We are about Fitness and Quality of Life after 50... We are about Fun and Friendship after 50... We are the Golden Girls...
There is Value in us There is Power in us There is Wisdom in us And Laughter.... We are a rainbow of unique wonders, There is love in us. (poem by Dorothy Holmes)
Tell us a little about your life, family and goals. What keeps you motivated? What is the best thing that's happened to you since you passed the 50 mark? Friends laugh, cry and stand by each other, we'll be that to you! __________________
Good Morning and Happy April Fools Day! What a long, cold, snowy winter we had. Yesterday DH brought in a purple crocus that popped up and my tulips and other early bloomers are popping up all over. I'm going to make it a point to sit outside everyday and soak up some sun. Yeah, take time for myself! Zoe...sorry for all the pesty rain that's damaging so many homes, I think it's a record! I have to go spend some time with my DD's dog today, they went on vacation and he needs some company. Have a great day!
Happy April Fools' Day one and all! Thanks for starting the new thread, Bobbi!
Well, goodbye and good riddance to March and all that stinkin' rain (I hope). PT, I live in Worcester, which is @ 45 miles west of Boston, right smack in the middle of the state. For the past 9 years, I have worked in Boston, but back in January, we moved to a new office park in Canton, MA, which is roundabout southwest of Boston. Central MA didn't get hit too badly - nothing like the flooding in the eastern part of the state. Unfortunately, Canton is far enough east to have felt the effects of all this raining and flooding. Our regular access road in off the highway is flooded again - it was in last week's storm, too - which necessitates about a five mile detour. Up until yesterday's commute home, it was still raining in spurts, and I was like going a little crazy on the drive home. We had a rainy summer last year, and I have to say I'm really hoping that we've gotten all this precipitation out of our systems and can settle in to warmer days ahead. ANOTHER rainy summer and you'll begin to see my mental deterioration REALLY jump into full swing!
We have tomorrow off, but DH will be at Old Sturbridge Village for the day. Nice, right? I plan to sleep late, spend some serious "me" time, and maybe get a few housekeeping chores out of the way. (Maybe). Saturday, my two local daughters and their families and DH & I are going down to my other daughter's house in Berkely, MA for a pre-Easter dinner. On Easter, DH and I are having dinner with some friends. So, a busy weekend ahead. Today is our high calorie day according to Wendie (DH is doing it with me) and we're having a version of that Greek Pizza recipe that you circulated a few weeks back, PT. I'm adding artichoke hearts and chopped chicken breast. Yum. We had it once before and it was absolutely scrumptious! I'd love to have some Apples Isabella for dessert, but the pizza really fills us up.
I MAY weigh in on Saturday. Or Monday. Or not. Sometimes, when I'm being really virtuous with my dieting - or just plain "healthy eating" - for a while, I like to wait to weigh myself until I can see a good, substantial loss on the scale. Makes me feel like I've done better than if I weigh myself week-to-week (I would NEVER weigh myself day-to-day!) and just keeping seeing a pound or so drop off - or worse, only see a few ounces gone. (Or nothing at all).
Okay. Time to put my nose to the grindstone, here, and get this little bit of work out of the way so I can get out of here early (maybe) today.
Have a terrific day, GGs!!!
Z
Good April, All....
It looks lovely... but that may be a joke on us! I don't know if the WeatherFools are predicting anything or not.
PT, I'm glad you were spared the house flooding, but the commute sounds bad! Last summer, we were inundated with rains (yes, it was really too much), but it wasn't hard to breathe, like it is in the heat. So... heat or ant invasions? I don't know which is worse! (ants...)
Had a very busy day running amok yesterday, so I need to stay home and DO something today! All is well here. The picture is pre-hair cut. You know, I look in the mirror and say "wow, you're a lovely little sprite" but then I see the image the camera captures and say "wow, what HAPPENED, old woman????"
Lynn, it's getting close, yes? How's the knee?
Everyone, enjoy the buds of Spring! My pink hyacinth have come and gone already, hardly had time to notice them!
Just listened to the news this morning. Sending my best wishes to everyone in the northeast dealing with flooding issues. May your sump pumps stay ahead of the worst of it for you!
I slept really well last night, but still woke up groggy today. Must have massive pot of coffee! I keep trying to give up the stuff, but some days it's what I need the most.
I've got Pilates again this afternoon. For some reason, my shoulders are sore, even though all I've been practicing is breathing and sucking in my abs.
Going for my haircut soon. I think I've decided to stop coloring my hair. I was using Aveda products to color my hair, but last time my scalp was really burning during the treatment. Yet another thing I'm now allergic to. So, letting those gray highlights shine through.
Yesterday I was listening to something about a retirement village in Florida, whose residents' ages ranged from age 55 and up. 55!!!!???? AARP is breathing down my neck, and then I'm just a few years from being allowed to live in a retirement community and be forced to play kanasta and mahjong!!?? This is not sitting well with me. Then I watched something later in the evening about a woman in her mid-60s who started writing at age 62, and she wrote a screen-play for a 10-minute short film. She was in the process of producing the film, with the intent of submitting it to Sundance. That made me feel better.
I'm saving kanasta and mahjong for when I turn 90.
Nothing like an old fool. I started eating very unhealthy as I was making cupcakes just before lunch and stopped just after eating supper. My main food group today was sugar...sigh... and the secondary group was bread with all the bad stuff (butter, jam, cheese, mayo)...another sigh....
...but on a cheery note, I jogged most of my walk today. I walked about 12 minutes and jogged the remaining 48 minutes for a total of 1 hour on the road.
Georgia, I retired at 54. I love it.
Hope you're starting to dry out Zoe. Oh, my that sounds like you're a lush. We saw the rain on Canadian TV today.
Donna, you do look like a lovely little sprite.
Bobbi, I'm hoping to see a few blooms soon, other than dandelion, that is.
We're soon off to MIL's for a short visit. I have half dozen cupcakes to take to her. Take care and I'll catch you on a better eating day.
Last edited by retiredone; 04-01-2010 at 05:22 PM.
It was a very pretty day today. I'm so happy to see temps up in the 80's the last couple days! Now if I could get out of this funk that I'm in!!! It just seems that I just can't get back into the swing of things again. I'll do good for a couple days but then rotten the next day. I guess it could be that things are still kind of up in the air on the house. They are wanting some electrical changes made and we are thinking that it may run into several thousand dollars to do what they want. We have an electircian going to check it out but it is so stressful just waiting! We're getting paperwork from the title company they are going through and they have even got their loan but who knows what may happen now. So I'm dealing with headaches, stiff necks and icky tummy while I'm waiting for answers. I'll be so glad when it is all done!
Sunny here today, not in the 80's yet, like you, Karen, but low 70's are predicted by tomorrow, and I'll take it!!! Sorry your house is still presenting problems, but once you get through the process, you'll be done with it and can move ahead with your life. I know what a drain this has been on you - and for such a long time - but the end is in sight, so you just hold steady, girl. You might want to think about the fact that there are a lot of things that you can't control right now, but your body and your physical condition IS something that you can control by focusing on it instead of worrying about the house. In fact, your "woman cave" might very well provide you with some time - and a place - where you can relax and let the rest of the world be "out there", eh? (Just a thought). Isabella, "drying out" is exactly what we need to do around here! I'm seriously hoping that this weekend helps to relieve some of the sogginess everywhere. I was truly close to an all-out SAD attack driving home the other night. I think I truly am one of those people who doesn't function well without sunlight. After being deprived for too long, I get very testy and miserable. It was supposed to be clearing on Wednesday - the weather reports (I like Jess's label - "Weatherfools") said between Wednesday and Thursday - and I got hit by a deluge driving home Wednesday night from work, and actually pounded on the steering wheel and screamed a couple of times. I feel better now, but was really giving some thought to hitting a tanning bed (ack!) As far as your eating issues, I think we can safely apply the 98% rule: you are absolutely meticulous about diet and exercise 98% of the time, so that 2% when you aren't doesn't count. Jogging, eh? (What will she be doing next, folks? Hang gliding? Parasailing? Bungee jumping? Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro? (Did I spell that correctly? Ah, well, you get the point, right? ) Actually, I've thought about parasailing. Thought about it a lot, in fact. Maybe I should get back to my one mile walks with Leslie as a first step, eh?
Well, Georgia, I've never been much of a card player - not a great one, anyway - but I guess anything that stimulates you to think can be a good thing once you've attained some serious age....but it's when you say something like that that I'm reminded that you're a good bit younger than most of us here. I'd have to say that getting older - or getting OLD - isn't quite the horrendous thing I might once have thought it would be. By virtue of being here - being one of the GGs, I mean - kind of demonstrates, I think, that we, at least, have no intentions of growing old and letting our minds and bodies deteriorate. And retirement, as demonstrated by people like Bobbi and Isabella - and so many others - can be a very active time of life. I know that I'm looking forward to doing some clothes designs, myself. I'm attaching (I hope) a few pictures of my outfits. Such fun! I wish I could do it full time! Oh well, two more years....I should be able to do two more years standing on my head, right? (Oh, alright...walking with Leslie, then ) These outfits, incidentally, I have worn myself, and have had folks ask me to keep them in mind when I start to do this stuff for real. Maybe some day. Maybe in two years. We'll see. (The wire dress form, incidentally, is my friend Charlotte.) Maybe by then I'll have something else to do. Who knows? PT, you are indeed a lovely little sprite! I always hate my pictures, too, though. I just think that some folks seem to have faulty cameras - s'not OUR problem that there's a malfunction when they take shots of us, now, is it? Ants, eh? My daughter has some problems with them, too. Do you know of any baby-safe way to get rid of them?
Have a happy day, one and all!
Z
Good Morning Girls! I'm so groggy today, Georgia, must be something going around. No, I know what's wrong with me, Restless Leg Syndrome. The worst ever, kept me awake for 90 minutes or so. I hate that! Today I have to make a cake to bring with me to a funeral of a church member. I won't be counting calories very accurate today, church food is always iffy, usually full fat/sugar stuff. Isabella...I retired in 1998 at the age of 53, my feet just gave out on me. It's been 12 years now and I haven't regretted leaving the work force early. DH was thinking we'd miss the money but we didn't. I made up for alot of the missing money by cooking food from scratch, hanging clothes up to dry outside or down the basement in the winter. Most of my pay check went into work clothes anyway. I had a dress up/heels job, no wonder my feet went to pot. Jess...How funny you are, I've ripped up many pictures of myself just because I don't know that person staring back at me. I'm not that old!
Quote:
All is well here. The picture is pre-hair cut. You know, I look in the mirror and say "wow, you're a lovely little sprite" but then I see the image the camera captures and say "wow, what HAPPENED, old woman????"
Karen...they have you between a rock and a hard place. Any new home buyer is going to push for all they can, guess you'll have to call their bluff or maybe split the cost. Depends on how badly you want to get rid of the house.
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They are wanting some electrical changes made and we are thinking that it may run into several thousand dollars to do what they want.
Zoe...You must be really laid back to weigh in occasionally. I'm really impatient and have to weigh every day or my day doesn't seem right. Maybe my ADD is surfacing again.
Quote:
I MAY weigh in on Saturday. Or Monday. Or not. Sometimes, when I'm being really virtuous with my dieting - or just plain "healthy eating" - for a while, I like to wait to weigh myself until I can see a good, substantial loss on the scale. Makes me feel like I've done better than if I weigh myself week-to-week (I would NEVER weigh myself day-to-day!)
Time to go get cleaned up and start baking. I can't snitch a small piece of cake out unless I fill the corner in with frosting.
Good Morning, All...
PT, Zoe, my friend... I read your list of possible future activities for Isabella and Bobbi and thought that they will PROBABLY do them all at the same time! They're an inspiration (and sometimes the cause for me returning to bed to hide in despair!)
Pretty day today, although it's very windy and supposed to only get into the mid 40s. The wind is very scary... we have huge tall trees in the neighborhood, and I have visions of them crashing into my house. I lived in WY for a while in the early 80s and HATED all the constant wind there!
Nothing on the agenda today except paperwork. I'm holding steady with the weight, so no complaints. It's about time for some activity, though I'm strangely serene about it all.
Morning everyone..sry i have been mia i had a computer malfunction..it started out that we couldnt get on line..so i unplugged and replugged and turned off and returned on both computers and nothing worked so called the puter repair man he came yesterday..long story short and 40$ later i plugged wires back in wrong and the original malfunction was from our internet provider..boy did i feel dumb..our easter is going to be very quiet..jusy dh and me..we are going to roast a turkey and make a huge salad..i could have invited friends over but didnt feel like fussing..i am missing my kids and grkids tho..1st time in 40 yrs i dont have kids to decorate eggs with kinda sad about that..hoping you all have a hopping good day ((((hugs))) rosey
Back to work tomorrow. Boy the week flies by fast. Got stuff done, just not the stuff I had hoped to. But stuff is stuff .......so I'm happy with it
Bobbi ~ sorry your restless legs kept you awake last night ~ hope you get a better rest tonight
Zoe ~ the outfits you put together are beautiful ~ Wow. Hope the flooding in your area subsides and the sun comes out.
Donna ~ holding steady with the weight is good ~ better than going up ~ it'll get going down again
Georgia ~ hope your shoulders are feeling a little less sore.
Isabella ~ way to go jogging most of your walk
Karen ~ you are not alone ~ I am also having trouble getting back in the swing of things. Hope your house will get sold so you can be done with that stress.
Rosey ~ glad your computer is back up and running. You are doing great with your exercise and weight loss. Way to go
Hello to everyone else I missed. Happy Easter weekend to all.
Hello everyone--- not much news from here today. We ended up with about 60 degrees today but some thundershowers came through. But they are saying now that the weekend should be gorgeous! I'll take it.
Bobbi, sorry about your restless legs--- my aunt told me something that really does help and almost immediately---When they hurt like that take about a tablespoon of dill pickle juice and boom-- it's all gone. I didn 't belive it but have tried it and by golly it worked for me!
Zoe, love the outfits that you have put together. Wonderful! I just don't have that kind of talent-- I'm doing good going to wal-mart and putting something together. And belive it or not I got my Moms PFAFF sewing machine and it is in a beautiful maple sewing cabinet when she died. I took it out to Colorado and had it cleaned and adjusted and brought it back home and put it back in the cabinet. Now I've moved it back here and still haven't done anything with it. I think I am too afraid of messing up something that I am trying to make. Any ideas what would be and easy thing to start with that would give me the bug to keep going on it?? Tim's brother lives in Danvers and we have been watching the weather back your way too. I hope things get better back there really soon.
Gayle good to hear from you. We have got to figure a way to get back in the swing of things.....I hate feeling like I am just floundering here.. YUCK!
Isabella-- way to go on your walk/jog! Send some motivation this way.
Guess I'd better get going for this evening. Still need to get a few more things done tonight.
I am never going Hang Gliding, Parasailing or Bungee Jumping!!! I get dizzy climbing on my step stool and standing on anything taller than me makes me scared. I have a fear of heights. But I might climb a mountain as long as I can keep at least one foot on the ground and I don't have any ledges to creep along and I don't have to look over an edge or have anyone who'd like to pretend they are going to throw me off or jump themselves. My mother was always doing things that frightened the stuffing out of me. And I was quite adult at the time. We'd go for a hike and she was always hanging around edges and contemplating a shortcut over the jagged side of a hill. Makes me shudder just to think about that. I used to tell her she'd never die a natural death. I guess she fooled me as she lived to be 92 and died in bed.
I walked today as my legs are a bit sore from yesterday's jog. DH had the day off so went the opposite way today and ended up at his mom's place. I colored her hair while DH went home and got a bag of whole wheat flour I had for her. He came back in the car so that cut my walk short by about 1 kilometre. I might have motivation for walking and jogging but I want to eat everything in sight and I'm making and baking really good (bad) food. I really miss baking and cooking the things I used to make so yesterday I made an unbaked cheese cake with a chocolate cookie base, lemon cupcakes which I turned into a cupcake bunny cake for DGS and the neighbor's child, decorated a few more cupcakes in an Easterly fashion, made a lemon cake and pudding sort of thingy with the cupcakes that didn't turn out right and today I made lasagna, macaroni and cheese and a jello salad. And we aren't having any guests for Easter. I gave away most of the cupcakes but managed to force down 3. I tried the cheesecake out today (I'll keep that) and most of the lasagna and macaroni is in the freezer. I keep baking/cooking and freezing and I'm soon going to need a commercial sized freezer to keep all the stuff. I need to start knitting, quilting, sewing, painting, gardening...some kind of a hobby that not edible. I have 2 bags of yarn sitting in the closet, 2 quilts partially started, a pile of clothing to mend, all kinds of fabric I could sew, a garden gone to weeds and a kitchen that could use a coat of paint and all I want to do is bake. Honestly, if all transportation routes into Newfoundland were closed I have enough food in this house to last the two of us about 3 months before we'd start to even begin to feel the pinch of no food in the stores. OK, 'nuff said.
Karen, hope that house sells. I can't imagine how stressful that would be. I believe you mentioned the dill pickle juice awhile ago. My MIL was complaining about RLS the other day. She said she hardly slept all night. I was going to tell her about the pickle juice but she doesn't like dill pickles and she won't eat or drink anything she doesn't like. Very picky that way.
Zoe, did you sew those outfits? They are really lovely. So well put together. And I hear you about not seeing the sun--so depressing after a while.
Bobbi, I don't miss the extra money, either. I love not going out to work every day. I sit and play (and cook) and do whatever I want and my cheque comes every 2 weeks like clockwork. How much better can you get? I'm not a high maintenance gal at all.
Donna, as I said I'm not doing any of those activities Zoe so lovingly thought of. I have enough trouble staying earthbound when the wind blows and it does blow here. Some days it's like walking against a wall. I often think that it would be a nice day except for the wind. So don't go back to bed. Maybe you can do those things for me.
Rosey, I'm coming out to Alaska so you and I can dye eggs and have Easter together. We'll have no one at our house this year, either. We are going to see baby, though, next week. Kids really make the holidays special.
Well, hello Gayle. You're right. Stuff is stuff even if it wasn't the stuff you'd thought you'd get to. Another week another time to do that stuff will come along.
I'll say good night and sleep well everyone. Catch you in the sunshine.
Good Morning Girls! Nice to hear from you Gayle. Karen...I'll try the pickle juice next time I have RLS. I woke up with it again last night but not as bad as before. I had a migraine instead, chocolate cake with cherry pie filling and cool whip maybe triggered it. (left over from the cake I brought to the funeral). Speaking of the funeral, why don't they feed us healthy stuff? Scalloped potatoes and Ham, buttered buns, dill pickles, nuts, mints and all variety of cakes. O.K, how many pieces of cake did you eat dummy? Don't ask. The scale is up 1.5 pounds this morning, blah We're spending Easter alone too, DD is in Ely, Mn. celebrating with SIL family. Tiffany is singing a solo in their church service and my two gransons are on vacation in Cancun with ex-SIL. We're going to my dad's in the afternoon for coffee, that's about it for us. My dining room table is still set for our Easter dinner, we'll celebrate it after everyone is home. Have a great easter everyone.I miss coloring eggs for my grands too! Remember Jesus is the reason for the season!
~April Golden Girls~
You might want to think about the fact that there are a lot of things that you can't control right now, but your body and your physical condition IS something that you can control by focusing on it instead of worrying about the house. In fact, your "woman cave" might very well provide you with some time - and a place - where you can relax and let the rest of the world be "out there", eh? (Just a thought). 
I feel better now, but was really giving some thought to hitting a tanning bed (ack!) As far as your eating issues, I think we can safely apply the 98% rule: you are absolutely meticulous about diet and exercise 98% of the time, so that 2% when you aren't doesn't count. Jogging, eh? (What will she be doing next, folks? Hang gliding? Parasailing? Bungee jumping? Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro? (Did I spell that correctly? Ah, well, you get the point, right? 
) Actually, I've thought about parasailing. Thought about it a lot, in fact. Maybe I should get back to my one mile walks with Leslie as a first step, eh? 
) These outfits, incidentally, I have worn myself, and have had folks ask me to keep them in mind when I start to do this stuff for real. Maybe some day. Maybe in two years. We'll see. (The wire dress form, incidentally, is my friend Charlotte.) Maybe by then I'll have something else to do. Who knows?
((((hugs))) rosey 
I miss coloring eggs for my grands too! Remember Jesus is the reason for the season!
