I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I posted last (2/25/19)! It feels like I just wrote about turning 54 and how I was going to Choose Joy Over Drudgery when I had the choice. Now I’m 55! Tempus Fugit, as my dear great aunt used to say. I confess, I’ve done precious little essay writing in 2019. I did choose to engage in some joyous activities and have highlights of travel, family and faith to share that fit the theme of choosing joy (often like a carefree ten-year-old) when I could. But…

Before I get to it, I have to be honest here. This new decade, just three months in, has not lent itself to too many occasions for easy-to-choose joyfulness. On the contrary. In early January, my husband’s sister Erica passed away. This rocked our family to the core.

Now, of course, the entire world is on edge with the Covid19 virus. Life as we knew it, before Covid19 (B.C) has drastically changed, to say the least. So many of us are working from home. All schools, churches, sports, etc. are closed. When we grocery shop, we must heed Social Distancing to keep people from spreading the virus, from getting sick, from actually dying! Anybody else a little anxious? I am clinging to my faith and trying to stay healthy. We all are learning and practicing new ways to connect via social media as we physically keep our distance from one another. 

In this new, odd, not-by-choice way of being, there should be more time to reflect, write and share. I am choosing something light-hearted and joyful to share in the midst of this rather dystopian time.

Not that long ago, in mid-February 2020, actually, we had some “old time” social fun. B.C.—When more than five of us could get together in one place, shake hands, hug, kiss and dance closer than three feet apart. 

Turning Double Nickels: Party Like a Couple of Ten-Year Olds

Both my husband’s cousin Hollyann and I decided we’d embrace turning 55 this February by throwing ourselves a silly birthday party. We needed fun. We wanted to defy aging. It’s just a number, we reasoned. But I went further. “55 is double nickels and 5 +5 =10. Let’s be 10-year-olds with a ten-year-old theme.”

Last year, I my new theme after many way-too-serious life events was to”Choose Joy over Drudgery” whenever possible. If it’s fun or going to bring good health and happiness– and I have a choice–why not listen to my ten-year-old self and choose what she would choose? Remember to try to be as carefree as a fifth-grader!

Hollyann and I went over a few themes. Brady Bunch? Superheroes? Costume? Nah… “How ‘bout Willie Wonka, a la Gene Wilder—Not the freakish Johnny Depp one?” I proposed. Hollyann shouted, “I like Willie Wonka!”

Immediately we began brainstorming. How about a Violet Beauregard piñata!

A golden egg relay! Bubble gum bubble blowing contest. Guess the number of Gobstoppers! A chocolate fountain! Ice cream sundae bar! Fizzy Lifting Drinks (ginger ale and raspberry vodka!) 

What was the best party you ever went to or have ever thrown?