Larry Pratt's a star on American Idol

Who watched American Idol last week?

American Idol is my most favoritest show of all time. Call me shallow but it is!

I watched the first show of the season last Tuesday and again Wednesday night and by far, Atlanta had the most talented. But it was the very very last contestant that floored everyone. It wasn't so much his singing voice, but well...you be the judge...

Sick doggie, squawking ducks and a moment taken from me

I've got another sick doggie on my hands. Skylar. She's a full-blooded Sheltie, maybe about five years old and fatter than a butterball. Two days ago, she threw up. And threw up. And threw up. There was a huge surprise for me in the kitchen which contained bits of cheese my daughter had given her earlier. I cleaned it up, then went in the living room and there were more surprises for me. Just spots but quite a few of them. We just figured she had some kind of tummy thing going on - that dog will eat anything left on the floor if you aren't careful, but that night, she wouldn't touch her dog food. Now, this dog eats. She eats hers and she eats the others if you're not careful.

We knew something was wrong so we kept a vigil on her. After what we went through with Max, my heart was sinking. I can't go through another sick dog.

The day after that, yesterday, she still wouldn't eat. Nothing. She was drinking however so that was good.

Both my daughter and I had to work last night so it was frantic city the whole time. She was texting me, "When are you getting out of there." And I was texting her hour by hour the status of my departure.

I finally got home and I wasn't sure what I'd find. I pulled up into the carport and there was no barking. Now Max and Cassie, Cassie especially, can't hear a darn thing - at least not something outside but Skylar can hear a pin drop. Usually when I pull up, there's barking. Skylar had alerted everyone, "Mommy's home! Mommy's home!"

So anyway, no barking. I get in and Max and Cassie are by the door so they obviously heard me which was quite a surprise. Usually Skylar is right there with them, too, but she was upstairs looking down at me with those pitiful eyes. I was just relieved she was still alive.

I texted my daughter she was fine to help relieve her worries and I tried to get her to eat but she would have nothing of it. When my daughter got home, she took her out, then put her in the bedroom with her.

I got up this morning and there she was in the same spot my daughter had put her. I picked her up and carried her out - no easy feat down 2 flights of stairs with an overweight dog on your hands but I did it.

We got outside and it perked her up a bit. She took a pee but it wasn't as much as she usually does but I knew she was drinking water but not that much.

I took her inside and that was about time my daughter got up. I fed her a piece of chicken and she ate it. I tried feeding her more but I'm not sure if she ate it or Max got it, but I know a bite or two went in her.

I fed Max his usual balogne sandwich breakfast and tried to feed her some but she wasn't buying it.

I opened the sliding glass doors and Skylar got up and walked outside on the deck. So she's almost there, but still not out of the forest yet.

But what I wanted to tell you is this. When I was walking Max (who incidentally is having a ball with his second chance of life), there was a flock of ducks flying overhead. I thought, how neat. They were low flying and just as loud as you can ever imagine.

And I was thinking that is the most beautiful sound on a crisp winter morning. All is quiet but these squawking ducks and I was thinking Max was thinking it was so neat, too.

And I was thinking how truly beautiful this island really is.

I get inside and a little while later hear gunshots. And gunshots. And gunshots.

I had a "moment" out there with Max, the death-defying dog, and these squawking ducks. The hunters have just taken that away.

That really really bothers me.

Baby Boomers: Four Popular Myths and One Great Truth by Kay Marshall Strom

I've got a special guest today! Kay Marshall Strom, author of the book, The Second-Half Adventure: Don't Just Retire - Use Your Time, Skills & Resources to Change the World is here with us today clear up some popular myths about baby boomers!

Baby Boomers: Four Popular Myths and One Great Truth

by Kay Marshall Strom

Yeah, yeah, I know. You’ve heard just about everything there is to hear regarding baby boomers, the generation that flooded America with 77 million babies between 1946 and 1964. You know all about Woodstock and flower children and peace marches.

Then again, maybe you haven’t heard everything. Some surprising facts lay hidden within those old boomer myths. Consider:

Myth: The “me” generation only cares about itself.

The “me generation”—now there’s a tag that’s stuck. Strange, too, since boomers are particularly united in their social awareness and concern for both their country and the world. In a 2008 report from the AARP, a full 70 percent say they feel a responsibility to make the world a better place. And that’s not just boomer talk, either. Their generation has a solid history of recognizing social needs in this country. (Look at the progress in civil rights.) Boomers have also shown that they care about the world. (Consider the effectiveness of the Peace Corps.) In ways sometimes wise and sometimes wild, baby boomers have shown they can walk their talk.
Myth: Boomers Are Technologically Inept.

It’s true that the world has changed more quickly and more drastically during the boomers’ lifetime than during any generation before them. When the oldest were born, almost no one had a home television. How can a generation with such prehistoric roots be expected to keep up with the lightning-speed development of technological gadgets?

Expected or not, that same AARP study reported that 82 percent of boomer respondents use the internet. And not just for casual email, either. Many do complex research, download movies and music, take full advantage of digital photography, and use a whole array of digital equipment. To the horror of their children and grandchildren, they’ve all but taken over Facebook!
Myth: Baby Boomers Are Rich, Rich, Rich…

Boomers are indeed the wealthiest generation in history, but they are hardly rich. In fact, one quarter have no savings at all. And most cannot count on retirement benefits to offer much help, either. Some boomers think they have more than they actually do—as many sadly discovered during last year’s financial free-fall.

Myth: Boomers Will Retire En Masse.

That huge generation will spend their days luxuriating on the golf course, this myth insists, supported by handouts from the government and a hefty chunk out of young workers’ paychecks. Don’t count on it! According to “The New Retirement Study” conducted by Merrill Lynch in 2007, a mere one boomer in ten plans to stop working at retirement age. Many are already working at second careers. Many others are helping out in a wide variety of capacities as volunteers, both in the US and abroad.

… And One Great Truth

More than ever, baby boomers are recognizing the truth that significance is found beyond themselves. The generation that determined to change the world is eager to get on with it—only now they come armed with experience and skills and maturity, and time and resources, too.

“If we boomers decide to use our retirement to change the world,” wrote Nicholas D. Kristof, Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times (July 2008), “our dodderdom will have consequences for society every bit as profound as our youth did.”

Kay Marshall Strom has written thirty-six published books, numerous magazine articles, and two screenplays. Four of her books have been chosen as book club selections, eleven have been translated into foreign languages, and one was optioned for a movie. Her writing is also included in numerous volumes and compilations, including the bestselling Conversations on Purpose for Women (Zondervan 2005) and various editions of the NIV Devotional Bibles. In addition to her writing, Kay taught writing classes through the California State University system for ten years, and still teaches at writers conferences around the country. In 2008, she was invited to India to teach writing in order to give a voice to those not normally heard. A sought-after speaker, Kay is in demand for retreats and special events throughout the US and around the world.

Kay and her husband Dan Kline make their home in the Pacific Northwest. You can visit her website at www.kaystrom.com.

Guest Blogger: Relationship Expert Barbora Knobova talks respect

I have a fantastic guest blogger today. Barbora Knobova has been touring with Pump Up Your Book going on three months now (and will return next month!) and I couldn't let her not stop by Boomer Chick to give us some undying relationship guest post love. This woman is dynamite. I will be reviewing her new book, Tales for Delicious Girls, on the 18th at Pump Up Your Book, but for now, welcome Barbora as she gives us her latest relationship advice on give and take. Welcome Barbora!

Relationship Advice: Give And Take
by Barbora Knobova

I have mentioned this in one of my previous posts but I can’t stress it enough. People don’t know how to flirt anymore. It seems to me that the art of subtle looks, graceful gestures and smart, charming comments and compliments has disappeared together with the generation of our fathers, if not grandfathers. What used to be funny, adorable and delightful is now crude, lame and awkward.

In an old French movie, the main character, a woman, explains what courtship means: “It is a series of man’s gallantries through which the man gains woman’s attention and favor.” It is very sweet, very true and very missing in today’s world.

However, it is not just the art of flirting that has been going south, but also the world of dating and relationships as such. Our lives are fast and hectic. We want everything now and we want it to be perfect. If our relationship isn’t spotless 24/7, we feel disillusioned and prefer to move on as fast as possible. How easy and how convenient.

I think one of the reasons is that we have become too judgmental and disrespectful of the opposite sex. We are a take-everything-give-nothing generation. We have a list of requirements that we expect to be met but we bring very little, if anything, to the table. We want, we need, we desire. We don’t give, we don’t offer, we don’t care. Most of us seem to have forgotten that first you have to give, only then you can take. You can’t receive unless you have given. If you offer a lot, you will receive a lot. If you offer very little and expect to receive the world, you will end up with nothing but disappointment.

Therefore, love yourself, respect yourself and treat yourself the way you want others to treat you. Expect only what you yourself can give. Do not settle for less but don’t expect a prince charming to come and save you from your misery if you’re not able to save yourself. Love yourself and you will be loved. And don’t forget to be a lady if you want to attract a gentleman.

Barbora Knobova is a writer, love coach and expert in Delicious Life. A world traveler, she is one of those rare world citizens who live everywhere and nowhere. Barbora is a firm believer in female friendship, loyalty and bonding. She writes hilarious, sharp-witted, caustically apt, ironic, moving, true books for strong, independent, smart, fearless women. Barbora has also written several self-improvement books and teaches women about the importance of self-love in relationships and life in general. Barbora speaks eight languages and has found her home away from home in New York, London and Milan. She is always on the move, accompanied by her beagle Brinkley, the nasty dog from her new book Tales for Delicious Girls. http://www.barboraknobova.com.

Mack is Back

Well that crazy maniacal dog almost died. I'm talking about Max. So much has happened but I really need to write all this stuff down or else I'll forget about it. It's even hard to remember now simply because maybe just maybe it's something I really want to forget.

As I said, he almost died. And I saved him. Well the vet saved him but I paid the $547 vet bill and without me doing that, well...I digress.

So Max has had this awful ear infection right. If it weren't for the quack doc who saw him the first go around with it, maybe he wouldn't have gotten so terrible, but I can't blame him really. The one's to blame is my idiotic daughter who let him splash around in the marsh - slash - channel water out front. It has every living species of anything that swims out there but anyway, that's when all this started.

So I've been told that that's when it started.

So he's had this ear infection and the new doc which really was the old doc when he was a pup but was too far to travel to so we went to this other new doc who didn't know what in the hell he was doing told us he had a choice - or we had the choice bless little Max's heart - but we had the choice to either put medicine in his ear every single day and night of his life or go across the bay and have his eardrums taken out which would make him permanently deaf. Duh let's see. Give me a moment, I'm contemplating.

We chose meds.

But it wasn't until we gave him a new set of pills to help with a humungous - and growing but we didn't know it at the time - lump on the side of his head. It's cancer one woman told us and another said it was an abscess. I've never had a dog have either but I most definitely didn't want cancer.

So I have to work and my daughter takes him to this doctor who happened to be not feeling well himself so he really didn't do a bangup job of diagnosing him.

"I think he has an abscess." (my daughter)

"I think you're right." (the doc)

I really think my daughter should have been a veterinarian.

So the doctor gives her these pills to give him and some new stuff to put in his ear and was told to start all this stuff the next day.

The next day arrives and the lump is now tripled in size. We give him the medicine and I'm at work when my daughter calls me and says, "Max is throwing up blood."

As the night progresses, Max is barely moving. I thought he was dying. As it turned out, he had 104 degree temperature.

So we take him to the doc in the morning first thing and he takes one look at Max and says, "That thing sure did grow, didn't it. I never noticed it that big before."

He tells me he's going to keep him overnight and to call the next day.

I call and he tells me I can pick him up.

So, I go to pick him up and Max looks like a punk rocker. Half his head is shaved and he's got this tube sticking out of the top of his head that runs down alongside his ear.

"He'll drip, so just keep wiping it off his fur and bring him back on Friday."

So I take him home and I'm really concerned because he's not eaten in 4 days. Lo and behold, though, I offered him some bread (his favorite) and he took it. I made him a sandwich and he ate the whole thing.

It's been a few days now and Max is doing great. The tube is still in his ear draining the abscess but I'm supposed to take him back on Monday to have it taken out. He's eating great, playing and acting his normal self before this ear infection took over.

But I want to say this. After I told someone how much it cost, he said, "I would have put the dog down." That makes me sad. Very sad that someone could say such a thing. I have my Mackiedoodle back and everytime I look at his shining eyes and wagging tail, I know I did the right thing.

I'll have pictures tomorrow.

Can't even buy fish right now

I was just discussing my "nightmarish" dreams with my tour coordinators and thought I'd share them with you so that maybe you can find some insight into all this, but for the last week, I've been having these dreams about Christmas.

Only, it wasn't anything Norman Rockwell about them. They were horrible. You get up Christmas morning and you forgot to buy presents. That's the sort of dream you'd have as a kid, isn't it? You run downstairs and there's nothing underneath because Mom forgot. Ever have those dreams where you're walking down the middle of the school corridor in nothing but pajamas? Sort of along the same line.

I'm still recuperating from this cold thing so maybe that's behind these crazy ass dreams, but I woke up again this morning at 4 a.m. after having another one. I went to the bathroom and prodded downstairs. Prod. How do you prod? Past tense - prodded. Well anyway, so I'm prodding downstairs and it's still dark out so you turn on a light switch and grab yourself something to drink. You forgot to find those little lightbulbs for the candles in the window or you wouldn't have had to turn on a light that blinded you so, so you're squinting and pouring, hoping it's making it into the glass.

Skylar is asleep downstairs in front of her princess play tent but none of the other doggies are awake so it's me and a princess sleeping dog.

I go back upstairs and turn on the computer for a little while, thinking I'm not going back to bed and just maybe will have to get a nap sometime during the day but you know damn well that's not going to happen because I have so much to do.

I did go back to bed around 8 and slept until 9:30, but when I jumped up, I knew I had the solution all figured out. Get the damn Christmas shopping done and these damn nightmares will go away.

It's not like I haven't started and really I could end it with what I've gotten but I have so trained myself to believe it's never enough. Why do we do that to ourselves? I have cut back and perhaps I'm feeling guilty and my real self is trying to fight with my frugal self.

Frugal Self: You're foolish.

Real Self: How so?

Frugal Self: You know the kids don't care what you give them. Your son has told you he wants nothing and your daughter tells you there's nothing out there anyway, so why do you keep banging your head against a wall over this?

There must be a happy medium, but that's how it feels inside - both selfs are fighting against one another and I have a cold on top of that.

So, today, I'm going uptown. Now...you'll get a big laugh over this or I will just in writing it but where I live in a resort, you would think there would be shopping malls and all kinds of things out there to buy someone but...it's a summer resort so you know what that means. You can't even buy fish right now.

But...there are still a few shops open so maybe....

The snow gods listened

It's 5:30 in the morning. Didn't sleep well although I was full of nice goodies that are supposed to make you sleep and keep you there. I think about 3 a.m. Cassie and I went downstairs (guess she couldn't sleep either) and finished off the crab cake dinner Melissa and I had gotten at Bill's for dinner. I was too sick to go out so she picked it up on the way back from the store.

There's snow on the ground but I'm almost certain it's not but a sheet of ice. It started icing yesterday, then turned to snow, then temperatures dropped so I can't imagine what a mess it is out there.

I've still got this humdinger of a cold. Feel like crap. Sneezing, coughing, aching...I could be a poster child for the common cold. I just have to watch it so it doesn't turn into bronchitis.

I'm usually really healthy but come winter, there's always that chance that I'll get stricken with the B word. Really gotta cut out the smoking.

5 more days until Christmas. Just have a few last minute stuff to get. I didn't go all out this year like I did last year, but I think they'll be happy. They're not picky anyway. Both are grown and both feel rather annoyed I treat them as kids when it comes to Christmas so let's see how much they like it I listened to them this year, lol.

Well I'm going back to bed and try to get in another couple of hours. Hope you all have a safe weekend and don't eat the yellow snow unless you're starving...

Are the snow gods listening this year?

It's one minute before 5 a.m. I knew I was coming down with something - what was the big mystery - and now I know. I think. I have. The Cold.

I feel miserable.

Anyone notice how colder it is this year? Cold windy blasts of air coming off the ocean isn't unusual on the island this time of year, but if I can remember right, last Christmas we had the windows on the kitchen side open.

And get this...they are calling for - are you sitting down? - SNOW. Not until tomorrow and there's only a chance of it but it could get ugly.

Pfft. If it does, then I'll eat the biggest piece of yellow snow out there when it happens and I'll even take a picture of it to prove it to you.

See, the snow gods tease us every year until you get to the point where you just do not believe it's ever going to happen. We had a slight slight slight dusting last year, barely noticeable. No bundling up to take the dogs romping in it. No snow cream. No getting out of work because the roads weren't passable. Not even one bit of yellow snow. By the time the dogs peed on it, it had disappeared.

I blame the fact on global warming as I don't have any other excuse. I'm not a weather woman and I haven't bought a Farmer's Almanac in years so I don't know what it's going to do from one day to the other, but I do know we have not had a decent snow in years.

I am a snow bunny. Give me a pair of plastic shopping bags tied to my legs and I'm set. I don't need any fancy boots. In fact, we don't buy them here because it never snows so all they'd do is sit in the closet and take up room which we don't have that much of as far as storing things we don't need.

I'll have to ask someone here on the island if they remember it ever snowing here. Maybe I won't have to and it'll snow 3 feet and I'll thank the snow gods for listening to my prayers. Or, I'll be eating my words and wish for summer back.

We had an interesting day yesterday. My daughter is just now getting over food poisoning so we thought it would be safe to venture to the mall to try to find some Christmas gifts. Now...come closer and really understand this question - does anyone notice how ugly the clothes are this year? I mean, are they buying Walmart rejects, slapping a price on them and think that the buying public is going to see through it or maybe they're thinking the buying public will have no choice?

Me? I buy from QVC. You haven't lived until you have spent hours upon hours watching what great deals you can get. And they're name brands and you're more than likely not going to return them because they are so perfect and....you don't have to get into your car or truck or snow mobile to get them.

I love QVC.

Anyway, so we're out and about yesterday trying to find SOMETHING to give to my son who wants nothing. I ended up settling on a shirt in Macy's he'll probably hate. I bought a couple of gifts for co-workers at Boscov's and some lotion at Victoria Secrets for another co-worker and I was done. All that way for that.

But my daughter who knew the mall would have nothing decided to buy something a little different. See that picture to the right? That's Skylar with her brand new princess play house. I guess when you don't have kids, you buy silly little things like that for your dogs.

Well Skylar loved it, then later we found Max camped out inside it and when Skylar went to reclaim it, Max lunged at her. Melissa had to grab Skylar and fling her back, causing the both of them to land flat on their backs.

Max ain't messing around when it comes to princess play houses.

Anyway, I'm going to try to go back to bed. Feeling a little better but I'll never be able to go into work after getting up at 4 a.m. Hope you all have a good day and hope it snows!

Guest Blogger: Single at Christmas: The Best Holiday of Your Life by Barbora Knobova

We have a special guest today. With Christmas right around the corner, everyone's thoughts are on joy, happiness and spending the holidays with their special someone. Or are they? What about singles who don't have significant others? Are they doomed? Not so, says Barbora Knobova, author of Tales for Delicious Girls. Barbora offers tips to have the best holiday of your life no matter what!

Single at Christmas: The Best Holiday of Your Life
by Barbora Knobova

At Christmas a couple of years ago, I found myself in a faraway country, shortly after a bad break-up, unable to go see my family. But what seemed like a complete disaster turned out to be one of the best Christmas Holidays of my life.

Maybe you are in a similar situation this year. You are single and surrounded by happy couples. You are far from your dear ones and cannot spend the Holiday with your family. You are lonely and sad, and you feel like skipping Christmas altogether. But why should you do that? You've always loved Christmas, right? So don't let the circumstances ruin it for you and make this Christmas the best Holiday you've ever had.

1. Don't let people make you believe that Christmas is only for couples and families.
Christmas is for everyone. When someone looks at you with sorrow and says: "I'm so sorry you're alone at Christmas, it must be very sad," just smile and say: "Actually, being alone at Christmas is wonderful because you can really absorb the spirit of the Holiday without stress and shopping frenzy. You should try it too."

2. Celebrate Christmas the way you want.
If you love traditional Christmas, buy the biggest Christmas tree, the fanciest decorations, fill your house with lights, sing carols, bake tons of Christmas cookies (you can always give them to a homeless shelter and make someone's Christmas just a little bit nicer). If you have always hated traditional Christmas and the way your family, your husband or boyfriend made you spend it, why don't you celebrate it your way this year? It is your Holiday after all. You can explore Christmas food and traditions of other countries and cultures and really experiment with various ways of spending Christmas to make it unique and truly yours.

3. Buy yourself presents. Lots of them.
No unwanted, awkward presents this year. Why couldn't you have a pile of lovely presents under the tree and in the stockings? Buy everything you like, everything you wish for, and yes, splurge. Have your gifts professionally wrapped in the mall - this way you won't know what's hiding in the packages and you'll be excited to open your presents on Christmas morning.

Christmas is a wonderful holiday and it belongs to all of us, not only to married people or big families. Make Christmas your own holiday, celebrate it and spend it the way you have always wanted to. In a few years, when memories of long-gone Christmas Holidays have faded, this will be the Christmas you will always remember. In a good way.

Barbora Knobova is a writer, relationship coach and expert in Delicious Life. A world traveler, she is one of those rare world citizens who live everywhere and nowhere. Barbora is a firm believer in female friendship, loyalty and bonding. She writes hilarious, sharp-witted, caustically apt, ironic, moving, true books for strong, independent, smart, fearless women. Barbora has also written several self-improvement books and teaches women about the importance of self-love in relationships and life in general. Barbora speaks eight languages and has found her home away from home in New York, London and Milan. She is always on the move, accompanied by her beagle Brinkley, the nasty dog from Tales for Delicious Girls. You can visit her website at www.barboraknobova.com.

Humorist Pat Snyder "The Dog Ate My Planner" giving away book tomorrow!

Humorist Pat Snyder, author of The Dog Ate My Planner, will be at Pump Up Your Book on Friday, December 4, taking your questions and comments. Leave a question or a comment, along with your email address (very important), in the comment section anytime between now and 8 p.m. tomorrow night and you could win a free copy of her book!


The winner will be selected at the end of tomorrow night and announced on Monday, Dec. 7.

Find out all about writing humor from one of the most talented humorists!

Click here to enter now!