I've come back here after a two year hiatus. I see the site has changed, and I'll have to re-educate myself on how to blog  I want to expand my theme from aging to LIFE.  I just want readers to know they're reading the ramblings of an older woman, not some hot chick! 

When I learn how to reformat my blog, I'll start writing again.  When I get-er-done, I welcome you to join me. Until then, Happy Summer!

The big seven-oh!

Today I officially turned seventy, so another decade begins. I just wish I didn't feel that old!  I've had fibromyalgia for almost twenty years, and I'm tired of feeling so darned tired. Because of improved medication, I really feel better than I did in the first years, but it's still not fun. What was to be a fun day of shopping turned out to be an exhausting trip--much shorter than planned. I spent the evening of my birthday sleeping away the tiring pain.

I was perked up though, by reading all my birthday wishes on facebook. Birthdays are more fun now than they've been since I was a kid. Having that little bit of contact with friends, old and new, gives me a lift. Facebook is fun for browsing every day, but to have so many friends take the time to send a note, however brief, makes me feel special. I heard from lots of family, many life-long friends, former students, and friends I've gained in the last few years.

I can remember how exciting birthdays were the first years of my life - not being able to sleep the night before, opening presents, sometimes having a party, always feeling like a princess. As I got older, birthdays were milestones.  The day I turned sixteen, I got my long-awaited driver's license. Twenty-one meant that I could vote and buy a drink.  Then there was a long time when birthdays came and went without fanfair. I became eligible for Medicare at sixty-five, a big relief as I'd had to pay a fortune for medical insurance since retiring on disability at sixty-two. I hadn't planned on using it as much as I have, though!

So here I sit after mid-night, no longer the birthday girl, ready to go to bed to sleep off the hang-over from sleeping all evening!  Tomorrow will be just another day, but I'll meet it with joy. It's good to know I've reached seventy.  Good to know I'm retired and can sleep in as long as I want.  Good to know that I have life ahead that I can enjoy family and friends who have made my life worth living. I'm blessed, and feeling a little old isn't so bad after all.

More Perks

After 15+ years of being eligible for senior discounts, I still haven't gotten the hang of making the most of them. We recently stayed at a federal campground, and I realized that I still haven't applied for the Golden Pass (or whatever it's called) so we could save a bundle on the fee. For that one night, we would have saved $8. I've got to remember to look that up. One more thing on my to-do list. 

I just got this link from a friend.  108 Stores with Senior Discounts (PDF, 141 KB) I wasn't aware of many of these perks. I only recently learned I could get a free drink with a dinner order at KFC.  It was so funny.  The cute teenager waiting on me was squirming, trying to ask me if I was old enough for the discount. I know darn well she had no doubt that I was, but she made such an effort not to insult me. I love seeing such thoughtfulness in a teen; I'm so often brushed off as too old to be worthy of attention.

I remember the first time I received a senior discount. I bought lunch in restaurant in Lakeport. After I got home, I realized my tab was less than it should have been. I looked at the receipt and saw that I'd been given a discount.  It didn't say senior, but I couldn't deny what it was.  Close to tears, I told Doyle that I thought I'd just been given my first senior discount. How dare that cashier assume I was past the age of 55 (or whatever their senior guideline was).  I knew I didn't look that old. I was still teaching, so I was coloring my hair to keep from being invisible to my students. My face was downright youthful looking.  Humph!

I've gotten over that. My gray hair, baggy eyes, and wrinkles, not to mention the damn old age spots, give me away every time. I've found that most clerks, however, don't offer the discount without being asked, so I've got to make myself ask for it. I need to notice which days stores give a special price to seniors. I've got to get in "old lady" mode when it comes to shopping.  A saving's a saving, no matter how I can get it.


Every time I grumble about my disintegrating body, I need to think: SENIOR DISCOUNTS. "Shop 'til you drop" happens a lot quicker now;  I have to make the best use of my time!

Growing older in Cyberspace

I remember the themes of my second and third posts, but not the exact words. Maybe that's a good thing. I know I blabbered on more than you would have liked. I'll just try to recapture some of the main points, and leave it to you to expand if you want.
I'll only try to tackle one of them now. Growing Old in Cyberspace ~ That was the title of one of my lost posts. It was more prophetic than I would have thought. Because of my foggy brain, many of my (Oh, so Brilliant) thoughts are gone in cyberspace. My premise was that most of my contemporaries and I are much behind the younger crowd in technology. My grandchildren were exposed to computers in the womb, and can suck up the rapid changes in technology like sponges. We seniors had to transition from the marvels of radio, television, hand-crank telephones, dial telephones, electric typewriters, and teletypes before we were exposed to computers.

I was lucky enough to get into the ground floor of computers, at least the third floor. My first computer was a Mac SE, a magical machine that didn't have a hard drive. I bought it with scholarship money my first year at CSU Chico, which was when I was 47 years old. I didn't buy the SE 20, which had 20 mgs of memory, because I didn't know what a hard drive was, and it cost a couple of hundred dollars more. The basic computer was, after all, over two thousand dollars. Add a $500 printer to that, and I shot my wad. The next fall, I used scholarship money to buy a $500 external hard drive which gave me 20 mgs of memory! This set-up got me through the next five years or so, until I'd saved some money from a few years of teaching.

I bought a new computer when the internet, with it's miraculous email, lured me into spending more money. Many of my contemporaries joined in at this point, having to learn computer basics along with the marvels of cyberspace. I was scrambling to keep up with the now-exploding world of the internet, and it's been a scramble ever since. There are some aspects of computer-speak I'll never understand, and many programs I've chosen not to learn. When I was teaching, I made much use of print programs, Microsoft Office and Filemaker. I've found since, however, that as I've upgraded computers, I've had to buy upgraded versions of programs. Filemaker zoomed out of my price range, and my most current version of office is 2003. That works on my new PC laptop with System 7, but on my 2009 Mac, I make do with the basic programs that came with it.
Somehow I got seduced into the world of facebook, along with many of my friends. We're all struggling with the fact that we barely master one part of it, only to have it changed. I feel a little smug when I hear my younger friends complaining about the same thing. Oh well, there are more of us learning together.

Many of my friends have chosen not to delve into computerland, so I find I have more trouble keeping in touch. I lovingly call them dinosaurs, one of whom is my husband who won't come within three feet of my computer. He has at least learned how handy computers are, and often asks me to look up something for him. He also doesn't grumble as much over the money I've spent on technology, which is a plus!

I'm still resisting buying a smartphone, since I rarely even turn my cell phone on. I'm thinking of getting us the simple models where you can buy minutes as you go. I know if I do that, however, I'll soon be lamenting that I can't take pictures or text (still learning how to do that) or play Words with Friends on my phone. I don't have data on my phone now, but I do have an iPod that came with my Mac. I can play games with my kids on that as long as I'm near a Wi-Fi. Oh, I forgot to mention how Wi-Fi has become a necessity in my home.

Will someone please place a moratorium on technology so I can catch my breath?


(Sorry, my recap is longer than my original post!)

This is the real beginning of my blog - reposted

“Darling, I am growing old,
Silver threads among the gold,
Shine upon my brow today;
Life is fading fast away.”


Eben E. Rexford.




I guess this doesn’t totally apply to me, since my hair was never gold, but “brown” just doesn’t cut it. I could change it to “Darling, I am winding down; silver threads among the brown.” That would at least rhyme, but I don’t like it much, either. I’ll just borrow the “silver threads” part, and go from there.
I AM growing old; I’ll be celebrating my seventieth birthday next month. I kind of like that number. It validates my aging body, and it hints of the wisdom I hope I’ve gained over the years.
This blog will be devoted to my threads of thought on aging: pros and cons, acceptance and protest; an inside view of what is often referred to as “the downhill part of life.” It’s something my mind can’t ignore. As the saying goes, “sh . . happens,” but it doesn’t necessarily have to stink! I don’t want the rest of my life to be a process of fading. I want it to be a continuous flow, ebbing, but with periods of regrowth.
I invite comments on these threads. My mind needn’t wander on in isolation. Outside views can be interwoven with mine, whether they come from young or old. Let’s look at the later years of life together. Maybe I’m more focused on aging than I was at twenty-five, but I can’t let that focus dominate my thoughts. I need to be shaken up a bit, and I hope you’ll help me by offering your prospective.