maintenance

It’s beginning to look geriatric, every where you turn…

Posted on by miriambarrie

Yes, we are getting geriatric altogether, me, my husband, and our house. We just installed a floor-to-ceiling pole. Not for me to dance on, although one day if I get dementia, I just may. It’s so that my husband can grab onto it in order to get in and out of bed. He is suffering, according to the doctors, from the condition called “deconditioning,” which means his muscles are weak.

When we looked at recliners, we skipped over the ones that catapult you across the room. Sure, it would be easier for my husband but the goal is to strengthen, not weaken the already weakened muscles.

We just ordered a lift assist, a device that is supposed to help me help my husband to lift himself when he gets stuck in a chair.

My husband’s occupational therapist comes up with all these gadgets and devices, devices that make me realize that he is not the only one who needs assistance, that he is not the only one aging.

My pillbox that now occupies our dining room table reminds me that he is not aging alone and all these devices that now reside in my house, are a constant reminder that we are getting old altogether.

WILL I BECOME THIS ECCENTRIC OLD LADY? WILL I BE HER, OR SHE, ME?

Posted on by miriambarrie

This lady clearly loves flowers but her yard is slightly overgrown and there are odd pots strewn here and there.  Her house is a little run down and I can relate.  Once I got joy from doing the gardening and my daughter even bought me special  garden knee pads to help me with my work.   But my knees now hurt and I am afraid that if I go down on them, I may never get up.  Besides, I can only do a certain amount in the day, and writing and doing art has replaced my love of gardening.  I can see letting the house go a little at a time because that is how aging happens, a little at a time.  And at this point in my life, I became Cindi Lauper:  I JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN!

Nonetheless, I am very fond of this lady and her house and her garden and perhaps I will get a dog!

IT ALL STARTED HERE ON WORDPRESS WITH ONE LITTLE BLOG!

Posted on by miriambarrie

THANK YOU TO MY BLOG MASTER FOR PUTTING ME ON WORDPRESS.   I blogged a little blog.  A few people read it.  I blogged again – another little blog. People visited and viewed it.  I found I had an outlet to my voice.  I blogged again and again.  All little blogs. Now I have a book.  It is available for circulation in my local library.  One of my clients ordered a book and donated it to her local library.

“My father would be so proud,” my mother would tell me.   He revered books. My mother revered crafts.  As you can see, I had no shot at being a big business person from the very beginning!  But, I have already been on one podcast, one radio talk show, am scheduled to do a book talk, am scheduled to be on a local public access t v interview show, and will be on a podcast radio show -that operates out of Durham, NC.  And my book just debuted Oct. 6th!   “Not too shabby,” my friend would say.

If YOU WANT TO BUY A COPY FOR YOUR LIBRARY, THAT WOULD BE A FABULOUS CHANUKAH GIFT TO ME AND TO OTHERS WHO ARE AGING.  AND 18% of the proceeds goes to Memorial Sloan Kettering – if not for our sakes, then for the sake of our children.

p.s.  I AM FIVE FULL CHAPTERS INTO MY NEXT BOOK!

 

 

 

 

SENIOR MOMENTS

Posted on by miriambarrie

THANK YOU, Stu and Nina Held for the believing that my book warrants this hour long interview.  THANK YOU Maria Stieglitz for recognizing that you wanted this book on the air.

 

 

The Maintenance Plan: THE HOUSE

Posted on by miriambarrie

I am trying to maintain our money.  I am trying to make it last.

There is the house, our so called greatest asset (but also our greatest money pit).  There is the homeowners insurance.  There is the roof specialist and the boiler burner man. There is heating contractor. There is the plumber, the painter, the electrician, the gardner, the house cleaner.  There is the handyman and the general contractor, the mason, the bricklayer. There is the chimney sweep. There is the spring maintenance list and the fall maintenance list.   There are the garbage collectors  and the tax collectors. There is the arborist.

I am afraid that if I don’t maintain my house, one day I will wake up in an old lady’s house.  And that old lady will be me.  Then I worry that I may not wake up at all.

So, if I only have ten good years left, then maybe I had better do all those things I wanted to do while I can still walk and remember.  I had always wanted to go to Israel with my husband.  We put it off.  And now the JCC trip will only take people who are 65 and younger.  My husband is too old. 

I spent my whole adult life trying to get my house to look and function exactly right.  I almost succeeded.  But like Sisyphus, just as I reach the apex, that rock comes rolling down.  And besides, renovating is whole lot more fun than maintaining.  I wonder if I even know how many times I have painted each room.  I wonder if I will have to have the cement in the front and around the sides redone.  I wonder if I will care enough to have the work down.