Hey! Welcome to 52 weeks until I’m 50 years old! Actually it’s now 11 weeks until I’m 50! If you are new to my blog, to the right are other subjects I’ve written about. Some may resonate with you or at least give you a chuckle. If you are counting down with me…we are almost there! Crazy!!!

Remember the Wheel of Fortune? The show features a competition in which contestants solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a giant carnival wheel! I love puzzles and I love vowels! Now I know why…

These days, I find myself vowel-less! In a world where Google has pages of new slang meanings and definitions, I’ve officially become “old!” I have no idea what people, mostly 13 to 30 year olds are talking about as they move around me. I’m constantly laughing at myself asking them…”What does SMEXI mean?” It’s like I’m witnessing code. And it’s true…I am. Called the “texting generation,” today’s workforce flies though the conversations they are having. And it’s all in code. I get speed dial…that’s because I’m old and can’t remember your number dude! I’m pulling myself through this new universe of language trying to wrap my arms around it. I’m exposing myself here but I recently purchased a texting dictionary of acronyms! LOL…and it’s the “Family Friendly Edition.” Wondering if that means there is a “X-version” I should know about. Go on, laugh! It’s OK. I’ve gotten over the fact that I’m no longer “with-it!” That term in itself should illustrate how uncool I really am!

Take my test of the top vowel-less words here. Are you lost like me? LMAO! SMEXI, :3, KML, GOMB, KOTL ,TIE, TYT , SMH, DWL, TBH, WITH? Here’s my new one I just created…ISL…I’m So Lost! LOL! Here are your answers: smart and sexy, cute/goofy face, Killing Myself Laughing, Get off My Back, Kiss On The Lips, Take It Easy, Take Your Time, Shaking My Head, Dying With Laughter, To Be Honest and Where In The Hell?

Yeh, that’s my MOTD (message of the day) to you! MRA (moving right along) here. MHOTY (My hats off to you) for staying with me! and…459 (I Love You) for it…Yeh…explain that one to me please!

I hope you had a chuckle. You can subscribe to be notified when I blog below by signing up, follow me on Twitter @GatorgirlPress or Twitter @Diningduchess, follow me on Facebook @RandiAileenPress or Facebook@DiningDuchess. Or if you’d like to write me directly, my email is randi@52TO50.com.

Hey! Welcome to 52 weeks until I’m 50 years old! Actually it’s now 12 weeks until I’m 50! If you are new to my blog, to the right are other subjects I’ve written about. Some may resonate with you or at least give you a chuckle. If you are counting down with me…we are almost there! Crazy!!!

Do do do…I believe in miracles! Where you from, you sexy thing?
I believe in miracles! Since you came along, you sexy thing. Remember this Hot Chocolate song from the 70′s? I woke up to this in my head today. Frightening right? 

Yesterday was one of those days where I had to be in four places that overlapped. This happened two weeks in a row. It’s that time. Event season, holidays and friends turning 50 with parties. So why is Hot Chocolate singing “You Sexy Thing?” in my head?

I tasted 22 plates of food from every area of the food chain as one of John Offerdahl’s GridIron Grill-Off judges yesterday. Not very sexy. Finished, changed and on to a close friends 50th surprise party. There we are, all of us, dressed up easing in to our 50′s! LOL. Guy friends with their button down shirts freely hanging outside their jeans. The girls in their latest skinny jeans and jackets. A few of us in mini skirts and boots. Do do do…”You Sexy Thing, You…”

Face it Dining Duchess, you are only getting liquid refreshments down tonight after eating like a man at your previous event! Two vodkas on the rocks later after conversing with many on business, travel and family, it occurred to me that sexy is so misunderstood. I find it sexy when a man is open about himself. And, when he shares with me. Meaning, he fills me in on what he’s thinking and how he’s relating to the world. Still with me “You Sexy Thing…You? Women and sexy is easier…stating the obvious here but even more sexy when women are being real. Owning our flaws and embracing them. Hell! I ate 22 plates of food made by Dolphin men and wanted to feel sexy. “I believe in miracles…You Sexy Thing You…” In this case, sometimes feeling sexy is just a little more challenging!

Two hours in, everyone’s loosening up and the music erupts for some groovin 70′s dance opps. There we are 7 girls on the floor shakin our things. A friend turns to me and says…”Which one’s my husband? I can’t see over there. It’s a sea of balding men!” We both laughed at the way her question filled the air. She picked up her phone and showed me pictures when he had hair. We giggled and went back to dancing. Within a moment, there he was moving toward us, groovin out of the sea of gradually aging friends. Huge grin, sparkling eyes and a loving life attitude. Yup…Bald is so sexy sometimes.

I’ve seen sexy come in all kinds of packages. Hair, no hair, lean, overweight, short, tall…whatever the build, male and female. The constant that resonates with me is eye contact, openness and talking to me like I’m really there. Not looking through me to the next person you are going to talk with.Take a minute to make me feel like I’m valued, that I count. Tell me something personal about yourself. Be willing to let me share something with you. After two vodkas, I can be very silly! Can silly be sexy? Not sure about that, guess you’ll need to tell me.

I never really thought about being 50 and sexy. For some reason I guess I believed it didn’t exist. But, I’m so wrong. It does. I’m seeing it. It’s all around and It’s not just visual. Sexy can be the way you feel when you hear a special song while you’re sitting in your car. Sexy can be the written word when someone shares their thoughts with you in a text. Sexy is being open. Sexy is being willing to let others in to know you. Sexy is an aura around you when you allow yourself to be the real you. Tell me…are you drinking the Hot Chocolate kool-aide? Are you being real “You Sexy Thing, You!”

I hope you had a chuckle. You can subscribe to be notified when I blog below by signing up, follow me on Twitter @GatorgirlPress or Twitter @Diningduchess, follow me on Facebook @RandiAileenPress or Facebook@DiningDuchess. Or if you’d like to write me directly, my email is randi@52TO50.com.

Hey! Welcome to 52 weeks until I’m 50 years old! Actually it’s now 13 weeks until I’m 50! If you are new to my blog, to the right are other subjects I’ve written about. Some may resonate with you or at least give you a chuckle. If you are counting down with me…holy crap! The last few weeks have flown! Thank you for hanging in there with me!

Do do do…Get up offa that thing and dance till you feel better, get up offa that thing, try to release that pressure, get up offa that thing and shake till you feel better! Not sure if you recall that James Brown song but the DJ played it last night and that was it…there I was on the dance floor by myself, flying my freak flag once again! I guess being that lone freak sometimes is contagious. Some of my closest friends jumped offa their things and started shakin that thing! I love my connection with the willing!

Friday I received the dreaded AARP card in the mail. Didn’t expect it. I opened it and gasped. Then started to laugh. Really Randi? You’ve been counting down all year! This is not a dress rehearsal woman…this is the real show. A one time performance, this life. Our life. Yours and mine. What I tell myself often is…”Don’t just pass through. Be in it. Live it. It’s OK to be tired. It’s OK to be blatantly honest and it’s OK to embrace the fact that everything is changing.” Menopause has come and gone…oh thank G-d for the people around me! I believe even as much as I tried to control the devil woman inside me, she still found the way to the light! And, it’s OK to admit that sex is still really important to me but I don’t want to do it all night like when we were 20! I’m old! I find myself wanting more. Not more possessions. I would like to have a garage sale on those! I want more “getting offa that thing!”

I want more honest conversations. I want you to know me. I want to know you. Not the you that the world sees. The you that’s raw. The you that’s open because you feel safe. How many people that we call “friends” can we really be honest with? That’s what I’m looking for these days. A chance to be the most me, vulnerable and raw in my relationships. Yup, it’s a little scary exposing yourself in ways that may make others uncomfortable but I have this thought. I once sat at a eulogy and learned so much more than I ever truly knew about that person after they passed. It sucked for me. I’m not willing any longer for that to happen. I ask tons of questions. Weird ones too. I want to know you. The real you. So…when you see me or when I motion to you to “Get Up Offa That Thing,” it’s because you mean something to me. And, I want more of and from you. We are not just passing through. This isn’t a dress rehearsal. So, “Get Up Offa That Thing,” and fly your freak flag with me!

I hope you had a chuckle. You can subscribe to be notified when I blog below by signing up, follow me on Twitter @GatorgirlPress or Twitter @Diningduchess, follow me on Facebook @RandiAileenPress or Facebook@DiningDuchess. Or if you’d like to write me directly, my email is randi@52TO50.com.