Sunday, August 17, 2014

A Chance Encounter of LIKE = Love … Lust … and Lies



He was hot, passionate, full of promise. It was one of those affairs that burn with white-flame intensity. Ignoring the instinctive warning that hit my stomach at first touch, I smiled coquettishly.

Waves of electricity shook my body with his responding grin of anticipation. Yes! As a 39er (many times over) I wasn’t dead yet!

We began like many other couples; a chance encounter through friends formed an instant, tenuous bond. At first hesitant, we fumbled for words. He held my hand just a bit too long on first touch. A red flag tried to rise, but I shoved it back down.

One brief moment led to more; sometimes with friends, but more frequently, we escaped on leisurely walks down darkened roads. Soon we chatted with the likes of old chums. Morning coffee links lead to early evening happy hours. Eventually, we turned to late night smooches with our favorite libation.

It didn’t take long. In mere weeks, I couldn’t deny it … to like him was no longer enough.   

Saturday, August 16, 2014

My 39er Pet Peeve - Fashion Frustration



Originally posted on 39AndHoldingClub site July 19, 2014 - please enjoy again!

Most of the time as a “retiree” (excuse me while I laugh into my coffee), I have no need to wear anything other than the sloppiest of casual clothes.

However, I’m not (yet) a hermit and there are those times when I must face the public. I would like to do so in something other than my 20-year-old halfway decent fashions.

But shopping for clothes is no longer the fun past time that once showed off my bargain finds, demonstrating fashion sense for mere cents.

I have … ahem … “matured.” While I enjoy the added wisdom of my mental maturity, I do not appreciate my body’s insistence on keeping up with my bulging brain.

I will not soon again, however, don a mini-skirt (stop laughing! I once rocked 'em ... and yes, young’uns, you are simply regurgitating our '60s-revolutionary style) … yet nearly all of the current fashions fit me like one! I would like to find something “in my size” in our department stores. 

Does it truly escape the attention of designers and retailers that the FIRST sizes to sell out in a popular style are the AVERAGE and PLUS sizes?? Do you not recognize that “average” sizes in reality, are 12 – 18, NOT sizes 6 – 10?

Have the clothing manufacturers adopted the same stick-it-to-the-consumer ploy as grocery suppliers? 

Do they REALLY believe we don’t notice that we’re paying the same price for a loaf of bread – in which the slices are SMALLER than they were five years ago?!