Miracle!

Miracle of Miracles--I did not die when I turned 50!!! My friend and I are a week apart in our birthdays and I whined all the way up until mine was over. She was fine with all of it until the night before she turned 50--then she called me crying, too! But it came and went and all was well! My kids and Scott threw me a lovely Hawaiian Luau-Erin made salads and tacos like at Cafe Rio, Ash decorated to the max-Em picked me out a yummy chocolate cake and Scott paid for it all!!! He also had picked me out this beautiful skirt, shirt and sweater to wear to church. Can I just tell you that man has impeccable taste???? This same friend, Pam and a good friend of ours Lori and I decided to party and go to the Shakespeare Festival down in Cedar City, Utah. We had such a good time, except Lori kept insisting on telling everyone we met that not only had we just turned "50" we were grandmothers! Not that I am not proud of it, but it was so funny to hear her broadcast it to everyone on the street! We went to 2 plays in the indoor theater and then two Shakespearean plays that were done in an outside theater in the round-a replica of the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare actually performed in England. Back then, women were not allowed to perform so men played both the male and the female parts. We also went hiking in Zions National Park. If you get a chance, look up Angels Landing in Zions-that is where we hiked. It was not really a long hike, 2.5 miles, but the first two miles were a steep series of switchbacks, and the last .5 mile was straight up, like climbing on the back of a huge dinosaur. My friend Lori, who is the most mature of the lot, said she was not going to go up the last part. Pam started up with me, but she got dizzy because of the height of the trail, so she went back. Guess who that left??? I did not think I was being ridiculous, I just know that once I make up my mind to do something-I can't back down.
Literally! So, I started up this trail, thinking-How far can .5 miles really be? Before long, I found myself holding on to these huge chains that had been hung from big posts that had been pounded into the stone path. This was so you would have something to hang on to in case you slipped. There were many people going up and down this path and at no time did I ever feel like I was in danger except when I realized that I did not have any tread on my old tennis shoes to give me traction on the sandstone. I stepped on a rock that had sand on it and went down on my elbow and back of my head. I broke a blood vessel in my hand and bruised my elbow, but no damage to my hard head! There was a cute little 17 year old girl that I had been visiting with named Roni-from Israel. I kept telling her she could go around me if she needed to go faster-but she said "NO, I'll just stay right here." I think she was worried about me slipping again-What a cutie! When I got to the top-the view was spectacular. There was also a man up there with an elegant silver tray who was walking around like a butler serving us European chocolate and dipped strawberries-too funny! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Anyway, I hiked back down and met my friends and off we went. Four days later there was a news alert about a 53 year old woman falling 1,000 feet to her death as Angels Landing-Yup, right where I was hiking! My kids were so mad at me and blamed my lack of judgement once again on my poor hormones! Oh, yes, they get the blame for all of my little crazy moments now! I can't wait till my kids get old... We then went to Loris' brothers cabin and hiked on a little safer route. It was fun and I am so glad to have good girlfriends to laugh with!