Today’s Word of the Day is “perspire.”
How appropriate! I lead our senior exercise class this morning. I knew going into it that I would perspire, and I came prepared with a headband. I should have taken a bath towel, too! *G*
My mother used to say that “LADIES perspire, they do not sweat!” I believe she was repeating something she had heard when she was young. Mother did neither, but I do enough of both for the two of us!
I am so very fortunate that my home is surrounded with trees and shrubs, so that when I am outside gardening, none of the neighbors, and no one passing by can see me. I am a veritable WRECK! I wear long sleeves, and frequently add a turtleneck when weather allows. I have on a hat and gloves and layers of OFF. I need to buy one of those umbrellas that people put on their patios, with the heavy base. I could roll it from place to place to shade the area where I need to work. Great idea, hmmm?
At any rate, after two hours of gardening, my shirt is filthy, stretched out and soaking wet. My slacks are just as bad, especially at the elastic waist.
I perspire. Ohhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh….I perspire. Baby, I SWEAT!!!
Daily Archives: July 6, 2011
To Be, Or Not To Be 150
Today, on the radio, there was a discussion of stem cell research and it’s possible effect on our life expectancy. The scientist who was being interviewed claimed that there are people in their 40s and 50s right now who will live to be 150 years old!
What interested me was that they weren’t talking about extending life as we are presently, but that the treatment would return the person to the physical status of a healthy thirty year old. He claimed that you would look and feel like a thirty year old at 150 years!
It brought to mind the stories by Robert Heinlein, and his character, Lazarus Long. Science fiction is slowly becoming science fact.
My mother said that she didn’t care to live to be 100. I’m sure I must have said something like “How can you say that!? Think of all the wonderful things left to do!” But, by 90 years, she had lost most of her friends, and all the family from her generation and older. I wonder if she would have opted for regeneration, or to be allowed to follow those she loved.
The doctor said that they would be able to reverse the trend toward Alzheimer’s, but once someone developed the disease, they would not be able to return the memories that had been lost.
Can you imagine almost doubling your life expectancy? Would you rush to do it, thinking of all the grand children and great grands and so on that you would get to know? Would you study another language? How would you support yourself? Would you have three or four different careers, or would you choose to be an expert in one subject? Think of 130 years of trying to decide what meals to fix! Would you have the same husband or significant other for the entire time, or would you marry every 45 years or so?
I really like the idea of having a 30 year old body again. I’d like to be free of the knees and feet that hurt, and the achy back after gardening and so on. But……I don’t yet know how I feel about the trade offs.
What would you want to do?
Sorting Things Out
Sunday, my siblings are coming to my home for a family meeting, and to sort through Mother’s things that we have been storing since her death.
Mother lived with us for close to 20 years. When she passed away, she was living in an assisted living facility, and we took care of most of what had filled her rooms there within three weeks of her death.
I have coasted through a lot of the past year, knowing that I needed to attend to these things. I’ve been working on the steps necessary to close her trust, and my goal is to get this done by the end of the summer. I knew that I needed to go through everything in the basement to determine what should be passed on to my siblings, or to charity, but I dragged my feet about it.
I was making quilts for charity with the Scraps on a Mission ladies, and mentioned that I needed some healthy teenaged kids to carry things upstairs for me. Poof! Ask and ye shall receive! One of them talked to the youth pastor and he emailed me that very day!
So, this Sunday at noon, the kids will come to be our “slave labor.” They will help us, and we will make a contribution to their Mission Fund. Seems like a perfect swap to me.
I intend to spend time during the rest of the week marking what needs to be brought up, to make things go smoother. I can get some stuff boxed up, and move junk out of the way. The kids are even going to bring up binders and boxes of company information that need to go to the shredder.
Then, at 5:00, my sibs will be here to look through things, and anything we no longer wish to keep will go to one of the charities.
All these years, I’ve been talking about the dreaded basement, and I am finally going to get a start on it!
Thanks, Mom!!!!