Just Me, Myself and I...

 That's who reads this blog...or if anyone reads it, they don't leave comments. :( It's my own fault of course, since I am so irregular with my posts, but after this many years I will just keep on posting when the spirit hits me! I have invited members of my pages to come here, but I'm still cautious...don't know why I don't want certain people to read it.

So! Here we are in July and my last post was March!! I actually have to go back to my photos on the computer to remember what I was doing in the months since then! I keep all my photos in folders named by year and month...then I make folders for individual people or topics. I can get lost for hours once I start looking through my photos!

Here's something that made me smile just now when I realized I hadn't changed my wall calendar to July. Last Christmas I made calendars of some of my best photos to give as gifts and of course kept one for myself. I didn't realize that July's image was my ALL TIME favorite, as you can see here. :) I took that in 2012 on a nature trail that I walked every day and have a framed copy on my desk.

I really miss being able to walk on that trail, but I'm so fortunate that 11 yrs later I have a lovely place to walk just out the back door of my apartment building. I am not able to walk every day (depends on my arthritis), but when I do I am still able to enjoy nature. There's a creek, trees, ducks and geese (babies too) and a wooden bridge to cross over. This is where I get beautiful photos like this: 

It's also nice because I meet other nice people who are walking their dogs or their babies. 

Actually, it is the anticipation of what kind of photos I might get that keeps me heading out for a walk, which is so important at my age! Great motivation!

I've got two new paintings to do and just finished this one of a pet that has crossed over the bridge and have been commissioned to do another dog and a people portrait! I'm very comfortable now doing pets, but still quite anxious about humans!

So I will try once again to entice some viewers to my blog and hope to see some comments this month! :)

Falling into the rabbit hole?

Happy February! If you have had (or will have) a birthday this month, I'm sending you soooo many good wishes! This was one of my early Minnie Pauz cartoons. :)

I'm trying to remember what may have been one of my last ones, but it's been so long that I don't think I could figure it out. I do know that it was before 2013, because that was when my hard drive crashed and I lost the programs I had been using for years to finish each cartoon (coloring, etc) AND update my website. Also lost a lot of my photos I had saved that year.

That was when I fell into the rabbit hole of depression and was unable to find the motivation to draw or write a newsletter. At that point I had been doing Minnie Pauz for 15 years, probably longer, but when it crashed I couldn't rev up the energy to draw or learn a new program to put it all back together.

I was 50 when I started Minnie Pauz and 65 when the bottom fell out so that was basically my "middle age". Guess what? I'm 73 now! And even though remnants of Minnie Pauz are still there, (www.minniepauz.com and on Facebook plus this one for those of you who are also seniors), I'm still trying to climb out of the rabbit hole! My life has had many twists and turns like most of yours have, I'm sure. 

At this point I'm realizing (or admitting) that I'm not "middle-aged" any longer! I think I'm accepting being a SENIOR pretty well, but still not able to lift myself totally out of the rabbit hole.

I DO still rely on humor to keep myself climbing up instead of sinking any further down! How about you? What keeps you moving forward? Please use the comments below to share how you do it. I also find a lot of comfort and satisfaction in my hobbies of houseplants, photography and painting.

I'm in a safe and comfortable situation now, with most of my kids & grandkids nearby, with pretty good health (other than T2, psoriatic arthritis and sleep apnea LOL) and good insurance so I decided to try therapy to figure out how to... 

1. Find the Me that I love & admire (so much curiosity & enthusiasm)

2. Manage the regrets from the past (instead of reliving them constantly)

3. Make my kids and grandkids proud of me

Between Covid and Michigan weather, I'm fortunate that I can do online therapy and although I don't think I've found the right one yet, I feel I've taken a step forward in my quest for finding the fresh air and pleasant feelings and thoughts for the rest of my Senior time on earth. :) Could be 20 more years!!!!! My Mom is almost 94!

Next blog... Donating my entire body to science!

Turn back the middle-age clock!

MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN WHO EXERCISE TURN BACK CLOCK BY 16 YEARS
By Richard Alleyne
The Telegraph
September 22, 2009


Exercising for one hour a day for 12 weeks is enough to turn the clock back
nearly two decades for middle-aged women, scientists have found.

Research shows that over-50s who make regular visits to the gym, go for a
long bike ride or enjoy a swim can regain the fitness they had in their
thirties.

Tests on older women revealed that 12 weeks of exercise was enough to
produce the rejuvenation.

Two studies by scientists at the University of California found that
postmenopausal women can achieve the same health benefits from regular,
vigorous exercise as younger women².

Professor George Brooks, an exercise physiologist, said: There is some good
news here for older women in the population, in that they respond much like
younger women do to training.

The women in our study had the cardiovascular and metabolic capabilities of
women sixteen years younger.

The results are very encouraging for exercise without weight loss as an
effective means for increasing vigour and controlling risk factors for
chronic diseases in older women.

The findings could explain why some high profile exercise fanatics appear
continue to look so healthy as they get older.

Madonna still works out at 51, television presenter Anne Robinson runs
regularly and does weight training at the age of 64, while Arlene Philips
has become a dance tsar at 66.

Dr Zinta Zarins, who carried out the experiments on women with an average
age of 55, found that the physical and hormonal changes which came with age
did not slow down their capacity to get fit.

She said: There have been very few studies looking at postmenopausal women,
who are different because of decreased oestrogen, decreased lean body mass
and decreased aerobic capacity.

Yet, despite changes in hormones and changes in body composition, they can
make significant changes in their cardiovascular fitness without going on
extreme diets.

Although the tests involved endurance training by cycling on an exercise
bike for an hour, five days a week, the researchers believed ³that even less
strenuous aerobic exercise was likely to produce some benefit².

The findings were published in the journal Metabolism and the Journal of
Applied Physiology.

A day in February

I'm still quite sad over the death of one of my neighbors, a 56 yr. old male who died of cancer. I believe it was less than a year since he first found out he had lymphoma to his death on Friday the 13th. He and his wife were such wonderful neighbors. They helped everyone as much as they could and I feel so bad for her. They had no children and were each others' best friend. So sad.

I have to have another "thing" taken off my leg. The first one was a cutaneous horn that had squamous cancer cells in the skin. This is like the beginning of another "horn" but doesn't necessarily have cancer cells. The doc is going to take it out anyway.

On to happier things....like The Bachelor! Tonight's show looks like it's going to be a shocker, especially with what's her name coming back!! I can't believe she has the guts to do that! And I can't believe I'm getting so riled up about it! LOL I guess when you don't have your own drama to live through, you have to find it somewhere. :)

I'm trying to get my thoughts together for putting my business up for sale. Yup, putting Minnie Pauz on the block! I have a lot to learn about selling an online business. Well, part online part of it is me.....I can't sell me! Or can I? My thought is that I might stay on as the creator of MP and do speaking engagements, etc.

So, we'll see where we end up by 2010.