How to Give a 49 Year Old Mother a Heart Attack on Her Birthday

1. Let 15 year old daughter and 16 year old French Exchange student go up gondola at Blue Mountain, alone, to take pictures at top of mountain.

2. Wait at bottom with husband, sitting in chairs in nice, warm weather.

3. Notice sky getting darker. Man comes over and says "there's a big thunderstorm coming".

4. Call daughter on cellphone to tell her to get back down to the bottom.

5. Daughter says they're on their way.

6. Mom & Dad wait and wait. Gondola seems like it's moving in slow motion as sky gets darker and wind picks up.

7. Mom & Dad wait and wait.

8. Finally, see girls coming S-L-O-W-L-Y down mountain in METAL gondola as we hear thunder in background.

9. Mom anxiously waits at bottom, pacing, then gondola STOPS. Mom hears man who operates gondola casually say "Oh, the power went out". Mom sees daughter and friend halfway down the hill, as storm rapidly approaches.

10. Gondola starts again, girls descend S-L-O-W-L-Y, gondola stops AGAIN. Another power outage.

11. Gondola starts once again, girls get to bottom (Mom is sprouting new grey hairs by the second) Mom is preparing speech - "Gee, I'm so sorry about your daughter Mrs. French-person. She was electrocuted in a gondola at Blue Mountain! No, I don't know what I was thinking sending them up in a thunderstorm..."

12. Girls get off gondola and sprint to shelter seconds before the storm erupts with a frenzy.

Getting old ain't for the faint of heart!