Who the heck am I and what the HELL am I doing?

Frankly I don’t know! This is my self indulgent attempt at figuring out the answers to those questions.

I've taken a couple of stabs at maintaining a blog over the years and, as with my New Year's Day journals, just never stuck with it. I'm going to include a couple of old posts here. A few were previously well-received, and a few received giggles.

However, my goal with this blog is to share with and build a community for "Women of a certain age" (men, too, if any are interested), maybe make people giggle once in a while, and selfishly, just get some shit off my chest. I can't be the only one struggling with all the changes mid-life is throwing my way and trying to unravel who the hell I am as the fight against gravity becomes more intense every day.

So here I am - gray hair, wrinkles, extra weight, bearing life lessons and baggage, cussing, double spacing after periods, all day long, finally acting my ace and, sometimes, desperately trying not to. Authenticity right?

So, a little about me. Fifty-something mother of 3, wife of 1, liberal living in a red state. Ok, I'll elaborate a bit for those who are interested. I have three children – one boy and two girls. (Zak 33, Shelby 31, and Emma 15 as of the date of this post - December 2023) I know you are thinking, by the time those other two were in high school, didn't they know how "those things happen" Well, yes, we did, and clearly, practice makes perfect. This is my second marriage; my husband didn't have any children, and yadda, yadda, yadda, we went to the hospital to have Emma on the first day of my son's senior year. Zak and Shelby are out living their lives and starting accumulate life lessons and baggage of their own. They have both found amazing people to share their lives with so I have two more great ones to love What can we say about Emma or rather how to we boil it down to a few sentences. Let’s start with there would be a giant gap in our lives, her brother’s and sister’s lives too, if we didn’t have Emma to push us out of our comfort zones and share her wisdom. Emma is the one keeping us young or giving me more gray hair, depending on the day.

My husband Carl and I attended the same high school in Amarillo, Texas. No, we didn't date in back then, but I always thought he was "the deal," apparently, he "noticed" me as well. Actually, his name came up a couple of times over the years while chatting with my girlfriends. You know the conversation, "Was there anyone you wished you had dated in high school?….." I specifically remember saying, Carl Jackson. Lots and LOTS happened between high school and our 20-year reunion, where we reconnected in line for the restroom of all places, but you will have to stay tuned to find out the details. 

By the way – we are a multi-racial family. As Emma used to describe us, Dad is brown, Mom is pink, and Emma is tan. I throw this in because there will likely be posts referencing our family and this dynamic. Let me just say, I’ve learned a lot.

We live in Texas – Dallas- a suburb of Dallas called Plano. That sounds so Texan, right? We live in Plain Ole, Texas. Anyway, there are some things to love about living here, where the heat comes right off of the hinges of hell. We have lots of wonderful friends. Despite the reputation, it really is green here. The schools are good, and if you keep your eyes open, you can catch sight of that rare bird, the liberal. Not many, mind you, but we do exist in the lone star state. Sometimes I feel like that lone star. The lone liberal - or at least that’s how it feels sometimes.

So this is a snap shot of my sublimely silver self. How’s that for alliteration?

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you stick around.

Cheers, Robin