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Early This Morning
*✨EARLY THIS MORNING ✨ I was awakened by the sound of knocking on our house. After looking around and finding nothing, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I’m still not sure what it was. A freak of nature. A bird. A phantom ghost. Who knows. But I got up, made myself a cup of coffee and began to tackle the long, laundry list of items I have to accomplish today..Today is also my daughter’s virtual high school graduation, followed by her actual graduation that will take place on Wednesday. People keep asking my husband and me how we are feeling about “almost” being empty nesters. I tease and say it’s…
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Times Flies & Simple Goals for 2020
*** When I think of how many years I’ve walked these streets in Annapolis and then actually count them, I can get a little uncomfortable with the passing of time. I moved to the Annapolis area when I was 13. Now, I’m in my fifties. Time flies. We all grow older, I understand that. Seeing lines on my face or under my eyes grow deeper reminds me of time slipping away. And, as I’ve had some health issues this year, I’m more aware than ever that time is fleeting. One kid in college. Another going off to college in 2020. The years begin to meld and you count your lucky…
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Dear Wrinkles: I’m Looking at You in a Whole New Way
Dear Wrinkles, That’s it. I’ve had it. I’m tired of looking in the mirror, seeing you, Wrinkles, and not liking you very much. Wrinkles, you and I have been at war with one another for a while now. As you know, at 52, I refuse to get Botox, so I do what I can to help keep my skin fresh. I wash my face with gentle soap; I use a ton of moisturizer and under eye cream (helps keep the skin moist and hydrated); I try to drink a lot of water; and I get facials when I can. I wear concealer and foundation with SPF every day, and I…
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Grocery Store Bonding and Singing in Safeway: Two Stories
I’m going to attempt to tell these stories as they happened, exactly as they happened. I live in the town of Severna Park, and the closest grocery store is Safeway, which is walkable. I’m over there constantly, as I’m not a big “do the grocery load for the week” kind of person. I pretty much figure out each day what we will eat, and run over and get whatever I need since it’s so convenient. In the last several months, I’ve had two hilarious Safeway Moments, as I shall call them. The first happened a few months ago when I was standing in line to pick up a prescription. The…
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Vintage 1965: Today’s Annual Snarky Birthday Blog Post
It can be a little daunting watching celebrities who are born in your birth year or a year or two ahead of you grow old along with you but show no signs of wrinkles and aging. Their endless use of Botox, plastic surgeries, and hours in the gym cause you to compare yourself to them and wonder why you haven’t considered going under the knife or injection needle yourself (working out is quite possible if you set your mind to it). As much as I want to look as if I’m in my thirties, that isn’t quite realistic any more. It’s time to come to grips with aging and simply…
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Kissing My 40s Goodbye
All day you’ve been thinking about this blog post and what you will write. It’s your birthday, and it’s tradition that you write something snarky about aging. Some people will tell you they love growing older–maturing, growing up, watching their kids grow, maybe even becoming grandparents. It’s a lovely thought—growing old(er) naturally—as if we actually have a say in holding on to youth and beating Father Time. We don’t. Aging is not fun. So your birthday looms. It’s the big 5-0. You think about it for weeks. It practically consumes you. You notice every grey hair, ever extra mile you have to walk to shed .001 pounds, and each line…
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6 Ways to Wear Makeup That Doesn’t Age You
* * * You can probably tell if you scroll through my past posts over that last few years that I’m kind of dreading turning 50 next month (I just lied…I am absolutely dreading turning 50 next month. Yikes.). I’m not quite sure how I got here, but alas, it is about to happen. You can control some things, but you can’t control aging. So, without turning to Botox or plastic surgery, I have to resort to other tactics that will help me feel beautiful and fresh (and young), and they pretty much revolve around using makeup to my advantage. I’ve heard people say that makeup ages you. This is…
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Reflections on Turning 30, 40, and—oh, God—50.
I remember when I was little and I looked at someone who was nearing 50 and thought—Jeez, you’re old. You will be dead soon. You are half a century. Ten years ago when I was about to turn 40 I had a meltdown–of epic proportions. Things weren’t going too well for me at that time, but luckily, I was able to turn it around. I lost a bit of myself. I thought turning 40 was bad. And it was. The 30s had been so good to me. I loved the way I felt, had babies with my husband, and had supportive girlfriends who were experiencing the same things I was.…
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It’s Your Birthday. You’re only mildly old. Can you read the bottom line?
The morning went something like this. You got up early to be at the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) by 8:30 a.m. to have your license, which expires tomorrow (on your birthday) renewed. You waited until the last minute to get it done. There were too many other things to do this week, like drive your kid to golf many times and take your daughter to the movies. You’ve been writing all week–not Baseball Girl–but the textbook you’re working on with your brilliant colleagues. Nevertheless, you left it to the last minute, as you usually do, and thus suffered the consequences of waiting for almost an hour and a half until…
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Beyond Wrinkles: Appreciating The Lines On Our Faces
If you’ve followed my blog or know me personally, you have probably deduced that I am definitely not down with aging. The thought of it is frightening to me. But something happened to me this past weekend. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I may have a new approach to embracing growing older. I happened to be around a lot of folks who were my age or older this past weekend, most of them with wrinkles. You heard me. I said that taboo word: wrinkles. Something clicked for me. I appreciated the wisdom that they shared. I comprehended their stories. I saw beyond the wrinkles. I found…
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The Truth About Being In Your Forties
Last night as my friends and I gathered around to watch the Oscars, all but one of us in our 40s (the one who is not is the Samantha Jones of our group…older, not by much, but very much young at heart), I realized how fabulous all of us look. We may not be movie-star perfect, but we’ve kept it together despite having careers that require us to work a lot, children, husbands, doctors appointments and school commitments, nightly dinner decisions, and house projects that never end. No, we may not be accepting Oscars and wearing designer clothing (“Versace made this for me,” said Jada Pinkett-Smith), but you know what…
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Shoulda Woulda Coulda — Daily Prompt
Today’s WordPress Daily Prompt entitled Shoulda Woulda Coulda asks us to tell about something you should do…but don’t. * * * So…here goes…complete honesty… I was going to write this post today and call it something else, but then I saw the Daily Post prompt, and I knew it was perfect for me. What I should do, but don’t do, is stop worrying about aging. Seriously. I think about it every day. It can often consume me. I’m not a fan of getting older, and the thought of the number 50 is just daunting. It’s two and a half years away for me, but I’m not at all enamored with…
