Hot Fun in the Winter Time!

Not only is this baby boomer living in a "dry state" (with no signs of water relief in site) but she is also walking around in flip flops and shorts in the middle of what's supposed to be known as Winter.

It was almost 80 degrees here in North Carolina today! It's two weeks before Christmas and no sign of a winter wonderland. What's a poor baby boomer like me to do? Suck it up and enjoy it, I guess.

Baby Boomers aren't supposed to like the cold anyway, right? It's bad for our arthritis. Lord knows, we don't know how to drive in the rain so just imagine what it would be like to have us on the road when there's snow AND ice. Another thing: what could be worse than looking at a baby boomer with dried up, wrinkled and cracked skin?

You know what, I really don't have anything else to say because I feel a hot flash coming on and it's not caused by global warming.

We're in a Serious Drought!

52 is the number of days officials in Durham, NC say is left before we run out of "easily accessible premium water." This was the information I read in my morning newspaper.

I knew we were having some drought issues but I didn't realize we are really down to the wire now! We've had some sporadic periods of rain but NOTHING in comparison to the torrential downpours other parts of the country has seen. As a matter of fact, I don't think we've had a decent amount of rain in over a year.

Our primary source of water comes from Lake Michie. When I drove past the lake a couple of months ago, it looked more like a dried up swamp but I guess it just didn't register with me. City officials say they have a temporary solution which is to connection 500 million gallons in the quarry to its main water supply. They estimate that would add another 25 days to the overall supply.

I guess that means I'll have to stop watering my well-kept lawn and washing my brand new car. I guess I could put laundry aside for a week instead of washing every other day and there's no reason to run the dishwater when I can wash by hand once a week. If push comes to shove, I may only "flush" twice a day instead of the current 20 flushes.

But.....giving up the 45 minute shower may cause this "baby boomer in menopause" to have to go to jail on principle.

A Family Affair: Baby Boomer Style

One of the things my husband and I talked about when we were dating (a few years ago) was the fact that we were going to put ourselves in a position of being financially independent. We weren’t going to rely on Corporate America to take care of us into retirement.

We are two intelligent and highly motivated individuals who still have dreams and passions at midlife. When circumstances forced me to give up my television news job last year, my husband stepped up and became the wind beneath my wings. He helped me soar to my greatest heights on a new career path and, sometimes, had to guide me back in the right direction when I was steering off course.

He now understands why I spend so many hours on the computer doing research and answering emails and promoting what I do. He’s finally figuring out the fact that menopause pays benefits and so does “all things baby boomer.”

But more importantly, he is pursuing his own midlife passions with a goal to be healthy and fit for as long as possible. www.healthylivingboomerstyle.com

Please join me in welcoming my better baby boomer half into cyberspace. Also check out his blog: www.healthylivingboomerstyle.blogspot.com

You’re going to be hearing A LOT from us!

When children lose someone they care about

The day after Thanksgiving the grandmother of my daughter’s best friend passed away. It was expected, but as with any death where illness is involved, family and friends are always hopeful that the end will come later instead of sooner.

I watched in awe as my teenage daughter became a pillar of strength for her friend who was obviously very close to her grandmother. From the moment the decision was made to take her off of the respirator, my daughter stepped up to offer comfort to her friend in the best way she could. She went to the hospital and maintained a vigil with the family. She left---only to return again at midnight---when she learned of her passing.

Just last month I found myself in the same situation when I lost a dear friend. It was if my daughter had watched my every move because she was doing what I had done.

It is expected that baby boomers, like me, will lose older family members and friends as time goes by but when children lose people they care about, it can be a hard concept to truly understand. Hopefully, parents are teaching their children to love, appreciate and respect their aging family members while they’re alive so that when they’re gone, they will have cherished memories to hold on to.

Thanksgiving in the E.R.

Instead of watching E.R. on TV on Thursday night, the scenes played out in real life as my husband and I spent more than six hours in the Duke Medical Center emergency room on Thanksgiving night with my mother-in-law.

To give you a little background: my mother-in-law is in the latter stages of Alzheimers. We moved her from her home in South Carolina to a home care facility close to us in NC so we could look after her better.

The night before Thanksgiving, she apparently fell and sprained her left arm while wandering in the middle of the night. She was taken to the E.R. where a cast was placed on her arm. On Thanksgiving Day, her son picked her up so she could spend part of the day with us and have dinner.

While I was distracted with completing dinner, my mother-in-law decided to remove the cast from her arm. This resulted in major swelling and since no one knew how to put the cast back on without having a major fight on our hands, we figured the best thing to do was to take her back the E.R. to have them do it.

I thought we would be out in an hour max because how long does it take to replace an arm cast? Well, it actually took more than six hours because cases kept coming in that became priority over her:

Case #1: Young man shot in the abdomen while sitting on his front porch. Suspects unknown.

Case #2: Two-year-old sticks popcorn kernel up his nose and required emergency surgery to remove it.

Case #3: DUI driver runs a red light and hits a car full of people who were returning home after visiting family for Thanksgiving.

Case #4: Young pregnant woman has too much to drink and goes into some kind of seizure.

I don’t know if it’s just Duke’s E.R. but their customer service was absolutely HORRIBLE!!! I don’t even want to think about the kind of treatment we could’ve received if we didn’t have insurance.

It was an interesting night and one that kept me from missing the traditional Black Friday shopping spree because I couldn’t get out of bed. I'm also beginning to understand the role many baby boomers, like myself, are going to have to play when it comes to dealing with aging parents.

Sesame Street For Adults Only?

Movies like Debbie Does Dallas have a warning label because they're x-rated but a warning label on a Sesame Street DVD? Are you kidding?

According to an article written by Virginia Heffernan in the NY Times magazine, there is a warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” indicating the videos are for adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.”

Sesame Street wasn't around for my baby boomer generation but my daughter grew up watching it. Sesame Street taught her about respect, the importance of learning and what it meant to be a good neighbor and better friend. It was OK to ask for an adult stranger's help and not worry about being abducted or abused. Who cared if Oscar the Grouch was always grumpy or if Cookie Monster ate too much junk food?

How sad to think the old Sesame Street neighborhood has become a victim of urban renewal.


"Come and play! Everything's A-OK.
Friendly neighbors there, that's where we meet.
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?"

I'm Baby Boomer 305.24

It seems like our lives are identified by numbers. We have a social security number, driver’s license number and credit card numbers. We even have to have a number to identify the size of our clothes and shoes. Some of us have an incarceration number which, like your driver’s and social security numbers, will never go away.

But I learned recently that I have another number to add to my list. That number identifies me at my public library. That’s right. My book, Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age is in my local library! It sits right on the shelf alongside the autobiographies of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Fox News Anchor Bill O’Reilly, to name a few.

It’s truly an honor to see my book sitting in a place with millions of other books. I worked hard on my book and even lost my job over it. Unlike other baby boomer authors, some who got wonderful five and six figure publishing deals, no one wanted to invest in me---so I had to invest in myself (or should I say my husband did). I still don’t have a distributor but it didn’t stop me from getting my book on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Last week, my book reached the Top 100 on Amazon in the Aging category. That’s quite an accomplishment from someone whose advertising budget came more from her drive and determination instead of her pocketbook.

Even with all of the numbers I have to try to remember, I don’t mind being baby boomer 305.24. I do have a problem with my dress size though and I’m definitely working to change it!