you know you're getting old when...

you can't remember how old you are!

this just happened to me.

we finally decided that i am 48...

but i seriously thought i was 49. 

maybe i went through my 47th year thinking i was 48!

when i was younger, i couldn't understand when my mom

 would ask me how old she was.

seriously...how can you NOT know your age???

well, it's pretty easy.

i see that now mom:)

but trying to figure it out the other day was priceless!

kind of like "Who's on first...

no WHO is on second..."

so in case i forget again,

i AM 48 years old!  in 2012 i will BE 49!

GEEZ!!!!!

anyway, this got me thinking...

does this happen to everyone?

I know i've forgotten a lot of things i used to know...i think:)

so i've started looking around for advice on aging.

someone told me that you get really talented when you age...

you can even do THIS...

can't wait...hahahahaha!

someone told me this and it is happening to me...

i LOVE lettuce, meatloaf and celery...

but i REFUSE to ever eat Broccoli.  (yucky:)

watch...i'll be in a nursing home someday and they'll serve those gross little green things every day...and my girls will say it's good for me and i'll

say there is nothing good about eating little trees so leave me alone already...

then i'll throw the trees at anyone who tries to make me and

they'll say i have dementia and i'll say 

NO...i just HATE broccoli!

GEEZ:)

has this ever happened to you?

it did to me the other day.

but i consider them my EXTRA lucky pennies when this happens...

the older i get, the more i appreciate the book by Robert Fulghum,

All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.

here is what he has to say...

Say you're sorry.

~Wash your hands before you eat.

~Flush.

~Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

~Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

~Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

~Be aware of wonder. 

~Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

~Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

~And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

"Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, 

but right there at Sunday School."

Gee...if we learned it all in kindergarten, than why all those years in school?

mom...if only you had let me stay home more,

we could have had SO much fun!:)

i don't mind aging...really.

no plans for plastic surgery.

when i smile, i WANT you to see it...including in my eyes and all those little laugh lines around them:)

i mean, so i've smiled and laughed a few times in my life...is that a bad thing?

don't THINK so!

and when i scowl or raise my eyebrows at something my girls do that i am questioning...

i WANT them to see that in my face...oh yes i do!:)

SO...now that we know how old i am (48)

and how old i will be in 2012 (49)

what can we do to slow down aging?

i have two SIMPLE things you can do.

and you're gonna LOVE them!

Number 1.  Chew Gum...BUBBLEGUM.

did you know, chewing gum can slow down aging?

Nothing ages your heart, brain, kidneys and skin faster that the stress hormone cortisol, says Ronald Klatz, M.D., of the American Academy of anti-Aging Medicine. 

 To the rescue: a piece of gum!

Proof that it works:

In an Australian study, two sets of people were asked to complete the same stressful tasks. The only difference: Half were told to chew sugarless gum, too. Result: Cortisol levels in the gum chewers 16 % lower than in the non-gum chewers! That’s because chewing gum boosts blood flow to the brain, easing the stress response.

so go ahead...chew that gum...

blow that bubble:)

Number 2.  EAT DESSERT!

see...i told you this was good:)

now, i didn't actually research this.

but i DO think that totally denying yourself is not necessary.

having a little dessert now and then...maybe even BEFORE dinner...

makes life a little SWEETER.

nothing wrong with that.

as long as it's a little.

don't lick the spoon, plate and pan like i do.

that's when you have a PROBLEM!  hahaha

so, here's a little something to help you get started...

BUTTERFINGER CAKE!

Directions: Bake a yellow cake, poke holes in it while still warm, pour a can of sweetened condensed milk over, then a jar of smuckers caramel ice cream topping. Cool, spread with Whipped Cream and sprinkle with crushed Butterfinger.

It may not make you younger but it WILL make life a WHOLE lot SWEETER!

ROLL TIDE!

XOXOXOX

Suzanne