As a 40-something, retirement seems far off. I’m not ready to retire. Heck. I’m barely back to work after some years off as a stay-at-home mom. Now that I have been back in the workforce for a couple of years, I suppose I should give retirement more thought and consideration. But isn’t planning for retirement for older people?

Financial planners recommend planning for your retirement when you first enter the job market. I set up a 401(k) as soon as I was able. My first job was one of those minimum-wage-jobs-but-you-could-qualifiy-for-food-stamps-but-we’re-calling-it-a-professional type of job. After enduring sitting opposite someone who smoked to the point where her smokeless ashtray was overflowing with ashes, I had enough and mounted a job search. This was the late 80s…to this day I have no idea why one person was allowed to pollute the office with her smoke when the rest of the office was smoke free. I enjoyed coming to work, but within a hour I was choking on the smoke and ready to go home.

The 401(k) dovetails with the financial planning my  husband and I did after we got married. But, are we ready? Is anyone ready for retirement?

My “Day One” of retirement is blurry to me at best. What will I do? Where will I be living? Hopefully, in the house I am in as I write this post. After a nomadic childhood of moving from England to America to England to America to England to America to England to Italy and finally to America, I am done with moving. I don’t want to move to another house much less move to another state!

When a friend talks about retirement, he always mentions the “for the first year I’ll sit on my porch in my rocking chair, the second year I’ll rock back in the rocking chair” scenario. I can relate to the need to relax and recuperate during retirement. As the mom of 3, it is nothing for me to drive 15 minutes to drop one off at swim practice, another 50 minutes to drop another off at volleyball practice, and another 30 minutes to pick up a long-forgotten-and-now-absolutely-needed item for a project. Love where I live even if I wish there were times I was closer to civilization.

I’m sure we’ll be ready for retirement, but for now I’m enjoying life, family, and the knowledge that we have prepared.

I was compensated by the Day One Campaign. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

As a kid in England, technology meant nothing to me. I was as far away from being a tech geek as you could be. My neighbor was super cool as he had an Atari system. Even the little kid I babysat for had a simple computer through the TV. I remember a handful of kids doing a “computer” class. I am sure the computer was housed in some warehouse! But, my family was not techie at all.

The funny part is that my dad is a nuclear engineer. If I wanted to read up on power plants or nuclear fusion, I had scads and scads of books and binders at my disposal. Back in the early 80s we didn’t have a microwave, a VCR, or even a game system even though many of our neighbors had them.

My Walkman was silver.

My children would be hyperventilating to hear about a life before…

• ipods…I was given a Sony Walkman “4″ that played only cassette tapes in 1983. I lugged this somewhat portable device that came with a shoulder strap to college in Amish Country, PA, from my hometown in England along with Duran Duran Rio, Wham, and another tape I care not to remember.
• cell phones
• smartphones
• CD players…as late as 1981 I had a record player without a built-in tape deck or radio. To record music, I played a 7″ single or 12″ album while dangling a microphone over and recorded it to a small cassette player. And yes, you could hear all the noises of the room I was recording in…breathing, scraping of chairs, my mother calling me for dinner…
• personal computers…the Mac was introduced my freshman year of college.
• wireless internet…anyone else have a 100-foot cable to connect your personal computer to the home phone line? Just me?!

Tech wise my family was decidedly untechy. Today, my family is the very epitome of techy-ness. We have a number of itouches, a couple of smartphones, a regular cell phone, game systems galore, and several digital cameras.

I’m your man…uh…mom….I mean woman for the job. As a mom of 3, I entered the blogosphere late…very late. My youngest was already 5 years old. Can you say scramble? That’s right I had to scramble and race and forage for stuff to post about.

12-, 10-, and 5-year-olds are interesting and fascinating creatures on any day or hour of the week, but there’s a catch. You can’t blog about practically anything to do with their lives. You can mention their names, of course. You can’t add details about school, subjects, teachers, academics issues good or bad, ditto for behavior.

With every little humorous detail of their lives off limits from tweeting, Facebooking, and blogging about, I was left with no choice but to get all McGyver on my blog. I literally had to grab a nugget of information and spin it in to a tale that was worthy of my blog. I oftentimes had to get creative and dredge up a story from long ago to illustrate the topic I was blogging about. But, I did it and continue to do it. I blog about my kids and our family in a way that will not injure or humiliate or jeopardize my kids’ futures. My older two read my blog. Not once have either of the girls questioned something that I have written about them.

So why am I mentioning this… My special gift is that I can make lemons out of lemonade. That’s right I can take a product that I need to write a review on and draw the reader in to the review by telling a story that is both honest about how we liked the product and protective of my kids’ feelings. I know what are the necessary elements of blog reviews. I write 3-4 reviews a week that highlight the key features of the product while showcasing our family’s real-world interaction with it.

I submitted this post as part of an application to be a Yahoo Get-It-Guide Guru.

It was an ordinary Tuesday morning. Nothing out of the ordinary…

• I woke up after my husband left for his teaching job at as local high school.
• Once up, I woke up my 5- and 3-year-olds for school.
• Breakfast, teeth brushing, picking out school clothes, arguing over why you can’t wear a tutu to school, and the continual search for backpacks.

At 8:10 a.m., my 3-year-old and I walked the 5-year-old to the end of the driveway to get the schoolbus. It was her 3rd week of school. Real school. Big girl school. She boarded the bus on the first day without a backward glance at her dad, little sister, and me.

She was settled in her routine, but my 3-year-old was only on her 3rd day of school on 9/11. She was still anxious about going to school. She wanted to ride the school bus with the 5-year-old.

Quite honestly, I was having some reservations about preschool. She was so young. Many of the kids in her class were so upset about starting preschool. Many, many tears. One, maybe two, were not fully toliet trained. About 6 kids out of 15 had late summer or fall birthdays. Almost 3s are so young for the rigors of 3-year-old preschool — even if preschool only meets 2 mornings a week. The little ones were so young and quite unprepared for the structure of preschool. My daughter was in the thick of it with a late birthday.

That morning I drove my 3-year-old to preschool. The dropoff was easy. No tears. I was probably overjoyed that she walked in to the classroom without being upset. No time for me to shop, run errands, or grab coffee with friends. No, I had work to do at home.

I settled in to review galley proofs for a health book I was managing. As an at-home freelance editor, I grabbed work time whenever I could…while the oldest was in Kindergarten and the youngest in preschool, naptime/quiet time, and when the kids were in bed or my husband was at home.

On that morning, I had exactly 2 hours to get my work done before my kindergartener’s bus arrived. I didn’t stop to do the breakfast dishes, or make a bup of coffee. All I did was park myself at my desk and work…until the phone rang.

It was my sister. She asked me if I knew about the plane in NYC. I said No. She told me to turn on the TV. I didn’t turn off the TV or stop reading the newspaper for weeks.

I don’t recall the time my sister called. Maybe around 9:20 or 9:25 a.m. But, I do know that my world changed from that point onwards.

I hesistate to link up these articles in the body of this blogpost, but if you are interested I wrote:

• About my 9/11 experiences over at The DC Moms.
• Avout the Newseum and the moving tribute to 9/11 told in the voices of TV news anchors, news reporters, and bystanders.

Where were you?

But, menopause is on the horizon. I’m observing little changes here and there. An imbalance of hormones. Hormone imbalance can cause weight gain, hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, and more. I recently heard about a treatment option for women experiencing issues associated with hormone imbalance. Have you heard of bioidentical hormones? I’m sure you know about hormone replacement therapy, but what about bioidentical hormone replacement.

Body Logic MD offers bioidentical hormones to women, which are an exact replica of hormones produced by the body. The bioidentical hormones match the body’s natural hormones. Body Logic MD bases its products on compounds found in plants.

A certified physician will tailor a program to suit the needs of patients with early menopause symptoms, menopause, perimenopause, or even severe PMS. Services can include dietary supplements, fitness programs, nutrition planning, stress reduction plans, as well as administration of bioidentical hormones.

For more information on Body Logic MD:

• Go here to learn more about Body Logic MD.
• Take the Body Logic test to see if you have a hormone imbalance.
• More information bioidentical hormones.

I was compensated by Body Logic MD for this post. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

I have fond memories of going on retreat as a teen. My school would schedule several trips throughout the school year to a monastery a few hours’ drive from my home. The retreats were a way for us to get away for a few days to the quiet of the monastery. I enjoyed getting up for the early for the morning mass. We cooked as a group. Ate meals together. But, I did not have to any huge sacrifices. I loved staying in the monastery dorms, but my sacrifice was minimal.

This photo could have been me 30 years ago as I made up my bunk at the retreat.

Recently, my Teen and I had a chance to offer up our services to a group that was in need. My teen is in the process of working towards her confirmation at church. She is required to go on a retreat and participate in several acts of service. Most of the acts involve visiting a museum or going to a religious monument. One of the required acts is local soup kitchen.

One Sunday morning — in fact it was Fathers’ Day — my teen and I drove to the church. We met up with 5 other teens. I was the chaperone-driver for our group. The drive was longish. The teens were largely silent. A few snoozed. One listened to her ipod. As we neared the city, the mood in the car changed. The kids were still silent, but each was staring intently at the broken down homes and boarded up stores. The landscape was not like our homes, that is for sure.

I quickly found a parking spot. As we entered the modern building housing the soup kitchen and a variety of other services for homeless, displaced, and the working poor, the teens were eager to get to work.

And work we did. After a lengthy orientation, we set to work. For a solid 2-hour period, men, women, and children streamed in to be fed. My teen was in charge of refilling iced tea for our section. I was the server for our section. Our section was special in that only families with a parent and a child or two parents and a child could sit at the tables in our section.

My heart could not help but break at the grandmother wrangling a pair of toddler grandchildren. Neither child was hungry. I did my best to find food that the kids would eat and I gave her some Ziploc bags to take the food with her. The surly teenager who politely said no, thank you when asked if he wanted a meal got a look from his mother. I’ve given my children the same look. But, never about eating or not eating a meal in a soup kitchen.

A rare photo of the Musings from Me family at my work reunion picnic.

It was a sobering day for me. I glanced over at my teen and her friends from church. I was proud to see all of them literally rolling up their sleeves and giving of themselves to the staff and of course, the patrons of the soup kitchen that Fathers’ Day. I was honored to not only be able to help out a worthy cause — Our Daily Bread in Baltimore, MD — but to be able to watch a group of teens do the same.

I am participating in VolunteerSpot’s Summer of Service series! VolunteerSpot is a time-saving website that makes it easy to organize parents and volunteers with free online sign up sheets. Use it to coordinate almost anything – classroom helpers and parties, school carnivals and fundraisers, swim team and soccer snacks, service projects, neighborhood events, and more!

Books! We’re a book family through and through. I read to my kids from the time we arrived home from the hospital with each of them. I didn’t read to them in utero. My husband would grab a stack of boardbooks as he prepared our babies and toddlers for bed. He’d start with one large stack of unread board books on one side of the glider, and end up with a large stack of read books on the other side of the glider…and a sleeping baby.

My first memory of my oldest daughter’s burgeoning love for books happened in a mall bookstore. She was 18 months old, hanging out in the stroller while my husband and I browsed the racks. I was probably looking for a book on “how to get an 18-month-old to do what you want her to do.” I wonder which 18-month-old I had in mind?!

While I searched for answers to my hard-to-control toddler’s behavior, she reached for a board book. My husband and I turned around when we heard her laugh. She was roaring with laughter as she read Welcome to the Big Comfy Couch. Do you remember this show…with Loonette, Major BedHead, Snicklefritz, and the Clock Stretch? My husband and I looked at each as she was intently staring at each page. We were both thinking “How can an 18-month-old laugh at a book?” We soon realized that she was reading the book by looking at the pictures. Each page she turned had her laughing harder and harder. She had discovered her love of books!

Later, I learned that little ones “picture read” before they learn to read. I call it “pre-reading.” Is there a better term? I found a post on my friend @TeachMama’s blog about helping young children visualize what they are hearing while you read aloud.

Chrysler has a special program going on right now — the Five + Five Road to Literacy Test Drive.

When you test drive an all-new Chrysler Town & Country through June 1st, Chrysler will donate books! That’s right, when you test drive a 2011 Town & Country, Chrysler will donate 5 books to the school of your choice and donate 5 books to a school in need. That’s 10 books in all! Awesome!!

Can you spare some time to do Five + Five Road to Literacy Test Drive? I know I will! I’ll do just about anything to get a book in to the hands of a child. It makes me sad to think about schools with limited books.

Find out more on Chrysler’s Facebook page.

I was compensated by Chrysler for promoting this campaign. The views expressed in this article, and my love (!) of books, are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog with Integrity.

How many posts have I started with “I’m exhausted”? A billion? But, really…I am exhausted. My eyes even have that crusty feel. I’m eyeing (is that even the right spelling?) the couch wondering if I can just hurl my body on to the couch and sleep! I might have to dislodge a glued to the TV Tween and Teen. But, I’m so tired I might just fall on the unsuspecting Tween. zzzzz

Why am I so tired? Why the bleary eyes? The yawning? Even drinking coffee or Diet Coke won’t keep me awake. I’m THAT tired.

The reason for the tiredness? Writing and lots of it. I started last Wednesday and have not stopped. Writing, writing, and writing. Now, a natural born writer I am not. I get by. I do my best. I try. But, ultimately I’m not a trained writer. You know what I mean?

My English major days merged in to my editor for health care books career. But, I was never a writer. I edited my own and other people’s writing. I was a good editor. More than once I had an author send me flowers when the book published.

I took a few years off as a stay-at-home-mom-volunteer-at-school-and-church person, before I jumped headfirst in to the blogosphere. English major and editor of books, but not a trained writer by any means.

I write. I get it done. It’s not pretty. I write some more. I craft a great sentence. I have my Eureka moment. I write another sentence. I am invincible! I can do this. I congratulate myself on getting the meaning right. This writing thing? I can do this! A moment later I sit staring at a screen with nothing to write. I’m dry. Barren. Wordless. No mojo. No well-crafted sentence. No witty phrase. Nothing. For as hard as I slave and work, the words don’t seem to come. I stare at the screen. I fret. I clockwatch. I panic about not getting another sentence written. And so it goes.

In desperation I write a nonsense sentence. The sentence usually doesn’t make any sense at all. I throw it down to break the “there is nothing on the screen” blankness. I sigh. I breath in and out. My hand touches a key. I tentatively touch another key. I read the sentence again. It is truly awful. A desperation sentence if ever there was one. I delete a word or two. I add in a word or two. The sentence becomes far less horrible. Not great, but not truly awful. I write a few more sentences before I delete the nonsense sentence.

So, that’s my writing process some, but not all of the time. What is your process? Any tips that get your writing going? I’d love to hear from you!

You know how 10 years ago you could pick up a box of business cardstock and print your own cards. This was back in the day when the cards you printed had no logo…just your name, job title, business name and address, and perhaps an email, but definitely not twitter or Facebook or urls. No the biz cards of the late 90s/early 2000s were simple if you were a WAHM. Work was simple back then, wasn’t it? You used the biz card to call the person on the phone. If you were very “tech savvy” you emailed the person, but many people I worked with in the book publishing field did not have email in the 90s/early 2000s. Once you stashed the card in your Rolodex you were done. No more recordkeeping needed. Gosh, could I age myself anymore with this post!

Times have changed and this back-to-working-after-being-a-stay-at-home-mom has not kept up with the trends. Sure I have a business card, but the card is the DIY variety — you know the print-at-home kind. I set up a template on my computer with my name/blog/twitter/Facebook and hit print. But the business cards look…well printed at home…which they are…with inconsistencies in printing strengths of ink.

Over the past few months I have looked in to getting business cards professionally printed. For one reason — inertia, money, indecisiveness — or another I have put off getting biz cards printed on a machine other than my taxed-to-the-max laser printer until now. I’m thrilled to announce that I am the proud owner of a spectacular set of business cards. Yes!! Squee!! Here’s the card…

Isn’t this the prettiest card you have ever seen?? I love the color. Adore the way my blog logo looks like it was drawn on each card. Doesn’t the blue go beautifully with the blue of the border and the pastel colors of the sleepover girls photo? I’m gushing…I know, but really have you ever seen a more perfect card??

Passion? It’s a word I don’t use often. If you know me IRL or online, you’ll know I am not one to go overboard when talking…I’m too English…too reserved. I save the word “passion” for times when I completely support or love a person or a cause.

I rarely use “passion” when blogging about products, because well it would seem a little cavalier to get all passion-y about detergent. Phoney, much? No, when I review a product I write my review honestly with pros and cons. But, I rarely express my undying love for a product.

I can find a product useful, helpful, but only rarely do I find a product that I can gush about. Yoursphere is one such product. I have worked with the social networking site for kids and tweens as a spokesmom. My kids all joined Yoursphere. Yoursphere is FREE, too!

Yoursphere is a social networking site for kids by kids. No adults allowed. Why am I passionate about Yoursphere? Yoursphere allowed my teen to explore online in a safe environment with other kids her age. My tween joined after her sister because her sister talked about all the fun she was having on Yoursphere. Take it from me… If kids hear a friend or sibling talk positively and passionately about something…they want to do it. It’s the power of suggestion…the completely, positive, and uplifting version. Read on for a cool way to get more out of Yoursphere.

My son joined his sisters on Yoursphere. This little kid is not about to miss out on any fun. My kids have the best of both worlds online…they can join a social network AND learn how to explore online safely and positively.

And, Yoursphere is the perfect choice for the tween who is desperate for a Facebook account, but Mom/Dad say “No way!” Kids can get their feet wet in the kiddie social media pool…with Yoursphere. I don’t about you, but I don’t want my tween “playing” on Facebook especially since Facebook’s TOS specifies that users must be over 13.

The best part about Yoursphere is that it is FREE to join. How many things that your kids or tweens want are free? Not many, right?!

Yoursphere is running a contest right now for those who want to maximize their Yoursphere experience with a Gold membership. By upgrading to a Gold membership through Monday, your kid can get 50% off Gold membership AND if he/she is the 43rd person to upgrade they can win RockBand! By the way Yoursphere Gold Membership is only $4.95 per month!

Want to learn more about Yoursphere?

• Sign up here.
• Follow on Facebook.
• For online safety information for parents, follow @MaryKayHoal, founding mom of Yoursphere.
• To hear all about Yoursphere, follow @Yoursphere
• Oh, and you can follow me, too! @YoursphereMom

I work for Yoursphere on social media. The views expressed in this post are my own or those of my Kid, my Preteen, and my Teen. If you decide to sign your kids up for Yoursphere, you can use my code: YSMA-JILL. I receive a monetary reward for signups.