Musings on a Small Life

We have a student starting tomorrow for the summer, and he emailed me earlier to ask what his work hours would be, if he needed to bring anything, etc.. Hi Ms Last Name , he wrote. I replied, told him to call me "Kim," that we're all informal here. I didn't say that calling me "Ms Last Name" makes me feel ancient. (He's about 21 years old, a real cutie, reminds me of my "old" boss's elder son at that age.) I gave him the info he needed, and then only afterward realized that I've been working here, in (essentially) the same office, for more than half his life ! OMG! Too funny! It's a bit of a whap upside the head when things like happen, even though age really is only a number and we can feel like we're many different ages throughout just one day. Anyway, it was just a head-shaking moment for me.  :-) Two other cuties, who also are "ageless" to me: Nicki and Derry having a good roll yesterday ...

So I found out today why the McDonald's in WalMart charges me 93 cents for a small cup of coffee, whereas the downtown McDonald's I sometimes stop in before work charges me $1.25 for the same. They're giving me the senior's discount. Seriously. This morning... Me, to the clerk behind the counter: "How come I pay only $0.93 here and I pay $1.25 downtown?" The young girl replies that she doesn't want to say, because she doesn't want to insult me. Then she tells me anyway, that she's giving me the senior's discount. She says I look like I'm in my 40s, and trails off.... I admit to her that I'm in my late 40s. "What age qualifies for a senior's discount?" I ask, stunned that I qualify (sort of) for a senior's discount of any kind. Just how old do I look, anyway?! "Fifty," she says. Well, that means I must look like I'm in my fifties then, if she's giving me the freaking discount . By the...

Amidst the media frenzy for William and Kate's wedding (coverage has already started here, hours before the ceremony), life for we plebes plods along. Mom called me last night, long story, but it turns out that Harry actually cracked his pelvis in two places when he fell the day before yesterday. He went back to the ER yesterday afternoon and has spent the night in a bed there, but if he is ambulatory today, with pain meds, he'll be sent home. I understand that, there just aren't beds for everyone and only the most dire cases can stay. So I don't know what Mom will do regarding his care. They have someone coming in once a week, from a care company, to do the housework that Mom no longer can do. They do provide personal care, that's part of their function, so Mom might have to arrange for it (at home), particularly if it's going to take Harry several weeks to get back on his feet. If he gets back on his feet, IMO. Poor Mom. She's only admitting now, tho...

I talked with Mom last evening...Harry fell (yet again) while she was out running errands. He had been in the basement at the time, so wasn't even negotiating steps when it happened. They did end up going to the hospital via ambulance a bit later, when it became apparent that Harry really couldn't get up and move around (Mom had gotten him onto his butt and up the basement stairs that way, one step at a time). Nothing broken, just strains and sore muscles. He had to return home via ambulance too. But today he still can't get out of bed, even to go to the bathroom, and Mom is trying to care for him as best she can. She put her back out (again) a couple of days ago, so she's not that mobile either, and I'm sure she did additional damage trying to get Harry back up onto the main level yesterday. I called her a short time ago to see how things were going, suggested she contact Harry's family doctor to apprise him of the situation, something she didn't think ...

Today's my birthday and yes, I'm closer to 50 than to 40. Forty-six, in fact. And no, I don't mind sharing my age. It's not getting older that bothers me, it's the wrinkles. The grey hair I can cover, but the eye wrinkles would require the kind of help I can't afford and would be afraid to try, in any case. A handful of years ago I was in a grocery store line up behind an older gentleman and I don't know how age came up, or even who began the conversation, but I do recall the man saying, "Any day above ground is a good day." LOL. Of course, that depends on your perspective! Anyway, I'm heading out early this morning for hi-lites and a cut. My stylist works out of her own home and she's about an hour away (by public transit, I mean). That means catching the 7:45AM bus. So no indulgent going back to bed for me today. I remember my mom always would make me a white cake with pink icing for my birthday....I haven't really thought of th...

Sadly, this seems to be too true. And it's not like I ever had a Mensa-level intellect to begin with. Average intelligence with some common sense is about all. But in the handful of years since I turned 40, I notice I've been getting dumber and dumber...literally, it would seem. Or perhaps more scattered, rather than less intelligent. I make more mistakes at work, foolish little things (like I just did, while trying to update our department web site). I remember less. I'm not alone in this, I do realize. I know many people, women in particular, who suffer the same thing. I can understand it in women who are juggling job and children (and a useless spouse to boot). Impossible to keep track of everything, keep on top of all that goes on during the course of a day. But in my case, I, mercifully, don't have that kind of stress. Maybe it's sheer lack of sleep. Because I also don't know anyone in my age group who isn't perpetually exhausted. Or maybe it's horm...

Or maybe that should be "fab-u- less !" I got hi-lites and a cut today. Of all the pics I asked my stylist to take (a friend requested updated pics), this is my favourite and the most flattering. Though I must admit the "blur" tool in Photoshop Elements is like a little miracle device -- smooths out all the blotchy skin and middle-aged crows feet, sagging chin. Rather like foundation. Only waaaaay better. Just too bad I couldn't use a "blur" tool in reality, WITHOUT having facial surgery. And by the way, just to be fair, I emailed both the edited AND unedited snapshots.