Playing House in Provence is my fifth book. It had been gestating for years while I was writing Traveling While Married, to which it is a sequel. (Why, I wonder, do we liken writing a book to gestating a baby?) Because giving birth feels giving birth to a book. A very big book. A long labor of love.
My Middle Aged Baby Book
First lost tooth. First colonoscopy. First second mortgage. First chin hair. First comb-over. All of these memorable firsts belong in MY MIDDLE-AGED BABY BOOK: A Place to Write Down All the Things You'll Soon Forget.
A padded and chewable keepsake with room to write in significant firsts, it's a perfect gift for a milestone birthday, when you're old enough not to take yourself too seriously.
There are write-in sections to record the significant milestones of middle age ("my first elastic-waisted jeans purchase") and to note important information that you might otherwise forget at this age (like your voice mail's password); your favorite nursery rhymes retold (like "Jack and Jill went through the mill of sexual dysfunction"—see page 41 for the rest); and hilarious illustrations throughout. And because you probably can't find your reading glasses, it's all presented in large type on anti-glare paper.
But are you old enough to deserve your own MIDDLE-AGED BABY BOOK?
- Do you turn to the obituary pages for reassurance?
- Are you always checking your cholesterol?
- Can you remember the title of the last book you read?
- Does your medicine cabinet look like a pharmacy? (See page 54 for an example.)
On the pages of MY MIDDLE-AGED BABY BOOK you'll finally find the definitive answer to the age-old question, "Am I smiling, or is it gas?"
Praise for My Middle Aged Baby Book:
Middle age goes by so fast. How wonderful of Mary-Lou Weisman to provide a record book of our estrogen years so that we can relive every moment of our meltdowns . . . . A great gift for middle-agers and those in denial.