CordonBlues’ Neighborhood

Do not worry about aging you can still have fun!

Getting older is one of those things that nobody welcomes but no one can avoid. The challenge will be how to grow old gracefully – well, if not gracefully, then interestingly. Of course, each person may have a different description and meaning for this phrase. Speaking for myself, I have found that as I aged, I have to tolerate the inevitable loss of my physical strength and realize that asking for help all the time doesn’t look  very interesting, don’t you think? Funny thing though, I've realized my joints aren't as well-oiled as they used to be, which really sucks-really! I told my son the other day (without even thinking about it) - I acknowledge this past week that I am actually getting older. - Older? Nah! - was his solemnly answer. He’s on denial of course, is my son. But seriously, it’s scary when you realize that every year that passes puts your youth and health further and further behind you. I am not afraid of growing old as we all will go through that phase. But I have to admit, I am afraid about how my body will deteriorate in 20 more years.

Since I don’t have any other alternative I am learning to accept the aging process, as the beginning of my new life. I decided to look at it in a positive way. Indeed, there are advantages and disadvantages in all stages of our life. One of them for me is, I no longer have to compete, to prove to anybody anything and that's a relief. Another advantage is there’s nothing left to learn the hard way. Last but not least are the wonderful discounts you got when you become an AARP member! However; I know for sure I have to keep my weight at a healthy level with healthy eating and regular physical activity. I weighed myself today and I haven't gained any weight. I haven't lost any pounds either but that was not my goal. My goal is to start a walking regimen. My doctor said that for people of any age with arthritis, walking is a especially good medicine. It strengthens muscles, which helps shift pressure from joints and reduce pain. I used to walk a long time ago; I really enjoyed walking long distances. But for some reason I started to procrastinate. This year I seriously want to get in a daily routine/ritual exercise for my knees’ sake.

Other than that, I did my own research. I then drew on that knowledge and designed my own diet just for my own benefit. I know is going to take a major change in my life and an ongoing commitment to it. But I’m willing to apply overwhelming force to my goal. One thing that really bugs me is the fact that I have to reduce my coffee intake. I used to drink 2-3 lattes a day, and able to go to sleep. Now, I have to figure out how I am going to overcome the cravings for caffeine, doughnuts, cookies and junk food. It’s too hard to give up those wonderful, crispy fries!

 

I want to age gracefully. Positive aging is not about reverse with plastic surgery and erase part of our lives, it is about our ability to focus on what makes life worthwhile in our later years. The numbers don't lie, and this is a good example of growing older without fear. This is the greatest, Annie Blanche Banks - aka -Tempest Storm. She was one of the biggest names in show business during the 50s in the nightclubs and theatrical stages of the burlesque circuit. And guess what? She’s now 80-years old and still performing in Las Vegas, Reno, Palm Springs, Carnegie Hall and Miami.  What a lady!!! She’s the kind of women who still really enjoys her sexy senior’s years!  For being as old as she is, I think she looks pretty good. C'est la vie.

Tempest-Before

Tempest-After

 

Nails on a chalkboard, TV static, the alarm clock... What noise annoys you most?

Mouth noises. Smacking, slurping, chewing, but especially tooth-sucking, all fill me with rage.

RAGE!

lol

Nails on a chalkboard, TV static, the alarm clock... What noise annoys you most?

Knife and fork scraping together - easily the reason why I'm rarely found using cutlery properly.

Closely followed by: polystyrene. 

So, I have never thought of myself as a particularly organized or together person.  That's not to say that I think I am completely scatterbrained and chaotic, I know that I have some OCD tendencies, and I know when someone else has been sitting at my desk at work because the mouse pad is in the wrong spot and the stapler is half an inch to the right of where it belongs.  But there are usually stacks of stuff, and folders of paperwork that don't have a home, and a dozen things at the bottom of my inbox that really should be elsewhere.  I think of the physical organization on my desk as the visible reflection of the way I keep things straight in my head, so that I can do my job.  But I never thought of it as out of the ordinary.

However, several of the wedding vendors we have met with recently have commented on how organized I am, which surprises me.  My wedding plan book is simply an old steno notebook leftover from I-don't-know-when, and I took a piece of cardboard and taped it to the back of the cover, making a pocket that I could store stuff in.  I have a photo that was the insipration for my flowers, a Save-the-Date, and the business cards of the vendors we have chosen.  Just in case the cards aren't good enough or get lost, I decided to write out the names, phone numbers, and addresses of our vendors on the top of the inside cover, so I would have them just in case.  In the notebook itself I take notes on my phone calls, an old habit from working in a call center, and I also tend to take notes in our vendor meetings, to make sure I don't forget any of the info they are giving us during the meeting, and I remember who said what.

Last night, it was a wedding planner who commented on how organized I was.  This woman is paid to be organized for other people for a living!  Maybe it's because she usually works with twenty-somethings around here, but I took it as a serious compliment.

And a few months ago, just before leaving Chico, when I met with an old book-club friend she commented that she thought organization was one of my more distinctive traits.  I never organized anything for book club, as far as I could remember.  There were plenty of activities connected to but techincally outside of book club, from weddings to baby showers to knitting groups, but I usually just went with the flow, so I thought that she was confusing me with someone else at the time.

Of course, now that I think about it, when I was in grad school, one of the best compliments I got from a professor was about organization.  I was in the cultural anthropology program, but I had to take Methods and Theory in Archaeology from one of the greats, Dr. William Lipe.  This was a man in his mid-to-late sixties, I believe, with a mind like a steel trap.  He could cite articles from the last 40 years off the top of his head, author and date, including whatever had been published in last month's journals.  He knew every student in the department by name, no matter which track they were in, and remembered the names of boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses after a single meeting.  He was one of the most intimidating people in the department.  And while I was taking his class, it occurred to me that I could attend WSU's archaeology field school the summer after graduation, since I had nothing else lined up.  I thought it would be a fun experience and could help me be a more well-rounded instructor if I ever found myself teaching an Intro to Anthropology class.  At the top of one of the papers I turned in for the class, Dr. Lipe commented that he thought I would make a good archaeologist, because I had "an organized mind."  This was probably one of the highest compliments I could have gotten from him, and it encouraged me as I went through field school, then applied for an archaeology tech position on a whim, and eventually decided to pursue it as a career.

So maybe I'm more organized than I thought.  *smile*

the book

I'm beginning to think dishwashers don't like me. I mean seriously, all the attention they get around here. I use mine at least one, sometimes twice a day. 

Scanners - Salvation Scanners Discography [Jun 2006] Violence Is Golden [Feb 2008] Violence Is Golden (UK) [Feb 2010] Submarine

 01/05/2010 22:59:06 ♥ vu () ♥ myspace.com/scanners ♥ twitter.com/wearescanners 

For Christmas/birthday, my sister bought me a KitchenAid standing mixer.

No shit. I was shocked too. She found it at WalMart on Black Friday for a fraction of the normal price and said she absolutely could not pass it up because she knew I've always wanted one. I asked her how much, and when she told me I just couldn't believe it. I don't even care that it is white and not candy apple red. She wrapped it half in Christmas paper and half in birthday paper.

I haven't mixed anything. I want to get some of the awesome attachments so that it can be a versatile tool that I use frequently. Chris said we should get a dough hook first, although I think that other attachments would be more useful as I could easily knead my own dough if I was going to make bread.

Then again, if I made bread that frequently, it might be nice to have the attachment. I would love to bake my own bread for daily use. Chris is the chef in the house, but I am the baker. I am thinking of baking bread for the house every week just so that I can say I do it. I wonder how much it would cost compared to buying it from the store.

It sure would be nice to be a little more domestic. I love that kind of thing. I tried to convince Chris that if I didn't work, I would make everything we need at home and we'd actually save money. He was not persuaded.

I'm going to look at bread recipes now.

I finally got around to setting up a Christmas gift: a lamp made of salt, imported from Poland. It's really amazing, now that I look at it. The one I have is spherical, and a ruddy red in color. It looks like Mars, and is very contemplative and relaxing. Here's a picture:

Salt Lamp

Pretty interesting, isn't it?

Across the world, many cultures have a phrase to describe a day when the sun shines brightly through clouds and rain. The most common phrase for this is a "fox's wedding day." Foxes- the cleverest of all the creatures- know that these days are the only ones sacred enough for getting married. Just ask Akira Kurosawa.

And such was the day two years ago from today. The previous days had been inky black and flooded by one of the biggest storms of the year. I awoke on January 5th to a strange day of blinding sunlight piercing through the dark charcoal rain clouds with a contrasting beauty too stunning to describe. I made my way down an aisle in white towards the man who has my heart, and together with the foxes we married. Outside the sparkling diamonds poured down as the brilliant sky faded into the darkness on the first day of a new life. Inside, warm and safe, the room was filled with celebration and the kind of love I will remember throughout my life.

Happy anniversary, Chris. I'm happy to be sharing this adventure with you.

I feel like I've been caught up in the daily humdrum of life lately. Laundry, dishes, laundry, driving kids here and there, laundry. I'm beginning to feel like nothing more than a mom again. Not that being a mom is a bad thing, because it's not. I'm honored that God entrusted these 5 children to me and I take that job very seriously. But there are some things I've been wanting to do that I've been neglecting. So I'm not going to neglect them so much anymore. I know I have time to be a wife and mom and work on these things. Just takes a little more organization on my part, but I know it can be done.