Heather - we discuss serious issues a lot. Why not also have some levity? I certainly need balance in my life.

I am lucky in hair. My hairdresser always says I have great hair. It is thick which has it’s own problems, but I also hate managing it all the time so I keep it shorter. The problem that bothers me the most are the lines around my eyes and little one around my lips. I do not and probably will never use botox (it’s a toxin), can’t see me having those painful injections to plump up the lips and make people look so odd, so I will just have to get used to my new face as it ages. I found I purse my lips as I type on some of the wild threads, so now i am practicing not doing that. I don’t want Wow to add to my lines. It is also an indication to me that I am not getting enough water. If I start drinking water and eating more salmon, my skin just perks up. Facials really help as well, but business is slow, so I wait.

Fernando Lamas said (in jest of course) “I’d rather look good than feel good!” To an extent I agree. I have a great many serious physical problems but by keeping up appearances I not only look good to other people, but it helps me feel better!

I have thinning hair and I am somewhat overweight. However, about 4-5 years ago the California sun finally kicked in on my face (i.e., lots of sun damage). I now have my face lasered two-three times a year. It is faintly painful, I have a couple of weeks downtime during which time I look as though I have been dragged behind a car, face down on an asphalt road. However it is well worth it as my skin is smooth and the collagen rebuilds itself. Costs about $600 a pop and knocks out six weeks a year in which I hide from the mailman and clean my own house. I guess it’s a tradeoff of where the money is spent but I wouldn’t be without the lasering. We all have our vanities no matter what else is happening in the world! If you look good it makes everything else easier.

Chin hair, which now rematerializes overnight.

Besides my weight, hair, posture, teeth…is remembering to smile! When I’m concentrating on something I look very stern and unfriendly—not at all how I feel or want to be perceived!

I am a firm believer in Resveratol, the grape-skin anti-oxident. Makes my skin look amazing. The hardest thing for me to keep on top of is my posture and spinal health. I’ve had lots of neck problems and a brother who actually had several of his disks removed from his neck. I have to be careful, of how I sit, how I read, and what I lift. I’ve been so fortunate to have inheirted a body that is a great weight. While I do try and eat wisely, I still eat chocolate and other carbs - and yet my body has always been a great weight - 105 when I was younger, and then up to 120 in my 30’s and 40’s - and that’s after 7 children. I mention this because my husband is far more physically active than I am, and eats only slightly more than I eat - and he’s fought his weight the whole time we’ve been married for 25 years. Clearly metabolism plays a huge role. If life were really “fair” I should have his weight problem and he would have my body. I think people blame themselves too much for some of their weight problems.

At my age, if it’s not one thing, it’s the other. My posture is terrible. I have a pot belly in spite or weighing 112 and doing crunches. I have roots, snaggy cuticles, brown spots (which I had lasered off once) eyebrows that need plucking, legs that need shaving, more. It’s such a job to maintain one’s beauty. LOL

I have to say hair. I have very fine hair. My haircuts cost $50.00!! It doesn’t seem fair when I have very little hair. Plus I wear it short. But I just found a new stylist….and she really does great with my hair so I don’t mind paying…..But the last gal I had….snip snip and about twelve minutes later…it was done! I style my own hair….it’s like a challenge every morning. Hair rules!!! Margaret….I never had a night sweat…..I would not have known I reached menopause had my periods not stopped.