So the other day my friend Jayboy shoots me an email.
"Would Charlotte and I like to join him, his lovely wife Rebecca and two other couples on a trip to Santa Fe for a three-day weekend?" Me? Hell yeah.
Who you callin' Geezer?
Jerry Williams, Debbie Williams, Gene Tyler, Shelley Tyler, Jayboy Elder, Becky Elder, Miss Charlotte & the other guy
I looooove me some NEW MEXICAN FOOD.
I know Miss Charlotte loves her some New Mexican food, too. Anything HOT with jalapenos, red chilies, green chilies, she's all over it. She likes it spicy. Just like her bloggers...baDaaBOOM...thank you, I'm here all week...
Next thing I know I'm walking down a ramp at the Santa Fe airport watching big-ass tumbleweeds blow across the tarmac. Seriously y'all, it looked like something out of a John Ford western. Half way expected John Wayne to ride up on a horse, throw a lasso around it and drag it into a hangar.
Jayboy knows ME LIKE FOOD. But, I ask What're we gonna DO? Ski? It is, after all, WINTER. Santa Fe has nice snowy mountains and well, again, it IS winter. Nah, Jayboy says. The plans are to Eat, Drink, Shop, Drink and Eat.
We had this wine-fueled, Jesse-Colin-Young-Everybody-Get-Together-Try-And-Love-One-Another vibe goin' on.
#56 Don't take anything at face value. Remember, Charles Whitman was an Eagle Scout.Like many baby boomers, I've been known to go to extreme measures to get a tan. In the '70s, my girlfriends and I would drench our bodies with baby oil or, even better, baby oil mixed with Mecuricome. Then lay out baking for hours in my parent's backyard, at the community pool or on the reflective roof of our little garage.
You can guess the result. Although aiming for a dark, appealing shade of bronze, I always wound up bright red and peeling (ouch!). Not what you'd call a fast learner, I'd wait a few days then repeat the routine hoping for, but somehow never quite achieving, a different ou
tcome.
Today, I try to be smarter. I still admire sexy, golden brown skin. But I've found it's less painful and much easier (not to mention healthier) to obtain it out of a bottle. I like using a sunless product like Fake Bake Self-Tanning Mousse because it involves no harmful UVA/UVB rays, takes only a few minutes and leaves me with all-over glow that doesn't rub off.
Want to score a winning tan? Read on for details on how you can get a glow on compliments of the sunless-tanning experts at Fake Bake. (Yes, it's designed for guys too!)
Hurry! Contest ends Feb. 10!
Normally, I'm just not into sports. But with Super Bowl XLV in our backyard, I'm finding it impossible to ignore a historic event that could bring more than 100,000 fans and hundreds of millions of dollars into my hometown. (To be clear internets, the game is in ARLINGTON, not Dallas, as my Facebook friends are quick to point out.)
Readers of both Conte Naste Traveler and Travel & Leisure rate Sante Fe among the top five destinations in the U.S. And after a great getaway with our globetrotting friends, Jay and Becky Elder, as guides, Bob and I echo that emotion.
Call me late to the party. Scarves have been trendy for some time but it took this year's ruffled, bold print and brightly colored designs to win me over. Now I'm hooked on this versatile, statement piece.
#55 Adulthood is just high school with money.
The other night I got a text from a local talk show host asking if I'd like to talk about all us Baby Boomers hitting retirement age. This has become a popular topic since, I dunno, there are about 78 MILLION OF US and about 10,000 are turning 65 each and every day.
That's a pretty big BOOM. It's so big in fact, that in media terms it's what my friend Sam Gioldasis used to call a BIG DAMN DEAL (BDD).
So, when my radio friend asked if I'd like to comment, I said something like, "Sure, I can forsake our reader millions of readers out there on the world wide internets to impart my Boomer wisdom to your vast listening audience." Of course I said this in my head, in reality I texted back "Sure" and then went back to watching Pawn Stars on The History Channel.
I'm not a political guy. I've got friends who are - like yellow dog democrat K.T. McLeaish out in Odessa and Bev Mann in Colleyville. Me, not so much. I've pretty much abandoned politics since I voted for Richard Nixon because he promised to end the war and my draft number was 24. I still vote in every election and have an active interest, but I'd rather this blog be about something other than David Axlerod's porn star moustache or Caribou Barbie's reality show.
Here's a little something that'll have you dragging that Fender guitar out of the closet
#54 If the 60's taught us anything, it's that we can survive almost anything.
Now that Winter is firmly in control of most of the country (OK, we're blessed down here in the South, but we try not to rub it in) batteries - just like Baby Boomers - are running low on energy. Our friends at Black and Decker have the answer for beating the cold weather energy drain with a couple of great products.
Black & Decker's 500 Amp Instant Jump-Starter
We've all been there. We run out to the mall during one of the dark dreary days of winter and when we get back the car won't start. There's no more helpless feeling thank looking for a good Samaritan with jumper cables in a deserted mall parking lot. 
With B&D's new 500 Amp Instant Jump-Starter, help is as close as the trunk of your car. All you have to do is connect the Jump-Starter's cables to the battery's positive and negative stubs, and instantly start your vehicle. The Jump Starter's low-profile, space-saving design makes the Jump-Starter easy to store and it provides approximately 20 jump starts before needing recharging.
When you get back home, simply recharge the unit by plugging it into an ordinary outlet for the next time. The Jump-Starter offers a quick start to standard vehicles, trucks, motorcycles, marine equipment, outdoor/lawn equipment 12 volt batteries. About $99 at major retailers.
We're giving away 1 FREE Black & Decker Prize Package
that includes one, 100 Watt Power Inverter and one, 500 Amp Jumpstarter.
Enter by emailing your name and shipping address (no PO boxes) to: Enter@BoomerBrief.com.
Hurry, promotion ends January 27!
Read on for Full Details
Winter weather can play real havoc with your skin. If I'm not careful, my face gets red, my lips chap and my poor hands hurt. So when the temp drops like we're experiencing this week (lows in the 20s in Texas), it's time to pour on the protection.
#53 Keep active. It's harder to hit a moving target.Boomer parents find themselves in an interesting spot these days because we're part of the "sandwich" generation -- wedged between our elderly parents and adult "children". It's a tough situation that's getting tougher in this suck economy.
#52 Ken Kesey was right. You're either ON the bus or OFF the bus.
I had a vision last night when I woke up at 1:03 a.m. to turn off the alarm on our piece of s*** wonderful Viking refrigerator.
No, it wasn't running off to Baja with the last of the Christmas turkey. It was just letting me know that it was too warm and everything was about to go bad and smell like dumpster yogurt.
I knew I had to act fast. So I began eating the immediately perishable contents of our refrigerator.
That's when it hit me. No, not diarrhea. My vision of 2011. In my slightly warm yogurt-eating delirium I saw a vision of 2011 and I thought I'd share it with you - my friends on the world wide internets. Here's what's coming out of the Viking fridge and into our lives this year:
Sports
In a bold move, the football world will be shocked when Jerry Jones names Ernie of Sesame Street as the new head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Former coach Wade Phillips will just laugh it off by saying, "it's not the first time Jerry's had his hand inside a puppet."
Movies
Gwyneth Paltrow will become the next big country sensation thanks to her starring role in "Blah, Blah, Blah, Something, Country". It's a movie no one will see, but every Texan will love, because we're all waiting for that Urban Cowboy Chic look to get hot again and make getting drunk at Billy Bob's fashionable one more time before we die.
Food
State Fair of Texas foodies are in luck, because Ford will sell a deep-fried F-150 pickup (only 45,000 coupons) at this year's event. Heart surgeons at UT Southwestern will applaud the idea, because now they can perform the first quadruple bypass and oil change. Grey's Anatomy already has this penciled in for an episode during May sweeps. John Goodman will guest star.
This change in appearance will force DFW residents to stop referring to him as "Skunk Head" and begin calling him by his Christian name: "Finfrock the Weather God."
Prepare your own Mexican quick fix with this Chipotle-inspired bowl. Carbs are moderated by filling the bowl with beans, extra veggies and chicken. No need for rice, since the beans count as carbs.
Tips:
If you love tomatoes, increase the quantity to 1/2 cup, but note that the carbohydrates will also increase.
If preparing this recipe for one person, cut all of the ingredients in half. Or simply prepare the full recipe up to the end of step 2 and store leftover chicken and vegetable-bean mixture in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Reheat in the microwave on High for 1 to 2 minutes, or until heated through, and continue with step 3.
Health Bite: The iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc in black beans help to keep bones strong and healthy.
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Know someone battling cancer? Baylor Health Care System's Sammons Says... cancer blog is a great place to go for help. Here, you'll find information, resources, physicians, support groups and just about everything you need to help you navigate your way through this illness.
Senior Forums is a great place to get the news and share views on everything from hobbies and healthcare, to food, family & travel.
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