Do you have a list fetish?

I have a list fetish. I mean, simply put, I love lists. If I don't have a list when I go to the store, I am lost. If I don't have a list when I go to clean, nothing gets done. Just my way of trying to keep on top of things and not being caught with my pants down.

My mother loved lists. She died over 30 years ago, but she was a list maker extraordinaire when she was alive. I would find these lists scattered all over the house, but never paid it any mind. When she died, one particular list I found tucked in a notebook became one of her legacies she left to me without ever realizing it.

You see, my mother made the best damn spaghetti in the world. And wouldn't you know it, a month after I get married, she dies. Now, I'm no Betty Crocker, so I didn't have any knowledge of how to make spaghetti except for memory. I did it exactly as I remembered to do, only there was always something missing from it. Years later, I came across a notebook she had jotted down several lists in - grocery store lists mainly, but wouldn't you know it...there was her list for the store for the ingredients to make her famous spaghetti sauce.

It was then I realized what I had left out. MUSHROOMS. I hate mushrooms! And then I remembered picking them out every time she made spaghetti and even as many times as I pleaded for her to leave them out, she said it wouldn't be the same and I'd have to pick them out or I wouldn't eat. So, pick I did.

I still couldn't bring myself to add those horrible things, but if not for the list she left, I would have never discovered the mystery to making her famous spaghetti sauce.

So, never underestimate the value of lists. Are you a list maker?

Is Twittering Bragging About Your Unexceptional Life?

This is hilarious...



Of course....you can...

Madeline

If this doesn't bring you to tears, I don't know what else will. To the parents of little Madeline, my heartfelt sympathy...


The Tribute to Our Madeline from Mike and Heather on Vimeo.

Special Guest: Tim Kellis, Author of Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage

Good morning boomers! I've got a special super duper treat for you today. Tim Kellis, author of the relationship book, Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage is here with us today to answer whatever relationship questions you might have!

To begin with, let me tell you a little about Tim:

Renowned Wall Street analyst Tim Kellis takes on what could be considered society’s biggest problem today: divorce. The journey that led to him tackling such a significant issue was both personal and professional. After a successful career that eventually landed him on Wall Street, Tim met what he thought was the girl of his dreams, only to see that relationship end with bitterness and anger. The journey included work with a marital therapist, and after he discovered the therapist wasn’t really helping decided to tackle the issue himself.

Ambition and a strong aptitude for math helped lead Kellis to discover how to make relationships work. His math skills led directly to an engineering degree, nine years in the telecommunications industry, an MBA in finance, and finally on to Wall Street, where he became the very first semiconductor analyst to focus on the communications market.

After publishing a 300-page initiation piece entitled Initiating Coverage of the Semiconductor Industry: Riding the Bandwidth Wave, Kellis became a leading semiconductor analyst at one of the biggest firms on Wall Street. The experience he gained as a Wall Street analyst provided an excellent backdrop for becoming an expert on relationships, and resulted in his relationship book entitled Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage.

You can visit his website or his blog to find out more!

And this is what his book is about...

The journey through Equality: The Quest for the Happy Marriage includes a trip through history, where the most significant lessons civilization has learned over the last few thousand years are used to demonstrate not only the way to set up a positive relationship, but the causes of that relationship turning negative.

Additionally, I dive into the science of psychology to answer the most basic question anyone asks who goes through the pain of divorce, “why didn’t we work out”?

The basic premise of the book is that we have a 50% divorce rate yet there doesn’t appear to be anything happening to help solve this problem. Just because divorce has become a significant part of our culture doesn’t mean we should simply sit back while countless families suffer through the agony of splitting up.

The toll to society tomorrow because of our culture of divorce today is impossible to determine but future generations will have to deal with this change to the culture that has occurred over the last two generations.

For the first time in history I elaborate on a psychological solution to our psychological problems so that couples can learn how to change the direction of their negative relationships. In essence, the psychological objective is to understand what happens mentally between two people who make one of the most important decisions of their lives, to get married.

The objective of this book is to provide real, logical help to couples so that they can learn how to stay out of the divorce trap. The bottom line is to learn how to set up your relationship so that you can maintain a happy, healthy, harmonious, loving, affectionate, intimate marriage.

I'm so excited he has offered his expertise to answer whatever relationship questions you might have here at Boomer Chick today. To start off, he's answered a few questions to get us going. If you'd like to leave Tim a question, he'll only be here until the end of the day so get your questions in early!

Boomer Chick: What's a positive working relationship?

Tim: The funny thing about this question is I refer to this section of the book as the pedantic section, because from the outside a positive working relationship is described by the critics as boring. The positive working relationship is one where conflicts are solved as a partnership, in a similar manner as corporate partnerships resolve their conflicts. This can only be accomplished when the inevitable conflicts are resolved as disagreements, logical discussions, even about emotional issues, not by arguments, which are emotional discussions. Martin Luther King referred to this as civil disobedience, you can disagree on anything just be civil about it.

Boomer Chick: Explain what you mean when you say in the book that common sense is the foundation of a relationship?

Tim: The unfortunate reality about our psychology professionals today is they have yet to establish a foundation for resolving the inevitable conflicts that are again a part of almost every relationship. Dr. Phil even writes in his book that he basically did not solve a single serious relationship conflict in 25 years of practice. But fortunately the rest of society has for thousands of years been developing what I call the underground of society, questions to issues that are solved in mass, without the egos of leaders. We refer to this as common sense. Common sense is simply the solution to problems where the subjectivity of the individual is removed from the equation. This takes the emotional perspective of the insecurities, which are the root causes of the troubles in our relationships, out of the discussion.

Boomer Chick: Why should relationships work?

Tim: First and foremost is because of the influence of divorce on children. I chuckle every time I read another research report that concludes divorce has no material impact on the children. If those conducting the report were to only ask the children if the divorce of their parent troubled them then the outcome of all of those research reports would be the opposite. Does divorce impact your intellectual development? Not materially. But divorce does teach you one important negative character trait about marriages, to quit when the going gets tough. Now you as a child can respond by being stronger than your parents, but this influence is still something you must come to grips with. We will be dealing with our culture of divorce for generations.

Secondly, we are now in the age of spirituality, what is known as The Age of Aquarius. If we believe in the notion of spirituality then we also believe in the notion of soul mates, we fall in love with the one we were meant to spend our lives with. If we do not overcome our emotional issues then we leave that job for future generations of our spiritual existence.

Please, everyone, leave your questions below!

This will BOYLE you over...

Thanks to Barry Eva for sending out the message and for all those who are blogging about this tonight...

Susan Boyle Sings on Britain's Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 @ Yahoo! Video

Six-year-old Ping Pong Champion

This is amazing...watch, then I have a story for ya....



Okay, the story. Last Christmas, I wanted to get a gift for the kids that would be a) fun, b) remind them of the cabins we stay in when we go to Tennessee, c) something related to exercise and d) something the family can do as a whole during those long cold winter months that loomed ahead.

As this was our first Christmas in our new place, I wanted it to be special. After careful deliberation and precise measuring, not once, but three times, that perfect gift I decided was going to be...a pool table. But it wasn't going to be JUST a pool table, it was going to be a super duper pool table/ping pong table deluxe edition.

Ooooh, I thought to myself, won't this be so much fun??? And won't the kids be so excited???

It sounded real good until...we went to put the darn thing up and found out it took up half the living room. But I figured that once the Christmas tree came down, it would fit against the wall to be pulled out whenever fun and games were needed.

Well, guess what. It's been four months and do you know how many times that pool table which takes up half the living room has been used? I can count the times on one hand. Guess how many times the ping pong table has been used? Zero. Zilch zero zilch.

So I ask you, what was I thinking???

I hate trying to create a Norman Rockwell Christmas. And get this...my daughter when she found out, do you know what she said?

"Mom, if I had known you were going to buy it, I would have talked you out of it."

Next year, they get money and let them buy their own damn presents.

Scott McIntyre Booted; Adam Lambert Video

I've got to honestly say this guy is a star already...



Well, they voted off Scott McIntyre tonight. It was so sad. No, he's not as good as most of the others, but it was still sad. I thought for sure Lil was going, but even though she ended up in the bottom 3, she was still safe. Poor Anoop...he's still hanging in there.

I love Adam, I really do. He's by far the best one up there in voice and stage presence but is anyone not liking some of the YouTubes that are up with him dancing prevocatively with other men? Is he gay?

Doesn't matter. I still love him and want him to win, win, win!

A Full and Prosperous Life for Baby Boomers in 2009

I have a special treat for you today!

Lloyd Watts, author of The Flow of Time and Money: How to Create a Full and Prosperous Life, is here with us to talk about how baby boomers can still lead a full and prosperous life in 2009! If you would like your questions answered on how you, too, can live a full and prosperous life in 2009, leave your comments below!

A Full and Prosperous Life for Baby Boomers in 2009
by Lloyd Watts, author of The Flow of Time and Money: How to Create a Full and Prosperous Life

When I wrote The Flow of Time and Money: How to create a full and prosperous life, I intended it to tackle the biggest problems that I saw in the people around me – that they were struggling with money, and chronically unfulfilled. I wanted the book to cover the timeless principles of how to become wealthy and fulfilled, independent of present economic conditions, and regardless of the reader’s age or stage of life. The Flow of Time and Money uses simple diagrams to explain the key ideas of how money and time work, and describes simply and clearly the four stages on the path to financial independence: Youth/Education, Capital Accumulation, Small Deals, and Big Deals.

Since Baby Boomers were born between 1944 and 1964, and it is 2009 now, that means Baby Boomers are currently between ages 45 and 65. So, Baby Boomers range at the oldest to those just embarking on retirement age (65) and at the youngest to those in the peak of their productive careers (45). Since I was born in October 1961, I am a Baby Boomer currently aged 47. The world in 2009 has been rocked by the global economic meltdown that began in September, 2008, and has triggered a major global recession. Many Baby Boomers have seen their retirement funds, 401(k)’s, and IRAs drop in value by 40% or more, and many Baby Boomers have been affected by corporate layoffs in late 2008 and early 2009.

The key messages in The Flow of Time and Money are:
1. Understand how Time and Money really work.
2. Live within your means and invest your time and money into Life Assets and Material Assets that grow and create real value.
3. Use these principles to create wealth and fulfillment for yourself and your family, so that you can improve your own quality of life, and make a positive difference in the lives of others.

For many Boomers prior to September 2008, the teachings of The Flow of Time and Money may have seemed like things they thought they already knew. In the dot-com boom of the 1990’s and the real-estate boom of the 2000’s, the prudent and time-tested principles of The Flow of Time and Money may have seemed quaint and overly conservative. In fact, these principles are the way to thrive and grow safely in good times, and to survive and even prosper in downturns.

There are two forces acting on Baby Boomers in 2009 that will cause them to have to act as though their financial lives have just begun.

The first force was the sudden impact of the global recession in mid-2008. The average Boomer in 2009 is 55 years old. A year ago, this mythical average Boomer may have been satisfied that his or her retirement saving was on track, and with the booming stock and real estate markets up to mid-2008, it looked like the markets would provide nicely for retirement. In 2009, that has all changed. Retirement accounts are down dramatically, and many Boomers have lost their jobs. There is real change here, and the effect on many Boomers is to set them back in their financial lives, perhaps 20 years.

The second force is the effect of medical technologies allowing us to live longer, on average. I will quote the endorsement from my friend Ray Kurzweil: “With ever-longer lifespans becoming a reality, The Flow of Time and Money is a must-read for achieving financial security.” If we are going to live longer in retirement, we are going to need more money to do it, or we are going to have to retire later, or find other ways to keep an income while we are retired.

Both of these forces point in the same direction: More than ever, Boomers need to understand how time and money work. Boomers need to live within their means and invest in assets that grow and create real value. If they do so, they will create wealth and fulfillment for themselves and their families, and will make a positive difference to the world – at least by looking after themselves, and perhaps by actually contributing to others. These are precisely the messages and principles of The Flow of Time and Money.

Many Boomers may have thought they were heading into the end-game of their financial lives with a winning hand, and now are finding that the game is going into overtime and their hand is not nearly as strong as they thought. I believe that the answer is to become proactive, re-assess their financial position and education, and to devote some attention to strengthening their financial position and future. I sincerely hope that The Flow of Time and Money may help in that process.

* * *
Lloyd Watts is the founder of Audience, a technology company that makes noise reduction chips for cell-phones, and the author of The Flow of Time and Money: How to create a full and prosperous life, which can be purchased at Amazon.com and at www.flowoftimeandmoney.com . Bookstores will be announced soon on the website.

Severe Thunderstorms, Casinos & Home Sweet Home

Don't you just love mother nature?

I'm under a severe thunderstorm and tornado watch and does it bother me? Nope. Still on the computer. Just hope one day I don't eat those words, lol.

I'm having a wonderful Monday. It didn't start out so great. BF and his mother were going to Dover Downs (casino, horse track) to spend a couple of nights in the casino there and BF's mother had to go and fall down. Now, I'm not a mean person, but why????

So, he calls me and asks if I can go in her place.

You would think it sounded like fun, right? Well, the last time I went, I lost $500 and it kinda sorta put a bad feeling in the pit of my pocketbook stomach.

I didn't want him to have to go by himself and it wasn't really the losing the money before that made me not want to go; it was just that I have so much work to do and I wasn't prepared. Had I been prepared, I would have probably just gone to just to get out the house for a change.

So, I'm coming up with all kinds of death-defying ailments when he calls me this morning to make sure I'm really going as I finally gave in last night and told him I would.

Then my daughter, seeing how infuriated frustrated I was, came up with a great idea. Have him go on up and I can get my work done on here, and she'll take me to the mall tomorrow to do some shopping meet him and he can take me on up there.

I can get my work done and be more prepared; hate those last minute spur-of-the-moment road trips and as for the money thing, I'll just spend it shopping before he picks me up!

Genius is my middle name.

So, I'm on here trying to get the tours lined up for next month, sending out promo for the authors this month and suddenly all my ailments have disappeared. I learned this trick when I was a kid and didn't want to go to school. Once my mother left the house to go to work, I was suddenly better and it was party time!

Hope you're having a great Monday...I know I am...NOW.

Guest Blogger: Life Coach Sheri Kaye Hoff, author of Keys to Living Joyfully

Today I did something really different. I got out from underneath this computer and took Max to the doggie park. I don't know who was having a better time - Max in pine cone heaven or myself. It was our first really warm day and I can't even begin to tell you how rejuvenating it was. I came back home, refreshed and with a whole new zest. Life was certainly joyful!

Vacations are like that. We live in a resort so I feel like it's vacation 24/7, but not when you're stuck inside working on the computer while everyone else is out there having a good time.

But I tell you this because we have a great guest post from author and life coach Sheri Kaye Hoff. Sheri is on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion and I asked her if she'd like to guest post at Boomer Chick and what a delightful subject she came up with - traveling!

Incidentally, to celebrate her April tour, she has asked me to tell you that anyone who purchases a copy of her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully, will be able to have one month of unlimited email coaching. All you have to do is send her an email to coachsheri@lifeisjoyful.org, mention the April Virtual Book Tour and include your Amazon, Createspace, or paypal confirmation number. She also has a link on her website at www.lifeisjoyful.org for people to purchase signed copies of her book directly from her.

You can't beat that deal!

Without further ado, I give you Life Coach Sheri Kaye Hoff, author of the inspirational book, Keys to Living Joyfully. Take it away, Sheri!

Recently I went on vacation with my family over Spring break. Our goal was a bit of a Western tour-we would be going through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. We unexpectedly also drove through New Mexico. Two of the highlights would be three nights in Vegas and a visit to the Grand Canyon. I live in Parker, CO near Denver. So we packed up the family in our rental car and headed out on I 70 through the Rocky Mountains. We could have flown, but we like to take at least a couple of road trips every year. We have some traditions like blasting Journey hits as we sing along. My kids ages 8, 13, and 15 know all of the lyrics to Don’t Stop Believin; Faithfully: Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin, and Open Arms. People driving by us probably think we are a bit crazy. I highly recommend stopping at Grizzly Bear Creek in Colorado. We were able to walk down, sit on the rocks, and put our feet in the running water-which was ice cold and crystal clear. Another tradition that we cannot pass up is the wineries in Palisade just outside of Grand Junction. We stop, I taste a few different wines (my husband is driving) and the kids-of course, don’t taste wine. Then we buy homemade fudge, peach marmalade (real, fresh peaches when in season), and wines like elderberry, blue berry, or honey.

Driving through Utah is amazing with the rocks, mountains, and miles upon miles of nothing. We lose cell phone service through much of the state. We like staying at the Fairfield in Richfield, Utah which is right next to a restaurant with some of the best wings you could ever taste. Vegas is about four hours from Richfield and there is a little stretch of Arizona through some gorgeous Canyons that we drive through before getting into Nevada. Before this trip all of my family had experienced Vegas except for my 8 year old son, Nicholas. He kept saying-what is so great about Vegas?. As we drive into Vegas, on the left is the Las Vegas Speedway-a huge attraction for my race car driving husband. Our hotel is the Palazzo which is connected to the Venetian. Bless our travel agent, Colette, for booking us in this five star palace of luxury. Our suite surpassed all expectations and the service during our stay was divine. Over the next few days, we saw Phantom of the Opera live, rode Gondolas, shopped till we dropped, enjoyed the pool, a limo ride, and yummy Italian food. We enjoyed 70 degree weather while there was a snow storm back home. Leaving Vegas and driving over Hoover Dam through Arizona to the Grand Canyon, we experienced complete contrast- from showy Vegas to raw, unspoiled nature. This was our first time to the Grand Canyon and we were speechless at the vastness, the colors, the cold, the wind, the beauty, and the sunset. We stayed at the Grand in Tusayan, then the next day we had to head home, but could not go via I 70 due to the snow storm. We ended up driving to Albuquerque and through Santa Fe. We even drove part of the way along the historic route 66. We could have been annoyed at the longer drive, but we chose to look at the adventurous part of the experience. We stopped to buy honey and other homemade goods in some of the small shops in New Mexico. We entered Colorado again through Trinidad. The whole experience was a great adventure together. My children are great travelers and get along (most of the time). I am so blessed and thankful.

We came home refreshed (even though I have been struggling with some sort of cold, allergy, flu thing for the last three weeks). We created new memories. Our family adventures are some of the best memories for my children. Sometimes I ask my children what they think is their best trip ever. I think they will say “going to the Bahamas”, but they surprise me. My children tell me it was the time when I drove them by myself from Colorado to Minnesota and our air conditioning broke about an hour out of Denver in the middle of August. It was so hot and humid going through Nebraska and Iowa, I kept spraying the kids in the car with my water bottle. We would stop at rest stops and I would pour water over their heads and we would get into the car soaking wet. I was so worried, but didn’t want to scare them, so we played music, had the windows open, and sang at the top of our lungs just about every old rock song there is. That is the vacation that my kids think was the most fun. As my teenage daughters are nearing college age, I am thankful for the time that we have together for these adventures. In my book, Keys to Living Joyfully, I talk a lot about the importance of how thoughts impact reality and experiences.

I wish great travel adventures for you and that you live a truly joy filled life.

Sheri Kaye Hoff is the author of the inspirational book, Keys to Living Joyfully. You can visit her website at www.lifeisjoyful.org.