Laments About Other Muddles

Happy New Year

Muddle on with Laughter!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all my dear Middle-aged Muddlers,

It’s December 26, the start of that short pause in the festivities before New Year’s Eve, time to catch our breath and reflect on the year that’s ending and the new one that’s just days away.

For me, it’s a time to give thanks for family and friends. And you, my family of readers and subscribers, I give special thanks.

Here’s to a Happy, Healthy 2019 to you and all those you hold dear!

🎊

Now onward to more muddled laughter in the New Year!

I’ve Been Naughty. Now I’m Getting Spanx-ed

Calories, then Compression and Depression

I've Been Naughty. Now I'm Getting Spanx-ed

‘Tis the season to over-indulge, true. But, alas, ’tis also the season to sequin, shimmy, and shake – all of which challenge chubby, out-of-shape, middle-aged me.

And while I can still wedge myself into my cute holiday clothes, do I look cute? Hardly. I more resemble that lump of coal Santa leaves children who have been naughty, not nice, than I do some hot party babe.

So, sadly I’m giving myself a Spanx-ing. Read more

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I Say Phone. You Just Phub

Phone Plus Snub Equals Phub. SOB!

I Say Phone. You Just Phub

Do you know someone who spends too much time on their cell phone? Silly question. Of course, you do. Do you spend too much time on your cell phone? Of course, you do. Confession: I do too.

According to one study, people typically touch their phones 47 times per day! Now that’s scary! And the number jumps to 82 times per day if you’re between 18 and 24 years old. Scarier still. Read more

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A Hurricane-Hound Brings Sunshine

by guest contributor Olga

Hurricane-hound brings sunshine to our home

“In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire …
Hurricanes hardly happen.”
                                                                     My Fair Lady, Lerner and Loewe

Hurricanes also happen in Florida, and as a result of one, this hurricane-hound now calls California home.

It was all so scary at first – given up to a Florida shelter and then scooped up by a huge, noisy, metal bird and taken to a different shelter in a strange new city. Read more

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Trick-or-Woof!

Happy Bark-o-ween!

Trick-or-woof

Trick-or-woof! So barks Olga, our four-year-old Labrador, and ruler of our roost.

OK. Scary she’s not. Silly she is.

So, Olga is opting for elegance, not fierce, furry or fiery this Halloween.

But trick-or-treaters beware! Olga’s got an ear-splitting warning/welcome bark and a face-drenching lick!

And while Handsome Hubby and I are away vacationing, guess who’s next week’s Muddling through Middle Age’s special guest columnist?

Hint, hint. She’s a middle-aged muddler’s best friend! Woof!

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Therapy for the Masses

Good for Apartment Dwellers and Homeowners Too!

Therapy for the Masses

I’m trying a new form of therapy. No, not cognitive behavior therapy. Not somatic therapy, nor psychoanalytic therapy. Not even retail therapy. Instead, I’m fixating on Apartment Therapy.

Are you familiar with Apartment Therapy? AT, as I like to call it, is a lifestyle blog and publishing company focused on home design and decor. And it’s not any old blog. According to Forbes Magazine, AT is “one of the most influential interior design sites on the Web.”

You might wonder why I, a homeowner with a five-bedroom house, reads AT. Read more

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Caffeinated and Infatuated. The Barista of My Dreams

Hot and Steamy on Demand

Caffeinated and Infatuated

For the record: I’m no coffee connoisseur. I drink lattes because they satisfy my two chief criteria for coffee – lots of milk and lots of room for sugar. But recently, I met the barista of my dreams. Now I’m caffeinated and infatuated.

The day I met my new love, I was in that early morning pre-coffee kind of stupor. Slow moving and slow thinking, I practically bumped into this stunning, towering cool creator of caffeine and other bubbling hot delights. I was instantly overwhelmed. Read more

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Klutz Meets Cake. Cake Wins

Cake Catastrophe

Klutz Meets Cake. Cake Wins

Last week was Handsome Hubby’s birthday. What do you give a man of modest needs and wants who has everything but the time to enjoy what he’s got? A delicious home-cooked dinner with a cake made from scratch, thought I, a cooking klutz.

The truth is I’m actually a pretty decent cook, but I am sadly severely baking-challenged. So, I spent much time searching for a dessert recipe that was delicious, but also doable.

Death by Chocolate Chip

After much debate, I picked a recipe for a Mocha Chocolate Chip Cake with Mocha Chocolate Chip Icing. Death by chocolate chip! What a sweet way to go!

But then, barely-able-to-bake me made a mistake. Instead of using my tried and true 8-inch cake pans, I decided to Read more

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Household News You Can Use

And Eat Too!

Household News You Can Use

Does all the gloom and doom of the news get you down? Well, cheer up! Here’s household news you can use … and eat too!

It’s all thanks to my hometown newspaper, The New York Times, and a terrifically tasty morsel, I mean, just published article entitled “Beyond Lemons and Vinegar: How to Clean with Ketchup, Vodka, Butter and More.” It’s a cook’s, I mean, cleaner’s dream.

The article goes way beyond those old pantry cleaning standbys of baking soda, lemons, and salt, and takes us into the yummy culinary, I mean, cleaning arena of butter, potatoes, wine (white AND red), and olive oil! This is better than sliced bread. Oh, wait. Sliced bread is also on this innovative culinary/cleaning list! Read more

Cake Porn

Confessions of a Chubby Middle-aged Woman

Cake Porn

OK. It’s true confession time. And it’s one to take the cake.

Everybody has an addiction, a guilty pleasure. Mine? Cake porn. Yes, I’m a cake … and cookie … and cupcake … and pie-aholic. I’m indiscriminate and undiscerning. If it’s baked, I’m in. I cannot get my fill of the stuff.

Some people say it’s a good idea to eat dessert first, but they’re all talk. I don’t just talk about it. I regularly dessert first, dine second.

Some people like cold pizza for breakfast, but if you ask me, nothing beats leftover chocolate birthday cake.

My obsession with cake extends way beyond ingesting the stuff, I’m a voyeur as well. Read more

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