So ...

Yeah, I know. I've abandoned this blog for about a year and a half. I've kept up with my knitting/crafting blog a lot better, but even there recently I had to take a break. Of course, the main difference is that I know some people read that blog, and this one is mainly for myself, and there have been a couple of people now and then who have commented, but who knows if they have given up.

Anyway, I've decided that since I have many beauty and fitness types of things to say/talk about, I needed to once again make friends with this blog. If nothing else, it helps me keep track of products or other things that I like or don't like, so that I don't re-do or re-buy the wrong things!

Things in life have changed for me. At the end of July 2022, I left my full-time job of 12+ years. I had loved my work, but in the last year and a half before I left, things had really deteriorated when we got a new CEO who thought he was a library and archives expert. (Spoiler alert: he isn't.) Let's just say that our department of five people had dwindled to myself and one other person (who he LOVED) by the time I left. I couldn't really afford to retire, but in order to maintain my mental and physical health, it was necessary. So now I get a monthly Social Security check, and I have a job three days a week at a local yarn store. We are struggling a bit, but we're OK and I'm doing a lot better than I had been, so I guess it's a win?

In September 2022, a friend and one of my nieces and myself started a little fitness group. We each take turns creating monthly goals for all of us, and check in daily via text messages. It's really been great, and all three of us are healthier and making progress, slowly but surely. We all agree that the accountability of checking in every day has made a huge difference in our attitudes towards living a healthier life. Which is not to say we don't lose sight of things now and then, but we are also very forgiving, which is fantastic. 

What else? Well, since I last spent time here, we adopted two more kitties! In May 2022, we adopted Alfie, a three-legged very fuzzy gray and white cat who was about a year old at the time. We call him our lovable weirdo, because he is very sweet and affectionate, but truly weirder than any cat we've ever had before. And then this past May, we adopted Esmeralda (aka Esme), a one-eyed gray tabby who is a little over a year old. For about the first four months she was with us, we seldom saw her, she was so afraid of us. But she got along perfectly with the other kitties, so that's what mattered most. And she and Alfie are definitely best buddies. in the past couple of months, she has gotten braver, and will occasionally even let us pet her - major progress, I tell you!

(Alfie on the left, Esme on the right)

And that's really about it for now. Like I mentioned, I have a lot of things I'd like to write about, so you will be hearing from me again sooner rather than much later. 

In the meantime, if anyone other than me is reading this, I hope you are well, and that you'll stop by again. 😊

Finding An Oldie But Goodie

Since the start of June, I have been making an extra effort to get more fit and in better shape.  I was a bit active prior to that, but I decided that it was time to take it up a level, and get myself on more of a schedule.  Between my work schedule (2 days a week) and The Tim's (3 days a week), we made a deal that on the days he works but I don't, he would take Hamlet for a walk in the mornings.  This meant that I had three early mornings that did not have to be "scheduled," and I decided that the best way to take advantage of that was to make sure that at a minimum, I did some serious exercise on those mornings.  

I did OK with this during June and July, but didn't commit as diligently as I should have.  At the end of July, I decided to make myself more accountable.  So I started a list for each week of August and it looks kinda like this:

Week of August ___

xxx pounds ; arms * body workout * pilates

We have a weight scale, and I know it isn't that accurate, but for the purposes of accountability, I decided to include my weight for that week, done on Sunday mornings before I eat breakfast.  

This has been really working for me, as knowing it is "written down" somewhere has made me much more disciplined to exercise.  And not always killer exercise - but something that moves me around/stretches/builds strength on my three free mornings.  

Besides just exercises that I already know, I have found TONS of YouTube videos that have been helpful.  So another reason I think it's working, is because I have some variety.  

But I gotta tell you, the other day I found that someone had put an oldie but goodie on YouTube, and yesterday, I did that workout.  Remember this woman?

It's Susan Powter - you know, STOP THE INSANITY!!

Back in the day, I had one of her strength building exercise videos, and though I always thought she was kinda weird, that workout was a killer, and really good.  Plus, there were things that I found amusing even back then (spoiler alert: they still amused me yesterday!), and that's always a bonus.  So I decided to give it a try again yesterday.  I gotta tell you, it kicked my butt, and I'm feeling it today, but it also felt good to find something that I already knew had worked for me in the past.

Of course, once we are back to work regularly in the building, I don't know how dedicated I'll be to my exercise schedule.  I already get up really really early on work days (4:45 a.m.), and getting up even earlier to exercise makes me feel like it might not even be worth going to bed ... 

In the meantime, I'm doing what I can to be more healthy and more fit.  My weight (at least according to our inaccurate scale) hasn't really changed, but I can detect things about my body that make me know my fitness level has improved.  That was my goal, and I have to say, now that I'm more regular about it, I don't have to do as much talking-myself-into-exercising work.

Oh, and Susan Powter?  Here is what she looks like today, according to several different sources, including ABCNews:

Hm.

Am I Old? Does It Matter? Do I Care?

Hello, sorry it's been awhile, but life has been kicking my butt the past few months, and though I've had things I've wanted to say, I couldn't get myself to actually say them here.  But I'm taking a break at work right now, and thought I'd go ahead and post.

This morning a co-worker asked me for the eleventy-billionth time why I am not retired.  She is not a person who likes me, and is frequently making comments about how I'm so old, and how I should be retired, etc., etc.  My most favorite recent thing was when she complained to HR because every morning when she gets in, I say "Good morning" to her, and she doesn't want me to talk to her (which I didn't know).  I asked the HR person if she saw the irony of calling me in to talk to me when I was the one with good manners.  She agreed, but said I should try not to "annoy" the person anyway. 

As my friend Lisa used to say, Jesus Christ on a snowmobile!

Anyway.  The basic answer to why I am not retired is that I cannot afford to retire.  And sadly, it doesn't look like I can even plan to retire anytime in the next few years, if at all.  Which is extremely disappointing to me, since I had a plan to retire and become a dog walker because a) dogs, and b) exercise.  Fortunately I have a dog of my own to walk now, even if I do it for free.  :-)

The funny thing about getting that question yet again this a.m., is that since then, I have read two things that were specifically geared towards discussions of age. 

The first was this blog post, which caused me to immediately go to the public library website and put a hold on the book discussed.  I enjoy seeing people discuss language as well, and the concept of "ageless" as an ageist concept was interesting to me.  Sort of like the whole discussion a year or so ago where beauty products were encouraged to be "pro-aging" as opposed to "anti-aging."  There are so many ways and levels to even start this discussion, but I feel that a lot of the time - as with so many other things in life - we start out with guns blazing, and then fall back when something else shiny shows up, or life happens, etc.  (I must admit to ALWAYS being distracted by shiny things, both literally and figuratively speaking.)

Then a friend of mine who has recently decided that she is through worrying about her weight and dieting sent me a link to this article.

First of all, can I say how much the title amuses me?  I thought at first, "Wait, I thought Liz was giving up on diets," and then really appreciated how the author was making it work.  Yes, it discusses diet culture and how it messes us up, etc., but it also addresses how we feel about ourselves throughout our lives and how we let others define our place - a pretty teenager, a young mom, a woman with middle-age-spread, and old lady.  Laura Lippman takes us on her personal journey, and uses herself as an example of how hard it can be sometimes to be happy in our own skin.

Am I Old?  I'm 63 years old, so yes, I guess I'm old as opposed to being middle-aged (since I have no expectation of living to be 126).  Some days, I *feel* really old.  I don't think I look particularly old, but then again, I have always - even as a teenager - been comfortable in my own skin, and though I don't want to look scary, or decrepit, I also don't want to look 25, and I enjoy being able to move my forehead. 

Does It Matter?  Sometimes, like when I can't get a job interview because it's assumed I'll be retiring soon.  Or when people assume that I don't understand something because it's "something young people think/do/say."  I mean, it's not stopping me from living my life.  I'd rather be my age than dead. 

Do I Care?  I have always longed to be 64, even since The Beatles sang about it.  And I really really hoped to have animals at the time named Vera, Chuck, and Dave.  I *will* be 64 next year, but I'm not gonna suddenly have three more animals, so that's kinda too bad.  Otherwise, I don't let my age bother me too much.  I must admit that a lot of the time, I have to stop and think for a minute when someone asks me how old I am, because I just don't give it a lot of thought.  Again, I'd rather be my age than dead.

If you go to Google Images, and enter "old lady," you mostly get this:

(OK, I'll admit that I kinda sorta identify with the woman above ...)

But "old women" also look like this:

and of course, one of my faves:

(Yes, I know she has a stylist, etc. for her personal apprearances, red carpets, and

other stuff.  I just like her because I think she is pretty amazing no matter what.)

How do you feel about all of this?  Do you mind getting older?  Do you like the way you look for the most part?  I'm curious.

Fitness Friday : I'm Still Here!

Well, hello!  I didn't mean to be gone for so long, but I'm here now in any case.  If you read my other blog you probably know what I've been up to, craft-wise and reading-wise.

I know that especially at the beginning of the year, I talked about becoming more fit.  And then I also said I was planning to take advantage of some Pilates classes.  I have not really said anything about either thing since, have I?

The results are mixed.  I have been trying really hard to move around regularly, and to watch what I eat.  I've been successful in that I have been able to remain motivated, but I have not really been successful as far as physical changes.  I've discussed this with two of my doctors, who have not been able to determine exactly why - I mean, we all know that losing weight is harder when you are older, but they can find no medical reason why I am not losing any weight (and both of them suggest trying to drop 15 pounds to stay healthy).  So it's time to up the exercise and see if that helps not just with losing weight, but gaining strength and fitness (which is actually the most important thing to me personally).

So let's review.  I took the Beginner Pilates Mat classes, and LOVED them!  I was in no way good at it, but I really enjoyed them, and they made me feel like I had better posture.  My coupon special expired at the end of May, so now I'm on my own.  I've been looking for free online classes, so I can keep up with it.  As with real-life classes, some classes and some instructors are better than others, but I have a couple that I really like, so hopefully I can keep going for that.  Because I just can't afford the regular classes, those suckers are crazy expensive!

Local Yarn Store Day happened, and I won a raffle, which was incredibly exciting, since I don't win most of the time.  One of the prizes was a free, one-on-one workout of The Bar Method, which recently opened a studio near our house.  My first inclination was to just not bother, because frankly I figured it would be something I wouldn't enjoy, even a one-on-one free class.  But then I thought, what the heck - it's free, and made an appt.  I had truly low expectations.

You know what? It was so great!  The person doing the one-on-one was one of the owners of the local studio, and she could not have been nicer or more helpful.  She said she had originally hoped to do a beginner series, but since this is the first summer they are open, she hesitated to do that until they had an idea of how well they would or would not do overall.  Understandable.  Anyway, it was fun and she was incredibly encouraging.  There were some things I just could not do, and other things I could do but not for as long as the class does them.  She said that in her opinion, the good thing about the classes are that, although they are group classes, everyone is doing their own thing the best that they can, and the instructors help each person in the class.  I though that it was probably something she said to everyone, but then when I was getting changed in the locker room, there were a couple of older women getting ready for an actual class who claimed the same thing when I asked them about their experiences.  Hm.

Anyway, the owner/instructor who helped me was a) extremely nice, b) not pushy or judgemental, and c) most importantly, not constantly giving me a sales spiel.  She has invited me to be her guest at a regular class this Sunday morning to see how/if I like it.  I told her that I would love to try it, but warned her I would likely not be able to afford to go regularly.  She said that if I liked the class, and felt that I could do it at all, she would figure out a way to make it affordable to me.  I don't know if that will be true, but I'm gonna see how it all goes on Sunday in any event.

Another thing that is helping is that I can now ride my bicycle more than I do in the winter.  I love riding my bike, and can even cycle back and forth from work.  But I'm not a person who cycles regardless of the weather - I guess I'm a weather wimp that way!  When it's freezing, raining, or just incredibly cold outside, I'm not interested in riding my bike.  If I absolutely *had* to, I'm sure I would, but given the choice, I'll wait for better weather.

If you know me, you know I'm not a fan of summer.  But I have to admit that it makes it so much easier to eat well.  Fresh fruits and veggies are not just more available, but more affordable.  And even when I was a little kid, I LOVED fruits and veggies!  So I'm hoping that will make all of the rest of it even better because I do love to eat.

So that's what has been going on around here.  I know that being more active and eating well makes me feel better not just physically but mentally.  I want to be as healthy and as fit as I can be, and if it can help me keep it together better overall, there's no down side.

In summary:

1. Keep exercising.
2. Ride my bike.
3. Try new things.
4. Benefit from all the good food available now.
5. Stay accountable.

If you want to try along with me, all the better!

Here's to a good and healthy weekend.