Humor...Ode to Forgetfulness!

 NEW THEME SONG FOR

RETIRE IN STYLE BLOG

Email jokes and videos are a dime a dozen and most of them have been around a hundred years.   But once in a while there is a joke or video that is just hilarious.  If you have already seen Ode to Forgetfulness forgive me...it is worth watching again and it made me laugh out loud.  Was it on this blog I told you about this calendar page quote on memory loss... 

There is a good reason why they don't give women over 50   babies.  We would lay them down and forget where we left them!  

Enjoy the video or better yet sing along!

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When is a motor home to old to drive down the road?

Monaco Coach
Crown Royal










I ask too many questions...I know that.  In my defense I mean no harm.

Yesterday I wrote about foreigners buying motor homes.   When I saw this Austrian couple's motor home, all I could think was "oh my goodness are you taking that out on the road?"  Paint worn, dented here and there, well used or used hard.   I did not imagine that they planned on traveling in the motor home.  I thought they were just going to live in it here in the southwest.  The gentleman was thoroughly disgusted with me..."why would I buy a motor home and park it?" he said.  I just stood mute...I didn't want to be rude.  "Oh, I am so sorry...I am dumb as a bag of hammers!"  I don't think he knew what I meant...not even a little.

We traveled with a couple that owned a coach about this vintage and it was a royal pain in the *%^&.  Solenoids, connections, leaks, stuck under trees....you name it. It was diesel pusher just like the one pictured above.   I actually offered to kiss a mechanic on the lips once when we could start our journey again because he fixed their RV.

Is this Monaco coach built by a company that declared bankruptcy last March a good choice?  I don't know.  All I know is that our RV resort does not allow old motor homes in...got to keep up appearances and all that you know.  When I saw this, it surprised me a bit.  I am wishing them luck!

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RV Resort Living...Expats/foreign Visitors and Motor Homes

VISITORS TO THE UNITED STATES AND MOTOR HOMES

In the motor home section of our RV park you can find liscense plates from all over the United States and Canada.  Huge rigs pull in here for the gem show and the spaces remain full until the snow birds head home.  The spaces are large and newly paved.  But there are some motor homes parked through out the park in spaces left empty by park models that  have been sold or the owner has removed for various reasons.  My friend has a motor home parked next to her now.  The owners are from Austria.  They have come to the United States to travel so they purchased a second hand motor home and a new car to tow behind it.  They will stay for two weeks, travel in the western United States and then return to the park to store their RV.  They have Arizona license plates and a Tucson, AZ address.  Friends in town are helping them.  The motor home is quite old so resale on it will be a lot easier than if they bought new. 

It will work for them just fine.  However, I would suggest you do this in a state like Oregon where the license fee for RV's is much less.  It would be very wise to check and see what states have cheaper fees and go there.  Arizona is very expensive.    Because we are residents of Oregon, we took delivery of our motor home in New Mexico and licensed it in Oregon.  When you are an expat or a visitor, the rules are probably a little different.  Just a thought.

HOW TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE!

I couldn't resist the temptation to take a picture of one of our neighbors helping her husband work the his motorcycle kick stand .  This is the only way I could  ride a motorcycle.  She told me about a bland man that rode his motorcycle on the back of a trailer like this.                                               

STARTING A NEW BUSINESS

A friend of mine has started a new business...she just celebrated her 70th birthday.  Isn't that amazing?  She discovered Scentsy Pots, a product that she loved and signed on to sell it from her home.  After receiving a Scentsy Pot for Christmas, she could only think of the advantage of using a product like this in our park models.  Small night lights with a dish on the top for melting a very small amount of scented wax can make our park models smell heavenly.  No fire, no soot, no expensive candles.  She has a little open house about once a month and her business has been very good here this winter.  I went to her coffee this morning and ordered a gift for my daughter who will be visiting soon.  Go to Mary Grace's website to see what she has to offer.  You can even order on-line if you wish. 

That is the way my day has gone.  Beautiful and sunny today.

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Anna's Hummingbird...fighting for sugar!

Anna's Hummingbird

Image via Wikipedia     Ruby-throated Hummingbird

We have a hummingbird feeder just outside out living room window. Two hummingbirds have claimed it as their own.  If you understand these little creatures, you will know that war is the game they love more than any other.  One is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird and the other has red feathers around the side of it's head and is called Anna's Hummingbird.  The Anna's Hummingbird will sit on the railing of the feeder so we can get a "birds eye view" of all the red feathers.  When this bird is feeding the other will dive bomb the feeder and the game of war is on.  The Ruby-throated Hummingbird will even fly at us as we change the feeder water of even stand too close.  What these little creatures don't have in size they make up for in aggression.  I have jumped in the air several times when this bird caught me unaware. 

We also have a very large Saguaro Cactus outside the window.  Cactus Wrens and Woodpeckers make their home amongst it's thorns. Each time we wander outside we are treated a bird theater performance.  I love that part of being in the Arizona desert. 

There are several kinds of hummingbird feeders available.  Our first feeder attracted the bees in swarms...in Arizona africanized bees (killer bees) are a problem.  We don't encourage bees.  We visited a local bird shop and found a feeder that discouraged the bees because it does  not leak sugar water.  It is called the Aspects - 12oz HummZinger Ultra I also bought a beautiful bee trap that made out of pink glass.  The bee trap is simply a bottle with a cork in the top, a lip around the inside bottom and a hole in the middle of the bottom.  It works like a charm.  The bees climb inside to feed on the sugar water inside and cannot find an escape route.  Evidently they don't fly down with ease. 

My grandmother's name was Anna...the hummingbird that carries her name is as beautiful as she was. 

Have a wonderful day.

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MSNBC on 5 keys to happiness!

Amaze
Frail
Sacred

Is this what it feels like to be old?  My daughter-in-law asked the question...not of us but of the universe in general.  She is the mother of a new baby plus 4 other children,in her middle thirties, and a professional.  She is not old...she is just a busy woman doing a lot every day.

As for feeling old...I can't say what that feels like.  Everyone needs to answer that question if they feel they must.  This morning msnbc.msn.com posted an article about happiness and how you find it for yourself.  We all know that happiness is a frail emotion that can be crumpled with the raise of an eyebrow.  But it can be invoked MSNBC says. How?  Information from MSNBC "5 things that make you happier":

• Be grateful. Cicero said Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.  I think he could have added It is the key to wellness and happiness.
• Be optimistic.  "...visualize an ideal future...and describe the image in a journal entry."
• Count your blessings.  "People who practice writing down three good things that have happened to them every week show significant boosts in happiness, studies have found."
• Use your strengths.  Have a good sense of humor?  Learn a new joke!  Remember if it makes you laugh that is good enough...nothing is sacred!
• Commit acts of kindness. "It turns out helping others also helps ourselves." 

Consciously doing these things are effective ways to find true happiness in your life...lighten your burden, your attitude, your pain...it truly is simple.  At least I have found it to be so in my life.  You might give it a try.

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Retirement Life Style Coaches (links & more) or Where will you retire...in the "state of Panic"?

 Moonrise over the Rincon Mountains, Tucson AZ 2010

Do you have a plan for a retirement lifestyle or are you just planning on "traveling" for the rest of your life?  If you don't have a vision or plan, you probably need to do a little research and even visit a retirement lifestyle coach seminar so that you can form a better image of life after retirement.  And I am not talking about money...I am talking about LIVING! 

Yesterday I had the privilege of sitting next to a very interesting lady on my flight from Portland to Phoenix.  She was a world traveler, an artist and a reader.  She was reading a travel book that looked very interesting.  She also had a financial magazine on her lap.

We talked a bit about this and that.  The conversation turned to retirement.  Evidently her spouse works a lot and does not like the idea of retiring. Locations for retirement came up and she stated that she didn't want to live in Vancouver, WA. when they retired.   I told her that it had taken 10 years for us to decide to live  part of every year in the state of Arizona.  "Well," she said, "my husband is going to retire in the "State of Panic".  Her husband had no idea what he was going to do with his time.  "What do you do with your time?"  she asked.

I think this is a very very important question everyone should ask themselves.  Sitting down to die is not my idea of retirement.  Giving up a very lucrative career that you love to live in the State of Panic is not a good thing either.  And it is very hard to explain to a retiring person what they will do all day.  Most retired people will tell you they have no idea how they had time to work!  Tending to investments and other business can take a huge chunk of every day.  The ever present books, home projects and that avocation you have always dreamed about can fill your life.  In the end though, each individual has to make those decision about their life.   You need to know that retirement is not much different than going to work...there will be days when you are not as enthusiastic as others.  There will be adjustments.  That is just the way it is!

Dee Casio on a website called Retirement Lifestyle Strategies has some wonder information.  In the last paragraph of her home page she said:

Retirement can be the best time in a person's life or it can be a challenging time. This is such a personal decision, and it is really up to each individual to decide what their vision of retirement will look like.

Find out if you are ready for Retirement Coaching by taking the Retirement Coachability Success Quiz.

That is why I think a retirement coach may be a good idea.  I know that retirement is not a short road to the grave...I promise that if you approach this part of your life journey with the same dedication that you brought to the beginning of your career, you will love doing what you want every day.  I promise you will not retire in the State of Panic!!!  I promise!

b

Links to retirement coaches (non-financial):
Embracing Your Retirement
Lifestyle Designs for Retirement
Eforoce
Revolutionize Retirement
The Retirement Coach
The Coach Connection (links)

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Park Model living with cats and dogs! There are rules!

RULES IN THE RV PARK
Do RV resorts allow pets?  And if they do what will be the restriction?  These are very valid questions and ones that you need to ask before you park your RV, buy or rent a park model.  RV resort are much like motels when it comes to our pets.   In our RV resort there are two locations that pets are allowed.  At the back of the park there is a block of lots that are designated for pets called "Doggy Row".  On that street people can have a pet in their park models and can walk their animal on a leash on the streets.  Access to a back gate allows those pet owners to walk their dogs in Pantano Wash.  It is assumed that if you buy in that location you are not going to be compaining about barking dogs...you will know they are going to bark.  Pets are also allowed in the RV spaces and the gate is close by so owners can walk their pets outside the park.  The plan has worked very well for many years.  If you are a cat owner and can keep your cat indoors, you can have the pet anywhere in the park.  But don't think you can let that cat out to wander around, even at night.  I suppose that if I wanted to walk my cat, I would need to have the cat on a lease and put it in the car to take it to a designated walking area.  It is just the rules and everyone follows them.


PETS IN THE RV
We traveled with a cat one winter after the cat adopted us in the middle of our vacation.  It was not an easy thing to do but I know that a lot of people take their cats and dogs along in their motor homes.  There are window boxes that can be installed in a window that opens so you cat or small pet can sit inside and see what is going on in the outside world.  I always thought one of those would be cool.  I am sure that Camping World has just the things you need to make your pet at home.   My cat was a "pill" so he never was allowed to travel with us again.  However, we are considering bringing him to the desert with us next year.  We miss him when we are gone.

If you choose to take your pet with you, just remember the rules I mentioned above are very typical of RV Resorts.  While they love their animals they have rules about their place.  

WHY KEEP YOUR PET?
In the United States 63% of all households own pets.  According to Pets Help "pets are like "emotional vitamins." If you feel better psychologically and emotionally, every system in your body is going to function more efficiently. The 65-plus population, particularly vulnerable to loneliness and stress-related diseases, can reap enormous benefits from pet companionship."  In a word pets help keep us healthy.  The choices you make about your pet really does matter.

Happy travels and have a wonderful day.

LINKS YOU MIGHT FIND INTERESTING
Retiree Rethinking Destination Plans
Pets Help Senior Citizens
Baby Boomer Issues

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Protecting Against Skin Cancer in a Recession...inexpensive skin products in the news!

 

no make-up

happy inside my skin!

When I got past the fact that skin creme is never going fix what has been done to my skin for 68 years and moved on to preventing skin cancer and being comfortably attractive, I was relieved.  Now I can go about my life relaxed inside my own skin.  I live 6 month a year in Arizona and I love sunshine.  I am learning to protect what I cannot change.  It is a good thing! And I am becoming a smarter shopper.

Today I am shopping for moisturizer/sunblock.  To begin my search I did something I have never done before....I actually looked at ratings for the products online based on price and quality.    I don't know about you but I am always shocked when I go to the department store counter and am told that a small bottle of lotion is $$$$$.  Gulp!  While I can afford it I am not a dunce.  $$$$$ does not work for me.  So I went looking for some information that did not have a connection with any particular product.  A search on google for "inexpensive moisturize sunscreen in the news" led me to dallasnews.com, the online version of The Dallas Morning News.  Today in an article called "Find the best inexpensive sunscreen and moisturizer" they talked about the importance of using sunscreen even when money is tight.  I was very interested in what they had to say.

Dr. Clay J. Cockerell of Dermpath Diagnostics Cockerell & Associates in Dallas says even in an economic downturn, you shouldn't neglect your health. And skin protection is vital to good health.

"You might save a dollar or two here and there, but you'll pay in the long run," says Cockerell. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, more than 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year.

Yike!  I may have been wrong to think that skin products are a frivolous purchase.  It seems that while consumers have cut back on moisturizers 10% in the last year, they may have put themselves at risk for skin cancer.  There is no need for this to happen.  Dallas News has rated the skin products AND found products that are affordable.  Their choices were:

Avon Ageless Results Renewing Day Cream SPF 15 ($15 for 1.7 ounces)
Clinique City Block Sheer Oil-Free Daily Face Protector SPF 25 ($16.50 for 1.4 ounces)
Good Skin All Bright Moisturizing Sunscreen SPF 30 ($12 for 1.7 ounces)
Olay Regenerist UV Defense Regenerating Lotion SPF 15 ($18.99 for 2.5 ounces)
Neutrogena Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Cream Night Formula ($13.99 for 1.4 ounces)  

You will notice that all of these products are under $20...not bad.  Plus they can be purchased at your local drug store.  I have used Cetaphil products because they do not contain  perfumes.  I have asthma so perfumes are my enemy.  Cetaphil is affordable and the quality is great. But I think I will try something new and the Clinique product may be the one.  I like the oil free part.

So here is a little trick I have learned about that foundation.   Putting on foundation to cover a little bit of the damage is good but most products are simply too heavy and cause my skin to break out.  Still I love a little makeup.  I have found that if I buy a semi-expensive foundation...I love Este Lauder...and mix a very small amount with my moisturizer in the palm of my hand, I can kill two or three birds with one stone.  The feel is wonderful and I have sunscreen, moisturized, foundation applied all at once.  My skin does not break out and the light feel of the makeup is just the look I like.  Some days I apply blush and most day my Este Lauder mascara.  It is a very natural look and perfect for my lifestyle. 

So there you have it...a day in the life of Barbara's skin...sigh!

b

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When One of Us is Ill, Both of Us Are in Danger! Senior Citizens

or Spouses Mirror Each Other Health.

Are retired women more knowledgeable than retired men when it comes to everyday health issues?  Because I am a retired woman living 6 month of the year in a 55+ RV resort and am in close contact with retired men, I think I have the answer.  But let me give you some facts first.

Every woman's magazine, be it Glamour or More, has an article on health issues.  For example, the latest More (a magazine for women of style and substance, i.e. older women) magazine has a lengthy article on hearing loss and Glamour has a whole section called health and fitness.  The hits you will get for health articles in women's magazines using a google search will come up at more than 9,000,000...yes that is right.  On the other hand when I changed the word women's to men's the google hits fell to 800,000.  When I looked at men's magazines alone they were 80,000,000 hits.  It was 90,000,000 for women.  The ratio just didn't line up.

The fact that women are, it seems to me, more obsessed with health, weight gain, and the look of their body may account for this.  But that is not what I am asking.  The question was "are woman more knowledgeable?"  I have listened to women talk about health issues and I have listened to men.  The women are quick to give answers but are kind of bored with the whole subject.  What they will talk about though, is their husband's reluctance to take their advice, go to a doctor or even eat and drink smartly!  Men on the other hand are blown away when they discover that dark green leafy vegetables are good for them and that they may have a health issue if their stool is black!  It is all so new to them.  They just do not know!  They are so fascinated with their new knowledge their gathering can be dominated by "organ recitals".  Sigh!

Now the question is what difference does it make...that is why we have doctors and yearly exams, right?  Well, here is a thought...if my husbands has symptoms and I know something is really wrong,  I will call the doctor and make an appointment using my strength to overcome his resistance.  Unlike many women I do take some responsibility for my husband's health and he for mine.  Why?  My best answer is that my vision of how his health effects mine and vice versa is very clear to me.  What makes him ill will change my life forever one day if my health does not change his first.

I truly believe that when one of us is ill, both of us are in danger.  If your spouse doesn't understand this, you need to work on his/her awareness.  Think about it.

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Scam Alert from a real Grandma!

Please click here --> Fab Grandma tells about her experience.  Please check this link out by clicking..    Scams are all around...READ THE FINE PRINT!  YOU will not GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, not ever!!!

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