Forty

When you were a kid, what did you think forty years old looked like? What age did you stop aging in your mind's eye when you think of yourself? Are you startled when you look in the mirror?

I have a lot of freckles. Lots of them. Enough so that when I tan, I freckle and instead of looking tan, it's like my freckles sort of grew together to form a tan. It is worse on my shoulders, where I have huge sun spots. When I look at Nathan, I see that smattering of freckles across his cheeks. I know he get this from me. Nevertheless, I am always slightly surprised when I look in the mirror and see the freckles on my face. I do not wear much makeup, either, so they are quite apparent.

I am also startled when I see that crease between my eyes. Now, when gazing at the computer, I deliberately try to relax my face and not have that concentrated look. I would be a prime candidate for some kind of procedure, but I have never met anyone in real life who has had botox or anything else. Am I so concerned about my face and growing older that I would do this? I do not know. It's not really on the table for me. But, hey, if you have any experience or could recommend a good cream, let me know, okay?

Hands, skin - they still seem okay. It's really just my face. Oh, and those grey hairs that make me run to the hair salon every seven weeks. While I sat in the salon chair last week as my stylist was mixing the color, I had a chance to look at all the grey winding its way through my hair. There was a lot.

So, when I was a kid, I am not sure what I thought forty looked like. My parents were young - just barely in their 40's when I graduated from high school. They seemed young to me then - not their age, you know? Even now, I do not see their age when I see them.

When I picture myself in my mind, it is at about 32 / 33 years old. Not young, but not old. Just the perfect age where you sort of have life figured out, are comfortable with who you are, and have the means to do a little more than you did 10 years before.

Still, I look forward to forty and beyond. I hope I grow old gracefully.

Potty Training

So, last Friday, I had the day off work, I had resolved that J has to be potty trained and I was going to do it in one weekend. Yes! Because I am superwoman, right? There is no earthly reason why she should not be able to be PT'd in 3 short days.

Day 1
Seven, maybe eight, maybe nine accidents. Panties, dresses, potty chair easily accessible. I bribed with M&M's. I poured water with a splash of juice in it down her throat all day. She did make it twice onto the potty. It was not a complete failure, but it was not a resounding success, either.

Day 2
4th of July. After the morning spent doing things similar to the day before, I put a pullup on her, dragged her out to my in-laws for hamburgers, homemade ice cream and lots of fireworks. We lasted 5 hours, then called it a night. I think any successes we had were undone by the pullup and taking her out of her routine.

Day 3
Slightly better than Day 1. Desperate call to my MIL. She gladly would take J on Monday and Tuesday and work with her.

Day 4 (MIL Day 1)
No successes, but MIL thinks she knows what to do.

Day 5 (MIL Day 2)
With the bribery of a lollipop (thank you, Tootsie Pop!), she went potty twice.

Day 6
Back at daycare for the day. She would tell her teachers she needed to go, then do nothing.

Day 7 (MIL Day 3)
Potty all day. No freakin' way. Success!

Day 8 (MIL Day 4)
Yet to be seen. I am both cautiously optimistic and slightly scared for the weekend.

Greeblepix Contest

I am not a good photographer and my subjects usually include my kids. However, Greeblemonkey is hosting her monthly photo contest - pics on the fly.

This picture was taken in March with the only big snowfall Tulsa had this past winter. The kids were able to build a snowman that lasted roughly 6 hours.

My New Best Friend

The squat.

Yes, it is my new best friend. After years of reading about the power of lunges and squats, sometimes incorporating walking lunges, back lunges, side lunges for months, but never ever considering the squat, I have begun to include it in my routine.

Wow.

I have been missing out! I feared my butt would get even bigger. I feared my thigh muscles would bulge and make it even more difficult to pull denim over them. No fear! It did not happen!

I have been including two sets of 25 squats in my arm / sholder weight routine, roughly 5x/week. I hold 20 lb dumbbells on my shoulders, feet positioned should width apart, facing forward, and just do it. I looked in the mirror this morning and my arse actually looks higher and smaller. Who knew?

I am very very happy and want to hear from you. Have you done something with surprising results - good or bad? What is your new best fitness tip?

I'm Back!

Did you miss me?

I have essentially had nothing to say over the past few months. Or, that's what I thought. In reality, I think I had a lot to say, but little of interest to anybody. But, Aimee's post yesterday about why she started to blog, how she feels about blogging and how it has evolved for her has rejuvenated me.

I will try to keep up with it. No promises on frequency (or quality). But, it will be just me.

Problem Solved

Thanks, Nat & Gretchen!

The reason I was curious about the difference between astonish and astound is that I tend to use astonish and a friend of mine uses astound, but rarely do either of us use the other word. Was one of us incorrect? Is it a matter of choice? What is the difference?

From Merriam-Webster's Dictionary:

Astonish: can imply a dazing or silencing or it may mean to surprise so greatly as to seem incredible or sometimes merely unusual

Astound: stresses a stunning or overwhelming emotional effect and usually implied so great a difference between what one believes possible and what one discovers to be true that one can find no precedent for it; thus

A piece of news surprises one when it is unexpected, it astonishes when one finds it hard to believe, and it astounds when one cannot account for it by an previous knowledge or experience.

Lesson complete.

Astonished? Astounded?

Today's linguistics issue (I wish I was William Safire sometimes) is the difference between astonish and astound. Is there a difference other than personal preference? I do not know. It will be my goal to uncover the mystery. Report back on Monday.... What do you think?