Let Us Do Our Exercises

I am a firm believer in exercise but tend to follow a more sedentary pursuit of happiness.

My gym is a recliner chair that encourages naps but requires repetitive ab crunches and push-ups to maneuver up and down for bathroom runs.

Is that enough exercise?  I wonder.

Probably not.

In an attempt to assuage guilt, I have added a challenging exercise routine.

Now do not laugh!

Did you know there are more than 50 muscles in the face?

I have been doing these new exercises for 2 whole days and swear I’m feeling the aches and pains of using all those unused muscles.

But the first step is to define problem areas whereby one is to put a mirror on a table and look down into it to determine what is sagging.

They didn’t say anything about the whole face sagging!

Eyes, cheeks, chin (double), wrinkles, upper face, middle face, between the eyes – all crinkly, wrinkly, sagging unused facial muscles!

Fortunately, I am lying face up in my recliner.

And fortunately, I can do the facial exercises in the privacy of the bathroom.

Anywhere else and  I am afraid Bill would collapse in laughter as I perform:

Exercise # 15 – Tensing the wings of my nose downward

Or

Exercise #19 – Snarling like a dog

Note the clipped pages of photos and instructions for all the different sagging areas.  Little did I know I would be clipping all the pages.

But I swear my face looks younger in just two days!  And a friend just said, “You look good in white.”  Surely she meant, “Did you get a face lift?”

Ahhhh!  Managing a healthy lifestyle is the way to immortality.

I wonder if  I can do these facial exercises in the recliner!

Note:

The book is The Five Minute Facial Workout, by Catherine Pez

 

 

 

 

 

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Joeleen

We met a true beauty yesterday.

When she was carried from the car, everyone stopped talking and whatever else they were doing just to look at her.

She knew she was beautiful but she never expected this unanimous reaction.

And everyone was smiling at her too and that made her so happy.

She came all the way from California – a star.

One look and we knew she could be a huge presence in the world.

She is always surrounded by a support staff at her beck and call, but she remains humble in her gorgeous-ness and always yearning for love.

Her name is Joeleen.

She is a 9 week old Saint Bernard show stopper puppy who was surely born to generate smiles.

And she is a love, with a disposition to go with her big fluffy huggable panda-like puppyhood.

Yesterday Joeleen’s new supporting cast of human characters brought her to our house for introductions.

She is not going to be mine, but thank you to her new pawrents (our friends Pam and Billy ) for the introductions.

We love Joleen, and she can add Bill and me to her supporting cast of characters any time.

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Accentuating the Positive

Beating the Heat

A whole week of heat, rain, and more heat.  But Bill and I managed to stay cool between storms with afternoon swims in the backyard pool.

Power Plays

One quiet, sunny afternoon, there came a giant bolt of lightning.  I know it was giant because the house shook, there was no thunder, and all the lights went out.

Our first line of  defense is always  to Call the Neighbors for there is comfort in numbers.  But no one else had a problem.  We were alone and powerless and we called the power company.

“I’m sure they will not come  out right away for one little old house in the country,” I said to Bill.  “We may be like this for weeks!”  

That was my Pessimist Gene talking as well as thinking, “No lights, no air conditioning in  90 degree heat, no flushing, no washing, no cooking and miserable sleeping.”

The power company fella came out within the hour, replaced a blown fuse and we were “back in business”.

Dead Pump Revival

Our pool pump stopped pumping.  This time Bill was the one  bemoaning our fate, for the cost of a new pool pump is very high.

But the electric company came  right out and replaced a switch.  And Voila!  The pump is going strong again.

New Hummer Space Station Works!

 

My brother and his darling wife sent a “just for love” gift !  It is a new humming bird feeder that looks like a space station.

This odd Hummer Center has been waiting for the little darlings for weeks with no action.  I was about to give up but subliminal messages must have worked. The tiny birds are finally  arriving and so excited they don’t even care if I am out there in their midst.

Soft Free Fall

Don’t ask me how  but I fell flat on my back in the garage this week.  I simply felt my body drifting backwards, down, down and down, like when you let yourself sink into a comfy sofa.   It was a soft landing on a hard wood stoop with no sprains, strains, bruises or blood.  And I am “up and at ’em” as my Mom used to say.  All I can figure is I must have missed that step.

Beauty Comes for a Visit

Finally, I have a flower bed of zinnias that should have  been thinned  out early on.  The flowers are arriving  in a thick patch, but they look slightly weak.

Not too weak for the most gorgeous butterfly to land on and enjoy however.  And her visits make my day.

This all reminds me of a Bing Crosby song:  “You’ve Got to Accentuate the Positive” written by Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen

“You’ve got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don’t mess with Mister In-Between…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Hairy Story Continued

Dor’s New Haircut

Guilt was the final feeling after I posted a blog about my new very short haircut.

I have  since decided to “bite the bullet” and grin and  share my dark haired beauteous transformation..

I realize today’s photo does not comport with the blog profile photo which has been up for several years.  I kinda liked the grey but with righteous living, my hair turned dark again.

And the shorter it gets, the darker!

Didn’t I tell you short hair would make you look and feel 20 years younger?

 

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A Hairy Tale

 

The Hairy Tale:  

My sister-in-law,  Millie, was a beautician for 40 years!  One of her clients was a young girl whose hair was so long it was down to her waist.  She was always sickly and her parents worried.  Millie begged them to let her cut the girl’s hair and they finally agreed. Maybe you can guess what happened.  The young lady grew strong and healthy and Millie was even more convinced that long hair drains strength and energy from the body.

My hair has never been longer than my collar but I got a haircut this week!  It is very very short.  I wanted to look like a “mature” Joan Baez!  I brought a picture in to my beautician and asked her to perform a minor miracle.  She did the best she could.

All of a sudden I felt strong!

I walked 5,000 steps yesterday!   The Big Foot Boot is always nearby “just in case” but I like to think it is drooping and maybe even rusty for lack of use.

I am invincible!  I am woman!

And then I remembered Millie’s Hairy Tale.

I think I will keep my hair cut short.

Photo of Joan Baez from The Week magazine, February 12, 2016 Vol. 16 Issue 757

 

 

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The Warning Signs of Aging

From: http://www.hauteliving.com

When I was young and wrinkle free (never mind care free), I thought the first sign of aging would be a gray hair followed by a wrinkle.  I also believed the old hag image could be avoided by eating and sleeping right and using all the miracle creams advertised on television and in magazines.

Hope is a many splendored thing, but the truth is harder to take.

Over time, there were signals that healthy living and preening were not quite succeeding:

1. Police-people began to look like children. I wondered why little kids were assigned for protection.
2. My doctor was the same age as my son!  He is still the same age as my son but now they both look middle aged while I still feel 18. (?)  Who can explain this?  Note:  I didn’t say I LOOK 18!
3. Then a nice young man at the supermarket began saying, “Yes Maam.”  Was he talking to ME? REALLY?  Should I call him “Son?”
4. Then another nice young man somewhere opened a door for me.  Hasn’t he heard that chivalry is already dead?  YOUNG women open their own doors. I CAN OPEN MY OWN DOOR – THANK YOU!
5. Oh NO!  the first gray hair came and went (ouch!) but suddenly there were waaaay too many.
6. The first wrinkle was a frown line.  Oh well, that could be blocked out with photo slight of hand.  You will never see a wrinkle in my selfies!  Ha!  I got THAT down pat.
7. In airports,  people seem to think I am lost or confused.  “Do you need help?” they ask.  Hmmmmm.  It’s odd but I usually do.
8. Magazine ads stop giving beauty hints when they get to the “Over ___” category
9. Salespeople exclaim, “Oh, my grandmother bought one of those and she just LOVES it.”
10. The AARP card has some real advantages – like free coffee – even if  I don’t even have to show the card.
11. My grandgirls look the same age as I think I look until I look in the mirror.  I am considering hanging black shrouds over mirrors!

 Perhaps there is a vitamin to ward off the old hag image.  Only I know how many weird vitamin supplements are taking up space in my kitchen cabinet(s) and they are all secretly labeled “Hope dashed.  Store for later discard.”

Yes, hope is a many splendored thing, and I am still in favor of eating right, sleeping right, and exercising for energy and good looks.

I have been duly warned by the experts however, that with healthful living and of course, the most expensive beauty products, I will look 20 years younger and live long enough to enjoy 15 minutes more a day drooling in my soup.

 

 

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Beauty is Only Skin Deep

 

Peanuts Cartoon – From http://www.thecuriousbrain.com

I know.  I already told you about my swollen foot.

It is a case that should be included in the television show, Mystery Diagnosis.

But since a mildly swollen foot is admittedly a bit boring, don’t worry, it  is not really the subject of this blog post.

It goes deeper than that. “It goes down deep…layer after layer after layer!”

One of the tests they did was to check circulation via a sonogram.  Although I lay upon the table worrying, the technician went about her business and kept smiling.   And I thought, “How cruel to keep one in suspense and grin about it.”

But I liked her cheerful attitude and painful as it was to erase the worry lines from my forehead, I dutifully grinned back.

Technicians are usually secretive and unwilling to share information, but Leigh was different.

With a great big smile she said,

“You have BEAUTIFUL veins!”

Huh?  Really?

“In the business, that’s what we call them, and you have beautiful juicy veins.”

My friends, are you listening?  I HAVE BEAUTIFUL JUICY VEINS!

She went on to say there are many people who have skinny, narrow little veins with inhibited blood flow.

I was no longer really listening but was smiling smugly.

And all the way home I smiled smugly and laughed out loud too.

Now, in the looking glass I see the usual old-er, less than star quality image.  But I just have to remember this.

I have BEAUTIFUL veins!

And Mom was right again.

Beauty is only skin deep.

I  just wish I had a copy of that sonogram!

From Yahoo.com – a definition by Duude:

“Beauty is only skin deep” refers to the outward beauty of a person. Of course, we must realise that a person can be beautiful on the inside. Such a person is often referred to as a ‘lovely’ person. However, when we refer to something beautiful we are usually referring to that something’s outward appearance. What the phrase tries to emphasise is that the outward appearance of a person counts for nothing, but it is what lies beneath the skin, the actual person him/herself is what really matters. 

 

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The Magestic Weeping Willow

 

Mine is not a favorite flower, but a tree

much like a graceful waterfall

casting shade in a veil of green,

growing tall and swaying in the wind –

the magestic Weeping Willow .

 

 

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Fence Corsage

WordPress Daily Post Photo Challenge:  From Every Angle

This week, photograph a stationary subject from three different angles.

I love this charming old fence dressed for a special occasion, calling out for admiration, “Look at me.  I’m not through yet!”

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Creekside Art

A mossy ledge invites the camera’s capture.

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