I think Valley Girl kind grew out of the California surfer/hippie lingo.
I grew up in the NYC area, so we didn't ever full-on adopt the Val-speak thing. I don't think I ever heard anyone say "gag me with a spoon" or "bitchin'" non-ironically. However, my husband (who is from the same town as me) was a skater in high school, and I remember he and his friends definitely talked more California-esque than the rest of us.
Now I live in Massachusetts, which I believe is the one place where "wicked" was adopted into the local accent wholeheartedly by everyone. We still say "it's wicked hot out!"
I can definitely see how love of birds leads to gardening! I too have been adding native plants to our yard (along with my other veggies and flowers) at first because we have crappy soil, but I love seeing the all the bees and butterflies we have now! As I've added more plants we've gotten more birds as well.
I love my backyard so much, I feel like I'm creating our own little Garden of Eden out there. I don't know what I'll do when I run out of space to plant things, though!
I actually remember the specific day I realized I liked birds. It was about four years ago, and I was looking out the window drinking my tea and suddenly found myself wondering what kind of bird I was looking at. I downloaded a bird ID app and have been observing birds ever since.
I love our resident catbird; he perches in the lilacs and just sings and sings.
I think overusing "like" predated the Valley Girls; it was a big part of hippie speak in the 60's and 70's.
I think it's because big hair remained popular in some areas of the Bible Belt long after it went out of style everywhere else.
Though in their defense, most of those areas are in the southern U.S., and I can personally attest to the fact that the constant high humidity there results in unintentional big hair for many of us.
"Obedient" and "beagle" are two words that don't generally go together.
They do not so much "obey" as "occasionally agree" with you. It's not their fault, they have been bred for a thousand years to be completely single-minded in their pursuit of critters. As such, a certain amount of stubbornness and independent thinking was required for a dog to remain on a critter's scent for many miles.
There's an entirely different standard for obedience when it comes to beagles. I thought maybe I was just not good at training dogs, but then I adopted a second dog, who is not a beagle and she was SO EASY to train. She wants SO BADLY to be a Good Girl. Every fiber of her being wants to please me, and when I was training her just being petted and affirmed and praised and knowing that I thought she was a Good Girl was enough of a reward.
Meanwhile, my beagle-mix does not give a rat's ass about being a Good Boy. He will do the required action IF there is food or a squeaky toy involved, or if it was something he was planning to do anyway. However, on many occasions I would say "Come!" or "Leave it!" and he would look at me, cock his head a bit as he thought about it, and then give me a look that clearly said "I am CHOOSING to be a Bad Dog and I don't care!"
Well, I live in a walkable town and work from home - so I already walk or ride my bike most places. So I probably wouldn't care all that much.
My mom was in early stage dementia when we took her keys away. She had just had an incident where she "got lost" on the way home from work (she had worked at the same place for 50 years, and it was 5 miles from her house), and she was very shaken up from that experience so she didn't fight me at all on it. However, I did sell her car IMMEDIATELY so she couldn't change her mind and try to get back in it!
Listen, I was the most uncoordinated person on earth. I was always picked last for every team, after the fat kid and the disabled kid. I once broke my toe TRIPPING OVER A COFFEE TABLE that somehow I didn't notice was in front of me.
But put me on two wheels in the woods and I am surprisingly good at it. In fact, my specialty is technical riding on super janky rocky trails. I do not know why I have this odd talent for balance that ONLY happens when I am on a bike, but there it is.
It's hilarious because people assume since I'm a strong rider I must be good at other sports and activities - but NOPE. Mountain biking is the only thing I am competent at.
Haha, same here! My mother used to call me and tell me what was currently blooming in her garden, and she'd mail me photos of the garden and I was like "why are you calling me to tell me that plants are doing what plants normally do?" LOL.
Then last year I suddenly got the urge to garden. And ever since them I've been digging up the yard, composting, spending all my money on plants, growing vegetables, berries and flowers...I text my kids and send them pictures of what is blooming and how great my compost is. I have 100% turned into my mother.
I also suddenly realized I really, really like birds. I was completely indifferent to birds until a couple years ago. Now I have several bird feeders and a bird bath and I get the biggest kick out of seeing what birds show up. We had a catbird family nesting in the lilac bush and I was sending my kids daily updates on the baby bird situation. When the baby birds left the nest, I was both proud of them and a little sad to see them grow up so fast - my kids joked that I was replacing my "little birdies" with real birds, and projecting my empty-nest emotions onto Mrs. Catbird.
Things I've started doing since I was 40 (I'm 55 now): Mountain biking, knitting, crocheting, painting, gardening...I used to play the violin and I'm going to start that up again as well, now that my kids are moving out and the house is getting too quiet!
We walk in the early, early morning before it gets hot, or in the evening after the sun goes down. If you are walking on pavement, be aware that they can burn their paws if it's too hot. I usually test it out myself barefoot to make sure it won't hurt their paws.
As others have said, plenty of water and be aware they may need more potty breaks from drinking more water than usual. When it's really hot, my dogs will often need to go out to pee either late at night or earlier than usual in the morning.
They usually aren't super energetic when it's hot, so they won't mind a shorter walk/less outside time than usual.
Sometimes I get them Frosty Paws frozen treats (my supermarket has them in the ice-cream section). It's a dog-safe ice cream type thing.
My dog is elderly, so he feels the heat more than he used to when he was young. Getting their paws wet with cool water helps cool them down. If yours likes to go in water, you could do a kiddie pool; if not, you can use a cool wet washcloth to cool the paws.
I am usually a 7.5 in most conventional shoes; in running shoes I'm usually an 8 (I now realize this is because of the tapered toes on conventional running shoes).
I have the Primal Zen in 7.5 and they fit me perfectly.
I'm 55 and improving my jump game!
My husband is 53 and he still sends it with the young guys.
There's a 67 year old guy who I've ridden with who isn't very fast, but he still hits all the drops and jumps.
As you get older, you do have really pay attention to all that boring stuff like nutrition, rest and recovery, stretching/mobility, and strength training. I mean, *everyone* should be doing that - but you really *have* to when you are older.
Edited to add: I went to school in the '70s and '80s, so autism/ADHD were not even on the radar. Autism was the kid in special ed who banged his head on the wall all the time and was non-verbal. ADHD was something only little boys had and was blamed on too much sugar and bad parenting. Somehow, no one ever really questioned why a little girl with extremely high scores on every standardized test had so much trouble completing homework assignments; so I was always told I was "bright but lazy" and an "underachiever".
According to my mom, I taught myself to read at age 3. I was a proficient reader before I started school, which caused some problems. They kept trying to teach me the alphabet - and I was like "I already KNOW this, I am reading chapter books!" To make matters worse, I was emotionally/socially very young for my age and had a hard time with emotional regulation, social skills, etc. So, instead of going into first grade, I was put in a "transition" class. It was awful, because all my friends were now a grade ahead of me, and the kids in the transition class were for the most part the slower/dumber ones so it was even more frustrating academically.
School was terrible for me, because it was much to easy academically, plus it was boring (I was eventually diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 36) and the social aspect was very difficult. I had very few friends. Most of the other kids thought I was weird and didn't like me. This didn't really bother me because I preferred to play alone anyway. However, around 4th or 5th grade, I guess I realized that I was supposed to want to have friends, and that no one liked me because I was weird. This realization gave me some intense social anxiety. I was terrified to go out of my house for a year or two; I now realized other kids were making fun of me. I became such a recluse that many of the kids in my neighborhood thought I moved away.
In junior high, I made a concerted effort to act normal and blend in better. All the other girls loved Duran Duran, so I said I loved Duran Duran also. I tried to wear the same clothes that other people had, and tried to do the same stuff they did. It kind of worked, and I made some friends - but it was exhausting.
In ninth grade, I had a revelation that perhaps I should stop caring about other people liking me, and just worry about whether I liked them. I started listening to music I liked vs. what was popular, wearing what I liked regardless of whether it was "approved" by the cool kids, etc..
I went to a very large high school, which was a blessing and a curse. It was great because I met other kids who were also misfits, and for the first time in my life had close friends. I could be as weird as I wanted - there was freedom in the anonymity. The downside was that I went from all A's to C's and D's, because I skipped class a lot and smoked a lot of weed. My new friends were not very academic, so neither was I. Being such a large school, it was easy to fall through the cracks.
I still had some trouble with social skills. I tended to get myself in awkward situations, because I wasn't good at reading other people. For example, I would meet a guy who seemed cool and fun, and I'd want to hang out with him because it was fun - but I usually failed to realize he was romantically interested in me and then it would result in awkward situations with a lot of miscommunication. Also, I ended up dating people I didn't really like because I felt like I was supposed to have a boyfriend, but I wasn't good at figuring out whether I liked a person or not.
I did not go to college after high school; partly because I didn't understand how to pay for it (I knew I only had a couple hundred dollars, and college cost thousands and thousands of dollars, but I didn't realize loans were possible), and partly because I had enough of being in school. My father was dying of cancer at the time, so my parents were preoccupied with that and no one noticed that I never took my SATS or applied to college or anything.
I started working and after a couple false starts found a great job and did well in it. However, it would have been much easier in life if I had gone to college; I got passed over for promotions a few times because the position required a bachelor's degree.
Eventually, in my 20's, my social skills improved. But I'm still kind of bad at female friendships, because I think I still come across as weird and stand-offish. But, I do have a few close female friends, and a lot of male friends, and a great husband who puts up with my weirdness.
I'm terrible at keeping in touch. I don't want to bother people, so I tend to not call/text/email unless I actually have something to tell them. I guess you're supposed to reach out more often than that, though.
I do best with regular, structured get-togethers. For example, I meet a group of friends to ride bikes every week. It's always at the same time/same place, so whoever can make it will show up.
Disclaimer: I am not formally diagnosed, but having produced at least one child who is indisputably on the spectrum and another who is suspected to be, I assume I am at the very least autism-adjacent.
I have three children, who are all young adults now. There were some aspects of motherhood that were very difficult for me, and others which were wonderful.
Being pregnant was not my favorite thing. It was like PMS for nine months, with all the attendant sensory issues. My third pregnancy was the easiest, probably because by then I had figured out what sort of foods work better for me and I exercised daily throughout my pregnancy. Still, I did not find it enjoyable.
I rather enjoyed giving birth; it felt like an accomplishment. It is gross and painful, but also a miracle.
I enjoyed breastfeeding once I got the hang of it. It does have quite a learning curve, though. I liked not having to deal with bottles and formula.
If you are autistic, there is a strong chance your children will be also. My eldest was clearly on the spectrum right from the start. She was very fussy and screamed all of the time; but if I put her in her crib and turned on her aquarium mobile, she'd calm right down and just stare at that. She really appreciated a strict schedule and was a very happy baby as long as we did things exactly the same every single day. But God help you if her nap was delayed slightly - she'd get herself into such a state she would be incapable of calming down. She loved motion, so swinging in a swing, car rides, or long walks in the backpack or stroller soothed her. As a toddler, she developed ARFID which was difficult to deal with, especially because this was 20+ years ago, and I couldn't find any resources to help her. I ended up buying a book aimed at clinicians who were transitioning tube-fed children to eating by mouth, and used those techniques to help her. It took a long time but she is an adult now and eats a fairly normal balanced diet.
My second child was also neurodivergent. She has ADHD (like me) and probably is on the spectrum as well (she is being evaluated next month). She was the opposite from the first, in that I could not EVER get her on anything resembling a schedule as she seemed to have no internal clock. She is an adult now and still has no internal clock. She hated any sort of motion (car, stroller, etc.), and also hated everyone who was not me. She was very sensory seeking vs. daughter #1 who was sensory avoidant. So, it was challenging having the two of them so close in age (24 months apart) because they loved and hated the opposite things.
Child #3 is the closest we have to a neurotypical. She was a normal amount of fussy, which seemed amazingly easy compared to the first two who were off the charts fussy. Also, she figured out that she was supposed to sleep at night much earlier than the other two.
As they got older the hardest thing to deal with for me was the noise level. They are all girls, and they all had lots of big feelings, and there was much screaming about said big feelings.
Aside from that, I loved raising my girls. They all had sensory issues, but so do I, so I was experienced in dealing with those. I didn't care if they wore mismatched clothing or refused to wear shoes or wouldn't eat pudding because I understood how they felt.
They are all young adults now and wonderful people. I would want to hang out with them even if I wasn't related. My husband jokes that I needed to create a tribe so I'd have some friends!
I think it would have been easier on me to have family close by so I could get a break now and then. I did not have any family closer than 4 hours away, plus I was dealing with my mother's dementia and care from another state. We couldn't afford babysitters, and my kids are not the kind of kids you could put in daycare, so it was all me all the time. I think it would have been easier if I had been the ability to get a break now and then. But, at the same time, not having family around meant I didn't have to deal with relatives telling me I was doing everything wrong, so there's that.
Can confirm, nearsighted my whole life and I can see up close if I take my glasses off. However, I am too lazy to keep taking them off and on so I have progressive lenses in one pair.
55 year old.
I've worn glasses since second grade, but now they are progressive lenses because I need them for close up as well as far away. That happens to everyone, by the way - it's called presbyopia and even my husband, who has always had 20/20 vision, now needs glasses to see his phone or computer screen.
I have perfect teeth and excellent hearing. My mother needed hearing aids in her late 70's; but she had perfect teeth right up til the end (she passed away at 83).
Correct number of bikes is n+1.
My husband sometimes regrets that he got me into mountain biking, as I now have five bikes.
Personally, I like to not have a lot of overlap between my bikes. I have a big bike for DH parks and enduro, a mid-travel trail bike for most riding, a lightweight XC hardtail for when I want to do lots of miles fast on boring trails, and a fatbike for when there's snow.
If I had two of the same type of bike, I'm pretty sure there'd be one I liked more for whatever reason and it would get ridden most of the time while the other just sat there.
It stops bleeding when applied externally. It has antiseptic and painkilling properties.
Also good for stomach cramps, menstrual cramps, and anxiety/insomnia.
I've got a couple plants of pink yarrow and want all the yarrow colors now! So pretty and undemanding.
I was going to comment that my family could only dream of fancy patio furniture - we had those plastic strap chairs that left imprints in your legs!
The whole having a job thing really cuts into my riding time.
YES! I was having all sort of pain in my big toe joint, which doctors told me was just due to being over 50 - but it turns out it was actually due to cramming my over-50 feet into conventional tapered-toe shoes.
What's the most important thing in a shoe?
barefootshoestalk