| 2012 Calendar
Date Host Presenter
Jan 8 Dee Susan & Ann
Mar 4 Juliette Juliette McD
May 6 Michele Member mixer
July 8 Cheri
Sept 9 Sandra
Nov 4 Diane
|
Celebrating 8 Years
December 8 We're celebrating 8 years of the GaGa Sisterhood! On December 7, 2003 I hosted our first meeting of the GaGa Sisterhood with 15 grandmas. Now our membership has grown to over 100 members! Carol W. is hosting a luncheon in Saratoga to celebrate this milestone. All members are welcome. Click on Big Tent to RSVP.
|
More Sleeping Tips
Most people wake up one or two times a night for various reasons. If you find that you wake up in the middle of night and cannot get back to sleep within 15-20 minutes, then do not remain in the bed "trying hard" to sleep. Get out of bed. Leave the bedroom. Read, have a light snack, do some quiet activity, or take a bath. You will generally find that you can get back to sleep 20 minutes or so later. Do not perform challenging or engaging activity such as office work, housework, etc. Do not watch television
However, for those of you who can't leave the room for fear of disturbing a partner, I found a technique to fall asleep fast that has been working well for me.
Trace every step of your day in your mind. Close your eyes, and starting from the time you woke up until the time you went to bed, visualize your every movement chronologically. That means toilet breaks, meals, conversations, everything. Really concentrate on the details and hone your mind in on the visual aspect of what you did during the day. This stops your mind randomly flitting from story to story and forces it to relax. You may struggle with this at first, but be persistent and give it a try for a few nights. I swear it works! |
|
Savory Turkey Soup
I've been hosting Thanksgiving for most of the past four decades and have the menu and preparation down to a science. What I love best about hosting is having leftovers the next day. Five years ago, I started making savory turkey soup from all the Thanksgiving leftovers and now it's become a day-after tradition. Read more for my recipe. |
|
|
|
Greetings!
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. One of the highlights of our family celebration was singing our favorite silly Thanksgiving song, "Turkey Pokey" at the end of our dinner. We all laughed so hard we nearly fell off our chairs!
At our November 6 meeting, Dr. Ruth O'Hara gave a riveting presentation on sleep problems among middle-aged women. The topic came from a discussion about sleep issues on our Big Tent forum started by one of our members.
Ruth is a psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. In her lilting Irish brogue, she described the major sleep disorders that impact middle-aged women, how they relate to mood and cognitive function, and how they can be treated. I've included a summary of her presentation below.
I wish you and your family a Happy Holiday season full of laughter, fun, and joy! |
|
Getting a Good Night's Sleep
Types of Sleep Disorders
Studies show that one out of five Americans sleeps less than six hours a night. I know many grandmas who would give their eye mask for a good night's sleep!
Sleep disturbances increase with age and can cover a broad range of different sleep disorders, such as insomnia, restless legs syndrome, REM sleep disorder, and sleep apnea. These sleep disorders have very different causes and available treatments, so it's important to understand the specific type of sleep disorder and its impact on the brain and behavior.
Because there is such a wide range of sleep disorders, you can't assess more than one at a time. Insomnia is the most prominent complaint and symptoms include problems getting to sleep, maintaining sleep, and waking early.
Restless legs syndrome is is a neurological condition that is characterized by the irresistible urge to move the legs. The name may sound funny, but it is a very real disorder.
Sleep disordered breathing, also known as apnea, is caused by disruption of oxygen. More people have it than they realize. The prevalence in people over 55 years is 50-60% in both men and women. Ruth studied 500 women between 60-102 years and found that 55% had clinical apnea in varying degrees.
Assessment
How do you find a good sleep assessment? Ruth suggests you contact a sleep center and tell them: Here's what I'm experiencing. Can I have an evaluation?
The sleep disorder must have a negative impact on your life and have symptoms that last 2 - 3 months including:
- Feeling tired during the day
- Inability to fall asleep when you're tired
- Snoring
- Overweight
- Family history of sleep disorders
Strategies
You can find a wealth of information about insomnia and its causes and treatments on a website developed by Dr. Rachel Manber, Director of Stanford's Sleep Clinic. One piece of advice stood out for me: Shift your mindset from "trying hard to sleep" to "allowing sleep to happen."
Here are some of Manber's suggestions for facilitating sleep:
- Use the hour before bedtime to unwind from the day's stresses. This down time will allow sleepiness to come to the surface and will therefore facilitate sleep onset. This is a time to engage in activities that are enjoyable, yet calming.
- Avoid clock watching. Turn the clock around so you cannot see the time, yet you can still use it as an alarm.
- Avoid exercise 4 hours before bedtime.
- Make sure that the sleep environment is safe, quiet, and pleasant.
Our host, Heidi, sent me an article from the New York Times titled "Sleep Medication: Mother's New Little Helper." Nearly 3 in 10 American women fess up to using some kind of sleep aid at least a few nights a week, according to a 2007 study by the National Sleep Foundation. Our speaker, Ruth, warned that if you have altered sleep, a pill may mask the symptoms.
For more strategies, click here.
|
Good Reads from GaGas
If you're looking for a good read over the holidays, here's a list of recommendations from our GaGa Sisterhood members. At our November 6 meeting we introduced ourselves by sharing the title of the last book we read.
Book Title Author The Help..............................................Kathryn Stockett Winter Sea...........................................Susanna Kearsley Fall of Giants........................................Ken Follett In the Garden of Beasts.......................Erik Larson Pride & Prejudice.................................Jane Austen Raising Your Spirited Child...................Mary Sheedy Kurcinka Cutting for Stone...................................Abraham Verghese Grandparenting With Love & Logic.......Foster Cline & Jim Fay Caleb's Crossing...................................Geraldine Brooks Killing Fields..........................................Christopher Hudson Twin.......................................................Allen Shawn 1000 White Women..............................Jim Fergus In Memory's Kitchen.............................Cara de Silva 3 Junes.................................................Julia Glass Dove Keepers.......................................Alice Hoffman The Room.............................................Tommy Wiseau Water for Elephants..............................Sara Gruen Immortal Life of Henrietta Laks.............Rebecca Skloot Leonie: A Woman Ahead of Her Time...Dr. Leonie von Zesch Disappearing Spoon..............................Sam Kean |
|
Ms. New York Senior America Update
 At our May meeting, GaGa Judy brought her sister, Kathi Keating, who'd recently won the title of Ms. New York Senior America 2011.
On October 6, Kathi represented New York State in the national Ms. Senior America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Kathi described the pageant as "an experience of a life time." She spent an action-packed week with 38 other finalists from around the country being interviewed by the judges, modeling her evening gown, and performing her dance routine to "The Mashed Potatoes."
Kathi had her own personal cheering section that included her oldest son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren who drove up from Richmond, VA, several friends and cousins from North Carolina and New York, and 20 delegates from the New York pageant.
Although Kathi didn't make the top ten finalists, she said it was one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of her life. She agreed with the judges' decision and said that Ms. Texas was her favorite from the start. Kathi will be the reigning New York State Queen until May 2012.
|
Programs for Our 2012 Meetings
It was so much fun meeting with our program planning committee on October 20. I'm thrilled with all the interesting ideas we came up with for our 2012 meetings. We have our first three programs of the year scheduled and five more ideas awaiting confirmation.
January 8, 2012
Back by popular demand: "When Being a Grandma Isn't So Grand" will be a group discussion about the challenges of being a grandma. Susan Borkin and Ann Stevenson, both GaGas and therapists, will facilitate our discussion.
March 4, 2012
"Music for the Young at Heart" facilitated by Juliette McDonald. Juliette is a retired preschool teacher, singer, songwriter, performer, author, master teacher and director of young children and adult education.
May 6, 2012
"Who Are You When You're Not Grandma?" will be a combination of two of our most popular past meetings--our member mixer and the meeting where we talked about some of the other "hats" we wear. Our committee thought of some wonderfully thought-provoking questions to help us share some things about ourselves.
Our committee also generated some great ideas for including our daughters and daughters-in-law and even our grandchildren. We're working on some smaller social gatherings in between our regularly scheduled meetings. I'll keep you posted as we finalize plans.
|
The GaGa Zone
Please continue sending me pictures and stories of you with your grandchildren for the GaGa Zone.
| GaGa Donna P's granchildren, Zoey, Zander, Cebelli, and Sophia on their annual outing to San Francisco
|
|
|
|
|
|
