New, New and (Re) New

 I'm finding it challenging to write, considering all going on in the world.  Anything, well, okay, just about everything in my privileged world, seems inconsequential if not a first world problem.  But I think I can pull out a few threads from a couple things that occurred recently that might not be quite so centralized.  Or maybe not.  You can decide.

                                                           New Number One

 Recently I took a good look at the bathing suit I wear to water aerobics and was surprised to see how worn out it was, especially in the rear end area.  After all, this was my "new" suit which, upon reflection, was a couple years old and probably had run its course in chlorinated water.  I turned to my favorite website for water aerobics suits, swimoutlet.com, found a couple and voila!  New bathing suit comes directly to my front door.  That still feels rather magical to me.  You know, as you get older, at least a portion of your reminiscences involve how you ever managed to function without devices like cell phones or the internet or delivery trucks.

When I tucked the new suit into my gym bag (aloha.com) (which is also starting to show enough wear I might want to think about finding a suitable replacement among the stock of bags stuffed onto closet shelves here at home), I did briefly wonder if the ladies in the pool--there are a few gentlemen--would notice I had a new suit.

Because don't we still want to be noticed?  

All the research I see about the critical importance of social interaction for those of us of a certain age emphasizes that.  We want to have connections, places and situations where others look for us, comment on perhaps mundane things like the new bathing suit you wear to water aerobics.  But it makes you feel as if you matter.  

Well, yes, the suit was noticed and met with cries, "Where did you get that?"  "Give me the name of the website!"  "That's so cute!"

Perhaps my contribution to the social wellbeing of the crowd in the pool.  We can be willing to take that on, to some degree.

                                                                    New Number Two

Falling asleep and I have never been BFFs.  Nor has staying asleep been a jovial companion.  Come to think of it, I can't recall the last time I fell asleep and stayed asleep until morning--without aid of prescription medication.

I've noticed an increased emphasis on the importance of sleep for older adults and it garners conversation in the Fearless Aging classes I teach.  While the medication I have does knock me out for the night, it also leaves me feeling lethargic the next day. I use it only when I've really had it with not being able to sleep and am in continual search of natural ways of help me sleep.  So when I read this article, I was intrigued.  

I've been using cognitive shuffling for a couple months and generally find it effective.  I'm often surprised by the way my brain pops up words that are not part of my day to day vocabulary.  Another method I read about somewhere, and cannot find the reference as I write, is to mentally go into a location you're familiar with and gradually walk through it, taking in all the sights and smells and sounds.  I've used both the homes I grew up in, as well as the Michigan cottage we used to vacation at.

Full disclosure: this helps me with the initial drop into sleep as well as falling back to sleep when I wake up.  Deep breathing is also good, harkening back to the childbirth education days (cleansing breath, inhale 1, 2,3, hold, exhale 1, 2, 3.  And if you haven't watched Episode 8, Season 3 of The Bear, Ice Chips, and you gave birth in the '70s or '80s, I encourage you to do so.)  I also read somewhere recently that said turning on the television (in direct contrast to all the recommendations abhoring screens as you sleep) and listening to old sitcoms can help you favorite.  I use this (until the spouse puts the sleep timer on the tv, he who falls asleep and stays asleep within SECONDS of his head hitting the pillow) with reruns of Everyone Loves Raymond; Frasier and Roseanne.  None of these techniques keep me asleep more than a couple hours, but if I can fall right back to sleep in a couple minutes, we'll call it good.

                                                                            (Re) New

Back in the day, I traveled as a member of the board of the International Childbirth Education Association and worked as a trainer/consultant, traveling around the country doing trainings and workshops for childbirth educators.  And, back in the day, when I accepted a contract, I would immediately call my   travel agent, a wonderful woman named Patty, who would book the travel.  Ah, the reminiscences of the good old days, right?

Since the inception of the innerweb, I've done all the travel arrangements for our family and maybe it's just me, but does it feel to you as if air travel has gotten ridiculously complicated?  I suppose if you travel more than we do, you are far more conversant with the various levels of seating and the restrictions and/or perks associated with each.  I've heard tell of people who accumulate enough frequent flyer miles on their airline affiliated credit cards that they are able to just book First Class (or whatever the specific airline now labels it, which, in my experience, changes as frequently as the seasons if not more so).  Not so at this desk.

We are taking a what I would call a big cruise this fall, Hong Kong to Bangkok.  I've always wanted to see southeast Asia and think an escorted tour is the most advantageous way to do this, given our age.  Also we have an exchange son who lives in Chiang Mai, Thailand, so we're extending the trip to see him.  

Believing myself competent to navigate the world wide web, I've spent an extensive amount of time attempting to figure out the necessary flight itineraries.  Remember me talking about sleep?  It was keeping me up at night because I simply couldn't make point A work with point B...you get the picture.  

Enter the picture: the blessing of a Travel Agent, recommended to me by a friend, who arranged it all in less than a couple hours.  I'm hooked.  And knowing this help is available has abated what could be argued was unnecessary stress and anxiety, but you know, I'll take it.  One of the few times I'll defer to being 73.

I hope you are enjoying your summer.  Seeing this cucumber in my garden the other day has brought me joy, so I'll conclude with sharing this.