If your hair is thinning, you need this!

Okay, sharing my very favorite finds from this past year.   Yeah, I’m a little late to the game, I keep forgetting (it’s age related) 🤨  We can’t be like Maxine and wear a ball cap, there has to be a better way, well there is and I found it!

First is dry shampoo.  This stuff is seriously, seriously awesome.  I first started using it last fall when I purchased Herbal Essence Dry Shampoo.  I was using it on day old, or two day old hair since I no longer shampoo my hair daily like I have all my life.  Shocking, isn’t it, but now that I’m older, it’s dryer, the texture is different and I just don’t have to.  When I started using dry shampoo  I immediately noticed my hair looked thicker and it smelled wonderful.  I have tons of hair in the back, it’s just the top and the sides that are thinning.  You know how it is, your part just keeps getting wider and wider.  And you think it’s hopeless, but it isn’t.  Read on...

We were on our way to Lexington to visit Ryan’s family and I realized I had left my Herbal Essence at home, so hubby took a quick detour, I ran into CVS and they didn’t have it.  So instead I grabbed a bottle of Beach Babe and it was a total game changer.

It smells like coconut, and at first it was overpowering, and like perfume, use it a few times and you barely notice it.  But using this dry shampoo gives you so much oomph, yep, thats the only way to describe it, your hair looks thicker and it has oomph.  I quickly went from using it the next day to using it on wet, freshly shampooed hair.  Then I dry it and I spray even more on it.  And wahlaa, no more limp straggly hair, I use a root booster first on my wet hair, then spray the front and sides liberally with Beach Babe and my first day hair looks decent, the next morning I spray again before styling and it looks even better.  The third day, spray again and it’s FANTASTIC!

This is the root booster I’ve been using, it’s a good one, I’ve tried a lot of them and when I use this with the dry shampoo I think it’s magic.  But wait, I forgot a step.  When my hair is freshly shampooed the first thing I do is to apply Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oi & Restore Leave-In Conditioner.   
 

I did a review of this, and here’s the link for you.   You might want to click on my link and watch Elle’s video, she explains it really well.  At first I only applied the Shea Moisture to my ends, thinking that if I put it all over it would make my hair flat like conditioner tends to do, but one day I took a walk on the wild side and applied it to the top of my hair and sides as well.  And it didn’t make it  flat at all, it just made it feel thicker.  After doing this I used the root booster and my holy grail Beach Babe Dry Shampoo and it looked even better than when I didn’t use it.  So now that’s the first thing I do, and I apply it liberally.  This Shea Moisture might not work for you if your hair is very fine, but if it isn’t, give it a try and see what you think.

I know, this is a lot of product to put in your hair, but it’s totally worth it.  Be realistic, this isn’t going to make your hair look like it did when you were young, but it will make what you do have look noticably thicker and not be limp and flat.  Hubby took a new Facebook picture of me yesterday, and you can see that the top of my hair doesn’t look too bad.  But if you could see my hair without any product in it, you would quickly understand what this does.  This is second day hair, I didn’t do much with it, just twisted it up, and also my hair is really long. Middle of my back long, and I debate daily as to whether or not to cut it.  I would never wear it down, I look like a hag, but it’s so quick and easy to just put it up and go, and it’s off my face,  I look at pictures of myself from five years ago when I had a bob and I realize that this makes me look older, it’s not trendy, but I am older now. And that bob with bangs didn’t look so great either, Abby would always tell me, “Grammie, your hair is floppy.”  Out of the mouths of babes...

These products are very inexpensive, you can purchase all of them for under $25.  If your hair is driving you crazy, too, give this a try, I bet it will work for you, too.  ~ Jan

Oh, links, I have links for you.

Beach Babe Dry Shampoo

John Frieda Root Booster

Shea Moisture Jamaican Black Castor Oil Leave In Conditioner 

A holiday surprise

It was going to be such a great Christmas.  Ry and family were coming for six days, I had so many plans, all organized on an Excel Spread Sheet.  The gifts were wrapped, the fridge was bulging with food to prepare, the recipes were all organized,  I was so looking forward to it.  They arrived late in the day on Thursday, we had a nice dinner, I played with the grandkids, went to bed and in the middle of the night I started getting chills.  By morning I had such a headache I couldn’t get out of bed and there is where I stayed the entire time they were here, except for Christmas evening I was up for a few hours.

Talk about the pits!  I didn’t want to make anyone else sick and thankfully I was able to contain the germs to our bedroom.   I had the flu, low grade temp, achy body and that relentless headache. 

I’m getting better, slowly, but now the kids are long gone and I didn’t even get to watch them open presents Christmas morning.  

Then fast forward to New Years Eve.  Our friends, Rich and V, were coming, we’ve spent many New Years Eves with them, and of course that didn’t happen either.  I’m still recovering and the weather is absolutely wretched.  Nothing went as planned this year, nothing!

Poor pitiful me, what a disaster Christmas was at our household...

Overseas Prescriptions

 I saw this on the news and it’s certainly something to think about if the high cost of your prescriptions is a factor in your monthly budget.  Stacy Johnson from Moneytalks news suggests a site, Pharmacy Checker, for a list of reputable online pharmacies.

Here’s the link to Pharmacy Checker

A Woman President, my take...

 

The times, they are a changin’.  They say your life cycles every seven years, and apparently mine has, and let me tell you, it’s come as a shock!

It’s all about politics these days and I have a definite opinion, not about a candidate, or a political party, but about gender, and nobody is more surprised than yours truly.  But first I have to go back, way, way back to my formative years.  I remember being a young girl and thinking how wonderful it would be to see a woman president in my lifetime.  Fast forward to Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and I thought it was awesome that she was running for VP.  Then Sarah Palin was on the ticket for vice-president in 2008 and HIllary Clinton was running against Obama, once again I was excited about that because these were woman.

But I’m older now, the world has changed so rapidly in the past few years and this is what is so shocking to me, I now firmly believe that no woman should be president, regardless of who she is, and here’s why.  It’s the deterioration of society,  the dictators, terrorist groups, especially isis (which I refuse to capitalize), nuclear bombs in Korea, the list is long and it’s frightening, and our very survival is at stake.

Men are the strong sex, the protectors, they command respect from other men, not women, especially with leaders in the countries that are threatening us.  I’m not going to debate women’s rights, my feelings about this have nothing to do with women’s rights, it’s about power, and strength and respect, all the things that men receive because of their gender.  I believe we need a president that other countries not only respect but have a healthy fear of, and that is not going to be a woman, regardless of who she is. 

I’m old school, and the older I get the more I realize it, but for me to give voice to this is a life changing experience.  This isn’t living life through rose colored glasses, or fantasizing about progress and gender equality, this is about countries who hate us, who want to destroy us, and I believe that a strong man, whoever he may be, is our best chance for survival...

 

Sunbeam Faux Leopard Heating Pad

This thing is just simply amazing.  Trust me, it’s wonderful.  

I was at my friend, Angi’s house and she has one, she draped it over my shoulders and I was hooked.  Oh, how do I explain how great this is.  Well first of all, it’s pretty, it’s doesn’t scream old lady heating pad.  It has 4 heat settings, turns off after 2 hours, you can put it over your shoulders, you can lay it vertically on your back, you can wrap it around your legs, lay it on your lap, need I say more?  Are you sold, too?

It’s so snuggly warm when you’re sitting in a chair watching tv or reading.  It soothes those tense muscles, it’s just the best thing I’ve had in a long time.  The price - $37.95 Amazon Prime and worth every . single . penny !

Christmas is coming, I’m sure somebody you love would enjoy this heating pad.  Give it to your mother, your grandmother, an aunt, a friend,  trust me whoever you give this to will love it!  You can thank me later.

Click here for the link

Angi’s is grey fox, but the only one they’re showing on Amazon is from a third party seller, it’s not Prime and it’s $81.68  No, no, no, that’s too spendy, but I’ll give you the link, surely you can find it cheaper.

Click for the link here

And finally, it’s also available in micro plush brown.  Kinda boring, compared to the others, but hey, whatever floats your boat.  It’s a bit cheaper.

Here’s the link for it

Treat yourself, spend a little of your stashed mad money and go for it.  You won’t be disappointed, pinky swear you won’t.  ~ Jan

Ali MacGraw, stunning at 76

 

Isn’t she beautiful?  She embraces her age and it’s wonderful.  Her years show, she’s hasn’t caved to the Hollywood obsession to try and recapture youth, and in the process, just look ridiculous.

At 76 you shouldn’t have taut skin and plump lips.  This is the way 76 is supposed to look.  Hats off to you, beautiful Ali, what an inspiration you are to aging women everywhere...

A letter to my daughter as an old woman

I saw this on Facebook this morning and just had to share.  I don’t have daughters, but I do have daughters-in-law and girlfriends.  This is a must read… ~ Jan

I had a thought yesterday that made me very sad.

I'll never know you as an old woman. 

My job as a mother is not to teach you to be an amazing kid, but to teach you to be an extraordinary adult. I want to guide you so that when you are an old woman, you will look back on your life and feel that it was well lived. 

These are the things I wish for you when you become an old woman:

When your hair turns silver and your skin turns a bit sallow, I hope that your eyes shine as brightly as they do today. (tweet this)

I hope your happy memories outweigh your worries.

I hope you dance...even if it's slowly.

I hope the world is good and that kind people surround you.

I hope you have a companion, be it a partner, a child or a friend.

I hope the mistakes you've made in life have been long forgotten and the bright spots sparkle.

I hope you found a unicorn.

I hope you celebrated every birthday with those that you love.

I hope you travelled and laughed and sang at the top of your lungs.

I hope you did work that you loved, that you helped people and that you prayed daily.

I hope you aren't in too much pain.

I hope you let your kids stay up late so that you could snuggle under the covers and tell each other secrets. I hope you have grandchildren and that they talk...constantly.

As the years pass, my greatest wish is that I taught you well. That you were able to fight when you needed to and give in when you wanted to. That you helped others and were kind to yourself. 

I hope you shine.

I know you'll shine.

And I hope. I really, really hope....that I taught you well.

 

I had a thought yesterday that made me very sad.
I'll never know you as an old woman. 
My job as a mother is not to teach you to be an amazing kid, but to teach you to be an extraordinary adult. I want to guide you so that when you are an old woman, you will look back on your life and feel that it was well lived. 
These are the things I wish for you when you become an old woman:
When your hair turns silver and your skin turns a bit sallow, I hope that your eyes shine as brightly as they do today. (tweet this)
I hope your happy memories outweigh your worries.
I hope you dance...even if it's slowly.
I hope the world is good and that kind people surround you.
I hope you have a companion, be it a partner, a child or a friend.
I hope the mistakes you've made in life have been long forgotten and the bright spots sparkle.
I hope you found a unicorn.
I hope you celebrated every birthday with those that you love.
I hope you travelled and laughed and sang at the top of your lungs.
I hope you did work that you loved, that you helped people and that you prayed daily.
I hope you aren't in too much pain.
I hope you let your kids stay up late so that you could snuggle under the covers and tell each other secrets. I hope you have grandchildren and that they talk...constantly.
As the years pass, my greatest wish is that I taught you well. That you were able to fight when you needed to and give in when you wanted to. That you helped others and were kind to yourself. 
I hope you shine.
I know you'll shine.
And I hope. I really, really hope....that I taught you well.
 

Jan and Her Three Wheeled Bike

I’ve had a three-wheeled bike for years.  Mostly it’s been stored in the attic and periodically in the spring hubby will bring it down because I’ve decided once again that I will ride it.  

And today is the day, it’s time to once again discover the joys of biking triking. He got it down from the attic, which was a total feat because it’s so bulky, aired up the tires,  adjusted the seat and I was off.

Hey, it’s more fun than I remembered as I sailed down the drive.  Oh, I had forgotten how freeing it is to ride, feel the wind in your face, it’s like I’m a kid again, riding the streets of Enfield.

Through the neighborhood I go, it’s a cool day, my hair is blowing in the breeze, the birds are singing.  Boy Howdy, am I ever having fun riding down a hill.  Then the return trip begins and I have to peddle uphill.  It’s not so fun anymore, in fact it’s pure torture.  OMG, this is why the damn thing is in the attic.  My thighs are quivering, I’m panting like a racehorse, I ache all over. What made me think I wanted to ride this gadawful contraption in the first place.

It’s sitting in the garage now, glaring at me.  Hubby suggested that I might want to take baby steps, just ride it for short distances until my muscles get used to it.  Yeah right, in a pigs eye...

Egads, we don’t realize how out of shape we are until we do something like this.  Whatever made me think that I would enjoy this again at my advanced age?  Wicked contraption, that bicycle, I think it’s possessed by the devil!

BROW PRODUCTS GONE WRONG!

I’ve loved makeup my whole life, and have applied it with abandon, probably too much, but I have toned it down in my older years.  That’s not the problem these days, the problem is just getting the correct products on my face.

So yesterday, I’m sitting at my dressing table, I’ve got on my foundation, I’ve got on my eye shadow, getting ready to put my Anastasia Brow Whiz on my fast fading eyebrows, I grab it, start making the short strokes so it doesn’t look like I’ve drawn it on, and holy crap, I grabbed my tight line eye pencil instead and it’s kohl!  So now I have one really black greasy looking eyebrow.

No biggie, I just used my trusty Cetaphil and wiped it off, proceed to fill in my thinning brows with my Anastasia, which is awesome, by the way ($20 at Sephora).  Then I grab my Anastasia Brow Gel to set it in place.  I glide it over my eyebrow, the very same eyebrow that I previously put the black eyeliner on, and holy sh*t, I grabbed the mascara instead of the gel, and have now smeared that all over my eyebrow.  It was actually comical, but that waterproof mascara didn’t come off so easily, and by the time I got it off, my brow was really red.

I just can’t win, maybe it’s time to give it up.  Nah, that would be even worse, Jan + no makeup = scary looking old(er) woman.

Oh, and one other thing.  For the past couple of months one side of my face has been red and splotchy with occasional eruptions.  Don’t you love that word, eruptions, sounds so much better than zits at sixty-four.  But anyway, it waxed and waned, it would start to get better, then come back with a vengeance.  It was so bad that I asked my doctor for an antibiotic script, thinking maybe I had some kind of weird in one spot bacterial infection going on.  Well, that antibiotic didn’t help a bit, I was at wits end, getting ready to call the dermatologist and brace myself for a very spendy visit when I started Googling.

I read that dairy and yogurt causes some people to breakout, too many hormones.  I’ve been in a greek yogurt making frenzy, lately, even though I’m using milk that is “supposedly” hormone free, and I’ve also been eating a lot of cheese, and have for the past year ever since I started my low carb lifestyle.  My friend, Ang, kept telling me that I was eating too much dairy, but did I listen, oh noooooo, I just kept on sucking it down.   So a week ago it all came to a standstill, I quit cold turkey, no dairy at all in any form except for a splash of half and half in my morning coffee.

And???  My face is totally clearing up, and I feel better, lots better physically.  I had been lethargic, napping, not feeling well, but the past week none of that, I just feel better, period.  So I’m thinking that maybe Ang was right and it was the dairy, maybe the allergic reaction wasn’t just on my face but inside my body as well. Ya think?  

So life is pretty good today, now let’s just hope one of my eyebrows doesn’t fall out from all the different products I put on it and scrubbed off.  Geezy Pete, how stooopid!!!!!!

I guess it's my Smooth Jazz time in life...

Years ago, I had a neighbor in her early seventies, they had just built a new home, and she called it her "pastel" time in life, as all of her rooms were painted in soft colors.  I was so young, I didn't get it, and remember thinking her house was really bland,  but now I understand, she just wanted soft surroundings.    I thought of her this morning, I was eating breakfast, a low carb muffin that I had forgotten to put Splenda in, blecht, but anyway, Sam Champion was doing the weather, he is so bulked up he looks like he' going to pop out of his suit, then they have some country singer on.  OMG, he looked like the Michelin Tire Guy, and he was twanging and screeching, it was just annoying as hell!  Just give me Smooth Jazz and Sirius Escape Radio any day, it's so mellow.

And about that bulked up look, It's such a huge thing, these guys pumping iron until their muscles bulge.  I swear they remind me of Jethro Bodine.  My old(er) woman mentality equates body builders with less than bright guys, back in my day it was farm boys and definitely not the brainiac types that were bulked up.  

 

 

Nobody does physical labor anymore, instead they go to the gym to get that ripped look.  But you know what I've realized over the years,  It doesn't work long term.  You can work out until you drop, but you're still going to get old!  And old muscles aren't pretty, no matter how dedicated you are.

But seeing is believing, here are a couple of visuals for you.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, then, and now...

 

 I don't think younger people really get it, though, they're in denial of the aging process, and if you try to hang on, this is what happens.

 

Yep, you guessed it, Jethro Bodine, aka Max Baer, Jr. still trying to hold on.  Doesn't work, does it...

This will be me! Soooo funny!

 

 

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car-both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it, I could have sworn we just went through a red light."

After a few more minutes they came to another intersection and the light was red again and again they went right though. This time the woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous and decided to pay very close attention to the road and the next intersection to see what was going on.

At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red and they went right through and she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row! You could have killed us!"

Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh, am I driving?"

What I've been up to...

 

Let's see, I've been washing my hair with my Pantene Ice Shine Shampoo, rinsing with Pantene Conditioner, the bottle is almost gone and I couldn't figure out why my hair wasn't soft and tangled when it was wet.  Finally put on my glasses, and realized that I had been putting on Shampoo/Conditioner instead of  conditioner.  Well, it was white, it looked just like this bottle, but  no wonder it wasn't soft!  Jeesh.

Hubby fed Maggie her dinner tonight, I fed her again.  She wouldn't eat it.  Duh...

And I did something that really surprised myself.  I'm not self-conscious about my age, it doesn't bother me that I'm sixty-three, actually I'm pretty proud of the fact that I've made it this far, but…  I talk to Ronni, a customer service rep really often, it's a long story, but we've gotten to know each other and she asked me the other day how old I was.  Ya know, I felt really embarrassed telling her I was sixty-three.  What was that about????  I have no clue, but it bothers me that it bothered me.  Know what I mean, Vern?  Just when you think you know yourself, something like this happens.  Drats, just when I thought I had it together, too.

I did something else so stupid that I couldn't believe it.  And now I've forgotten what it was.

There is no hope, there is no hope...

86-year-old gymnast 'Johanna Quaas' performs parallel bars routine

 

This is a must see, the woman is amazing.  Absolutely sitting here with my mouth open!