Thoughts of the Day
My life has qualified me as "experienced" on such topics as Army life, parenting, mental health, loss and grief, multi-tasking, and adapting to all things new (good, bad, or indifferent). I will share my thoughts on these topics and hopefully you will find some calm in the chaos knowing that others have been where you are.
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How to Create a Sustainable Long-Term Care Plan for Aging in Place
Many families find it easy to postpone important discussions such as planning for long-term care during the aging process and other end of life decisions. People tend to make assumptions based on the experience of friends or family members because they lack personal experience of their own, making it difficult to navigate a system they don’t understand. As a result, it is not uncommon for families to procrastinate on properly planning for aging-related changes. It can be a frightening and overwhelming process so many people just ignore it, denying that any planning is needed. However, the changes that come with aging are inevitable (if we are blessed to live a…
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Celebrating International Women’s Day with Suzy Turner and The Enchanted Midlife
International Women’s Day has been celebrated for over a century to recognize and commemorate the women’s liberation movement and their fight for equality. We have a come a long way since then but we still have a long way to go. In days of yore, women in midlife who entered menopause were heavily stigmatized as being in a diseased state or “polluted”. Some cultures went as far as to accuse menopausal women of being witches if their sex drive continued beyond their childbearing years. As a result of medical misdiagnoses and uninformed misnomers, women didn’t talk about their conditions or the symptoms they were experiencing during this natural but disruptive…
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Number Nerd & Spread The Kindness Link Up On the Edge #794
I have been a nerd about numbers for my entire life. When I was a child, I obsessively counted things and seemed to attach different emotions to various numbers. For example, even numbers cause me anxiety while odd numbers make me feel calmer. I have never figured out the reason but here I am in my 50s still being a great big number nerd. I also still obsessively count things. The counting began early and came in handy when I was a competitive swimmer. I counted every stroke for every lap that I swam. The counting not only made the workouts more interesting but I also couldn’t see that well…
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Starting a Local Business: Easy Ways to Begin
Becoming a local small business owner does not always require the expense of a rented storefront or a small business loan that barely covers operating costs. Some of the best small businesses emerge from the comfort of home, parlaying skills you already possess and connections you have already established in the community where you have settled. The beauty of starting small and local is that it allows you to take baby steps without risking too much while simultaneously and organically growing at a pace that makes more sense for your life. How Do You Know What Kind of Business to Start? Most of the best small businesses emerge from what…
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Songful Style Link Party #45: “The Greatest Man I Never Knew” by Reba McIntyre
My musically inspired friends and I are back after our holiday break with our next round of songfully styled outfits. About Songful Style Songful Style is a style challenge series hosted by Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, Marsha of Marsha in the Middle, and Suzy of Suzy Turner, The Grey Brunette. Each month we will share a song with the lyrics and video and we invite you to use whatever aspect of the song that inspires you to create an outfit. It is similar to Style Imitating Art where we use artwork to inspire our outfit creations. Except Songful Style gives you lyrics, music, video, and album artwork to inspire your fashion creativity. You may…
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Making Birthday Parties More Fun With Unexpected Surprises
Adult birthday parties can become boring after a while. There’s food and drink, maybe some decorations, and a cake that just becomes a routine as somebody has to bring it out while everybody awkwardly sings Happy Birthday. It is obligatory at this point in life. But just because we’re past the need for a bouncy castle doesn’t mean birthdays have to be boring. There are ways to add surprise and laughter to the day to make it a party people actually remember. Adults Need Surprises, Too At some point, adult birthdays become something that nobody puts any effort into. Children get birthday parties with themes and cakes that feature their…
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Car Depreciation Reality: What Your Vehicle Is Actually Worth Right Now
Do you love your vehicle? If you’re like most vehicle owners, you probably do, even if the new car smell has long since faded. But as car owners create a relationship with their vehicle, they also develop ideas about worth. How much did you pay for it? What’s your maintenance cost? Maybe they even factor in that cool stereo system they had installed. Regardless, over time, vehicle owners tend to value their cars higher than the market price. And the sad thing is, the reality of vehicle depreciation is nowhere near as good as people think until it comes time to sell. Your vehicle is not an appreciating home or…
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5 Tips to Build a Weekly Wellness Routine Around Semaglutide
A steady routine helps transform semaglutide treatment from a weekly task into a lasting habit that supports better health. Building structure around each dose allows a person to stay consistent, manage side effects, and create space for healthy choices that support long-term progress. A simple weekly routine helps semaglutide work more effectively while keeping health goals realistic and sustainable. This article explains how small, consistent actions such as setting a regular injection time, planning balanced meals, and tracking body responses can make a meaningful difference. It also covers how to protect muscle strength, manage appetite, and set steady goals that keep motivation high without pressure or extremes. 1. Choose a…
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What’s the Big Hurry About & Spread The Kindness Link Up On the Edge #779
I need to rant. I was going to post my rant on social media but I have found that people on social media have increasingly become a mean and nasty bunch who will literally tear you apart for just about anything. So I decided to keep my rants on my own platform where you can choose to read it or not and I can block any ignorant comments that may be posted. So there. The question that leads to my rant is this…Why is everyone is such a hurry lately? I have noticed that most drivers on the road these days completely disregard speed limits. Unless I am misunderstanding the…
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Living Independently After 75: The Safety Setup That Actually Works
There’s this moment that happens in a lot of families. One of your parents hits their mid-70s, maybe they’ve had a health scare or a minor fall, and suddenly everyone starts talking about “what comes next.” The frequent assumption is often that living alone isn’t safe anymore and something has to change. But the truth is a bit more nuanced than that. Plenty of people in their 70s, 80s, and even 90s live independently and do it well. The difference usually comes down to how their home is set up and what safety systems they have in place. Independence doesn’t mean doing it all completely alone. It means having the…
