Entries from May 1, 2010 - June 1, 2010
Still Learning After All These Years
Monday, May 10, 2010 at 12:00AM I went to visit my father a few weeks ago. It was his 85th birthday. In his condo he had a bunch of bridge books (the game, not the structure). He plays with a group of really good players and he is studying strategy so he can keep up with those guys.
85, still learning and growing and stretching his mind.
Amazing!
What do you hope to be learning into your eighties?
A Gift Idea for An Older Parent
Saturday, May 8, 2010 at 12:01PM My sister gave Dad an IPad for his 85th birthday. He wasn’t thrilled when he opened his gift. Matter of fact, he told us that if he had wanted one he would have bought it himself.
20 minutes later he was hooked. She had set up a Facebook account for dad and had us friend him before his birthday, so there were a lot of birthday wishes waiting from him on FB. He loved the family pictures that my cousins and siblings and the grandkids had posted. We did have to unfriend some people whose status updates were really, really crude - something to think about if you are setting up a FB account for grandma or grandpa.
He was delighted to able to read the sports pages of his favorite newspapers from around the country, and my sister showed him zillow.com so he can stalk all his friend’s and family’s houses. She downloaded a gin rummy app, books app, the Bible You Version app (which by the way I use daily on my ITouch), plus his e-mail account.
Dad didn’t get the concept of YouTube.
If you have an older adult with a special birthday coming who has WiFi access, the IPad might be a great gift.
85 and on the web, watch out world.
50 Year Old Gym Rat: Yoga
Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 12:00AM I have taken 2 yoga classes at the gym so far. I’ve wanted to learn yoga for years because it is something I can keep doing as I get older. I do not play golf and I do not want to play golf, so I knew I needed some other kind of exercise to sustain me in my twilight years.
I have enjoyed both classes and have learned a few things:
Gentle and easy are not the same thing, as in gentle yoga is not easy.
Yoga is taught in a studio with mirrors. It is not a good idea for a woman of heft, such as myself, to look at the mirror during the downward dog position. Not a pretty sight. In downward dog, your hands and feet are flat are on the mat and your backside is in the air. You are supposed to keep you head positioned so your ears are between your arms. You are not supposed to lift your head and look in the mirror, and from this point on I will never do so again.
I might not be happy with what I saw in the mirror (it was a little scary), but I felt great after each class!
Tales From Yesteryear: Teeth in a Glass
Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 12:00AM Dear Aurora,
I wrote a post about the difference I observed between your generation and mine. Then I went to the dentist and got to thinking about the differences in teeth between the generations. Most of my friends didn’t have braces, and I suspect a good number of yours do. My grandparents used tooth powders, your grandparents use toothpaste. Crest was the first fluoride toothpaste. It hit the market in 1955. It is the only toothpaste I remember using as a kid. Everyone in the family used the same toothpaste. You guys use gels with wild colors and flavors and your parents use something different.
One of the biggest differences is that when we were kids, it was painful to go to the dentist. Getting a cavity filled was a horrible experience. Many adults, my age and older still shudder to think about going to the dentist when we were kids. Gold replacement teeth were functional, not decorative, back then. It was a bit of a shock the first time I took your cousins to a pediatric dentist (a specialty which did not exist when I was a kid), and my kids loved the experience and couldn’t wait to go back. Pain free and Gameboys to play with while waiting - what more could you ask for!
Another big generational differences is teeth in a glass. Dentists try to save teeth now, but back when my grandparents were alive, pulling teeth was common. Older adults often had dentures, false teeth they would insert into their mouths upon awakening and remove before going to sleep. My grandma used to put her teeth in a glass of water by her bed (I don’t know why she put them in water). It was gross and a little weird back then. It is still gross and a little weird to think about today.
More to follow...
Love Aunt Carissa
There To Be Used
Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 12:00AM I am not a coupon wizard, but I do try to stay on budget while keeping my family fed and smelling socially acceptable. If there is a good sale on products I use often, I will stock up. I have 30 boxes of high protein pasta, 10 containers of deodorant, piles of tuna, tooth paste, shampoo, sanitary protection products, etc. in the storage cabinet in the basement.
That might sound excessive but I am feeding Ichabod, in addition to Skyler, husband and I. We go through a lot of food very quickly. And deodorant for some reason......surely he’s not eating it....no...probably not.
I have to fight my tendency to want to hoard what I have. I fear if I use my stockpiles, I might have to buy the product for full price! I find myself reluctant to use 2 boxes of good tasting whole wheat pasta I got on sale at a dollar each, (instead of $1.99 per box) even though there will be 28 boxes left. The weird thing is, if I had spent $4 that week to buy the pasta for a planned meal, I wouldn’t think twice about pulling it out of the pantry to use. The same struggle with tissues and paper towels, my stores are getting low so I am reluctant to use what I have left before a great restock sale.
I don’t want to pay more for a consumable item than I have to ....that is a good thing. Now I have to learn to enjoy what I have, use it wisely and with gladness, because I do have a promise that our daily needs will be met.
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life]?
(Hoarding is just disguised worry)
31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt 6
Pasta for dinner tonight!
If you tend to stock up, are you sometimes reluctant to use up your stock?
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