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My Birthday Flowers from my wonderful, wonderful friend, Kim -- see, great friends, and great beauty (these flowers were the most beautiful bouquet of pink and white roses, daisies... all things pink and white, so of course I ran in and put on a pink and white dress to match the bouquet!! lol!) and lots of laughs keep you young! lol!
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One of the necklaces my lovely daughter, Cara, gave me for my Birthday -- see, presents keep you young! hahaha! |
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The other necklace Cara gave me for me birfday... isn't Cara lovely?? Great children keep you young!! lol! |
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Aidan, my little man... having a child later in life for sures keeps you young!! haha! |
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St. Patrick's Day at the park, yesterday... a small waistline really makes you look young!! lol! |
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I laughed so hard when Aidan put on this shirt -- laughter makes you younger!! |
Aidan has a great sense of humour, and I laugh with my wonderful kids every day... is the bestest, ever!!
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Niagara Falls, the other day... getting out and about, doing fun things, eating great food.. these are the secrets to a great life, and staying youthful (as opposed to 'youthless', which I jokingly say as 'useless'... me own little joke, there, makes me laugh! hahaha!) |
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Ailsa (that's me! lol!) at 44... now I'm 49, and I still do the same exercises at the gym -- it's not true that you have to change up your entire gym routine every day, every year... that's marketing... what you need is to work out your 'big' muscles (arms and legs... mostly legs) with weights, and you will look great, guaranteed. Works for everyone. Find a great gym, get on the machines, you'll never regret it : )
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So I just turned 49... where did the time go?? Feels like I can travel back to any age in my mind, and I'm there, at that age... is weird! I always had a bizarre image in my head of what someone would look like at 38 (kind of a haggard bar lovin' gal, wrinkly... why did I think that, me wonders??? lol!), and when I was 38, I was soo busy with my little baby, I forgot about what I should look like!
Who thinks about that when their child is running madly through grass that's as tall as him, and the same color as his hair? Aidan had blonde hair, and it was the fall, we had
just moved into the acreage house (
the Big House, we called it), and Aidan was a 'runner'. You'd set him down, or he'd make a mad escape, and just start running -- was a nightmare, constantly making sure every door was locked up tight behind him, never taking your eyes off him... so never a second to think about how I looked. I was the least of my worries, for sure.
So my late thirties went by without me noticing too much, and I was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, married, (not
happily married), and just too busy to really look at myself, so, I guess in what I now see as a way of making myself feel better, I had a lot of chocolates... and a membership at Costco, my favorite store! lol! And a lot of pie. Mostly the Apple Pie. Which I thought was delicious. With a lot of whip cream.... so 35 pounds crept on, and by the time my 40th Birthday rolled around, I think I was, errrr, ah, well-rounded... and when I look at pictures from my 40th Birthday, and pictures from my Birthdays after that (yep, I'm obsessed with my Birthday, as many of us are... why not, it's our own extra-special day, right?? lol!).
So here's the thing -- I think I look 'younger' now than I did a decade ago. How is that, you may wonder?? haha! I think it's the weight. For real. (And Happiness level! lol!) I know everyone says you should always accept yourself the way you are, which is true to a certain extent, but I'm glad I finally woke up and had a good hard look at myself. I was terribly unhappy in my marriage, so I ended up getting a divorce (often the catalyst to better yourself, oddly enough, but in all fairness, I was in great shape when I left my marriage, and it didn't make
ANY difference in how kind my husband was to me -- I guess he just thought he didn't have to be nice, didn't have to be kind.
A life without basic kindness is no life to lead, so with the divorce, I did find a whole lot more happiness, definitely a much more peaceful household (I'm a lover, not a fighter! lol!), and I had the time and the interest to hit the gym every day.
That's the key. Get to the gym : ) Work those big muscles so the weight will come off easily, and I found that when I was on my own with the kids, I didn't have to make those giant fancy dinners every night, so I wasn't eating nearly so much. If I wanted to have just cauliflower for dinner, I could have just cauliflower for dinner! See the Freedom?? lol! (Well, maybe that last cauliflower dinner didn't appeal to you, so much! lol!)
But
the keys to looking soo much better, was losing the weight (easily 35 pounds), being free, and being happy. And no more fighting. Maybe that explains the no wrinkle thing at 49! haha! Maybe some smile lines, whatever they are, but who doesn't want proof that they've smiled and laughed a lot in their life??
I definitely believe in ageing gracefully, but I think you can improve yourself at any age, and age any way you like... oh, and I think the long hair helps, too, and it doesn't hurt that it's long blonde hair! lol! Hey, if it works for the Housewives of Orange County, it can work for me!! lol! So, laugh as much as you can (not in a crazy way!! lol! Okay,
sometimes in a crazy way... haha!), eat well (just eat what you really love, not much else, and learn to love healthy food! lol!)(
dinny forget to eat the oatmeal!!), be happy, live well. That'll keep you lovely and young
forever!!
Age, schmage!! lol!
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Well, today I am 54 -
54, Success Galore! Haha! I always like to have a little rhyme for mah' birfday... and I'm happy to say I have a great relationship with my ex-husband... sometimes you just go through things... anyway, just wanted to clarify that! lol!
And I'm still at the gym all the time - we love to go for a gym 'n swim, since I AM a fish,
#Pisces! haha! We're all swimmin' along, tryin' to be all alluring - lol! (Gee, I thought there was one 'l' in alluring - maybe because I want to spell it a-lure-ing? haha! It's all a part of being a little fishy!
And now my son, Aidan, towers over me - so funny! And my lovely daughter, Cara, is so wonderful - I'm super lucky, and oh-so-grateful! That's gotta be a big key, too, right? lol!
Enjoy Every Day! Your Fishy Little Friend, Ailsa!! : ) xoxo!