Resolutions.....Cream Solutions?

     As 2010 fades into memory and we focus on the New Year, 2011, we resolve to make changes that will (we hope) enhance our lives:  hence, our New Year's Resolutions.

We resolve to lose those ten pounds and join a gym, get out of debt and purchase a financial program for our computer, quit smoking with nicotine gum or patches, and get control of our drinking habits.

We move along feeling proud of our first few weeks accomplishments only to have a bad hair day which throws us into a chocolate carmel whipped cream triple fudge brownie ice cream sundae frenzy which leads us to call a friend meeting them at our favorite bar, lighting up, and spending all our budget money.

This, of course, completely disturbs our resolutions, as the two pounds we lost we now gained four, the one cigarette became a pack, and we woke up broke with a terrible hangover headache.  These are the reasons I have never committed to a resolution because of the fear of failing.

I have decided to face the fears and make those changes.  I have two resolutions that I will put into practice starting at the stroke of midnight.  I resolve to look 10 years younger, I would really like to look 20 years younger, but I will take 10 and I am going to declutter my house.  I finally admit I will never sell any of those prize possesions on ebay and never organize a garage sale, so I am ready to cream my face and lighten the load in my closets.

I have found two books to help me achieve my goals.  The first is Now Not To Look Old   fast and effortless ways to look 10 years younger, 10 pounds lighter, and 10 times better by Charla Krupp.

I love this woman's thinking.  She says, "All right, I'm just going to come out and say it.  Aging Sucks!"  My sentiments exactly.  She has alot of suggestions that I am going to try and to share with you and hopefully we can get younger together.

The other book is called Kick the Clutter clear out excess stuff without losing what you love by Ellen Phillips. Her question to us is "How bad is it?"  Bad enough that I am ready to throw it all out!

Join me in my resolutions.  I am encouraging any and all suggestions to a better face, body, and bathroom, so please let me hear from you.

Happy New Year!  And "HB!"

"Twas the Night Before Christmas......."

     I can remember hearing this poem, by Clement Clarke Moore, back in the 2nd grade. It had made such an impact on the meaning of Christmas then and still warms my heart as I read it time and time again each year.

 It gets difficult in all the hustle and bustle of Christmas Shopping to sometimes stop, see, and feel the Good Things at Christmas.  And when we finally do Christmas is almost over and we missed those precious moments in life that take us back through the years and leave us with memories we dare not forget.

Take a moment to smile when you see Santa promising that glorious new bike, or parents spending all they have on a new game system for their children, knowing it will cut into their small household budget.  Admire and give to those Salvation Army volunteers who stand outside, sometimes in the bitter cold, ringing the bell for Charity.

Laugh with your friends at the Christmas parties you might attend, remembering that life can be short lived and those moments can be the ones you will treasure forever.

Respect and appreciate all your coworkers who help you with your work load regardless of any situation that arises at work.

And Love your family, who share all the good and bad times and support you throughout the year.  Hug your kids even though they sometimes don't like it or they failed that final exam and will have to repeat it again next semester and you don't like them at the moment.

Cherish your parents no matter how old and childlike they have become, depending on you for the answers, as they never looked away when you needed them as children.  Kiss your spouses, embrace their love, and rekindled the moments that made you say "I Do!"

I look back on some pictures of days gone by with "comfort and joy" the feelings we sing about and return to those nostalgic memories that carry us through any rough times we might be experiencing.  These last few years have been quite difficult for many as jobs are few and bills are many. 

The pictures of my girls displayed here take me back to the times I did so enjoy watching them enjoy the wonderful moments of Christmas.  And I never tire looking at them and remembering.  They are like watching a sunrise at the beach on a warm and balmy morning.

You won't find the true meaning of Christmas wrapped up in that beautiful package placed under the tree, but in your heart where it needs to be.  Remember that Christmas is about the Lord God, whatever you conceive him to be.

 Take a moment this Season and be grateful to Him who loves us unconditionally.  There and only there will you find the peace and purpose of your being and Christmas will be a joy!

It is then that we welcome the New Year, with an open mind, body, and heart, with grateful expectations of good health and many successes for all of those we care about. 

But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight,'  "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"*

*   Twas the Night Before Christmas, a poem by Clement Clarke Moore, also known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas" written in 1822 and published first by the New York Sentinel, Dec. 12, 1823.

No "Bah, humbug!" for me...I'll drink wine instead!

     The holiday season arrived too quickly this year and I am totally unprepared.  In prior years, by this time in December I am finishing small shopping lists for accidentals and deciding on my holiday meal preps. 

I happened to mention my lateness to a friend at lunch today.  I told her I was going home to put up my outside decorations.  She said, “Why bother?”

“Wow, are we all under the same impression that if you aren’t ready for the holidays by Nov. 1^st  just move on to next year, as this one is over?”

I sometimes wonder if the youth has the same scenario interpretation of age, after 40 go straight to death.  You couldn’t possibly catch up, so move on.

As I am approaching the year of the big 6…0…I definitely don’t want to be rushed.  Moving on is not an option. I have time, just like I have time to finish getting the decorations up and ready for this year’s holiday season.

Even Ebenezer Scrooge was given a chance to get it right.  So, I will take to the actions of the writer Charles Dickens, and declare there will be no “Bah, humbug!”  Or, “Why, bother?”

I can do this and have it all ready in time, the shopping for friends and family, the mailing of packages, the outside deer decorations, the Christmas tree and all the lights, the Christmas cards with special notes of love and laughter, and the preparations for the holiday meals and parties.

I’m popping the cork, as we speak!  “Cheers!”

“Hurry Back!” or in text lingo “HB!”

Kelloggs Crunches!

     My husband loves cereal, so we often have several boxes of cereal, many of which are Kelloggs.  Kelloggs recently had a promotion for a free CD of 10 minute workouts for a collection of 5 Kelloggs labels.  I thought 10 minute workouts sounds just like what I need for exercise, short and sweet.

When the CD arrived in the mail I quickly changed and popped it in, ready to do a quick exercise and feel I had made some commitment to being healthier.  I'm thinking slow and easy, no stress, minimal pain, just a comfortable 10 minutes, like taking a casual walk, the perfect time out, and I was ready.

Who pops up on the screen, non other than some beautiful, blonde, twenty year old with abs and buns of steel.  You knew instantly she had the entire collection of the steel body workouts, from the top of her head to her little piggy toe! 

She looks like the body I want but I want it without the pain and suffering and I know that that body only can possible take place in my imagination at my age.  Her enthusiasm compels me though, to lie on the floor on my rubber mat and proceed to do, what I believe to be 400 crunches.  We did them front, side, one leg up, both legs up, crossed over, holding for counts, small and fast, slow and long, 10 minutes seemed like 10 hours!  Kelloggs and Miss Steel Abs truly wanted to kill me!

The following morning I literally had to roll out of bed as my entire torso needed thermo heat wraps.  I needed the torso roll out package.  I asked myself, "What could be worse?"  And looking in the mirror I got my answer "Abs of Flab!"  I saw no improvement and oh how I hurt! 

The CD had other short workouts of leg lifts, bun ups, and arm strengthening, all of which were shelved, as I needed a month to recouperate movement in the mid section.

I now have moved on to another form of exercise which is more my speed.  I have started T'ai Chi classes and currently have learned 33 forms.  I have 15 more to learn and then I will have a short form routine to practice daily.  Meditation in movement, slow, easy, and it comes with no physical pain.  Funny how when we are young we live for the phrase no pain, no gain, so we work our bodies until they ache for days, knowing we will be a Miss Steel Ab lady.  Yes!

Now we just look forward to being a lady.  And sometimes we take her anyway we can. 

The good news is my instructor keeps telling the class that T'ai Chi balances the brain.  As the side of my brain that was working is now starting to fade perhaps this new side of the brain will kick in and my senior moments will diminish.  That's called Wishful Thinking!  "HB!" 

Stilettos A Go Go.....After 50 A No No!

     Recently, my daughter was sent a gift from a friend.  The gift was 4 inch stiletto heels, black leather, with buckles, and ties.  Gosh, they were fine!  As you can see in the picture.

Old time memories ran through my head of my young adult closet full of great stilettos, mini skirts, and straight leg jeans, much like the skinny jeans popular with the young today.

Fashion was fun and looking one's best whether you went shopping at the mall, dancing, or out on a hot date, was always essential.  In 4 inch heels one felt grand and everso tall.

Throughout the day I would open that box and feel the thrill of fashion styling again until I just had to try them on, just once for old time sake and..."OMG" no wonder I have arthritis.

I told myself I just needed to walk, it had to be like riding a bike, one never forgets.  So, I rose to the occasion and walked across the room.  That grand feeling I spoke of was dizziness for fear of falling.

I felt like the ugly step sister crammed in that slipper, my instep was aching, my toes all jammed tight, my heels got blistered, and my ego was crushed.  I walked very clumsy in those shoes not at all like I used to.

I wondered how I ever walked all day and for hours in shoes of that nature, let alone danced.  Still, the memories of being young and crazy (for one has to be crazy to wear such crippling vices) felt warm and wonderful.

I think I will return to reality and know that memories are there to keep our hearts young but flip flops after 50 keep our feet cool, fresh, and comfortable.  Glad to be back on the ground!  "HB!"

Tradition....It Feels Right!

No matter the year, the place, the product....the feeling is always the same,

"Good Food, Good Friends, Good Family,"

           "Happy Thanksgiving!"

No Longer a Fantasy

     I can remember receiving an invitation to join AARP at the age of 48.  To consider I was a senior was unthinkable and only happened certainly after retirement, which seemed light years away.   I laughed at the suggestion that the cell phone of my generation was called the jitterbug with capabilities only to make and receive phone calls in large print, and to announce to a long standing fast food line, that I needed a senior coffee reflected insanity.  The use of Lady Clairol was products of my parent's generation and my use of L'Oreal Preference then upgraded to Feria was only to enrich and enhance my hair color.

There was no major motivation to cover the massive gray appearing but rather the few that popped up now and again, usually caused (I thought) by parenting teens.  Reading glasses, heart, joint, and brain vitamins, arthritis creams, and anti-aging cosmetic formulas were for older others, certainly not me, until today, 10 years later!

When did it happen, how did it happen, why did it have to happen?  I can only imagine my fairy godmother had dementia and when she waved that magic wand for transformation to a younger me it all backed fired and suddenly senior was what I awoke to at the stroke of midnight!

These last 10 years seemed to have stopped and I suddenly awoke from a coma to discover I'm not only a senior but one who no longer wants to upgrade.  As I sit at my computer facing the dreaded pop-up window asking to install the newest upgrade to one of my most favorite programs, I contemplate whether I will recognize anything on the page ever again.

 I am constantly confronted with spyware and trojans that the programs I have just don't seem to eliminate, which sometimes makes working on a computer stressful certainly not user friendly.  What frightens me most is after the change and I click the mouse to install it, I am no longer able to navigate what turns up on the screen.

Please don't ask me how I got Google, AOL, Yahoo, Ask, Webroot, or any of the other 10 toolbars on my Internet site.  And if I were taking an exam to cover some of the technologies that have taken place these last ten years I would probably only get one answer correct, that would be "OMG" a three letter text abbreviation for "Oh, my God"...the expression I am often feeling with this ever changing world of cyberspace.

We only have ourselves to blame for in trying to save money, we bought into a program of text messaging for our children which kept cell phone calling affordable.  I recently had to spend another $10 to my cell phone bill, as my younger daughter, stopped answering her phone calls and in order to keep in touch I had to text. 

Then in order to understand her response back to "please drive carefully and responsibly" I got "UG2BK!"  What the hell does that mean, which led me to invest in a periodic TEXT MESSAGE TABLE for valuable text conversation of "You've got to be kidding?"

Kidding I'm not...by the time I had put 80 songs on my Ipod Nano that held, I believe, 200 songs, they had created the Nano of 5000 songs and video capabilities.

Books are now downloaded to a small screen computer called the kindle.  Cell phones, not only do they take your pictures, but do almost everything else available to a technological guru.  The flipping up, down, across, in and out, only makes me dizzy and in order to read not only the numbers but who might be calling on my cell without finding my reading glasses, the jitterbug is sounding more like the phone I need.  "OMG" how awful is that!

I have come to another crossroad in my life, how to be comfortable in my skin.  It may take awhile, as it is all new and I'm not quite sure I like it.  It certainly won't include gray hair just yet, comfort in gray for me will take time, but I am willing to consider senior moments, as they are happening more frequently and I'm not embarrassed by them, they only make me "LOL".  I use to think that meant "Lots of Love" until my older daughter used it in a message on facebook and "Lots of Love" made no sense.  If you are looking to feel comfortable in your skin come join me and we can grow comfortable together with laughs at our everyday situations including our over sized Prince Charmings and the realities of aging fantasies. "HB!"