New Jersey Baby Boomer

I feel like doing a personal post today, no NJ history, or places to visit, or any of that, just some things that are happening in the lives of two Baby Boomers in NJ, my husband and I.

As you know if you read my blog(s), we live in a rural lake community. Because we have lived here for about 25 years, we had gained a nice bit of equity in our home. We have a mortgage still…would be nice to have that paid off, but the equity came in handy when we had a couple of emergencies and refinanced to cover the bills as well as reduce our interest.

Then when hubby joined the many who have lost their jobs at the age of 50something after working for a company for 30 years, and had to change jobs a few times in 4 years, we found that we had to dip into the equity of our home to make it by a few times.

Then to top it off, this year, the equity went down on our home along with every other home in the Nation. Yes, we still have a chunk left between what we owe and what we might get for our home if we sell it, but I’d say it’s been cut almost in half. That’s a tough pill to swallow if you’re hoping that the equity in your home was going to help you in your retirement one day. Or be something that you can leave your children.

The times are challenging ones, for sure, and there are no easy answers. They are times that can cause worry and fear, or can put us on our knees in prayer, hubby and I are doing the latter and counting of the promises that God has given us to provide all our NEEDS. Even though we live relatively simply, like many, we have our priorities a little off balance in some areas, bad habits developed when it seemed like the money would always be coming in at the same rate forever…ha! We bear some of the responsibility for where we find ourselves.

So here’s to the future, and hopes that things are going to improve, and faith to know that no matter what, we’ll be okay.

Wow did I ever leave you hanging, just stopping suddenly with events you could enjoy in New Jersey for the holidays!  The holidays themselves got the better of me, but I’m back, and ready to blog about New Jersey things and being a Baby Boomer.

We had a snow storm before Christmas, then the weather warmed enough for rain just before Christmas…but being in a higher elevation in NJ enough snow remained to make it officially a white Christmas.

Yesterday we had freezing rain most of the day, and the weather has remained cold enough for us to enjoy the beauty of ice on trees and branches, thankfully no branches have fallen or caused any damage, only the sound of ice breaking into pieces on the roof as it falls with the wind.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and send my best Baby Boomer wishes to all for the New Year!

Last Saturday hubby and I packed a few things, hopped in the car, and hit the road for the few-hour drive to the location of his potential new job.  We were being put up in a nice hotel for a night, but since we went down a day earlier, chose a much less expensive hotel for the night on Saturday.  Then we spent the day Sunday driving the area to see what we thought.  We saw potential in some places, and didn’t care much for others.

Monday hubby was to be interviewed, all Sunday night he tossed and turned, then headed out for the interview, after a delicious breakfast provided by the hotel.  A few hours later he called, excited, saying that all went well and he knew most of the people who interviewed him.  They would contact him within the week. All day as we drove around gathering apartment rental books and real estate books he talked about how he really wanted to get into this company, how beautiful it was, on and on he talked.  I listened, and thought about how hard it would be to leave everyone and everything familiar and move, but for the most part kept that to myself, wanting to support him during this challenging time in his life.  The drive home was a difficult one, the traffic was not good, but we made the best of it and arrived home safely.

Here we are at Tuesday morning (no FREE internet access where we were, so took a vacation from the computer), and my dear husband just called a short while ago to say he already found out that he was not chosen.  My heart sinks, feeling for him…he did all he could to sound unconcerned, but I know when he comes home he’s going to collapse in his recliner, and have to work through a lot of emotional feelings…and he has a tough road ahead, it’s not easy getting a job when you’re in you 50′s.  We trust God will provide…but the waiting is tough at times, and with the economy as it is…

So for now, it looks like I’ll remain a NEW JERSEY Baby Boomer, and even though the idea of moving was hard to imagine, my feelings are a bit confused right now.  I will keep on posting our journey.

Most of us who call ourselves Baby Boomers have been through our share of changes.  I have passed through some of the most common ones, including the painful experience of losing a dear parent; raising two children to adulthood and realizing that the “mommy” role that I took so seriously and poured my life into is no longer what it was; watching my husband experience the physical challenges of diabetes and a heart attack; looking in the mirror and watching the the face that looks back at me change; supporting my husband as he went through the painful experience of realizing that after thirty years devoted to one company, surprise, he is dispensable, and now of at an age where there’s a tendency to go from one job to the other without settling, and what about retirement? Is it possible?

That brings us to our newest change, which could be looked at as a negative, or embraced as a new and exciting adventure, it’s up to us what we decide to do with it.  It may mean a move from our home of 25 years, the home where I raised my babies, and how can I be the “New Jersey Baby Boomer” if we leave NJ?  It may mean leaving behind friends of many years, and being further away from my now-grown babies than I want to be.  It may not happen at all!

I want to take you along on this personal journey and intertwine it with the usual New Jersey info on this blog, and let you get to know me a bit better.   More later this week!

What sad news to hear that Paul Newman has passed away today after his battle with cancer, lung cancer, I believe?  To me he is forever young in my memory, so I’m not including a picture. I don’t see him any other way, and when I heard that he was 83 years old, was so surprised…that would make him a year younger that my father, who passed a few years ago next month.

You have to respect a guy who lives outside the Hollywood circle, and has lived a life devoted to one woman for 50+ years.  I read in one source that when asked about being tempted by other woman, he said, in classic Newman style, “I have steak at home, why should I go for hamburger”.

He leaves behind 3 daughters that he parented with Joanne Woodward,  and 2 by a previous short-lived marriage.  He lived in Connecticut and was treated in New York City’s Sloan Kettering Hospital, and after his last chemotherapy treatments at the end of the summer, August, I believe, he was given weeks to live.  He went home, telling his family he wanted to die at home.  He died surrounded by family and friends.

He has left his a tremendous sum of money from his Newman’s Own business to charity, not as a last minute decision when dying, this was in the plans before he was diagnosed.

My husband and I have watched “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” often, but for Boomers, his movies go back to when we were very young.  What was your favorite Newman movie?

New Jersey can be somewhat expensive compared to living in other states around the country. Our taxes are relatively high, and perhaps higher because we chose to live in a rural part of the State where there are no big businesses to help with local taxes. And with “retirement” years ahead, if there will be such a thing for us, one is naturally concerned.

I just did an online quiz at Bills IQ to help me decide whether or not we are handling our finances well, and whether we need help with Debt consolidation, as we have a few bills and debts due to various life circumstances that seem to be common these days for many, including a period of time that my husband was unemployed…and another spell of that that will start in November if he doesn’t find a new job soon. Our grade after doing the quiz was a “B”, which isn’t terrible, but I know we could use some improvement, and BillsIQ seemed to provide some helpful solutions, including Debt help and resources for Debt relief. Maybe you’ll want to take the simple quiz they provide, it’s easy to do, and you’re provided with some options to decide what help might be best for you. You can chose one of these opportunities, or skip on to see your score. If you need the help, then check out the services they offer.

For now, I think we’re okay, but our wonderful Lord knows what the future holds, and we know He’ll show the way through the valleys.

Here’s an attempt at a little Haiku, which is a form of Japanese “poetry”, 3 lines – 1 with 5 syllables, the next with 7, then the third, 5 again. It often speaks of nature, seasons, etc.

Fall of life is here,
Know not what the future holds,
Bills IQ is near.