Today on weekend meanderings, scheduling annual health screenings, a must-see family and legal drama, new year’s intentions and a fun giveaway. Enter to win!
Happy Saturday, friends!
It’s time for the weekend post with Kim and Elizabeth. Our weekly roundup of inspirations and goings on.
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Our transplanted lemon tree seems to be doing really well. Thank goodness. I picked the last lemons a couple weeks ago and covered the tree to protect it from recent frost.
Last week I shared some of the home maintenance chores I’ve been ticking off my to do list. And this week I’m continuing that theme with personal preventative maintenance … scheduling important health screenings. Don’t roll your eyes, it’s important.
Annual Health Screenings
I know, I know, another scintillating topic. But these are good things to get scheduled … on your calendar and off your to-do list.
- Preventative care screenings like an annual physical (scheduling this has become challenging as primary care doctors flee to concierge practices, but that’s a topic for another day). My annual physical mostly involves a blood pressure check and ordering bloodwork (cholesterol and blood sugar levels).
- And then there’s always-looked-forward-to ob/gyn visit for a Pap smear, breast exam and ordering of annual mammogram. And, my doctor renews my HRT prescription for another year.
- Visiting the dermatologist for a full body skin check is super important. Depending on personal history, this might be done more frequently. I also get benign growths and irritating spots zapped off and review my skincare routine in a futile effort to stay one step ahead of mother nature.
- Eye exam. Embarrassing admission, I haven’t been to the eye doctor in at least 10 years. My vision seems fine – I’ll find out soon enough because I just scheduled an appointment. I use over the counter reading glasses and hope I can continue with that.
- Dental cleanings – I go twice a year (Jim goes three times). At this point in our lives we all know that dental health is essential to our overall health.
And then there are screenings that come with the privilege of age.
- Colonoscopy anyone? I had my first colonoscopy at 54 and I’m on an every-ten-year plan so I’m due in 2026. I can’t wait. Jim’s on a 5-year plan and had the joy of the procedure last year.
- Bone density – I asked for a bone density scan (DXA scan) when I turned 50 because I read that it’s good to get a base line reading at that age. I expected the technician to be oh-my-godding over my exceedingly dense bones. I drink a lot of milk. Turns out my scan resulted in a normal reading. Which is good. But, having expected to be held up as an example of excellent bone health for my age I was a little let down. Still … I drink my cocoa every morning because one must remain vigilant. I suppose it might be time for another scan, and I’ll inquire when I go for my physical.
I’m sure there are others preventative health check that I’m not aware of or haven’t needed – yet. It goes without saying that I’m not a doctor and know nothing about anything, and this is just a summary of what I do.
Speaking of skin checks, last November I went to my dermatologist (Dr. Jerome Potozkin) for an overall skin check and to check out at a couple of concerning spots on my face and arm. Both were biopsied and both are basal cell carcinoma. Bummer. The good news is that basal cell carcinoma is easily treated and not likely to cause bigger issues (left untreated all bets are off, so it needs to be addressed ASAP).
Days 2, 4 & 5
Ten days ago the spot on my face was removed with a MOHS procedure at Dr. Potozkin’s office. Because the location under my eye is tricky, the next day I had plastic surgery (Dr. Jon-Paul Pepper, Stanford Medicine) to close the wound. The spot on my face had been there for some time (years) but I thought it was something else (long story) and didn’t think to have it checked. Dumb. So, when I went in for my MOHS procedure, I braced for a not-great situation and was delighted – and grateful – to have a best-case-scenario outcome.
Day 6 & Yesterday
My stitches were removed a few days ago and the spot on my arm will be excised next week.
This was my second MOHs surgery and third basal cell carcinoma. In the future I’ll be a lot quicker to get myself to Dr. Potokzin when something suspicious pops up. In the meantime, suncreen and sunglasses aren’t allowed so I went looking for my favorite hat. Unbeknownst to me, Jim had disappeared it (it had seen better days) and surprised me with a replacement which arrived in the nick of time.
The truth is (don’t tell Jim) I knew my hat was toast but had searched and searched for a replacement and been overwhelmed by all the choices. These are some of the options I saved.
Have you had a skin check recently?
The Split
The past ten days I’ve had a lot of time on my hands, and finally read Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction & Intrigue, and watched a lot of TV. Jim and the dogs were more than happy to join me on the sofa and we watched all three seasons of The Split on Hulu. A British legal and family drama centering around a mother and three sisters, their family law firm and ongoing fall out from the parent’s divorce when the sisters were young. The series stars Nicola Walker, one of my favorite actors who stars in a couple of other favorite shows – Last Tango in Halifax, and Unforgotten. The Split is comprised of three, six-episode seasons (2018 – 2022). But there’s good news, a two-part special – The Split: Barcelona – was recently released in Britain and will be headed our way (hopefully soon). Anyway, we loved this series, didn’t want it to end, and can’t recommend it enough.
We also watched the five-episode series, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, starring Colin Firth which is intense and fascinating. The horrific 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland had faded from my memory and the series brought it all back. It’s the story of Dr. Jim Swire, father of one of the planes passengers, relentless search for the truth of what happened. It takes a lot of twists and turns sending us to Google time and again to learn more. CNN has a four-part documentary coming out – Lockerbie: Bombing of Pan Am 103 – on February 16 further examining the mysterious circumstances around this tragic event.
Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream
In my never ending quest to find a nighttime facial moisturizer that I like (not too heavy, no off-putting fragrance, clean, cruelty free), I’ve taken the drastic step of ordering the very pricey Augustine’s Bader The Rich Cream.
Many influencers, celebrities, and magazines swear by this product and I see it mentioned everywhere from social media, blogs, and newsletters to magazine articles. Suddenly it dawned on me that this may be the result of a savvy (and effective) brand marketing strategy.
Anyhoo, what finally pushed me to press purchase? I don’t know. I’m running low on current product, and I can’t seem to outrun the algorithm pushing toward it toward me. That and I found out it’s available in four sizes, so I order a the smallest size (.05 fl.oz.) which at $98 seems more palatable. The largest size, 3.38 fl.oz., is $550. Ouch.
Based on recommended usage of two pumps, twice a day I did some calculations. The brand site says that the largest size will last 12 weeks. Ok … I would only use it once a day, in the evening. During the day I use Neutrogena’s oil free moisturizer with SPF at the can’t-beat-it-price of around $16-18 for 3.3 fl.oz. Wow, that really puts things in perspective. Anyway, if I used The Rich Cream once a day for 24 weeks that works out to about $3.27 per use. Less than a Starbuck’s cocoa, but I gave up my Starbuck’s habit years ago and make my cocoa at home. Is this considered girl math?
I ordered the smallest size and will give it a try and report back. This is more of an investigative experiment. There is about zero chance I’d spend that much on a moisturizing cream long term … unless it works some kind of miracle. We’ll see.
The Year of Less
New Year’s resolutions may have fallen out of fashion, at least with those of us who’ve been around the block a time or two. Enough times to know that good intentions and declarations to the contrary, 2025 is likely to be New Year/Old Me. That said, a new year feels like a fresh start and setting an intention(s) or choosing a word or phrase to inspire our mindset – hopes, dreams and goals – is worthwhile.
My word for the year is less. How’s that for inspirational?
These are some of the things there will be less of in 2025 …
- Less stuff
- Less consumption
- Less commitment (saying no is hard, I’m getting better)
- Less rush
- Less should
- Less social media (being online in general)
- Less drama
- Less worry
- Less guilt
- Less regret
- Less sadness
- Less judgement
What’s the point of all this less? To make room for more, of course. More freedom, more living, more peace, more generosity, more contentment. The space to experience and be more. And that brings me to favorite author Shira Gill who’s books have been instrumental in my path towards embracing less.
LifeStyled Giveaway
Shira Gill’s latest book, LifeStyled: your Guide to a More Organized & Intential Life, arrived in my mailbox over the holidays and its so good I read through it in a day or so. Shira is a home organizational expert, and life coach, and author one of my all time favorite books, Minimalista. I’m not a minimalist by any means although over the past decade i’ve embraced owning less – a lot less – stuff.
Her first book Minimalista focuses on getting our home spaces decluttered and organized, LifeStyled focuses on streamlining our daily lives. With emphasis on adjusting the volume (this is such a great metaphor), creating systems and implementing habits.
With my decision to make 2025 a year of less, the book’s timing couldn’t be more serendipitous. One of my goals is to start batching – or stacking – appointments, errands and household chores on specific days, preferably mornings, at the beginning of the week. To make batch scheduling easier, I opted for a soft sided, journal style planner this year. It fits in my bag so I can take it with me and schedule next appointments (salon, doctors, whatever) and avoid my usual schedule, then get home, look at my calendar and realize I need to reschedule. Irritating for all cocnerned. And yes I use a paper calendar and no I won’t be switching to electronic (I’ve tried and it doesn’t work for me).
With that preamble out of the way, what better way to kick off 2025 than with a giveaway!
I loved LifeStyled so much – and I think you will too – so I bought two more copies for a New Year’s giveaway. To enter the drawing, subscribe (or be an existing subscriber) to the blog – sign up here – and leave a comment below sharing something you’d like to streamline this year … or something you’ve already streamlined and the rest of us need to know about. Enter before midnight on Thursday, January 24th. On Friday I’ll put all the entries into my new hat and ask Jim to draw two names. The winners will be announce in next Saturday’s post. Good luck!
LifeStyled | Straw Hat | The Rich Cream | Planner
Current Favorites ~
And that’s what I have for you this week. Let’s see what’s inspiring Kim and Elizabeth.