Joan’s Boomer Blog

If you’re a baby boomer, your kids have left home and you have a dog, you know you’re getting older when

We have photos of the grandkids in the bluebonnets too so why not our dog?

your dogs become your “kids.” We always had a family dog when the kids were growing up. She was a great dog and we loved her but she was always just kind of “there.” In our household though, as the kids progressively left home, we started filling it up with rescued dogs and cats, until, at one point, we had 4 cats and 2 dogs. I even volunteered at the local animal shelter.

When I started volunteering, my husband told me specifically, “Don’t bring any animals home with you!” I did a very good job of ignoring all those hopefully doggy faces until our youngest daughter left home for college then I got hooked by this one little wall-eyed puppy, the last of a litter of six puppies which had been at the shelter for a month. In that county shelter, dogs and puppies who had been there too long were routinely put down on Fridays, which was the worst part of volunteering there. I never helped with that, of course, but I knew about it, which was bad enough.

As a reporter for an Oregon online new website, I’d attended a seminar on pet therapy and I thought that would be a great way to spend my time now that the kids were gone. Surely adopting a puppy was a good way to get into this, although you couldn’t be sure you’d get a dog with the right personality for this type of work.

Who could resist this little face?

Anyway, with the best of intentions, I decided to take this one little puppy home for the weekend, telling myself I just wanted to socialize it and see what happened - or if my husband would make me take her back to the shelter:)

Needless to say, my husband not only fell in love with the puppy, Molly, he was soon out buying her her own bed, toys and other things the other dogs sure hadn’t gotten when they moved in! We always said Molly was our daughter’s replacement when she went off to college.

Fast forward 5 years and the rescued pup is still with us. During that time, my husband, daughter and I even moved lock, stock and barrel to Texas from Oregon with the four cats and now, three dogs. Would never want to repeat that trip! Also, in that time, one of our dogs and two of our cats died of old age and we somehow acquired another kitten.

Back to my original premise though - You know you’re getting older when your dogs become your babies - My husband and I aren’t the only ones in our age group to start acquiring dogs that we pamper tremendously once the kids are gone. In fact, most older baby boomers we know have some pretty lucky dogs as part of their households.

There are some negatives about adopting a dog when you’re facing retirement. If you want to travel or if you

Playing with your dog is good exercise too!

have to live on a tight budget, having a spoiled dog can sometimes be difficult. Our dogs eat high quality dog food, go to the vet regularly and have even had their teeth cleaned (never thought I’d admit that.)

On the other hand, dogs offer companionship, they love to be walked, which gets you out to the park or out to exercise on a regular basis, and you can take them traveling with you quite easily if you want to. We’re even getting an RV to travel with, just so the dogs will be comfortable!

You know you’re getting older when your dogs become your babies, yes, but in our later years we also have lots of time to devote to a dog, which we didn’t have when the kids were young and life was more hectic. Everybody needs a smiling face to greet them expectantly whenever they come home and having pets is a proven factor in healthy aging.

Do you have a dog you love like another child? I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, if you love dogs, you might be interested in Molly’s Dog Blog. You can read about her journey from being alone and forgotten in an animal shelter to being a pampered pooch in a loving home.

I was a teenager in the 1960’s and still love listening to the music of the 1960’s. Petula Clark, Herman’s Hermits, Gary Lewis and the Playboys and the Dave Clark Five were some of my favorites back then. I even got to see Gary Lewis and the Playboys in person, wearing my white go go boots, of course!

The late 60’s were a good time to be a teen in a small town. We spent our weekends at the skating rink where they had a dance with a live band from 10pm to midnight. We cruised the strip when gas was still 25 cents a gallon and cigarettes were 25 cents a pack. Smoking was about the worst thing you could do to “rebel” and be cool.

There were a lot of good things about the 1960’s. Back then, we thought there was nothing much to do but looking back on it now, it seems like the last time when kids were allowed to be naive and innocent as they grew up.  Most mothers still stayed home with the kids, my mom made most of my clothes and I actually loved them! No name brands, no expensive toys like iPods and cell phones. We put a dime in our shoe every time we went out so we could always call home for Dad to come and pick us up if we got into trouble.

If you’re feeling nostalgic, you should check out the 1960’s hits on YouTube. Listening to that music takes me right back to those years, which seem to get better and better the older I get.

I loved this video, which covers music from 1965 to 1969, the exact years I was in high school. It shows random images from those years, like album covers, to go along with it.

Enjoy! YouTube also has music videos from other eras too so it’s easy to find your favorite.

They Can’t Tax Voluntary Simplicity - Yet!

What is Voluntary Simplicity and How Can it Help You Avoid the Coming Economic Crisis?

Voluntary simplicity has a different meaning to each person who practices it. In a nutshell, voluntary simplicity goes against the commercial culture of America which equates material possessions with happiness and fulfillment. Advocates find fulfillment in saving money, downsizing, living simply and finding ways to do for themselves.

Many who embrace voluntary simplicity live debt free, clip coupons, cook from scratch, live closer to nature and try their hand at pass times like gardening and sewing or raising their own chickens.

Maybe this isn’t you but each of us can simplify our lives and focus on saving money, rather than making money. They can’t tax you for saving $20 with grocery store coupons but that is $20 you still have in your pocket.

Is Economic Disaster and Double Dip Recession Coming?

Life as we’ve all gotten used to it may soon end. For the past 20 years, the economy has been booming mostly, real estate prices shot up, the stock market was going great guns. Then it all fell apart. My 82 year old mother recently told me when she hears the term “new normal” in relation to the high unemployment, volitile stock market and near depression-like economy, she can’t help but think that the years of the booming economy were the abnormal years.

Most of the years of my mother’s life, she knew depression, war, pinching pennies. I grew up learning thrift and tried to teach my kids the same thing, but young people really have no clue about living through a real depression.

Are you worried about what the looming economic crisis will mean for you? Are you worried about the huge tax hike coming in 2011 to pay for the exploding national debt and President Obama’s health care plan. Perhaps you have one of those “Cadillac” insurance plans, where your companies’ contribution will now be taxed as income. Dick Morris says America is facing the same financial disaster that is now occurring in Greece.

President Obama campaigned on the promise of tax cuts for those earning less than $250,000 (really all Congress would have to do is keep President Bush’s tax cuts in place - which saved our family $2,000 in taxes each year.) Yet, on June 22, 2011, House Majority Leader, Rep Steny Hoyer, acknowledged that it would be difficult to reduce long-term deficits without breaking President Obama’s pledge to protect families earning less than $250,000 a year. (See New York Times article)

My husband wants to retire. He has a military pension and a good job, which already puts us in a tax above $88,000. Anyone earning over $88,000 will be taxed to pay for the health care of those who cannot afford it. I am trying to earn extra income to supplement our retirement but unfortunately, the more I make, the more taxes we will pay.

So what is our plan? How will we protect ourselves from economic collapse? I’ve decided that I can limit my hours of working on my multiple streams of income (which is pretty much on autopilot now) and focus on pinching pennies.

• I search coupon websites and grocery ads for the best deals, buying only what we need and what is on sale.
• I rejoined our organic food co-op to get fresh organic produce for our green smoothies.
• I planted tomato plants in pots for the first time since we moved to Texas. We are currently buying land where we can grow a bigger garden.
• I dusted off my dehydrater so I can preserve food and not waste anything.
• I bought a sprouter to I can grow fresh sprouts for our smoothies. You can grow tons of sprouts for pennies, providing fresh greens for your diet.
• I am making my own kefir with kefir starter instead of buying sugar-laden and expensive yogurt.
• My husband and I are putting major purchases on hold and going on a spending fast, after reading Jeff Yeager’s Guide to Cheapskate Living (a great book with lots of voluntary simplicity tips and advice)
• We’re buying an RV to put on the land and if we need to live in it for a year or two to save money, we can do that.

We are in the process of purchasing 5 acres of land where we can have a huge garden, raise chickens and build an energy efficient house with wind and solar power. (President Obama admitted that his cap and trade bill will cause electricity prices to skyrocket and trying to break our dependence on oil could cause gas prices to go to $7 a gallon.)

All is not gloom and doom, whether the nation experiences economic disaster or not. What each person must do is be ready to live in the worst of conditions and become more self-sufficient. Try saving, not spending money. Try saving instead of increasing your income. Give voluntary simplicity a try and you will have the satisfaction of knowing you can face whatever happens.

One thing our government officials have not considered is what will happen when more and more people are willing to earn less, do more for themselves and pay less taxes? They’ve made it the sensible solution but how will the government machine survive once they’ve destroyed our economy?

Resources:

Making your own kefir is easier than you think.

Sprouting seeds at Home

Raising Chickens in Your own back yard.

Check out the many coupons and money saving articles on this blog as well.

Learn more about Living Simply

Joan’s Boomer Blog - Joining the Green Smoothie Revolution

Recently my husband and I joined the Green Smoothie Revolution and I wanted to blog about how Green Smoothies can help baby boomers. Many people I’ve met who are passionate about Green Smoothies are young mothers who want to improve their family’s nutrition. Boomers and seniors like me are concerned with healthy aging - maintaining optimal health as we get older. We are experiencing health issues such as arthritis, high cholesterol and maybe diabetes.Maybe we don’t maintain our weight as easily as we used to.

As we age, our bodies don’t take in and use nutrients this they did, leaving us vulnerable to a lowered immune system and results of aging. Can green smoothies help us aging boomers get more out of life?

Why Drink Green Smoothies?

What is your normal daily diet? Do you eat processed foods (foods that come in a package and are full of unpronounceable ingredients?) Do you eat lots of cooked foods, with maybe a small salad for dinner to get your “greens?” Do you have health issues?

Believe me, the health issues are intimately tied to you daily diet. Green smoothies can offer whole, raw veggies like broccoli, kale, Swiss Chard, and mustard greens. You can even throw beet and carrot greens in to your green smoothie recipe so you waste less food. AND these foods are uncooked which is important because cooking often destroys many of the nutrients in our veggies.

Since the foods are blended, the super nutrition is more readily available to your body to increase energy, boost your immune system, help you lose weight and be healthier. Green Smoothies are quick and convenient too, once you get your foods and a powerful blender. They keep for up to 48 hours in the frig so you can make them ahead of time.

Since I decided to start making Green Smoothies for my husband and me, I wanted to blog about the experience, offering recipes and tips to get you started and to let you know what Green Smoothies can do for healthy aging.

Many of my friends already are green smoothie converts. They’ve told me they experience:

• more energy
• improved digestion, including more regular bowel movements and soft stools
• fewer cravings for sugar and processed foods
• improved, more stable moods
• weight loss - an average of over 17lbs!
• increased desire to exercise (couldn’t we all use that!)

Others report less pain from arthritis, improved sex drive, less stress, shinier hair, stronger fingernails and smoother, clearer skin tone. All this after only 30 days on green smoothies!

How Much Green Smoothie Do You Need to Drink?

Optimum consumption is about one quart a day, four or more days per week but you can start with less.

Green smoothies are a lifestyle change. I’m going to start growing sprouts, making kefir, growing spinach and making lots of dietary changes. Check back in coming days to see how the green smoothie revolution is working out for this baby boomer.

Once I decided to embark on the Green Smoothie lifestyle, my next step was to research blenders. Green smoothies do require more power than your average smoothie blender. I look at all of them, read reports and asked friends who are already making green smoothies. Find out tomorrow which blender met the challenge.

More Green Smoothie Information and Recipes

My Favorite Reading Among the Boomer Blogs

As a baby boomer myself and the owner of Tips For Your Boomer Years, I love a good boomer blog. I subscribed to Google alerts for “baby boomer” and get a listing of half dozen or so boomer blogs every week. Some are a wealth of great information on retirement, senior discounts, senior and boomer issues and more.

Here are some of my favorite among the popular boomer blogs:

Baby Boomer Insights by Marilynn Mobley. Lots of great articles of interest to boomers - aging, retirement, finding new careers and more.

Baby Boomer.com has a cute feature. You can click on the year you were born and find out what happened. When I was born in 1950, Hopalong Cassidy and antihistamines were newly popular, the movie All About Eve came out and Joseph McCarthy warned of communist infiltration of the State Department - plus there were more great tidbits. One article I liked was “Call us ‘Girls’ or ‘Women over 40′ (or 50), Just Don’t Call Us Seniors!

Boomer Living.com I used to have a blog called Easy Boomer Living and was threatened with a lawsuit by Boomer Living for stealing their name so I had to change my blog to Tips for Boomer Years. However, this boomer blog does have good info on careers, finances, travel, health and more for boomers.

Retrovision TV isn’t a blog in the strictest sense but a listing of classic TV and movies from the 1930’s forward. If you click on an episode listed, you can watch the episode, find links to others in the series, and then comment on it in blog form. If you love classic movies and TV, you have to check out Retrovision.

Time Goes By - Boomer blog with various authors. There are also links on the site to an extensive list of other boomer and elder issue blogs that you might want to explore.

A wonderful boomer blog recommended to me recently by a friend is MyBoomer2Boomer. On this blog boomer entrepreneurs support each other, telling you about boomer friendly businesses, job hunting info and more.

When you start searching boomer blogs, it’s terrific to see how many of us have turned to blogging as a creative expression. It’s great to see boomers and seniors embracing technology and offering up their thoughts, knowledge and experiences to benefit others.

Do you have a favorite boomer blog? If so, send me a link. I’d love to check it out.

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Boomer Humor - Drag Racing

An elderly man on a Moped, looking about 100 years old, pulls up next to a doctor at a street light.

The old man looks over at the doctor’s sleek shiny car and asks,
‘What kind of car ya got there, sonny?’

The doctor replies, ‘ A Ferrari GTO. It cost half a million dollars!’

‘That’s a lot of money,’ says the old man. ‘Why does it cost so much?’

‘Because this car can do up to 320 miles an hour!’ states the doctor proudly.

The Moped driver asks, ‘Mind if I take a look inside?’

‘No problem,’ replies the doctor.

So the old man pokes his head in the window and looks around.

Then, sitting back on his Moped, the old man says, ‘ That’s a pretty nice car, all right… but I’ll stick with my Moped!’

Just then the light changes, so the doctor decides to show the old man just what his car can do. He floors it, and within 30 seconds the speedometer reads 160 mph.

Suddenly, he notices a dot in his rear view mirror. It seems to be getting closer!

He slows down to see what it could be and suddenly WHOOOOSSSHHH !

Something whips by him going much faster !

‘What on earth could be going faster than my Ferrari?’ the doctor asks himself.

He presses harder on the accelerator and takes the Ferrari up to 250 mph.

Then, up ahead of him, he sees that it’s the old man on the Moped!

Amazed that the Moped could pass his Ferrari, he gives it more gas and passes the Moped at 275 mph and he’s feeling pretty good until he looks in his mirror and sees the old man gaining on him AGAIN!

Astounded by the speed of this old guy, he floors the gas pedal and takes the Ferrari all the way up to 320 mph.

Not ten seconds later, he sees the Moped bearing down on him again! The Ferrari is flat out, and there’s nothing he can do!

Suddenly, the Moped plows into the back of his Ferrari, demolishing the rear end.

The doctor stops and jumps out and unbelievably the old man is still alive.

He runs up to the banged-up old guy and says, ‘I’m a doctor…. Is there anything I can do for you?’

The old man whispers, ‘Yes….please unhook my suspenders from your side view mirror.’

Take Me Back to the Fabulous Fifties

Fabulous Fifties

I grew up in the 1950’s and vividly remember the “fabulous fifties” - drive-in movies, blackjack gum and riding my bike downtown to get a cherry coke for a nickle. A friend sent me this video montage, Take Me Back to the Fifties, and it really did take me back to my childhood.

When we used to go to the dime store, where things really cost a dime, and agonize over which penny candy to get with our allowance, which was, I think a dime. Back when Ricky Nelson was my first crush and I couldn’t wait for Ozzie and Harriet to come on each week.

Visit Old Forty-Fives.com and find montages of growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s, plus Growing up in the Fifties, What we Drove in the 50’s and 60’s, Old Westerns, Do you Remember These, When Life Was Black and White and others that are well worth a trip down memory lane.

Life was simpler in the fabulous fifties - at least for kids. We lived on a farm in Oregon and we could disappear in the morning, going down to the creek near our house, up on the mountain behind our house or take a bike ride downtown. We showed up for lunch, then took off again and my mom never once thought someone would kidnap us. Party lines and one telephone meant we couldn’t talk long to our friends - we’d ride our bikes to visit them instead.

Nobody had much money, our mom made our clothes and canned our food and everybody we knew lived pretty much like us. Nobody’s mom worked and none of my friends parents were divorced. Nobody seemed to worry what kind of education we got and all our free time was “unscheduled.” I know my parents worried a lot about “making ends meet” but living on a farm, we always had good healthy food to eat and healthy air to breathe.

I’d be the first to admit I love my computer with the Internet, connecting with old friends via Facebook, having my cellphone (now with text messaging because all our kids use it!), being able to DVR my favorite TV shows. Still, when I look at my young grandchildren, I feel sorry that they will never know the carefree freedom we had, learning to use their imaginations because that’s the only toys have, being on the run outdoors all day without anyone worrying about them.

I watch the grandchildren glued to videos, unable to go out their front door without supervision, going from activity to activity with no time to just lay out in the grass and watch the cloud shapes take form. I guess that’s why, when either of my 3 year old granddaughters comes to spend time with me, we always sit in the big swing out back and look at the trees and the birds and talk about things.

Just as my own parents were my link to the past which included World War II, the depression and life in the 30’s and 40’s, I guess I’ll be that link for my grandchildren to a simpler time to grow up-life in the Fifties.

Joan’s Boomer Blog - Internet Radio Oldies

Oldies radio shows are disappearing from the airwaves but you can still find Internet radio oldies stations and listen free. Here two new online oldies radio stations I’ve recently discovered.

Alan’s Golden Oldies.

Alan Price is an experienced radio DJ and started his oldies website in 2005. His site streams oldies 24 hours a day and Alan also broadcasts live from 1 to 5 pm weekdays, bringing the audience classic tunes from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.

One thing I like about Alan’s choice of oldies is that there are many you don’t hear anywhere else these days.

Other oldies tidbits you can hear on Alan’s Golden Oldies include:

• Audio from old movie trailers at 330pm Monday through Friday
• Old radio shows like The Adventures of Superman, Amos and Andy or Gunsmoke.
• Promos from stars he’s interviewed over the years like Andy Williams
• Enjoy oldies on your cellphone or PDA

You can also visit Alan’s website to make a special oldies request and view his guest book. Alan’s guestbook includes photos of celebrities from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s with their autographs written to him. See Fabion, Dick Clark and Dick and Dee to name just a few.

I like to tune in to Alan’s Golden Oldies while I’m working. It makes terrific background music for writing a boomer blog!

Another new-to-me Internet radio oldies show is Beyond 50’s Radio, where host Daniel Davis offers interviews on topics of interest to baby boomers, plus a free Beyond 50’s newsletter which keeps you posted on upcoming programs of interest.

If you go to the website you can also listen to past episodes through the archives. Programs include diabetes and accelerated aging, Warren Buffet’s Successful Management Techniques, Map and Plan your Volunteer Vacation and other topics of interest to baby boomers.

More Links to Internet Radio Oldies

Joan’s Boomer Blog - More Coupon Sites for Deals and Freebies

I love getting freebies and using money saving coupons. Coupon sites are growing in popularity and I’ve found some new ones through reading ShopSmart magazine. Put out by Consumer Reports, ShopSmart contains no advertising so there is no conflict of interest in the products and tips they offer to help save you money.

In a recent article, ShopSmart offered these freebie and coupon savings sites. Although these aren’t strictly for seniors, seniors can certainly benefit from these money saving websites.

Coupon Savings.com

Coupons.com

Grocery Smarts.com

Beauty Product Freebies and Coupons:

These money saving coupon sites let you know when department stores are having product giveaway days - such as free gift with purchase. Search by brand name or retailer. You can also subscribe to these great websites so you can get updated on new deals and freebies.

GWP Addict.com - Keeps you up to date on best shopping days for freebies with products like Clinique. Also a coupon page for instore or online coupons, grouped by when they expire so you aren’t trying coupons that are out of date already.

My Gift with Purchase.com

To get coupons for beauty products, lotions and body care products, also sign up with company websites. Ulta.com has a free membership card where you can accumulate points toward gifts, plus they email you discount coupons for online or in store shopping. Other companies like Aveda and Oil of Olay also offer discount coupons for signing up at their website.

Forums where coupons savings shoppers swap tips:

A Full Cup.com

Moms View.com

Slick Deals.com

Some recommendations when using freebie and coupon sites:

Print only from reputable coupon sites. Make sure coupons contain bar codes and expiration dates.

It might be helpful to set up a separate email address just for all your coupons site sign-ups. This will help you avoid spam and keep all our coupons and newsletters in one place. I’ve had to create new email addresses over the years when old ones got too spam filled. I use these older ones for my coupon site sign-ups.

Joan’s Boomer Blog - Your Know You’re Getting Old When……

There are some moments in life when the fact that you’re getting older kind of slaps you in the face (besides

Our daughter's first house

the times you look at that face in the mirror and suddenly notice a new sag or wrinkle!) For my husband and I, one of those senior moments came this past weekend when our youngest daughter purchased her first home and we helped her move in. When someone you thought of as your baby suddenly morphs into a homeowner, pride is mixed with the feeling of time passing quickly.

The second part of the getting older came from the physical helping with her move! After a weekend of cleaning, moving furniture and cleaning up a yard that hadn’t been cleaned up in over a year, we’re left feeling stiff, old and like we want to spend the day in bed with a bottle of Bio-Freeze.

Still and all, besides feeling we’ll like we’ll never move again without pain in forgotten muscles and joints, there is such a feeling of gratification to see our youngest in this new light. Our youngest daughter has always had her life together, unlike her parents who were children of the 60’s where peace and love solved all problems and we never thought of investing our money for retirement, but the the role of “homeowner” is reserved for true adults. We’re just not yet used to seeing her that way.

Our daughter, Laura, was Valedictorian of her high school class, went to college to study architecture and played softball at a Division one school for 4 years. Now that she’s employed with an architecture firm, she’s decided she wants to also buy houses to rent out and her first purchase was a home of her own.

Prices are great right now in Texas for buying homes and the homebuyer’s tax credit is also a bonus.

Laura is also six years younger than her next oldest sister, while the first three daughters are closer in age. All three of them have married and have small children, two of them are consumed right now with newborn daughters.

Laura has always trailed her sisters in everything. When they were in high school having boyfriends and going to dances, she was in elementary and middle school - a world away. When they were getting married and having kids, she was in college, consumed with books and softball. While her sisters talked about child rearing problems and getting along with husbands, Laura lived her own life in a different realm.

Now that Laura too is a homeowner, it’s cute to suddenly see the conversations turning to where to get the best prices on furniture, how to do home repairs and which Internet provider is she going to use.

When I told my own mother that Laura was buying a house, she said “All by herself?!” When Laura met her new neighbor, a lady in her 60’s, her first question was “Do you have any kids?” It makes you see how far women have come since my own growing up in the 50’s. Young women aren’t waiting for marriage for their “real life” to begin. They are stepping out, buying homes, investing, having careers.

So-even though this past weekend gave me a real “I’m getting older” moment, it’s worth it to see this great time in my daughter’s life. Buying this house launched her into the adult world of giving up all her weekends to yard work-lol.

Getting older can be tough on baby boomers but watching the youngsters going through all the things we once went through also makes us appreciate this time of our lives, when all the ups and downs and drama of life is mostly behind us and hopefully we can think “I’m kind of glad I’m the age I am now!”

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