Q of the Week : How Do You Respond to Compliments?

Can you tell I hate having my picture taken? He was supposed to be taking pix of the boys hunting for easter eggs. I’m terrible at dealing with physical compliments.  Especially if they come from my husband.  He tells me I look beautiful?  I say “if you think so.”  Catch him staring at me with that look in his eye?  “What are you staring at??”.  I’m all gracious like that.  Yeah, really kind and appreciative.  Honestly?  It freaks me out a bit.  I don’t like having my picture taken, and send sardonic looks at the camera if I can’t actually escape it. It’s like I can’t really believe what he’s saying, and if I do, then I must be proud.  If I agree to it, then maybe he’s just fishing for sex.  What’s up with that assumption?  I have issues I guess.
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Q of the Week : When do you feel sexy?

I think Anne’s glamorous and sexy here, because of her smileI’m sitting here in a sports bra and sweats, with a cardigan thrown over top because the house got chilly after supper, and I didn’t want to put my stinky running shirt back on, nor did I have time for a shower.  To be completely truthful, the cardigan was pulled out of the “to wash” pile the other day because I decided it wasn’t that dirty (while hunting madly for another layer to wear under my coat).  I don’t look or feel one shred sexy.  I still need that shower, feel pressured to get a lot more work done tonight, and would far rather kick back and watch the Oscars.  I’m consoling myself with some live-blogging updates via the NYT. (Yay, The King’s Speech just won! … speaking of sexy, Colin Firth certainly fits that bill in my book, but I digress …)
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Vanity Over 40 (by Jenny Heitz)

Image courtesy of Samantha Steele, via Flickr.It’s one thing to recognize we live in a youth obsessed culture, but once you’ve hit 40, you’re officially on the other side: No Longer Youthful.

Yeah, magazines preaching to the peri-menopausal set can prattle on about how “40 is the new 30,” but we all know that’s b.s.. 40 is the threshold for belly fat, for official skinny face, and for behinds which seem to want to drop off the back of us, as if they’re seeking a new owner found on the sidewalk.

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Q of the Week : How old were you when you became a mom?

My grandmother with my newborn mom. I love this picture in so many ways. I’ve got a simple question this week, so you can answer in a flash in the midst of the holiday flurry, and I’m super curious about the variety of answers.  How old were you when you first became a mom … and how old when you had your last?  I was 31 for my first, 35 for my 2nd, and I’m still entertaining the notion that there could be another, but I doubt it. 

A simple number (or two) is a fine answer, and if you want to elaborate on it that’s always welcome!  I turn 40 this week, and of course it’s making me pause and think about a lot of things like this.  My sister is coming today too, minus her brood of 4, to spend a week with me, and what could be better than that?! 

Friday Roundup ...

A few links for your enjoyment, I know it’s a busy time of year but it’s good to find some downtime and just chill, right? 

Have a great weekend!

Almost forty and more defiant than ever! (guest post by Darah)

Thanks to Darah Zeledon for this one, don’t miss her links at the bottom!

As I approach the ripe old age of forty, I will begin to entertain all the existential questions about my life- how I´ve led it until now and what is in store for the future. As romantic and appropriately-timed as this may sound, I honestly cannot truly begin to address these issues because I cannot get past the fact that I am just a year away from forty!

I mean, my parents were always forty and they were full-fledged adults talking about mortgages, Tupperware parties, cruise-ship vacations to the Bahamas and car pool schedules. You know, boring stuff that as a kid, I swore to myself that I would never utter a word about such mundane trivialities.
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Friday Roundup

Hi all!  It’s been a light week here as I dig out from vacation, struggle with returning to ‘real’ life, and try to curb my internet addiction a bit.  I’ve only posted one FB status since I got home, and about 3 tweets.  Is that good for traffic, probably not, but it’s good for me so that’s what counts.  I have some posts brewing about all that, but in the meantime here are just a couple of links, but quality ones, so enjoy!

  • The Shape of a Mother : This site is SO good!  It’s full of real (ie non professional or retouched in any way) photos of mom bodies.  Sagging boobs and bellies, stretch marks, all the things that we all struggle with but rarely show each other.  It’s so good to see and know and hear that I’m not alone in my struggle with how I look.  I may not fight weight, but I hate my sags and bulges where none used to be.  Found via Mothering mag. 
  • Six Ways to Help the Angry Child : I need to re-read this one, as I have one that’s sunny as they come, and one that’s often angry.  Of course the sunny one has started imitating the older one’s behavior, but in a mostly comical way which is also hard to deal with!

Only two, but both worth checking out for sure.  Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

SaneMom

How do you keep track of your cycle?

I don’t know if I’m just not that aware, but I swear I always get caught off guard when my period rolls around.  If I bother to count days, I’m incredibly regular I think, but I just can’t seem to find the interest or time to keep track.  I inevitably get some PMS, but not a ton (extra sleepy and hyper emotionally sensitive) but I never seem to clue in that it’s signaling something.  To be honest it’s usually my husband who notices that I’ve been sleeping on my back again for a night or two, and comments that I must be close. 

In other ways I’m pretty aware of my body and it’s needs …

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