After Douglas and I married in the fall of 1968, we spent many weekends at my parents’ house. The house was small and it wasn’t exactly in an idyllic community. The backyard also was tiny and not especially cheery. We didn’t do anything special with my parents, either. We’d have dinner and go to a movie and then laze around the house.

So why did a newly married couple of 21-year-olds want to spend weekends like this?

I scratch my head trying to come up with a suitable answer and the only one I can think of is that we were babies, not ready to be grown-up married people. We needed the “security” of being home with mommy and daddy, even though they  never gave me much of a feeling of security before I married.

Many FOFs love when their grown children–married or not– come home for a day, a weekend, and, of course, for the holidays. But EVERY WEEKEND? A bit much, I say. I wish I could ask my mom and dad now how they felt about their constant house guests back in the day.

It’s a hot, hot summer, but the fab femmes from Fashion Flash give the coolest advice ever.  Start the week by checking out their marvelous blogs.

Get the latest scoop on what’s new in plus size denim styles.

No one makes beautiful shoes like Christian Louboutin. The signature red sole adds a jus ne sais quois to every look. Check out the bestshoes for Fall 2011.

Can you lose weight and enjoy a cool one? Fitness and fat loss expert, Shawna K explains.

No-Nonsense Beauty Blog takes aim at celebrity beauty advice.

Survive this hot summer with a cool refreshing Blueberry-Lime margarita that is Menopause Makeover approved – low calories and loaded vitamin C.  Yummers!

Kari from Fab Over Forty interviews Mikey Castillo from Le Metier de Beaute on how women over 40 can apply their makeup to look prettier and younger.

Maxi dresses are all the rage this summer, but are they appropriate for an afternoon wedding? Check out what the Glam Gals have to say at Fabulous after 40.

If you’ve never heard of FOF country/rock/blues singer, Lucinda Williams, check her out on You Tube. I went to see her the other night with old-pal, Ted, and she won my heart, ears, eyes, and feet, which involuntarily tapped to her sensational sounds. I didn’t know a thing about Lucinda, but if her songs are any indication, she had a tough love life. Ted told me she got married a few years ago, on stage during a performance. Her husband, a former music exec, is now her manager.

Lucinda

Lucinda, from Lake Charles, Louisiana, is the daughter of a poet and literature professor. She started writing music at 6 and playing the guitar at 12. She won the 2001 Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for the single “Get Right With God”, a gospel-rock tune. Her “Passionate Kisses” was named best country song in 1994.

Besides liking her sound, I can also understand her lyrics, something I can rarely do with musicians. Listen to four of my favorite songs.  I hope you enjoy them.

Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

Buttercup & Honey Bee

Still I Long for Your Kiss

When I told Lina I was running to the ophthalmologist because I realized I hadn’t had my eyes examined in 18 months, she joked: “You go to a lot of doctors.” 

He's not one of my docs. Darn!

 

It’s no joke. Besides the eye guy (who I should see once a year to check for cataracts, glaucoma and my general vision), I go to: 

An internist/cardiologist for an annual checkup, including heart and lung CT, stress test, EKG, blood workup

A gynecological urologist to treat stress incontinence (sounds charming, doesn’t it?)

An ear doc for my annual hearing check

A breast surgeon for my annual mammogram

An endocrinologist for my annual bone density check

A dentist for an annual checkup and his hygienist every six weeks for a cleaning (I have a problem with plaque–at least not in my arteries)

A dermatologist for a annual complete body check for melanoma

Can’t leave out the gastroenterologist, who I see for a colonoscopy every three years.

And, to make it an even 10, I see the gynecologist for a pelvic exam (I’m not sure why I do this because I had a complete hysterectomy 20 years ago.)

So there you have it. That’s a high dose of docs, but at least it’s preventative, except in the case of the urologist.

My aunt never went to a doc in her entire life, at least till she was 81, when she learned she had colorectal cancer. Maybe she had the right idea. Who knows?????