Psssst...I have a secret

I'm 52!

And have been for awhile. I've always thought it was so funny when women didn't want to tell their age. You know, to the point where they would get embarrassed and red-faced and look even older than whatever their age might have been. I'm 52, have some gray hair, some wrinkles and bat-wings. Hey, I've lived a life (or at least part of a life) and plan to live more. And I have to say, I am so sick of magazines headlines screaming that we should all be "HOT" at whatever age. I was hot once, just like I was cute when I was 6 and adorable as an infant. Now I want to be comfortable in my own skin, healthy and active. If someone thinks that's hot, OK, but that is not my goal in life. This is the season for me!

Blogs have brought me in touch with women who are going through the things that come with this season of life: gray hair, wrinkles, "will I have enough for retirement?" worries, keeping work meaningful, aging parents, death of parents. And they are writing about it honestly, warmly, humorously and sometimes laugh out loud funnily (hey, it's a word; it's even an adverb because it has -ly on the end). Today I want to share their blogs with you.

Not me, but she's Rockin the 50s

Rock the Silver- A blog about being fearlessly gray, relentlessly cool. (Thanks, Sara!)

Figment of My Cogitation-Poignant and funny, slices of life in the post-mother era.

GRACEful Retirement-Getting a late start on retirement saving and debt reduction in middle age with a middle class income.

For the First Time- Feminist Women Entering Retirement

Goldivas-e-mag For Women Over 5o Who Are Too Young to be Old

Retirement: A Full-Time Job-Syd is an early (pre-50) retiree who writes thoughtfully about her retired life, the economy, gardening, travel, just about everything.

Jamie Lee Curtis-You can follow her at the Huffington Post

Enjoy, Sistahs!

Here's a Little Project

I did this quite a while back but didn't get around to posting it. For Christmas a couple of years ago we purchased a media center as a family gift. The media center would allow us to have our music, movies and internet all available on the flat screen on the wall. It actually worked out well and it gives me more ammunition daily to get rid of the CABLE TV! Most things we watch are available online in some form at some time (we aren't the family who waits anxiously for the next episode of Lost or Survivor).

What with episodes of shows like 30 Rock (love), The Daily Show, and Colbert posted by the networks and sites like Hulu who needs cable? And Netflix now has on demand movies, not the latest but you can find some interesting films you might not watch otherwise. Yesterday the boys and I watched Sophie Scholl, something we didn't specifically seek out but was worth watching.

But, I digress.

The downside: all this electronic goodness was grotesque looking sitting there on the floor. Initially I hid it in a big basket/hamper but that still was not doing it for me.. What I needed was a cabinet and the space it had to fit into was about right for a kitchen wall cabinet. So I was on the hunt and finally found what I needed at the Habistore. An old, beat up, painted white kitchen cabinet. With a new paint job, a top surface and some legs, it would be perfect. What do you think?






This is the marble finish I did on the top surface. It's just a piece of MDF we had laying around. The cabinet also has little wooden legs (which probably cost more than the cabinet) and I glued a piece of trim around the bottom to give it a little more substance.

It looks great and suits its purpose reasonably. I may eventually move it to the bedroom and get a wider cabinet for the media center. In order to insert DVDS/CDs we have to open the door and angle the MC, as the drawer does not have enough room to open.

That just means more painting fun for me!

Stuck in My Craw: My Response to a Facebook Group

In honor of Mom's Nurse Cadet class Mercy Hospital School of Nursing 1944

I'm ticked, I'm PO'd, I'm angry! But mostly I'm confused. I'm a registered nurse and have been for 31 years, 99% of that at the bedside. I take my job seriously, very seriously. That's not to say I don't find it fun or enjoy some relationships with coworkers and those I care for but for the most part taking care of those who need nursing care is serious business. The patient/client/customer wouldn't be there if they didn't need us. They have entrusted their physical being and their psyche to us at a most vulnerable time and what do we do in return. We create and join Facebook groups like I'm Your Nurse Not Your F***ing Maid. Not only am I ticked, PO'd, angry and confused, I'm astounded!

I admit there are times when I have had to go to the breakroom and let off some steam or retreat to the bathroom to scream or cry. Some people are very demanding, some people are next to impossible to please. That's the nature of working with people, especially sick people. Hey, I'm not exactly Suzi Buttercup when I'm scared and in pain! But do we want our response as a profession (and I use that term loosely here) to be public humiliation of our client base?

Can you imagine physicians having a public group like this? How about Social Workers or Physical Therapists? Where is the win in that?

We are in the midst of a healthcare crisis and the level of public mistrust in the system is without precedent. Historically, nurses have been the frontline in healthcare and yes, it is often a tough place to be. Do we want an already mistrustful public to be even more so?

To nurses I say, read that Facebook page as the daughter of an aging, demented parent, the father of a sick child, the wife of a husband dying of cancer. Are the people who would publicly expose and humiliate vulnerable patients those you would want caring for your family? Is that the face we want on our profession?

To my future patients: Please don't link me to that group or think that they represent all nurses. I honor my place in what I hold as the profession of nursing and I honor you. And while we may not see eye to eye throughout our nurse-patient relationship, we can respect each other.

If you're a nurse, use the Comments to tell me what you think.


Afterword: I read a lot of blogs but very few by nurses or about nursing because they tend to be b***h fests which does nothing to improve me or my nursing care. I do read some really good healthcare blogs so if you want to see some of the best healthcare has to offer, checkout a few of these:
Running a Hospital
Emergiblog
Nurse Ratched's Place
The Happy Hospitalist
Movin' Meat
ImpactED Nurse
Tales of Midwifery-The Truth

A nurse is the most profound fulcrum between the patient and the care they require. And it is the intimacy of the bedside nurse that effects the most powerful leverage of all. – ian miller (ImpactED Nurse.com)