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Is finding pleasure in being at home with nothing to do a sign of age? It seems as though my sons think they need to have someplace to go every night. I think I remember feeling that way. But its been a long time and truthfully, I am so pleased to have a night at home with nothing to do that those memories are really dim. Somehow I think when we get older we appreciate the simpler things in life.


Of course, I also enjoy going out and there's nothing quite as exciting as dinner and a movie. But with all the meetings I attend in the evening I've come to value some mindless hours in front of the TV or just reading a book.

Of course the only thing that could improve on the stay-at-home scenario would be a chef to feed me something absolutely delicious (but low calorie) and someone else to perhaps give me a nice massage. They say some husbands offer those services, but not mine....

Oy vey!

My father used to say that old age was not for the faint of heart. I think the same can be said of middle age! How ignorant we were before we got into our forties! Life just sort of rolled along, year after year, without any health issues to deal with. And then - bang! Between the two of us we'll have endured - and survived - five surgeries, heart disease, and cancer between the ages of 43 to 58. What a difference a few years makes!

We were fortunate really that we were so healthy when we were younger. Neither of us had as much as a cavity to worry about and that was a good thing since we had four kids and not the greatest health insurance. Just getting the kids their inoculations and antibiotics was a challenge, as the formidable bill from the pharmacy that we were constantly trying to whittle down attested. Ear infections and strep throats are costly and my children had plenty of them! So the fact that our medical issues were non-existent was a blessing.

But now - well, every year I cross my fingers when we're going through our screenings and check-ups. It seems as though anything can and will happen once you hit middle age, so we grin and bear it as much as possible. It truly isn't for the faint of heart. But then again, another of my father's favorite sayings was "It's better than the alternative!"

Hospital bracelets

I've decided to start a new collection - hospital bracelets! It seems that with middle-age and the accompanying medical tests and screenings comes a stack of these silly plastic bracelets that they put on you, I guess in case you can't remember who you are or what you're there for. Quite often they never look at them again and I just cut them off when I get home and stick them in the top drawer of my vanity. It seems to be a nice bunch now, so why not make them a "collection" and give them some prominence in my house? Like badges of honor that announce to all the world that I'm doing my part to support the local hospital!

I remember my mother showing me a little beaded bracelet that the hospital put on me when I was born. Apparently the custom then was to string cute little white and pink (or blue, as the case may be) beads with letters on them that said the last name of the new baby - and the date of birth. What a nice idea! And how much more delightful to keep as a memento than the ugly plastic ones that they put on my babies! Unfortunately I don't know what happened to that little bracelet. I haven't seen it in years and it didn't turn up when we cleaned my mother's house out after she died two years ago. I wish I had it. I could do a collage of hospital bracelets through the years, all with my birthday!

What have I come to anyway?

Mammograms

I finally got my last medical test of the year done - a little late for 2008 but still part of last year's inventory. I had my mammogram today.

Now, I'm not someone who particularly likes medical tests but I know they are a necessary part of living well. And the truth is that the older we get the more types of tests we need. Of all those tests, from blood work to bone scans, the mammogram is right up there with the ones I least look forward to. I swear, they were invented by men. And I'm also quite sure that if a similar test were developed and was the only way to screen for testicular cancer, there is not a man on earth who would have it done. But we women, bless us, march in there every year and suffer through the humiliation and discomfort of our mammogram becaue we are stoic and obedient, and we know our bodies. From the early years of gyno exams through the indignities of childbirth, we have learned to grin and bear it all. And the men really haven't got a clue.

Well - its over again, along with all my other tests, for the year. Of course, it's 2009 now. Which means it all starts again soon. I'm marking my calendar now. And if I procrastinate enough maybe I can squeeze (poor choice of word there) an extra month out of the schedule and end up finishing the rounds in February of 2010...