So. I'm sixty. I hear "Gee, you don't look sixty!" Well, here's what sixty looks like.

I know that I'm younger than a lot of you, but I've never been sixty before. Five years 'til Medicare! (I hope.)

I used to marvel at the inventions and times and events that my Mom experienced during her amazingly long life, so I thought about what I've experienced in sixty years. Here are a few that spring to mind.

• Computers evolved from huge mainframes to tiny phones that have more memory and storage than anyone thought possible. Oh, then there's the internet.
• I was in sixth grade when the Beatles conquered America. I never saw them live, but I did get to see The Who (when they'd smash up their instuments), Led Zeppelin (they opened for The Who), the Dead, Jefferson Airplane (not Starship!), The Doors, and so on and on and on.
• Cars went from huge steel behemoths to... huge SUVs. (Heh.) I suffered through the first gas crisis, when prices jumped up to a dollar a gallon! I remember telling a good friend that I would never pay $1.50 a gallon for gas; that was inconceivable!
• We watched the launch of the first Mercury spacecraft in school. Every class had a TV set up so that we could all see Alan Shepard become the first man in space.
• I got to run away and join the circus -- three of the most fun, frustrating, hard, and wonderful years of my life. To talk to my family, I found a pay phone and called collect, wrote letters and got some back, care of General Delivery, wherever we were.

I've witnessed births and deaths, voted for presidents and marched against wars. I loved my share of boys, and I like to think that some of them loved me back. I've had wonderful adventures; I've had horrible experiences. I married my true love and raised a beautiful boy into a handsome man.

It all -- the good and the bad -- makes me what I am, sixty years into my life.

I have made wonderful friends over sixty years -- my age, older, and younger than me. Thanks to Facebook (another amazement!) and eCards and the US mail, loads of you have sent me birthday wishes. Thank you all; I love you all.

Here's a random sampling of what I've been up to in the last week.

1. I discovered Instagram. This is the result of seeing a reference to it on a forum I frequent, and now voila! I have an account and I've shared pictures and I've followed friends and friends have followed me. Ah, the wonders of the iPhone! (On the other hand, I signed up for Pinterest a while ago, but have yet to create a single pinboard. Someday I will sit down and make an effort to figure it out.)

2. I was once again struck with the variety of music we own. Here's a shot (one my Instagrams!) that shows a tiny bit of the entire collection.

The CDs that are facing out are: Frank Zappa, Broadway the Hard Way; Charles Mingus, Pithecanthropus Erectus; Jerry Garcia, Garcia; Yma Sumac, Mambo!; Van Morrison, Days Like This; Mountain, Twin Peaks; Herbie Hancock, Headhunters; Roy Orbison, Greatest Hits; Rick James, The Ultimate Collection. The top shelf, which you can't see here, features Hildegard of Bingen, The Beatles, and Steeleye Span. We rock!

3. I undecorated, putting our wee tree back in its box until next year, although we might go back to a real tree next year. Then again, that's what I said last year and the year before that!

4. I made Snickerdoodles.

5. Joe and I went to the Caps game last Friday night. We have a favorite beer vendor, our buddy Ron. He's a big old teddy bear of a man who always gives me a big old hug when he sees me. I always enjoy seeing Ron; I think he's a good luck charm.

6. I had my performance review. I fully met expectations. The more I go through this yearly exercise, the more I think it's a huge crock of crap.

7. I renewed my driver's license. I got the renewal notice in November and promptly ignored it. Late last week I realized with a start that I had been ignoring it, and it was going to expire on my birthday, and I couldn't get there on a weekday, and the MVA was closed today for the holiday, and that left Saturday. It was as crowded and boring and time consuming as I thought it would be, but I had my iPhone (Angry Birds! Scrabble! Collapse!) and my Kindle, so it wasn't a total loss. I won't have to do that again for five years!

8. I watched a lot of football and hockey. At least I won't have worry about having to choose between the Saints and the Packers. Go Ravens!!

9. Joe and I went to eat at a new place to us: Comet Ping Pong. It has really really really good pizza! My only quibble is that the restrooms are hard to spot -- there are no signs on them and you kinda have to know where they are. The hostess actually showed me, so I filed that info away for the next time we go. We are splurging for our birthdays this coming week and going to a very fancy DC joint called Birch and Barley for dinner. Joe is looking forward to the vast array of artisanal beers; I am looking forward to dessert.

10. I finally beat Level 11 of the Smugglers' Plane game of Angry Birds Rio. Three stars in each level, and only a few consultations with the walkthroughs online! I'm so proud.

So the Overlord (my boss's boss) bought everyone in my group a Christmas present -- a copy of The Book! (Well, not me; I've already got a copy. And I know the ending. Heh.) I had a lot of mixed emotions when he announced this at the department Holiday Dinner -- shock, happiness, embarrassment, a little fear, a "there goes my anonymity" feeling, an "oh shit" feeling, giddiness -- you name it.

Today he came up to my cube and said, "I want to give you a hug! Can I give you a hug?"

And... what do you say to that? What the hell; I gave him a hug. A nice, collegial, pat-pat sort of hug, because really -- BOSS'S BOSS.

Then he told me that he'd read the book and really liked it, that it was authentic, that I was a good writer, and so on and so forth, and I just sat here and said "thank you" and "I'm so glad" a lot.

Now I'm nervous. I hope that everyone else likes it too, but I know there's no guarantee of that. And that's okay. I don't need to hug everybody. 

Anyway, he also asked me if that was the only book.

I hate that question.

So. Here's my New Year's Resolution: I'm going to finish the damn sequel, once and for all. I have a few ideas for getting it done, which I'll share once I rein them in and get them under control.

(By the way, if you're inclined to buy a copy of The Book, you can get 25% off until January 31. Just buy it from Lulu.com and use coupon code LULUBOOK305. Click that big old book over in the sidebar.)

And that wraps up my contributions to this year's Holidailies!