Saturday, May 14, 2011

Birthday Musings. NOW WITH VIDEO!


It's my birthday tomorrow. I will be 54 years old. this seems old  because I am more than officially beyond middle aged. Nobody lives to be 108 years old really. (Not that they lived to be 106 either...) But somehow this one feels too close to the 55 Alive Senior Citizens group kind of thing. 

Today Dear Abby had a letter from a daughter in law upset about her MIL wearing a bikini and short skirts and spaghetti strap tops while in her 50's because the MIL works out alot and wants to show off her body. I said to Brian this morning, ""Our daughter in law, (that bitch), is writing a letter to Abby about me". (Neither of us have children, so this is a joke)...But it could be true because i do dress younger than i should, though last year at our condo pool i finally quit wearing a bikini, or even a bathing suit at all at the pool. 

But yeah, i can tell it's finally happening. I am not young anymore. But i still refuse to shop at Talbots or Chadwicks or other older lady shopping places. . 

Though i promise not to shop at J.Crew anymore.  :(

Photo: that is me as a black haired baby. I was born with all that hair.  

Video: My other best friend Julie (louie/Sarah and Julie and I are the 3 amigas, though we do NOT call ourselves that) made this video of her music kids for my birthday. It's adorable. She videotaped the kids about friends and birthdays. I love the little Michael Jackson dancer. And the little girl who tells her that she has been best friends with HER friend for they were " i dunno... really young". And i noticed after watching it the third time that she has per eyeglasses perched on top of her head like a little adult. Only i think she must be about 2nd or 3rd grade. (I forgot to ask Julie how old they were.) It's really cute.

13 comments:

Amanda said...

So, if you're not wearing a bikini or any kind of bathing suit at the pool...I'm guessing your condo board is a pretty liberal, swinging crowd. Naked pool party at Jo's!!

Regardless of age, if I had your figure, I'd wear a tube top and hot pants every day, even if I had to wear it under a parka and flash people intermittently. You've earned a fit body, there's no reason at all to hide it.

Frankly, it's more horrifying to see the young women with their McDonald's and beer guts hanging over their bikini bottoms at the lake. Yikes!

Happy birthday, Jo! It's so exciting around holidays at the office. We get to see all the presents coming in. You and Brian are the cutest! All the gals in the office are so jealous! I hope you love everything and have a great day!

jojo cucina cucina said...

Amanda. YOU KNOW what i am getting! I love that. So i guess it's not a bicycle! LOLOL....He's been so busy lately with the recognition program that i wondered how he even had time to shop!

I don't wear a bathing suit, i wear shorts now. Already i am worried now that my hair is too long for my age too, but if i cut it would poof up into a curly frizzy round fuzz ball because i have to work hard to straighten it (with some chemical help.)

louielouie said...

Happy Birthday Jo!

I hear what you’re saying about what sounds old. I’ll be 57 this year, somehow that sounds way older than 56. I didn’t care about 30, 40, 50 or even 55. 57 just sounds old, maybe because it’s a prime number.

My mom is 85 on Tuesday. She’s a different kind of kick than Jo’s mother. I’m sure our family get together (and upcoming celebration that my brothers are trying to keep secret; mom will say she knew all along even if she didn’t) will be worth writing about; pretty sure I can’t give it the account it will deserve.

I just read an online thing about mistakes women make that make them look older. I like this particular list because I am only guilty of one! I’ll paraphrase here:

Wearing your high school hairdo

Mascara on your lower lashes

Over plucking your eyebrows (ha ha this is you Jo)

Wearing heavy foundation, blush in the wrong spots and too much powder

Bleeding lips

Shiny-shimmery eye shadow (I know this but have a hard time finding any other)

Yellow teeth

Not using sunscreen

I say wear what styles you can wear based on your body type and job. I have more and more trouble finding clothes. Seems like I’m not thin enough or fat enough to find things appropriate for work. There are all kinds of options for Jo-sized gals and even cute things in the “encore” dept. Neither work for me. And for heavens sake, give me a little sleeve. I am not paranoid, but do not have Michelle Obama arms (yet) and besides I can’t wear tank tops to work.

You would think with al the baby-boomer $$ and influence fashions that look good on 57 year olds would be available. Don’t get me started on shoes that don’t fit. What makes anyone think we all wear a medium width (Jo can I get an Amen?) or want 5 “ heels?


I am in mourning today, as this is the last day of the super fantastic fabric store by my house. It was the only place around that had high quality fabric. I did buy ahead my pj flannel for next Christmas but after that don’t know what I am going to do. They are closing after 19 years.

Need to get to some schoolwork taken care of and my exercises in before Ron returns from Chelan in a couple of hours. Then I can sew on my last few projects.

I’ll raise a toast to Jo later in the day!

amulbunny's random thoughts said...

I'm nearly 58 (6 more weeks) and I wear shorts all summer. I don't care if I have cellulite. They cover me down to my knees, I am comfortable and I love them. I have a bathing suit, 2 in fact. And so what if I'm Reubenesque? I'm me.
Best wishes for a wonderful birthday!

jojo cucina cucina said...

I'm not supposed to wear mascara on lower lashes? I don't get that one. why is it that as we get older, our eyebrows get bushier and our lashes get thinner. It should be the other way around.

Yes, i am guilty of over tweezing. It's like an obsession. But seriously i would look like Bert (or is it Ernie) if i didn't do something about them every day. I only have to look at my brother Troy and my dad to know.

I do not wear shimmery eye shadow. I learned that from Paula Begouin's book. In fact i hardly wear any eye shadow at all because i don't know how to put it on without looking like i have two black eyes.

I don't wear sunscreen enough. But then who needs it over here?

i DID GET A BICYCLE and other stuff too. And i am very excited about it.

equeyaya said...

Oh, I don't know what I'd do with a bicycle! Have fun with it. I didn't know about mascara on lower lashes either. I'll have to try it without adn see if it helps, lol!

I'll be 48 on Monday.

jojo cucina cucina said...

nearly a week and only 6 posts. Oh this hurts my feelings. Especially since i put up Julie's video. Maybe i should shut this down and work on that family novel. My nephew Brian and i have this idea to collaborate on a novel about our hugely dysfunctional family. i want to call it "Slamming on the Breaks".... He would write chapters and i would would write a follow up. He is also a writer wannabee like me and he has talent so much so that his Pierce College teacher called my husband (who works at the college) to check in and see why he wasn't more motivated.

I only put this here for historical purposes because maybe we will really do this. And when we do i can come back here and reference when this idea first got mentioned. On this little blog.

equeyaya said...

I finally got a chance to watch the video - very cute and nice job by Julie! I don't have a working computer at home right now, so I am limited to checking in here on my phone and at work. Work has been insane, and it's hard to post comments from either the phone or the work pc with all of the firewalls and stuff. But I AM reading, Jo!

Have you had a chance to ride your bike yet, or are you contemplating an ark instead, like we are with all the rain here!

Amanda said...

I'm just writing to request the JoJo perspective on Arnold, Maria, and the lovechild.

Also, I want to see a picture of the new bike. It sounds so cute!

EoDE said...

Love the birthday video (Happy Belated Birthday!). Those kids are adorable. The little one who said she and her best friend had known each other since they were "really young" cracked me up too.

When it comes to clothes and hair, I think women should go with what suits (and flatters) them, and that isn't always a matter of age. (Who makes up those lists anyway? Women under 30? If so, their day is coming. ;))

But like louie/louie said, sometimes there's not much to choose from unless you're very young/thin or at the other extreme. I think there's a bigger market in the middle that a lot of stores are not taking into account, which is really a disservice to their customers.

Whoever said old age is not for sissies had probably just gotten home from the mall, LOL.

louielouie said...

What I don’t know:

Why I can’t sleep at night

How anyone can sleep at night or in the day for that matter

If wearing mascara on your bottom lashes really makes you look old or not. I just liked that one because I can’t wear mascara at all because of a “weepy” eye

Who makes up these lists and why I like to read them

Why I can only find knit tops (that cling too closely to my back fat) to buy

Why I think it’s MY responsibility to make sure everyone gets along and has a good time at family functions

How my daughter has become so poised and fantastic

Why men in powerful positions think the rules don’t apply to them or that they won’t eventually be “found out”

If ego controls the pecker or the pecker controls the brain

Who I inherited these bulgy veins from

Why you would want to raise your daughter to catch and marry a prince

If my electronic information is safe or if I’m about to have my finances and reputation ruined

jojo cucina cucina said...

You could always come back and post these on the shooting the breeze because they are good.

I don't know why anyone would want their daughter to marry a prince either. But i'm not sure Kate's parents are on board. I bet they hate it.

I don't get why people can sleep through the night and i don't get how people have perfect vision. NOT FAIR.

jojo cucina cucina said...

EoDe... lol on your last quote. I HATE going to the mall because i feel like a frump. My clothes and makeup always feel wrong once i start looking in those mirrors. It's the damn mirrors and all the bad lighting. I do most of my shopping online anymore. I hate shopping so much.