How Do I Feel About Being Old?

That title interested me when I received it in an e-mail.  It is by the fellow Anonymous  at least that is all I could find..Very interesting read.
How Do I Feel About Being Old?

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old.. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old.  Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question and  I would ponder it and let her know.
Old age, I decided, is a gift.  I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be.. Oh, not my body!   I sometimes despair over my body..but I don't agonize over it for long.
I would  never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair, or more of it, or a flatter belly.  As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself and less critical of myself.   I've become my own friend.  I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need but looks so avante garde on my patio.  
I am entitled  to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant.  I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon, before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read until 4 AM and sleep until noon?  I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's and 60's and if I at the same time wish to recall some young loves I had along the way, I will.   I know I am sometimes forgetful.  But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten and I eventually remember the important things.  Sure, over the years my heart has been broken.  How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one or when a child suffers?  But broken hearts are what gives us strength and understanding and compassion.    A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am  so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.   So many have never laughed and so many have died before their hair could turn silver..  I can say "no" and mean it.  I can say "yes" and mean it.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive.  You care less  about what other people think.  I don't question myself anymore.  I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer the question, I like being old.  It has set me free.   Though others may not, I like the person I have become.  I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting  what could have been or worrying about what will be.    For the first time in my life, I don't have to have a reason to do the things I want to do.  If I want to play games on the computer all day, lay on the couch and watch old movies for hours  or don't want to go to the beach or a movie, I have earned that right.  I have put in my time doing everything for others so now I can be a bit selfish without feeling guilty.
I sometimes feel sorry for the young.  They face a far different world than I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, never blamed our parents for what we became, loved the flag and cherished our country...But, they too will grow old someday.
I am so grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder, gentler world.......Yes, I like being old!

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I wish I could have found the author of the above article.   This says it like it is.. To that anonymous writer, thank you  from so many.  You should have your name on that wonderful article.

Pink peony

The peonies this spring were especially nice.  They seemed more robust and colors were better than usual..I don't know why..I didn't do anything differently than I always do.. But, we had a cool, wetter spring so maybe they liked that for a change. This pink has a full, sweet fragrance.  The white Festiva Maxima in the background has a pleasant fragrance also.  They make nice cutting flowers so try planting some if you do not already have them in your garden.. Photo by me..Kari Scott

Fragrant Cloud Rose Bouquet

This was one stem of roses so made a bouquet all by itself. Fragrant Cloud is a robust rose bush and so very fragrant. One year there was a particularly long new growth stem that had 37  buds on it  It was hard to believe..All bloomed pretty much at the same time so was really spectacular..Only 10 buds on this one. Picture by me..Kari Scott ,  of one of my favorite rosebushes..

An Old "45"

This is one of my old  45's.  Vernon "Speedy " Price did the  steel guitar work on it.. On cd In The Beginning  vol 1..On iTunes .. Link on   kariscottmusic.com    Check it out.. Recorded at Bill Wiley Studio in Tacoma WA  some time back..  I usually did the basic arrangement then let the musicians add as they wanted.

The Coupon Craze

     I am glad to see all of the couponing thereby saving money but I do  get a kick reading about the "new coupon craze."   "They" talk about it like it is brand new and "they" discovered it.. Well, they didn't.  "They" are not the first to do coupons.
     Years ago when coupons really first came out, in full bloom, a good share of the housewives realized how much they could save by couponing, so did.   We cut out all kinds of coupons from food to oil changes for the car,  movies, anything that helped stretch the paycheck.
     Along with that were the end-of-season sales at stores other than food stores.  I always shopped those sales...end of winter the winter jackets were half price.  So, with kids in tow, we hit the sales.   They tried on jackets until we found fits, then those were their winter jackets for the next winter.  We went to the store sidewalk sales, usually in the summer.  There I found pants, shirts,  pillowcases and lots more at fire sale prices.
     I saved boxtops and labels and sent in for things like monopoly games, clamp on roller skates, basketballs, baseballs dishes, silverware and anything else I could get that could be used by us or as gifts.  All free with boxtops, labels and coupons. (Betty Crocker coupons got to be a way of life ).
     So, while I understand their enthusiasm, I don't get too excited about it anymore since I've "been there, done that" my whole life.     But, do keep on couponing.   It still helps stretch the budget..

Best Quick And Easy Cake Recipe

Here is the recipe I was talking about in my last blog...Several years ago I found it in our local newspaper.  After trying  the recipe, it became a favorite. Whenever I take it to a potluck, I am always asked for the recipe so usually have a few copies along.
   Ione's Hawaiian Wedding Cake.
1    twenty ounce can crushed pineapple with juice
2  cups flour;   2  cups  white sugar;   1 cup shredded coconut;    1 cup nuts (optional  )
2 eggs;   2 teaspoons baking soda
Combine all cake ingredients and mix well.  Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan and bake  30 to 35 minutes at 350 degrees F... Watch carefully  so it doesn't get  overcooked or burn.. Should be a medium brown color when done...
Icing....  1 stick  butter (1/2 cup)        8 ounces  cream cheese (I use  the whipped )
2 teaspoons vanilla;    1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Combine icing ingredients adding more powdered sugar if needed... Spread over cool cake.
This cake is good without icing also.. Good when warm, too.   I don't use nuts in the cake..  Enjoy...

Cleaning cupboards , etc.

When at last summer comes here and the weather gets too warm for me to be comfortable working outside, I try to find quiet things to do in the house.   I had saved  a few different magazines i.e. had  a one year subscription to  three or four then stopped each as they ran out.  Of course  the magazines had so many good recipes and articles that I could not bear to  let them go...Well, I was looking at them in their neat plastic crates and thought  there must be  a better way to use the space...maybe leave it empty?  So a few days ago  I set them all out..If I start a project I usually finish it in due time.. My Dad always said I had stick-to-itiveness.   So today I sat down with a stack of Family Circles.. Now I have a stack of recipes that I hope to try as I go along..There were so many that looked easy and good that I tore the pages out..Then saw some articles  that I thought would be good for me and a couple of others to read...So my  pile of magazines has gotten considerably smaller but  I just cannot help myself when I see good recipes...
Many years ago I saw a recipe in a local  newspaper  column..It looked so easy i.e. put it all into a bowl and mix then into a pan and bake.. I use that usually when I have to bring something to a potluck and everyone  is impressed and wants the recipe..I try to remember to have a few copies along so they can take  a recipe along home with them..  So, no matter how many recipes  I gather, I am always looking for another easy and good one..  Still have quite a few magazines to go through so will have to be very selective  as I read the rest of them. Maybe next  blog I will write out the special cake recipe.