Being a Plus-Size

For those that know me, I am a Plus-Size gal.  The last time I could wear anything under a size 32 was over 25 years ago, and it's not looking like I will ever be wearing anything that size again anytime in the foreseeable future. So what's a girl to do in order to wear good looking, fairly fashionable clothing without looking like a frumpy dowager or a large-size 20-something that thinks she actually looks good and sexy in those tight jeans and t-shirt and never sees the muffin top in between them.  I'm no fashionista but I think I know what looks good.

Being a Plus-Size means I have to look long and hard to find clothing that is fashionable, in good taste, and affordable.  That last one is hard to do though.  I'm on a fixed income and lately have been finding it difficult to pay bills, much less buy clothes.  And on those rare occasions when I actually can get something new I have to consider many different factors before I actually shell out the money.  The main one being durability.  If I can't afford to replace clothing right away it needs to be able to stand up to the wear and tear of daily life.  So flimsy fabrics are out of the question.

So what about dresses?  They're okay, as long as they show some or your shape.  Anyone ever hear of  a muumuu?  That was a dress style made popular in Hawai'i after the missionaries arrived, especially the women missionaries.  God Forbid the native Hawaiian women be caught showing their breasts and inciting the missionary men to have carnal thoughts! Women may not have had the Vote back then, but they sure wielded a lot of power socially.  It was the wives of the ranchers that really tamed the Wild West, not the Remington Rifle.  But I digress.  Missionary women taught the Hawaiian women to sew a style of dress they designed that would cover all the of the body's "naughty bits" and the Hawaiians dubbed it the Muumuu.  Today there are dress styles know as a Float, a Trapeze, and something called "free-and-easy styling" that are all synonymous with the Muumuu: a long (in some cases), flowing dress with no definite shape that can be slipped on over the head.  The only time such dresses should be worn is when one is at home relaxing.

Pants: to my mind they should be avoided at all costs. At least on me. There are some fashionistas that feel that large women can wear pants or trousers and tapered pants at that.  I'm sorry, pants are not something many large women can wear and look good in yet still be comfortable.  And it doesn't help that most of the pants on the market for large women are polyester or poly/cotton knits which show off every bump and bulge no matter how loose fitting.  Large women, as a rule, want to avoid showing off every bump and bulge.  And the fitted waistbands are a joke for a women with a lot of belly fat.  There is absolutely no way to sit comfortably without straining the button on the waistband so much that it will eventually pop off and hit someone or something like in a group of commercials for Subway(r) several years ago where the fly buttons popped off and were sent flying across rooms with comical results.

And don't get me started about leggings. Leggings should be outlawed. Any woman who has legs like mine should not wear leggings. The only women that truly look good in leggings are the ones who's legs are more muscle than fat.  If one has "thunder thighs" like mine then leggings are not a good fashion choice.

When one is plus-size and amply endowed on top, low cut tops that let the breasts spill out are also not a good idea.  A V-neck shirt or top the shows a minimum of cleavage is fine, but you probably want to avoid the hooker look.

Speaking of cleavage that speaks to the type of bra used.  I use to have the hardest time finding a bra that fit because manufacturers usually didn't make them large enough.  Then I stopped wearing them for 5 or 6 years.  When I started wearing one again I found a company that made a bra that was comfortable and in my size.  So when you're shopping for a bra, be sure to measure yourself.  Most places say that you should measure around the top of the bust just under the arms, but that's wrong.  You need to measure around the chest just under the breasts. That measurement is the size of the bra-band.  For your cup size, just try on a bunch of different bras that fit your chest measurement with different cup sizes.  If your breasts spill out of the cup, then it's too small.  If you breasts fill the cups but the cup has gaps and it looks like you could have room for more, then it's too big.  Your breasts should fill the cup without spilling out or leaving gaps.  It may take a while to find the right bra, but when you do you'll be quite happy.

As for other foundation garments (i.e. girdles), that's purely personal choice.  I don't wear them because I don't like feeling like toothpaste being squeezed out of a tube because most foundation garments don't come in my size and are way too tight.  And then there are the bathroom concerns as one gets older and the call of nature can become extremely urgent in a matter of seconds. 

To me, Plus-size clothes should be fairly loose fitting to ensure comfort, fashionable enough to not feel like I'm out of style, and durable enough that I don't have to be constantly replace things.  Stain repellent would be nice, too, because I have a nasty habit of spilling things on myself.

Being a Non-Traditional Student at a Traditional College

There are people in this world who think that when one reaches a certain age the one should just stop learning and either work or live off the government dole.  The Padowan's father believes this is so and he's only in his 40's.  He thinks that he'd be wasting his time if he decided to go back to college.  I'm in my 50's and I don't want work at some dead-end job or just sit around and do nothing for the rest of my life because if I were to do either one of those I would just burn out or stagnate or both, and I don't intend to do either.

I have been taking classes at our local community college in American Sign Language or ASL.  Currently I am in the ASL Studies Certificate program though I will be applying for the Sign Language Interpreter Training program in February.  If I do get in the program I will be starting the program in the fall and attending for another 2 years.  If I don't I will be graduating this Spring.  In any case, I am back at school learning, something we all continue to do throughout our lives. 

As an older student I am finding that while some things are a challenge there are a great many rewards, including the ability to get younger students sit up and take notice when you tell them, indirectly of course, that their idea of the world is skewed by technology.  The majority of students in traditional colleges today all grew up with things that weren't invented when I was their age. (Boy does that sound old and patronizing.)  I was 18 when purely by chance I first saw a car with a phone in it.  Before that car phones were something that was only seen in the movies.  We had computers, but that thing that most of today's students carry in their backpacks use to take up multiple rooms that were the size of 2 average size living rooms.  And cell phones! The very first cell phone call was made just 2 months before I graduated from high school in 1973.

Last semester I was taking an English Writing class and we were reading the book The Glass Castle a memoir written by Jeannette Walls.  We discussed the book in every class and often times the younger students were making observations about the book and comparing it with what they knew, putting their own knowledge and life experiences on what was happening in the book.  But then I would speak and remind them that the time period Jeannette was writing about was vastly different than what it is today.  In the book Walls writes about her experiences growing up poor in the Southwest and in West Virginia.  The beginning of the book starts with a most vivid memory for Walls; she had managed to catch her dress on fire while cooking at age 3.  When she was in the hospital the doctors and nurses all seemed to tap-dance about whether or not to call child welfare.  To the other students it seemed obvious that they should have called because Walls had either been neglected or abused or both.  Then I reminded them that many schools at that time still had corporal punishment and that parents were expected to spank their misbehaving children.  To spank a child in public was not a crime unlike now when a parent could be jailed for just threatening a child.


The point is that having an older student in the class is good for everyone because everyone benefits.  Padowan's father doesn't get it.  I pity him because to him his life is over except for the dying part.  I don't intend to ever think that way.  I expect to live a good, long, learning filled life and I expect one day to go back for even more schooling.  Maybe another Bachelor's degree, then a Master's, and then maybe a Doctorate.  Why not when I expect to live to at least 100.  Maybe longer. Who knows.

Keith is GONE!!!!!

I hadn't been watching my usual MSNBC shows for a while because I don't always control the TV remote so the first I heard about Keith Olbermann leaving the network was from Deb's daughter whom we call Padowan. She told us last Monday, but then we got wrapped up in school and snowstorms and other things in our lives that we forgot to watch.  Sorry Keith. Then I was checking my e-mail and found a link to this video.


As many other reporters and commentators have said, Keith pretty much put MSNBC on the map helping the network became a bastion of liberalism in a vast sea of conservatism. But with Keith no longer with MSNBC that begs the question, who will be the next voice to hoist the ultra conservative jackanapes' by their own petard?  I have no answer to that question.  Except that torch is now passed on to Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Ed Schultz.  Let us hope they can carry on and make us, MSNBC, and especially Keith proud.

All I can say is that I am deeply saddened that this is happened.  When I was able to watch I enjoyed Countdown and I always learned something.  Keith was often able to put into words the emotion I felt over some injustice in the the world or some inane situation that was being blown out of proportion.  He pointed out the absurdities in our world and in our politics.  He helped me to see all manner of injustice and gave me ideas as to how change it if possible.  I hope I am a better person because of him.

Keith, if you ever read this, know that you are greatly missed by one small household in Kansas.  Please don't be gone longer than you have to.