I turned 49 yesterday. Wow! How did I get to be alive for so long? Still don't feel old but it's such a lot of years. I decided to embrace the celebration of it. So since I am in my 50th year of being alive, I've decided to do 50 things to celebrate. That averages out to one a week. So over the next year I'm going to try different things - food, places, activities..... Small or momentus...... one a week. Not extreme like bungy jumping ot throwing myself out of a plane but different and new.
So I am documenting my journey in this blog - another first! I kicked it off by getting a tattoo last Saturday. "Beloved" on my right arm. A permanent kind of memorial to my beloved husband John (who died 5 years ago on Christmas Eve), the way I feel about God and a constant reminder that I am beloved. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of all of that and it makes me feel really good!
Also had an accidental first last week. Ate beef jerky for the first time.... and LOVED it!! Funny! I've always looked down on it as some cheap, trashy kind of nasty snack food for extreme meat lovers. I was SO wrong! I won it as a prize at our staff meeting - guessing the hangman word first. An unusual prize! I was like "beef jerky, interesting (not)"! But decided to open it up and offer it around. Everyone is "no thanks too early in the morning for me". So I tried the first piece and loved it!! I then hoovered up the whole bag (and it was not a snack bag!). Thinking maybe I'm a bit meat deprived as Holly (my daughter) has gone vegetarian and I haven't been eating much meat!
So three firsts in my first two weeks - blog, tattoo, beef jerky! What a start! What next....
This is my tattoo. The other image was taken at the altar in the Mexican Specialties Cafe and Shop in Marua Rd, Ellerslie. I've walked past it several times with my dog, Bunny, but it never seems to be open. It was celebrated in Viva this week as the premium Mexican takeaway place so I found out that it is open for a few hours from Thursday to Saturday. It really is a hidden treasure.
Today it was packed out with people sitting down eating their lunch and buying takeaways. I ordered a takeaway tostada and then explored the shop. It's tiny but cram packed full of Mexican food, ingredients and treasures that you can buy. I was particularly drawn to the variety of madonnas and crosses on display. My girls would say "enough Mum!" as I have a small collection at home. I resisted the temptation of the Marys and crosses but did buy some of their chilli chocolate skulls with some trepidation. I'm not a fan of hot food and have always preferred to eat a meal that doesn't make my nose run! But they are my new taste sensation! They're a macabre kind of chocolate, looking a bit like they've been dug out of a little tomb - dark and dusty with the chilli powder. I was a bit nervous when I bit into the skull. Yes, they are hot but the combination of the chocolate, the runny green centre and the chilli powder is quite amazing. I can still feel the glowing warmth of it in my stomach nearly an hour later. They are not chocolates for the faint hearted but they are a treat if you're willing to take a risk!
