LOST EMAILS

Hi Everyone: my computer crashed last Thursday but I'm finally up and running again. However, I've lost all the email addresses I had saved in my address book. So, I'm requesting that you send me info on how to contact you by emailing me at the address on my main page. I feel as lost as I do without lipstick or earrings! Be quick, 'cuz I'm leaving in two days & if I get the chance, I'd like to let you all know how things are going over there in Italy. Thanks.

Cosmetic Surgery - Yes? No! or How much?

The latest Reader's Digest (October 2006) has an article about cosmetic surgery. It's a big and fast-growing business, but how do you feel about it? I must admit to having had my upper eyes done 12 years ago. However, it was my sister who told me I need an "eye job." I went "Huh? What do you mean?" She told me my eyes were drooping and I'd look a lot better. I responded with, "Is that why my eyelids are always itchy?" "Uh - yeah!" she answered. So I looked into it and went ahead with the procedure. It was so easy! I was put out and my 2 daughters took turns putting ice packs on my eyes for 24 hours straight - even through the night. I had minimal puffiness and bruising, needed no pain killers, and was wearing makeup again within 2 weeks of the whole thing. Now I'd love to have a tummy tuck, but my sister (who had that) told me it's VERY painful and don't do it. I'd love to have the jowels that were handed down to me by my loving ancestors lifted. A little liposuction around the middle, a boob lift and butt implants would be great, too. But, BIG BUT ... Shouldn't I grow old gracefully by eating healthily and exercising as much as I possibly can, considering the old-age afflictions that seem to keep me company more often lately? The eyes were done because they were physically irritating and would eventually have hindered my eyesight. But do I have to have the stomache or waistline of a pre-pregnancy 20-something? I'm glad we live in a time when cosmetic surgery can help burn and accident vicims or those with birth disfigurements, but I think there needs to be some sort of happy medium when it comes to keeping our youthful looks.

GRANDMOTHERS - Then and Now

I was just flipping through an old magazine and came upon an article I'd missed before. It's entitled Who You Callin' Grandma? Want me to baby-sit? Make an appointment." The author refers to a Fisher-Price toy, one of those early-learning ones where the child pulls a string and a voice says the name of the thing in the picture. Grandma is depicted as a dumpling with short curly grey hair, an apron, and spectacles. Well, grandmothers have certainly come a long way from that image. We're now employed full or part-time, driving sports cars, traveling on frequent-flier miles, and wearing iPods, stilettos, and leather jackets. When our daughters call to ask if we can babysit, we need to check our day calendars to see if we're free. Even if we're already retired (usually early after many years in a career) we're busy writing that long-awaited novel, planning our next holiday abroad, or running in a marathon. Many of us are also dating again! Much as we love our grandchildren, we probably won't have the same sort of relationship that we had with our own grandmothers. We aren't going to be available every weekend to take the kids to the park or a movie or teach them how to bake cookies. So we see the grandchildren when we can and develop a new kind of relationship. We take them to rock concerts, the Planetarium or Science World, the opera, or on a camping trip. Hopefully, this new generation will have an image of their Grandmothers, Nanas, Omas, Grannys, Grammas, or G-Moms as "hip" movers and shakers rather than knitting in a rocking chair while awaiting the timer on the oven. Your thoughts?