Sunday, December 20, 2009

A Holiday Message for All of Us



Thanks to Joan H., we have a beautiful holiday message.  Just hit on the link below and choose Presentation 2 (Presentation 1 is a slideshow of the same.) Our gratitude to Charles S. Patridge for this moving reminder of our blessings and to Greg O'Brien for the narration.

We all have much to appreciate this season.  Joan H and her entire family (including Dick, Erin, Zack, Eric, Christina, Rowan,  and I) are thankful that Len has returned from Iraq in time for Christmas and for good!  Marty's a new grandma-again;  Pearl's off to a great position with AACU and will be closer to her grandson;  Julie's daughter has graduated with her master's; Kim's moving into her new house;  Dick and I are waiting for our 3rd grandchild to arrive and loving our two who are excited about the holidays this year:  Zack and Rowan.  Claudia and Tom are back in FLA safe and sound. We're thankful again for the special angels who watch over us and those we love.

Your special thoughts at this time of year will be appreciated and posted.  Just email me at smartnsassywoman@gmail.com.

See the  holiday message;  click on http://www.munic.state.ct.us/burlington/count_your_blessings/ and choose Presentation 2.  Have a great holiday!

 Thanks,again,  Joan.

Monday, December 14, 2009

What is census information saying about us and our children?


Some of us qualify as 'baby boomers' since 60 is the cut -off age.  Others of us qualify because we have children who fit the demographic of 42-60.  We have nieces and nephews who are also at the younger end of the 'boomer' range.  Still others qualify because we are sure we feel and look much more like 'boomers' than people in our biological age group!  So for all of us, the information released just recently by the Census Bureau  applies.
  • For the first time in 13 years, the U.S. Census Bureau has released a collection of statistics on the Baby Boomer generation, those people ages 42-60 years old in the year 2006.
  • New population number: There were 77,980,296 Baby Boomers living in the US in 2006 (50.9% women). That number is projected to be 57,793,135 in the year 2030 (an estimated 54.9% will be women).
  • Where they live: The states with the highest number of people ages 42-60 years were California, Texas, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania. The states with the highest percentage-of-population of Boomers were Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Montana and Connecticut.
  • Heritage: Among the Boomers, 89.7% were non-Hispanic and 10.3% were Hispanic.
  • Education: An educated group, 29.8% were high school graduates, 28.9% had some college and 28.8% had a bachelor’s degree or higher. A much smaller number (12.5%) had less than a high school degree.
  • Employment: Most Baby Boomers (74.1%) were employed; 22.4% were not in the labor force. The remainder were in military service or unemployed. In the prior 12 months, household income came from earnings (91.8%), retirement income (11.3%), Social Security (10.4%) and food stamps (6.9%).
  • Housing: Two-thirds were homeowners living in their homes and 25% rented.
SOURCE: US Census Bureau (November 2009)

Sent to  us by http://www.boomerauthority.com/.

Friday, December 4, 2009

How did we survive! Children of the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's


Thanks to Joan who sent us this message by Jay Leno.  I think it covers all of us since it's addressed to all of us born in the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.

Enjoy!  And keep them coming, Joan and everyone contributing to the blog. We appreciate it.


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were
Pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants and small children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.

WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.
No one was able
To reach us all day.. And, we were O..K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS

And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them?

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?

Source:  Jay Leno