Something New...

Written by Ruby A. Iadeluca

I'm learning quickly,  that at my age, you can't necessarily grow your hair out to any fabulous length without a lot of extra effort to keep it from looking, well - fried!

My hair is currently layered and hangs (literally) to the bottoms of my shoulder blades. Which is great - if I had the time every morning to mousse it, dry it, tease it and curl it. I am proud, however, that I haven't had too many ponytail days.

As the years progress, my ponytail progressively gets thinner. I've always had fine hair, but over the last couple of years, it takes nearly as much product and teasing now, as it took me 25 years ago to get the famed "80's hair".

Whoop! There it is!

Let's just sum it up by saying, "That was a very long time ago.'

Now, I'm looking for something fresh. Not exorbitantly different. Just something that doesn't look like an overgrown shag. This post is from one of the blogs I follow and I've always loved her hair ideas. I had just pulled a few photos off of a google search I did last night; and then - should have known - I checked Kate's blog and saw that she had done exactly what I was hoping to accomplish.

What do you think?

She's got so many hair tutorials. I highly recommend her blog. The link, mentioned above, is also on my sidebar Favorite Sites list.

So really. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Is It "Mid-Winter" Yet?

Written by Ruby A. Iadeluca

I've just visited Facebook and every other post is about the weather, the massive amount of snow, the Polar Vortex, windchills, the slams on the South for closing at the least bit of ice or snow... I am so done with this weather.

In particular, I'm done with
     *White, whiteness, the color white
     *Snow-blindness - which goes along with the aforementioned "White"
     *Gray
     *Dirty snow
     *Driving slow
     *People driving in front of me driving slow
     *Brushing snow off my car
     *Everyone on Facebook posting about how cold it is
     *Everyone on Facebook posting about how much snow we've had
     *Co-workers mentioning (repeatedly) their upcoming vacation(s) to someplace warm.

This pretty much sums it up.

  
 I'm very ready for someplace warm.

Tonight though, we dined someplace warm: The Hofbrau in Interlochen. We were lucky to be seated by the fireplace.


Hofbrau in the Winter 2014
I know there's a front door here somewhere!

Hofbrau in the Spring. :)









I am so very, very tired of the unbearably long winter months. Dark, grey, dreary.

I spend a few minutes each day thinking about spring, summer and fall. Planning out the back deck this year and the planters full of colorful flowers. Scouring the calendar for just the right dates and weekends for a getaway; for just that right time with the kids and a few well-earned days at the beach.

Who knows? Maybe this year, I'll be able to schedule in a few extended weekends. Not maybe! I'll make sure it happens!

In the meantime, I'll while away my hours day-dreaming about:

Here's to some warmth and greenery.

Time and Will Power from an Older Perspective

Written by Ruby A. Iadeluca

Resolutions seems to be the going theme at this time of year. Promises we make. Goals we set. AT my age, you really start thinking “Why?” I’m an old dog, who, try as I might, just doesn’t seem to be able to learn any new tricks. I never imagined it would be this hard. My enemies (at least the way I see it) are Time and Will Power.

More time. Who doesn’t wish for more time? Time is what I need to get my thoughts straight; to get any and all resolutions/goals/promises in order: most important to least important; most impactful to least impactful; will make me happiest to what will make me least happiest. Bill Marsh - Making You Matter tell’s us that looking back on the last year is important. It is – to a point, but really. Wouldn’t it be easier to just scrap it all and start over? You’d better make up your mind quick on that one because none of us are getting any younger.

I need Time to think and Time to organize those thoughts and Time to really write down which ones are most necessary for my mental, physical and financial well-being. This is serious stuff. Not something I can do on the fly, or during the two hours left to me in the evenings; remembering that with this two hours is usually dinner, bill paying, showering and maybe, if the family is lucky, a load of laundry might get done. But not tonight. Folks, I have a hard enough time getting together a grocery list for a quick stop on the way home.

Time is a sneaky enemy. A formidable foe. How do you overcome Time? How do you trap him and squish him thinner and stretch him out longer? Then, I suppose, he wouldn’t be considered “Quality Time.” There are only 24 hours in a day. And a normal day consists of: Waking up, getting ready for work, getting the kids to the bus stop and/or school, getting to work, working, getting out of work, home (with or without the stop for gas, groceries, pet supplies, etc.) dinner, visiting with the kids and/or vegging out, shower, like I said before: possibly the occasional load of laundry, bed.

So please enlighten me. Tell me something I don’t know. When am I going to squeeze in a work out? Writing? Cleaning? When I make time for these, something else must get cut or suffer. It’s just not possible.

And Will Power? I’ve always thought of myself as Normal. I’m just as good as the person next to me. I’m generally highly adaptable to most things that get thrown my way. However, as of late, with this whole mid-life dealio thing, I find myself not quite as adaptable as I once was. And I believe a lot of that has to do with Will Power. I had the Will Power, early on in my life to shut up and put up. I could put up with a lot – aka: Highly Adaptable. Now? Not so much.

I hated with a capital “H” not taking my own thermos of coffee to work. I hated taking it, but I hated that I should give it up. It was a very nearly year-long process to break the habit. That’s right. It took me almost a year to build up enough Will Power to break the habit. Telling myself that it was okay to go to bed without getting the coffee maker ready the night before. It’s okay to re-heat a cold cup of coffee in the morning and take it with me and then switch to the uber-strong and bitter mud/coffee at work. Well, finally, I quit carrying my own thermos to work. In fact, there are mornings when there isn’t any left over coffee to re-heat and I’ve found that I’m okay with this. I take some ice water with me and remind myself that I can get some fresh, hot, super-strong and bitter coffee when I get to work (Oh joy!). And on a typical day, I have 2 to 3 cups a day. Other days I might have a few more. But for me…. Someone who has taken an entire thermos of coffee with her for years… this is a good thing.

And another thing that darned Will Power won’t let me do is walk. I enjoy walks. I really do. Being by myself, earbuds in, favorite tunes drowning out everything around me. Walks are a time of therapy, meditation – and of course, physical exercise. But Will Power beats me to the punch. It whispers in my ear, “Oh, Ruby, you don’t want to walk today, it’s way too cold. Why walk today? You’ve already done so well two days this week. Stay home, the kids need you. Don’t you feel slightly crampy and bloaty? Stay home. Stay home.” Why oh why do I listen to Will Power?!?

Or cleaning? Will Power doesn’t like it when I clean. Will Power actually makes me feel good about myself – in a very artificial sense. Will tells me that I’ve worked hard all day; that I should take it easy. Will Power rubs my shoulders and tells me that I deserve a little break, that I should sit down and watch another episode of Parks & Recreation. Awesome sauce! Hey, the pile of laundry isn’t actually falling over yet; therefore, it doesn’t need to be put away. Let it go…. Let it go…

That dirty, nasty Will Power. Hate! Him! Why couldn’t I have been born with a nice Will Power to accompany me throughout all the days of my life? Thanks Mom

So here we are. On the eve of January 3rd. And here I sit, complaining to you all that I can’t possibly write down and plan out my year of resolutions because of powers outside of my command. I know. I know. It’s just excuses. But tell me, how do you handle these two unruly, outlandish, numskulls (sp?)? I hate to say I give up, but I’m exhausted from trying to figure a way to get around these two, trying to coax these two into being more accommodating. What’s wrong with me? Other people seem to be able to meet them head on. “Why can’t I?” I ask as I sit here stifling a yawn, looking forward to my shower and bed and my newly acquired electric blanket. Why do they seem to be so far out of my reach?

Well, I’m sure I will ponder this a little more. . . when I have a little more Time and Will Power to do so.

Have a good night.