EASTER 2008

JASON AND ERIN

Jason and Erin drove up from Memphis, TN to spend the Easter weekend with us. We had such a good time while they were here. We ate out several times, watched movies, played Skip-Bo, talked and laughed,and just generally had fun. I took lots of photos. Easter Sunday, we cooked the pork chops and salmon steaks on the grill, and they turned out just great! There were three Easter egg trees in the yard to add a little bit of whimsical color to a landscape that is still a bit drab. The forsythias and jonquils were in their glory so we had a hint of Spring outside. The temperature was cool, for the most part, but we got by with sweaters. Nice weekend. I am quite convinced that any holiday is so much better when family is around.

DON AND ME

EASTER EGG TREE

JASON FEEDS THE EASTER BUNNY

PORK CHOPS AND SALMON STEAKS ON THE GRILL

ST. PATRICK'S DAY MUSINGS

"St. Patrick's Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter's dreams into summer's magic."-- Adrienne Cook



Another St. Patrick's Day! I've made it through another winter....just barely....although I must admit that this one hasn't been nearly as depressing as some in the past. That's probably because of the diversion the winter gathering of friends and family brought the end of January. A bright spot in the gloom.

This St. Patrick's day is not as gloriously beautiful as some in the past have been.....2006, in particular. That was a gorgeous day! Sunny, very spring-like, yellow forsythias blooming profusely. Not much sunshine today. A bit chilly. The forsythias are shy this year. Just a hint of yellow here and there.

It's time to start whipping the yard into shape. Don made a stab at it by bagging a couple of big bags of leaves. I need to tidy up the flower beds and prune the Altheas. They bloom on new growth, you know, and pruning encourages them to send out new shoots. I'm looking forward to working outside again, in one way: fresh air, more communion with the earth and garden plants, the diversion of birds, squirrels and insect life. On the other hand, there are so many reasons that I don't enjoy working in the yard: ticks, chiggers, mosquitoes, for three. I also know that it's going to mess up my breathing; leaf dust is a killer! And the old Sciatic nerve always kicks in when I rake and sweep too much. Sciatica can, and has, sent me to bed for a week. I'll have to pace myself.

I wonder if the black snake will be back this year? I didn't see it last year. It's a big one.....5 feet long, I would guess. Black snakes are harmless, but they have a rattle on the end of their tails like a poisonous rattler does. That can scare the bejabbers out of you until you ascertain that it's only the black snake two steps away from your feet, not a rattler, and that death is not imminent after all. I hope it's still out there somewhere so I can get Don to take a photo of me holding it. That would be sooooooo cool!

I didn't see as many blue-tailed lizards last summer. Miss Priss was then a stray and lived outside last year. She was the cause of the demise of many of them. Now that she's an official member of the family, she's an inside kitty, so maybe the lizards will have a chance. I love to see them sunning on the stone wall next to the porch stairs. One of them was a fat guy. I named him Big Al.

I saw a hummingbird feeder hanging from a porch yesterday. It's a bit early for that. Hummers traditionally drift into town around the first few days in April. I hang 8 feeders for them. It's quite a job to keep them filled and keep the ants and wasps away from them. It's time to pull the feeders out of the cabinet underneath the sink to decide if I can use all of them from last year, or if I need to buy a few new ones. It becomes quite a responsibility if you hang feeders. The hummers depend on you to keep them filled and mildew-free. Don't start that job if you are a slacker. It's a job well worth the time and trouble. Hummers are very entertaining. Quite the clowns. Very territorial, and they treat me to many a fierce avian sword fight as I sit on the porch swing in the afternoons. You'd think that with 8 hummingbird feeders in the yard, there would be enough for everybody, but that's not the way they all think. Invariably, we have one or two who think only of themselves, claim all the feeders for their own, and chase off the others. I know people like that, don't you?

TWO HOLIDAYS, TOO CLOSE TOGETHER

I'm a bit befuddled by the closeness of St. Patrick's Day and Easter this year. St. Patrick's Day is staying where it should be, but Easter is extra-early this year. I read that the 22nd of March is the earliest possible day for Easter to be celebrated. It will be 280 something years before that will happen again. Easter is the 23rd this year. That's just too darn early. I have my fingers crossed that it won't be a cold, windy day. You never know about March. April is a much better month for Easter. For one thing, there is no green grass to be seen here in Eureka Springs. How in the world will the Chamber of Commerce hold their annual Easter Egg Hunt? The forsythias are lagging behind this year too. I've seen scraggly blooms here and there around town, but usually they are showing in glorious profusion by St. Patrick's Day. Not so this year.



Don and I thought we'd have a hum-drum Easter this year, but our spirits perked up when I received an e-mail from Jason this morning. He and Erin will drive up from Memphis to spend the weekend with us. Yippee! Now, I have planning to do. We will cook out on the grill Easter Sunday. I will probably make the Easter Bunny cake like my grandmother Baldridge always did. The last time I made one was in 2006. (See photo below.) I might even throw some Easter baskets together with the usual junk candy....jelly beans, chocolate eggs, Peeps, etc. I haven't done that in a long time, and the sugar won't kill us if we only eat it for a few days.

I bought Easter bunny ears at Wal-Mart to take a silly photo to e-mail to all our family and friends. I'll add it to this blog when I get that done. We'll look goofy, but so what? We're old; we can act as goofy as we like.


I think I can probably talk Jason and Erin into dyeing eggs Saturday night if they're not too tired from the drive. If they are, that's fine. I can do it alone. I'm looking for some sort of special way to dye them; something different from the usual food color dyes, but if I can't find anything, the old-fashioned way will do. At least it's traditional.



Speaking of Easter egg hunts: I miss not having any little ones around for that. When we move to Memphis, there are 4 darling little children that I think will allow me to join in their festivities. I'm looking forward to that.


I remember Easters of long ago. We always had to have a new Easter outfit. It would have been embarrassing, almost scandalous, not to have new clothes to wear to church. That new outfit included gloves and a hat. No decent woman attended church without both. Lots of women wore corsages for Easter. Do women still wear corsages to church? We always bought them for our mothers and grandmothers on Easter and Mother's Day.



St. Patrick's Day has always been a favorite holiday of mine. Maybe it's because green is one of my three favorite colors. Green is a good color to see as Winter drags its old depressing self off the calendar. Shamrocks, leprechauns, lilting brogues......I like them all. It's almost here again. Don't forget to wear something green tomorrow, or you'll get pinched. If you want to get pinched, forget what I said.



Happy St. Patrick's Day and have a wonderful Easter!

THINK YELLOW!

We are more than a week into March, and the month is living up to its capricious, fickle reputation. One day is spring-like, the next is like winter. We are beginning to experience more days --- more often --- that smell like spring. Green things are appearing ---though not quickly enough for my liking --- amongst the grays and browns in the landscape. Yesterday was a perfectly gorgeous day! It wasn't forecast to be, but the fact that it was made it even more enjoyable. Winter returned overnight, but the memory of yesterday, and the joy it brought, lingers.

Today on our way to lunch at the restaurant at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks, I felt color-blind. Yes, there was greenery here and there, but, for the most part, my eyes were assaulted by dullness...... grays and browns in the vegetation and a steel-gray sky. No sunshine today. No golden glow. Just blahness.

As we neared the corner by the post office, my eyes were drawn to a piece of earth next to the parking lot at Pine and Spring Sts. Color! And not just any color! Yellow! The brightest, sunniest color of all! Until I spotted it, I felt as though I was living in one of those black and white TV commercials that are monochromatic except for one bright spot of color used to draw attetention to a certain feature. They do the same thing in magazine ads where, say, in a black and white photo, one's eyes are drawn to a single red rose.

This morning my color-starved eyes were drawn to a spot of yellow and feasted on a clump of jonquils! They weren't there yesterday. Today, just when I've almost reached the end of my rope as far as believing that I will live to see another spring, there were cheery flowers to reinforce my will to live. Hold on a while longer. Spring is coming! If there's one thing we need in March, it's yellow flowers. Jaunty daffodils refresh the soul. Even if it snows tonight, they will soldier on and be there tomorrow to encourage me.

I don't think it is an accident that yellow is the first color to make an appearance in early spring. Have you noticed that? That flowers tend to bloom by color scheme. First yellows, then pinks, then purples, then whites. There is some overlapping, of course, because flowers can be renegades, and some rebel flowers appear when are doggone ready to, but for the most part, there is a pattern. That is not an accident.

What color is cheerier.....happier.... than yellow? None, and that's why forsythias and jonquils are the first to bloom at the end of winter when we need them the most. Yes, the jonquils are up and beginning to bloom. Buds are forming on the forsythia bushes at this moment. Every warm day that pops in to give them encouragement assures them that Spring is coming.

Jonquils are growing in my yard. The green is showing, but I don't see the buds yet. They're working on it though. Nature's mood lifters are on the way and will soon be here to bring a smile to my face as I walk back and forth to the car. What a relief to know that yellow is back and not a minute too soon! Bring it on!

VALENTINE'S DAY MEMORIES

I have a friend from my elementary school days, and he and I have been reminiscing about Valentine's Day parties. About a week before the big day -- in art class -- we would create beautiful card receptacles from construction paper, brown paper bags, paste, glitter and poster paints. They were works of art. Masterpieces. My friend found some of his sacks, still full of valentines, in his mother's attic. What memories! Some of the people who signed his cards are no longer alive. It's been 52 years! How can that be?

I was a take-charge sort of a little girl and, as far as valentines went, I did it all. I walked to the TG&Y store, or the ten-cent store, as we called it, on Getwell Road and purchased my valentines. I always bought one of those big variety packs and a special card for my teacher and one for the "cute boy du jour" that I had a crush on. I was very fickle in those days, and the object of my affection changed weekly, so the boy for whom I picked out the card might not be the one who got it.

In preparation for the card giving, our teachers wrote the names of the members of her class on the blackboard. We copied them all down in our tablets or three-ring notebooks. This would be our master list from which we addressed our cards. We were strongly encouraged by our teacher to be sure to give everyone on the list a card, even if we hated their guts. A kid who got no valentines could be scarred for life, and Heaven knows, I didn't want that on my conscience, so everyone received a card from me, and I certainly appreciated the favor. Popularity could hinge on something as flimsy as how many valentines a person received.

So, the Valentine's Day sack was made, and the teacher had hung it up on the wall with all the others. I had the valentines in my hot little hands. I had the master names list. Time to go to work. I can see myself now. I'm sitting at the dinner table. A stack of valentines and envelopes are on the table in front of me. To the left of them is the master list. To the right is a stack of pretty Valentine's Day stickers and three or four freshly sharpened pencils. Addressing valentines was not a job for an ink pen. If you made a mistake, there was no rectifying it. No bottles of "White Out" in those days, and even if there had been, would you have wanted to receive a shabby Valentine with white, gunky smears all over it? No, there was nothing to do for it except to toss the screwed-up valentine in the trash can. It just killed me to waste my hard-earned dollar a week allowance on messed up valentines, so I was very careful. I addressed them with a #2 pencil with a quality eraser.

Ok, so I would look at the first name on my master list, then thumb through my stack for the perfect valentine for that person. This was no haphazard undertaking. I tried to match the valentine to the person. If that person liked kitties, they got a valentine with a cat on it. A lot of thought went into the whole process. Then I signed my name, addressed the envelope, slipped the valentine inside and sealed it with a Valentine's Day sticker. Even then, I'm proud to say that I went the extra mile. After I finished, I carefully put them in a sack and placed them right next to my book satchel so I wouldn't forget them. The next day, it was so much fun to drop them in the prettily-decorated bags. The party would be held the last hour of the school day, and waiting for that time to come was as bad as trying to get to sleep on Christmas Eve. The anticipation was almost unbearble.

I will never forget the Valentine's Day party when I was in the 6th grade at Sherwood Elementary School. That was the year that I, little June Baldridge, reached the height of my social life. It had never been better before that day, and it has never been better since. The triumph! The joy! The exhilaration! I received THREE --count them -- small heart-shaped boxes of chocolate candy! Let me tell you, it doesn't get any better than that in life. Since then, there have been beautiful bouquets of red roses, gorgeous Valentines from my sweetheart, and much bigger boxes of Russell Stover's candy, but that Valentine's Day will live in my memory until the day I die. Thank you, Sam Griffin, Joe Griffith and Mike Newsom....wherever you are .... and Happy Valentine's Day!

Don and me....Valentines since 1969

BOLOGNA CUPS

As our family and friends gathered here in Eureka Springs two weeks ago, the conversation turned, as it often does when families reminisce, to the comfort food of childhood. One of my children's favorites was, and is, Bologna Cups. Doesn't sound very appetizing? Maybe that's because it's a Memphis Thing. I think that's why my sons' ladies fail to appreciate the appeal of that tasty dish. They are from barbaric areas of our fine country.....California, Virginia, and Texas..... and just don't see it. Most born-and-bred Memphians love Bologna cups, having been introduced to them at a very young age by the school system.

I remember well the first time I ate a Bologna Cup. It was in the cafeteria of Rozelle Elementary School which I attended from the first grade through the first half of the fourth. I had never tasted anything so delicious in my life! What a fantastic idea! I loved Bologna, and I loved mashed potatoes. Here were my two favorites combined! It just didn't get any better than that.

Bologna, or baloney, as it's pronounced in good Southern homes, was a staple at our house, as was ground beef and canned meats such as Vienna Sausages, corned beef, and potted meat. These "meats" grew to favor during the Great Depression because they were dirt cheap. My parents' families were poor before the Depression, and during and after, they sure didn't have the money for steaks. When my parents married, they carried on the fine tradition of serving up cheap meats in cans and frying ground beef in all sorts of ways in pure lard. Yum. Yum. Bacon grease was saved to season vegetables. In those days, I'm surprised that anybody's heart was able to pump blood through blocked arteries longer than 40 years, but, I'm telling you, the food was delicious!

But to get back to the Bologna Cups.... every time the subject comes up, our children rhapsodize about them, but the family members, who don't actually have our blood coursing through their veins, sniff with disgust and roll their eyes. Bologna Cups! Whoever heard of such a thing? That sounds disgusting!

Our children love them, and our boys would like for their ladies to dish them up occasionally. Well, I don't think Jason expects Erin to cook them because she's a vegetarian, and he is sensitive to her feelings about that. Tom, along with Robin, does eat vegetarian most of the time, but he still appreciates a good Bologna Cup every now and then. He's had to master the delicate technique and learn to cook them himself. Keith's wife, Brandi, doesn't understand all the excitement about them. I think she has prepared them a time or two, but she'd really rather not, and she'd rather take a beating than to eat one.

If you don't know exactly how to prepare Bologna Cups, but your mouth is simply watering at the prospect of eating them, here's what you do:

First, you make a big pot of mashed potatoes. I use an entire 5-lb bag for this because I want to make enough Bologna Cups to last for a while When the potatoes are boiled and mashed, you grab a package or two of all-beef Bologna. Heat up a skillet.... an electric skillet is best because you can cook more pieces at a time and start gobbling them up sooner. Drop the Bologna in the skillet and stand back and gaze in wonder as it curls up into cute little bowls. Is that not the neatest thing you've ever seen? Some sort of mysterious scientific principle is involved here, but I can't explain it. Suffice it to say, that it's miraculous! After a minute or so, flip the Bologna over and let the little bowls curl up the other way. It's really fun to watch them, but try to contain yourself and only do it twice. You don't want to scorch your Bologna.

Now, here's the trick: Quickly, before the Bologna loses its shape, start slapping big spoonsful of mashed potatoes in the bowls. Use your own good judgment as to how much to pile on each one. When each Bologna bowl has taters, it's time for the final touch: Kraft's American Cheese slices. Place one-half slice on each Bologna Cup. Then, place the cover of the electric skillet over the skillet for a few minutes so the cheese will melt. Ah..... a Southern gourmet meal. Voila! Bologna Cups! That's some mighty fine eating!

Other family culinary delights are salmon croquettes, made sort of the way Mama made them... although I changed the recipe slightly.... and boiled peanuts. We are still in the process of convincing the ladies that those dishes are delicacies. We've tried for years, but they just don't get it. We can only pity them. They just don't know what they're missing.

GROUND HOG DAY

This morning I jumped out of bed and rushed to my computer to see if Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. Yes, he did. Bummer! Six more weeks of winter. The more I think about it, though, that's not such a long time. It seems like the days fly by for me even in the winter. We should start seeing more days in the 50's and low 60's now. I was cheered enormously when I looked out the window this evening, and it was still light at 5:40! That's quite an improvement from the darkness I saw through the window at 5:15 in December. We still have capricious March to get through. Jonquils will be blooming, but it could snow at any time. Actually, March, here in Eureka Springs, was beautiful last year. Then came a killing frost in April that zapped my beautiful wisteria and lots of other early-blooming spring flowers. You just never know.

I was disappointed that AOL had not posted the Punxsatawney Phil prediction on my Welcome Screen. It was nowhere to be found. I had to do a search for the official Phil site to find out what went down this morning. Honestly, I think the Ground Hog story is every bit as important as the craziness in Britney Spears' life. I wish I had a dollar for every morning that I've signed on the computer to have her face or crotch staring back at me. Shame on you, AOL!

This is my favorite photo from last week's family/friend gathering: It's a family portrait. Left to right, standing: Tom, me, Don and left to right, sitting: Jason and Debbie

It's been so quiet around here tonight. So different from last Saturday night when everyone came back to the house after Jason and Emil's performance at The New Delhi Cafe. I'm bored. Don should be home from work any minute. Then I'll have some good company.

SNOW DAY!

Gosh, it seems like forever since I've posted a blog. I have a good reason. The gathering of the clan and friends last week took all my attention and energy. I would love to write about the occasion, but it would take three or four blogs to do it, so all I'm going to say about it is that I had one of the best times of my life while it was going on. I love everyone who was here, and I hope we can do it again. Seeing everybody in the dead of winter was a wonderful diversion for me. It was good for my soul and my mental well-being. I get the winter blues so bad. By now, I've usually had to pop a Xanax or two to make myself chipper again. I'm in great spirits this year, and it's all because I had that wonderful gathering to plan for and look forward to. Now I'm turning my thoughts toward another gathering in Memphis, TN in April.

We got a good snow early this morning. There were five inches on the ground by the time we got up around 9 A.M. The whole world was pure and white. Not a footprint was in the yard. Not even bird scratchings. The raccoons must have stayed burrowed in last night because there was no trace of them. We got a light, fine snow off and on all day long. Another inch was forecast for tonight. A lot of it will melt away tomorrow because the temperature will be above freezing and we will have "abundant sunshine." That's what the weather forecast says.

Usually, I don't want to see snow. It makes my feelings of cabin fever worse. I feel even more closed in......trapped, really. It's been a long time since I've wanted to go out and play in the snow. This year is different because I bought a pair of really cute all-weather/snow boots. I was hoping for one good snow so I could stomp around in them. I love these boots! They are fur-lined and very stylish, I think, or as stylish as rubber boots can be. Anyway, I wore them outside today while photographing the snow. A snow on January 31st, 2008! We also had a snow last January 31st! Do I see a pattern here? The boots were everything I dreamed they would be. Easy to slip on, very comfortable and warm. Ok.....been there; done that. No more snows this year, thank you very much. I've worn my boots. Now, I'm ready for spring.

LIVING LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

First, a report on my physical shape. I'm still plodding along with the health plan. I haven't done any damage to it, but I haven't been doing as much as I should, or could, to speed things up either. We've skipped the walk at the track for most of the past week because we've been up so late doing genealogy research. We've been bed slugs in the mornings, and I'm not proud of it. I really feel bad about that. Not bad enough to go to the track tomorrow morning, but bad, still. We'll get back in the groove Monday. I've promised myself that I will.

For the last few days I've been flipping through old magazines to see if there are any articles or pictures that I want to keep before tossing them. I came across something interesting in an AARP Magazine that I want to share with you. The title of the article is "Fast-track Flirting."

It seems that we are all too busy to court or woo a member of the opposite sex these days. We're in such a big hurry that we just can't take the time to slowly get to know one another. We have people to see and things to do. The days of leisurely wine and dine dates are over. To help us out, a new method of getting to know one another is sweeping the nation. It's called "Speed Dating."

This new form of dating started with professional people in their 20's and 30's. The idea has caught on with senior citizens too, and rightly so, since we have a heck of a lot less time than those young folks do to get it on with someone. We never know when we might drop dead of a heart attack because of seeing ourselves naked in a full-length mirror. But is speed-dating a good idea for people who are slowing down in all other aspects of their lives? We move slower. We think slower. Shouldn't we date slower too?

Here's what happens at a speed dating event: You sign up, and then you sit down at a table with one person and talk to them for three minutes, or so, to see if he or she appeals to you, or as we used to say in my dating days, rattles your cage. After your minutes are up, you boogie on down to another table ( running full-speed, I suppose, since you're short on time and have things to do, remember?), and talk to another possible datee for a few minutes. You just keep popping up every few minutes when the bell rings, or you're told to switch tables. I guess it's decided ahead of time who will pop up, and who will remain seated. It sure wouldn't do for you both to jump up and run to another table. You might keep meeting the same person all night. I guess you could say, in that case, it means Fate threw you together, if you wanted to make the best of it.

The comments of one 73-year old speed dater, Gerry, cracks me up. He said that, with such a short time available, he gets right to the point and asks, " What medications are you on, and how many times have you been married?"

Of all the nerve! I think I'd have to tell ol' Gerry that I have a question for him too: "How many seconds would it take you to get away from my table? We've only been talking for one minute, but I can tell already that I don't like you. Go!"

I would think you'd have to pose your questions very delicately so you wouldn't come off as too nosy or too materialistic. For example, you'd want to start out asking benign, sappy questions like "What makes you happy?" or "What do you do for fun?" Then with, say, 20 seconds of time left, you could lean back casually and ask the important things on your mind like, "Say, Gerry, how much money do you make?"

Lorraine Schack, coordinator of senior social services in Rockville, Maryland, which held its first senior speed-dating, said, "As we get older, this is an easy way to meet people."

In a way, it is, but, then again, bouncing up from a table every three minutes and hauling it over to another table, asking your best 3 or 4 questions, and then dragging it up again and staggering over to another table, over and over again, sounds exhausting to me. I'd have to make sure I had an Albuterol inhaler tucked inside my purse in case I got too winded to talk. And wouldn't you have to take notes of who said what? So, you'd be bouncing up and down like a pogo stick, scribbling down answers on a legal pad and trying to remember which face the answers went to. That's just too much pressure!

It just seems like such a cold, business-like way to meet someone anyway. I don't see how anybody "clicks" in a situation like that, but, supposedly, speed dating is catching on. Articles are appearing on adult-oriented radio stations and community newspapers. Probably there are speed dating sites on-line too.

I have my own way of deciding if I'd like to get to know a man better. It's quicker than speed dating. I just look at him. Either I like the way he looks, or I don't. Anybody wearing a ball cap is weeded out immediately. Of course, I'm not in the market for a man at this particular time, but, in the past, I didn't need more than a few minutes to know whether I was interested in someone. If I ever do need to go trawling again, Heaven forbid, I would prefer more of a speed dating line-up situation because no matter how much I try to pretend that a man's personality is the most important thing, looks still go a long way with me.

I have a "type." That "type" is a long-legged, slim look. A man doesn't necessarily have to be drop-dead handsome to appeal to me, but there has to be something about his face and physique that is appealing. I don't even know what that something is. Can anybody really explain exactly why a certain person turns them on, or why another person doesn't? Pheromones? Maybe, but all I know is some men, just like a big pile of money, please me immensely with their looks and make my pupils open wide until the irises are completely black as I try to take them all in.

I know very well that there are really wonderful men out there who I would miss out on because I must like the way a possible mate looks. Whether a man is attractive or not doesn't change the fact that I could like him a lot and enjoy him as a friend. It doesn't mean that I couldn't appreciate him and value his intelligence. It just means that looks are part of the total package to me. On the other hand, if a man was the handsomest man in the world, but had a dark, evil soul, I could never love him or even like him. It's not just a man's appearance that turns me on. I'm not that shallow. My "type" would make my eyes light up with his appearance, and my heart sing with his goodness. Just like Don does. He's the perfect package and would be a tough act to follow.

So, no hopping from table to table for me. I'm a busy woman. I don't have all day to sit around asking silly questions. I'd know in 5 seconds if he's the one for me. Line 'em up on a stage, and I'll take a minute to look them all over and then announce, "I want that one!"

GETTIN' MY FREAK ON!

First of all, before I astound you by revealing one of my few eccentricities, I want to thank my readers for....well.....for reading and leaving feedback. I enjoy your comments. Keep them coming, and, Steve? Be just as inflammatory as you like. That's fine with me. Vent!


I would also like to report that I've now lost a grand total of 2 1/2 pounds. The walks at the track continue and so does the healthy eating plan. No problems there. Today, the 11th day of January, 2008, I am still on course. This is a new record for me since no other New Year's Eve resolution ever lasted longer than a few days.


Ok, now to get to the main topic of today's blog which will prove to you that I can be just as weird as anybody else. I consider myself to be somewhat conservative in my dress and demeanor. Oh, I will break out in a leopard skin print blouse every now and then, but for the most part I dress in solid colors. I wear little jewelry....pierced earrings every day, my wedding band, a watch, and, occasionally, a bracelet. If I were skinny, I admit, that I would probably be more flamboyant, because a thin woman can get away with a heck of a lot more than a fat woman can. Some fat people wear what they want to, sure, and say who gives a darn, I'll wear what I like. Some people look ridiculous doing it, too.


All my life I've tried my best not to look ridiculous. The times that I have let go a little bit, it pretty much ruined my day. Geez....I'm thinking about an outfit I wore to work in 1971. I now call it my "Lady of the Evening" attire. Those were the days that mini-skirts ruled, and they got shorter and shorter, until "Oh, my!" I left work early that day because I was sick and tired of tugging my skirt down to cover my butt. It was exhausting. Below are two photos of me wearing the outfit. I'm sure you're asking yourself, "What was she thinking?" Well, obviously, I wasn't thinking, or I wouldn't have been caught dead wearing that. Why didn't Don stop me? I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes from a dream about that day, sweat beading on my brow, and when I do, I am so thankful that it was only a dream, and that I am not at work parading around like a street walker.

No more satin blouses and short, purple mini-skirts for me. This is a very casual town, and I tend to stick to my favorite uniform of blouses and tee shirts and jeans. This makes me think about how my mother, at my same age, never wore jeans and tee shirts.....or jogging shoes, but that's another whole blog that I'll save for later.


Now that I'm older, comfort and warmth are two of the most important things in my life, so skirts up to my wazoo are out, and warm, fuzzy house slippers are in. This is where I break loose from conventionality. My secret quirkiness is revealed when I buy the most outlandish slippers I can find. Why? Because the funny-looking ones are generally warm and comfortable....my main two needs, remember? The other reason is that they make me smile. Smiling is good for you, did you know that? When you smile, your body releases those feel-good hormones known as endorphins. We need all the endorphins we can get. I like to smile. In the dead of winter, when I come down with a bad case of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I really, really, really need to smile. My house slippers make me smile every day. Don rolling on the floor laughing at my slippers makes me smile even more. There may be another reason. Now that I think about it, my mother leaned towards fuzzy house slippers too. Maybe my love for them is hereditary.


Last week I faced a dilemma. The soles of my favorite house slippers of all time were wearing out. Considering the fact that those soles are a thin layer of cloth sewn over another thin layer of foam, it's a wonder they hadn't worn out long ago. But they were sturdy little slippers and lasted until the holes in the soles were so big that my tender, fat, little Petunia Pig feet were starting to feel the ice cold floor underneath them. Shudder! They had to be replaced, and it almost broke my heart to have to do it.


My old house slippers look like fluffy bunny rabbits. I fell in love with them at first sight. I knew I just had to have those slippers for my own. Now, years later, they are showing their wear in other places besides the soles. The poor things....the cats have almost chewed away all their whiskers. Their fur is a little scruffy, but I would have continued to wear them except for the holes in the soles. I just knew that I wouldn't be able to find another pair just like them.

Below are photos. Can you blame me for becoming so attached to them?

I suffered a lot of anxiety when I finally made up my mind to replace them. Actually, they can never be replaced, but I didn't think I'd find another pair that I would love half as much. Where would I find anything that would come close to matching my bunny rabbits? Where, indeed? Wal-Mart, of course! They've never let me down before, and they didn't this time either. I found a wonderful pair of slippers that are just as cool as the bunnies! They are pink monster feet with glittered claw toes! What luck that I found them when I did! I must be living right. Another few days, and they probably would have been snatched up by someone else. Maybe I should have bought two pairs while they still have them in stock.

What do you think? Kind of sexy, aren't they? A word to the wise: If you want a pair for yourself just like them, you'd better run on down to your local Wal-Mart and grab 'em up. They'll be going fast!

The only drawback that I've found with both pairs of slippers is that I can barely walk in this house without the kittens attacking my feet. They leap at them, claws outstretched! They think it's great sport to attack the funny things on Mommy's feet. I kick them away gently, screaming at the top of my lungs, " Leave my slippers alone, you little demons!"




I'm keeping my bunny rabbits. I will either sprinkle catnip on them and let the cats have them for toys, or get Don to repair the soles. He likes to do little jobs like that. They will be around for a while longer. Right now, though, I'm enjoying the way the pink monster slippers look on my feet. Freaking cool!




Thanks for reading.............

IS IT TUESDAY ALREADY?

I have been so tied up with genealogy work and designing a flyer for Jason and Emil's gig in Eureka Springs, that I missed posting a blog for two whole days! I hate to disappoint all my readers......well, my three readers. You are the ones I can count on to care. You know who you are. Thank you.


The genealogy work is turning into a full-time job. I fill in information for one person on our family tree on Ancestry.com, and that leads to another person who I will have to find info about. That might lead to another whole family to deal with. It just keeps snowballing. Genealogy is fun and informative, but I can see where I might hit the wall sometime in the near future. I think we're probably going to end up with close to a million people on the family tree by the time we're finished. That's a conservative estimate. I want to have all the information printed into a book to give family members, but at this rate, it will be so big that it will have to be carted around in a wheelbarrow. I have dreams about this big, scary family tree which is reaching out to grab and entangle me. Maybe I'd better work on that stuff every other day.


Weight report: I lost a pound! One whole glorious pound! Well, it's better than gaining a pound, isn't it? A pound lost in less than a week. I'll take it!


We put in our hour at the track Monday. I walked the entire hour, while Don alternated between walking and working out on the machines. This is doing our bodies good. I'm sure of it. I really think it is....mentally as well as physically. I feel more energetic, and I'm happy that I'm doing something positive about getting fit, and, most importantly, that I'm sticking to it without any problems at all. I guess I'm finally ready.


I love the community center ....... except for one thing: Their toilet tissue holders make me mad. Yes, they do! They are those blasted kind of holders that only dole out one square of tissue at a time. I need more than one square, thank you very much, and it is very irritating to have to sit there and pull off enough pieces, one square at a time. I know it's a cost-saving measure, but I think they should look around for another way to save money. That's just my personal opinion. Maybe they could just not fill up the swimming pool with as much water, or something.


Today will be house cleaning day! I've let the dusting go for too long, and I wish you could see my floors. The cats have tiny pieces of their cardboard scratchers scattered everywhere. Mixed in with that is the catnip that I sprinkle on the scratchers to lure them to scratch on them instead of my carpets. I always feel so much better psychologically when the floors of my house are clean. The reason they get as bad as they do is because I'm a considerate cat owner. All the felines in this house are scared to death of the vacuum cleaner, and I don't like to terrify them. So I hesitate to run the vaccuum when I really should. Another thing is, that when the kittens are asleep, I feel the same way about them that I did about my kids when they were babies: when they're asleep, I want them to stay asleep. That's the only time Don and I have any peace and quiet. The kittens are still acting like little hooligans. I love it when they're all asleep; I don't have to be so vigilant about listening for sounds that might mean they are tearing the house down. Ah, they look like little angels when they're sleeping. How could I get so mad at them?


Don still thinks that it would be a good idea if he learned to play a musical instrument. He's ruled out a drum set. He is no longer considering the washboard or rubboard. Guess what he's learning to play now? Spoons! I want him to feel free to do anything that might stimulate his mind, but, sometimes, my mind doesn't work quite right when I'm in the middle of a big genealogy project, and he's clinking and clanging on those spoons and totally oblivious to the fact that someone else is in the house. I just hope he doesn't finally settle on the cymbals or a Chinese gong. I'll bear with him a while longer because learning to be more patient is another of my goals this year. In this house, I get many opportunities to practice patience.

Below is the flyer I designed for Jason and Emil's gig in Eureka Springs.

Signing off...........................

CARRYING ON

Today was a beautiful day! It almost seemed like early Spring outside. Light rain during the night; it didn't amount to much. Just dampened the ground. A little sunshine, but not much. The temperature reached 61 degrees, and that's what made it such a great day.

I meant to weigh this morning, but I didn't think about it until I was already completely dressed. I was not about to take off all my clothes just to weigh. I'd have to have a better reason than that. I always weigh buck-naked. I don't want even one ounce that's not me to show on those scales.

We walked for an hour at the track. Walking is slowly becoming a habit. I want to get to the point where I will miss it if I don't do it. I took all my vitamins today. Next week, I'll add a few more to the regimen.

After our walk, we ate lunch at The New Delhi on the Deck Cafe. It's the place that Don arranged for Jason and Emil to play a gig at the end of the month. Small area inside, but they have music there all the time and manage to squeeze bands in all the time. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody who will be in town for their performance and also for the B. B. King concert. It will be a big weekend for us.

The Iowa caucus....how about that? I thought Hilary would do better, and I'm surprised that McCain did as well as he did. I wonder what will happen in New Hampshire? I still think Hilary will get the Democratic nomination. Then who will she select for her running mate? Barack Obama or John Edwards? Will either one of them want to be her running mate? My guess is yes.

I'm counting the days until next Friday. That's when we'll probably make an appointment to neuter our two male kittens. They will be 5 months old by then. We'll get them fixed and get their shots, and then have the two females spayed later. I'm hoping this will settle the little monsters down a bit. They are still tearing the house down. I never know where I'll find them next.....sitting in the middle of a houseplant or in the kitchen cabinets. They are cute little things though. They love to rally around Don when he's trying to concentrate on the computer. His long legs make a great lap for sleeping kittens. They don't bother me too much; my legs are shorter and I don't have much of a lap.













Later, gator.............

IT COULD BE WORSE

Ok...first, today's report on my attempt to recreate myself: I still weigh the same. Bummer! This is disappointing, but I guess the pounds are not going to just start melting off right away. I guess I should look at it as holding my own.



We walked at the track again. My shins hurt a little, but I'm tough, and I plodded on at a nice clip. We walked for an hour. On the way home, we stopped by Subway and picked up lunch. A salad with no meat or cheese for me, and a veggie sub for Don. When we got home, I dumped a small can of white albacore tuna on my salad and used olive oil for my dressing. I ate a banana later in the afternoon. I haven't eaten anything for dinner, and I'm starting to get hungry. I might nibble on a bit of cheese. I need to eat something when I take my Tricor. We will walk again tomorrow and then take Sunday off as a day of rest.



Every day I look at the news on my AOL Home Page, and, to count my own blessings, I pick out somebody who I am glad that I am not them that day. Today I am so thankful that I am not Britney Spears. Can you believe it? She's in trouble again.



I'm really tired of reading about her trials and tribulations....mostly brought on by herself.... but I always find myself curiously wondering what she's done next. I do feel sorry for her with all the papparazzi following her around day and night. That would make anybody crazy, but I think she would be unhappy if they ignored her. She loves the attention, and so I find her face on the computer screen every morning.



Anyway, as I was walking around the track today, I glanced up at the TV to catch the news when I passed underneath it. Lo and behold, they were talking about Britney having a stand-off with the cops, and afterwards they carted her off to lock-down!



The problem with Britney is there is no one who can guide her or control her. Everybody that could...parents (sorry parents, but parents nonetheless), managers, lawyers, etc. .....they've all been fired or thrown up their hands in disgust and quit. Britney is a law unto herself, and, since she's not very smart, she does one stupid thing after another.



Does she love those two kids or not? Maybe she does, in her own little dysfunctional way, but she's too stupid to follow the rules so she can continue to see them. I hate it when people say that rules are made to be broken. No, they aren't; they're made to prevent chaos. Britney doesn't think rules apply to her, and that's why her life is so chaotic. Now, she's blown her chances of seeing her boys by blowing off the rules. She needs help, but there is no one in her life strong enough to make her get it. It's a sad story.



Maybe if she were smarter, things would have gone better for her. The last time she was in trouble before the stand-off was when she skipped out on a deposition. She didn't feel good. She didn't even have the smarts to know to cover her lie. That very night she was spotted riding around L.A. with a friend. For heaven's sake, I learned in elementary school that if I faked off from school by claiming to be sick, I'd better stay in bed all day and pretend that I felt awful. I kept a very low profile and certainly wasn't seen partying outside. Same thing when I missed work. I stayed in the house until the next day.



Well, I hope she straightens her life out, but to do that, she will have to go into rehab at a "real" rehab place. Those fancy ones that all the burned-out starlets go to are just places for them to be pampered while they're calming their nerves down. They aren't rehabilitated. They go right back to their evil ways when they're released. Rehab places should not be where they have little meetings once a day, then get facials and massages the rest of the time.....when they're not let out for a few hours to shop, that is. Britney is self-destructing. Nobody can save her but herself.

TOM SHARP

Hi!

Today was another frigid day, and I was happy to have access to an indoor track. I don't like to expose my body to extremes in weather. Too much sun is not good for my skin, and cold air is not good for my lungs. In my younger days, I baked in the sun from April until October. No more. Sunbathing ages our skin and, of course, causes skin cancer. My sunbathing days stopped 20 years ago when we moved to Eureka Springs. I'm over a tan.

We arrived at the track around 9:30 and signed in. Our ID cards weren't ready yet. Forty-two people joined the community center yesterday, and the ID card maker was up to her wazoo trying to get them all finished. We were allowed to proceed to the track -- ID cardless -- and we hit the track walking fast. Lots of people were there this morning. One of them was Tom Sharp.

Tom Sharp (left) the oldest bowler in the Monday Night Men's League in Berryville, AR.

We could see him walkling slowly up ahead, and Don asked, "Isn't that Tom Sharp?"

I could tell that it was, and if I hadn't worried that Tom might hear me, I might have answered, "No....that's what's left of Tom Sharp."

We've known Tom for three years. At 78 years old, he's the oldest man in Don's bowling league. Like many other older people, Tom is very serious about staying active. He walks at the track, bowls in several leagues, and he is always working a part-time job somewhere. As a matter of fact, he had a job interview this very day for a job selling ads for one of our small weekly newspapers. He gets bored just hanging around the house since his retirement from a family-owned printing company. Tom reminds me of the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps on going. What makes this remarkable is the fact that Tom can't breathe.

A bad case of emphysema....not to say that there is ever a good case of it..... and other medical problems like painful arthritis slow him down to a crawl. He huffs and puffs through life all day .....every day. Sometimes he is so breathless that he can barely talk and walk at the same time. He was like that today. He was walking slowly and resting often. Not trying to set any speed records, he just plugged doggedly along trying to get his mile in. Our track is a small one, and 15 laps is equal to a mile. We lapped him time after time. Everybody did, but he was focused on getting in his mile. I wanted to breathe for him. His breathlessness made me breathless too.

"Here, Tom, take some of my air. I don't need it all."

He asks for no assistance or special consideration. Not ever. Not here at the track. Not at the bowling alley. Tom is not a whiner. He's always cheerful and jokes a lot. He is determined to fulfill his obligations to himself and to others. I've learned something from Tom: simply showing up is half the battle. When you're faced with a tough task, don't avoid it; at least show up. It might not be as bad as you think. Once you get there, just do your best. That's all anybody can expect.

I admire Tom's tenacity. He attacked that track and held on like a pit bull. He has a quick mind and a great sense of humor. He's sociable and likes to stay active. If he didn't get the ad job today, I know he will keep looking until he finds something else.

Tom and his wife don't do too much together. I asked if she ever accompanied him to the track to walk. He said she did so very rarely. She's a couch potato, and Tom gets bored sitting around the house with her all day. This is another sad example of something that is seen so often in the offices of marriage counselors: married people with nothing in common. Some people are curious, clever, and adventurous all their lives. They want to stay active and learn new things. They enjoy being around other people. It's sad that they, invariably, marry who don't.

Why does that happen so often? Why do night owls, who like to stay up late and sleep in, always marry people who hit the sack by 9:30 and rise at 7 o'clock in the morning? Why do people, who are always freezing, marry people who start fanning themselves and gasping for breath when the thermometer hits 60 degrees. I don't think it can be explained away by "opposites attract."

I think it's because people are dishonest about who they really are when they are dating. Maybe "dishonest" is too strong a word; it's really because, when we are trying to appeal to another human being in the hopes of luring them to the altar, we try to be as much like them as possible. We pretend that we like staying up late to watch old movies. We act like we love sushi, or, as in my case, pretend that we just absolutely adore attending drag car races. If I had it to do all over again........ well, I have to admit that I would probably still go to those car races. I wanted Don to like me. We agree to participate in all kinds of activities that we detest or that bore us silly, just to please the object of our desire.

So, then, we have two people, all ga-ga in love, trying their best to become just like the other person. That's not honest, but we are ruled by our hormones at those times, and we do what we gotta do to catch our victim...uh, I mean spouse..... in our sticky web and wrap 'em up for the kill.

Only after we have them safely under our spell, do we have the confidence to ask, "Do we really have to go to that noisy, old night club tonight? I'd rather watch The Tonight Show until I fall asleep around 11." Then our differences start popping out of the woodwork. But wouldn't you think that once ...just once.... somebody would marry somebody who likes everything they do....really? I don't think that would be boring. It would be great!

But getting back to Tom Sharp. He's an example of what I want in my own life when I'm older and what I don't want. I do not want to suffer from the medical problems Tom suffers from. I want clear, strong lungs, and to be able to walk briskly around the track. I don't want to gasp for every breath, or have to sit down and rest often during an exercise session. If only he had made changes in his eating habits or exercise regimens earlier; maybe he wouldn't be in such bad shape now. I feel good that Don and I have started thinking seriously about our health early enough to make real changes.

It's never too late. I read about a study that introduced strength training into the lives of nursing home residents. In 6 months, those people were tossing canes into the air and kicking their walkers out of the way. They were feeling better, had better attitudes and were healthier and stronger. Exercise..... 30 minutes to an hour a day. That's the secret weapon. Don and I are taking positive measures to get fit. The fact that we are doing it together makes it even more satisfying and fun.

I admire Tom's determination to get out of the house every day in his pursuit to remain an active individual. He will not let his brain turn to mush, nor will he allow his infirmities to slow him down or stop him. You can be sure that he will be at the bowling alley or the track unless something terrible has happened to him. It would have to be something really bad to stop him;

I've seen him bowl with pneumonia. I've also seen him bowl with his hands taped to ease the arthritic pain. He's tough. I hope I can be as disciplined as Tom when I'm his age. Heck, I wish I were that disciplined now.

I weighed this morning. My weight stayed the same. I took all my vitamins and prescribed medicines today. I hope I can get in bed at a decent time tonight. Getting enough sleep is important for good health. I know I don't get enough. I'm aiming for 7 hours now. I thought I'ld aim for a 11:00 bedtime instead of my usual 2:00 A.M. but it's 11:17 now. I have to get cracking!

Good night!

GREEN TEA AND ZEN

Good evening!



Today's highlight was joining the community center. Our I.D. cards will be ready for pick-up tomorrow, and we will hit the indoors track. I've missed walking for exercise. We haven't put feet to track since cold weather hit. Don and I are looking forward to putting in the miles and working out on the resistance machines right next to the track. Very convenient! I lifted these photos from the community center's web page so you can see where we'll be walking and exercising.








Today has been a good day even though the high didn't get much above 16 degrees. Brrr! I hate this, but I think I can hang on because I know it is only a month -- exactly -- until Ground Hog Day, and Punxatawney Phil, with any luck at all, might tell me on Feburary 2 that there is less than 6 weeks of winter left. Keep your fingers crossed!


Did you realize that 2008 is a Leap Year? This year February 29th will pop up on the calendar. All those poor people born on that day won't be short-changed of their own special day this year! Presidential election coming up, of course. Isn't there some sort of curse involved with being elected in an election year that can be divided evenly by 4? A president's chances of dying in office are greatly increased, or something like that. That would be enough for me to keep my hat out of the ring. I'm not obsessively superstitious, but I don't like to push my luck in the face of overwhelming odds either. Better safe than sorry.


I stepped on the scales this morning! I tried to talk myself out of it. Weak June whined and pleaded to Strong, Do Everything Right June that she didn't want to do it. I will tell you that I weigh more than I would like, but not as much as I'd feared! My goal to weigh between 110 and 115 pounds in this lifetime is not an impossibility. It ain't gonna be easy or quick, but it's not impossible. There is hope. I'm not setting a time goal. I'll be at goal weight when I get there.



I ate a salad, fish, and stir-fried vegetables --mostly yellow squash -- for lunch, and ate leftovers from the salmon, broccoli and bean salad from yesterday for dinner. I slipped up at lunch and ate a bowl of vanilla pudding sprinkled with chocolate chips. I forgot I was giving up sugar. With any luck at all, I'll remember tomorrow. I'm still using the salt shaker, but trying to cut back. Mugs of hot Chai Tea Latte keep me going during the day. I love the fragrant aroma of Chai Tea. It fortifies my soul.


Speaking of tea, I told you that I'm sipping green tea often. I'm a tea freak, so I have all kinds of brands and flavors of it around here. Some with gingseng, some with lemon and honey, etc. I want to talk about the green tea I drank yesterday. Sometimes I think that I might be more of a tea package freak than a tea drinking freak. Part of the appeal of drinking tea, besides the mind-calming ritual of it, is the packaging. I'm sure you've all glorified in the colorfully designed boxes that Celestial Seasonings Tea Company packs their teas in. It's just as much fun and uplifting to read the pithy quotes and look at the neat paintings on the box as it is to sip the tea. The tea I drank yesterday is not a Celestial Seaonings blend. It's packed in a soothing leaf-green colored box, and its tea bag casing is one of the best I've seen.


This tea is Tazo Zen Green Tea and Herbal Infusion. Isn't that a wonderful name? Doesn't that bring up all kinds of positive images? Underneath the word "Tazo" are the words "The Reincarnation Of Tea." This tea has been reborn. One of the definitions of reincarnation is " a rebirth of a soul in a new human body." Of course, that means in a completely different human body than the one it was living in when it died. I'm changing that slightly to fit my personal situation. I want my soul reborn in the my same body, but I want that body new and improved by the end of 2008. I predict that I will be purchasing lots of Tazo Zen Tea this year. I believe in grabbing hold of anything that brings me pleasure in any way.....large or small. For such a small investment, Tazo Zen Tea does it for me. It's an experience, not just a tea.


Moving down the tea casing, I read a confident and uplifting statement: " An enlightening blend of the finest green teas and rare herbs available in this world." I am to be enlightened with the finest of teas and the rarest of herbs available in the whole wide world! Imagine that! And why? Because I'm worth it, doggone it! That thought makes me feel good. The people who package this tea are 100% sure that they sell the best tea ever, and they are making it available to me because I deserve the best.


Listen to these ingredients: Green teas, lemon verbena, spearmint, lemongrass and natural flavors. No unnatural flavors. That's definitely a plus, since I'm trying to cut additives and dyes from my diet when possible. This is a very fragrant tea. How could it not be when it's made from lemon verbena, spearmint and lemongrass? Lemon Verbena was a favorite scent of the Victorians. Bath and Body Shop carries it still.


On the back is another statment that makes me feel good about drinking this hot, steaming beverage. This wording calms me with the peaceful picture it paints in my mind: "High in the Kunlun Mountains of China, monks spend days chanting and meditating in the hopes of reaching complete enlightenment. Periodically, they stop for a cup of tea quite like this." Quite like this. This makes me want to brew another cup of tea, grab a few of those unread Daily Oms and meditate for enlightment. Maybe I could forget about this frigid weather for a while. In my mind I see a huge statue of Buddha looking down on a group of about 100 monks....all sitting in the Lotus posture..... thousands of lighted candles on the floor around them... and chants of "Om, Shanti, Om" fill the air and vibrate my skull.


The last bit of writing makes me smile. I just know the writer wrote it with a twinkle in his or her eye. It's earnest, but injected with quiet humor, and I quote:


"To ask questions, share observations or simply have a bit of human contact, write us at Tazo, P.O. Box 66, Portland, OR 97207, or visit us at http://www.tazo.com/. Allow two weeks of this lifetime for a written response."


I am so tempted to write or e-mail them. I bet their response would make me smile. "To ask questions, share observations or simply have a bit of human contact..." They want to hear from me ....or you. They really care. I'm not being facietious when I say this. I think they really do. And they promise to answer in two weeks of this lifetime! That's more than a certain magazine that I won't name can say.

See you tomorrow......

DID YOU HEAR THAT?

That loud noise you just heard was a new leaf turning over. It's my leaf. So far, so good. I'm still in the process of formulating my final healthy life plan, so I have more reading to do. I have a stack of books here next to me on my computer desk. There are others I will consult, but I'm starting with these. I'll give you a list: "Strong Women Stay Young," "The Sugar Solution," "Strong Women, Strong Hearts," "Ageless Face, Ageless Mind," "Age Erasers for Women," "You: Staying Young," "The South Beach Diet," "Power Aging," and "Strength Training for Women." It may seem that I'm obsessed with staying young, but that's not true. I wouldn't want to be 20 years old again for anything in the world. Now, I would like to be 32 again, because I consider that my prime year. I have to admit that in 1976, I was a real cutie....sigh. But, seriously, my concern is to stay strong, healthy and look good for whatever my age is as the years pass. I don't consider it vain to strive to look as good as possible. I don't think women should just give up as they age. A 60-year old woman should never try to look or dress like she's still 25. It just doesn't work, but she should try to be the best-looking 60 year old she can be. So, yes, looking good for the rest of my life is important, because looking good generally means that a woman feels good too. If she takes care of her outward appearance, chances are she takes care of her health too. Like everybody else, if I look good, I'm more confident and out-going, and I'll get out of the house and do something. That's healthy too.

I'm in good health. No real problems. I had blood work done in August, and the results concerned me. My cholesterol was high. My blood sugar was high. My potassium was low. Blood pressure, for which I've taken medicine for years, was border-line high. I weigh too much.
The doctor told me to start the South Beach Diet because it would help me lose weight and eliminate the fat on my tummy, and regulate my blood sugar. He gave me a prescription for Tricor and Potassium. The Tricor is to lower my triglycerides, which would, in turn, lower my cholesterol. I went back for more blood work a few weeks ago and my cholesterol and triglycerides are lot lower! I'm very pleased about that. They didn't test for the potassium and blood sugar. I don't know if those counts have improved or not. I suspect that my potassium count is fine because I have faithfully mixed a tablespoon of liquid potassium into a glass of orange juice every day since August. When I go back to the doctor in 6 months, I hope to have lost a lot of weight and, hopefully, will have cut out sugar, salt and a lot of processed foods from my diet.

I feel good except for the fact that the extra weight I'm wagging around makes me tire sooner. I'm not telling you how much I weigh right now. For one thing, I've avoided the scales for months, so I don't really know myself. I wasn't ready to face the truth this morning, so I didn't get on the scales. All you need to know is that I weigh more than Don, but less than your average humpback whale. I'm not telling you how much more I weigh than Don does, or how much less than a whale I weigh, but that will give you a range. As my magical transformation continues, and I am closer to a Homo Sapien's weight, I'll tell you how much I weigh. I will even post photos.

I'm getting breathless more often than I like. Carrying things upstairs is a killer sometimes. I don't like that. I'm taking more puffs of Don's Albuterol than I care to take, but breathing is important to me, so I use it when I need it. So many things could be the cause of this breathlessness.....excess weight and the companion problem of probably needing breast reduction surgery. Am I being smothered by my own boobs? That is a real possibility. Then there is the fact that there are now 13 cats residing in this household. I've been around cats....mostly multiple cats....all my life, but this is the first time I've owned 13 of them. There's nothing to be done about this except to not allow anymore into the household.....no matter how pitiful their tales of woe are.....and know that in the coming years their numbers will diminish as they travel on to the Rainbow Bridge to wait for me there in a land where no one has allergies. That's sad to think about, but inevitable.

My breathing problems might be traceable to this old Victorian house we live in. Underneath the house, is not a crawl space; there is a walk space tall enough for a tall man like Don to easily stand up to full height. Bare, damp earth seven feet underneath our floors! This house was built approximately in 1898. There is probably more than a 100 years' worth of mold and mildew down there. The house is not airtight, so spores from these organisms can easily seep into my house and then find my poor lungs.

Also, I'm bothered more by the pretty smells that are in everything from soaps to cosmetics to incense to cleaning supplies, perfumes etc. Carcinogen additives. Many household products choke me up....Windex, Clorox, Pledge. (Imagine that I have put that cute little copyright mark behind those names. Thank you) Nice smells have always given me so much pleasure, but I think I must start cutting them out of my life. That's a bummer! I'll start looking for the word "unscented" on products from now on. I'll miss the pleasure that scented products give me, but breathing is more important.

We haven't joined the community center yet, but we will tomorrow. Don has a dentist appointment at noon in Berryville, so we thought we'd make one trip count. It will only cost $95 for a year's membership for the two of us. Not a bad deal. Indoor track and resistance machines. Yoga classes too, I think.

I thought I would post this morning, but we slept in and got a late start today. We didn't eat lunch until 2:00 this afternoon. It was a healthy lunch: salmon salad, steamed broccoli, and kidney bean salad (an old Baldridge family favorite). I drank organic fat-free milk, and Don had cranberry juice....sugar-free. So we did good on our eating. I'm not having any trouble adjusting to the organic milk. I bought a carton of vanilla-flavored soy milk also. I think I can benefit by getting a little soy into my system. I've had two cups of green tea today ... sweetened with honey. That's all you hear these days....green tea....green tea. I've noticed that black tea is also "in" and white tea is starting to show up on the grocery shelves. I'm trying to drink the recommended amount of green tea every day, but since I'm paranoid about stains on my teeth, I'm brushing them ten times a day now. One thing leads to another. I think I'll check into teeth bleaching at the dentist office.

Vitamins? Yep, I'm slowly getting back into that regimen. I wasn't taking anything for a month or so, and even though some people believe they are worthless, I know I feel better when I take them. I'm easing back into them though. Today I took a multiple, something for hair, skin, and nails, a Co Q-10 capsule, a 81 mg aspirin, a Super-B Complex tablet, Vitamin E with Selenium. It's a start. I was getting concerned about a vitamin deficiency because I'm having a big problem with dry lips. I've never had chaffed lips before in my life, but, all of a sudden, I find myself with lips that feel like sandpaper and cracks in the corners of my mouth. I searched the Internet and discovered that the problem could be a B-2 (Riboflavin) deficiency or an Iron deficiency. A multiple should take care of that. Riboflavin isn't stored in our bodies and must be replenished every day in a supplement or in food. We pee out what we don't need. When you take a B-Complex Vitamin and see bright yellow pee in an hour or so, you can just wave good-bye to your Riboflavin. During my search I learned that the Latin word "flavius" means yellow. I don't know where "Ribo" in Riboflavin comes from, but whatever it is, you can take my word for it.....it's yellow. My lips are better today, thank you for asking. Internet research told me to make sure I'm drinking enough water, and I am now, and that rubbing olive oil on my dry lips would help. After doing that for 4 days, I must say it has.

Another aspect of turning over a new leaf is my desire to become a more spiritual person. I've been signed up on DailyOm.com for two years with the intention of taking one or two of its daily spiritual messages and horoscopes to a quiet place every day to meditate on them. So what's been happening is that I don't read them, I just save them into a Daily OM folder on my computer. I counted them today. I now have 436 unread Daily OM's! They are not doing me any good in a folder in the computer. I'll share some of them with you soon when I start dragging them out ....one or two a day.

So, healthy eating, exercise, spiritual growth, staying young in spirit and strong in body.....those are the goals for this year. Day One....I'm still optimistic that I can reach these goals. One day at a time. I can do this.

I hope your New Year's Eve was nice. Ours was very quiet. No traffic. No fireworks. No party. When I was a young hottie --- out on a date on New Year's Eve --- I never dreamed that I would be content to stay at home, alone with my husband, looking at videos on YouTube of people playing washboards and/or rubboards. I'm not making this up. That is what we did last night. Don has just about talked himself out of buying a drum set. I think that's probably for the best. I don't think he would stick with it, and then we'd have a drum set to sell. He knows how to play a trumpet, and so I tried to steer him towards a saxophone, which I think is one of the coolest instruments in the world. Think Bill Clinton. It's definitely cooler than a French Horn, you have to admit that. But he's not interested in a sax. No, that would be too easy since he already knows about treble clefs, whatever they are. I have a vague idea of a what a clef is from music classes in junior high school, but worrying too much about them wasn't high on my agenda. Anyway, Don seems bound and determined to learn to play an instrument he knows nothing about. That man loves a challenge!

We spent a lot of time talking about musical instruments last night....drums, squeeze boxes, horns, fiddles, etc. Now Don seems determined to play a washboard like one of his all-time heroes, Washboard Leo. So off to YouTube.com we went in search of videos. Word: the washboard and its Zydeco cousin, the rubboard, are fantastic instruments when they accompany other instruments. It's fascinating to watch a washboard player, and they really add a lot to the rhythm of a song, but, as a solo instrument, a little goes a long way. Too much washboard, and you'll have a brain seizure. In my opinion, like drum solos, washboard solos should be limited to 2 minutes.

That's all I have to report today. Signing off.