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.

New Tax for Smokers???

Okay, okay, I know I'm taking years off my life and smoking is bad for you, yada yada, but what in the hell are these people thinking? And Obama, my hero, my knight in shining armor, passed this ridiculous bill that was presented by non-smokers to help people quit by going from .39 to $1.01 a pack starting Wednesday????

I don't smoke a lot, but I do smoke and I just think this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. They're going to legalize marijuana but they are punishing the smokers who aren't breaking the laws. I suppose they'll add that tax to marijuana, too?

Go to Cheri Burbach's blog here to voice your opinion. It just frosts my cookies.

KNOWING - THE MOVIE

You'll never believe in all your born days what I just did.

WENT TO A MOVIE!

It was BF's crazy idea. I know, I know...but he asked me if I wanted to go see this new movie out called, "Knowing," and the previews WERE fantastic, so I figured one time out of the house in the middle of tour season wouldn't hurt me and might give me a much needed break.

Okay, I'm not quite sure how to put this. It wasn't terrible and was good in some parts but the ending absolutely sucked! I don't know, I like happy endings...this ending was kind of weird. I remember when it was over and I kept saying to myself, "Did I like it or not like it?" Nicholas Cage played an alright part...I don't think this was one of his best acting job and the two little kids were alright, but I can't say they'd be up for an Oscar anytime soon. I hoped it was just me because the movie was so hyped up, but while I was waiting for BF to do his little tinkle tinkle after the movie was over, I overheard this guy talking on a cell phone. He said, "It started off good but then there were all these damn aliens."

It starts out in this classroom where the kids are putting together a time capsule. Everyone is supposed to draw a picture of what they think the world will look like in fifty years when the school digs it back up. One of the little girls, I can't think of her name, drew a bunch of numbers across the paper. So when they are burying the time capsule, the little girl is standing off the end of the schoolyard staring into the trees. The teacher calls her but she doesn't turn around. The teacher goes to do something and the girl has disappeared. She finally finds her hours later inside a storage closet with blood on her hands. She has etched some kind of date or something into the wall and she's yelling at the teacher to tell them to stop talking.

Fast forward fifty years and Nicholas Cage and this little boy who plays his son, Caleb, are at the "capsule unveiling." All of the kids are to get one envelope that is tucked inside. Caleb gets this number drawing and instead of leaving it at school, he takes it home.

His father finds it later and discovers that the numbers are the exact dates of these huge disasters that have killed people in the last fifty years. The thing is, if you're paying attention, the little girl who drew it in the first place, must have been able to see into the future, right?

Now the father goes to warn people that a disaster is about to happen, but no one listens. Sure enough, they do happen.

All along, these strange looking space aliens who are disguised to look like real people are trying to contact Caleb the same way they contacted the little girl fifty years ago. I know, it's confusing.

I won't give away the ending or more of the plot except to say I left that theater with a doom and gloom kind of feeling. It's not a bad movie...the special effects were pretty good down to the space alien spacecraft, but I don't think the acting was all that great at all. I don't know what was wrong with these people. None of them moved me. Even the king Nicholas Cage tried to put on a good performance but I don't think the part was right for him unless it was just me.

All in all, I can't really say it was a bad movie and I was glad I saw it but I wouldn't see it again nor would I rent it. Sorry...I don't like leaving the movie theater feeling as if the world is going to end any minute, but then, maybe that's what the producers wanted us to feel like. I guess the movie did make you kinda sorta think that.

But I'll tell you what I did take notice about. Have you ever heard anything as ridiculous as 2 boxes of popcorn and 2 drinks coming to $24? That was more than the tickets!

The Curse of Friday the 13th

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! I'm not superstitious, so the day can come and go without worrying I'm going to fall off the face of the earth, but it reminded me of a story I'd like to share with you.

My grandmother was like me. Not superstitious except for 2 things - laying hats on beds and coat hangers on doorknobs. You could never do either or something horrible - although we knew not what - was going to happen to you before the end of the day.

But Friday the 13ths would come around, year after year, and she wasn't any more paranoid about the day than a man in the moon.

When I wasn't even born, the story goes she was upset with my grandfather because he was across the street downing a few drinks with the locals at the gas station where older men often hung out for nothing better to do. It was a small town and I don't know if it was allowed or not, but drink and carry on they did night after night.

She couldn't take it anymore and was madder than a wet hen, so she goes flying across the street to tell his ass to come home. However, she never made it. A car struck her, she ended up in the hospital and came home with a stiff leg. Back in the day, they couldn't fix it, only save it, I guess. So, she lived the rest of her life with this one stiff leg. At first when I saw it, it made me feel a little uneasy being a kid and all, but I soon got used to it. And I also found out, stiff leg and all, that woman could race you around with a wooden spoon to tan your hide faster than you could run yourself.

Years later, I was in my early teens, and still living with my grandmother, Friday the 13th rolled around. Nothing was really said about the day; we carried on as usual. I went to school and my grandmother went to work at the local hospital.

We get a call. She has fallen down and broken her good leg by slipping on something in the floor. She recovered, the leg was back to new before too long and at least didn't end up stiff like her other one.

Every since that day, Friday the 13th took on new meaning for her. I guess you have to have something bad happen to you on that day to be superstitious when it rolls around.

My grandmother isn't with us anymore, but I imagine she's up in Heaven barricaded off with clouds and whatever else you have up there in Heaven and fully avoiding coming out.

How is your Friday the 13th? Do you lock yourself inside or go out as usual thinking nothing of it?

Hip Chick or Over the Hill?

Before I begin this blog post, I want to say how awfully sorry I haven't posted lately. The tours have been keeping me super duper overly occupied. I don't think anyone knows there's a recession going on because we've doubled our clients these past two months, which is a good thing being as I'm saving for that big screen TV..haha.

But it can get tiring. I'm not what you'd call an obsessive workaholic, but when it comes to my passion - my tours - I take on quite a few obsessive habits like staying up 'til the roosters crow because I want so much for my authors and I feel if I don't give my all, I have let them down.

But today I took a little me time and decided that since American Idol was coming on, I was going to take 2 hours and do nothing but become a couch potato.

However, a trip to Wal-Mart turned me into wonder woman and you'll find out why at the end of the story.

I told my daughter I wanted this fake bamboo tree from Wally World. I had bought a string of white lights over Christmas for a just in case time such as this and I'm so glad I did. I was going to move the furniture around and move the real tree (can't think of the name of it but I've had it for about 15 or so years and I call it my monster tree) over to the other side of the living room and place it in front of the second set of sliding glass doors that overlook the deck which is off from my living room and I was going to put the fake bamboo tree with the lights on the side of the living room that had the wraparound couch and in front of the first set of sliding glass doors that overlooked the deck also. If you're following, you're doing great.

So off to Wally World we go. The pickings were slim about this time and only 3 were left. I mean, this tree was only $30, which was really cheap, and I guess that's why there were only 3 left.

So I'm dragging the best one of the three through the store when I remembered I wanted to stop off at the medicine section and try to find some of those really cool pills I used to take for menopause. Now, listen, I'm no old lady, but they did give me more energy, something that was very much lacking lately. Unfortunately, the pills were still out of stock. I had been there 3 times looking for those suckers and all three times they were never on the shelf.

But...I decided to take a risk and buy some others that promised to relieve hot flashes, night sweats, irritability and FATIGUE. Well fatigue was the major word here. If it relieved fatigue, then it would mean more energy, right?

So we get home and put the groceries away and as I took them out of the bag, I decided I'd pop one.

Let me tell you ho-ney...this is what happened.

I grilled chicken and hot dogs while rearranging the living room singlehandedly which included moving a pool table to the other end of the room, moving the loveseat to the other end, scrubbed the carpet, moved the monster tree over to the other side of the room, put lights on the bamboo tree and situated that at the other side of the room, lugged a mattress and a boxspring again singlehandedly by myself down a flight of stairs and out to the carport to wait until they could go into the storage room tomorrow and played a few games of toss the ball with Max.

And what's even more amazing is that it's after midnight and I'm no more tired than a man on the moon and it didn't dawn on me until just now that maybe just maybe these might be the pills of champions.

When I start leaping tall buildings with a single bound, better come get me.

Happiness Video

This is long, but can you believe I cried at the end? So much for happiness video, lol!