"Billions"

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending your tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

a. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

b. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

c. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C. ... HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??

Just for Suzz

This one is just for you Suzz! Couldn't resist!

VOTE . . .

Here we are already discussing the future President of the United States in the Year 2008. Well, I have my own candidate and I'm sure that once you know who I'm for, you will also agree. For those of you who would like another choice for President, I have the best solution. It is probably time we have a woman as President. My choice, and I hope yours as well, is a very special Lady that has all the answers to our problems. PLEASE give it a thought when you have a moment....



MAXINE FOR PRESIDENT!!

Maxine's PLATFORM

Maxine on "Driver Safety"
"I can't use the cell phone in the car. I have to keep my hands free for making gestures.".......

Maxine on "Lawn Care"
"The key to a nice-looking lawn is a good mower. I recommend one who is muscular and shirtless."

Maxine on "The Perfect Man"
"All I'm looking for is a guy who'll do what I want, when I want, for as long as I want, and then go away. Or wait nearby, like a Dust Buster, charged up and ready when needed."

Maxine on "Aging"
"Take every birthday with a grain of salt. This works much better if the salt accompanies a Margarita."

"I'm telling you ... she's the perfect candidate."

MAXINE ON AGING

Never read the fine print. There ain't no way you're going to like it

If you let a smile be your umbrella, then most likely your butt will get soaking wet.

The only two things we do with greater frequency in old age are urinate and attend funerals.

The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.

To err is human, to forgive - highly unlikely.

Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have millions of old ladies running around with tattoos?

Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Drinking makes some husbands see double and feel single.

After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching somewhere, you may be dead.
~~~~~
So don't forget, November 2008: VOTE FOR MAXINE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
There's no one better for the job!!!

How to . . .

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them "

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10.Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.


AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Some weeks . . .

are just better than others. This is one of the better weeks for me. I'm in Florida as I speak in the process of buying me a vacation home. Wow!! totally exciting and a little overwhelming all at the same time but somehow I'm loving every minute of it.

Back in February, after an exhaustive search of the internet, I found exactly what I was looking for; namely, a resident-owned 55+ trailer park in Florida that was affordable. No need for another big house. I have one of those already. A nice sized camper seemed like a perfect solution.

My camper idea evaporated once I learned about something called a 'park model'. Let me explain in case, like me, the term is new to you too. They are similar to campers in size but they have a regular bathroom and are much like a house. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm posting a link to some pictures of the one I got. Who knows maybe you'll want one too when you see how cute it is!!
New Florida Home

70 something

Well it happened. July 27th arrived and I'm now officially 70 something. I'm not sure I like that it happened. I was so accustomed to 60 something that I'm not sure I'm ready for 70 something. It's actually taken me several weeks to get used to the idea and stop pretending it didn't happen. After all, I woke up on the morning of July 27th and I didn't feel any different than I did on the morning of July 26th so I guess it's ok.

Just for the heck of it I googled: '70 something' and found: Even a 70 Something Technologically Challenged Mom Can Get Started in Blogging With These 10 Tips. Wonder why the author picked 70 something? Why didn't he pick 60 something? Hmmm! Maybe you need more help at 70 than you do at 60? I dunno but I did find something in the above article that I could use to cure my frequent episodes of 'blog block' though. Use These 7 Ideas and You Will Never Suffer From Blog Block Again Guaranteed!. So glad I found this one because I can use all the help I can get.

Just in case . . .

Just in case you haven't visited Ronni at As Time Goes By today, here's the link to an outstanding article published in Newsweek that she talks about today. “I’m Old and I’m Just Fine With That.”. I visit Ronni often but NEVER comment but that all changed today. I commented and feel better for having done it because "I’m Old and I’m Just Fine With That" too!

Hi Carol . . .

Hi Carol,
I sent you an email but it bounced back to me so I'm posting it here in the hope that if and when you ever visit again - you'll read it!

Hi Carol,
I'm so happy to meet you and welcome you to my blogspot page. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. I love that you included your birthday cause now I know that you are 70 years young and I'll hit that milestone on the 27th of this month. I'm not sure how to feel about entering the 7th decade of my life. I've spent so many years saying 60-something that I'm reluctant to let it go. hehe!!

Could you please tell me again how you found me? I'm not sure I understand how you found me thru AARP. I cancelled my membership in protest to them supporting the Part D medication legislation. It's history now so I guess it's time to join again.

So are you going to join us on blogspot? Hope your answer is 'yes'. It's easy to do and there are so many interesting and fun blogging sites just for us seniors to visit that I'm sure you will just love it as much as I do.
That's a promise! I'll let you go since I do have a tendency to ramble these days! Hope your evening is a delightful one.
Hugz, Marge

Don't Save

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package:

"This, - he said - isn't any ordinary package."

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

"She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion. Well, I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral home. His wife had just died. He turned to me and said:

"Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less.

I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family, and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to, not survived through.

I no longer keep anything. I use crystal glasses every day. I wear new clothes to go to the supermarket, if I feel like it.

I don't save my special perfume for special occasions, I use it whenever I want to.

The words "Someday..." and "One Day..." are fading away from my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing, listening to or doing, I want to see,listen or do it now.

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning, this nobody can tell.

I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends. She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese, her favorite food. It's these small things that I would regret not doing, if I knew my time had come.

I would regret it, because I would no longer see the friends I would meet, letters... that I wanted to write.

"One of these days".

I would regret and feel sad, because I didn't say to my brother and sisters, son and daughters,not times enough at least, how much I love them.

Now, I try not to delay, postpone or keep anything that could bring laughter and joy into our lives. And, on each morning, I say to myself that this could be a special day..

Each day, each hour, each minute, is special.

Shades of the PAST.

SHADES OF THE PAST FOR ALL YOU GUYS AND GALS WHO GO BACK A FEW YEARS ...

Here's a phrase I heard all the time in my youth but never anymore - "store-bought." Of course, just about everything is store-bought these days. But once it was bragging material to have a store-bought dress or a store-bought bag of candy

"Coast to coast" is a phrase that once held all sorts of excitement and now means almost nothing. Now we take the term "world wide" for granted. This floors me.

On a smaller scale, "wall-to-wall" was once a magical term in our homes. In the '50s, everyone covered his or her hardwood floors with, wow, wall-to-wall carpeting! Today, everyone replaces their wall-to-wall carpeting with hardwood floors. Go figure.

When's the last time you heard the quaint phrase "in a family way?" It's hard to imagine that the word "pregnant" was once considered a little too graphic, a little too clinical for use in polite company. So we had all that talk about stork visits and "being in a family way" or simply"expecting."

Apparently "brassiere" is a word no longer in usage .. I said it the other day and my daughter cracked up. I guess it's just "bra" now "Unmentionables" probably wouldn't be understood at all.

I always loved going to the "picture show," but I considered "movie" an affectation.

Most of these words go back to the '50s, but here's a pure-'60s word I came across the other day - "rat fink." Ooh, what a nasty put-down!

Here's a word I miss - "percolator." That was just a fun word to say. And what was it replaced with? "Coffee maker." How dull. Mr. Coffee, I blame you for this.

I miss those made-up marketing words that were meant to sound so modern and now sound so retro. Words like "DynaFlow" and "Electrolux." Introducing the 1963 Admiral TV, now with "SpectraVision!"

Food for thought - Was there a telethon that wiped out lumbago? Nobody complains of that anymore. Maybe that's what castor oil cured, because I never hear mothers threatening kids with castor oil anymore!

Some words aren't gone, but are definitely on the endangered list. The one that grieves me most "supper." Now everybody says "dinner." Save a great word. Invite someone to supper. Discuss fender skirts.

What in the world is a fender skirt?

I came across this phrase in a book yesterday "FENDER SKIRTS". A term I haven't heard in a long time and thinking about "fender skirts" started me thinking about other words that quietly disappear from our language with hardly a notice.

Like "curb feelers" and "steering knobs." Since I'd been thinking of cars, my mind naturally went that direction first. Any kids will probably have to find some elderly person over 50 to explain some of these terms to you.

Remember "Continental kits?" They were rear bumper extenders and spare tire covers that were supposed to make any car as cool as a Lincoln Continental.

When did we quit calling them "emergency brakes?" At some point "parking brake" became the proper term. But I miss the hint of drama that went with "emergency brake."

I'm sad, too, that almost all the old folks are gone who would call the accelerator the "foot feed"

Didn't you ever wait at the street for your daddy to come home, so you could ride the "running board" up to the house?

Someone forwarded this to me. I thought some of us of a "certain age" would remember most of these.

Just for fun, Pass it along to others of "a certain age"

"Old" is when . . .

Oops! Not that it matters but I missed an entry for June. No-one ever reads this thing anyway! hehe! So here's one for July. It's another GEM from Bob Noel that asks:
ARE YOU GETTING OLD ???
"OLD" IS WHEN . Your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs and make love," and you answer, "Pick one; I can't do both!"
"OLD " IS WHEN ... Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes and you're barefoot.
"OLD" IS WHEN A sexy babe catches your fancy and your pacemaker opens the garage door.
"OLD" IS WHEN . Going braless pulls all the wrinkles out of your face.
"OLD" IS WHEN . You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
"OLD" IS WHEN . You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police.
"OLD" IS WHEN ."Getting a little action" means you don't need to take any fiber today.
"OLD" IS WHEN "Getting lucky" means you find your car in the parking lot.
"OLD" IS WHEN . An "all nighter" means not getting up to use the bathroom.
AND
"OLD" IS WHEN You are not sure these are jokes.

TO ALL THE KIDS . . .

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers ! who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.


They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.


Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.


We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.


As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.


Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.


We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.



We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.


We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......
WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!


We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.


No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.


We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.


We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Inter! net chat rooms.........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
lawsuits from these accidents.


We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.


We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.


We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!


Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!


The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!


This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!


The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.


We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!


And YOU are one of them!


CONGRATULATIONS!


You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.


and while you are at it, share it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.


Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

Aging

George Carlin's Views on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old
is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited
about aging that you think in fractions.

"How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and
a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the
next number, or even a few ahead.

"How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're
gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21.
Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound
like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now,
you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the
brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50
and your dreams are gone.


But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a
day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch;
you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the
90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92."

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a
little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and
height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them "

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening,
whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's
workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who
is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family,
pets,keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your
refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next
county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.


AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away.

Got it !!

For some dumb reason, I decided to try adding an RSS feed to my blog today. I knew when I started that I was in way over my head but I tried anyway. I spent the better part of the evening trying to figure it out and just when I was about to give up, it worked. Hooray! I got it!!

Long time . . .

Can't believe it's been so long since my last entry. I left for Florida on Feb. 3rd and didn't return until the 20th. Guess you could say I've been playing catch up since I've been home.
I do have some news though. I've been looking for an affordable 55+ resident-owned park in Florida. Well, I got lucky and found one in Avon Park. The first week I was in Florida, I visited the park to check it out and gather some information. Then I went on a 3-day Disney cruise and spent 3 days at Disney's Animal Kingdom Resort. Was able to make a second visit to the park and I picked out a lot and purchased a share in the co-op. The name of the park is Lake Bonnett Village. I'll come back later and tell you more.

This & That

Had time last evening to explore some other sites authored my Seniors. Found "The Ageless Project" and visited some of the sites that are linked there. For the most part, they were truly great! The next time I visit, I'll have to leave a comment and introduce myself. I noticed that some sites haven't had an entry in a while. It got me to start wondering if they were ok. I'm sure they are but still . . . you wonder.

Sunday

Decided today would be a good day to start to figure out how this blogger thing works so I've been exploring how to change the comment board, add a tag board, add links and a bunch of other stuff. Learning something new is a good thing.

Starting something new.

This blog will be for the Senior side of me because . . . that's the side of me that gets overlooked in my other blog. That's mostly because I'm the 'oldie but goodie' in the group of gals that I currently read and tag. My goal is to find other Senior bloggers and see what's on their minds. Who knows, maybe I'll meet some new friends and get some of them to visit me once in a while.