New Jersey Baby Boomer

It’s a great pleasure to be part of this wonderful group of women, and at the center of the group is Beverly Mahone, where would we be without her!! I want to share some of a press release with you, and since I’ll just bet Beverly will find her way over here sometime soon, want to thank her for ALL that she has done for us! THANK YOU BEVERLY!! And fellow Diva’s that may stop by, ((((hugs)))) to you all!

They’re known as Baby Boomer Divas—women over 40 who are on the move and making a difference in their personal and professional lives. This month the group celebrates its one year anniversary. The idea to create a Baby Boomer Diva Web of Fame came from baby boomer author and expert Beverly Mahone who says, “This was my way to honor baby boomer women who were doing great things at midlife but weren’t getting their deserved recognition.

So what is a DIVA? According to Mahone, she’s a baby boomer woman who’s Divinely, Inspired, Vivacious and Anointed.

Mahone says the Divas are all very talented women who come from very diverse backgrounds around the globe. “We come from all walks of life and different races and are eager to share our knowledge and resources. We’ve had a few bumps in the road and some detours but we continue to persevere. Mahone adds that in addition to a global presence, they are also honored to have celebrities like actresses Debbie Zipp and Bern Nadette Stanis who are active members and want to offer their assistance in helping them grow.

Since its inception, the Baby Boomer Diva Web of Fame has continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Mahone says the Web of Fame is now officially known as Boomer Diva Nation—a nonprofit organization that provides a variety of resources to assist fellow boomer women in their endeavors. It’s also a place where women can network

Mahone anticipates the groups continued growth over the coming year. “Who would’ve ever thought last year that something called the Baby Boomer Diva Web of Fame would turn into what it is today?”

Stop by and visit Baby Boomer Diva Nation today!

As a Baby Boomer, I’m always looking for ways to add years to my life, and not only years, but quality! You may not know that I’ve had training in the field of Nutrition, and have done my best to eat well and feed my family well over the past 22+ years. Here’s a little something that I received that I thought you’d not only enjoy, but find helpful. I wonder what your health score would be, or mine? At the end they mention some snacks with unusual names…I’ve enjoyed many of them and they are delicious!

“New research published in the January, 2008, issue of the journal of the Public Library of Science shows that people who drink moderately, exercise, quit smoking and eat five servings of fruit and vegetables each day live, on average, 14 years longer than people who do not practice these lifestyle habits.

“British researchers followed 20,000 healthy British men and women ages 45 to 79 from 1993 to 2006. Each participant was assigned a “health score” receiving one point for each healthy habit. Those who practiced none got a health score of zero; those who practiced all of them got a health score of four. The researchers also tested each participant’s blood to measure vitamin C intake, an indicator of how much fruit and vegetables they were eating.

“After adjusting for age and other factors that could affect one’s chances of dying, the researchers found that people with a health score of zero were four times more likely to have died during the course of the study, particularly from cardiovascular disease.

“The researches noted that a person with a health score of zero had the same risk of dying as someone with a health score of four who was 14 years older. The lifestyle changes offering the most health benefits were not smoking and eating five servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

“In our fast paced society, it can be difficult to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day – but that’s where Wholefood Farmacy foods can help you, your family and your children to bridge the gap.

“Fruitalicous contains a wide variety of fruits which are preserved through the natural process of drying – this increases the nutritional density dramatically. Eating one ounce of Fruitalicous is the same as eating about half a pound of fresh fruits - one ounce of Veggielicious is the same as eating about half a pound of fresh vegetables.

“There’s no better way to make sure that you, your family and your children are getting five servings of fruits and vegetables every day!”

I’m older than I was, and I’m an American, does this mean I fit into the criteria to be taking Older Americans Month seriously? The following was taken from U.S. Administration on Aging site, a page dedicated to the observance of “Older Americans Month“, after you read this you may want to visit the site, it has a lot of great resources:

We celebrate older Americans and their families by praising their contributions to our country. We also celebrate and express our gratitude to the countless number of dedicated health and human service professionals, scientists and volunteers that work with or on behalf of elders in communities across the country every day.

As a nation we are beginning to experience in “real time” the aging of our population with the first wave of Baby Boomers beginning to turn 65 now and building the ranks of the 78 million Baby Boomers into the future. We have a unique opportunity to address these changing demographics and some of the solutions are right in front of us.

Well I’m not a 65 Baby Boomer, but if you switch the numbers, you’ve got my age, a 1951 born boomer. Maybe this is a good month to look around us at those who are older than we are and thank them for the good they have done. Maybe it’s a good month to look ahead a bit and make sure that we’ve planned for the days to come, and if the picture doesn’t look so bright right now, may the fact that this is the National Day of Prayer turn our focus toward a God who loves us and promises to provide our needs, maybe not everything we want, but our needs.

Now don’t think I’m being pious here, I have spent more than my share of time looking at our little home, wishing it was bigger, wishing we hadn’t become victims of the job loss epidemic for a time so that we had minimal income and had to pay COBRA to keep our medical insurance alive…wishing, wishing, wishing. Then one day I was blind-sided while listening to a Bible reading on CD from Matthew 26, and realized that I really do have everything I need. I’m warm, I have cloths, I have a refrigerator stuffed with food, the COBRA saved us a lot of money because hubby had a heart attack while unemployed, he’s doing great now, my son just got a job in his field after a long time looking, my daughter and her husband are happily married, yes, there are lots of things that could be better, but there’s lots more to be thankful for.

One great thing about being a Baby Boomer, at least one my age, born in 1951, is that you have new choices. You can dye your hair, or you can let it go Grey. You can get a face-lift or keep those wrinkles.

I’ve opted to “go natural”, enjoy the new crow’s feet that are multiplying around my eyes and wrinkles that surround my smile. I’m letting the Grey hair that glistens in the sunlight when I look at myself in the rear view mirror of my little red Volkswagen Cabrio convertible keep on going grey.

I’ve told this story before, but when I was in my early 20’s, that’s about 30something years ago, I was at one of those hippie Jesus festivals standing in a circle holding hands and singing, and looked at the woman next to me with her denim jacket, long greying hair pulled back in a clip, and her weather-wrinkled face and thought she was beautiful, and said “when I get older, I want to look like that”, I’m on my way!

Oh, you want to see a picture? I’ll get on that right away and have one for you within the week, the one I’ve been using is a couple years old, time for an update!

Do you remember the show “The Wonder Years” that lasted a quite a few seasons after it’s release date in 1988? It was a show that many Baby Boomers can relate to, it was our time and stirred up so many memories. When my brother and I would watch the show,  we could relate, right down to the late ’50’s to early ’60’s suburban developments with their perfect streets, sidewalks, neatly mowed lawns and, for us at least, ranch style houses.

Keeping a perfect lawn was a BIG deal in those days…I suppose it is in many places today, but living where we do now, in a rural woodsy area some 40+ years later, it’s not our lifestyle…we’re more a product of the hippie years, living close to the earth, natural living, and all that came from those years when we decided to rebel against “the establishment”. Of course enjoying nature and natural living is one of the GOOD things that came from those times, but back to those lawns.

Most men were out early on Saturday mowing & feeding their lawns, and keeping them trimmed along the sidewalks. Almost every front yard had two neat “squares” of green, parted by the sidewalk that went up to the front door, and a little strip of green along the road between the main sidewalk and curb.

My Dad would brush off this ritual between men of keeping the perfect lawn as “keeping up with the Joneses” as if it was something to be scorned, as if he were above all that. But believe me, he was right out there “keeping up” himself, and I have proof of his passion for the competition, think I’ll save that for my “Memories and Nostalgia” blog.

Here’s to the wonder years.

1946-1964, were you born somewhere between those dates? Then you’re a Baby Boomer. Boomers were born during the years after World War II, the post-war years, when there was a surge in births in both the USA and other countries.

This Baby Boomer is Jersey through and through. I was born at Orange Memorial Hospital, raised in Nixon/Edison New Jersey until I was 14, then we made a move to Hillsdale in Northern NJ. From there, I made many a move from the age of 21-27, but always in NJ, until I met and married my husband, and we settled in West Milford….New Jersey, of course.

I look forward to sharing some Baby Boomer and “Joisey” trivia with you, I’ve got a lot of it in my head ready to spill out into this blog, covering a wide range of topics.

Now, being new to Wordpress, I have to get back to figuring out sidebars and widgets and such, see you soon!