Midlife’s A Trip

A Day of Positive Vibes

Posted on 30. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

This past Sunday, there was a rally in Detroit for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  I was lucky to get 4 tickets at the 11th hour and turned the outing into a family event with my sister, my cousin who was in town and, of course, my 4 year old niece, [...]

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Do You Feel Like Piggy Banking

Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

I don’t know about you but I can’t even watch the news these days without feeling anxiety over how the economy isn’t doing.  Last Thursday, I started watching the 1/2 hour of news I now allow myself each morning — it’s all I can stand.  The expert being interviewed on the economy stressed me out [...]

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Ever So Fine Paul Newman Has Died

Posted on 27. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

 One of my earliest crushes was on the ever so handsome, incredibly fine actor Paul Newman.  I remember sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the television gazing into those blue eyes that looked out from many a movie.  As I got older, Paul remained one of my favorite actors.  Well, now he’s gone — dead [...]

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Bad News is Bad for Your Health

Posted on 25. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

  As part of my normal routine, I turned on the Today Show this morning to get my 30-minute daily fix of what’s happening in the world.  Lately I’ve been limiting my exposure to the news because so little good gets reported and the bad is stressing me out.
Today I got about 15 minutes into [...]

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Ivan — One of America’s Finest

Posted on 24. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

Since July I have been hosting Ivan (pronounced “e-van”), a young Obama campaign organizer in my home. At the time I got the call asking if Ivan could stay with me, I remember thinking “It’s the least I can do”. To me, being a campaign “den mother” beats the hell out of being [...]

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The Absence of Fear–A Midlife Perspective

Posted on 22. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

I’m the person who’s deathly afraid of spiders.  Remember the scene in Annie Hall where Diane Keaton’s character calls Woody Allen’s character to come over and kill the spider in her house.  Well, that’s me.  I even pulled my car over once and got out when one of those creepy crawlers descended from my rear-view [...]

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Do Midlife Women Really Do Social Networking — Online?

Posted on 19. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

I’ve been toying with Twitter — one of the many online social networking sites.  And it just doesn’t resonate with me.  Now I get Facebook and have posted my profile there.  It seems to be enough for me at this time of life.  But is mono-social networking enough these days? 
If you do social networking, would you mind [...]

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What Keeps Me Up at Night in Midlife

Posted on 18. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

 
One thing that went out the window when I hit midlife was a good night’s sleep.  I started midlife in the throes of an early menopause.  Sweet dreams turned into nights of swimming in my sheets with unrelenting night sweats. 
I remember waking up drenched on cold wet sheets laying next to my then husband who always [...]

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Botox Chicken

Posted on 17. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

I’m what you’d call a Botox chicken.  It’s certainly not because I lack vanity.  I want to fight off the wrinkles as much as anyone else.  And although it’s a factor, it’s not just that I hate needles, which I do –intensely.  But even from the person who still can’t watch her blood being drawn, there’s [...]

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What Fresh Hell is This Award — Telemarketers

Posted on 16. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

Author Dorothy Parker, celebrated as the wittiest woman in America,  was known to get very peturbed when someone calling on the telephone would interrupt her as she sat writing.  Urban legend has it that her favorite retort to unwanted callers was:
What fresh hell is this?
Well lately I seem to be getting more than my fair share of unwanted call [...]

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A Daughter’s Midlife Transition from News Anchor to Caregiver

Posted on 15. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

Two weeks I had the great opportunity to talk with author Mary Ellen Geist.  Hers is an touching story of midlife transition and caregiving.  Several years ago Mary Ellen was described by the New York Times as the:

“Archetypal career woman, a radio news anchor with a six-figure salary and a suitcase always packed for the next [...]

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No More Complaining About Winter

Posted on 13. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

I live in Michigan and have lived here all of my life.  So I’m really familiar with winter.  It’s the scourge of the Midwest — or so I’ve looked at it that way.  Oh it’s not that this season is so bad in and of itself — it’s that it lasts so long. 
And even though [...]

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A Nightmare in September

Posted on 11. Sep, 2008 by Karen.

That morning I was watching a Matt Lauer interview on the Today show. I was just about ready to walk out the door headed for work. All of a sudden, Matt cupped his hand to his ear and said there was breaking news. A plane had hit the World Trade Center.
I sat at the foot [...]

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