Wrinkles and circles and droops, OH MY!

Well, the day has finally arrived.  It's really here and I'm not excited.  It's not a thrill nor is it joyful.  I'd just as soon hide under a rock.   Yes, the day is here that I am considering the purchase of anti-aging skin care products.

I was on the phone with Deanie just before going into school to tutor this week and, as I looked into the rear view mirror, I made the comment, "Geez, I need an eye lift."  It was like Deanie had been waiting years for the opportunity to jump in on that one because she immediately came back with, "Oh, you need to try Regenerist!  They have everything!  It will take care of wrinkles and they even have an eye lift cream!"  It doesn't get much clearer than that, does it?  I suppose the girls were just waiting on their old mother to realize for herself that something needed to be done (I wonder if my spot at 'The Home' is a nice one?).  Of course I began to wonder right away whether or not I had been in denial and, if so, how old do I REALLY look?  I do have a standing date with Miss Clairol every few months to color the gray that WILL NOT GO AWAY.  And I did notice that BIG FREAKING WHITE hair in my right eyebrow (a WHITE one?  In my eyebrow?  Are you KIDDING ME?!).  Then there are those areas that are saggin' and baggin' and the boobs that hang down like under-filled water balloons.  And where exactly DID my energy level go when it disappeared?

But wait a minute.  I'm not just sitting around waiting on death to come and take me home.  I am exercising every day and I have changed our diet to a much healthier one containing more veggies, whole grains, fish, less red meat, etc.  I park as far away from the entrance to stores as I can get.  I take the stairs over elevators.  And I'm STILL over weight and I STILL need an eye lift.  WTH?!

cartoon from fashiontrending.info

ANYWAY, once I arrive at home I decide to go ahead and check my email.  And there it is.  An email from Deanie.  The subject?  Skin Care.  I guess that's better than Wrinkle care.  Or Droopy face care.  The body?  A link to the Regenerist site.  Ok.  Hint taken already.  I click on the link and check out the site and go through the whole find-out-what-we-recommend-for-you and discover that, for a mere $85.00, I can reverse the aging process on my face.  That's ONLY 4 products.  For $85.00.  So, basically, for about $100/month, I can look younger.  After the first 8 weeks that is.  So, it's going to cost me almost $200 just to see if these products work AND, if they do, it'll cost me $100/month for however long I decide I want to look younger.  Which leads me to believe that, should I actually purchase these products, I'd be buying into a great big SCAM.

Maybe I am saggy and baggy.  Maybe I do need an eye lift.  Maybe those dark circles are getting bigger.  Maybe I am overweight.  But I'm NOT an idiot.  And I REFUSE to fall for this whole reverse the aging process scam.  So, I clicked off the site and went back to my email to clean out the box--delete all the junk mail.  Except for the one Regenerist sent me.  The one containing my suggested routine.  You know, just in case.     

You Gotta Add Laughter

After a little over year of our empty nest, I have come to realize that there are positives as well as negatives to having the house back.

Here are the top 10:

1.  The fact that there are fewer people here to cook for is a positive.  On the other hand, I cannot for the life of me learn how to cook for only two people!  Which automatically leads to another negative, we end up eating all that 'extra' food.  

2.  With fewer interruptions, I have more patience time to experiment with new recipes or with some that I have wanted to try but didn't have the patience time before the nest became empty.  The negative being that, when I do try these recipes, there's no one to eat it and, you guessed it, we end up eating all the 'extra' food.

3.  It's is nice and quiet around here now so I can watch a movie or just a sitcom without interruption.  The down side?  It's too dang quiet around here and I end up watching the stupid television instead of motivating and getting things done around here, which leads me to number 4--.

4.  I have tons of 'free' time to get things done around here. The negative?  I have learned that I prefer to use all this 'free' time to develop or refine hobbies and I GET NOTHING DONE AROUND HERE!

5.  There is LESS cleaning up to be done.  I'm kidding...there IS a man living here.

6.  All the sweets brought into the house are not gone in one 24 hour period.  Because it takes me two days instead of one AND there is NO ONE to blame for eating the missing sweets--if HE didn't do it, we both know who did and, if we didn't know, my hips would tell on me.

7.  I have discovered the wonderful world of blogging and met some of the nicest women.  Bad news is- I spend too much time on the computer reading their blogs or writing mine that I GET NOTHING DONE AROUND HERE.

8.  When the weekend rolls around, we have no obligations to attend the events that once took up every weekend which means time to get some major projects started/completed.  Down side?  Hubs is not good at starting OR completing projects so NOTHING IS GETTING DONE AROUND HERE.

9.   We were finally able to purge the attic!  Unfortunately, between me not being able to part with the 'memories' and all 4 daughters not wanting to give up certain childhood memories, THE ATTIC IS STILL FULL!

10.   The two of us have all the time to ourselves.  The negative:  Hubs is underfoot EVERY SINGLE MINUTE THAT HE IS NOT AT WORK!  God help me when retirement comes around!

If we have learned NOTHING else during our 27 years together, Hubs and I have learned this:  Try your BEST to see the humor in as many situations as possible.  Laughter has been an integral part of our family.  It has made life easier in some situations; it has lightened up sad days and softened hard ones; it has helped us make those teaching moments to our daughters understandable and lasting; it has helped us look at life in a more positive manner; it has kept us from self-importance... When we all look back over the last quarter of a century we tend to see good times that we shared and the fun all topped off with plenty of laughter! 

Christmas 1997