Blogging is Bad for My Health
It’s been a long time coming, but this week I have had to face facts: I cannot physically work on the computer for any significant length of time. My neck is messed up, my shoulder is messed up, my back is messed up. While massage, chiropractic, ice, and rest have been improving those areas to a degree, it has not been enough improvement that I can return to significant computer work. Five minutes on the desktop is too much, and now the laptop is beginning to bother me as well.
So what occurred that necessitated my facing facts this week? Well, during my regularly scheduled monthly chiropractor appointment, I mentioned that my wrist had been bothering me. Sure enough, it need adjustment! When I mentioned that I didn’t think I had been on the computer that much (especially compared to the hero, a CAD producer, who is on the computer all day at work), Doc said, “everybody’s different”. I knew then that I need to learn to severely control my computer time.
Like I said, this has been a long time coming, but my hope is this: when I admit the truth, somehow I will be able to then devise a good solution. Ignoring the problem hasn’t been working for me. At any rate, I am keeping the blog alive for now; I still like blogging , still enjoy the conversation, and still have stuff to say.
Blessings!
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A Collection of Thoughts on Aging with Style
All week I’ve been ruminating on topics related to aging: the (Biblical) role of the empty nester, relationships between generations, my mom’s wardrobe, and more. Yet, when faced with the desire to produce a Friday Fashion Lab, I once again ran up against my most persistent blogging frustration: I have words, you all want pictures. But where to get them?
Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, I will be able to produce them myself. :) (Which thought came to me sometime in the 24 hours following my first drawing class.) Why not? If I learn to draw, I could just draw pictures of the ideas which are very clear in my mind, scan them, and upload them to the blog. Much less time-consuming than finding them on the internet (which gives great pictures, but takes forever), or taking them myself (yeah, you’ve seen my pictures, and now that I mostly blog when I’m home alone, the clothes must generally be pictured uninhabited, which is less satisfactory).
In the meantime, links!
- Imogen’s post on age appropriate dressing.
- Duchesse on Personal Style at 80
- Great Vogue video on personal style
And finally, in lieu of a fashion lab, a question:
Would an 80 year old be fabulous or frumpy in this Boden dress? What about you? (What about me?)
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What’s Ahead in 2009
As of December 30, 2008, via CBS news:
Spokane residents were trying to dig out Tuesday after a month of record-breaking snow collapsed roofs and clogged streets.The center of a snow-laden supermarket roof in north Spokane collapsed Monday evening, prompting the evacuation of that store and adjacent businesses. A fire official said only one minor injury was reported.The roof collapse came as Spokane set a monthly record for snowfall, at 59.7 inches, after 8.3 inches were recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ellie Kelch. That’s more snow than the area receives in a typical winter.
So that explains alot of my recent absence from blogging. In addition to having beloved family members home from school and work, the holidays, building a long overdue second bathroom, and watching way too much antm on youtube (which I neither recommend nor excuse).
What’s on the horizon:
- The blogging continues. I have paid for another two years of “betweenmypeers.com” ownership and the web hosting. Now if only I understood how to work it all.
- By cleaning up the formatting, adding useful links, and regularly posting on basic concepts, my goal is to sharpen the focus of the blog, continually making it more useful.
- I also intend to make blogging submit to my regular life. Hence, the unannounced “vacation”.
- And speaking of my “regular life”, we will be having a spring wedding in the family. More on that to come.
Allow me to take this opportunity to express just how blessed I feel to have this opportunity for on-going discussion with you. As I wrap up loose ends from the year past (like my busted budget and marathon makeover) and begin thinking on fresh topics (like more posts on fun personality stuff and a possible series on business attire), my question to you is this:
What’s ahead for you in 2009? And what would you like to see here?
Don’t say more pictures of me. My New Year’s resolution is less.
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Get the Macy’s Employee Discount!
Although my daughter no longer works for Macy’s, being a fashion blogger has its advantages - including being able to offer you the Macy’s employee discount for your holiday shopping. This discount is in addition to sale prices.
Download the Macy’s Friends and Family Coupon for use in store or click through the banner ad above. Remember to enter promo code MACYSFRIEND at checkout.
For use Wednesday, December 10th through Monday, December 15th.
Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!
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My Three Sions: Introversion, Extroversion, and Depression
Last night I went to bed with a headache … and still had it when I got up. While I am no longer hurting, I am not necessarily feeling “sharp”; hence, it remains to be seen whether I will be able to compose a coherent post. At least the corny title is worth the price of admission …
Contributing to the beauty of blogging is the ease with which you can ride along my thought train with me:
- drwende’s Happiness, Humiliation and Hue
- and Tops! What are they GOOD for?
- wikipedia: extraversion and introversion
Application points:
- Technically I’m an ambivert: equally extraverted and introverted. More realistically, I’m a shy extravert.
- Bloggers seem to skew to the intro-.
- Sad, but true: Washington is one of the five most introverted states, and Idaho’s not far behind.
- “Talk therapy” is one of the treatments for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but nobody wants to talk about it — they just want to sell you vitamins or special lighting.
- I actively desire for my wardrobe to convey both authority and approachability.
In terms of color, authority is associated with high contrast color schemes and approachability with brights. How do you balance the two in your wardrobe?
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A Sad Little History
Speaking of conversations, you may have noticed that the comments aren’t always about the topic of the post. Like in this previous post, where the comments ended up being primarily about the blog girl talk (which, by the way, has no comment form, a blog characteristic I am not fond of).
As I was reading through their very thorough treatment of the subject of modesty, I came across this statement:
Now let me set your mind at ease. Adorning ourselves in “respectable apparel” doesn’t mean we must restrict ourselves exclusively to cheap, out of style, unattractive clothing. Paul is not saying that gold or pearls or braiding are forbidden. In fact, you will find other places in Scripture where godly women wore fine clothing and jewelry.
The reason this post is called a A Sad Little History is because when I first became a Christian, as a young mom in my 20s, I immediately pulled out all my out of style clothing and began wearing it again! Where did I get the idea that a Christian must necessarily convey a dowdy appearance?
The good news is that God isn’t like that. And I guess that’s one more reason to keep on blogging. Yay!
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What’s Wrong With This Outfit, Mom?
Admittedly this is a lengthy article, originally from the Washington Post and then condensed for the Spokesman Review. But I think it especially worth reading for parents (both fathers and mothers) of young ladies. Allow me to rephrase that, I mean girls. When you still have control over what they wear is the time to help them develop their own discretion.
Quote:
Parents lack confidence in their instincts and in their judgment. Previous generations had no trouble making hard and fast rules. Parents in those days looked like and conducted themselves as adults and role models; kids and teenagers wanted to grow up and get the perks of adult life as soon as possible. Therapists see the inverse today. There are lots of parents who are uncomfortable with their grownup role and want to be young again; their kids don’t want to grow up, or wish to postpone it as long as possible.
I have found it helpful in training two young ladies, who are actually more modest than I am, to give them the tools to enhance their natural beauty artistically, rather than provocatively. My daughters truly exhibit a quiet confidence, a different kind of glamour (1 Peter 3:3-4).
Particularly in this day and age when both the culture and the church work to keep older women and younger women separated from one another, what can be done to encourage parents to be parents? And what do you see successfully influencing young ladies to dress modestly?
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On a Personal Note …
Blogging will be taking a back seat to real life for the next day or two, maybe longer. Unfortunately I was already behind. If you have been waiting for some action or answer from me, I beg your patience and request that you wait until the end of this week to contact me again.
Here’s the story: my adventurous son, age 25, in attempting a bicycle maneuver, flipped over forward and landed on his neck, breaking a vertebra. Flown from where he lives, a couple of hours from here, he is in the hospital on other side of the state. He is able to move arms, legs … everything but his head, for that we are profoundly thankful. So far, no surgery. Anyway, my nurse friends have assured me it is safe for me to visit, even though I am under the effect of the back-to-school virus. I will head over tomorrow.
Prayer appreciated.
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Blogging Our Comebacks Calendar
Update: Noticing a need for some jewelry specifically to complete color harmonies near my face, I am adding a week for accessories to the end of my makeover schedule. To the end, because I still think it’s more important to not be naked than to be properly accessorized! Here at the bottom of the fashion food chain, not being naked is a priority. LOL
Since I’m presently staring down what could arguably be my busiest week of the year, I would love to have your help: any of you who are playing along and would like to submit a guest post or who have written something about your own “comeback”, please email me with either a post, some pictures, a link to your own post, or whatever. Thanks!
So far, I have brought my scale back into my bathroom and been walking almost everyday. My nails are growing, but not yet manicured and my cuticles are dry and cracked. I have my appointment for my haircut next week. Shopping for a magnifying mirror (for plucking my eyebrows) had been unsuccessful, but I scored on the trench. And after biffing a bag full of stuff, I’m still appreciating the fact that I hardly shopped at all last year, especially during the fall when I was costuming a show. Now I will be able to test how really concise a wardrobe I can build.
I’m still having fun! How about you?
Well, my semi-official first post is up. Leave a link to yours, if you write one, in the comments of this post or email it to me. If you have no blog, but would like to post before pictures or write a guest post, or whatever, send it on in! If I get some links (by 9 pm PDST, Wednesday August 27), I will publish them carnival-style on Thursday.
Here’s my tentative topic line-up:
- August 22 - 28: the big picture
- August 29- Sept 4: weight loss/physical fitness
- September 5th - 11th: scheduled maintenance
- September 12th - 18th: hair
- September 19th -25th: fall wardrobe
- September 26th - Oct 2nd: the face
- October 3rd -9th:
the big day!accessories - October 10th-16th: putting it all together for the big event(s)
How does that look?
Again, I say, this is going to be so much fun!
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Style After 45
I’ll be 45 this upcoming holiday season or I’ll die trying. (ha ha)
Did anyone else notice that particular age in our Trinny and Susannah caricature book conversation? (The other age that was mentioned was 67. Believe me, we are coming back to that one!) The authors brought it up, and now The Makeover Guy, Christopher Hopkins, is talking about 45 too, in his book Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over 45
Watch this youtube. IMO, this guy does the best job of all the “what to wear” celebrities of preserving the uniqueness of the person’s style idiom.
(Surprisingly enough, he’s even using shoulder pads on one of the models. It’s refreshing that he’s not simply trying to make everyone over to be “in style”.)
This lady pictured, for example, looks so much better that I’m thinking:
- must get an appointment for a haircut.
- need to see a professional for a lipstick prescription.
- what on earth would keep someone from at least trying to do something, if they could look this much better?
