Repurposing career clothes
Although I did experiment here and here with repurposing some of my career wardrobe, I quickly lost interest. I don’t dress that way anymore, basically living out of one laundry basket full of casual and athletic wear.
And yet … I’ve decided to keep what’s left – a jacket, a suit, a few skirts and a pair of slacks. At least for a little while longer. Reasons, in no particular order:
- I’ve pared it down to just a few pieces anyway, so it’s no big deal to keep them hanging in the closet.
- The pandemic has probably changed career fashion forever. I don’t think my style will be popular with anyone but me.
- All the charities I checked want larger sizes, and I don’t want to bother with consignment.
- They fit well and look good on me. Sometimes lacking other options, you have to wear your confidence.
- It’s more fun to dress up when it’s not 100 degrees. Fall is just around the corner.
- These are not normal times, and you never know what will happen. Post-pandemic renaissance? Apocalypse? I might need nice clothes.
The joy of movement
I visited the physical therapist, and all in all, it went well. I have some nits to pick about the process, but I heard what I wanted to hear. Basically, she said I have good mobility and should continue to do everything I want to do in terms of golf, swimming, stretching, walking and weights. With regard to osteoporosis, she said to avoid jumping and jarring movements but otherwise keep moving. Her team can help me with strength and balance.
They stretched out my problematic left buttocks area and decorated it with Kinesio tape, which presumably helps with muscle pain and inflammation. I must say it seems to be working! They put the tape on while I’m face down in the “child’s pose.” Of course, I can’t put the tape on myself, so I had Dale take a picture of me in case we need to replicate. He took the picture, but I’m not sure he’s on board with taping me. It’s not like I’m asking him to shoot an apple off my head.
I played golf twice, and I could definitely feel the burn, but I think it was just the normal aches and pains of returning to exercise after a 10-day rest. I tried to take it easy, forget about the score and feel the joy of movement. I will try swimming today.
Note to fellow retirees – be gentle but move as much as you can as often as you can. Mobility goes away quickly and is difficult to recover.
The limitations of movement
Movement is one of the reasons I don’t outsource housework. I do most of it, but Dale does make significant contributions to our efforts. The balance inside the home isn’t really an issue, but I did talk with him about adding some additional chores to his list. He’s always cooperative, but it annoys me that I have to spell it out for him.
Yardwork is a different story. This is where the limitations of movement are hitting home. I tend to be a workhorse, and as I always joke, Dale likes to put on a clean shirt and go bye-bye in the car. For the record, he does laugh when I say that!
Our neighborhood association maintains the front yard. We don’t have a huge backyard, and the pool takes up most of it. Dale has always said it wasn’t worth the money to hire someone to mow and blow such a small area. Especially since I ended up doing it most of the time. But there’s also pruning – and in previous years, that also fell to me.
Newly armed with spunk and MRI results, I said that time is gone. Beyond mow and blow, count me out. Shortly after my proclamation, he actually mowed and edged. I didn’t even know he knew how to use the edger. In the spirit of cooperation, I got out the blower and cleaned up. See how nice it is when we work together?
Message received. It went in one ear, stayed there and didn’t go out the other.
That means I’m shopping for some sort of landscape service. Although it’s not a big financial commitment, my first thought was I’ll start collecting Social Security later this year, and I could just pay for it from that account.
But my second thought was no way – why is it my responsibility? I know he truly doesn’t care who pays for it, he’s like yeah, whatever you want, but I remember all those bags of yard waste from last year, and my less kind self wants to see him cough up some cash. Reparations, if you will.
Oh, shit, this is bad
Lest we get too judgy in our aging years, Dale announced this morning he couldn’t find his keys, which include both house, car and mailbox. We looked everywhere, including the neighborhood mailbox, because he has left them there before.
Alas, no keys.
My smug self was thinking I would keep the mailbox key separate so as to avoid such a situation. But that’s me. Then I went down the path of we’re getting older, him especially, and this is likely to happen more often. Lost things. Kitchen fires. Who knows? From there, I plummeted to, “He’s got dementia. Oh, shit, this is bad.”
We went to a few doors asking if anyone picked up keys from the mailbox. Nothing. One neighbor was like, oh, shit, this is bad, and I said, indeed, I’m trying not to be judgmental. Another neighbor said to check with the Homeowner’s Association – people sometimes turn in lost items. Dale tried calling, and a recording said they were closed. I said, “Well, let’s just drive over there and see. I’ve got my keys.”
I reached into my purse and pulled out my keys. Except they were not my keys.
Wait! These look like your keys!
They are my keys!
We both burst out laughing. Apparently, he’d left them on the counter downstairs after picking up the mail, and when I was scooping stuff up after I came home from golf, clearly exhausted from exemplary play, I thought they were mine and dropped them into my purse.
One would assume he’s now thinking, looks like Donna has dementia. Oh, shit, this is bad.
Something like this has happened to everyone — regardless of age! I hope Dale didn’t make you eat crow. Pass the mayo!
After reading some of the comments, it looks like it does happen to a lot of people. Dale was very kind about it. I think more relieved than anything else.
Funny story about the keys. A similar scenario has happened in our house – more than once!
I like your rationale for hanging on to a few extra pieces of work clothing that you no longer where.
Those are my reasons as well — and I’ll stick with them for a little while longer! 😀
I went back and forth on the clothes thing, but I do agree — it doesn’t hurt to keep a few extra pieces.
I have a key story too. Years ago my daughter and I went to a Taco Bell. I must have laid my keys on the counter and left them there. When we got to the car, I didn’t have my keys. We went back in and asked if anyone had turned them in. There was only a married couple eating. No keys turned in. So I figured that I had put them on the tray and then when I dutifully emptied our detritus into the trash can, the keys went also. So the man of the married couple helped me go through the trash. No keys. I gave my phone number to an employee. I had an extra car and house key in my purse but I did not look forward to telling my boss that I had lost my key to the work building. About two hours later, Taco Bell called and said they had the keys. When the married couple arrived home, the man pulled his keys out of his pocket and, lo and behold, he had two sets of keys. He’d automatically picked up my keys and put them in his pocket.
I’m feeling a little better! That’s a great story. I’m sure you were as relieved as Dale was. But going through Taco Bell trash. I don’t know …
Donna,
I read and thoroughly enjoy all your posts!
I love your latest creation…I’m seeing 2 hands represented in there…any significant meaning?
I still have most of my work clothes and I retired 5 years ago. You have inspired me to get to weeding them out. We have a local church center that takes anything. They resell them which makes me feel that the money I dished out “years” ago will go back into the community! I also tend to dress a little nicer when going out which has not happened much in the last 18 months. We did have a family outing at a local restaurant, and I was appalled at how some folks dress to eat out…might as well have been McDonalds 😊!
I too have been having physical therapy for a number of issues…mainly osteoarthritis in the right hip and knees. Just that movement and my home exercises have helped!! Move it or lose it!
The story about Dale losing his keys and you sticking them in your purse just cracked me up. This happened to some (2 different neighbors). She had put his keys in her purse while visiting with them before leaving for their summer home to Ohio…we live in Florida. He was a Sheriff Deputy and the keys were to his Sheriff vehicle and he got into all kinds of trouble! She continued to deny picking up his keys from his table until she got back to Ohio and found them in her purse. Needless to say they never spoke after he got his keys back! There was a little judging involved!
Thanks for sharing with us!
Hi Carol — I’ve seen your “like” buttons and am glad you enjoy the blog. Thank you for joining in the discussion here.
The hands are probably about that prehistoric impulse to leave a hand print somewhere. But there might be more to it than that. As a new artist, sometimes I’m not sure where I’m going with a particular theme, but it speaks to me in some way regardless.
Another great key story. Men should take note — beware of women with purses! If this ever happens again, that’s the first place I’ll look.
Keys lost? Check. Reading glasses lost? Check. Now we are dealing with the “where did we put it as we moved?” issue. We cannot find any of our decks of cards, dice, spare batteries. Yes, there are still boxes to unpack (over 30), so hoping the lost items will turn up. And I moved way too many work clothes. It’s been 7 years! When am I going to admit I will not wear them again?
Right there with you. We moved more than 20 times in our careers. We still can’t find our wedding picture, which disappeared after our last move. Hope all is well in Florida!
While young had heard about – what was called at the time, senility; and had suspected the memory loss was being used to convince old people their usefulness is over (that’s evolution baby). Saw a chart, in 5th grade, that showed productive mental activity; from about the age of around three, the line shot up, and didn’t begin to dip until around the mid 80s – and it only dipped a little bit. Now am starting to get up in years, the whole memory loss thing sounds way more like gas-lighting. Yeah, old people mislay their keys … so. freaking, what!
I love your perspective and will adopt is as my own! Thanks for sharing this.
ha! ha! Your story of Dale’s lost keys was just so funny. I loved it:)
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Oh, this happens in our house a lot. Sometimes our missing items seem to appear out of nowhere. I will search the house top to bottom and then find the item in plain sight on a table. We are all losing it!
At least we’re in good company!
My parents were very different – my Dad was ordered and followed a system, my Mum is chaotic and wouldn’t know a system if it bit her. I’ve fluctuated somewhere between the two for most of my life but, these days, am a lot more ordered about where I put things. Himself – who lives his life by systems and order – is constantly having little panics about where he’s put his keys, his lens cover or his wallet. The main problem as I see it is that – as a man – he has plenty of pockets. Being a woman, I’m not so blessed, but when I do have many to choose from, I end up doing the pocket dance too (if minus the panic).
Oh & thanks – I had a really good laugh at your story 😀
We’re sort of all over the map when it comes to following systems. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I’m glad you had a good laugh. We all need that!