Because It's Beautiful!

Life of flowers from VOROBYOFF PRODUCTION on Vimeo.

It's a New Year

So now it's 2011, where have I been for a month? This holiday season has been so long and drawn out and depleting. At least it felt that way to me.

Now I think I have a cold coming and just want to sleep. Of course that's not going to happen, on to plan B.

All I need now is a plan B! Happy New Year all!

Shoe Fetish

Shoes are not really my thing, comfort is. For some reason however when I saw the ad for these new Keds, I fell in love.

They speak to me. The textures, the colors and the stripes in the lining seem to be saying "come with me, let's go for a walk".

At $60 a pair, only at Bloomingdales, I may have to put them on my wish list.

Spectator sneakers...brilliant!

Finishing Sentences

Menopausal hormone fluctuations have turned me into a blithering idiot! I can't seem to finish a sentence without saying things like "you know what I mean right?" or "what's that word". I mean, I'm an intelligent woman who seems to have mysteriously lost the ability to communicate her thoughts.

I knew memory loss was a menopause symptom but I didn't realize that becoming incoherent was one as well. There are days where I'm almost stuttering to get my words out. There does seem to be an upside to this however, writing comes much easier now. The words and stories floating around in my head are endless. Writing is now the only way to get them out.

Since I also have almost no people skills anyway, it's best I don't try to speak. The dogs, cats and my son have always looked at me like I was crazy when I spoke, so nothing has changed there.

Perhaps when menopause has passed and I'm an old woman, my speech will return to normal and I can become the eccentric storyteller I was meant to be!

A Change of Tune

When I started this blog I decided to chronicle my journey through menopause. What I have found out is that will involve a lot of whining and negativity.
So while I still intend to write about what things I have found to help or not to help throughout the process, I have decided to make this blog more about whatever I find interesting.

That may change over time and who knows where it will end up. I just know I can't keep blogging about no sleep and hot flashes. Not to mention my bitchy attitude. I'm still a women approaching fifty and I have noticed that what I find amusing or what pisses me off, changes from day to day.
At the very least, this blog will be more interesting to more people. Here's to changes of all kinds!

Promtacular!

I came across a website this week that just made me laugh out loud until I was crying. Since I hardly ever do that anymore, I thought I'd share. You must go and check out Promtacular.

It's a collection of prom photo's over the decades sent in from the photo owners. I have always known that laughing at ourselves can be very cathartic and boy did this site accomplish that!

I never went to my own prom, but now I know what I was missing, lol. Really, need a chuckle? Then go check it out.

Oh Canada!

I have to say I very much enjoyed Canada's Winter Olympics opening ceremonies last night. The video effects in the arena were stunning and the choice of talented, diverse and yet heartwarming performances were well thought out and quite moving.

The very best part for me was listening to Donald Sutherland narrate the story and then seeing him carry the flag. Ever since I saw the original Mash movie, I've had a bit of an imaginary love affair going on with him. His voice and stage presence reminds me very much of my father and he has also managed to age in the most eloquent way.

I hate to sound like a cliche but why don't they make men like that anymore? Maybe I have to move to Canada to find one. I admit if it weren't for the bitter cold, I'd probably already be there. Canada has always been on my list of places I'd most like to live.

I wish the very best to the Canadian and American athletes competing, and hope they all realize just being there completes a level of excellence most of us can only dream about. Let the games begin!

Speak With Conviction

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Still Hibernating

So it's 2010 and yet I feel 2009 and was somehow unfinished. I can't quite put my finger on why I feel this way. It may have something to do with the twenty five plus projects that were left unfinished or the fact that family situations that I really wanted to put a cap on, are still unresolved. The year end seemed to sneak up on me this year and then passed over without notice.

Any plans for the new year are as frozen as the ridiculous Florida cold we have been having this week. I learned something new about myself though, apparently I can't think at all if the temps drop below 50 degrees and stay there for a week! I become some kind of animal, hibernating until the thaw. Eat, sleep and stay warm is about it.

I wish it hadn't taken so long for me to discover this. I might not have wasted those many years dreaming of a farm in the country, up north. That may have worked for me when I was younger but clearly a bad plan at this age.

So now I need a new dream destination. I also need a new plan for productive retirement. Then again, maybe you just need the right clothes. I'm mean really, how much farming do you do in the winter anyway?

Is My Butt on Fire?

It was 38 degrees here this morning with a wind chill advisory in effect. "Here" would be South Florida. While I spend most of the fall bitching about never having cold weather for the holidays and having to spend Christmas with the air conditioning on, I'm always surprised when we really do get a cold front. Not cold by most standards of course, but still I'm never prepared.

This morning I had to get up and go walk dogs in flannel pajama pants, Crocs with socks and two T-shirts covered by an old flannel shirt. Thankfully, the rest of the world never sees me during my rounds (except maybe the nosy neighbors of the homes I'm pet sitting for).

My son on the other hand, is always better dressed than mom. He actually got some warm sweat pants for Christmas (thank you KT!) and has a sweater to match. He even had on matching socks and sneakers!

The one thing I am very grateful for is that my car is always prepared. I discovered last winter that my car had heated seats. I've own the car for five years now and found the button by accident. I must of hit it by mistake while trying to do something else. All I know is I was riding along and suddenly my butt was on fire! Or so I thought. I pulled over off the road, got my son out of the car and waited for it to blow up.

Nothing happened. I didn't smell smoke, nothing was melting, so I decided to investigate.
That's when I noticed the little icon on my dash that was suppose to look like a seat, with a red light next to it. There was a matching icon and light on the right side of the dash. Huh? I touched the passenger seat and it was cold, so I turned the button on.

Low and behold, the seat got warm.

How could I have owned this car for five years and never known this?! My butt, not to mention my aching back was angry and thrilled at the same time. Ever since then, I have taken full advantage of this wonderful and self indulgent feature. I'm not much of a car enthusiast (I just need one that works) but this thin skinned South Floridian with no clothes would like to shake the hand of the person who invented heated car seats!

*Photo Credit:US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Happy Holidays To All!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas

and Happy Holidays!

Something Else to be Thankful For

Thanksgiving has always been kind of an odd holiday at our house. My father was half native American and my mother is English. I didn't live in this country until I was twelve. We did celebrate Thanksgiving but it never had any long standing family traditions or recipes we shared. Mom did her best to cook the standard fare and we were told that it was a time to be grateful for the things we had. Dad stories of the Pilgrims and the Indians, did not match what we were taught in school however.

The textbook stories made the day easier to celebrate, but in my gut I always thought it sounded too warm and fuzzy to be entirely true. As an adult, I know the real history now and choose to celebrate it as a day to give thanks for the harvest and the good things we have shared throughout the year. This is what I will tell my son and as he grows, I will teach him about what really happened to the Indians. Considering the actual history, I suppose we should also be thankful any of his ancestors survive today.

Childhood Perceptions

When I was a girl, we had a large marble top dining room table. As a family we ate meals there, did our homework and a lot of crafts. I remember rolling cookie dough on the cold marble top and setting out trays and trays of cooked ones to cool. It was smooth, solid and seemed to spread out forever. I remember thinking growing up that I could build anything on it because it was huge!

I now have that same table in my dining room. As an adult, it never seems big enough for anything. It actually measures 60" x 36" and seats six people. I use this table to home school my son, to do craft projects, occasionally eat a meal and anything else I need a large flat surface for. It's still smooth as glass and very solid (it weighs a ton and needs two men to move it).

Now however, I wish it were twice a big. The same table that swallowed up anything I put on it a child, has now been dwarfed by the possessions of a adult.

I love this table, but like so many things that held special power when we were children, now that I am an adult, the table is just a table. I look around my home today and wonder what things my son perceives as awesome and powerful? Will it be the tall bookcases? The four post bed in mom's room? Or maybe that very same marble top table?

How to Keep a Good Pet Sitter

As you know by my profile, I'm a pet sitter. I have been doing this for a very long time, along with my vet tech work in earlier days. While I know it may be hard to find a good pet sitter, here is my tongue in cheek (not really) list of ways to keep a good pet sitter! I know this post has nothing to do with menopause other than the fact that I'm feeling bitchy today.

1. When you agreed to leave payment on the kitchen counter, don't instead leave a note saying how you were a little short on vacation spending cash, so you will "pop" the check in the mail when you get home. Chances are your sitter has budgeted that payment towards this weeks groceries for her family.


2. Don't leave without telling your sitter you recently changed the locks forcing her to use the doggy door. Of course this only works if you own a Great Dane anyway!


3. Please, please, please do not forget to mention your Uncle Billy sometimes stops by with his girlfriends to use the pool.....naked!


4. Don't forget to close the doors leading to anywhere in your home the diabetic cat can hide when it's time to get his insulin. This will result in your sitter re-arranging all the furniture in your house looking for said cat only to find he is up inside your king size bed's torn open box spring and isn't going to get his insulin at all. This will next result in a phone call to you requesting you return home as your cat will most likely not survive two weeks without his insulin.


5. Make sure to leave all sex toys in a secure spot where your dog will not find them and request a game of impromptu tug-a-war with your sitter.


6. Please inform nosy old Mrs Jones next door that it's ok for your sitter to walk around the outside of your home inspecting the premises and not to call the police (especially if she sees said sitter climbing through the doggy door).


7. During hurricane season, don't expect your sitter to put up your 35 plus shutters for no extra charge.


8. Don't asked your sitter to "as long as your here" run the vacuum.


9. Don't think your helping your sitter gain new clients by referring her to your crazy Aunt with 27 cats, 8 dogs (all Chihuahuas who pee on the floor), 4 parrots (who bite), 3 rabbits and a ferret. All of which she cooks "special" diets for. There is not enough pay in the world to make that job worth it!


10. If you arrive home early and forget to tell your sitter (who shows up at 7am), please don't ask her to join you for coffee in your underwear. Expect to be charged for the visit regardless.

Believe it or not, all these things have happen to me over the years, sometimes more than once!

Escaping, Just for a Moment

Do you ever have crazy thoughts run through your head, while your watching a crime drama?
You know, the cool car, cool toys and think

"I could do that".

Yeah, I’ll become a detective, or a crime fighter.

Why not? What’s stopping me?

Then you stop eating your tortilla chips and look around. Your eighteen year old cat just threw up a hairball in the corner of the room. Mr. Potato Head stares at you from the coffee table and you remember.
You remember you’re a 48 year old mother of a 4 year old with a pet sitting business. So, probably not cool enough.

But for a brief moment, the TV did what it’s supposed to do. Provide a temporary escape from the mundane everyday world around you.

So to "Burn Notice", "Leverage", "In Plain Sight" and others, thank you. Thank you for that moment.

Farewell My Sad Faced Friend.

My "Blue" dog has left us now.

Happy trails forever Blue!

1999-2009

Does Misery Love Company?

How many times a day does someone ask you how you are? It's a simple question, at the teller window, at the office, maybe your mother asks. Yet, do they really want to know? Even if they do, why do I always lie?

No matter what's going on in my life, I feel compelled to say "fine" or " great". Inside however, I'm screaming... today sucks! I haven't eaten, my son had three melt downs before noon, my car isn't running right and my dog is dying.

Now I know, no one really wants to hear that and I'm probably just a tad overwrought at the moment, but boy would I really like to answer that question without thinking first. Of course, I won't because I can never know what the other person is screaming inside. Then again, they say misery loves company, so maybe if I did answer truthfully, we could all just have a good cry.

Big Yellow Dog

This is my yellow lab "Blue"

This week I got some bad news, he has lung cancer.

It is not the kind of cancer that there

is any beneficial treatment for.

So we are spending our last days in the garden, playing and digging. We hope to have a few more weeks together.

Smoothie Therapy

We don't have Jack-in-the-Box restaurants in our area, so I had not seen this ad until I saw it online. If you want to watch it click on the "commercials " tab at their web site and it's the first one. The company is using the stereotype of a menopausal woman to promote their new smoothie. It appears some people find it insulting to women.

I don't know about you but I'll jump at any chance to laugh at myself right now! It's a very short and to the point commercial and there is nothing subtle about their intent. The wardrobe worn by the woman has a distinct retro feel and I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. Personally, I think the "Jack" character is scarier than the menopausal woman. I only wish I looked that good in the garden!

My Generation

I'm part of Generation Jones and I didn't even know it! Apparently the those of us at the tail end of the baby boomer generation have our own label. We were born between the mid-fifties and the mid-sixties and we are just as likely to be mothers of young children as we are to grandmothers. It also appears we are a very diverse group.
According to Carol Davies in an article published on Marketing Daily:

"Younger Boomers, with millions of them approaching 50, have always felt in the shadow of older ones. And they've always felt younger. "

I have to agreed there, I never really felt like part of the whole Boomer generation and now I can proudly flaunt my Generation Jones membership! It's nice to have a tribe.