Give It A Rest!

Hi to all my Gal Pals,

After hosting three Christmas get-togethers for family and friends, packing up Christmas decorations into 45 large plastic tubs then catching a respiratory virus that has lasted for weeks, all I could think about was curling up on my couch and relaxing. To me relaxing is lounging on my couch and reading a good book, listening to the “oldies” or watching an old movie. So I started thinking, what makes a song an “oldie”? What defines an “old” movie? At what age do we become “old”? So for the first two questions I decided to do a little research and here is what I found. One site considers a song to be an “oldie” if it was released during the period of 1950 to 1969. So, does that make me an “oldie” because I was living during this period? An old movie is considered a “classic” movie and, according to one site, films have to be at least 25 years old to be considered “classic” for the national film registry. I prefer to be considered “classic” than old. According to the dictionary an “oldie” is: ‘One that is old. An old person or thing’. Which brings me to my final question, at what age do we become old? According to Crabby Maxine “You know you’re getting old when you get butt jiggle, arm wing flap and boob wobble when you brush your teeth”. Maybe old is as Aunty Acid describes when the only pole dancing you do is to hold onto the safety bar in the tub. When my daughter was a teenager, she considered me to be old in my 40’s and never failed to remind me. Maybe we become old in our 50’s when we qualify for AARP. Are we considered old when we are in our 60’s and qualify for Social Security and Medicare? Is it all relative? To an 80-year-old person, I may be young. I think I will go with that line of thinking.

I realized that we are creatures of habit. Many of us are retired so why do we continue to act like we are still working? Let me explain. Why do I continue to do these relaxing acts only on Sundays when I could do them any day? Why does my sister continue to eat dinner at 7:30 when she could eat whenever she wanted to? Why do my cousin Sally, Vicki and I go up to the cottage in Michigan together for long weekends, typically for holiday weekends, when we could go up any day during the week? There are no good reasons for us to continue these behaviors but we keep doing so. That is because habits become “wired” into the neuronal circuits of the brain. The more you do something, the more your likely to do it in the future. I feel much better knowing that my crazy behaviors are normal. On the other hand, I can relate to Aunty Acid who says “Some days I astound myself, other days I put the laundry in the oven”. Maybe my crazy behaviors are not so normal.

What is considered “comfortable” clothing is relative. The outfits I am wearing in this blog are “comfy” to me. They are loose fitting, stretchy, something I can easily nap in but are still stylish. You won’t see me lounging in an old pair of jeans. I love what Crabby Maxine says about an old pair of jeans, “Today, I started off great until…I tried on an old pair of jeans and threw my back out while tucking my tummy in!”. Doesn’t sound comfy to me! If someone comes to the door, if I need to run to the store, or even if just want to feel better when I am sick, I make sure I am wearing a comfy ‘coordinated’ outfit. These are the outfits I like to wear when I curl up on the couch to relax. Right now I am curled up on the couch writing this as I am wearing one of the outfits I am modeling in today’s blog. I am still suffering from the after effects of the virus and psychologically I think that if I look good I will feel good. It’s the little things that make all the difference when you want to chill out!

Speaking of little things, my garden picture is of one of my favorite summer containers.

It doesn’t look like much in the picture but let me explain why it is such a great container. The dwarf boxwood shrub is over 3 years old and stands only 10 inches tall. I leave it out all winter long in the concrete hypertufa planter (18L x 13W x 7D inches) up against the sliding glass doors. The concrete and moss that make up the hypertufa help to keep the roots somewhat warm in the winter. During the summer I fill it with colorful mini cacti and succulents because the planter is porous so it drains well. It is a great little garden for those of you who often forget to water their plants because I rarely water it at all. You can go on vacation and RELAX knowing your little garden is just fine without you. If you are good about watering, you could fill it with herbs. The snow during the winter provides moisture as does the rain in the summer. The planter might be small but it is so heavy I need a dolly to move it.

So, get comfy and check out these outfits.

This is the outfit I am currently wearing as I write this blog. The lightweight cream colored sweater and sweatpants are loose and allow me to comfortably curl up on the couch. The bluish-green, hooded sweater-jacket is basically made of the same material as the stretchy sweatpants. THE WHOLE OUTFIT IS CUTE AND COMFY.

The jewelry is pretty simple because I may fall asleep on the couch and I don’t want to wear any jewelry that would make me uncomfortable. I am always wearing a watch so I chose one that was eggshell in color with gold trim and faux diamonds around the face of the watch. The rest of my jewelry also contains gold metallic pieces. The earrings and the ring are the same blush-green as the sweater jacket and the ring has itty-bitty diamonds around the gem stone. The bracelet is made of cloth with gold beads so it is not cumbersome.

What is more relaxing than being a lake bum? The pants tie at the waist and has back pockets. They are not stretchy but they are loose and comfy. The top is hooded and loose fitting with a little bit of stretch. The outfit is great for lounging just about anywhere.

Every thing about this outfit screams “outdoors” so I am wearing a silver pair of butterfly earrings and ring. My bracelet has the interchangeable charms so I decided to wear it with a “wave” charm. The watch is off white and the necklace is striped with 4 different shades of blue. Some people would not wear jewelry with a lounging outfit but I feel naked without accessories.

You can really tell how miserable I am feeling by the puffiness of my eyes. Of all the outfits, this one is the most comfortable. It is made of acrylic and polyester and it moves as I move like it is part of my skin.. The top is loose and covers my tummy while the pants are form fitting but stretch with every movement I make. It has a ribbed collar and cuffs for a little added interest. The buttons are mottled with two shades of taupe.

The earrings are made of 4 different metallic colors so I am able to wear different metallic colors in the other accessories. The ring is silver metal with a tiger-eye stone. I pulled in the other metals with a copper color watch and matching bracelet, and a simple gold necklace and a rose gold colored bracelet with love doves.

OK, let’s talk about the Christmas weight. Surprisingly, I only gained two pounds which is a miracle considering all the chocolate and homemade cookies that I ate. Even more surprising those pounds came off easily. However, I don’t know about you but when I don’t feel well I tend to eat comfort food. For me, comfort food is ice cream. I figure by the time I am healthy I will have gained back the holiday weight and then some. Oh well, I have realized that the pounds come and go but ice cream is forever. I have to be careful, though, because I could end up like Aunty Acid who stated “I decided to go for a jog today…As I set off I realized it was my butt cheeks cheering me on”. Maybe I just won’t go jogging.

Well, until next month, remember God loves you and so do I.