I'm going to live to be 100

Ok, Ok, I know it's getting a bit tiring having me harp on and on about my birthday and turning 30 and getting older and all that, but, it has sort of been filling my mind lately, and I've had some really profound thoughts about ageing over the last week.

T-bird asked me how long people live for. I said 70, 80, 90, and maybe even 100!

She thought a bit about that and then said, "Do you think I will live to be 1000?" Er, it's unlikely.

But it got me thinking. So I hooked up with me old pal, Googs, and did a little research on old people. What fun reading, that was!

My newest hero is Madam Jeanne Louise Calment, who lived to the ripe old age of 122. What a character this girl was! She rode her bicycle until she was 100, and kept a fantastic sense of humor right to the end of her days. (Note to self: rethink bicycle riding...)

One of the comments she made (and which had me stitches for a whole evening) was, "Je n'ai jamai eu qu'une seule ride et je suis assise dessus." TRANSLATION FOR THE LESS THAN FRENCH: I've only got one wrinkle, and I'm sitting on it!

Another little anecdote linked to this fiery matriarch was that she sold her apartment to a man who promised he would pay her $500 a month until she died. He had paid twice the market value for the apartment before his own death 2 years before she passed away. Of this incident, Madam Calment is reported as saying, "In life, one sometimes makes bad deals!" - clearly!

One thing is clear through all the researching of the world's oldest people: they lived simple, happy lives. Madame Calment said, "I took pleasure when I could. I acted clearly and morally and without regret. I'm very lucky."

I'm lucky too.