It's All About Aging

Do You Google Yourself? Look What I Found.

anmax — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:15:20 +0000

Do you Google yourself? What about Google Alerts? Since I tend to forget to regularly Google myself, I set up alerts for my business, and myself. This morning there were several alerts for “Anne Maxfield”…all obituaries. Nothing like getting up in the morning, waiting for that first mug of tea, and finding out that someone sharing my name, had just passed away. Curiosity (morbid, and the regular kind), made me check it out.
In the old days, like last year, when someone died, the family wrote a small obit, and paid for the local paper to run it. If you were famous, the paper would write a larger one. I’m sure you know many people who still turn to the obits first, some to see if anyone they know there, others to see if there might be an apartment available…
Now, obits like everything else, are posted on the Internet. You can virtually sign the guest book, and even add photos and videos (think about those Facebook and YouTube postings going strong for eternity). Not to mention, if you’re still looking for an apartment, you can subscribe to get obits e-mailed to you daily. The site even gives you starter text for the guest book, links to florists, and ideas for writing condolence cards. And of course, a Facebook link.
But, let me pay my respects to another Anne Maxfield. From her obituary: Anne was an active community volunteer in her later adult life. For over eight years, she was a volunteer for Carroll County Against Domestic Violence and Rape, where she received training and received an award for her outstanding service. In 1995, the Wakefield Police Department recognized Anne for her outstanding dedication to voluntary service with a certificate of appreciation. Anne was truly an “Angel.” She continued her close relationship with the Wakefield Police Department, deepest thanks to all they did for her.

If You Thought Losing Your Eyesight Was Bad, How About Declining Taste-buds?

anmax — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:58:54 +0000

Most Baby Boomers now need glasses to read almost anything. My big thrill with my e-reader was that I could pump up the type to a place where I didn’t need my glasses. Downside? Only a paragraph per page. Along with diminished eyesight, receding hairlines, and other body parts that always worked better, now we have to worry about declining taste buds. We have about 10,000 taste buds as adults, we lose some, and the ones that remain grow less sensitive (unless your my aunt reacting to spicy food). And more bad news, your sense of smell also diminishes, for some people with sinus issues, as early as age 50.

So what? According to this article in the Miami Herald “ When food becomes less appealing, seniors tend to eat smaller meals or skip them altogether. They begin to lose weight, which can lead to frailty.

“Since it doesn’t happen overnight, it’s not always noticeable at first,” says Dr. Kent Holtorf, who specializes in age-management medicine at The Holtorf Medical Center in San Francisco. “Usually, if they talk about it when they come in, they’ll mention it as a secondary symptom.”

Among the factors that exacerbate the loss of taste perception are smoking, neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and medications including antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs and some arthritis remedies. Dietary restrictions to deal with hypertension and diabetes further complicate meal prep.”

What to do?

Add flavor. Using any kinds of herbs and spices will always help even if it’s as simple as a few grinds of pepper. Many spices, like turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon have other holistic healing benefits in addition to adding flavor.
Lemon or lime juice adds a nice acidic touch, as will flavored vinegars, like balsamic. When you watch chefs at work, they’re always adding something acidic. Try it. I make almost all my salad dressing with lemon juice instead of (or along with) vinegar.
I personally don’t have issues with salt, but if you do, try a salt substitute like Mrs Dash, or Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt (which does have salt mixed with other seasonings).
When my aunt isn’t around, a dash of hot sauce or sriracha (if you don’t know about this, check it out, Asian section of the grocery), goes a long way.
If I’m wearing my locavore hat, fresh, local and seasonal always tastes better that out of season and flavorless.
Don’t forget that setting a nice table, and plating the food well always helps.

What other ideas do you have to make meals more appetizing?

Check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Great cat photo for you feline lovers out there.

Shingles Vaccine Follow-up. Have You Gotten It?

anmax — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:03:27 +0000

When I first posted the blog about the shingles vaccine, I have to admit I felt dumb that I hadn’t known about it. In the time since then, I realised that I’m not the only one who didn’t know about it, and only 10% of the eligible population (considered to be people over 60) has actually gotten the shot. Why? According to a really interesting article in the NY Times it’s expensive, and not necessarily covered by insurance. My own vaccine was $250, money that I think was well spent, and I don’t know whether the insurance covered any of it. My personal experience with health insurance is that almost nothing is covered, and when it is, it’s an unexpected surprise. But that’s a whole other blog. The people I know who have had shingles all say it was the most painful experience of their lives, and I’m sure would have all coughed up $250 or more to prevent it.

The other issue becomes more of a catch-22; because the vaccine is expensive, and people aren’t getting it, doctors aren’t stocking it, and they’re not recommending it because people don’t want to pay for it, etc… The average cost of treatment for shingles was $525 five years ago, and it takes about 5 weeks to recover from the virus. So wouldn’t you think insurance companies would rather pay the cost of the vaccine, rather than the cost of the treatment? Have you gotten the vaccine? Why or why not?

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival.

What would you do for a raspberry blueberry pie? Secret family recipes.

anmax — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 12:56:18 +0000

Does your family have secret family recipes? Mine does. My mother’s secret recipe is for a raspberry blueberry pie. It’s powers are so strong that years ago an old friend of mine agreed to drive my parents’ cat from their house in Maine, back to Boston, in return for a pie of his own. Now I know you’re thinking that it sounds like a pretty sweet deal, pun intended, but the cat in question was not a good passenger. Not only would he howl for the entire four hour trip, he would manage to do so in between throwing up on whoever or whatever was in the back seat.

My grandmother, on my father’s side, was famous for the caramels she would make every year for Christmas. We couldn’t wait for the package to come from Michigan. There was always a small box with perfectly wrapped caramels full of buttery goodness. My parents would dole out the caramels day by day if we were good, until Christmas when the box usually was finished before dinner.My brother got the recipe from Grandma before she died.

The next time you get together with your family, remember the great recipes that are part of almost all our heritages. What’s your family’s heirloom recipe?

Don’t forget this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival!

Is Being Alone a Thing of the Past?

anmax — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 13:23:47 +0000

Do you worry about being alone when you get older? Pretty common worry, right? But maybe Baby Boomers don’t have so much to worry about. A month ago, I was at a lecture that Gary Vaynerchuk was giving. If you don’t know who he is, he’s turned his family’s liquor store into a multi-million dollar business, using social media. He’s also a crazy, young, guy, with unlimited energy, and he makes a great speaker. One of his many great ideas was that he’s not worried about getting older alone, because he’s so connected with social media. Interesting idea, right?

Aren’t your parents connected in some way with other people, on the Internet? Whether it’s just e-mail, or they exchange photos online, or keep a Facebook page, our parents are out there to some degree. The iPad has become a huge hit with seniors worldwide, and the oldest Twitter user just died at 104. And Boomers are online and using social media even more. Whether you’re addicted to Facebook, or just don’t get it, you’re probably online a lot more than your parents. You may not consider them all your BFF’s but think about how many people you connect with through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, even YouTube. And who knows what the Twitter of the next ten or twenty years will be?

So for us, maybe the issue will be how we find time to be alone, in a connected world. What do you think?

For other connected Boomers, please check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Interesting posts on social media, and living longer, check it out!

Stubborn. How Many Baby Boomers Are Dealing With This?

anmax — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:19:34 +0000

A good friend of mine, like a lot of other Boomers, has a lot on her plate. She’s caregiving for her husband and her mother, working, and a long-distance grandma to four grand-kids. Her mom is living alone, not far from my friend, increasingly fragile and needy. She thought she had things worked out; her mother would go to live with her sister in California. That is until it came time for her mother to go to California. Stubborn, and set in her ways, not to mention the home she’s lived in for years, she put her foot down and refused to budge.

It made me wonder, how you start to broach this conversation, and what the signs are that your loved ones shouldn’t be on their own any more. The fact that you can’t cope is certainly a strong signal, but there should be earlier warning signs, and there are.

According to my friends at SeniorHomes.com, there are five signs a loved one might need assisted care:

Does your family member’s skin feel soft and have a normal color?
Can your family member see clearly?
Can your family member hear you?
Is there food in the refrigerator?
Are medications current and being taken regularly?

I know what you’re thinking…I can answer these questions but this is not giving me the tools I need to have this conversation. So here goes…AARP has a really good post on starting a conversation. Click here for the link. Jacqui at SeniorHomes.com also gave me these two links for assessing your loved ones needs, and their site has the full answers to the five questions.

“Talking To Your Loved Ones About Their Care” from the American Health Care Association
http://www.longtermcareliving.com/prep/conversation/

“Assessing The Need” from Comfort Keepers. This is a really good assessment guide.
http://www.comfortkeepers.com/sites/default/files/document/assessmentguide.pdf

Thanks to Jacqui and Chris at SeniorHomes.com for their help with this! And be sure to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. There’s a great post from our hostess. Check it out and comment if you don’t think Boomers are “a bunch of big fat heavy drug users who never exercise and are bad with money”. Doesn’t sound like anyone I know, what about you?

Lettuce Running Amok, Infidelity, THC, RV’s, It Must Be The Blogging Boomers Carnival!

anmax — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:09:25 +0000

What do you think is the number one site used in divorce cases involving infidelity? What happens when lettuce runs amok? Where else could you find the answers to these and other burning issues for Boomers, but the Blogging Boomers Carnival? I’m hosting this week and invite you to check out and comment on:

Family law attorneys say the number one site most often used as evidence in divorce cases involving infidelity is Facebook. Read about it at LifeTwo.com.

Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann reports on a new study that suggests that it’s friends, and not children or grandchildren, that could be the key to a happy retirement.

SoBabyBoomer tells us about two boomers, concerned with surviving their individual career challenges in a declining economy, visit the library to discuss how to proceed with their phased retirement.

As it turns out, the medicinal properties of THC found in cannabis or marijuana go far beyond soothing pain and nausea. They may even cure cancer someday! Learn more here.

A trip down Memory Lane with The Boomer Chronicles. My fab RV trip down South.

It used to be easy. Wear red shoes with a red purse. How things have changed! Get the scoop on the modern rules for co-ordinating your purse and shoes at Fabulous after 40.

Vaboomer has a giant lettuce plant gone amok in her crazy garden. Help!

Janet Wendy at Gen Plus has fallen in love all over again…with an Android. The Droid X by Motorola, to be exact.

And I’ve got another blog,the Accidental Locavore, check it out and see what I’m cooking and eating that’s local and fresh. This week’s farmbasket was loaded with tomatoes, corn, and lots of other goodies.

Hurricane Season and Your Records. Huh?

anmax — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:12:12 +0000

It’s hurricane season, and depending on where you live, it’s a cause for preparation, or just another couple of months on the calendar. Well, no matter where you live, hurricane season is a great reason to safeguard all your important papers (and if you have a business, do it for the business too). My friend, CPA, Linda Hamilton offers the following tips:

Create a Backup Set of Records Electronically. Taxpayers should keep a set of backup records in a safe place. The backup should be stored away from the original set.

Keeping a backup set of records – including, for example, bank statements, tax returns, insurance policies, etc. – is easier now that many financial institutions provide statements and documents electronically, and much financial information is available on the Internet.
You might also want to add copies of your passport, drivers licence, even credit cards.
Even if the original records are provided only on paper, they can be scanned, which converts them to a digital format.
Once documents are in electronic form, taxpayers can download them to a backup storage device, like an external hard drive, thumb drive, or burn them onto a CD or DVD.
Taxpayers should consider online backup, which is the only way to ensure data is fully protected. With online backup, files are stored in another region of the country – so if a hurricane or other natural disaster occurs, documents remain safe (I use Carbonite).
Document Valuables. Another step a taxpayer can take to prepare for disaster is to photograph or videotape the contents of his or her home, especially items of higher value. A photographic record can help prove the market value of items for insurance and casualty loss claims. Photos and videos should be stored with a friend or family member who lives outside the area, or can also be stored online. Putting the videos on YouTube, is probably not a great idea…
Update Emergency Plans. Emergency plans should be reviewed annually. Personal and business situations change over time, as do preparedness needs.
Don’t put it off. The next rainy day, is a good day to do it.

And don’t forget this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Where else can you get info on everything from PSA tests to why you should be on LinkedIn?

Your Brain, Use it or Lose it?

anmax — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:53:32 +0000

It’s probably the most important body part you have, but when was the last time you worked out your brain? And, no, trying to remember where the Weather Channel moved on your cable system, doesn’t count. If you’re like most of us Boomers, the thought of losing your mind, could cause you to, well, lose it. We’re obsessed with crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and Scrabble, but I would guess that very few of us actually make time to work out our brains. Even if you believe that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, exercising your noggin can’t hurt. The most important thing is to get started, and keep at it. Sounds like exercising anything, doesn’t it? There are a lot of companies working in this space, as Baby Boomers age, the market is growing with them. I met some of the people behind Posit Science at a Boomer conference, and recently have been in touch with one of their Internet marketing analysts, Eric. He’s sent me a couple of the games to try out…pretty interesting, and a little scary. Check them out here:

60 Second Brain Game
www.positscience.com/braingames/the60secondbraingame?pref=1501
Word Wanderer
www.positscience.com/braingames/wordwanderer?pref=1502

How did you do? I’ll share if you do.

If you want another way to work out your brain, check out this week’s Blogging Boomer’s Carnival!

July 4th, What’s Better Than A Barbecue?

anmax — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:18:17 +0000

With all the talk about grilling up a storm this weekend, it got me to thinking, what’s your family’s July 4th tradition?

What's on your barbecue?

Is there something traditional you toss on the grill?

Or something special you do to a burger?

How about corn?

Does your family have a ritual for July 4th?

Pack a picnic and watch fireworks?

Make ice cream? I just made an amazing chocolate ice cream. Easy, and if you comment, I’ll post the recipe.

If we’re up in Maine with my parents, we usually down as many lobsters as we can, and if we can convince my mother to use (inferior New Jersey) blueberries, we can talk her into the famous raspberry-blueberry pie, but that’s about as big a tradition as we’ve got.

Her neighbor Nancy has a big July 4th party, and my mother makes tomato aspic for that. If you don’t know what tomato aspic is, think of it as being like a large bloody Mary jello shooter. As much as I was never a big fan of anything jiggly, this is pretty refreshing on a hot day, and maybe my mom will comment and give us the recipe.

Happy July 4th to all! What will you be tossing on the grill?