Who?? Me?!?!

Something terrible happened today. I was dashing into Petco to buy dog food and they had a big sign out front advertising an upcoming photo shoot where you can bring your pet and have photos taken. I stopped, read the entire sign and thought, that's not a bad price at all. When is the date and do I have anything on my calendar? Will she need to be groomed right before the photos? I pondered who would get the 5 x 7s over the wallet sizes!!
What has become of me?? I just considered having professional photos taken of a dog!!! I can't even believe I am owning up to any of these thoughts because two months ago, I didn't even have a dog! Dogs were a nuisance and smelly. Today, the dog who resides in my house is my constant companion. She makes me laugh every day. I sometimes reorganize my errands so she can ride in the car with me. I walk her two or three times every day, rain or shine.
"Hi, my name is Susan and I'm a DOG PERSON!!!"

32 - 35

I just finished reading an article that talked about at what age a woman feels the best about herself and her body. In the story, the author stated that she felt, for most women, it was the years from 32 to 35. You are past your youthful angst and still far enough away from severe wrinkles and body breakdown. I totally agree. Looking back to when I was in my early thirties, I did feel pretty good about myself. I wore stylish clothes ~ oh my gosh, I had this yellow and black dress that was just fabulous! To top it off, I had a chunky necklace and earrings in black and yellow and beautiful four inch heels that were also black and yellow. I made a statement when I entered the room! Years later, when my daughter came across this ensemble, she was completely aghast that I would wear such a thing!
I didn't have a speck of cellulite anywhere on my body. I was not skinny, but on the trim side. I rarely exercised and never dieted. My skin looked pretty good and, often, I forgot to wear foundation. Today, I wouldn't walk out to the mailbox without foundation for fear a neighbor might see me! My hair was a lovely shade of red and it didn't need to be touched up every four weeks to hide the gray. There was no gray! Alas, I did not appreciate these years enough, just as my husband predicted.
Today, the hard truth of age is with me daily. I think my pillow causes wrinkles because many mornings when I get up, there are new ones on my face! I have become obsessed with women's necks and how wrinkly they are. I can't stop staring and wonder if they are staring at mine. No matter how many miles I run each week, gravity is still winning and things are slowly moving south. I feel sad to think there is little I can do to stop this. Oh, sure, I could get plastic surgery and wear that "surprised" look all the time. My husband is totally opposed and would never forgive me. I am a chicken anyways and just wouldn't do it. Right for some, not for me.
The best I hear these days is, "You look good for your age." What does that mean?! What is my age supposed to look like? I often lie about my age. I add years. Then they really think I look good "for my age".
I hesitate when buying clothes and ask myself if it's age appropriate. There's nothing worse that wearing too youthful clothes, unless it's finally giving up and wearing only elastic wasted pants!! Where is the happy medium? Style at any age? Magazine love to write about the topic, but when I gaze at the photos that accompany the article, I can't see any wrinkly necks!
I don't wish for the life of 35 to come again, just the body. I promise I will be much more appreciative of it this time around!
Does anyone know where I can get some yellow and black shoes?

+ or - Five Miles

When it comes up in conversation that I run, I usually get one of three reactions. One is a glazed-over look of sheer boredom, two is a surprised admiration and three is a look that says how nuts they think I am for running.
On my run this morning, I got to thinking about how many miles you can tell someone you ran today without them thinking you are a nut job. I decided that the dividing line is five miles. Lots of people have run 5Ks which is 3.1 miles and can therefore understand running in terms of maybe 3 or 4 miles. Five is probably the distance where your average, non-running friend thinks you start to sound crazy. I see it in people's faces all the time. Tell them you can 3 or 4 miles this am and they say, "Wow, good for you." Tell them you ran 6 or 8 miles and that look of admiration transforms into a "What a weirdo and why do you want to even run that far?" look. Big difference. They also love to tell you how bad it is for your body to run that far. Because I am not fast, it takes me just under an hour to run five miles. At the end I am tired and I am exhilarated. The tired feeling leaves quickly but the exhilaration stays with me all day. Hard to explain, but it keeps me "up" and focused, able to accomplish more than on the days I don't run. It elevates my mood and makes me a nicer person to be around ~ ask my family!
Today I ran 6 miles through the streets of Tustin. Yea, I am crazy...crazy like a fox! :)

Extraordinary Moments

Life is really made up of a whole lot of ordinary time with some extraordinary moments. Waiting for something BIG to happen means you just might miss a small moment that really is a big moment. Being sad, being judgmental, being anxious, being worried all take your energy away from how truly beautiful and wondrous this life is. It's also very fragile. Treat it with care.

Play Ball!

Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.

~ Yogi Berra

And also grandparents!! Opening Day today for Jack E. Boy. He is so excited and his enthusiasm spills on to us as well. I feel grateful to be able to watch this next generation play. Oh, yes, it is obvious that the politics and cliques among the parents still exist as they did when our son played baseball twenty years ago, but for the kids, it is pure joy. They want to be out there in their cool uniform, hit the ball and run the bases. Simple life lessons among the grass...Play fair. Be nice. Listen and learn. Have some fun. We'd all do well to relearn these lessons...at any age.

Jumping Rope

While driving Abbey around yesterday doing errands, I switched the radio to a kid's station. One of the songs had lyrics that said, "Life's like jumping rope ~ up and down." It got me to thinking how very true this statement is.
In my naive youth, I thought if you worked really hard and were a good person, life just kept going up and up, getting better and better. It was difficult to find out how wrong I was about that idea. Life is like jumping rope. It has its ups and owns, no matter who you are, where you are, how rich you are, how nice you are, etc. People get sick, jobs are lost, kids disappoint you, and on and on. The thing about ups and downs is to remember, no matter where you are at any given moment, it will change. This holds true whether everything in your life seems to be humming along perfectly, or if every time you turn around, another disaster is befalling you. Either situation, good or bad, is temporary. Now, discovering this fact can either make you feel like there is an anvil on your chest or you have just been set free. The choice is yours. There is a reason that the saying, "This, too, shall pass." came to be popular. Accepting that life has these ups and downs is a big step in being happy, right here, right now.
Yes, life is like jumping rope. The trick is to keep moving.

A Eulogy

It is with a heavy heart that I write these words. I am here today to commemorate the passing of two very special things. They have been with us for most of our lives and, therefore, are difficult to say goodbye to, even though they have become second class citizens. I am sad to announce the passing of two old technologies, talking and listening.
Way back when, often referred to as "the good old days", we had no choice in communication except face-to-face talking and listening. It was a good way to convey our needs, ideas, thoughts and more. Many strides were made for the betterment of mankind because people gathered around and actually took turns talking to and listening to each other. You received more than just the words spoken because you could look the person in the eye, notice their body language or the tone they were using. You had plenty of clues along with their words.
But time passed, and many new technologies were invented on the promise that they would better our lives. We soon gave up talking and listening for new, advanced things like instant messaging, texts, and emails. The upside was that we could get information to anyone, any where, at any time of the day or night. We could also receive information just as easily. The trouble is, a text only allows so many characters and it is written in cryptic form that has destroyed correct spelling for an entire generation (Where r u?) It offers very little about anything the sender is feeling and is often misconstrued. It is not accompanied by facial expressions, hand gestures or voice inflections. It is flat. In its flatness, it has flattened our relationships. We often choose the text as a way to communicate so we don't really have to speak to the person. It offers a shield. It keeps us apart in a way that the old talking and listening do not. How often is a person's text snarky and kind of pushy, but when you meet with them, they are as nice as can be? The shield is down and in its place are their facial expressions, their voice inflection and gestures. All these are as much a part of communication as the words tumbling from their mouth. Talking and listening are the ultimate examples of give and take in society and they will be missed.
Rest in peace.