Intervention

It's been a long time since I had to do one of these intervention posts!

Well, I suppose there's plenty in the way of stress I can chalk this week's scale reading up to. Hearing that I was going to need surgery was a tough pill to swallow. When I'm stressed, I snack. And two doctor's visits this week even cost me one of my walks. (I'm going to try and make that up this afternoon.) At any rate, I weighed in at 147 this morning --- 2 lbs. heavier than last Sunday. I've got no time to waste. I can see all those holiday goodies on the horizon. Doesn't it seem like there are good things to eat everywhere you go between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day? I may as well whittle away as much as I can before the holiday temptations begin...

Fitness
I purchased some a pair of 2-lb. wrist weights yesterday, so will be wearing those now as I do my morning and evening exercises everyday and when I walk on the weekends. They feel so heavy right now compared to the 1-lb. wrist weights I've been using, but I'm sure I'll get used to them! I'm starting to see some real muscle tone in my upper arms so the weights are making a difference. Several weeks ago, I added some butt squeezing exercises (how's that for vintage terminology!) to my evening routine - 20 reps. I'm also going to add some basic crunches --- nothing too strenuous to start with, just 5 reps per evening. If there's one thing that's really paid off when it comes to this diet, it's the muscle toning. It was only when I began adding these kinds of exercises to my daily routine that the weight really began falling off.

Boy, aren't you glad we don't have to work out in those bulky sweatsuits in the picture above? Exercising will probably never be my favorite thing in the world to do, but I'm grateful as can be that I can do it in fitted workout gear!

Reducing
I don't have any new missions along this line, but I do have some "housecleaning" to do. For instance, as the weather's gotten a little colder, I find myself slacking off on my water intake each day. That's obviously not paying off, so it's back to the 64 oz. per day - no ifs, ands, or buts. I'm also going to make an extra rigorous effort when it comes to snacking and portion control this week.

An Update from the Trenches

I guess it's time for an update from the trenches. I saw a breast surgeon on Tuesday and she tried to aspirate the cyst. "Tried" being the operative word. She couldn't get to it there in the office. Spent a whole lot of time injecting numbing medication and got a good look at the cyst on a sonogram machine, but decided in the end not to go any further. She was a little concerned, too, about the walls of the cyst being thicker than she'd like to see. So I'm headed into the hospital for a lumpectomy one of these Thursdays. It's outpatient surgery. They'll put me under general anesthesia, remove the cyst - if that's indeed what it is - and give it all the tests that need to be done.

So that's the latest. The only plus I can truly think of is that this particular cyst won't fill back up again and need to be re-aspirated in the future. This one will be gone for good. I'm still waiting to hear from the surgeon's office on scheduling the procedure, but am crossing my fingers we'll be able to do this on the 19th, maybe I might even have the results of the biopsy before Thanksgiving.

I've been off caffeine for two weeks now. Weekdays are not a problem. I drink decaf in the mornings and usually end the day with a cup of herbal tea. Weekends are another animal altogether! With my cozy, freshly-made bed right there and way too easy to curl up in, I'm having a hard time getting through my Saturdays and Sundays without a nap. Any ideas how long it takes for 15 years' worth of caffeine to work its way out of your body? I guess I can't expect it to happen overnight. I'm curious to know what it will feel like when I'm back to normal.

There's a lot of reading material out there about fibrocystic breasts. I've been trying to regain some sense of control by reading up to see if there are any proactive ways I can prevent the formation of cysts. Besides limiting/nixing caffeine - which everyone seems to recommend --- I've read that you should reduce your sugar intake and be sure that you're getting the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E, the B complex, and magnesium. So I've been reviewing what I get from my own multi-vitamin and discovered that I actually need to take the multi three times a day. Eeesh! I had a hard enough time getting used to taking vitamins every morning. I probably need to keep a supply at work so they're handy at lunchtime. Even taken three times per day, the magnesium is still lacking, so I've added a magnesium supplement to my morning vitamins.

That's all the scoop for now, dear readers. Hope y'all have a wonderful day! I'll catch up with you later...

Dorothy Dix Says...

The most popular advice columnist of the 1940s was Dorothy Dix, pen name for Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer (1861-1951). At her height in popularity, Ms. Dix had a syndicated column which reached approximately 60 million readers around the world. In 1940 alone, she received some 100,000 letters --- many of which were written by American housewives. I think it's high time we bring some of these voices back to life, so Wednesdays will now be dedicated to these vintage advice columns.

What were housewives thinking about? What kinds of concerns did they have when it came to life, love, children, and other relationships? Do these letters fit the picture you have of the '40s housewife? Is Dorothy Dix's advice sound - or does she miss the boat completely?

DEAR DOROTHY DIX - I have been married 15 years. Am still young and enjoy living. My husband is a good provider. We have a beautiful home and two lovely youngsters. I do all of my own sewing and housework. My husband tells me that I would be an ideal wife if I didn't care to smoke or play bridge. Now I only play bridge once a week and I do not smoke excessively.

I have waited on my husband hand and foot all these years and have endeavored to do everything possible to make him happy and comfortable, but I am not going to give up my bridge, which is my only outside pleasure. I love my husband, but I cannot permit him to take away every scintilla of my personal liberty. After all, I never tell him what he can or cannot do.

Just what is your opinion of a man who will let a little innocent game of bridge and an occasional cigaret separate him from an otherwise ideal wife?

INDIGNANT WIFE.

Answer - No man ever makes a bigger mistake than when he deprives his wife of any innocent amusement and tries to keep her shut up inside of the four walls of her home. Yet many husbands do this because they are the victims of the old superstition that a woman should be like the turtle and carry her house on her back, though why, goodness only knows. Turtles don't get very far. Nor are they interesting and amusing as household pets.

Still the idea prevails among old fashioned husbands that there is something meritorious in a woman being a stay-at-home and never going places or seeing things and having no conversational range beyond the children and the next door neighbors and the price of pork chops.

Now men have the wrong angle on this subject, and if they realized what was good for them, instead of trying to keep their wives locked up in the house all the time and objecting to their belonging to clubs and having their little games of bridge they would encourage them in it. For it would be money in their pockets and peace and happiness in their homes.

To begin with, it would save husbands a lot of doctor's bills for their wives to get around a little. Half of the neurotic women who are being treated for mysterious ailments are just simply bored.

They have no interest outside of their homes, meet few strangers, get no new ideas and they get so fed up on doing the same dull, monotonous round of chores, day after day and year after year, that they devise symptoms just to get something they can get a kick out of.

And, furthermore, the wife who belongs to clubs makes many friends who are valuable assets to her husband and children in a business and social way.

47 + 2 = 49

I've bid farewell to 2 more lbs. this week --- and good riddance to them. What's more, weighing in at 145 means that I've met my latest mini goal! My new mini goal is going to be 139. I'd like to weigh in at 139 by Sunday, December 13. Wish me luck. The weight is definitely coming off a bit more slowly now than it was over the summer, but I'm still headed in the right direction. By the time I get to 139, I should be solidly in a size 10.

I spent Halloween night with my nieces at a neighborhood carnival. Kitten was dressed up as her heroine of the moment - "Cingewedda" - and Poppet painted the town red as a fuzzy little chicken with orange and green striped legs. There were ghouls and goblins out in force last night with capes, tiaras, and face paint galore.

I've been experimenting with a little face paint myself recently. In addition to the loose powder I apply twice I day, I began trying a liquid foundation right down the center of my face - just trying to hit the places where I have more freckles and reddishness than I do anywhere else. Unfortunately, this is also the oiliest skin on my face. No sooner did I start using the liquid foundation than my skin began breaking out right in the very same area! One of the virtues of having been a frump for so long is that I'm starting with a great baseline. It's very easy to tell when something new is not a good idea. I went from having about one blemish per month to having two or three per week. Clearly, liquid foundation isn't a good idea for me, but I still wanted to try something to even out my skin tone in that area.

1940s beauty experts were adamant that no grown woman should consider herself fully dressed without a good foundation make-up. The right foundation was credited with giving the face everything from "a velvety finish" or "that pearly finish" to "smoothness which can’t be commanded in any other way." It was widely touted that foundation - or "base" - could even improve the facial skin:

Makeup bases are certainly a great addition to the cosmetic family and can protect the skin as well as make it look lovely. They can stay the damage of cold and wind and dust and sun. The powder clings to them and keeps your makeup fresh for a longer time. They cover up minor blemishes, and if you select the right kind for your skin, they will even act as a gentle lubricant for the extremely dry skin. (Spokane Daily Chronicle, March 27, 1944)

The Evening Independent's Alicia Hart suggested in an April 1940 article on the latest spring fashions that no look was complete without a well made-up face:

The face that is a connecting link between a new navy suit and a beautiful hat must be fresh and clean, expertly made up. Clean your face carefully at least three times a day - morning, noon and night. Don't put layers of fresh make-up on over stale. Don't expect to achieve that coveted luminous look unless you use a foundation film, cream or lotion. It's a mistake for any woman to assume she doesn't need to use a foundation preparation.

Clean your neck every time you clean your face and make it up just as carefully. The new vogue for white collars on everything - coats and suits as well as dresses - puts the spotlight once again on throats.

There were two major types of foundation on the market during this era. A cream variety - I'd guess this was similar to the liquid foundation available these days - and a "pancake" variety, "which comes in a wafer-cake form, and is applied with a moist sponge. It is this latter kind which now is generally used by the film stars" (St. Petersburg Times, May 29, 1940). Josephine Lowman advised her readers in March 1944 to select a foundation with a oily base if they had dry skin: "I have long thought the use of wet cake makeup may be extremely detrimental to dry skins, leading to coarseness and extreme dryness."

Application was everything. In The New American Etiquette (1941), Lily Haxworth Wallace recommends that after washing the face and applying face cream, "apply a lovely, smooth foundation. Use only five dots on your face, and blend it in very smoothly. The success of one's appearance depends, to a large extent, on the correct application of the foundation cream." One trick suggested by a beauty expert of the era was to dip your fingers in cold water to ensure more even coverage. At all costs, one must be absolutely sure when applying foundation that she doesn't forget her neck! "Don’t let makeup end at the chinline. Carry your foundation and face powder downward on throat. Your throat should match your face. Unless you apply makeup skillfully, it won’t" (The Evening Independent, March 10, 1941).

The truly adventurous woman might even attempt to use two shades of foundation in re-sculpting her face:

You can change your facial contour by a clever combination of light and dark foundation creams… Light lengthens and reveals. Dark shortens and conceals. Thus if you have a triangular face, use a light foundation cream on chin and lower cheeks… dark or medium on rest of face. This adds fullness. If round… apply dark foundation to lower cheeks tapering toward the chin, for a desired oval shape. If oblong… spread entire chin and jaws with dark foundation. Result is a foreshortening of the lower features. If your forehead is too deep, use a darker base than you do on the rest of the face. (St. Petersburg Times, September 2, 1945)

So what's a gal with a face that rejects a liquid foundation to do? I want that velvety finish of yesteryear, too! What I've decided to try is one of the new mineral powder foundations - just at the center of my face. I settled on a jar of Maybelline Mineral Power Natural Perfecting Powder Foundation in Classic Ivory the other day. I'm no cosmetics expert, but I'm pleased with the results so far. I'll have to give this some time in order to see how my skin reacts. Now if I can just remember not to try applying loose powder on top of the powder foundation...

Cooking with Jitterbug

Can you believe my first blog-iversary is coming up in just two weeks? I made my first post to this blog on November 15, 2008 - and what a ride. It's taken me to some thoroughly unexpected places. Some wonderful, some a little messy. I've got lots to celebrate as the big day draws near, but wanted to kick things off with a collection of some of the vintage (and near-vintage) recipes I've whipped up during the last twelve months. Most of these recipes hail from Ruth Berolzheimer's marvelous American Woman's Cook Book. (I own a wartime printing - 1945.)

I should probably have titled this post, "Baking with Jitterbug." Can you tell from the number of Quick Breads recipes that I'm a carb-lover? There'll be more to come in the year ahead...

Cereals
Corn Meal Mush

Quick Breads
Date Bran Bread
Baking Powder Biscuits
Graham Gems
Butterscotch Biscuits
Rolled Oat Muffins
Raisin Bran Muffins

Toast
Cinnamon Toast

Vegetarian Dishes
Lima Bean Casserole

Egg Dishes
Battered or Scrambled Eggs
Jelly Omelet

Vegetables
Scalloped Potatoes

Salads
Lettuce and Tomato Salad
Pennsylvania Cabbage Slaw
Pear-grape Salad
French Fruit Salad

Salad Dressings
French Dressing
Chiffonade
Sour Cream Salad Dressing

Cookies, Gingerbread, and Small Cakes
Brownies
Gingerbread

Fruit Desserts
Sliced Oranges

Hot and Cold Puddings
Honey Rice
Farina Pudding

Hot and Cold Beverages
Coffee

Back to the Basics: The Evening Edition

For the past week, I've been paying special attention to my morning housekeeping routine. No excuses, no corner cutting. Running right through my list of tasks and checking them off one by one. And I've been successful --- except for the juice glass I forgot to rinse and pop in the dishwasher before I left the house yesterday. It feels great to get my mornings back in proper order.

I think it's time now to get back to the basics when it comes to my evening housekeeping routine. It's not a lengthy routine, by any means, but these two items make such a difference. It's fantastic to wake up to a tidy house every day!

Make sure there is room in dishwasher for tomorrow's breakfast dishes. Wash any pots or pans that have been soaking in sink.

Put living room in order.

So let's try this again. For the next seven days, I'm going to be absolutely rigid when it comes to my evening chores - as well as my morning chores. No ifs, ands, or buts.

"a new era, when women are to be fascinating"

I was preparing a post on make-up last night and came across this lovely bit from an article which appeared on the woman's page in a Spokane, Washington newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, on October 30, 1949 --- sixty years ago tomorrow!

Begin the season as you should and be more meticulous about yourself - how you groom, what make-up you wear, your figure, your wardrobe. Look your best whenever you step out. You know what happens when you do not look your best? You meet the man of your dreams, a catty female friend or an old schoolmate. It never fails to happen. [Isn't that the truth!!!] So just make it a habit to look very well all of the time.

Casual fashions, casual manners and casual dressing are now of the past. We have entered (mind you, we are in it now) a new era, when women are to be fascinating, a trifle superficial, beautifully and expensively gowned, fragranced with costly brews, made up to look like very precious and very expensive dolls!

A marvelous preface to the '50s. It's funny to think of women in 1949 considering the fashions, manners, and dressing popular in the recent past as "casual." I guess the spare skirts and slim sleeves of wartime must have seemed like ancient history by the time Christian Dior's New Look hit the runways of Paris in February 1947. (What would the women reading this article in 1949 think if they could look forward in a crystal ball and see the fashions, manners, and dressing popular today?)

The weather here has taken a sharp turn toward autumn, so I've been trolling the stores for the last few days looking for warm pants, cozy sweaters, and non-open toed shoes. I even picked up some tights yesterday! As I step back and look at my own wardrobe, I can't help but think how the author of this newspaper article could be describing my own metamorphosis in 2009. There are still remnants of my frumpy past at the back of my closet - a few things here and there in a size that might fit, but I never reach for them. The colors I used to rely on are so drab and plain I can't bear to wear them outside the house. I've gotten hooked on the feeling of confidence that comes with knowing the fit of my garments is flattering to my figure and the colors make the most of my complexion.

Speaking of fit, I'm lovin' the cowl neck sweaters out there this season. With my hair up and my "new" collarbone on display, they make for a killer neckline. I bought a gorgeous sweater in royal blue the other day and felt so fetching in it all day long I had to go out and get another in black. And if I ever needed an excuse to buy some new earrings...

My metamorphosis even helped me come up with an idea for Halloween this year. Any guesses?

"There's Good News Tonight!"

Just a quick post this evening to share the news from today's long-awaited tests...

My First Mammogram was a bit uncomfortable - particularly when they were taking views of the breast with the lump - but there were some views that didn't hurt at all. Strangely enough, I started blacking out about three views in, so the technician sat me right down and had me put my head between my knees while she got some apple juice for me. "First timer," she said quietly to somebody on the other side of the door. I'm not sure what that episode was all about. Pure fear or all that breath-holding stuff.

The ultrasound was much easier. Both technicians were very kind. The radiologist came into the room at the end of the ultrasound. She had already started reviewing my images and explained that everything she saw was "consistent with fibrocystic changes." I have "dense" breast tissue with lots of "calcifications." The lump is deep, though, and will probably need to be aspirated by a breast surgeon. She wanted me to discuss next steps with my doctor as soon as the results have been communicated.

So there you go. Not bad all 'round. Everything seems to be pointing toward a cyst.

Thank goodness.

45 + 2 = 47

My scale and I are friends again. 2 more lbs. are gone and I weighed in this morning at 147 for a total weight loss of 47 lbs. since April. Can I make my mini goal of 145 by November 7? I'm sure going to try! I've been beating off the cravings for comfort food like crazy this week. Every time I worried about the lump in my breast and the tests coming up on Monday, my thoughts turned right to food. And the richest, fattiest, sweetest, most carb-laden foods you can imagine. None of those things is going to fix the problem that's worrying me, though. I know the same problem will be there still when I've cleaned my plate and digested all those calories --- and where will that get me! There's nothing I hate more than wasting hours of exercise on a snack that doesn't do me any good.

I've made it through six days now without caffeine. Almost. I slipped up last night during happy hour with some friends. I've gotten used to sipping a diet cola while they drink their beers and panicked at the last minute when I remembered that the diet cola would have caffeine in it. What's left to order besides a glass of water? I doubt most bars or restaurants stock any caffeine-free sodas. Maybe I should've tried ordering a sparkling water. This place we frequent is kind of a dive, so I'm not even sure if they'd have even that! I'll have to come up with a new solution for next time.

My special focus for the last few days has been getting my morning housekeeping routine back up to par and that's going well, too. I have to be a little extra disciplined with myself, but it feels good to be back in charge. Of something, anyway!

So there's my progress report on the last few days. Now on to something more exciting... One of my new tasks when I'm giving the living room its weekly cleaning is the care of any upholstered furniture:

Brush upholstery if necessary. Straighten covers. Plump up pillows.

The only brushes I've been using in my housekeeping are the brush attachment on my vacuum - for weekly cleaning of AC/heat registers - and the little brush I use to clean out the tray under my toaster. I do have one upholstered piece in my living room, though, that needs some care. It's a big club chair (with matching ottoman) upholstered in a wine-colored velveteen. This sounds like a topic I'd better do some brushing up on. What does America's Housekeeping Book (1940) have to teach me?

It is an expensive mistake to allow upholstered furniture to become badly soiled. Light surface soil which does accumulate slowly, despite regular cleaning, can be removed from certain fabrics by home methods, but deep soil calls for professional care. Greasy soil and perspiration, if allowed to remain on the fabric, will affect the dye, and there is no remedy except reupholstering or slip-covering to hide the damage.

The necessity for shampooing can be staved off for long intervals by regular care. It is sometimes necessary to brush the exposed surfaces every day with a whisk broom or upholstery brush. At least once a week the correct attachment of the vacuum cleaner should be run slowly over all exposed surfaces. Use the brush attachment for napped upholstery and the suction tool for smooth fabrics. Once a month, or oftener if necessary, a thorough cleaning is in order:

1. Remove all cushions. Clean them on all sides, using the correct attachment of the vacuum cleaner unless they are down-filled (the suction is apt to pull the down through the fabric).

2. Run the vacuum attachment slowly over the entire surface of the chair or davenport, not neglecting the backs, or fabric underneath.

3. Use the slender suction nozzle to get down into all crevices.

4. Replace the cushions.

This sounds like a doable plan. Once a week, I'll hit the "exposed surfaces" of that chair and ottoman with my brush attachment. When the living room moves into my rotation for a more intensive cleaning once a month, I'll give the chair a more thorough cleaning with both vacuum attachments. I can look at things like shampooing the upholstery once I start adding some seasonal chores to my housekeeping.

It occurs to me how bummed the 1940s housewife without a vacuum cleaner must have been as she read this portion of The Manual. There's such a focus in this section on vacuuming technique. The authors just seem to take it for granted that everyone knew exactly how to use a whisk broom or upholstery brush in caring for furniture. If those were the only tools a housewife had at her disposal, she must've felt like she was being left behind as the world on every side of her rushed pell mell into an electric future. Even today, sixty years later, just reading this piece makes me want to go out and invest in a more powerful vacuum cleaner. My little bagless stick vac might be okay for a little light carpet cleaning, but it's certainly not sturdy enough to do any serious damage to dust.