WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR OCTOBER 2025

Thought for today:

Why did the jaguar eat the tightrope walker? 

It was craving a well-balanced meal.

too much life hitting me. Catch up more later.

RVRita in Roswell

I'm sorry for your loss, Annie. I think what you said to us about your uncle was beautiful and would be comforting to your aunt. Just as you said it.

We can do this, friends.

Flea

Willamette Valley OR

Good Sunday!

Lisa- We have your rain along with wind and falling temperatures today. It is a good day to be inside! It was 65* at 715 this morning when I was taking down my whirly gigs and hanging baskets. It is now 56* with crazy winds at 3pm.

Housemates/room mates- Food for thought…..I love our home and can't imagine living anywhere else. There is 5 acres of land with a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath ranch. A room mate is doable, but not sure I would want that. The upside to a housemate would be help with the out of this world property tax and some one here if I was traveling. Part of me likes the idea of solo. But part of me thinks maybe I would like to be in a city, close to things to do. Small apartment type.

Rori- I am so happy to hear from you and your adventures. I will say that each of you that have dealt with the loss of a spouse no matter what the circumstances, have proven that there is a life after the loss. You have each done it in your own way with flying colors. I appreciate you taking us along on your journeys.

Rosemarie- Cruise?

I took a page from Machka's book…..I completed my very first Lego ever last night!

I did my second one today. I have had them a couple of years sitting in boxes. I still have more flowers to do, but my fingers needed a break. I ran into an issue with my Poinsettas. It took about an hour to figure out what piece I put in wrong.

We did have a little excitement this morning. We have to doors open and the cats are running in and out. While I was fixing breakfast, Tori came into the kitchen with a vole in her mouth! Luckily it was already dead. I was able to get her out with vole still in her mouth! She is a great little hunter. They got worn out playing in the rain.

Habit stacking- I am just going to state that I am feeling pretty good with the habits I have been stacking. I get up in the morning, empty dishwasher, pour coffees, and walk for 30-45 mins. I have things that I have to get done on certain days which I do after walking. I try to get in hot tub for 15 mins. Then shower and ready for work. Evenings are less stackable but I do set up coffee, then wash face before bed. The walking has helped me eat. I am happy right now. I think I need to get up about 30 mins earlier though….. can't think of things I can do the night before to help in morning.

We did go to a Trunk or Treat car show yesterday. It was so much fun watching the kids. I was surprised by how many didn't say Trick or treat or thank you! Most were polite though. It was topped off with an award for our car though!

Annie- I am sorry for your loss. It sounds like he had a wonderful life. Hugs.

I am enjoying all the home improvements! Great job. I need to get off my butt and make the appointment with the designer for the master bathroom. DH said go for it, so I need to do so.

I need to go debone a chicken, then cut DH's hair. After food and hair, I really need to do a little work.

Stay safe! Choose the best you can! Know you are worthwhile!

Much love,

Kylia in Ohio where Fall is showing his face.

It was a good coach trip in Madeira yesterday with only 15 of us in a large coach. Lots of scenic mountain viewpoints. The second highest seacliff in the world! Horrendous hairpin bends, but, strangely, I wasn't worried. Very experienced driver.

We are now just arriving at the island of La Palma in the Canaries. We've had an early breakfast, and we are going on a 'free' panorama tour for 3 hours. After lunch we will wander around Santa Cruz, where we are docked.

You do have to pace yourself on these cruises. So much to do! I only have so much energy for the day. I managed to toddle a little round Funchal yesterday, but I was tired. Stopped for a coffee. My legs know when I've done too much. I had already climbed loads of steps up to the viewpoint in the picture earlier in the day.

Love Heather xxxxxxxx

Heather - So lovely! Thank you for sharing that, and a happy belated birthday to Johnny! He looked quite dapper all dressed up!

Kylia - I glanced at the cost of Halloween candy when I went to Walmart last, and it appears to have at least doubled in price around here - $10 bags are now more than $24, and they don't appear to have doubled in volume. We'll just leave the light off, as usual. I'm not sad to see the "trick or treat!" phrase go away, considering its origins, but we never replaced it with anything! Congrats on the award! I think it's a great combination, car shows and trunk or treats. Makes perfect sense.

Michele - The "pink salt trick" is just another TikTok trend. One of the healthier ones, though. The electrolyte drinks are just a little salt and a little sugar in water, and this is just a little salt and a little lemon juice in water. The "pink" part is just trying to get you to buy expensive salt. It will help you stay hydrated, but so will a glass of water.

Have to leave for town in a couple hours for an appointment with the orthopod - the follow up on my rotator cuff issue. Which still hurts, but not as badly - and would hurt less if I did the exercise.

I'll be leaving Corey at home while I go get poked at - so of course, he plans to climb up on the roof while I'm gone and get the remainder of the siding down. Which means I can't do my usual part and wring my hands and hope he doesn't fall off on his head. I'll just have to worry about it while I'm in town, I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️👀😂

The original wood siding under it will also need to be painted before the winter… the little gal that I hired to do the job made it through part of one morning, and then sent me a message saying that she just got too busy with her full time job to make it back.

Will stop on the way back for a Walmart pickup, and then another day and a half with Cor. Enjoying it so far. 🥰🐈‍⬛ Confuses Egg, though. She's very hepped on routine.

Later, mah babies,
Love,
Lisa in AR

Back from our included tour. 3 hours and excellent. The National Park with its pine trees and volcano crater was spectacular. V high up. The pine needles condense the clouds and send water down to the aquifers. Beautiful and useful. Also regenerate quickly after fire. Also saw the new volcano and the lava flow from 2022 which buried loads of houses.

John is going to go into town this pm, but it's a long way, even to the shuttle bus, and my legs are saying 'enough'!!!! Shame, because Santa Cruz is supposed to be very pretty.

Love Heather xxxxxxxx

Weighed the highest I have in a long while. All on me. My eating is pretty out of control at the moment. I am angrier at the fact of what eating like this does to my body. I know deep down that I have some level of insulin resistance and that is what I need to reverse. I know how to do it, but the part of my brain that thinks- oh no, she's thinking about restricting again- is panicking. I don't plan on restricting. I will be making better choices. But then that becomes- I will NEVER eat processed sugar again- which puts me in a tailspin because of course that is not possible. There will be times I want a piece of cake. I have to convince myself that that is ok. And stop thinking that I have ruined everything so might as well full out binge. It is such a tiring and self defeating cycle. But as I have learned from one former binger- my conscious brain has to be in control, not my unconscious brain with its binge urges. I created those through years of restriction. I can uncreate them by consciously not responding to them. I know what to do- now I will do it.

I get a call from my husband after we had brunch yesterday. He went over to my son's yard and all the cows were out, scattered all over the yard. They had physically broken fence planks to get out. That is cows in the fall- looking for greener pastures. Unfortunately there are none at this time of year. Drove over to keep them from going any further while my husband fixed fence. Cows being cows.

Coyotes are coming in very close to the house. The dogs are chasing them off but they are sneaky. We lost another filly yesterday and it definitely is predators. They are in a pen by the house which is scary. Coyotes typically scavenge more than kill but with the number we are seeing we are starting to wonder. The county has put a bounty on them to hopefully reduce their numbers. We have had issues in the past with them grabbing newborn calves. They hang around the bedding packs in the winter so the cows get used to them and then ignore them which allows them to get in close.

Barbie- Ha! I feel the same. Unless physically need to be moved, I am good thanks!

Rebecca- I put clear nail polish on all of our buttons as soon as they come home from the store. You will never have to sew another button on again.

Kylie- very cool Legos! Wondering if I would have the patience 🤔

Lanette- piglets are the cutest. It sounds like you had a fun childhood. I grew up in the city and often envy how my kids grew up, and now my grandkids. My kids have such good horsemanship skills and cattle knowledge. I have learned a lot of it but will never reach that level.

Take care of yourselves 💕

Melanie, Alberta

Good morning, All,

Pip-The place looks great! Very refreshed.

Melanie-That’s a great idea about the nail polish on the buttons. I’ll try that, though I tend not to wear too many shirts with buttons anymore and I’m becoming a big fan of elastic pants. I never thought that would happen.

Coyotes-We have a lot living in our canyon in the middle of the city. For a while, we were seeing them in the yard weekly. Usually one or two at a time. But since the fire destroyed the other side of our canyon, a pack has moved over to ours. I can hear them yipping when the sirens go off (which is very often here) and I’ve seen them whaling and wiggling their back ends at the sirens just one hump over in the canyon ( 2 houses away). So far, they haven’t bothered us and Snacks seems to be street smart enough to avoid them, thankfully. I do think they will multiply quickly, however, and then we don’t know what the city will do. I’ve seen small ones roaming the streets in the neighborhood.

Oh, cows. You may think they’re a bit dumb, but they aren’t so stupid after all.

Heather-The cruise sounds so nice. I don’t think we are cruise people, but you describe it in such a way that makes me think we might be willing to give it a try. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Lisa-Your worrying and hand wringing about Corey is how I used to feel about my mister. However, now he doesn’t really do anything risky. I am the one to climb on the ladders into the attic and do maintenance on the roof and so forth and since he likes to “supervise” too much, I do that stuff when he’s not here.

Allie-Glad to hear you’re home.

Living alone-I don’t wish bad things to happen to my mister, but I would love to live alone, in a city, in a small apartment (where I cannot acquire too much stuff), and where I can walk or take public transportation around. That would be one scenario. The second would be to not have a designated home, other than for mail delivery and to put on my tax forms and just travel around and be a nomad. Eventually, I know I’ll probably get to a point where that isn’t reasonable, but I haven’t thought that far out.

On weight loss-I seem to not be able to do it. Since I’ve taken a break to let my feet rest a bit, I’ve put on 4 pounds (that’s been 2 weeks). I’ve still been lifting weights and walking smaller distances, but the weight just keeps piling on. I haven’t been eating like garbage, drinking too much, or doing anything that justifies that outcome, but alas, it’s happening. Right now, I’m trying high protein again to see if that helps, though I really don’t like eating that way.

That’s it for now. I need to get going with my day.

Have a great one!

Tina in CA