I've been officially outed!

Outed as .. OLD.

My daughter loves nothing more than shopping at thrift stores.  Well, I imagine she loves her husband more, and her dog, and her friends and the rest of her family, but when it comes to shopping, she loves thrift stores.  Yesterday we had a mommy and me shopping trip to one of our large, local thrift shops.

We picked things out, tried things on, and marveled at the amazing array of ugly and worn, as well.  In the end Dani had picked out a bunch of things, I had my share as well, and we went to the register to pay.  The young man rang everything up and as he was handing me the receipt he said "your total would have been $150.00 but because Tuesday is 30% off .. "

Wait!  What?  We accidentally stumbled on the one sale day a week ..?

He explained further "well, on Tuesdays anyone who is 55 years old or older gets 30% off any

purchases  ..."  he paused .. "and I didn't KNOW, but I just took the 30% off anyway" he finished quickly.

Hmmm.  Who doesn't love a sale, right?  But I'm 56 years old - and apparently - I LOOK like it!  Sigh-h-h.  Or maybe - he was a young enough guy that anyone over 40 would look old enough for the discount to him.  Or maybe it's because I stopped dying my hair.  Or .. oh hell.  I AM old enough for the discount.

My FIRST senior discount moment.

My daughter of course leaped to take advantage "Hey Mom!  I'm going to be calling you and asking if you want to go shopping on 'old people Tuesday' now!"

I love my daughter.

Mmmm, mmmm good!

My mom was not known for her cooking.  Not that she was a bad cook, it was just something she really didn't enjoy doing and when she actually did it, it was with little imagination.

When my parents divorced I was 11 years old.  It was pretty much just me and my mom from then on
- and since she worked until 7:30 in the evening I had to fend for myself.  I lived on things like Beef-a-roni, Swanson's chicken and noodles TV dinners, mac 'n cheese, pot pies, and the occasional steak I would throw in the broiler.  Oh, and Velveeta cheese sandwiches.  Loved those!  Every once in a while my mom would call home and have me put a pot roast on or have me make spaghetti sauce and we would eat late when she got home.

Needless to say my cooking skills never fully developed either, and as much as I try now - I cannot manage to imagine anything new to eat - even when I scour the Internet for recipes it usually ends up being the same type of foods.  Pretty mid-western, stick to your ribs kind of fare. Ordinary.

After my mom passed and we were talking about her, my brother told me he had her recipe box "if you can call it that" he said.  He was laughing when he said "most of her recipes start with some kind of Campbell's soup!"

Sounds fabulous to me!

WHAT??

Where are the over 50 ladies?

When I started my blog a million years ago, I searched and found blogs to read.  In the beginning it was mostly mommy bloggers, relating to their stories of family, kids, and home was very natural to me.  But now being 56 years old I find myself in search of my contemporaries.  Where are you ladies of my age?

Since being away from my blog, many that I used to read are gone, abandoned, shut down, or disappeared.  And I'm not as interested in many of those anymore anyway.  There were a couple directories I looked at tonight - looking for blogs specifically for my age group.  Not fashion over 50, fitness over 50, love over 50 .. any of those things.  Just thoughts from people who have lived as much as I have.

Where are you, ladies?  Or .. even men, I guess.  Where are you?

Where does your brain go when your doctor says it's cancer?

My doctor didn't use the word cancer.  Neither did I. He said adenocarcinoma and I said what do I need to do?  My brain pushed the word away while simultaneously digesting it and rushing to next steps.  Let's not dwell on what, let's concentrate on what to do about it.

I remember my stomach dropping and my eyes filling with tears, but I also remember pushing that away with an urgency to get beyond REacting to get to actually acting. WHAT NEXT?

People all react differently I imagine.  And I'm equally sure their reaction is colored by what kind of

diagnosis they are receiving.  I was extremely lucky.  This was colon cancer, one polyp found during a colonoscopy that when removed did not appear to be anything, but the biopsy showed otherwise.  Still, only one polyp, only the chance that a bit of cancer had invaded the colon wall.  The treatment?  Remove about 6 inches of intestine at the cecum, including the ileocecal valve.  No chemo, no radiation, no anything beyond that besides having regular colonoscopies on a more regular basis for the rest of my life.  A VERY small price to pay for having found this tiny bit of cancer so early that I consider it cancer with a small "c", as opposed to the big "C".

So am I a cancer survivor?  I suppose.  But it's embarrassing to say that considering what so many others have gone through.  It was all over so fast because I wanted it to be, and I barely allowed myself to think about it AS cancer.  Now that it's past and the only remaining reminder is the difference in my digestion, I don't HAVE to think about it.

What I DO think about though, is keeping up with my health, blood work, and whatever tests I should be having at this point in my life.  Things I did take seriously before, but not quite as seriously as I should have.

It's definitely something to think about, whether or not you have ever had this particular diagnosis.  Had a colonoscopy lately?

It's been a long, long time.

When you start a blog you usually have a reason, something you want to write about. You have some kind of niche, a passion, some category you fit in. I did too, at first.  For a very short time.  It was about my Etsy shop, about making and selling jewelry.

The last time I made jewelry it was for myself.  My Etsy shop hasn't been open for 3 years.  I've wanted to get back to this, but where do I fit in now?

Do I speak to what Maxine has been doing while I haven't posted her? Do I tell my cancer story?  It was just a little cancer, promise.  Or do I talk about my cats like I do with photos on Instagram each day?  My job?  My family?  Crazy people on the road?  Politics?  No, probably not politics.  :)

No niche for me.  This would qualify as a "personal blog" I guess. Not sure if that's interesting. But I'd like to give it a try again and see how it goes.

Oh my gosh it's been so long that Google just sent me an email warning me that someone signed into my account.  Wow.  Easing into it is the way to go, not with a long post explaining everything.  I'll just close with a picture I got from a web cam today, of the Statue of Liberty and a beautiful pink sky.  It's my desktop wallpaper now.

Later!

Dog-sitting instruction manual

.. written by my daughter Dani.  I am watching my grandpuppy Rue, for the weekend.

RUE INSTRUCTIONS

Drop off: 8/29 around 12pm

Pick up: 9/1 around 10pm

Morning (whenever you get up):

-Outside! Rue will poop and pee

-Food: One scoop

Evening (‘tween 4 & 6):

-Outside! Rue will poop and pee

-Food: One scoop

Bedtime (whenever you go to bed):

-Outside! Rue will pee

-She is used to sleeping in bed with people

If you prefer, you can put her in a room with some pillows or blanket; she’ll be fine—maybe a little cranky but fine

Commands (allegedly):

-“Rue, sit” + point finger at floor

-“Rue, off” + point at where you want her to go

-“Rue, stay” + stop signal with hand

-“Rue, come” + good luck with that

-“Rue, do you wanna go OUTSIDE?”

-“Rue, TOY! Rue, where’s your TOY?” + enthusiasm

-“You gotta bring it here” (re: toy)

-“Do you wanna go to BED?"

-“Rue, where ’s the money? Where’s the money, Rue?” + weapon

Troubleshooting:

Dog is staring, whining, and stomping at you: Let her outside

Dog is staring, whining, and stomping at you: Ask her, “Rue, where’s your TOY?” repeatedly until she brings it to you. Throw it.

Dog is staring, whining, and stomping at you: Sell her on Craigslist

Dog is barking: Sorry she just does that and we’re working on a patch for it but it probably won’t come out until Rue 6.0

Dog’s breath smells: Give greenie

Dog needs to stop doing something: Clap once loudly, say “Rue, NO” OR make a guttural “EHH” sound like a buzzer on a 60’s game show (see: Truth or Consequences)

Dog is annoying: Give rawhide

Dog is annoying: Hypnotize with petting

Dog is annoying: Let outside

Dog is annoying: Maybe you aren’t a dog person. Try harder

Dog seems excessively itchy: Give 1/2 a benedryl wrapped in a bit of American Cheese

Dog is sick: Call vet: Palatine Family Pet Care - 847-496-5387, then call me

Dog is sick and vet is closed: Take to closest animal hospital, then call me

Or just call me. Or text me. Or something. Enjoy! Thank you!

PS: Rue does not like: Loud beeping sounds, getting wet, when you blow in her face, most other dogs, most dry dog biscuits, and Nancy Grace.

Yeah, I did.

Did what?  Skipped Maxine for 2 weeks in a row and didn't worry about it.

Felt a bit bad, but didn't worry.

Things have been busy, and sad, and adorable too.

I lost Norah, my full figured beauty of a cat.  She wasn't quite 12 years old and although she had kidney disease and I was giving her fluids at home - I wasn't expecting anything so dire so soon.  But, kidneys decide when they are going to stop working sometimes, Norah wasn't feeling well, wasn't eating and wasn't going to get better.  Her last day was spent out on the deck relaxing, having ice water (she loved it) and a bit of milk, something she didn't get very often.

She was a sweet natured and gentle girl, and I will miss her mightily.

Work has been a bit crazy lately, with my job description changing almost daily it seems.  But the thing that keeps me most occupied is this - these guys -

So ... sad, busy, and adorable.  All these reside in my home right now.  The only thing that is certain now ... is that nothing will remain the same.