I must say that as a mature adult, I am amazed at how much I can still learn.

For example, I lived my life struggling with hard butter on bread but I learned, probably from QVC a couple years ago, that I could leave butter “out” in an enclosed flip-top butter dish. The butter would get soft and wouldn’t get rancid…at least at the rate I used it. Voila! No more hard butter!

On the recent vacation in Hawaii, I learned that it can snow atop the volcano mountains. My friends all knew this, but I didn’t. I know now.

The dark is wonderful — it hides wrinkles and curves.

Gave blood again last Friday. Pretty boring except–another lady with a big mop of grey hair was in the chair next to me. I figured she was near my age–then she shouted out her birth year and it was somewhere in the 1960s. She could have been my daughter! I got over the shock with cookies courtesy of the blood drive. Pepperidge Farm Milano Dark Chocolate cookies can do wonders.

Beautiful people get old. When I watch TCM movies, I see beautiful young folks caught forever on film. I always wonder what it would have been like to look that gorgeous as a young person. Then what would it have been like to be not so beautiful any more? Courtesy of friend Libby, we saw performer Tom Jones last weekend. He’s 82 and used to be quite gorgeous. He came on stage using a walking stick, (pending a hip replacement operation), sat in a chair and his first song was about getting old. BUT his voice was darn good–and his personality utterly charming. We could see his face clearly projected on a large stage screen. Jones sang just a few of his hits, but he introduced us to many new songs as well. Yes, he embraced his current age fully, noted the past, but taught us all how to be older and still “with it”

My hours are better these days. At 11 p.m I am fast asleep and I’m up at 5 or 6. I have coffee and a biscotti, then I sit back to watch the news and I fall asleep for that last hour I need. So I’m up at 7 or 8 and I’ve had eight hours. A short nap in the afternoon and I’m ready to go out in the evening–home at night no later than 10:30 p.m. Life is so much simpler without late nights.

I gamble and when I go to casinos I feel safe, though when I leave alone, I make sure my purse can be a good weapon. I make sure and zip up my purse before going to the parking lot. Thought I was alone in doing that, but a friend says she does the same thing. So far, neither of us have had to use our weapons.

I don’t know what compelled me, but I ordered little Rolling Tubes (two for $3.99) that allow a person to carefully roll up a tube of toothpaste or lotion or whatever. I never had these little things before and typically wasn’t very good in personally rolling up my toothpaste tube. I LOVE the little rollers, and they make my counter look SO much more professional.

My gentleman friend has four great-grandchildren whom we’ve been seeing every couple of weeks. We have been trying to impart a few life lessons from the old folks. Two weeks ago we had as a guest, a friend, saxophonist Martin Mancuso. To give the kids an idea of Martin’s background I asked a few questions. When did Martin get interested in the saxophone? At age 20, having heard the sound on the radio and was intrigued. (I would have thought much earlier.) Martin never had lessons; he simply taught himself to play by practicing hours every day, and even now he practices daily. (More unexpected information.) He also plays piano and practices that as well. All of this we didn’t know about our friend Martin–until we were teaching the kids. Yes, old folks can keep learning.