Baby Boomers - Stay Active!

Baby Boomers, it is important to stay active mentally as well as physically. When we retire, the main question is, what do we do with our spare time? You know, that time that used to be filled with commuting to work and then the actual 9-5 job. What are your hobbies, or perhaps a better question, did you have time for hobbies?


Put your thinking cap on ... what have you always dreamed of doing? Maybe learning to Juggle? It would certainly work on your reaction time! There are so many things that don't require a large financial outlay and could keep you not only occupied, but bring you into a whole new circle of friends. Age is only between your ears many times and all you have to do is go out there and do it!

You may find out that your hobby, whether it is something new to you or one that you have been passionate about for years could also be a source of extra income. Teaching your favorite thing at a community center or maybe selling your crafts at a local flea market can bring in a few extra dollars as well as allow you to meet new friends. How about setting up a web site and selling information on the internet? Use your imagination!

Don't sell yourself short ... your years of knowledge are valuable. If you are really serious about starting up a new business, there is even help available at the Small Business Association

When baby boomers retire it is not the end stage of life, just the next stage ..... be active, have fun and enjoy the journey!

You Know You are a Baby Boomer, When ......

Early morning is my favorite time of the day. It is a time to enjoy a cup of my special coffee, check emails on the computer and reflect on the coming days activities. It is a quiet time and no on is stirring, not even my Maltese Houdini! I think that us over 50 group tend to get up early out of habit!

Wait, what do I hear? I hear the "thrumming" sound of a helicopter rotor cutting through the air. It immediately brings back a memory of growing with the Vietnam War on the six o'clock news. Listening to Walter Cronkite and his horrific stories all the while my family is sitting around, eating off of TV trays.





















Does this jog a memory for you? If it does, then you to are a baby boomer, one of the 78 million people that belong to this elite group of soon to retire baby boom generation.

Wait a minute, it isn't 1969, but 2008 .... I look out the window ....

I don't see any troops landing in a rice paddie or gunfire whizzing over head, but the county helicopter spraying our little island for mosquitoes! What better time to do this than at 6:30 am in the morning ... just at the break of dawn. I laugh to myself, what a vivid imagination.

We are an amalgamation of our experiences in life and this knowledge is what makes senior citizens so great! Use your great knowledge everyday and don't let retirement mean that you retire your mind. Keep active and share your time with others, maybe now is the time to volunteer.

The Corporation for National and Community Services feels that Baby Boomers represent a highly talented and highly motivated segment of the population that can help solve some of our most challenging social problems. They find ways to support communities by capturing the talents, skills, energy, and experience of Baby Boomers to meet local and national needs. Check it out!

Baby Boomers - Let's Have Some Fun!

Baby Boomers, now is the time in your life to have some fun! We have some essential baby boomers information right here to to get your imagination going.

Think about what you always wanted to do in your youth, but didn't have the time or money. What about skydiving? George Bush, Sr. recently (2007) took his fourth skydive at the age of 83 ... you can watch on the video to the upper left. He recently had a hip replaced, so he did a tandem jump and just kept his knees up during landing. Pretty COOL, huh?




OK, maybe skydiving isn't your cup of tea, what about jumping on a freighter and cruising exotic ports of call? The upper age limit for this type of cruising is 79, but that still leaves the opportunity for many of us! Cruising on a freighter can be less expensive than conventional cruising and offers a side of water travel seldom seen by most ...... to learn how to go about this type of travel, click here ....




Have you ever thought about digging up fossils or dinosaurs? Volunteers are welcome at the Archaeological Institute of America. Volunteers usually have a minimum stay required and are responsible for most of their room and board, but each site is different so go to this site and look around and see what tickles your fancy!

This is your retirement, so make the most of it! For essential baby boomers information you have come to the right place!

Baby Boomers - Don't Forget Mom

Baby Boomers, the day is upon us, the once yearly time to give tribute to the woman that gave us life, changed our diapers and dried our tears.

For many of us, our Mom's have passed away. For others, we may have an aging parent that is cause for worry along with feelings that are a mixture of love, stress, financial concerns and more.

When does our special relationship with our Mother take a reversal ... I don't remember the exact day when I knew that I would have to be the caregiver to my Mom, but it happened ... and as annoying as my Mom could be, I always said to myself, "you only have one Mother" ... some days I would chant this like a mantra.

We had good times and bad, but now that she is gone I wouldn't trade any of those times. Life is funny that way ... time softens the bad times a bit and now I can even smile at some of the worst ...

Well, here I am, the baby, posing with my Mom and sister, Maryjo. My Mom never liked to pose for pictures even as a young woman....right now she is probably appalled that I would show a picture of her in pin curls! Hey, I'm in diapers, which is worse?

My sister, well my sister is no longer with us, either ... she died of pancreatic cancer five years ago. She was a Mom also.

So, to both of these very special women in my life ... I will love you both, always .... Happy Mother's Day!


Learn more about Pancreatic Cancer and its devastation, advances and research, go to:
http://www.PanCan.com

Baby Boomers, Do You Like Yourself?

Baby Boomers, now you know who I am talking to, do you like yourself? When you look in the mirror is there a happy, slightly older face that looks back at you or do you wish that things could be different ... maybe if you could re-invent yourself!

Many of the baby boomer generation are doing just that! As you get older life experiences change your way of thinking. In other words, the career that you loved in your 20's is no longer fulfilling for you at 55. Why not change? Go to adult education classes, volunteer for something that you are passionate about, let your imagination run wild .... if you don't do it now, then when?

Your children are grown and out of the nest (unless you have a boomerang on your hands!) and hopefully you are financially secure enough to go out on that limb. Some people may try to convince you that you are crazy, do not listen to them!

Don't let life pass you by until you aren't able to go grab that brass ring.

A friend once sent me this advice:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the
intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well
preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,
chocolate in one hand, champagne in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming
“WOO HOO what a ride!”

I agree!

Baby Boomers, The Envelope, Please!

Baby Boomers, have you ever seen an envelope that looks like this? It is usually sent to you right around your 50th birthday. Is it something to celebrate or should you line the bird cage with it?

At first, I put my envelope in the bottom of the stack of mail, then under a pile of bills ... next I rotated it through 3 months worth of bills until I finally got up my courage to open it ... after all, it had my name on it! By now I had already celebrated my 50th birthday and the initial shock had worn down a bit ... from OMG! to just omg!


Well, I read the information, then I put on my reading glasses and re-read it! The information sounded good, the price was right, only $12.50 a year and, why not?

I took the following excerpt from the AARP online Membership page because they say it so well:


Membership includes:

Benefits and Discounts: Access to health insurance, automobile insurance, homeowners insurance and other services from AARP. Discounts on travel, online services, music and much more.

Advocacy and Information: A voice in Washington and in your state, representing you on issues like Medicare, Social Security and consumer safety.

Advice for Living Well: Expert advice on healthy living, financial planning, consumer protection, and caring for parents.

Award-winning Publications: AARP The Magazine is packed with exciting features, and the AARP Bulletin brings you the latest news and information each month.

Community Services: Over 2,000 local chapters, driver safety courses, tax prep help, and a nationwide volunteer network.

OK, I have been a member now for over 5 years and what they say is true, so don't be afraid. When you get that envelope in the mail, open it with gusto! Grow up baby boomers, smell the roses and take advantage of a good thing.

Baby Boomers, Look Out ...They are Everywhere!

Baby Boomers, we know who we are, but how did we get the name and why are there so many of us?

In May 1951, Sylvia F. Porter, a columnist in the New York Post, used the term "Boom" to refer to the phenomenon of increased births in post war America. She wrote:

Take the 3,548,000 babies born in 1950. Bundle them into a batch, bounce them all over the bountiful land that is America. What do you get? Boom. The biggest, boomiest boom ever known in history.

The end of World War II brought a baby boom to many countries in Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia. People disagree as to the precise beginning and ending dates of the post-war baby boom, but the range most commonly accepted is 1946 to 1964. In 1946, live births in the U.S. surged from 222,721 in January to 339,499 in October. By the end of the 1940s, about 32 million babies had been born, compared with 24 million in the 1930s.

After the war, couples reunited and returned to traditional roles. Returning male soldiers re-entered the workforce, while many women left wartime work to concentrate on child-bearing and child-rearing. Marriage became again a cultural and career norm for most women ... and the result was babies. Lot's of them!



One theory about the end of the baby boom is that the as the biological capacity of boomer parents took its course. Women are fertile only into their mid-forties. Do the math! A woman married in her mid-to-late twenties after the war ended in 1945 would remain fertile for another 20 years or so.

In addition to the biological factor was the advent and mainstream use of birth control pills. It was 1960 when the FDA first approved ... doesn't seem that long ago!

Well, we are here now, and are 78 million strong ... baby boomers UNITE! Let's take the world by storm and show them just what we are made of.

The Birth of the Baby Boom Generation!

All baby boomers began their lives as babies ... we all have pictures like these hidden in the closet, long forgotten ... mine just happens to be fifty-five years old! I know, some of you "young folks" will ask, "Mommy, did they really have cameras back then in the olden days"?

Well, darn skippy, they did!

I was born in 1953 and that puts me smack dab in the middle of what the public calls the Baby Boom Generation. Believe it or not, there are over 78 million of us in the United States alone and it is essential that someone speak our wants, concerns and needs.

The questions we have are many and the "techno" age has placed us in an environment that requires we learn new information. We need to know how to get this information, or we get left behind in the dust.

Retirement, finances, computers, cellphones, aging parents, boomerangs, social networking ... OH MY ..... ! The list is endless. It is enough to send a girl right over the edge into permanent a "mental pause".

This is a new adventure folks and we ARE the people our parents warned us about! Let's take this journey together and discover everything you need to know about this wild and sometimes crazy Baby Boomers generation.