Who was it who said, “At fifty, you get the face that you deserve?” I don’t mind the lines around my eyes all that much, or the laugh lines around my mouth. I figure I’ve earned those. But honey, what did I do to deserve this turkey gobbler neck? I believe in the concept of aging gracefully. To me, that means accepting where you’re at, then doing the best you can with what you’ve got. Let’s face it. After a certain age, it’s all about hiding and highlighting. Throw on a colorful scarf, why don’t you, to camouflage that turkey neck. Not everyone is into makeup, but there’s something about putting on a little lipstick …

March 18th was my Dad’s birthday. He’s been gone three years now. I still miss him. What a character he was! Here’s one of my favorite stories. Dad tried that computer dating thing. This was a couple years after my mom passed. He joined this Catholic dating site. A friend who’s good with computers helped him put up his profile, but he didn’t include a picture. When my niece Caitlin caught wind of that, she got Dad’s password and everything and added a nice photo of him taken at Easter dinner that year. I’ll be darned. He got so many emails, it crashed his computer! Well, he was a good looking guy. Nice head of …

March 11 was Charlie’s birthday. Me, I always try to take my birthday off from work, but Charlie doesn’t. “Ida,” he says, “after a certain age, it’s just another day. I don’t want to think about it.” My feeling is a birthday is cause for celebration, especially after a certain age. I’m on the back nine, as my golfer friend Betty says. Meaning, I’ve lived more of my life than I have left. So I say make the most of it. Heck, why confine yourself to just one day? Celebrate the whole month! Anyhoo, Charlie doesn’t make a big deal of his birthday. Still, I like to make it special. We get up earlier than …

I love asking folks what they think is the key to a happy marriage. And I gotta tell you, some of the answers are surprising. For instance, when I asked my friend Betty, she replied, “Golf.” “Come again?” “You heard me. Golf.” “I’m gonna need a little more information.” “Well, golf is a hobby that we do together. We’re outside, having fun. We joined the couples league and have little shindigs with them every once and awhile. Sometimes we go away for a golfing weekend. It’s like a mini vacation, because we’re not thinking about anything else while we’re playing, and so we’re kinda just being ourselves.” “I feel like that when we go away …

Last week, me and the Women Who Run With the Moose, Celeste, Rita, Betty, Dot and Shirley, got together for our girls night. Betty was hosting. She was serving those little miniature cherry cheesecakes. You make ‘em in a muffin tin with a vanilla wafer on bottom. You ever had them? They’re wicked good! Dottie had just been in for a physical. “The whole “lube, oil, and filter,” as Shirley calls it. “God, don’t they ask you a lot of questions.” Dot says. “How much caffeine am I drinking? What am I doing to de-stress? How am I sleeping? How much do I poop and when?” “Did they ask how often you and Tommy do …