The Year of Living Dangerously – weeks 51 and 52
December 31, 2011
As I write this, it is New Year’s eve. I was out having dinner at Docks restaurant with some very nice friends, but have come home quite a bit before midnight because I’m tired and kind of wanted to sit alone and reflect on the year. I generally don’t make any new year’s resolutions because [...]
Eating and Drinking to a Healthy New Year!
December 31, 2011
BY KATHY HESTER The easiest thing to do is put off being “good” until the New Year. That’s what resolutions are for, right? Well, really the best thing to do is have some healthy choices for you and your guests so you can end the year with no regrets. Remember, taking care of yourself is [...]
Have a Happy and Healthier Holiday
December 30, 2011
BY KATHY HESTER It happens to me every year around this time. I’ve indulged little by little until I’m back on the path to unhealthy eating again. Then comes January 1 and it’s time to eat virtuous all over again. It’s hard to go from one extreme to another. Don’t wait until New Year’s Day [...]
The Benefits of Dating Younger Men
December 28, 2011
BY KATHY FOUST It’s becoming more and more common for older women or “cougars” (who the heck came up with that term) to date younger men. While older women should still avoid the men who are young enough to be without a clue and are entirely ruled by their hormones, there is something to be [...]
Home for the Holidays: Dealing with Family Roles
December 25, 2011
BY CARMEN M. HUBBARD Home for the holidays makes for warm and fuzzy thoughts. Being surrounded by parents, brothers and sisters; reminiscing about the old neighborhood; sharing stories and a confessing about throwing a wild teenage party the weekend your folks were out of town. It’s a good time until reality sets in. Those good [...]
Sharing Holiday Traditions with your Grandkids
December 23, 2011
BY KITT WALSH My grandmother often shook her head and muttered that the world was “going to hell in a hand-basket” and one of the indications of the downfall of Western civilization in her eyes was the escalating disappearance of family traditions. Her Sunday dinners, at which she held sway from her carved mahogany “throne”, [...]
My Drinks with Teddy Kennedy and George Bush
December 21, 2011
BY STEVE WINSTON Me and Teddy Kennedy As the plane carrying my Dad and I arrived at the gate in Washington, D.C., that day in 1968, everyone crowded into the aisle to get their stuff from the overhead bins. My dad was having a hard time getting his sport coat on in the cramped space. [...]
Year of Living Dangerously – week 50
December 20, 2011
I can’t believe it is almost Christmas! It’s funny what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time I was packing up my office and looking forward to what I thought would be a couple months of not working. It turned out to be more than a couple of months but I didn’t [...]
Holiday Travel Tips For Those No Longer 20 Years Old
December 18, 2011
BY KITT WALSH The other day my vanity took a hit when a young woman offered me her seat on the subway. I mentally wrestled with the fact I was far too young to need to be treated like a senior citizen and then realized (simultaneously) that I am … –Chronologically approaching legitimate senior citizen [...]
Psychiatry Gone Wacky
December 16, 2011
BY DICK METHIA The American Psychiatric Association has got my cranky synapses firing again. Periodically that venerable organization unveils a revision of its “bible,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, mercifully abbreviated “DSM.” I wouldn’t recommend this psychiatric encyclopedia as a fun read unless you’re an insomniac. You’ll be in lullaby land before [...]
How to Protect Yourself from Scams During the Holidays
December 14, 2011
Both before and after the holidays, tis the season to get scammed. You are busy, tired, short of money and have little energy to pay as much attention to everything as usual. Unscrupulous people offering deals, jobs, credit cards or soliciting for fake charities come out of the woodwork when you are distracted by shopping [...]
Year of Living Dangerously – week 49
December 12, 2011
As I sit here writing this, I’m happy to say that I have finished my Christmas shopping. I hate to go in the stores this time of year so this is a real accomplishment. Every year I say that I will pick up gifts during the year so I don’t have to participate in the [...]
Is Men’s Literature Dead? Yes and No
December 11, 2011
BY STEVE WINSTON Chauncey Mabe knows books. And well he should. Mabe was a book critic for The South Florida Sun-Sentinel for 22 years. He’s an accomplished freelance writer and ghostwriter. And his apartment in a Fort Lauderdale high-rise has more books stuffed into it than any other apartment – or house, for that matter – [...]
Bioidentical Hormones: Miracles for Menopause?
December 9, 2011
BY KITT WALSH At a recent doctor visit, I put the question this way: “Doc, there are two schools about taking hormones to treat the symptoms of menopause. One school of thought that says you are flirting with cancer and the other school that says without them you will turn into a wrinkled crone. Which side [...]
Active Vacations: Breezing Through Europe
December 7, 2011
BY MARY JANE HORTON Have you always wanted to take a walking or bicycling trip abroad but thought it was too strenuous? Think again. There are several options for trips that will exercise your body – but not too much – and your senses at the same time. Here are some choices: Biking The Netherlands [...]
Year of Living Dangerously – week 48
December 5, 2011
As I sit here writing this, I am battling a little bit of a hangover. All 5 of my brothers were here last night and we went out to celebrate 3 of their birthdays. It was a fun night but the morning after…not so much. We went and had dinner at The Hurricane Club. The [...]
Planning for a Mid-Life Crisis
December 4, 2011
BY KATHY FOUST Call it a mid-life crisis. Call it a second child, losing your mind or whatever you want to call it. However you describe it, planning for the mid-life crisis may mean the difference between enjoying the life you have and giving it all away to a bankruptcy court. Put your finances in [...]
Dealing with a Debilitating Disease
December 2, 2011
BY CARMEN M. HUBBARD Growing old is one of life’s many adjustments. But when every day chores like doing the laundry, cleaning the house and shampooing your hair leave you feeling exhausted, it can be difficult to decipher getting older from something else. Fatigue is frequent, pain is chronic and the simplest tasks are a [...]
Three Days of Peace and Music
November 30, 2011
BY STEVE WINSTON I can still remember that now-famous poster on my wall, that summer of ’69. It was red, with a guitar slung across it, and a white dove standing astride the guitar. “Three days of peace and music,” the poster read. When I woke up each morning in that teenaged summer, it was [...]
Define Yourself by Dustin Lujan
November 27, 2011
I have noticed for women over fifty one of the best and sure fire ways to look great and get noticed is to define yourself! No, not with a dictionary, just by using your cosmetics and your face. I will go over some surefire ways to add definition to the face so we can sharpen your features and [...]
The Year of Living Dangerously – week 46 and 47
November 26, 2011
I’m including the last 2 weeks in this post because I was away for the holiday for a few days. I can’t believe that it is Thankgiving! I hope you all had a nice holiday but this year has gone way too fast. It seems like I just had my bathroom redone but that nightmare was [...]
The Beginning and The End
November 25, 2011
BY MARY JANE HORTON She was 13, I was 53. She was irritable. I was grumpy forgetful, hot, and bloated. She was getting her period, and I was getting rid of mine. Neither of us was really happy about it that year that I went through menopause and my daughter started menstruating. I felt sad [...]
Osteoporosis: Don’t Let Your Bone Density Fracture Your Future
November 23, 2011
BY VICKY GIUGGIO Osteoporosis is a disease that causes your spine, hip, and wrist to be more susceptible to fractures and breaks. It develops when decreased bone density makes bones weaker and more fragile. So fragile, in fact, that a break can occur from an event as innocuous as a bump. It is estimated that [...]
Single, sex and STDs
November 20, 2011
BY CARMEN M. HUBBARD After three decades of a tumultuous marriage rooted in manipulation and deceit, Marlene got the divorce she needed to be free. The mother of two adult children mustered the courage to find her voice and rediscover herself while getting acclimated to the dating scene. So much had changed. The last time [...]
Our Medieval Politics
November 18, 2011
BY DICK METHIA On America’s march through history we seem to have taken a bizarre u-turn back to middle age. I’m not talking about the day I finally admitted those tight jeans didn’t really shrink in the wash. I’m referring to the Middle Ages, the days before re-cycling and Lady Gaga. In medieval times, people [...]
Mid-Life Career Switch
November 16, 2011
BY GAYLE THOMPSON Question: What do Ernestine Shepherd, Carmen Ware and Julia Child have in common? Answer: They each switched careers at the age most people are at least contemplating retirement – and became widely successful in their new roles. Ernestine Shepherd is a body-builder, fitness trainer and model, who happens to be 75 years [...]
Year of Living Dangerously – week 44 and 45
November 14, 2011
I’ve had to put two weeks into this blog because I just didn’t get a chance to write anything last week. Since I went back to work, it seems that time just flys by and I don’t get a chance to do everything I want to. Funny how having a job seems to interfere with [...]
Exercise that Ages Well
November 11, 2011
BY MARY JANE HORTON Even if you can’t remember the last time you worked out, it is never too late to start. And you don’t have lift heavy weights, run for miles, or take an exhausting aerobics classes to be in good shape. Studies have shown that a mere 20 minutes a week of any [...]
Hitchhiking Through Europe
November 9, 2011
BY STEVE WINSTON The night of my college graduation, my dad drove me to Kennedy Airport. The next morning I landed in Ireland. And spent the better part of three years hitch-hiking across the continent and the Middle East, and living out of a knapsack. It’s hard to tell the story of a three-year journey [...]
Volunteer Opportunities for Any Age
November 8, 2011
BY GAYLE THOMPSON We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s better to give than receive,” and we can probably each recall moments when we lived by that principle, and the euphoria of that experience lasted for days, or maybe even weeks. But what if we could give of ourselves on a regular basis, and have fun [...]