1. I’m thankful I’m healthy. I had a series of blood tests last Monday to check everything from hormones to thyroid to cholesterol and back. My ‘hope’ was that I’d have an underactive thyroid and I’d have an excuse as to why I can’t lose weight. Silly isn’t it? My blood pressure is completely within the normal range…not even the slightest bit high. The Dr. called me on Friday with the results. I’m completely, totally healthy. All my blood levels were excellent, my cholesterol is 148 (and has been that number for 15 years.) and as far as these tests can tell, there’s not a thing wrong with me. I’m thankful and deep down, I’m happy my thyroid is behaving itself. I now have no excuse.
2. I’m thankful for Shiva Oil Paintstiks. They are GREAT! I got them after Kelly Rae Robert’s recommended them in her book Taking Flight. I’m having good results! I’ll post a photo of my painting when it’s finished. I’ll bet Monet and Rembrandt and other famous painters would have loved to have these.
3. Spring break for me. My hubby went to Florida to visit his only uncle with my oldest son. I have some alone time which I’ve been craving. I’m walking the dog every day, doing art journals, reading and painting, all in between keeping up with the laundry. I also plan to start cleaning the basement, but that will come later this week.
4. On a more superficial level, I’m thankful for Garnier Ultra Lift Pro…this stuff really works good! I’m seeing results. It has SPF 20, too. The other day, my 21 year old son told me he’s glad he’s my kid because I seem to have such good genes. He told me I look like I’m 35. OMG. I was a bit flattered, and shocked. Ladies, get yourself some of this stuff!
5. I’m grateful for someone in my life who told me to stop fighting my weight. They told me instead to dress well, take care of myself, wear my hair in a nice style and accentuate the postive. Celebrate the goddess that I am because that’s what my body was programmed to be-plus size. (This came after lamenting over the test results which, I am happy they are great, but all the same, now it comes down to another reason for my weight problem. After some thought, I do realize that if I lost weight, it would be a constant, daily struggle to keep it off because it seems as if my body wants to be larger. It’s always pushing and pushing to get to the scale number I’m currently at. Look at Oprah. She can lose weight with lots of help, but the minute she lets her guard down, bam! She’s gaining it back again. That’s the same with me. BUT, when I am the size I am, I don’t gain anymore. I stay the same.
Either way, this person told me to celebrate the larger goddess that I am and stop fighting it. Just maintain my body the way it is. Continue to exercise, eat right and take my vitamins. I’m healthy despite my weight. Does that tell me something?
“Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.”
“Let’s be honest, there’s not a man in this world who couldn’t be replaced by a winning lotto ticket and a Water Pik in the shower.”
Lately, while putting on my make up, or just passing by a mirror, I’ve noticed my skin tone isn’t what it used to be. I have very fine lines all over when I smile. My eyes seem different. I need lipstick to replicate what my younger lips used to do on their own. I don’t leave home without my Revlon long wearing lip color, slicking it on daily as part of my routine. It is scary to me, only in that I look at elderly women and think to myself in a bit of a panic, “That’s not how I want to look when I’m an old lady!” OMG…seriously. Some women let themselves go and look terrible. It doesn’t have to be that way. It just takes a little upkeep. I know we are not all blessed as beauty queens, but we aren’t born female orgres, either. Much is in the genes, an element we can’t control. Some people age well and other’s don’t. It’s the hand we’re dealt. So, regardless, we should make the best of it.
There are some mature women I have known, despite their faded girlish looks, who still seem so beautiful to me. I knew a 63 year old woman named Marie many years ago at my old church. Marie had a long, gray braid down the middle of her back and her face, despite wrinkles was very pleasing. She had sparkly eyes and what made her really attractive to me was her personality within. She was a simple woman who wasn’t extravigant-she was just Marie. Another thing that brings mature, subtle beauty is the wisdom and experience these women carry around with them that they’ve aquired from years of living. I look at older women with awe when they can make a recipe from memory, offer life advise that never occured to me and go through life with greater confidence than I could ever imagine having. Truly, they are wonderful.
The French expression “woman of a certain age” refers to middle-age, and the French — and Europeans in general — have long appreciated the beauty of older women. (I knew there was a good reason why I’m in love with France!) The kind of women I am referring to are the women who take care of themselves, and for the most part, who have gone against the norm of what most people expect older women to conform to when age sets in. For example, most mature women adopt to have short hair. Why? Is it because when we get old, we feel long hair is too youthful and out of place on our advancing frames? Or is it because a long cascade of gray down the back makes us feel a bit witchy? Why do most older women decide make embroidered sweatshirts with mock turtlenecks underneath and stretchy pants a wardrobe staple? What’s wrong with defying society’s expectations of what an older women should look like? Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think a woman over 40 should be wearing a mini skirt. That’s just ridiculous and that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m thinking more of the kind of mature women who look ‘fresh’ for their age, like the older models in the Eileen Fisher ads. (I’m not referring to mature models for her thin physiques. That’s not what I’m getting here. It’s the aura these women project that appeals to me.) There is beauty in age. It’s not conventional beauty, but more of an earthy elegance that makes mature woman attractive. You just have to look for it. Seek it out. My goodness, I hope maturing ladys reading this haven’t decided to throw in the towel because the wrinkles are setting in or have arrived some time ago. Try to battle back just a bit, and don’t let yourself go. Try to feel beautiful on the inside and it will emanate through your pores and create a glow on the outside.
My birthday is right around the corner and I am thinking about the advancing years to come with a little trepidation. It is scary. I know someday I’m going to look much older, my hair will turn either gray or white and I may never get this weight off. One thing I do know for sure. I want to grow old. As long as my mind is sharp, my hands work and I can get around I want to go on as long as I can. And while I’m at it, there’s no reason I can’t try to regain some of that earthy loveliness, too, and feel young inside.
After all, it’s better than the alternative. You are all beautiful in some way. Find your beauty spot and flaunt it until your journeys end. You’ll be glad you did.
It’s not too late to join in the fun! Leave me a comment saying you’ll join in the fun! Include your blog link so I can find you!
Here’s how it works-If you want to participate, leave me a comment at the bottom of this post. Right click the banner above (or if you prefer a smaller one, at the side bar)announcing the challenge and post it on your blog linking back to Blithe and Blonde (http://www.blitheandblonde.com/) . Write a little post announcing you will be participating in our Spring challenge and encourage your readers to join in!
Download the three links provided. If you are making the cloth doll, use all three links, if you are only using the doll body as a basis for another type of project you may only need the first link…but you decide!
Doll Pattern
Doll Dress
Doll body instructions
Now comes the fun part! Take the pattern and come up with your version of this rag doll. Remember, she should have a Spring theme…that’s the only parameter besides the shape of her. If you prefer to make a cloth doll, use the pattern as your basis, but create her and accessorize/embellish her any way you like. Alternatively, you can use the pattern to create a mixed media project, or create her out of some type of assemblage or even come up with a painted version of her! It’s completely up to you and the style of art you prefer to work in.
After you’ve created your doll, take a photo of her and post it on your blog March 21st the day we celebrate the beginning of spring!
On Saturday, March 21st, I will have a link list on my blog of everyone who is participating. That way, we can all have a look at what everyone has done. I think this will be a lot of fun, won’t you play?
1. For eyes that see (with the aid of some mighty strong prescription lenses, no doubt), that enable me to read books that allow me to excape to faraway places long ago.
2. For running water. I got a taste of what it’s like without it a while back. We had a plumbing problem and had to turn the water off for an hour. You don’t realize how much you use tap water till you no longer have it running from the faucets.
3. For Charlotte Bronte, who without, we wouldn’t have Jane Eyre.
4. For my coffee maker. Coffee is deliciously wonderful to me. Period.
5. For my cozy, warm bed of which I’m about to retire to. Goodnight.
Why Jane 
