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The Annual Birthday Post: You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks. Or Can You?
And so another birthday has landed on my doorstep. I’m sitting here staring at the empty page, trying to come up with something clever and snarky to write for my annual birthday blog post. The cursor blinks. I curse it. Wait. Something has come to me. A retrospective of sorts. Since last year’s birthday, a lot has happened. Let me attempt to recount the changes that have occurred in our lives over the past year without boring you to death. 1—I underwent hip replacement surgery two weeks after my birthday last year. It’s been a year-long road to recovery. Initially, while I was healing, my SI-joint went out of whack,…
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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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The Ache That Happens As Your Kids Grow Up
In August, we dropped my oldest off at college. He is living on campus at a university that is almost two hours from our house. It’s not that far, but far enough to feel the distance. As we moved him into his room and helped him set up his dorm, even running to Target at the last minute for some things, we were in the heat of the moment. Our kid was going away for the first time, and my husband and I were coping with it okay (and I’m a college professor, so you would think this would be easy as I’ve been around it as my occupation). My…
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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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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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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, I Don’t Look Like That At All!!!
I’m trying to figure out which photograph I want to use on the back of my paperback book cover. It’s one of those last minute decisions I neglected to make earlier in the process of being an independent author. Nevertheless, I asked my daughter to take a few shots with my new Nikon. We were testing backgrounds. When I saw the photo of myself, I stared. Do I really look like that? I must have a trick mirror at home, because when I look at myself in it, I still see a 30-year-old, not the more mature me that I’ve become. I’m already dreading my upcoming birthday, though we won’t…
