What's With All The Old People At The Buffet?

Okay, so buffets are usually cheap and often older people are on a fixed income, but how much can (or should) a person eat?!  So why not go to a real restaurant, order an appetizer or salad, maybe a nice meal to share? Many restaurants have senior pricing. Perhaps it's just that they like to see what they're getting and don't want to risk ordering from a menu? I find it hard to believe they truly enjoy the cafeteria atmosphere or the mediocre quality of food. Perhaps it's popular because all their friends go there and they will have a chance to socialize? Maybe it's a pace issue - they can take what they want, eat as slow as they want, get more when they want, and not be rushed out by the wait staff? Is it because prime time becomes bed time and they need to finish eating really early? Well, I guess I just don't get it... yet!

Never Too Old to Learn New Tricks

It used to be that I felt I learned something new almost every day. Lately, not so much. Now I have to make a concerted effort to find something new to learn on a regular basis. Is this a normal part of getting old? Fortunately, I love to read.

I recently found a book about table manners and setting an elegant table written by an old English butler. Cookbooks have always been fun for me to just read through, but this took me to the other side, to the duties of waiters and staff in the most royal castles in Europe. Truly inspiring!

Single-Parent Guilt

Having great kids was something I never felt I could truly take credit for. I was always so proud of them and bragged about how wonderful they were, yet I knew that it wasn't me that made them that way.

When I was 23, I had just gotten a divorce and moved from North Dakota to Minnesota to Arizona to Idaho in a span of just three months, dragging along my 3-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. In the process, I had changed jobs twice and couldn't afford to move my belongings that were in storage yet in North Dakota. We found an apartment with a fabulous view of Pocatello and were within driving distance of the best of everything: the Grand Tetons, Salt Lake City, the Snake River, and so much more. All I had to do was to get back on my feet.

Neighbors Make the World Go 'Round!

Recently, my daughter's next door neighbors, really the best neighbors ever, moved half-way across the country. They hadn't known them all that long, they actually just met a couple of years ago when she moved to Boston, and each day they learned more and more about each other and found they had so very many things in common. It wasn't long before they were the best of friends, hanging out together, looking out for each others pets, and were eventually in each others weddings. They couldn't have asked for better neighbors, and they'll be awfully hard to replace.

I must admit that I don't know too many people who know their neighbors very well. Oh, sure, we know some of their names; we wave and even invite each other to our parties, yet a little small talk here and there just doesn't make for a really good neighbor. Not, at least, compared to the way we knew our neighbors when I was a kid.

Aspirations of Being a Grandma....

As a little girl, I always loved and admired my grandmothers. Not only were they the only babysitters we youngest grandchildren knew (not including our older brothers/sisters), they baked and played games and went for walks with us whenever we were with them. They seemed to be content with their lives and enjoy teaching us how to do some of the every day chores that needed to be done in a way that didn't make it seem like work.

Reminiscing

This is a note I wrote back in May of 2009. I had taken several photographs of the farm where I grew up after learning it was destined to become a public access to the lake and many of the remaining buildings would soon be demolished. I hope you don't mind that I share it again.

"I'm back in Minnesota for a visit so, on a whim, I stopped by the farm where I grew up near Underwood. It was cool & windy with clouds threatening rain but I needed to "go home." The fields are all plowed but the buildings have been deserted for quite some time. The dirt driveway is mostly overgrown with grass now, the water in the lake is high yet from the spring thaw, many of the big old trees my brother & I used to build forts in are gone now, and of course the barn had been struck by lightening & burned to the ground almost 20 yrs ago.

Growing old? Me? You've got to be kidding, right?

Back in 1996, my son joined the U.S. Coast Guard. It wasn't until I received my first letter from him while he was out at sea that I realized I was anything but just "mom" to him. No, now I was "The Old Lady of the Abode," as the envelope was addressed rather than in my name. I found it humorous, as he was quite the comedian sometimes. In fact, after receiving several letters addressed in this manner, I began to use the title on the return address of my packages to him as well. Obviously, it was just a joke between us, or was it?