A Week in Austria

I'm writing this post as a way of avoiding something that I hate. Packing. We leave for the Marseille Airport in about 4 1/2 hours, for our wonderful weeklong vacation in Austria.

I've been looking forward to the trip for a couple of months now. There are so many places that we're going to visit and things to do. (For example, Alain reserved us tickets to a Strauss concert - the orchestra will be playing his waltzes!

And there is CeeCee's apartments in the Palace, Motzart's birthplace, the Cemetary - and the art galleries and museums.

The trip itself is going to be wonderful, it's just the packing part I hate. It's an old habit, I think, this hating to pack. Some of it is just laziness, hating to try and fold everything into perfect little packages to avoid the wrinkles - which never works and you always have to get an iron anyway. And some of it is not knowing exactly how to do it - I know, interlock the pieces, use tissue paper between each item - but what exactly does that mean? How much tissue paper? Is it like wrapping a present? Laying a napkin down? Oh well. The trip itself is what I'm going to focus on and the new adventure with the man I love. The rest of it is the "small stuff" which I've decided I'm not going to let bother me. At least for tonight.

If our hotel has internet access, I'll try to blog a few times to share the trip with you.

If not, I'll fill you in when I get back!

In the meantime, it's time to take the bull by the horns and go see if I can get everything to fit into the suitcase!

Life Changing Questions...

Well, actually it's not as much about asking questions as finding the answers as the questions happen, I guess.

I just got off the phone with my mom, and we were talking about how it feels to watch as your children begin growing up and stepping away from you - both figuratively and literally.

Today has been a busy day, because we're packing and getting ready to leave for Austria. My oldest son came home twice today - once after spending the early morning with his girlfriend - so he could eat - and the second time, just in time for dinner.

And while we were talking about how fast the last ten years have gone - it's amazing - a decade has passed - I mentioned to her that part of me is feeling very happy - it's fun to get to take these little grownup getaways with my husband - and part of me is feeling very guilty. Because while my sons are beginning to step away from me and have started building the foundation of their lives as adults, I'm also stepping away from them a little bit. And that's something that I hadn't ever even thought about - not really, I mean. That part of my life seemed really far into the future - far enough away that I couldn't really imagine a life that didn't center around them, or their needs and wants.

Being the mother, the nurturer, the caregiver has been the central focus of my life for nearly 18 years now - and I knew what to expect, what being in that role meant, I understood the rules of the game.

And in some ways, it seems as though I have been in that role for a very, very long time. And yet, if I measure time in terms of watching my sons grow up - their first smiles, their first steps, the first time I had to take them to the emergency room for stitches, their first bike rides...time flew by.

And now, suddenly, there is a new role, new rules. And I'm still learning what the rules are, and how to play this part. So I guess my mom was right - the important thing is to let go of any guilt - it's baggage that's too heavy to carry around, and instead, enjoy the next part of the journey...

Skin Care Questions

Spring is here - we're starting to sleep with our windows open again, and leave them open during the day, too, so we can enjoy the breezes.

When we get back from Austria in a week, I'll probably take the down comforters off all the beds, and turn the mattresses.

Thinking about these little routines also got me thinking about the routines we have for ourselves and our bodies.

I have a different skincare routine for spring than I do for winter. For example, I'll switch daytime moisturizers now, and use one that has sunscreen protection in it.

And I've noticed that I've got little red bumps on my face again - acne for adults? sigh.

Here's what a wrinkle report says: What causes wrinkles, anyhow? Chronological age isn't as big a deal as lifestyle: Sun exposure ages you a lot faster than mere birthdays. Skin's cell-renewal process slows with age, as does collagen production, leading to blotchiness and sagging.

So your daily skincare regimen becomes even more important. You need to pay attention to four basic things: cleansing, exfoliation, moisturizing, and sun protection. None of these steps will change your appearance dramatically. But if you don't do them, the years will pile on a lot faster.

Okay, so I guess it's time to get serious about skin care! It's not that I really mind the wrinkles so much - after all, they are the proof that I've lived my life and are like a badge from the experiences I've gone through. But at the same time, I don't want to look like a char-pei puppy, either.

Taste the Rainbow...

So one of the things that I'm working on, in my quest for health and fitness is to pay attention to my diet.

Which means eating lots of fruits and veggies and cutting back on meats. Especially red meats, maybe, because I just read about another study linking red meat to breast cancer.

Anyway, while I was wandering around the open air market in Toulon, picking up fresh fruits and vegetables for the boeuf bourgignon that I'm making for dinner tonight, that the frut and vegetables stands were filled with a rainbow of colors today. There were big, plump peppers - red, yellow and green,heads of green and purple broccoli, sweet fresh asparagus, ripe, red strawberries, plump purple eggplants, green zucchini, white mushrooms, bright lemons...

It was beautiful and I have to remember to take my camera the next time I go shopping, so I can share it with you!

By the way, if you want my recipe for the boeuf bourgignon, you can find it on my blog about the French Riviera .

Here on the French Riviera, my eating habits are completely different than they are when I'm in the states. Here a lot of the time, the only things you'll find in my freezer are ice cube trays. We buy everything fresh - today for example, I bought beef from our butcher, M. Fabre, mushrooms, peppers and salad fixings from one of the vegetable sellers, and carrots, strawberries, lemons, bananas and fresh green beans from my favorite seller.

We eat more vegetables here than we do when we're in the states, and they're almost always fresh, not canned or frozen. Of course, we're spoiled, because our open air market runs every day except for Monday. (Which means that you just buy extra on Sunday, not that you use canned.)

Anyway, I'm going to keep track of how many servings of fresh fruits and vegetables I eat for the next month. I want to see if I can do better. What about you? Care to join me and taste the rainbow too?

Memory problems? Try a glass of red wine

This morning I was working at my desk, and I got up and went into my bedroom to get - something.

As soon as I walked in, I couldn't remember what I'd gone in there for. I stood there as the warm spring sunshine filtered in through my bedroom curtains, casting cool blue shadows against the creamy white walls - and for the life of me, I just couldn't think what I'd wanted.

So I walked back to my desk and sat down - and remembered right away that I wanted my new glasses (bifocals). So I got up and walked into the bedroom again - saying "glasses" in my head so I wouldn't forget again.

Have you ever done that, and does it frustrate you as much as it does me?

One of the things about getting older that I don't think I'm ever going to learn to enjoy, appreciate or handle with grace, is the apparent worsening of my memory. I remember my mom sending me a joke about it four or five years ago - and I laughed at it then, but now that it's happening to me, it's somehow not as funny.

After I got back to work, I ran across an interesting article in Prevention Magazine's Website - about 8 different ways to boost your memory power, and the one that struck me (maybe because I live in France) is that having a glass of red wine may actually boost your short term memory!

There was a study done by Phillipe Marambaud, PhD who discovered that there is a compound in red wine called "Resveratrol" may actually help you fight Alzheimer's Disease. (I don't think what I've got is the beginnings of Alzheimer's by the way. It's what my friends and I call "Old Timer's Disease" though...)

Dr. Marambaud is a senior research scientist at the Litwin-Zuker Research Center for the Study of Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders in New York. Undere laboratory conditions, resveratrol was found to hinder the formation of "beta-amyloid protein, which is a key ingredient in the plaque found in the brains of people who died with Alzheimer's Disease.

It's already known that alcohol - taking in moderation, of course - can help the heart by lowering cholesterol levels. But according to Aaron Nelson, PhD. having a glass a day may also help your brain by improving circulation.

So, as we say here in France, "Viva la Rouge!" Cheers...

The 100 Women I admire Most

I started thinking about this as I was writing my bio on this blog. Who are the 100 women I admire the most, who have had an impact on my life? I'm going to start posting about them.

What about you? Who are the 100 women you admire the most? If you want to play, they can be any woman, living or dead, real or fictional. You don't have to have been related, or known her personally. Post your comment about who she is (or was) and how she influenced you and what you admire most about her.

If this gets passed around and you invite even one other person to post, this could get very interesting, very fast!

Women's Health and Fitness - what does it mean to you?

I was going to turn this into a kind of generic, health and fitness site for women of all ages.

But over the last few weeks, I've had reason to start thinking harder about my own health and fitness - as a 48 year old woman. I had two interesting conversations with completely different, but amazing women, and I realized that the three of us are in diffrent, but similar places in our lives.

One of those conversations was with my mother, the other with a friend. Each of us will are going to be reaching the last year of our particular decades this year. For my mother, that means turning 69. For my friend, 59. And for me, 49.

It's a funny thing, to think of life in terms of the last "decade." For me, it's first. I used to think in terms of turning another year older, and time passed in years. But I've noticed that the older I get, the quicker time seems to pass. My oldest son reaches a milestone on his own this year - he turns 18. And that's a milstone for me, as well. It maens that I've raised one of my sons into manhood.

I can't help wondering about that, about what that means in terms of our relationship. What happens now? Does he need me less? Do we become "friends"? If I'm supposed to treat him like an adult, what does that mean, exactly?

At the moment, I seem to be finding more questions than answers.

But the one "truth" that seems to be obvious for me is that this year, more than yaers past, are the beginning of a new period in my life. It's a little scary, and a little empowering.

I think one of the things that I've finally realized is that "I" am the expert in my life. As my friend put it, "My feelings are completely normal for someone with my experiences and my life." I like that.

So, I guess that now I'm acknowledging that if I'm going to be "the boss of me", and the expert on who I am and what I want, I'd better start figuring out exactly who and what that is. Better buckle up, because it's going to be a bumpy ride!