Summing it Up...

Now, that I'm way on the wrong side of sixty, I feel that being true to self is important. "I yam, what I yam." Kindness and smiles are to be given away. Women are strong. Men are more vulnerable than we believe. Husbands may come and go...but one thing I know for sure is that I will NEVAH live without a corgi or coffee in my life if I can prevent it. Come piles of dog fur or hot water!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Menopausal Questions....


Life feels all whamperjawed. Priorities have changed, thoughts have gone kooky, and this aging thing is not as graceful as one can hope. All of a sudden hairspray and coffee, cheese and pasta have become VERY important for survival!

Is it just me, or does this picture make perfect sense? Call me crazy, but it just makes me smile. Is that a bad thing?








Does it upset you as well, that now, in the throes of menopause, those blonde jokes aren't as funny..and hit too close to home?



Why...are good bras so darn hard to find? And...if you do find one, why is it forty dollars?

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Whale .VS. Mermaid thinking...


We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my grandkids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver and a latte with my friends. With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, "Good gosh, look how smart I am"!

~from an email

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Midnight Thoughts...keeping me awake~

Don't you despise tossing and turning?
Don't you hate it when your body is tired but your mind is up and at 'em? One second my brain is thinking about my pending yard sale, how to price items, what about the set up, blah, blah, blah.
Then it goes to a grocery list, or chores to be done. Then it touches on things that my gray matter doesn't like to think about...like how my husband and I don't treat each other kindly sometimes; or that my Mama is 92 and time is marching on for all of us. Drinking too much iced tea causes problems at bedtime. Finished James Patterson's newest book, "Swimsuit" just before midnight. Gory. Like his romantic novels better.
My kids are 35 and 33 and thoughts turn to them, and their lives. My daughter drives too fast, my son who is MR, is an easy target.
They're grown and on their own, but a mama worries...even at 12:30a.m. My mama still worries about her kids, and we're all pushing 60. Sheesh...such thoughts.
Is it the tea, or being menopausal, or is it a woman thing? I just want to cuss, y'know? But, what good will that do? Life is full of pain, and blessings. It's a combo that McDonald's doesn't offer. Life is up and down. Maturity is more than getting wrinkles and bucking up under pressure. Whining doesn't solve a thing, but helps in a weird way if you can catch a friendly ear. Coffee, good books, good friends, a loving family, and a finding purpose makes life worth living. But...without a few of those things in your life, things go off kilter. Many would say that God is the answer to all things. Some don't go that route. Right now, all I want is the shortcut to the land of Nod...y'know where the sandman lives.
Maybe I'll go run the sweeper, or do laundry. That'll show 'em...all those no good sleepers in this household.
G-o-o-d-n-i-g-h-t!
Phooey, I'm still here, and wide awake....anybody up?

Friday, July 17, 2009

Food for thought Friday...

When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.
~Elaine Boosler

There is no more creative force in the world than the menopausal woman with zest.~
~Margaret Mead

I refuse to think of them as chin hairs...I think of them as stray eyebrows!
~Janette Barber

Monday, July 13, 2009

Monday, Monday...


How is everyone today? It's a sunny, blue-skied Monday in North eastern Indiana.
The wind whipped around this weekend, making all my top heavy seven foot high hollyhocks lay down and bow, so bought a huge bag of bungee cords to tie them upright again. Our neighbors began a roofing project just a tad before 8 a.m., and I went to the dentist to have a wisdom tooth removed from my head.

It came right out, that is after I gagged every time the dentist came near me with utensils, then ended up vomiting in the bathroom sink. Nerves I guess. The tooth came out easily, and he didn't even charge me the full amount because it was so simple for him. (Hey, I can be accommodating...I even told him while gagging that I would try not to throw up on him.) Now, nine hours later, I'm feeling some discomfort, like a jaw punch. Jim says, "Oh, you were worried enough, I didn't want to tell you about that."

As penance, I sent him downtown, to go through drive-through and bring home a chocolate shake to eat with a spoon! I wrapped chicken drumsticks with bacon and oven roasted them earlier for his lunch, while still numbed, and he enjoyed them.
He'll fend for himself for supper.

Mae West said:
If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
I don't think dental procedures was what she was talking about though....do you?

Friday, July 10, 2009

Git-R-Done...




It's Friday again, and I'm jumping on the bandwagon over at Expressly Corgi and entering my Git-R-Done post. I've been working on cards all week.


It's been a little bit of therapy and escape; printing, cutting, snipping, and inhaling that good ol' rubber cement.




I channel a resentful 50's housewife, looking for trouble in my cards. They are edgy, sarcastic, and not especially sweet, so their flavor is not for everyone.
Funny....they suit me to a tee!

Thursday, July 09, 2009


I am a Coffee Slut. I readily admit it. The whore of java beans. The hussy of latte'.
Is there some kind of group therapy for this?
If so, I don't want it.
I like my morning buzz.
It gets me motivated.
I wouldn't get through my daily list without the jolt.
I am a Coffee Slut...and I don't think I'm alone.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Bathtime fun...Jake

We had the element of surprise on our side, and Jake was in the tub before he knew what hit him.There was plenty of fluff left behind in the tub...forget about ring around the collar! There was half a dog left in there! I don't know who was panting more...Jake or Jim!

Jake felt much better after he shook on us both, had a serious towel rubdown, okay...it was four towels...and then took seven laps through the house to dry off!
Another wooly bear cub in the house which smells like wet dog.
Oh well...Jim scratched that project off his honey-do list!

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

You know you're getting older when...

~your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.

~you woke up, looking like your driver's license picture.

~your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't
remember them either.

~you find yourself beginning to like accordian music.

"The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always asked to do things and yet are not decrepit enough to turn them down."
T.S. Eliot

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Corgi Spa Thoughts...



'Twas spa time in our household last night. Addie bathes in the kitchen sink, one half in each stainless steel holding tank. She's a good girl, and likes bubble baths overall...what she enjoys most though, is the through rubdown afterwards. She closes her eyes and pretty much just enjoys the experience. Jim came out to assist in the comb out and Addie was lolling in ecstasy. I trimmed her hairy feet and dremeled her nails. She's a good sport, and liked our tag team efforts. What she despises is the camera. And the tea kettle; it whistles and she barks her head off! They love tea, and I occasionally give them the dregs of my decaf tea, laced with half and half. It's a Welsh thing I guess, and it warms their tummies.


Jake is an odd duck as well. He loves feet, anyone's feet. If a pizza man delivers, he's sniffing his tennies....our barefoot neighbor, boom.. he goes for the feet. If he sees me brushing my teeth in the morning, or putting on mascara, he comes into the bathroom, and lays on my feet. Letting me know, that he wants to go as well, we figure. They usually do go when we go somewhere. They'll have to learn to stay in their crates again, when we go back to work. We've spoiled them rotten the past three years, and they have become, and I say this, shamefully,short-hairy-children! After a bath, they both look like bear cubs...fuzzy, round butts, and exhausted....as are we!


Jake sez...."Oh me, oh my...I'm next! Believe me...HE'S a total different experience from Addie...he's a heart attack waiting to happen...he's a nightmare on a skate board...he's awful to give a bath to! "Brushing? Forgetaboutit! Catch me if you can!" He's a lover, and doesn't know a stranger...but at bathtime, or during grooming....he's Flash Gordon! Jake and his dad will have bath time fun today...while I'm out of town until evening! May the best man win!

Y'all come back now...

Y'all come back now...

Everyone is special, and counts!