Aging…

My hair stylist informed me today that my hair is getting grayer. Of course,  this is why I go in to visit her every 4 weeks for a “dip in her fountain of youth”! But apparently, the little bit of gray that I once had is spreading.

Like a bad case of the flu.

I’m not complaining, mind you, at least I have hair to actually turn gray. Still it saddens me to think that even though I feel young, and look (fairly) young, the old hair is turning against me.

When I got home I looked in the mirror. Hair aside, I’m actually not looking to bad for an old girl of 50. I mean, I’ve seen people my age who look….. well…. much older. There are also the botox beauties not and the plastic dolls that seem to be all over the place these days, at least on the TV and in Hollywood.

I’ve chosen to age gracefully. Well, except for my hair. I do not want all that gray showing. The lines, the wrinkles, and the sags, I will accept with the same good humor that I show the orthotic inserts for my shoes.

It’s just the way it goes.

How do you feel about the aging process? Will you go naturally, or kicking and screaming?

Mommy’s Boy

Last night, after he’d been “forgotten” in our bedroom when we went to the big city, I realized that Arnie was among the missing, once again. I did a walk-a-bout and located him in our bedroom, all curled up and sleeping.

That’s when it dawned on me that this often happens. Arnie, loves to be in bed. Our bed!

This morning, after a long night of rest in my bed, I looked for him again. What did I find?

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This totally beautiful and adorable face.

You know Arnie is our cuddler. He likes to curl up (especially in bed) and laze. Fritz has him trained now to actually go into the bedroom and go to bed. It’s the funniest thing in the whole world.

You see, the two girls always wait for me to go to bed, but my boys? Well, they just go on in and go to bed all on their own.

I wonder why that is? Are men just inclined to go to bed when they’re tired? Hubby certainly isn’t. He usually falls asleep in his chair and quite often I have to get up and wake him in order to get him to come to bed!

Ah the world is full of these mysteries!

The Big, Big City!

Today we had a meeting with our Investment Services down in the big, big city of Boston, Massachusetts. It meant we had to get up early, and then quickly eat and get ready before our 2 hour drive.

I decided I needed to look business like, and so I dragged out my “power suit”. A Jones New York black pantsuit that I wore with a white shell. I did my hair, put on full make-up and even had done my nails. I was feeling good.

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Just as we were leaving I noted that we did not have the GPS window bracket and I started wildly looking for it. I did finally find it, only to discover it had become broken in the car some time ago. (We almost never use this.)

I did get the GPS to work and since Hubby and I are not smokers I simply set it in the ash tray and it worked just fine. Eventually we’ll replace the bracket that we need, but for now, I was under time constraints and we just said good bye to the dogs and off we went.

The drive down was uneventful except we did discover that a GPS does not work in the “Big Dig Tunnel”. So, after turning us around we eventually got to our destination, “The Westin Waterfront”. What a totally remarkable hotel!

We checked in and walked down to the event. The firm had rented the Grand Ballroom for the banquet and presentation. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, as a lot of this investing stuff is quite boring to me, but this year I decided to go.

As we neared the ballroom, I saw our Investment Councilor, Tom, and went over to say hello. It’s been about 2-3 years since he has seen me, and when I extended my hand and said hello I could see the surprise, and that look on his face that said, “I know I should know who this is, but….” and then Hubby came up behind me and Tom then knew who I was. He was dumbfounded! I just smiled and giggled!

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It’s amazing what make-up, long hair and the loss of 40 pounds can do for a person!

We eventually went in for the banquet and the presentation. The food was excellent. A petite fillet Mignon, and broiled salmon portion served with wild rice, and summer squash. And dessert? Okay, this was where I really suffered. It was a chocolate mousse cake! I sat staring at it. It called my name. I said, no, no, no! And it called to me again!

Since it measured 2 inches X 2 inches I decided that even though it was a lot of points I had been good this week and I could claim this as my bonus points for the week.

So I brought the mousse cake closer. I stared at it. I let the chocolaty goodness waft into the air until I could nearly taste the cake.

But I waited for my coffee. Finally it came and I fixed my cup. Then I took three small bites. I set my fork down. I was dying there, with the goodness of that cake! I took a sip of the coffee. Then I took three more small bites. I set down my fork. A little more coffee. Three more small bites and it was done.

Now part of me desperately wanted to pick up the dish and lick the plate, but I remained dignified, hoping no one noticed me making love to my cake! I looked around and Hubby was laughing! (Quietly, thank goodness!)

Soon the event was over and we headed home. The traffic was just starting to pick up, but we still made good time.

Our dear neighbor had agreed to come and bring out the pups at noontime, for a walk. Well, when we drove in, there was Mr. Fritz sitting at the end of the driveway waiting for us. I said, “uh-oh” to Hubby, as it appeared that Fritz had been disobedient and refused to go back inside after his walk. Come to think of it, perhaps he felt the better course of action was to stay outside away from the dackels!

I called our neighbor to thank her and she mentioned that we had been bad dackel parents and actually closed Arnie in our bedroom when we left! You know, when I am trying to find things and get going and I am running late, I’m not always counting dackels! (LOL)

Tonight I am tired, but happy and a smile remains on my face. Okay, you got me. I’m still thinking about that chocolate cake!

Mr. Bunny Returns!!!

Mr. Bunny made his debut back out in the house today. I figured that Anneliese was over her false pregnancy, so what’s the worst that could happen?

If you guessed that she immediately grabbed it up in her teeth and began dragging it all over the house, then you win a hot fudge sundae!

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She doesn’t appear to be as into this as she was before, but still it really is quite pathetic that she carries on so with this stuffed toy. We’re thinking that it probably would be a good idea to put Mr. Bunny away for a few months.

I mean, he seems to have such a hold on her, and most certainly it would seem to be a good idea.

Still, it’s been sort of cute watching her with Mr. Bunny. What a good mother she will be when the time comes.

Good-Bye Peach Tree

Lat night after dinner I walked the dogs and all was right in the world. The dogs were good, the sun was setting in pretty pinks and blues. Yes, it was a nice night.

We watched a little of the tennis from New York, marveling at the expertise of the competetors, and commenting also on how we miss the likes of Steffi Graff, Andre Agassi, Stan Smith and Rod Laver. Today’s players are great, but we do miss our old favorites.

At 9:30 I got all the dogs together for their last wee-wee of the night. This is usually a quick and totally uninteresting event, but last night when I turned on the back lights and opened the door this is what I saw.

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Of course these were all taken the morning after when the sun came up, but I will tell you that I stood with Hubby in stunned silence staring at our Rich Haven Peach tree.

There is nothing that can be done to repair the damage to the tree, although we may be able to cut the tree back to the stump and see if it will grow a shoot over the next year.

The fruit? Well, we are leaving the tree as it is, for now. We hope that enough nutrients will get through to the fruit so that they will ripen on schedule in the next ten days.

It’s been a tough year for growing just about everything here, but I am not discouraged. After all there is always next year!

I’m Hooked

I’ve decided I am hooked on Youtube. Do you know that you can find almost anything in the world on there?

You can find, “How to knit”, “How to tape a foot with plantar faciitis”, music videos from all of our favorite groups, including my favorite group “The Beatles”!!!

You can learn to make a crepe, or wedding cake or a classic taco salad! So far when I have typed in a search, I have gotten something back.

Now I am not slow. Actually I even have a few videos on Youtube from back when Greta had the pups.

It’s hard to believe they were ever that small!

The only downside here….I’m not getting much done. I need to put the laptop down, get away from learning how to knit and do something serious like make dinner.

I wonder what they have on Youtube for “What to make for dinner”?

Being A Mom

This will be short because today has been a long day and I am beyond tired, but here I go.

My daughter had to have some surgery today. It was difficult and truly unpleasant for her and I went down to lend moral support and comfort to her. (I truly hope I did both)

What I discovered was, no matter how old your kids get, they are always your children and that heart stopping, worrying is still there. Of course the easiest thing is that you get to ask them coherent questions about their pain and get straight answers.

However, I’m here to tell you that not matter what, you as a parent would gladly exchange places with your child to ease the pain they are in.

Mandy was brave, she was strong and she came through the surgery very well. I was so proud of the way that she handled herself and the position that she found herself in.

I was thinking about staying overnight, but then M. arrived and he took over the comforting roll, and I drove home.

Now it is bedtime for this Mommy and I know before I can sleep even a moment, it will be morning once again.

4, 4, 4, 4 Meme

Well, KT over at Baggachips tagged me for this meme, and since I haven’t done a meme in a while, I thought I’d just do this. It’s called the four, four, four, four meme. Which doesn’t make much sense considering there are six categories, but whatever.

1. Four places I go over and over: Grocery shopping, Weight Watchers, My sister’s house and a cruise.

2. Four people who email me regularly: Mel, Uschi, Janet and The Circle of Friends

3. Four of my favorite places to eat: Canoe, Hong Kong Buffet, My house, Applebees

4. Four places I’d rather be right now: A cruise to anywhere, the beach, Punta Gorda, and Australia.

5. Four TV shows I watch:Two and a Half Men, House, NCIS, Desperate Housewives.

6. Four people I will tag: Ayone who wants to play.

Nearly The Wettest Summer Ever

I’m starting to think that this summer never really happened. It seems we went from springtime to fall without any of those long, hazy, lazy, days of summer. It was so dark and so wet. Most of the gardens in our area are complete losses. I know that mine is.

It has been the summer of rain. How much rain you ask? Well here is a quote from our local television station.

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A LOT OF YOU HAVE BEEN ASKING IF THIS IS THE WETTEST SUMMER EVER. WE ARE CURRENTLY IN 7TH PLACE, AND STILL CLIMBING

**Numbers are for Concord, the only area where official records go back to the 1800s. These numbers vary greatly from place to place, but give a basic idea. *Records are for precipitation for the months of June, July, and August.

1. 1897: 20.49 inches

2. 1887: 20.08 inches

3. 1872: 19.33 inches

4. 1915: 17.92 inches

5. 1903: 17.13 inches

6. 2006:16.46 inches

7. 2008: 16.08 inches (as of 6am, Tuesday 8/26)

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We have been able to use some of the fruit that we have salvaged. Certainly the peaches are getting a lot of use in jams, ad we have supplied our friends and neighbors with copious amounts of fruit. Soon our Stanley Plums will be ready. I’m not sure how many of those will be suitable for anything other than jam.

Well, it’s time passing isn’t it? Each year, going along, some seemingly normal and others like this year, definitely one of a kind.