I chopped off my hair and nobody noticed!

Well, yes, I am being a little dramatic.  But, I did have a lot of my hair cut off.  And, nobody (hubby) noticed.

The longer it's gotten, the more attached I have become to it.  Why is that?  I decided to look up hair styling tips for women over 50.  The only people that they show on all of these articles is movie stars.  What about the rest of us? 

I just don't think that movie stars and regular women are on the same page.  We don't have hairstylists grooming us for photo shoots and making sure that every little hair is in place.  And, then having the resulting photo airbrushed to perfection.  What do those women have in common with the rest of us?

I have been in LOVE with fashion most of my life.  In the 80's and 90's I worked in the fashion business as an image consultant.  Remember when getting your "colors done" was the happening thing?  I did that.  Yes.  I told people their "season", what colors to wear and NOT wear.  And, I still love fashion.  Now, I'm way more relaxed.  I miss the glam and glitz of the 80's sometimes, but I enjoy the calmer styles that are current too.

That being said, I decided to give my own personal hair style tips for women over 50. 

1.  Please yourself.  You are over 50!  You don't have to conform to anyone else's idea of what you should look like.  If you are happy with the way you look, well, in my opinion "being happy" looks good on everyone!

Roux Tween Time Crayon

2. Gray hair, cover or don't cover?  If you have it and you color it, it seems to need constant maintenance.  Do it yourself or pay to have it done?  I've done it both ways and doing it myself is such a huge hassle!  I bought a box just recently and instead of using it, I broke down and went to my hairstylist.  So, here is my answer on gray hair.  For the most part I vote for coloring it.  Do it yourself or hire a pro?  I vote for the pro.  In between, I have a little crayon that covers gray temporarily.  It's easy to use and looks great.

3.  How long?  Again, it's your personal preference.  I have had pretty much every length (and color) for my hair in my life.  The last few years I have kept it long.  Sometimes I think it's my last hurrah before I get too old for long hair.  I guess I just like it.  (refer to rule #1) 

My best friend Connie fell in to the trap of letting her hairstylist choose her look.  I was with her one day when she had her hair appointment.  What I noticed is that each person the lady styled ended up looking the same, they all ended up with the same look that the hairstylist had for herself!  It was short and spikey.  My friend has a soft, romantic style, she loves the feminine things like pearls and lace.  This hairstyle was at odds with her as a person and I told her so (yes, I'm bossy, thank goodness she is patient and kind!).  She ended up changing stylists to someone who would listen to her and she let her hair get longer.  She says that she would not want hair as long as mine, it would be too much for her, and I agree (it's probably too much for me too!).  Here is what she has to say about her longer hair, "I have more choices of more styles.  I love my longer hair.   I feel like I have a spring in my step and I'm more vibrant.  Having longer hair makes me look and feel younger."

4. Color?   If you are going to color, what color should you choose?  I think the youngest color you can choose is something that is the closest to your natural color.  If you go for something that is drastically different than your natural, it can be harsh on your skin tone and features.  

5.  Care.  Take care of your hair.  You DO get what you pay for.  The products that you use on your hair are EVERYTHING!  If you choose the off the shelf, grocery store products, you will be missing out on some really spectacular results that quality hair products can give.  Another reason to have your hair done by a pro.  They know all the latest and greatest products.  

 

6.  Style.  Look at magazines and get fresh ideas for changing up your look.  Again, the pro hairstylist can give you new ideas.  Get together with your girlfriends and share ideas.  



Have fun with your hair.  You wear it everyday!  If you don't like your hairstyle, change it!  If you love your hairstyle....rejoice!

I'm a BABY baby boomer

I'm a baby baby boomer

I keep hearing the term baby boomer and wondered "where do i fit in?". Am I a baby boomer? If so, what is it and how did it happen?

There are a couple of different date ranges for baby boomers, the most common one that I have seen is babies born between 1946 and 1959 (although there are also many that claim it to be 1946 and 1964). I was born in 1959, so either way, I qualify. I'm at the very end of the scale, a “baby” baby boomer.

What happened in 1946 to cause an increase in babies born? World War II ended. As the service men returned home and integrated in to society, they tended to get married and start families. That means lots and lots of babies.

And, ever since, those babies have been going through life as a huge population group. Because the new peacetime era was prosperous, these babies grew up in a time that was different than the generation before it. As the Boomers grew up, they changed society forever.

We Boomers have witnessed an enormous number of historical events in our lifetime. Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of President Kennedy (how many of us can still remember where we were when that happened?), we all watched on our television as the first man walked on the moon, the Vietnam war, women's liberation movement, and it goes on from there.

My personal view on being a boomer is that we all grew up in that time of innocence. Our parents were for the most part stereotypical parents, modeled after “Father Knows Best”. As the sixties and seventies began to change the definition of parents and families, we still had that vision in our minds. Are Boomers the generation that let those traditional views go by the wayside? I say yes. Unfortunately.

We are the first generation to experience the breakdown of the traditional family. When my parents divorced in 1970, I, personally, didn't know any other divorced people. There was a song, “Harper Valley PTA” that was all about a wild single mother. A woman to watch out for! A lot has changed since then. My mother had a job, but most of my friends mother's did not work. My dad wore a suit and tie to work and sometimes a hat. Things are so much more casual now.

As new tv shows and movies come along that depict that era, the differences between then and now are even more obvious. The way people behaved was more civil and careful. Manners were expected and so many things were just “not done”, “not said”.

Do you ever watch all the fun tv shows from the 60's? They were also innocent and simple. Far from the reality tv of today. I was watching “I Dream of Jeannie”, one of my all time favorites. I always wished I could just blink and make anything happen! I remember the side kick, Roger as being chubby. Have you seen him? He's tiny. Even the fat people back then were little. Everyone was LITTLE. We have really grown as a society since then.

Are boomers indulgent and self absorbed? We all grew up in a much more abundant time period. Our parents grew up in the depression and their experiences were all about not having enough. In my opinion, the Boomers are the exact opposite. We are the throw away society. We would rather get something new than fix something old.

The boomers gave the world Rock N Roll, a personal favorite of mine! We loved Elvis, the Beatles and of course there is Woodstock. We had transistor radios and could take our music on the go!

See if you remember these:

Phones: Everyone had the same one. In the sixties and seventies, you had literally two choices of color and we were all so excited to go from dial phones to push button. Before cordless, you were lucky to get a really, really long cord on your phone that you could walk around while talking.

Décor: Remember Harvest Gold and Avacado Green? Everything was one of those two colors. All appliances went from being just plain white to gold or green.

 

Television: We went from having one great big tv to having small ones in separate rooms. They all still had channel changers that “clicked” as you changed channels. We were all excited when Technicolor came along. And, all of our tvs had the extra knob for adjusting the vertical. Remember when you had to fiddle with it to get the picture just right?

Cars: I remember when my dad got a new Japanese car and all the dads in the neighborhood wanted to look at it. Before that we all had American cars. I think our new car was a Toyota Corolla. It was positively tiny compared to all the other cars.

And, while I'm on cars, do you remember when you had to actually “roll up” your window? Or “crack your window”, this was a little window called a “wing” that you could open to let in just a little air. Rolling up a window was no small task! And, of course NO air conditioning. Are you kidding? And we didn't have to wear seat belts. The seat belts were just the lap belts, nothing for the shoulder and no air bags of course! Most of us learned to drive on a stick shift and manual steering. Power steering....ah how nice that was!

Smoking. Well all the parents smoked. And they smoked a lot. Ashtrays were everywhere and were part of the décor. My mom had some beautiful ones. I always thought smoking was so pretty. My mother always manicured her nails and smoked like a lady. My dad was a rough “mans man” and he smoked cigarillo type cigarettes. There were always ashes. buts and smoke EVERYWHERE. No smoking section? I don't remember anything like that. Nobody ever talked about smoking being bad for you. My mother in law told me about an office that she worked in and they all smoked at work. She said it would get so smoky that you couldn't see across the room!

We played. Outside. Games. With each other. Yep. That's what we did. We did not have personal video games. We had friends. And neighbors. I remember many evenings that we would go outside and all the neighbor kids would play “kick the can”. As it started to get dark you could hear the parents calling kids to come and eat dinner. Dinner? Yes, that was something we all did with our families. We didn't think anything of it, this was everyone's normal life. We set the table every night and we all sat down together. After, our parents would go relax while us kids did the dishes. It was the same in every house that I knew.

Toys. We didn't have as many as kids have today. And, they sure seemed to last longer. I was a huge Barbie fan. I LOVED barbie. I wanted to BE barbie. My sister was too old to love Barbie, so she would “help” me build cardboard box mansions for my Barbie. I think it was her way of getting to “play” even though she was too old for such nonsense. My first Barbie was just like every other Barbie. Then they started to come our with newer ones, each with a new name and clothes. I remember when they got “bendy knees”, that was AMAZING! Ken was ok. Barbie needed someone to adore her. But, Barbie was the be all end all. My dad had a small sportscar, an MG Midget. I always felt just like Barbie in that car.

We Boomers have been a very lucky generation. We have had so many wonders, inventions, conveniences that have developed in our lifetimes. We have had the opportunities that generations before us did not have. And, we did many wonderful things, created things, built things. As we all move into the later stages of life, entire new industries are being created to care for us. There are Retirement Communities that are just for Boomers. 

It will be interesting to see how our society can handle the enormous impact that the aging of the boomers will have on everything, the economy, healthcare, etc.

If I could take the best of my memories of my “boomer” childhood and share them with the next generation, I would encourage them to honor marriage and family. The best thing a mother and father can for for their children is to love each other. And spend time together just being together. Not running from one event to the next. Family time can be just relaxing and talking. I would encourage them to bring civility back. My dad used to say “if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all”, that's a good one. He also used to say “children are to be seen and not heard” and I didn't like that one at all! 

I would encourage people to refrain from the constant unfiltered talk in conversation and on the internet. Think before you speak. Speak as though the words you say actually matter. I would encourage people to slow down and think about what's really important in life. Is it the constant pursuit of possessions that matters the most? Or is it the people in your life that matter? Your faith, your family, your community?

I would encourage people to work hard and not expect a hand out. Better to give a hand up to those in need. I would encourage people to care about who they are and what they are becoming as an individual. To care about their appearance and their mannerisms. I would encourage people to care about the generation before them that gave them life and the generation that came after that they gave life to. We can all benefit from a little more innocence and traditionalism.

Reclaiming my space

My nest has been empty, many times.  Over the years, my chickies have all come home again and again.  I love that they feel that my home is their home and a safe haven to return to.  Recently my "baby" moved back in and stayed for several months.  I wanted him to feel at home, so I gave up my home office.

Now he has moved to his own place and it's time to reclaim my space!  As much as I loved it before, I want to make improvements.  I'm changing the color.  I love the lavender color that's in there now, but when my son took down some of my decorations, the walls were left with some damage.  If I'm going to have to paint, why not a new color?  

I chose my new color based on some articles on Feng Shui.  In fact, I found this picture on one such website and I fell in LOVE with it.  I want my office to look JUST like this one:

As I was reading about Feng Shui for a home office space, the first thing that all the sites mention is to CLEAR THE CLUTTER.  When I looked at my before picture of my office, it's filled with clutter.  So, I'm planning to fix that and have a clutter free space.  This will be a HUGE challenge for me (understatement).  

I was prepping the room for paint and decided to remove my failed attempt at having a cork board behind my desk.  The cork pieces were always falling down and besides, having all that stuff on the bulletin board is very much CLUTTER.  I enlisted hubby's help in removing the cork and he thought the easiest thing would be to remove the back of it, I will call it facing.  He thought for sure that it was covering a wall.  He took a peek and sure enough behind this facing was in fact a wall.  Or was it?

The mystery wall was NOT a wall.   It was covering up what was once a window.  Oh boy.  This project just took a turn.  I had vascillated with the idea of removing the built ins completely.  My in laws built them a bazillion years ago and there are problems with them.  The drawers and shelves are too deep to be really useful.  They take up an entire wall which really limits what you can do in that room.  It's impossible to find a spot for a bed.  The unit is in the way of the closet and an electrical outlet.  And now. apparently a window was sacrificed to build it.  Darn, the whole place would have been better without it.

But, I decided to live with it. Removing it would be a major project and besides, all that drawer and shelf space is good for my office.  If I ever want it to be a bedroom again,we can tear it out then.  

So much for just painting the room and moving on.  Now we have a "project" that we didn't have an hour ago. Ugh.  I wish we could put in a window there, but hubby doesn't have time for that.  Someday....

I will keep you updated.  I was hoping to have the whole thing finished this weekend!

I ate too much...RESET please!

Help!  I'm out of control!  Willpower?  What's that?  Healthy portions?  Whose counting?

I read a story this week about a guy who was halfway through a 6,000 calorie meal at a place called the "Heart Attack Grille" in Las Vegas.  And, guess what?  He had a heart attack.  (I hope he's recovering!)  

I can't really sit in judgement of him today.  I have been eating and eating and eating this week.  What can I say?  I love to eat!  We had a lovely Valentines Day Dinner of steak and lobster and the most scrumptious dessert, and I ate too much, oh my! 

Just yesterday I attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new business and they had my favorite Chinese food.  I left there to go to a reception for a friend of mine and the buffet table was incredible!  The desserts were so tempting that many of us (ME) had to try SEVERAL!

I ask you.  Was it worth it?  Today, when I have to pay the price, NO it's not worth it.  That "party in my mouth" was over in a flash.  Getting those extra pounds off is not as fun!  

But.

I have a reset button.  

This might be a good time to tell you about my skinny business.  I have always had a love affair with food and a complete disregard for healthy portions.  I envy those people who can have just one cookie (and not the whole box!).  That person just isn't me.  And, I hate DIETS! (what are the first 3 letters of diet?)

Eight years ago, I found a program that took me from a size 18 to a 10 in a relatively short period of time.  And, that same system has helped me to maintain a healthy weight year after year after year.


It's a nutritional cleansing program.  And, today, I am taking full advantage of the program!  It's a perfect reset button.  Not just for my weight.  All those calories that I ate were NOT healthy ones!  My body is burdened by the sugar, salt and impurities that I have recently subjected it to.  So, today, I will give my body a rest.  

This nutritional cleanse program is simple, yummy and easy to follow.  And, no it's not a colon cleanse (yuck).  I will drink a healthy (and delicious) Cleanse for Life drink all day and poof!  Just like that I will return to normal.  I think of it like the rubber band on your wrist that reminds you about something.  This healthy day will remind me how GOOD I can feel.  It's that really good feeling that also reminds me that I don't really want to eat the crappy stuff all that often.  It's really not worth it.  

Oh and if you want to read my journey to health story, click here:  www.myskinnystory.com

Whatever happened to expensive things lasting a long time?

Hubby has to replace his business computer.  At first they were just going to upgrade it.  Then after getting knee deep in to the project, it turns out it can't be upgraded.  It's too old.  And, it's literally only a few years old.  And, it was EXPENSIVE to begin with.  

There was a time not so long ago, that a business could invest in equipment that would last for a long time.  Not anymore.  It seems like a computer, for example is worth next to nothing in mere months!  If you can get several years out of it .....I guess that's good.  

Is this a conspiracy?  Do they create newer, bigger, better programs that force us to upgrade?  And, now, as he's waiting for the new computer, he has NO computer.   He needs the computer to get his work done.  

  


Don't even get me started on the camera equipment!  Hubby still has the same camera (Nikon) that his Dad gave him in High School and it still works GREAT! (can you even buy film anymore?) 
Now, we have the digital cameras.  

My husband is a photographer in his business.   So, he has to have a working camera.  When he buys a new camera, it's old in about 5 minutes!!  Photographers BEFORE digital could use the same camera for years and years!  Not anymore.  What ever happened to a good old fashioned value? 

 

 At least a refrigerator still lasts a long time.  

My fun Valentine date

What a busy day!  So many things all landed on the same day today.  The best part was a wonderful Valentines Dinner with my sweetheart.  We went to our favorite local restaurant, Thomi's,  for a special Valentines menu.  Being that we live in a small town, we ran in to several people that we know.  I love that!  

We ordered Filet Mignon and Lobster.  Neither of us had ever had lobster before and it was yummy!!  I wish I had taken a picture of the meal.  And, we had the most delicious desert.  I'm going to have to give up eating all week just to make up for it.  

Throughout dinner we were entertained by a solo artist, guitar and singer, named Dana.  He was fabulous!  He played one favorite after another.  He's a real pro and knew just how to target his audience.  Since joining a band, hubby and I look at these things differently.  We were checking out his equipment and watching his moves.  He was soooo good.  We stayed for a while and visited with the owners who are also friends of ours.  

They told Dana about our band and he pulled Steve in to his act with his harmonica.  We were still loaded up from our last practice, so he had all his gear and was happy to play.  Here is a little sample:

I sang too, but I don't have a video to show you.  I'm happy to sing songs that I KNOW.  And, I did do that.  But, he played one I didn't know and I felt pretty embarrassed at trying to sing it.  It's hard to step out of the old comfort zone.  

I feel lucky to have a sweetheart to share not only Valentine's Day, but every day.  After all these years, he is still the one person I like spending my time with the most. 

Should I tell the truth?

I had a really crazy weekend.  And, I'm so glad that it is over.  My new band has been a real challenge and we had our first gig (show) on Saturday.  I wasn't sure what was going to happen and I was completely nervous.   We have practiced a lot, but we've hit several (understatement) bumps in the road.  The result is that we made it through.  We got some compliments and people danced.  They stayed to the end of the evening.  So, a success.  

But, behind the scenes it was hard.  I don't really want to go in to the details....maybe another day I will do that.  Which makes me wonder....how much Truth should one tell on a blog, facebook, twitter? As much as I like to blabber on my blog, I'm really actually a private person.  And, I think twice about talking about anyone else too.  I want to tell ALL.  But, how much is OKAY to tell?  When does it become TMI (too much information).  

I was on Facebook once when my son's good friend posted on his wall about sleeping too much or not waking up, or something like that.  I said something pretty tame in agreement with her or maybe I just "liked" it and he was NOT happy with me.  It was OK for her to say this, but his Mother...well that was too much.  From then on I stopped commenting on any posts to do with him.  Playing it safe.

One of the things I like about reality tv is how they let it ALL hang out for all to see and hear.  How can they do that?  How do they all go from telling things about each other that can really hurt and just make up after?  

I, myself, would not want to have anyone tell anything about me in public (unless it's nice of course!).  And, online IS public after all.  Facebook, Twitter, even email can be shared.  And, yet so many people, specifically the younger generation, tells EVERYTHING, even embarrassing or compromising things where anyone can see.  

Some things that shouldn't be shared are obvious.  But, where is that line exactly?

I've always avoided the controversial things like politics, religion and so many personal views.  But, I don't mind reading some else's opinions on those things.  Even if I don't agree, I don't care that they wrote it.  I can choose to read it or not.  

It gets harder and harder to keep our secrets to ourselves these days, don't you think?