this week, once I have daylight. For now, here are just a few from my drive up here.

Peg leaves her 40s!

Last Sunday, the 1st of June, 2008, I officially left my own 40s behind.

Happy My Birthday to you!

I have to admit, in spite of coauthoring a whole book on the subject, I had some trepidation about reaching this particular milestone myself. I mean, we wrote a lot about how wonderful this time of life can be, how celebration-worthy, how joyous. And I do believe all that. I also got a little short of breath when contemplating my own passage. And I wondered: I can talk the talk, but can I walk the walk?

I'm happy to report that so far it has been just fine. I woke up that morning wondering what 50 would feel like, and was pleased to discover that, of course, it felt just like forty-nine and 364/365ths. I felt no different from the day before. *forehead smacker* Of course I didn't! We change in increments, after all, and 50 is just a number. I left my 40s the way I live my life: fairly quietly and one day at a time.

The day of my birthday I played in a soccer tournament for women over 30, and I am very proud to tell you that we won second place! Not half bad for a half century, eh? The team insisted I take the trophy home for my birthday, so now I have a daily reminder of how I started out Leaving My 40s like Way #8: Play Ball!"

Later that day (after a delicious nap a la Way #7: Pause) my wonderful husband and kids took me to dinner at my favorite gourmet pizza and salad place, then we came home, ate chocolate (an absolute necessity on any of my birthdays) and watched a feel-good movie (August Rush) together. No big deal. No fireworks. The day wound down and imperceptibly slipped into June 2.

We are planning to have a big party later in the summer, but even if we didn't, I'd be happy. I'm healthy; I have a great family; I love my work. What more could I want at any age?