Kathy: Thanksgiving's a tease...

Thanksgiving break is such a tease. In one fell swoop, the plane lands and our kids are home. The evidence is as clear as day. The trail begins at the front door as shoes, purses, keys, coats, sweaters, scarves, and empty Starbuck containers are sporadically deposited from one end of the house to the other. Former school friends arrive at all hours, noise and laughter fill the air, and the fridge is empty even though I just filled it up. Facebook again gleams from the computers, texting is rampant, college textbooks are strewn across makeshift desks, laundry is on overload, long, long hot showers take place as well as breakfasts at 1pm. Cars are absconded to pick up movies at Blockbuster, visit friends, and shop. To add to the mayhem, our family arrives with precious little ones in tow. Wii is on 24/7, snacks are nonstop, annual rituals of long walks return. All the kids pitch in and help move furniture, set the table, decorate, cook, and gather sticks for the bonfire. Big numbers gather around the Thanksgiving table and eat and chat for hours. Our young teenager has amassed amazing opinions about our economic plight and the younger set is well versed at delving out lists for Christmas. On Black Friday morning, leftovers, including pies and pumpkin cheesecake, are devoured for breakfast and lunch just before the family football game which was concocted and well executed (except for one broken shoulder but I won’t dwell on that). After another dinner extravaganza a family sleepover is enjoyed by all. Slumber comes easily to fourteen well fed happy bodies. What a great family portrait. It’s pure and utter chaos and I love it.

And then, they’ve vanished. As quickly as they arrived, they have returned to their lives and busy schedules. Except for the roar of football on TV, the swooshing of the washing machine, and tumbling of the dryer, that eerie lack of kids type silence is everywhere. Leftovers, dirty sheets, and mountains of used towels are just reminders of a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend gone too fast. I can hardly wait for Christmas break when all the chaos and mayhem returns, and shoes and purses, and coats and scarves are scattered in every direction. When Wii is going nonstop and noise and laughter resonates throughout the house and beyond. Yes, it’s the Thanksgiving tease: A quick reminder of how wonderful it is when our girls are home and to have family and dear friends fill every corner of the house. What a great reaffirmation of how much we enjoy being together and that the little things are really what life is all about. I’m counting the days ‘til we see you all again…..

Kathy’s Technical Metamorphosis

It’s such fun working with Barb because she makes me feel so smart. For example, by default, I have been appointed the technical expert for 2boomerbabes. While my family smirks and rolls their eyes at this thought, Barb assures me that I have far greater knowledge than she does regarding the modern world of technology.

My family will attest that I am truly not a technical person. For this reason, I suppose, I am constantly gifted with the most up to date tech gadget be it for birthday, Halloween, Christmas, Ground Hog Day, Mother’s day, or our Anniversary. Even though I have reiterated to my family that, “I don’t think anything that requires a battery or power should count as a present,” this tradition still continues. I think they’re hoping that something will actually stick.

While Barb may have all the bling, I’ve acquired all the latest doodads (technical term). For example, I have not one but two digital cameras (one small enough to slip in my pocket and the other with a fancy zoom lens) and a slim, light, entertainment PC laptop on which I can download all of my photo journeys. Since we’re fully wireless at our house, I can move around anywhere and still be in constant contact with the outside world. And then there’s my Sirius Radio (I just love the Martha channel-112- and Classic Rock), my Nano IPOD fully loaded with all of MY songs, and my most recent gift was a state of the art (for this week anyway) cell phone that flips open and displays a great little keyboard. I am now a texting fool and can add dings and smiley faces when I send messages to my kids. My Garmen NUVI was my Mother’s Day gift. I can now find my way anywhere and then some. It will also answer my cell phone just in case I’m too busy to do that myself. Our family room is equipped with the Wii and the Wii Fit. Yes, I can practice tennis, golf (never played), race car driving (not too good at that one), skeet shooting (actually, I’m not too good at that either), and I can do yoga and pilates without ever having to grace our local YMCA.

Well, I’d better close so I can check my email on my PC, snap that photo moment and then download it, turn on my Sirius radio so I can listen to Martha, flip on the Wii so I can stay fit and then play tennis, text my girls so they know I love them, and program my NUVI so I can find my way to Safeway. Once I return, I’ll plug in my earphones, turn on my IPOD, and blog….

Boomer Barb's Technology

“Get the camera, we’ve gotta take a picture of this!” My husband screams. As I break into a sprint, I remember that the camera broke over three years ago. I remind him that we own a disposable, although I can’t quite remember where it is, and that our Brownie Instamatic might still be in fine form, save the dust. Quickly dismissing the disposable, but pondering the Brownie, he realizes that no respectable CVS would develop the film. By that time, the “Kodak moment” has long passed.

And what about those computers?! After we gave up the WANG, we bought a PC that takes up the entire dining room table. It's a nightly choice of eating in a civilized manner or checking the e-mail. And what about those cell phones? I finally exchanged the one that resembles an anvil in a suitcase, for the model that fits into that previously “what is that for?” pocket in my purse. I mastered dialing and answering the phone, and after several months, putting the ringer on vibrate.

Picture taking and texting continue to elude me, but my free with sign-up phone doesn’t have a camera, or that mini typewriter that has become all the rage.I won’t even get into the TVs. Come February, my husband and I will be staring at the black screen unless we do “something”, but that “something” is as perplexing as the financial crisis. The last time we bought a TV, I needed physical therapy and my husband a cortisone shot after jointly lifting it onto the shelf. While my 8 inch with the bunny ears doesn’t require a forklift to place it on the kitchen counter, its days are also numbered.

Just how did we find ourselves left in the dust of the technology revolution? Could it be that we selflessly spent our money on state-of-the-art mega pixel digital cameras before the kids left for college? Or what about those required laptops that give the darlings freedom to write papers (or check their Facebooks) while lounging in bed or before Frisbee games on the Quad? With their new cell phones, they mastered the art of texting in no time, as well as sending pictures of their weekend escapades to dozen of their cohorts. I can’t blame the TV situation on them, as they don’t own one. However, no suffering is involved since they can view favorite shows on their new laptops – all while lying in bed!!! GRRRRRRR So are we boomers so technologically behind (or broke?) that we can never catch-up?

Empty Nesting

2 Boomer Babes…



On Empty Nesting

An eerie noise penetrates our homes these days. It’s that dead quiet type of sound that resonates so loud that one can hardly hear it. There’s a strange lack of footsteps and scrambles, fridge doors opening and closing, shouts of joy and streaks of despair having often occurred in the same breath. Our computer screens are oddly lacking a Facebook page and the incessant clicking noise radiating from the keyboard has gone silent.

These days we’re not tripping over pairs of shoes or dirty towels scattered here and there, and the kitchen sink is void of dirty dishes (never understood why they couldn’t make it to the dishwasher). We marvel at the beds that somehow magically make themselves and admire the previously unseen hardwood floors of our children’s bedrooms. Glancing into the almost empty laundry basket, we savor the idea of doing wash (maybe) once a week. We smile, a bit guiltily, at the sight of the couch returning to its former shape, as the indentation of the prone teenage body slowly begins to recede. At a given moment, we are still prepared to feed ten hungry teenagers. Yet, snacks remain in the pantry, ice cream and pizza in the freezer, untouched. Yes, these are the signs that our kids are gone.

Generations before us have mastered the art of life without children. The only difference this time is that it’s our turn. We’ve always been the young set: the group that was conceived in celebration of the end of WWII. Our age group, the largest of its kind, has boomed. We’ve sent our youngest off to college, the military, to work or wherever and now we, the boomers, are headed where we have not been before. We have a guilty giddiness about being an “empty nester.” Our emotions are schizophrenic. We are sad, happy, relieved, worried, excited, and scared. This life stage knows no race, creed, particular age or gender only that we share the common bond of parenthood.

We want to introduce you, our readers, to the opportunity to reinvent our lives: whether it’s that book club you’ve wanted to join or the NGO you’ve been longing to start. We will highlight individuals who have taken the plunge, pioneers of our generation and those before us who have woven their experiences and passions into a new found joy. We’ll explore issues such as downsizing, reigniting or maintaining the romance, travel adventures, aging parents, and return of the kids, to name a few. We'll poke fun at ourselves and the dilemnas we face and ask for your expert advice.

We invite you to join our blog as we discover the limitless possibilities of our next life venture.

Note from the authors: As young mothers searching for ways to entertain and stimulate our children, we created and co-hosted the “Our Kids” television series which was awarded Best New Show for the cable network. With a bit of help from our spouses, we have each raised two wonderful children, all now in college, embraced eclectic careers, enjoyed a twenty year long distance sisterly friendship, and have recently become empty nesters.

Email your comments to Kathy and Barb at 2boomerbabes@gmail.com or post them by clicking on the comment section located at the bottom of this blog.