Mountain View
Womens Survival Guide
The Perseverance of a Published Author & Farmer: Jeanne Blasberg
Please enjoy my interview with Jeannie Blasberg. When you read about what she has been doing with her midlife time try not to compare yourself to her. We as women can be our own worst enemies when it comes to our expectations and how we compare ourselves to others.
Caring for Aging Parents: A Daughter's Perspective on Mental Health and Fraud Protection
I hear stories from friends about caring for their parents frequently. These aren’t just taking-their-parents-to-the-doctor stories, but more varied, unpredictable and in some cases harrowing. I thought, “I’ll bet there are a lot of readers going through the same thing and wouldn’t it be nice for them to see they aren’t alone? Maybe even connect and help one another?” So, a few weeks ago I asked some fellow bloggers and readers to share their eldercare experiences with our community.
Late Summer Reflections and Recipes
I am sorry to say, it is ”late summer.” It could even be called, “end of summer.” How did this happen? We just went to our girls’ graduations in mid May. Long ago, when the kids were small we would decamp each summer for two months from Boston to the White Mountains in northern New Hampshire. They are very green, the White Mountains. The kids went to day camps and tennis lessons and we did hikes with other families, gardened, painted, built fairy forts.
Lost in Transition: Navigating Empty Nest Syndrome
For some of us this time of year can be weird. Those with kids are busy stressing about something related to school starting. The physical that was never done. but required, for junior to step on campus. The AP courses they never signed up for without you knowing. The lack of a driver’s license despite being way over 16 which means you are driving them everywhere. Behind the anxiety is the surety that the kid is starting school and that means you have a very set schedule for the next eight months.
A safe space for controversy? Meet Meghan Daum and The Unspeakeasy Musings about Spring
Can you believe it? 100 WSG posts to you! A walk back through time that started in COVID…here’s the first! Thank you to Claire Messud for letting me interview her, never having interviewed anyone. We’ve come a long way, baby! Thank you Virginia Slims for a spot on slogan for women 👍.
Feeling Insecure? It's all in your head 😉
How to give yourself a "Let's Go!" and shake things up. I’ve been feeling insecure all week. I’ll explain why below. I don’t know about you, but when I feel insecure I usually feel blue, and feisty with a big dose of dread. Super charming, basically. Really productive. Not.
Success and happiness
One of the best parts of doing the Women’s Survival Guide is lighting a spark in someone to get out there and try something. Another huge bonus is the people I meet, or in this case, reconnect with. I met Cai Cai Fritzinger when her last name was Needham in pre-college, running around days. We have some close friends in common and to be honest I can’t recall the exact first meeting. A few years after college, she and I were part of a group of girls in Boston a little like a Bridget Jones clan. For a stretch, on Thursdays we would get together at our friend Emily’s house, down the street from me on Beacon Hill, and watch “Must See TV” like Sex in the City. Emily would make us her staple dish, Curried Chicken, recipe from Fanny Farmer. Then, we would go out. Simpler times.
One woman’s journey into debt and back and what she wants to teach you.
Emily’s problems started as soon as she got her first credit card at age 18. Then, she says, she “made a mess with her money.” She bought things. She paid the minimum on her card. The rest was carried at a typical credit card interest rate leading her into the lonely place of perpetual debt. This interview is not just a getting-out-of-debt journey, it is also a story about Emily finding the confidence to achieve her true passion: helping others get their life and money roots right as she learned to do for herself.
One Woman's Journey to Sobriety
I’ve known Karen Fabbri through our kids’ schools for many years and we live in the same neighborhood. Remember the mom who would be the MC each year at the nursery school fundraiser? Up there on the stage with a mic in one hand and drink in the other who egged us all on to bid and bid until we raised unseemly amounts of money? That’s Karen! We have always been friendly but have never seen each other outside of school events. Quite recently, I saw her on Instagram celebrating her third year of sobriety. Well, hmmm. Did I know she had had a problem with alcohol? Not really, we all were social wine-loving moms. So, no judgment.
I have nothing prepared
Hello. It’s 11 PM, Saturday night and I am just getting back to my room after day 2 of The Nantucket Project (TNP 2023). Tonight we were treated to the likes of Laura Ingraham (FOX), Ken Mehlman (Chairman of the Republican National Committee and Campaign Manager of President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign), and Sarah Longwell (the Log Cabin Republicans first female board chair), among others. I have taken copious notes and need to process what I have been hearing from all sides before I can write about it. TNP is mental heavy lifting for some of us. Last night was Michelle Obama and Ken Burns. I have never had to write so fast to keep up with the vast and thoughtful life gems that poured forth from them.
There's launching and there's nesting. Here is what some women have experienced!
Below please see some of last week’s responses to this thread I sent:. “There's launching and there's nesting. Both have an affect on your home life. If you have experienced it, what are your thoughts? What do you know that might help others? Please share.”
4 Late Summer recipes from my family to yours
This post was supposed to have some treats for the premium readers after a paywall, but things went wonky on Substack for me. So! You all get to enjoy the recipes! but I’ll make it up to you, Squad. I will. For now, please enjoy some late summer musings and recipes!
Why are we so anxious? Parenting 20 somethings and our sanity
Parenting 20 year old's and our struggles: Learning to cut the emotional cord WSG 75. Several subjects come up regularly with my extended group of friends: ailing parents and the care they need (and won’t accept), our own physical and mental aging (“middle age”), and parenting or mentoring late teen-twenty something kids. Summer allows for more kid related observations because they tend to be around or at least in and out more than during the school year (or between college and job, or between job and grad school).
What will be on your tombstone?
WSG 73: What is even the point of it all? Some dark humor on Michael Caine, Alfie, and how do you want to be remembered?. Have you ever seen that movie, Alfie? The original one. It’s quite funny and Michael Caine is just starting out his long and illustrious acting career (he’s pretty adorable in 1966). Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote the theme song for the movie that people in my generation may have had their parents say back to them when they asked about something (“What’s it all about…?”). Did you have a parent ever say that to you? I did. The lyrics are interesting:
Skin! Skin care, Botox, filler, baggy eyes and saggy jowls!
Happy Fourth of July week, Americans! It’s the real kick off for Summer vibes!. What are you doing? please, send photos and let’s share our versions of the 4th. You can email me shots, post them on Substack Notes or DM on the WSG Instagram account and I’ll post them and tag you in the next edition of WSG! Instagram Link.
Even I know. Thoughts on Negative Self Talk
Happy Father’s Day, Dads! Fun fact: WSG has a large percentage of male readers! So, I am betting a bunch of them are dads. Hope you have a lovely day this Sunday, WSG Dads!. I am extremely lucky to have a dad that has been a part of my life (an extremely big part of my life) all of my life. I have double the luck with a wonderful step dad I have known most of my life, as well. They have a lot of similarities, in fact. So my idea of what a dad is, is generally unconflicted. Dads are like snow flakes, though. Each one is different and has their own unique take on parenting.
A couple of rants about nothing, really.
The painting above is called “Death at the Grocery Store.” I think the general feel of the piece conveys how I feel this time of year. I did a series of them a few years ago. Having grown up adoring the work of B Kliban, George Booth and Gary Larson my sense of funny is greatly affected by them. These were the bathroom reads in my house. I do my own drawings of women’s lives from an absurdist point of view. Click HERE to see some of them and Here to read the writing I did to accompany the drawings years ago. They aren’t in any order anymore but I really crack myself up when I do these. As my mother says, I “love my own material.” I do.
We met on a plane
I took a risk on a plane, and made a new friend. Flying back from Florida alone, I put my headphones on and listened to what I always do when I am writing on a plane, The Stone Roses. I didn’t notice the person next to me because we were both busy on our laptops. As they were in my field of vision, I did happen to notice she had a very nice manicure. I rarely have presentable nails/hands. I have paws. So, I admired her well-kept hands.
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I interview midlife women with a passion! Subscribe now! Additionally, I am a mother, wife and painter living in Boston, MA.
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