Old people can’t move around? We can’t do things?
And words to describe us are also offensively stereotypical.
Granted, when it comes to our miserable Smart TV in the living room, I wait till Roman comes home to fix the glitches that occur on a regular basis. And I’ll curse like a sailor at the TV. But when it comes down to my energy level and actually doing things. I can do things better and with more gusto than those twenty years younger than me. And I don’t go to the gym.
What exactly prompted this rant? It’s the offensive stereotype. Add to the fact so many “mature” bloggers/vloggers and Instagrammers are now shilling supplements that you ingest into your body. That shit isn’t going to give you energy. OK? If you want something that’ll help your bones or energy level, make an appointment with your doctor. Your doctor went to medical school. Your doctor can assess what the issue is. An influencer cannot.
And don’t even get me started on these “wellness” companies that prey on older folks. Eat your vegetables. Who cares if they give you gas.
I grew up in a house where we were not allowed to snack. We didn’t eat candy except on occasion. We only had soda at birthday parties. We ate three square meals a day and my mother made sure we ate our vegetables. Eating properly was our supplements.
This is how we ate growing up. It wasn’t till stress hit my adult life that I got fat. Now I’m back on track.
But…I’m getting off track here. The subject is about moving your body and doing things.
My laptop has been with its second family—The Geek Squad for an annual cleaning out. And now that my little rectangle of technology is back at home, I’m back to writing. And today I’m writing about stuff that old people can do—except it is in the form of what I’ve been doing. So, here goes…
My work life has been hectic but in the best possible way. With this promotion came a different set of responsibility and since it’s a newly-created position, there are glitches to iron out and the fact we will need more staff. In the meantime, I’m working from 7:00 AM to sometimes 8:30 in the evening. I don’t feel overworked but when I do arrive home, I’m mentally exhausted from sitting in front of two computer monitors on a daily basis. The reward is my paycheck.
I’m back to really enjoying work!
However, that doesn’t stop me from awakening at 5:00 AM to prepare myself. My early morning routine consists of sitting in my little makeup room, getting my makeup on, drinking coffee and playing competitive Wordle against my two sisters. It’s a great way to start the day off and I actually enjoy looking nice.
I enjoy enhancing my 67-year old mug with makeup rather than with photoshop and filters!
The makeup and clothing give me a little boost of energy for the day.
Seriously. Being dressed keeps me going!
Through it all, both The Frenchman and I are planning our trip next month back to France. We will be returning to “our” apartment in Theoule that we rented for nine years. And doing so has given me a step up on my travel journaling.
I’ve enjoyed my travel journals over the years but this year, I’m going extra! I even purchased a small polariod camera to have photos ready to place in the journal.
I’m prepared with the itinerary, which I’ve already had to change due to the St. Tropez flea market being on Tuesday instead of Wednesday like my husband thought. I have everything at the ready.
I’ve already switched Wednesday to Tuesday and Tuesday to Wednesday. It’s all planning!
And, as usual, we will divide our day between pool/beach time and sightseeing. Our energy level is paramount when we travel. We walk high in the hilly terrain of Cabris and Eze. We visit old abbayes. We are on the move most of the time. And we thoroughly enjoy it all. We don’t head back to the apartment to nap or “rest” during the days. And our evenings are spent on the terrace lingering over three-hour dinners and enjoying the view of the Mediterranean.
Even when we are on the terrace enjoying the view, we’ll be excited about our next excursions!
Last weekend, the weather was pretty lousy. So, I baked bread and made Pain-aux-raisins. Starting Friday evening after dinner to make the brioche, getting up early to roll out the dough, proof the rolled goodies and bake. Then carefully wrapping them in parchment, bagging them in freezer bags so my husband could enjoy them as dessert when he feels so inclined.
I make these often and don’t ever let anyone tell you they aren’t time-consuming. The dough is made the night before…
And somewhere along the line, my husband couldn’t find a decent baguette. So I went home to bake “The Good Loaf” and made it in record time–just in time for the Leg-of-Lamb dinner!
The weekend before it was also lousy weather-wise. And I made croissants. This was a three-day process. Again, on Friday evening, I made the dough. And I made the block of butter needed to laminate. On Saturday I laminated the dough, made the turns and let it rest overnight. On Sunday, I cut the croissants, allowed them to proof and baked. Yeah. It’s a long process but totally worth it. Now The Frenchman has croissants that, like the pain-aux-raisins, are in the freezer, wrapped and bagged. And they defrost and warm up in the oven beautifully.
And allow me my bragging rights that this was the best batch yet. I FINALLY got the laminated down down right! They are nice and light and buttery!
In addition, last weekend I did some replanting of poinsettias but ran out of dirt.
I zestfully started to repot poinsettias last week but ran out of dirt. Back inside they went!
There was also cleaning and a ton of ironing. Running up and down three flights of stairs to haul clothing and to clean.
My ironing spot. Downstairs family room. The clothes get brought down from the third floor then back up again. Add to that I usually forget something so it’s up and down. I’m old. And I can still managing running up and down stairs!
This weekend? It’s been busy. Friday evening, I actually relaxed by switching out my handbag. I haven’t used my vintage Alma in quite some time so I decided to show her some love and prepare her for Saturday and Sunday.
Hey. Don’t judge. It’s work to switch out the handbags. There’s stuff I need so it’s about three or four trips up and down the stairs. Then there’s the switching of the scarfs to wrap around the handles. That takes forever! It drains me. It actually drains my energy!
I had to run a few errands, Actually, I’m lying. My nails, once again, are a mess. The gel polish on my acrylic nails started peeling and looked pretty nasty. My husband was aghast but now that the weather is nice and hot, I don’t want to spend hours in the nail salon. I ran to Target to get gel nail polish remover. Plus, we needed Windex.
This is the strangest thing about Target. You go in for one thing and you end up purchasing a plethora of items. While in the store, I noticed a cute dress on a mannequin. It was 12 bucks. So, I grabbed one to try on. Then I saw another slightly different $12 dress. So, I tried it on. Then I saw a cute jersey tee shirt. So, I tried it on.
$12! So nice I purchased the middle one twice. One is already packed in my suitcase for France!
Then I realized I needed black olives for the evening’s dinner I was preparing. So, I bought two cans. Then I realized how much my children loved the book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day. I thought that my grandson Owen should have a copy so I headed off to the book area. I couldn’t find it but found a cute little “Baby Shark” Book. Then I realized that I needed an oversized envelope to put the book in. so I headed to the stationery department and found the envelopes. Then I realized a high school friend’s mother was very ill, so I bought a card for her.
I’m hoping Owen likes the book. He’s quite the reader you know-LOL!
Then I headed to Michael’s craft store in search of a pouch to house my journaling supplies. I didn’t find one so I ordered one on Amazon. But. I did manage to purchase a travel comfort knife.
Then I came home and realized my makeup brushes needed cleaning. So, I cleaned them.
Later that night, I decided to clean the big brushes too!
Then the Frenchman reminded me we needed to go to an afternoon performance of The Addams Family in which his granddaughter was playing Pugsley and she was fabulous. It was a very enjoyable couple of hours.
It was surprisingly enjoyable. The kids were very talented.
When we got home, I slipped into something more comfortable. (i.e., took my bra off and put on an old maxi dress that is now loungewear). I proceeded to make dinner. And then we had a splendid time welcoming in the hot weather with aperitifs and appetizers. Oh. I made tapenade out of kalamata olives that were in the fridge. Why not? I had the energy despite being an old fart!
Made my favorite hot-weather dish. Chicken breasts with tomatoes and black olives. Switched out my winter aperitif of Kir Royal to Aperol Spritzer and we had a great dinner ending with fresh berries and cream.
Last night’s fare. Which, I had the energy to make AFTER we arrived home from the theater! My sister-in-law saw a photo of the chicken dish on Instagram so I wrote it out for her!
Today? I woke up early. Had coffee in bed with Wordle played against my sisters. Then proceeded to relax in a morning bath. Then got dressed and ran out to run more errands.
Shaving my legs in the tub is my idea of bathtub fun!
This time it was Walmart. I needed to buy more dirt. And Walmart has the best prices. I also picked up a little plant. Then, realizing how truly disgusting my nails are, purchased some stick-on nails. Then, realizing we will be at the beach next weekend, good weather willing, I picked up sunscreen.
SPF that only I will use. The Frenchman refuses to put it on his body.
Press-on nails because you’ll see how disgusting my nails are later in this post!
Ohhhhhhhh, I forgot to tell you. I had my skin check. It’s so pathetic. Before I go, I get all stressed out. I take a magnifying glass and check my body. It’s sick. There’s really something mentally wrong with me. Anyway, I’m all scared but …my dermatologist was pleased that my skin is in great shape (except for the wrinkles) and I breathed a sigh of relief because I can go back to hours on end in the sun.
Every self-respecting hypochondriac needs a good magnifying glass. My husband was getting annoyed with my constant “Does this look like something”?
Ok. Then whilst wandering aimlessly around the Walmart aisles, I purchased cheap jewelry. I refuse to bring “good” jewelry on vacation. I bring cheap stuff. If someone can see that it is cheap, they are standing way to close to my personal space—back off!
If you’ve been a reader of this blog for a longer time, then you know that the Walmart Hoops are my HG for vacation. And after 10 years of old ones, I broke down and spent $4.88 for new ones!
Then the thought hit me. Why not purchase another bathing suit? A two piece. I did. My husband can’t stand it because he said the bottom is too big. Doth he not realize that my gut will spill over into anything smaller?
My piggy bits are getting smaller and my fake tan application is all over the place and despite my husband’s hatred for this suit…
I like it because the top makes the titties look higher!
So, I texted my husband asking if he needed anything from Wegmans. He wanted pumpernickel bread to enjoy the tapenade and asked me to make more for tonight. He also asked me to get water. I also added we needed new flowers. Off to Wegmans.
Yeah. My old lady strength hauled that big-ass bag of dirt from the shopping cart into my car.
I needed more strength so I shoved some surimi into my mouth. It was better than grabbing a donut!
Still full of pep, I arranged the flowers. They look nice–don’t they?
And when I arrived home, we finally, took down the fake Christmas tree that was in the family room. It was up since the beginning of December. My bright idea was to turn it into a year-round holiday tree but I stopped at Cinco de Mayo. The sunroom looks so nice and back to normal.
Ugh. After almost SIX months, the fake tree is now stored away. That little piano that was meant for Owen is now a permanent Object d’art! I REALLY need to get rid of those horrific Vertical blinds!
Then I decided to repot the other poinsettia and the little plant. So off I went to dig up the dirt from the bag. I use my hands because my hands are the best gardening tools ever.
That big bag of dirt didn’t go such a long way!
My hands went from looking bad to looking worse than one could imagine. But I cleaned them. They still look pretty bad but they need a rest from the acrylic nails.
I’m laughing at this most disgusting display of fingernails. It looks like I worked on an automobile all day..
Even a good scrubbing couldn’t undo the damage from the acrylic nails. That’s what the press-on nails are for!
I made more tapenade.
More tapanade! And let me tell you something. That little, mini food processer from Walmart was the best $9.99 ever spent! It works wonders!
Then I had a bit of a Pity Party/FOMO moment because I MISSED driving out to Long Island to attend the 100th year anniversary of St. Patrick’s school. I loved that school so much. I loved the nuns who taught me. I felt so…so LAZY by not driving out. But then thought about the traffic on the Belt Parkway–especially on this first weekend of fabulous weather. Beach traffic would be unbearable!
I’m so upset because I wanted to see people I went to school with. I hope my sister Germaine went. She lives five minutes away.
So, tell me, dear friends—do we lose energy when we become old?
Soooo….do we lose energy? I think not!