Did you dread reaching a certain age?

I found my 25th birthday the hardest.  I thought I was so old; no idea why.  When I turned 30 or 40 it never bothered me, but 25 was a bad one.  How about you?

Does anyone know why Bristol Palin is still on Dancing With The Stars.......

Wednesday was another gorgeous day.  I got all the Spring bulbs planted, so that is another job out of the way.  Also got the remainder of the leaves mulched with the lawn tractor.

I was reading this article which had the Title: Revealed: The embarrassing wrong quiz answers that prove Britain really is dumbing down.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328602/Quiz-answers-prove-Britain-dumbing-down.html#ixzz14vvXbj6T

and finally:

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

For more info on this most poignant poem click on this link

I may be another year older, but am I wiser?

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself. ~Tom Wilson

So here I am, another year older.  I remember last year asking if I was half way through my life, as I turned 45 years of age.  I am guessing I am wanting to live until I am 90 years of age from that thought, but honestly I would be happy to reach 80 years of age.

One of my mother's neighbours is in her early 90's and has had to go into a home as she can't cope anymore.  I don't want to get like that, I like my independance, and I don't want to be a burden on anyone.  Since moving up here, I seem to be mixing with a lot more older people and are seeing their struggles "health wise" first hand, and I don't want to go through those.

My pop (grandfather) died to my mind the best way.  He got up one morning, went downstairs, my nana made him a cup of tea, he sat in his chair, not sure if he drank it or not, but he had a heart attack and died there and then in his chair.  A heck of a shock for my nana and the rest of the family, but at least he didn't suffer.  That's how I want to go, and as heart/blood pressure problems are common on both sides of my family,  there is a good chance that I will go the same way.

Gosh that was a doom and gloom way to start a post.  So lets move onto something a bit brighter!!

As we started celebrating my birthday on Saturday, I started getting presents on Saturday night.  The kids bought me a 2 year subscription to the Sew News magazine, which is such a perfect gift for me, as I am a magazine junkie, and I love to sew!!  That night I also got the orchid from R & M that I featured in yesterday's Today's Flower post.

On Sunday my dad and step-mum came up for lunch, homemade quiche, baked potatoes, potato salad, and garden salad.  Homemade apple pie or peach tarts for dessert.  I made a pound and a half of pastry and got a lot of things out of it.

Anyhow they bought me The Chocolate Bible...........do they know I love chocolate, of course they do!!!

I will post on Tuesday what else I get.

Did you remember to put your money in your Daily Savings Pot today?

Today's Money Saving Tip:

In a restaurant before ordering ask about "specials" not on the menu. These are often very fresh and good bargains. Many restaurants have regular specials each day of the week. Generally Monday through Thursday are the best deals.

Something to think about and a question.........

So today is my 45th birthday, and a thought crossed my mind. I wonder if I am half way through my life? So I decided to see what the average age was when women died in Canada and it is 80 years of age. So that means I am on the downward slippery slope to dying. Gosh isn't this a cheerful post....LOL

The life expectancy of women in the USA is 79 years of age.

The life expectancy of women in Britain is 81 years of age

This link is really interesting, and makes me very thankful to live where we live, as in a number of countries, there is a good chance I would be dead by now.

Another thought crossed my mind is that, am I MIDDLE-AGED now? So I decided to look up the definition of "middle-aged" to see what was what, and here is what it says: "being roughly between 45 and 65 years old" as per this source. So I guess I am now middle-aged as well as being over half way through my life!!!!

Now before you think, oh she must be ever so depressed about turning 45, I'm not. I had a harder time turning 25. That birthday totally depressed me, as I felt so old....... Turning 30 and 40 didn't phase me.

Did you have a birthday that made you depressed, happy or over emotional?

Tomorrow, I will post all about my birthday and what gifts I got, which should be more cheerful!!

Aging & FOF-ing........

Okay I admit it I am aging. Not that aging really bothers me (by the end of this rant, that phase is a lie!!), what is getting on my nerves though is the cost of aging. I am closer to the age of 40 than 50, and never wear makeup, but have noticed things about me have changed.

My dear friend, P pointed out to me how I have an age spot on my face, thank you P!!!



Now prior to her pointing this out I had thought it was an over sized freckle. Mind looking at that photo I figure I have a major skin problem. Those who know me, know I have a red face generally, but there is red and there is redder, today seems to have been one of my redder days!!!

I work with a super lady, L who is the complete opposite to me. Although she is older than I am, is always wearing makeup, works out regularly and watches what she eats. She just had her age spot erased, I just couldn't justify the cost of doing that,even though it will only cost her $100.

She gets her hair cut and dyed at a salon, where I generally go to one of the price cutting chain salons. Anyhow, I decided at the end of March on a whim to go into a regular salon and have my hair cut, dyed and streaks put into it. $160 (incl $20 tip)later I walk out of the salon looking years younger, I loved the look, dh loved it, and everyone else had positive comments about it.

Fast forward six weeks and its time to get my hair trimmed. So off I trot back to the salon and it cost me another $41.75 (incl. $5 tip). Its after she has cut my hair she says you need to have your roots touched up as the grey is showing. So today I go in to have my roots touched up and I am charged $35 for the touch up and $15 to blow dry my hair, so today's bill was $57.25 (incl. $5 tip)

Okay, so now I am not a happy camper as since the end of March I have spent nearly $260 on my hair. That is crazy, especially for someone who isn't that bothered about her hair. All I really want is all the grey covered up, and as the over the counter boxes of hair dye that you purchase at the drug stores, don't cover the grey I am not sure what I am supposed to do??? All I know is that I cannot afford to continue forking out this money continually.

Here is a before picture of the grey hair:



Here is an after photo of the colour of my hair:



By the way my hair is not as red as the photo, I think the flash went off!!

Now I am noticing the skin on my hands is looking more translucent, it reminds me of my Nana's hands??? Then my neck is looking more wrinkly..........and please don't start me on about the rest of my body which has suddenly decided it all wants to go south............I don't know, I am beginning to think aging sucks!!!! With that feeling I am more tempted to buy firming cream, get rid of the dark circles under your eyes cream, age defying this and that. For someone who is not supposed to be bothered about aging, I seem to be bothered.........

On a more brighter note, one thing that I will continually blog about is Fresh or Its Free-ing. So for those of you who are not familiar with FOF-ing, here is what it is all about. If you shop at A & P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug or The Barn and if you find any spoiled item in our store, just bring it to the Customer Service Desk and we'll give you a fresh replacement free of charge. For the guarantee to be valid, a purchase is required of equal or greater dollar value than the ‘fresh or free’ replacements in a single shopping transaction, excluding the ‘fresh or free’ replacements. For example, if the total shopping purchase (excluding the ‘fresh or free’ replacements) in a single transaction is $10.00, you may receive up to $10.00 of ‘fresh or free’ replacements.

So of course in my quest to try and save money I try to take advantage of this and FOF whenever I can. Now A & P are a bit more pricier than the discount stores, but with a combination of coupons, sale items and bonus airmiles I can get some pretty good deals there.

Here is what I got today:



The milk, juice, two Pillsbury items and the Lipton tea, were all FOF items. The cereal was buy three health check items, get one item free. So with coupons I ended up paying just over $1.70 per box of cereal. Those four boxes along with another two boxes (I got for free prior), means I have enough cereal until the end of June. I needed bananas and tomatoes, and didn't have coupons for those.

The other four items were items I bought to take advantage of a bonus airmile deal. You get 50 bonus airmiles when you purchase four different items. Again I used coupons with all of those items.

My bill for that shopping trip was $19.93 (incl $1.72 in taxes). I had $18.35 in FOF items, and $10.79 in coupons. Now I know that isn't the best deal especially for you ladies in the States, but up here its not bad.

One of my goals is to post my monthly grocery totals and savings. I am part of the monthly grocery challenge over at Prairie Homemaker I find it a help, as it keeps me on track with what I spend. I also have an excel spreadsheet where I track what I spend on groceries, toiletries and cleaning products each month.