MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish
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OK,
I have always been a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and all of his terrified me. But The Birds............the worst. Also, I was attacked by a pigeon when i was 5. I had real thick curly mid-short hair and it got stuck in there! I remember screaming bloody murder and my mom, who was a hero, pulled the pigeon out. Had to have stitches and everything. Never forgot it and every time The Birds is on my family calls me from all over the nation if it's on a semi-popular channel and tells me......and i always watch it!!!
I'm looking at where you all are from and it's fascinating. I'm from Kansas, Northeast and it's on the Missouri River so very hilly and full of bluffs. Much like Missouri.
I have a small house, but live alone and have really been thinking about selling it and renting something a little closer to my kids and grandkids. Working, sometimes not feeling well, inside work, outside work, no money to hire.... I also think it would help with lonliness.
BUT....
I have dogs, and they have been there for me for everything. I laugh at them, cry on them, hug them, get affection from them and they love me unconditionally. I have a dog door with a large fenced in back yard, but it's all about smells with them and i walk them on the river road almost everyday, all year round, so they keep me exercising and healthy. Led me to thinking about all of you and how you handled some of these issues.........
l. any major changes because of bc or any other illness? Glad you did it, regret...?
2. animals get you through?
3. for some of you others....kids get you through?
What motivates you? Just curious......
Marian
(Elimar, I know i say it a lot, but I just cannot thank you enough for starting this thread)!
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Marian,
First I wanted to say you are the first person here that I have found that is close to my home. I'm in the Seattle area now, however I grew up in Basehor, Ks. It's about 8 miles south of Leavenworth, but if you're from the area I'm sure you know of it! My entire family is there still.
One of the most special things that gets me through is my new grandson. He's the first, he's 5 months old, and the best hugger in the world! He loves to be held snugly, and is always so warm. His momma (my daughter) has also become such a caring, warm person since all this happened.
Also, my dogs.....I have a toy poodle and a pit bull. The poodle is the boss. The pitbull is a big baby that loves the world. They are always so glad to see me when I get home from work! The pit worries when I even cough!
Thanks for asking, it helps to have those reminders of those things that do help!
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Moonbuddy, What helps me the most is staying busy. I am never happier than when I have a project going on, like now redecorating and updating my Dad's house. I'm also so excited about getting the tree up and decorated that I can hardly stand it. I love doing things with my hands and being creative. I love planning a project and finishing it gives me something to look forward to. I am always able to see what I want things to be like in my head and then work at it until they are that in reality. I NEED projects and something to keep me going...be it decorating, making something, planning a menu for a party. I need to have something to look forward to and might just stay in bed if I didn't. Well, guess I could not do that since I do have to go to work, but I know I would be in the dumps with nothing to do. Which is my main complaint with my husband...he is perfectly content to sit around and do absolutely nothing all day. My dog, Sydney was my rock. I bought him as soon as I finished my reconstruction because I knew then I would not be running to the doctor for fill-ups every week and that I was on the road to getting back to normal. It didn't work out like that because my cancer came back, but he was there for me. He always made me feel better, made me laugh when I was sad, was always happy to see me and never talked back. I went through a lot of boyfriends, but Sydney was always there. Everyone thought I would lose it when I lost that dog, but I had him for 17 1/2 years so he long outlived his life expectancy and I could not bear to see him suffer and he let me know when it was time. I now have two other dogs and a cat and I love them, but none will ever replace that little dog who was with me through the worst of times. Challanges keep me going and looking ahead. .
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YUP. Grandkiddos are very motivating. As are projects.
Our little set in costumes above are 3.5 years/Tigger and the twins (Pigglet & Pooh) are now 18 months. They live just about 10 miles down the road, which is perfect.
This website has been my support -- thru knowledge seeking & friendship building.
I have found that 'blogging' is a great outlet for me. Makes me focus on what's going well. I also enjoy Facebook and find it fun to reconnect with ol' friends.
Hope that everyone has a nice evening & then sleeps well.
xx00xx00xx00xx
We have a 12 hour drive 'home' tomorrow to return to 'real life' after this little break.
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Middle age.....sigh. I am in age denial! I turned 50 in May and had a big, loud party. Where have I been since this thread started???
Scary movie...The Birds. I live along the California coast and we have HUGE Ravens. These suckers scare our cats and have beaks that are 4 inches long. When they make their clicking noise, it reminds me of the playground scene in The Birds.
While prowling through Facebook I found pages from my old elementary and high school. Talk about a blast from the past! My class picture from 3rd grade is on my elementary school's page. What a sight we were! Pixie haircut and all...
Linda
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OMG Linda, that could be scarier than any horror movie, going back and looking at elementary school pictures. I wouldn't know who that little girl was, she was so shy, not like the grown up girl.
Juannelle
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"...the two things that suck most about cancer is that you don't know when you have it and you don't know when it's gone." Wish I said that; but I have to cite member Rachel_BC for that one.
Meece, thanks for the tip on donating hair to Pantene. I went on their website and they only need 8" of hair so that would make it easier on me to keep a decent length. What a coincidence that a poster just above mentions their Pixie haircut in third grade because that is what I feared I would be left with if I had to donate 10" of hair. (I had serious Pixie trauma in third grade, when a boy I liked made fun of my new short 'do!)
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My sister and I got a pixie every summer. I don't recall ever being asked if we wanted them, just were taken to have our hair cut off for summer( like the annual shaving of the lambs) because my mother always said with swimming and all, it would be easier to take care of. Think that process went on until I was in Jr High and I resisted or she decided I was old enough to take care of my own hair or something. As it grew out, I would sometimes have a little spit curl on the sides. Remember spit curls? And bobby pins and rollers?
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My mother kept me in pixie cut hair until I was old enough to pay for my own haircuts with babysitting money! I haven't cut my hair since-it's a about hip length and my one and only beauty point. I didn't get the cut for summer, though, I got it at the start of school every year. YUCK! I hated it! But what are you going to do when you're not even 10 years old yet.
Myscariest movie is the Mothman Prophecies. No blood, guts, and gore, but some serious jumps and and lots of tension/anticipation. Dug it out and watched it Halloween evening--with the high wind making all kinds of funny and different noises and the power blinking at unpredicatable moments it was a real fright fest!
While I was diong the surgery/rads thing I had 2 dogs, and I lived for them. They were the only reason I got out of bed in the morning, and the only thing I did all during rads was feed them, let them in and out, and cry on them as they cuddled with me in the big recliner. Can you imagine me, a 45 pound hound and a 95 pound german shepherd all huddled together in a big recliner? Must have been quite a site. The hound got loose, ran in the road and was hit and killed about a year after rads was over, and if it wasn't for the shepherd I don't think I would have been able to cope with the loss just then. I've been able to put it in perspective in the years since, but it was hard.
I'm one who depends on work to get through bad stuff, and I lost my job during rads (FMLA ran out before rads was done due to all the delays from "scheduling mistakes"). So I had nothing to hold on to until I found a new job after rads--and wound up over $10k in debt--and that's WITH health insurance! I'm still digging myself out 3 years later. On a more amusing note, I used to be very embarrassed at my financial situation and would cry everytime someone asked about payment or whatever. Now when I'm asked "what happened?" or "Why haven't you made full payments?" I just say "Breast Cancer" and watch the expression on their faces--people simply do not know how to react, and I've gotten some debts written off and many interest rate reductions this way. It's probably curel of me to use the "cancer card" but it's only the truth, after all. My favorite reaction is when someone asks "Don't you have health insurance?" and I get to say "Yes, thank God, or I'd be even worse off financially." That really surprises people!
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My mom always cut my hair... My bangs always about an inch long at most. Lol
What was up with that??? LOL0 -
Yah Faith, but were they straight? My Mom would even tape mine down and then cut. But when the tape came off they would spring up to around my hairline....sigh.
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I remember my pixie. Didn't mothers know how they were traumatizing their little girls? In kindergarten I was very tiny, maybe 25 lbs. and thin as a stick, then there was this head which was emphasized by the pixie cut and huge green eyes. I looked like a giant brunette q-tip. Luckily, my hair grew quickly as a child (and my mother let it for a couple of years) and it was ready for my mother's next fashion statement "The shag"! What child didn't want to look like she had been to a blind beautician?
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OMG.......and I thought my shag was the coolest haircut I'd ever had! I was 18 though, and had been bobbie pinned and permed for so many years I felt totally rebelious! Plus, my mother made me wear those horrible horn-rimmed glasses. Talk about nightmarish school pictures!
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I remember once when I was about 12 and complaining about my hair, my step-dad pulled out the scissors. He cut my bangs so short that they stuck straight out because of the cowlick I have in the front. I was mortified and I think he still feels bad to this day! My sister says that I didn't have bad hair days, but bad hair years...
Meece - where is your photo taken? I was born in Santa Monica and grew up in Eureka, CA. Now I'm on the opposite coast but still miss that beautiful CA coastline. I don't miss the freezing cold water, though. The Atlantic is much warmer in the summertime and you can actually swim in it!
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My bangs tho miniscule were rarely straight either.LOL
Giggled over the brunette q-tip image.... Very visual image. We have a red headed q-tip grand daughter. She so looks like a pixie!!0 -
Our Moms all went to the same hair stylist!
Ya git whatcha pay fer. 0 -
Oh you all had it easy...my Mom was a beauty operator and she operated on me regularly. I would sit in the beauty chair (oxy moron) while she either pin curled my hair or permed it into a big fuzz ball, even my Dad and Grandpa would tell her what a bad job she did LOL! When I was 12 or 13 I was in love with Twiggy and I had my GF cut my hair, I locked my self in the bathroom and pierced my own ears and put in big hoops after the string came out! Then when I could get away with it I would put on my Good Night pink slicker from Yardly.
F
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My parents didn't have much money so for $3.00 my mom would get her "do" done at the beauty college. She'd sleep for days with toilet paper wrapped around her head! I wasn't so lucky. The original Pixie was the product of a visit to Mississippi and my aunt cutting it. My mom was another one who used tape to chop my bangs. What a mess. A little more off the right side...a little more off the left side...almost even...ummmmm.NOT!
With three daughters my parents couldn't afford to pay to have our ears pierced so my mom bought one pair of self-piercers. Wire hoops with a pointy end that you squeezed and eventually they would work their way through your ear lobe. Was the woman nuts???
Ahhhhh...the good 'ol days!
Linda
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dswope
Yep, Basehor, just past leavenworth and lansing. Do you get homesick?
So you know what i mean about Atchison being a River Town, full of bluffs and hills and valleys and more like Missouri than the rest of Kansas.
I love how hearing what gets everyone thru! Amazes me how often animals play a role. I'm going to shut up and listen now, all of you women amaze me!!!
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Carolinachick, Morro Rock, Central Coast....freezing water. My Onclologist is in Santa Monica, and I love to walk the pier.
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I so love this! From coping to animals to grandkids to our Mothers torturing us with our hair! I always had a pony tail and wore a baseball cap. I wanted to look like a boy! 8 years of Catholic grade school, 4 yrs. all girls catholic high school. always had to wear skirts, and you could roll them up, but every week, there was a length check!! so cold walking home over the viaduct. they didn't allow pants in winter till after i graduated.
back to hair. had this long ponytail, till 3rd grade mom was tired of messing with it and i had a horribly short hair cut by her of course. then i struggled with horribly thick curly fuzzy hair. It didn't matter what was done to my bangs.....you just couldn't tell anyway!
Because of straighteners, i'm just now letting it grow out again! And if it's curly, throw on the bandanna and let it curl..anything is in style now!
I donate my dogs hair (truly), he's Alaskan Malamute, and his undercoat is used to make blankets by some nuns down in Leavenworth. There's no end to his donations, thats for sure!!!
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Did anybody sleep on 'rags' to make curls?
I grew up on that concept & did the same to both of my daughters... Slumber party fun.0 -
I didn't sleep on rags, but I do remember the pink foam rollers. What a miserable night of sleep those caused - all in the name of "beauty!"
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What's worse than going to sleep on "rags"? Having your mother put them in early in the evening before class pictures, and having to go to the grocery store with her after she put them in. Humiliating even for a second grader.
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If I didn't have a PIXIE, I was blessed with a "TONI PERM" for my very straight hair
.....oh what a sight.
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The hair talk is cracking me up. My mother used to cut my bangs - there is a photo of me when I was about 4 and my bangs are about an inch long on one side and then they gracefully dip downward and then back up again.
Mom used to roll the ends of my hair on old perm rods, resulting in a fuzzy bottom to my hair - gad - talk about horrid looking.
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Linda - I had my ears pierced the same way. My grandmother called them sleepers cause they work their way through your lobe while your sleeping. One ear lobe has a dead space from having it move when it was 1/2 way through. Me & my 2 sisters were given pixie's too.
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Oh we are on a roll here and you all are making me roll with laughter. The brunette Q-tip....preiceless! All these memories are flooding back now with your talk of pink foam rollers and Yardley of London slicker....I loved Yardley. and I loved Twiggy. One of my girlfriends and I did this big mural on my bedroom wall with Twiggy on it. Everyone thought she was sooo skinny then, but when you look back at her she was not at all compared to today's moldels. But they also thought the Beatles were mopheads and their hair really was not all that long, just long for that time period. And remember Bonny Belle? Ok, on to highschool hair.Do you remember ironing your hair or using juice cans as rollers? I also had this scarf with fake bangs that I would wear when I had my rollers in.....boy, was I ever cool. That was when I was wearing bangs so long you really could barely see my eyes. Do you remember the perfume, Ambush? I loved that stuff. And unlke the commercial all my men did not wear English Leather. I was partial to Jade East.
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Marybe, I remember the juice cans as rollers and I also ironed my hair. My mother tried to keep my short, but ever so often she would allow it to grow out a little and my very early school pictures, I have little ringlets. I have a ton of hair and it is not straight or curly. It is just frizzy and I have fought it all my life. I hope it grows back better, but it is probably too much to ask for.
My mother never permed my hair, but she did put it up in pin curls and then try to comb it out and she would just about jerk me bald headed. I was the baby and by the time she got around to me she had no patients. I always wanted my hair to be straight and to have about 1/2 as much as I had, because in the old days, it just would not dry. So it really didn't matter what I tried to do with it, it still frizzed.
I try not to think back to those times.
Juannelle
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Rag curls! Yes! My mom's best friend would wrap my hair in rag curls...after the dreaded Pixie grew out! Remember Levi's that cost $8.00 a pair...and that was expensive? The ones with big bells. We would go to the mall and think we were so cool because we weren't wearing shoes and the bells covered our feet.
My favorite perfume was Jovan's Musky Mandarin Orange. Remember Prell shampoo and wanting to be a "Breck Girl." And....Winchell's donuts were under a dollar for a dozen. What happened to penny candy???
Linda
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