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The Rant of a Well-Seasoned Woman

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 I find myself ranting about the disparity of how people see women versus men, especially as older (over 40) people.  This week put me back on the edge of that rant. The Grammy awards were interesting.  Some years they bore me but I liked it this year.  The one thing that stood out for me was the reaction to Madonna.  Now, I'll be honest and say I noticed and I don't love the changes she made to her appearance.  But she didn't ask me my opinion so I didn't offer it .  Instead, I thought seriously about why she did it.  And then I saw all of the facebook posts the next day. When I watched her on the show (and later on TikTok), my first thought was sadness.  I thought about how hard it must be to be her (or any woman in the public eye who ages) and feel that she needs  to look younger than she is.  I don't have that pressure - but I feel it so freaking often.  What gets me started on my rant is the need of people to comment on her looks.  The majority of comments I sa
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Shmita

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 I learned something today.  It's the Hebrew word: shmita.   I found a fabulous article in an issue of last year's Philadelphia magazine.  I now have a new goal. The  sabbath year  ( shmita ;  Hebrew :  שמיטה , literally "release"), also called the  sabbatical year  or  shǝvi'it  ( שביעית ‎, literally "seventh"), or "Sabbath of The Land", is the seventh year of the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the  Torah  in the  Land of Israel  and is observed in  Judaism . [1] During  shmita , the land is left to lie  fallow  and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by  halakha  (Jewish law). Other cultivation techniques (such as watering, fertilizing, weeding, spraying, trimming and mowing) may be performed as a preventive measure only, not to improve the growth of trees or other plants. Additionally, any fruits or herbs which grow of their own accord and where no watch is kept over them ar
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Memory Smells (not to be confused with my memory stinks)

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I sit here writing this covered in Vicks Vaporub.  I generally hate the smell because if I smell like that, it means I'm sick.  And I am.  But it also reminds me of my mom.  I can remember my mom slathering that on me, covering the affected area with a handkerchief so it wouldn't make my clothes smell (I'm pretty sure that didn't work).  Later, my friend who grew up in Estonia and had tricks for every ailment taught me that Vicks on the bottom of your feet covered by socks also helps.  It works.  My mom didn't know that. As I lay in bed last night, feeling a combination of sorry for myself because I'm sick and sorry for myself because I can't call my mom and get the care that only a mom can give, I thought about other smells that mean something to me. The first one is Lysol spray.  I have no idea why  but this always smelled like my Grandpa's after shave cologne.  I know it wasn't his cologne but for reasons I can't explain, when I smell that one
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Same Old, Same Old...

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I actually write quite a lot but don't often publish things.  I hold things for a bit.  Sometimes I think things are too personal or not interesting to anyone other than me. I originally wrote this in January 2022.  I find it hasn't changed much in the last year.  This year the doctor was the gynocologist and the time lag between now and the last appointment was much, much longer than with the dermatologist.  I was genuinely disturbed that I didn't know how many years I missed in there.  In one way, it made sense because I had been taking care of my mom and was a contractor so the time I took off for appointments was for her, not me.  But holy smokes, that's a lot of years that just blurred together.  The doctor said I wasn't the only one experiencing this.  I don't know if she's telling me the truth or just being polite.  Either way, it bothers me. The first blog post of this year mentioned Groundhog Day in the title.  That's a theme that keeps coming u
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So Let It Be Written....

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I kind of like resolutions or goals for the new year.  I like them but I suck at them.  I sort of set them every year but I don't really write them down or make them official. This year will be different!  Ha!  I'm going to try a new strategy.  This right here is it. A Facebook friend of mine posted this.  Actually several friends did.  I normally skip this stuff but I like word games so I looked.  My words are: Lesson Connect Change Strength Lesson :  I have a lot to learn in this life but I have to say, I'm doing much better in that department.  A few years ago, I started thinking about what I'm supposed to learn from certain situations instead of reacting to them (thank you, Mom). I still react but also think about what I'm supposed to learn so I don't keep repeating the same mistakes. Connect :  I learned a lot during the pandemic years.  One thing was that for as much as I don't like a lot of social things, I do miss people.  At least certain people.  I
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2022 - One Goal Complete

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The year I turned 50, my brother had a great idea: do 50 fun things in that year.  It was a great idea.  But my mom was sick and I needed to take care of things here so the great idea didn't happen. Then she died and my desire for fun hit a road block.  And then covid stopped the world.  It's really amazing to me how time just passes but it feels like it stood still. But that's a topic for a different post. Flash forward 5 years. Five years that just seem to have vanished.  During those 5 years, I changed careers (sort of - I got a regular job so I'm no longer a contractor).  My girls started and have nearly finished college.  I moved, got married - so many things have happened.  Five years seems like 5 seconds and yet so much has happened. So here I am: 55 years old about to turn 56 in a matter of weeks.  I wasn't going to let 55 pass by like seconds again. I was going to have fun, damnit. And I did.  And I kept a list.  There were things I forgot but mostly I trie
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The People You Meet Along The Way - Terp Edition 1

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There are lots of people I've met over my 55 years that have had an impact on me.  I suspect most don't know that.  I think I'll start writing about the various people who have impacted me, sometimes positively and sometimes less so.  I should probably tell them to their face.  That takes courage that I might not have.  Goal #98549 for this year. I should probably start with someone who just left this world.  She was one of the folks who hired me at this super large interpreting agency way back when in 1993.  I started my mentorship there and thought I'd go home.  I was hired for a 3 month stint that turned into 6 months and I never left.  Well, I left that agency but never left the area.  And I never left my connections with SLA.  They are in many ways my family. They are my friends.  They're the people who have been through one marriage, a divorce and my second marraige with me, even if just from sidelines in the facebook world.  They were willing to take my babie
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