WINTER OF OUR YEARS

 

A very good "old" friend sent this to me.  I found if very profound.

AND THEN IT IS WINTER

You know. . . time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went. I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.

But, here it is... the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise...How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey...they move slower and I see an older person now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me...but, I see the great change...Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be. Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so...now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!!  But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last...this I know, that when it's over on this earth...its over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done...things I should have done, but indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not in your winter yet...let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not! You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life...so, live for today and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember...and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!

"Life" is a gift to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.

LIVE IT WELL!
ENJOY TODAY!
DO SOMETHING FUN!
BE HAPPY !
HAVE A GREAT DAY

Remember "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.


LIVE HAPPY IN 2014!


LASTLY, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:


TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN, YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE SO - ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.


~Your kids are becoming you......but your grandchildren are perfect!


~Going out is good.. Coming home is better!


~You forget names.... But it's OK because other people forgot they even knew you!!!


~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything.... especially golf.


~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.


~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep".


~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..


~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"... ???


~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.


~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?!!!


~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.


~Everybody whispers.


~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear.


~But Old is good in some things: Old Songs, Old movies, and best of all, OLD FRIENDS!!


Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!" Send this on to other "Old Friends!" and let them laugh in AGREEMENT!!!

It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived.   

Thanks "old" friend

HOW'S YOUR MENTAL HEALTH?

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone.
You have to be in Cahoots with someone.
I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there.
I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.
I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.
Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart!
At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!
I may have been in Continent, but I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing.

PLEASE DO YOUR PART!

Today is one of the many National Mental Health Days throughout the year.

You can do your bit by remembering to send an e-mail to at least one unstable person. My job is done!
Life is too short for negative drama & petty things.
So laugh insanely, love truly and forgive quickly!
From one unstable person to another...
I hope everyone is happy in your head - we're all doing pretty good in mine!

GO AHEAD AND FORWARD IT - YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO

OBSERVATIONS

1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow.  
 
2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.
 
3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all.
 
4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.
 
5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.
 
6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night?
 
7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without.
 
8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks?
 
9. Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job.
 
10. No one has more driving ambition than the boy who wants to buy a car.
 
11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity.
 
12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 AM. It could be a right number.
 
13. Think about this ... No one ever says "It's only a game" when his team is winning.
 
14. I've reached the age where the happy hour is a nap.
 
15. Be careful reading the fine print. There's no way you're going to like it.
 
16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket.
 
17. Do you realize that in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of OLD LADIES running around with tattoos? (And RAP music will be the Golden Oldies!)
 
18. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Corvette than in a Yugo.
 
19. After a certain age, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you are probably dead.

THANKS CD

LITERATURE BY COMMITTEE

Here's a prime example of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus".

It is offered by an English professor from the University of Colorado as an actual class assignment:

A Creative Writing professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Every  person will be paired with a classmate.

As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send a copy to me. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add a second paragraph to the story, which will then be sent back to the partner, with a copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on, back-and-forth.

Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the e-mails and anything you wish to say must be written in the e-mail. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached."

The following was actually turned in by two of his English students:


Rebecca (PINK)
Bill (BLUE).

THE STORY:
(first paragraph by Rebecca)
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.

(second paragraph by Bill )
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. " Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

(Rebecca)
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously  excited her and bored her. She stared out the window,  dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspaper to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

( Bill )
Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dimwitted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament Treaty through the Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam , felt the inconceivably massive explosion,  which vaporized even poor, stupid Laurie.

(Rebecca)
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.

( Bill )
Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. " Oh, shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F--KING TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do? I'm such an air headed bimbo. I guess I've read too many Danielle Steele novels!"

(Rebecca)
A$$h@le.

( Bill )
B*tch!

(Rebecca)
F*** YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!!

( Bill )
In your dreams, Ho. Go drink some tea.


(TEACHER)
A+ - I really liked this one.

BOOMERS HAVE LOWER HEARING LOSS

This is an interesting article but the researchers failed to answer why the hearing loss in husbands is FOUR TIMES HIGHER than that of their wives. I could offer a thought or two...

Say what? Baby boomers not losing hearing as fast as parents

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
01-15-10
Jan. 14--Though they were the first generation to endure rock concerts, boom boxes and iPods, the baby boomers have lost less of their hearing than their parents, according to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
The findings, which are to be published Friday in a medical journal, suggest that hearing can be preserved even as people age.
"We didn't know that," said Wen Chen, a program director with the National Institute on Aging, which financed the study.
The study used data from the Beaver Dam Offspring Study that involved 5,275 people from that community and their offspring born between 1902 and 1962.
While everyday life may be getting noisier, actual hearing loss from one generation to the next has declined, said Weihai Zhan, lead author of the study, which was published Friday in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Overall, the baby boomers had 31% less hearing loss than their parents.
Among men who were born between 1944 and 1949, 36% had a hearing impairment. However, among men born between 1930 and 1935, 58% had a hearing loss at the same age.
Among women born between 1945 and 1949, 12% had hearing impairment, compared with 23% among women born between 1930 and 1939.
Prior to the study, it would have been expected that 66 million Americans would be hearing-impaired by 2030. However, the new findings suggest that number is more likely to be 51 million.
The authors cautioned that because the study was based from the mostly white Beaver Dam area, its results do not necessarily apply to other regions or racial groups.
Still, the findings run contrary to the belief that large numbers of baby boomers are destined to lose their hearing because of exposure to loud music.
Indeed, hearing loss from one-time events such as concerts may be temporary while daily exposure to excessive noise is a bigger concern, co-author Karen Cruickshanks said in a statement.
More stringent rules about workplace noise and fewer people working in noisy industries such as mining and manufacturing also may be contributing to less hearing loss in the younger generation.
Reduced smoking may also play an indirect role, said UW researcher Zhan. Smoking increases the risk of heart disease, which can lead to less blood flow to the inner ear, he said.
Another factor may be better health care and antibiotics resulting in less inflammation and infection, said Cruickshanks, a professor of population health sciences and ophthalmology and visual sciences.
If hearing loss was genetically determined, you would not see this loss over a generation, she said.
The authors concluded that there was strong evidence that environmental, lifestyle or other modifiable factors might contribute to hearing impairment in older adults.
"These data suggest that hearing impairment with aging is a preventable or delayable disorder rather than a normal part of the aging process," they wrote.
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...The season to be jolly

Three  men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at  the pearly gates.

"In honor of this holy season"  Saint Peter said,  "You must each possess something  that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven."

The  first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a  lighter. He flicked it on. "It represents a candle," he  said.

"You may pass through the pearly  gates," Saint Peter said.

The  second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys.  He shook them and said, "They're bells."

Saint Peter said, "You may pass through the  pearly gates."

The third man started searching  desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties.

St. Peter looked at  the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, "And just what do those symbolize?"
The man  replied, "These are Carol's."

And So The Christmas Season Begins......

BOOMER HUMOR

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it happened or not. -- Mark Twain