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Today is one of those wonderful lazy days that retirees come to know and love. The holiday week-end is over and although I did nothing very taxing, it feels good to just relax, read, and play a little with the photos I took while visiting my daughter, Kristi.

For years, I have attended AALA’s banguet dinner with her. The convention is always held on Memorial Day Weekend and the Banguet on Sunday night. Although I hate the freeways on holidays, it wasn’t a bad drive down on Sunday afternoon. On our return trip Monday, the heavy traffic was headed in the opposite direction. All in all a pleasant time as you can see from the photos.

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“Heavenly Father, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us. Amen.”

Early this morning, my friend Gloria sent me the following in an e-mail. It was in response to my inquiry about bloggers over 55. “Oh, I found this site that lists sites about aging - Boomer Blogs - scroll past the google ads.”

Well it is now early evening and I have spent most of the day on the internet reading blogs, reading great articles on ageism, and generally having a good time. The laundry is piled up, the bed not made, and I just told Bob that a quick salad is my idea of a good Thursday night dinner. Bless him, he just smiled and said, “Sounds wonderful”.

After exploring enough blogs to cross my eyes, I came across this excellent site which I spent the rest of the afternoon reading Senior Women Web. The articles are really great. I particularly loved Rose Mula’s The Stranger in my House.

So all my baby boomer friends and family, those who have boomed already, and those too young to think about booming, check it out. I think you will enjoy the reading. And if you don’t get your housework done and dinner on the table on time, don’t blame me. Blame Gloria, it is all her fault.

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An email came to me yesterday with this picture of a new stamp recently issued by the US Postal Service. It was designed by Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland and it is officially called the “Fund the Cure” stamp. The purpose of this beautiful stamp is to help fund breast cancer research.

As I looked at it and thought about how close we are to a cure, I said a prayer for each woman who will hear the words I heard 13 years ago, “Your biopsy came back positive”. As I walked out of the Doctor’s office and into the bright summer afternoon I thought, “Well I probably have three years to live or maybe less” and then being me, my next thought was, “Why in hell did I spend so much time eating nutrionally and exercising diligently. If I had to do it over, I would enjoy more ice-cream and my only exercise would be walking between the refrigerator and the TV.” Of course neither of these thoughts were rational, but hearing those words from my doctor had left me in shock.

To make a long story short, I had the mascetomy and seven years later reconstruction. Today, I am as healthy as a horse and yes, I still eat nutrionally and I exercise faithfully. Recently, I had the opportunity to tell my story at an American Cancer Society support group. It is a special gift to be able to say to women who have recently gone through surgery, chemo-therapy, or radiation ” I made it and I believe you will, too.”

Back to the stamp. Instead of the routine 37 cents for a stamp, this one costs 40 cents. The additional 3 cents will go to breast cancer research. A “normal” book costs $7.40. This one is only $8.00. It takes a few minutes in line at the Post Office to purchase it and it will means so much. If all stamps are sold, it will raise an additional $35,000,000 for this vital research.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if 2005 became the year of a cure for breast cancer. The idea that we could raise 35 million by buying a book of stamps is powerful. I plan to make a stop at the post office for my book of stamps, tomorrow. I certainly can afford that extra 60 cents the new book costs. We all need to get behind this effort. Let’s do it for all the women and their families whose lives are turned upside-down by breast cancer. Let’s do it for our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, and our friends.

See you at the post office.

We are back from a wonderful time in Port Hueneme. Seabee Days were great. I have just finished the photo album so check it out. The ocean breezes kept us moderately cool, but both Bob and I have signs of more sun exposure than healthy. We look quite red.

Now that we are back, the reality of the heat wave that has hit Southern California and particularly the desert is upon us. Triple digits already. Oh it is going to be another really HOT summer. Last night we went over to the shop and the heat inside without air conditioning was in the high 90’s. This morning Bob got busy on the air conditioner over there because when it gets close to 100 degrees it sets off the security fire alarm which brings out the local fire department. Very embarrassing, not to mention that it ties up our firemen at a time they may be needed somewhere else. I am happy to say, the air-conditioner is now working and the building a cool 80 degrees already.