I Broke Up with Stephanie Plum January 19, 2014

I won’t be spending any more time with Stephanie. Our relationship is over. I just don’t find her funny any longer. ‘Take DownTwenty’ took me down. It depressed me!

Even Lula and Grandma Mazur left me flat. Ranger and Morelli, I am sick of both of them. The problem all around is the lack of growth, maturity and character. All these people are from the mystery series by Janet Evanovich. I started with ‘One for the Money’, in 1994. In 19 years I have read every book and saw the movie with the lovely Katherine Heigl. In 18 years I have laughed out loud but no longer.

 

Stephanie, formally gutsy and a bit of an airhead, has turned the corner without aging into a sad empty woman repeating the same mistakes. She cannot commit to a job, a relationship and completely leave the benefits of her parents’ support.  She doesn’t make friends, read books, go to movies, exercise, or try to eat healthfully!

Other series have a main character that also does not age. Sue Grafton and Lee Child to name just two change their story line and introduce new minor characters. Janet introduced Bob the dog a few years ago, but Bob, well he is a dog! In concert with the other characters, Bob is goofy and single focused.

Is it that I am 19 years older and Stephanie and I are in different places in our life? Could it be that I have made career and relationship commitments while Stephanie’s floundering continues? Have I just outgrown Stephanie?

I always looked forward to a new Stephanie Plum book. In the past, they entertained me and made for a light fun read. I am very loyal to authors I like and I am not taking this breakup lightly. I am a bit resentful. I could have spent that time reading John Grisham’s new book!

Have you also broken up with a favorite author? Have you also felt let down by a favorite character or author?

I Am CHIC, (According to Sephora) January 7, 2014

Recently I was in Sephora with a friend. We were spritzing some fragrances and a sales person asked us if we wanted to take our fragrance test. http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/quizzes/fragrance-quiz

Picture a couple of middle-aged women taking a touch screen questionnaire on their personality type regarding fragrances and it is a set up for a laughathon!

Unfortunately we did not take any selfies of ourselves. No loss because they would not have turned out well because we were laughing so hard.

Laughing aside, I think it is an innovative approach to selling fragrance. I applaud Sephora for implementing a different way to categorize their large selection of fragrances to fit individuals.

I like Sephora stores. In 1994 my husband and I were in Paris and stopped into a store. Their sales women were all beautiful and wore white gloves. They asked if we wanted some champagne as we shopped. It was all so French, I was hooked. I was happy when they opened stores in the US but without champagne and white gloves the stores didn’t really have the same flair. L

For help in picking out your fragrance match or for a good giggle I recommend a trip to Sephora’s fragrance quiz screen. A prior glass of champagne may enhance your experience, just saying. I turned out to be a CHIC fragrance match. Thank-you Sephora!

What is your Fragrance match?

Personal Conversation Filters January 3, 2014

I have often thought it a good thing my mind cannot be read? Sometimes an expletive runs across my mind and escape through my lips. What happens when we forget social verbal filters? Adorable in children but inflammatory when adults say actually what they think without thinking. Hello Paula Dean!

 

Recently I saw a picture of myself at a party and my immediate reaction was I really need to work on camouflaging my facial expressions better!

 

I have known people who will cover up their verbal faux pas with expressing something about trying to speak the truth. I have heard excuses for verbal trash talk as just kidding. I have also heard verbal filters not exercised by people who appear not to know any better or just don’t care.

 

My 91-year-old Mother who has dementia and lives in a nursing home and has lost her verbal filters. She will sometimes ask, ’How did you get so old’, or ‘so fat’, or ‘so stupid?’ Because of her condition she is usually forgiven but a slight hurt feeling may still linger.

 

I was walking downtown recently wearing my green raincoat. I passed a woman at a bus stop that complemented me on my coat. I turned and said thank-you that prompted her into a verbal tirade about the rain, the bus, and the condition of the world all peppered with many expletives. No filters at all!

 

Does your verbal filter ever fail you? Do you have a poker face?

A Skin Check January 3, 2014

Recently my sister noticed a mole on the side of my face. We looked at a few old pictures and no mole. After convincing myself that the start of ‘The Blob’ was growing below my eye, I made a dermatologist appointment.

 

I have lots of moles. My Mother called them beauty marks, which I agree sounds much better than moles. Beauty marks sound pretty and certainly nothing of concern. Moles, on the other hand, sound ugly and concerning.

 

I had seen this dermatologist for a skin check about 10 years ago so I was due. She looked at the “suspicious” mole and said it was OK. She eagerly volunteered to burn it off.  I passed since I didn’t want to wear a band-aid so close to the Holidays with picture taking opportunities or have to explain about ‘The Blob’.

 

The Doctor asked to see the back of my legs. She explained this is the area where many women develop skin cancer. The reasons are:

We can’t see the back of our legs easily so growth is not detected early

We baby boomers didn’t use sunscreen when we were tanning as kids

We rarely cover well with sunscreen the back of our legs

Women start wearing skirts and shorts at a young age

 

Men happen to develop skin cancer more often on top of their ears.

The reasons are:

Men usually don’t have hair covering their ears

Men rarely put sunscreen on their ears

Even baseball cap wearing men often have their ears exposed

Baby boomer men never used sunscreen growing up while playing out doors

 

Skin Cancer is very treatable when detected early. Have you had a recent skin check?