Midlife’s A Trip

Just Flip It!

Posted on 31. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

I’m the person who hates to read instruction manuals.  Car manuals, camera manuals, appliance manuals–I hate them all.  I want what I buy to be so intuitive that I can just start using it without any learning curve.  Unreasonable? 
Well the people at Pure Digital didn’t think so when they invented the handy little Flip camcorder I bought this weekend.  The Flip, appealing [...]

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Hanging Out With Midlife Women Bloggers

Posted on 30. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

Today I signed up over at Blogher.com, a site for women bloggers.  When I went to post an intro to that community I discovered an ”underground” group of midlife bloggers like me.  As I read their interesting posts, I just kind of fell into the discussion which culminated in a great list of midlife women blogs over at ByJane .  I [...]

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Career Change and the 5-Step Ruby Slippers Plan

Posted on 30. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

Yesterday I wrote about my career change in midlife.  It sounded easy didn’t it?  Should have had happy music playing the background, right?  Wrong.  It wasn’t easy but it was a change that was as necessary to me as breathing.  So how did I get through it?  Well, it’s kind of like Dorothy and the ruby slippers.
When Dorothy realized [...]

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Get Me Off This Ladder!

Posted on 29. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

I used to think I was on the ladder of success.  I had the corporate job that many people dream of.  But my personal life was shoved into a corner and I had this nagging feeling that something wasn’t right.  Ya think? 
Even though I had the seductive trappings of success, I wasn’t living in sync with my life values and I certainly wasn’t happy.  I was [...]

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More Ranting About Caregiving

Posted on 28. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

OK.  OK.  I know it seems like I’m on a rant here about caregiving.  But going to the Boomer Business Summit this week and hearing the repeated focus this issue brought it home to me—and you’ll laugh at this—that it’s not just my family who’s dealing with this.   
Duh, you might say.  But, for those of you who [...]

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Why I’m Watching the PBS Special on Caregiving April 2

Posted on 28. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

The issue of how we care for our aging parents will be profiled in a PBS special next Wednesday, April 2nd.  The two hour program, which airs on your local PBS station at 9pm EST, includes a 90 minute documentary on the caregiving experience of 5 families followed by a 30 minute panel discussion. 
I plan to [...]

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The Sobering Issue of Caregiving

Posted on 27. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

Yesterday I attended the Boomer Business Summit in Washington DC.  Yes, there’s a whole conference just about us.  One of the issues that came up often was the issue of caregiving.  Former first lady, Roselyn Carter was quoted as saying that there are four types of people:

Those who have been caregivers.
Those who are currently caregivers.
Those who will be [...]

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The Boomer Consumer

Posted on 25. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

Tomorrow is the Boomer Business Summit in Washington, D.C. where those of us interested in what moves Baby Boomers come together to share, learn and be inspired.  So what exactly is a Baby Boomer?  
The best definition I’ve read is in Boomer Consumer, a new book I’ve been reading by Matt Thornhill and John Martin, co-founders of the Boomer Project.  According to [...]

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AARP and the Essential Version of Jamie Lee Curtis

Posted on 24. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

AARP’s “The Magazine” hits the stands today and is sure to turn some heads as almost 50-something actress Jamie Lee Curtis takes her shirt off for the cover .  Sporting salt and pepper hair, a smile and nothing else, Curtis sends the message to millions of women in midlife that getting older doesn’t mean you’re over the hill.  
After [...]

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7 Signs of Spring

Posted on 20. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

For those of you who live in warmer climates, spring may not be a big thing.  But for me, still wondering why I stay in Michigan with its cold climate, spring is an event.  And it officially starts today!! 
I’m particularly ready for spring this year because winter was steady and unrelenting snow and frigid temps.  We even ran out of salt for [...]

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Mr. Obama’s Profile in Courage

Posted on 19. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

I typically don’t focus on politics here at Midlife’s A Trip because there are some many blogs that address this issue very well.  So as you read this post, I want to make it clear that my focus is still not on politics.  It’s on the divisive, pervasive and destructive issue of racism in America. 
We talk about it [...]

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Get Less Stress

Posted on 18. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

Yesterday I wrote about how meditation can lower your blood pressure. If you’re not ready yet to embrace meditation as a practice, just take 3 minutes to watch this video and get a little less stress in your day.

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Meditation Can Lower Blood Pressure

Posted on 17. Mar, 2008 by Karen.

I am the daughter of a woman who did Transcendental Meditation in the early 60’s.  TM is what it was called.  My brother, sister and I—we just called it weird.
Mom would carve out her meditation time each day and we were warned not to disturb her.  While she meditated, there was a lot of eye-rolling [...]

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