Author: Dee

Start the week….

/ Dee / Leave a comment

Back to work today. The weekend seemed to fly by, partly because the decorators arrived at 8.15am on Saturday morning in an attempt to beat the weather and get some paint on walls before the heavens opened again, they have been trying to get the outside of the house painted for the last three weeks, and partly because I had lots of shopping to do.

Now I say “had to” but really I didn’t! It is just that the older I get the less enthusiastic I am about shopping and so when I do feel the urge to hit the shops, I get out there before the feeling wears off! However, my shopping trip was not very productive. What is it with fashion at the minute? I don’t want shiny metallic tops that come down almost to my knees, I just wanted something nice and plain that I can wear with trousers, to the office, (I find trouser suits are much better for work)and everywhere I went, it all looked the same. Rack after rack of orange and lime green, and to make matters worse everywhere had sales on so there were lots of tops crammed onto rails which made them very difficult to see and so creased, just don’t understand how anyone could think that was the right way to sell anything.

I ended up in House of Fraser and although they had a sale too, it was much more civilised. Great bargains everywhere, I was really pleased with my purchases – four hand towels and three bath towels, well they were half price!!

Yesterday was a sad day…

/ Dee / Leave a comment

We went to the funeral yesterday of a very dear friend. It was a sad day. It was a Humanist Funeral, I have never attended one before and at first found it strange that there were no hymns to sing, no vicar or priest to offer prayers. But rather a service dedicated to my friend, a tribute to his life and achievements and to what he had meant to his family, friends and colleagues.

Gradually, as the celebrant read out the memories, told to her by his family, in a warm and sincere way, I came to accept that this service was just what he would have wanted. He was not a religious person, yet the service did not give any offence to those in the congregation who were; merely just telling the story of his life and the things he loved and held dear and helping us all to understand that though he was no longer living with us, our memories of him will keep him “alive” for ever.

There was a mixed reaction afterwards, some people didn’t like it at all, some, like me were at first a bit unsure but then came to realise that it was perfect for our friend. It suited his personality, the quiet unassuming way he always had in life had been continued in celebrating him in death.

It was something rather special.

Continuing the diet saga…

/ Dee / Leave a comment

Well the diet or “healthy eating plan” has been going OK, except for the birthday party on Sunday! How can you not eat birthday cake, when it looks so scrumptious and smells so good and has chocolate shavings all over the top of it, need I say more???
I am over it now and back to chicken and salad……………

Dieting – what’s that about?

/ Dee / Leave a comment

On my return from holiday that I discovered that I had gained a few pounds so I decided that I had better get a grip and do something about taking the weight off.
Now, in my younger days this would not have been a problem; just not eat till dinner time then have chicken and salad and, bingo, the excess pounds would just drop off. But when you are older, this is not an option! If I don’t have something to eat before lunchtime, I become a bad tempered ratbag of a woman who, if you have any sense you avoid like the plague!

So what to do to lose the holiday bulge?

Well like so many others before me, I have a gym membership, taken out in the firm belief that I would go at least three times a week and look like Elizabeth Hurley in three months’ time! Why do we do it? May as well put the money down the drain, the gym owners must be laughing all the way to the bank; is it just women who are lacking in a bit of self discipline on the excercise front, or are there men out there who have done the same thing. Anyway, I have actually been to the gym five times in the last six months, not good is it?

So, accepting that I am not and never will be a “gym bunny” I decided that I would take the healthy eating route to getting my weight under control. I think I have a healthy attitude to food already – I like it – but looked again at where I could possibly make adjustments. Butter – lovely melted on brown toast; the spread stuff just doesn’t do it for me and anyway, I read somewhere that butter is better for you, so I’ll just scrape it on and scrape it off, should do the trick. I have decided that I can live for a while without too many carbs, evidently they can raise blood sugar levels, so no potatoes except for the odd jacket and only wholewheat pasta, lots of veggies, fruit, chicken and fish, sounds like a plan!

If I lived on my own, I know that I could crack this dieting lark, but I have a “significant other” in the form of the RH (retired husband) whose main pleasure in life, apart from cigars, tv, holidays and the dog, is to sit down to a lovely home cooked dinner of all the things I am about to take off the menu. As I do the cooking I think I should choose the food, he is not going to like this one bit………………..

Interesting news…….

/ Dee / Leave a comment

Following on from my previous blog, it seems that the government in the UK have decided to bring forward their discussions on retirement. It seems there is some talk of doing away with a set age for retirement. Now, while I don’t claim any responsibilty for this change of heart, it is encouraging to think that I was on the right track!!

I think the next questions are going to be – how long will it take them to sort it out and what changes are they going to make to the state pension as there will obviously be people who want to retire and stop working.

Depending on what brainwave they come up with in regard to the pension, it will be great for us “oldies” to know that we are still of some use in the workplace and can carry on working as long as someone has the sense to employ us. Just think of all that experience that will not now be going to waste, we may be rather mature but we still have brains and common sense, the latter sadly lacking in some of the decisions made these days!

Some thoughts on retirement

/ Dee / 1 Comment

I still enjoy working and had not thought about retiring and what that could mean, until just recently. My husband took early retirement three years ago without a backward glance, or any real thought as to how he would fill his time once he was no longer at the beck and call of the alarm clock! During the past year the discussions (arguments really) as to when I think I will retire have increased; although I am not ready to give up my job just yet, I have been giving it some thought.
According to many reports in the press, there are more people over sixty now than ever before and coupled with this is the recognised fall in the birth rate – think about the reports from China where the burden on the work force of looking after elderly relatives appears to be a real problem. So if all the babyboomers, of which I am one, who were born in the years immediately after the end of World War Two and are now coming up to the usual age for retirement actually do so, there is going to be a big hole in the workforce.
We are better educated than our parents and certainly live a more healthy lifestyle in most cases, which is borne out by the fact that we are living a lot longer, so what are we all going to do with our time? What happens to all the experience we have accquired during our working lives? Why should be have to retire at a set time? Why can’t we ease into retirement in a more gradual way if we wanted to by say, cutting down the number of days we work, then the hours etc etc. There are not enough of the younger generation coming along to take our place as the days of couples have lots of children have long gone. Perhaps it is time governments took a look at the present legislation and woke up to the fact that unless they alter the retirement age there are going to be huge problems for the economy in the very near future. Some companies have already realised the advantages of bringing older people back into the workforce and this seems to bring benefits to both sides, perhaps others will start to follow this lead. As for me, well, the jury is still out………….