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WHO GETS YOUR VOTE?
So the time has come from the three party leaders to explain their manifestos, telling us we can trust them but not the other parties and that they want to bring Britain back from the brink of what Labour have out us through. The grey vote is going to be more influential than ever before in this forth coming general election. The over 55 are going to account for more than half the votes cast in the majority of parlimentry seats. The age group is going to hold a great influence in the result of the election. The most important issues to this age group are going to be money, ageism and retirement.
Now, I’m sorry if I seem a little negative but it seems the only time the party leaders, Nick Clegg, Gordon Brown and David Cameron actually go around the country and see how the other side lives is when a vote is needed. They don’t do much else all year round apart from claim expenses for KitKats and duck houses alike. I don’t want to NOT vote but then it’s tough choice whom I actually want to vote for. I think I might just sod them all and vote for the Green Party. A party that has no chance of getting into power but a party that is worth my time walking to the voting booth, instead of the lying, cheating leaders that we have in front of us.
I think this last year especially, support for the government has hit an all time low, with the recession and the expenses scandal. I just hope that whoever gets into power will lift this country out of the state it is in now. I don’t claim to be an expert in politics but what the political parties need to realise is that things have changed enormously for this age group and people in their sixties are now a completely different kettle of fish to how they were 15-20 years ago.
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EMPTY NESS SYNDROME
Both my children have left home now, one to be married and one to university and I must say the house seems extremely quiet without them. I once relished in the silence, basking in the hours of glorious relaxation before they both arrived home from school, screaming and shouting at each other, fighting and playing.
Empty Nest Syndrome is a psychological disorder that occurs when a parent’s children have all grown into adulthood and moved out of the house. The loss of a child’s dependency on a mother or father can be quite devastating to a parent. I didn’t even realise how much my children’s maturity was going to affect me until the day came for the children to leave.
Empty Nest Syndrome can occur with either parent, but it is most common among mothers. A depression and feeling of loneliness washes over the parent and without their children there to guide and nurture, they are lost. This occurs because so many years were spent identifying themselves as a parent. Parents who were especially close to their children will suffer from Empty Nest the most.
My advice is a good way to prevent Empty Nest Syndrome in the future is by maintaining your identity now. While children may be the centre of your world, be sure to take the time to enjoy your own life and pursuits. That goes for married couples as well- remember to stay a couple as well as Mum and Dad. Otherwise, once the children are gone, you will have forgotten who you are.
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THE RISE OF THE COUGAR
We constantly see women in their 40′s,50′s and sixties looking totally hot and desirable than they were when they were in their twenties. Why, basically their more aware of their beauty,their bodies and what they want in life that gives them an irressistable level of confidence.
Many of these women married during a time where in was “proper” to date and marry an older, stable man. But as many divorcee baby boomers can contend, that may have not have been the ingredient for a lasting relationship in the first place. Filled with societies sterotyping, women were to be heard, but not seen.
Many of these women who were subjective to what society wanted them to be, where people of contributing importance. Years ago, television and movies depicted women to be housewives, working in the kitchen and having and taking care of the children, which was true, but also shunned and was unaccepting for anything outside of this role. This made women looked at as “lesser” of a person to others.
These confident, cougar-minded women learned by experiences from their past relationships. They are able to feel more empowered in relationships because of what they had to do to survive. This naturally has made these women more self-dependant than ever before. This is actually one of the attributes that younger men like…experience. Experience means less “clingy” which all men tend to not like.
All in all, we are in a society today that is more accepting of the Cougar Dating phenomenon. Not only that, but more women are standing up and saying “if men can do it, why can’t we”. Men aren’t the only one’s that want to have fun and feel young again!
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WOULD YOU STAY?
The question on everyones lips, after two weeks of ex-Englad captain John Terry’s affair, is..if you were his wife would stay or would you go?
As Toni Poole suns herself in Duibi to get away from the media glare, John Terry is left to apologise. The thing is he hasnt. Not publicly anyway! As Englad captain, you have to be in my opinion squeeky clean, like Bobby Moore or Jack Charlot back in the day where men played football for the fun of it, not just for the lifestyle.
I cant help but not feel sorry for Toni though. Its said that Terry cheated on her 7 times before they married and she took him back time after time. Is this a woman that didnt deserve to be cheated on but doesnt deserve our sympathy either. WAGS are a concept of the noughties, women who find footballers to fufil their expensive taste and in turn put up with their boyfriends and husbands wondering eye.
I was cheated on when I was younger and it hurt and not once did I take that man back in my life. If I took them back then it would be like giving them the green light to do it again and then theyl do it to the next person and the person after that. Yes, mistakes do happen and when children are involved then I do think that forgive and forget should be an option but when you put up with that behaviour 7 plus time then I’m sorry you don’t have anyone to blame but yourself.
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What Will 2010 Hold For You?
Eco-nesting
Home is still the focus of the next decade, for leisure and entertainment. This will be driven by the ‘green’ agenda: saving petrol, sourcing food locally, saving energy and stress, and taking pleasure in enjoying home surroundings.
Womanomics
The 45 plus group of women is the fastest growing in the population and, therefore, in terms of consumer marketing. They have a large contribution to make in the work place, and money to spend. Retailers are starting to direct fashion and products to the grown-up woman.
Womens Web
Get ready for the female web. Internet technology may have been a male invention, but its rapidly becoming a very feminised, empathetic, intuitive and conversational.
Typically female right-brain atttitudes are increasingly being seen in the tools, technologies and search engine techniques we use to navigate the web.
Age-cheaters
The number of women having anti-ageing surgery and procedures has soared. We’ll continue to want to cheat the ageing process, to feel younger and fitter, and work for much longer as life expectancy extends. We’ll do this by ging under the knife, and by using health and natural remedies.
Job Flippers
With life expectancy extending and retirement disappearing, it will be normal to have two or three careers in one lifetime.
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New Items of the Week
These litre bottles are decorated with surreal illustrations inspired by Victorian labels. Look carefully and you’ll see a chap floating away on a hot air balloon, and a pram marooned in a tree. Funky domensticity!
With a touch of Carrie from Sex and the City, try one of these gorgrously sumptuous corsages £19 each.
Visit Planet to purchase one of these corsages.
Catch up with your Thank You notes from Christmas with lovely stationary set from Rylandpeters.com, £14.99
Visit Rylands Peters and Small to chose your design
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Catch Up TV
With all the festive celebrations going on around me, I’ve hardly had time to sit down, never mind catching up on all the programmes I usually relish in sitting down on a night watching. So thats when my daughter introduced me to I-player, a new web-based television catch up service on most of the major channels. I’ve not developed enough yet to Sky Plus things, and to be honest I’m really far behind when it comes to most technological advances.
One of my favourite programmes, Gavin and Stacey, is on at prime time Thursday night at nine and for the past three weeks since the new series started I’ve had to miss it due to drinking and frolics with the family and friends.
Now I have my saviour, BBC I-Player and I’m all ready for my night of guilt free watching. Lets just hope unexpected family decide not to pop round..for their sake!
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106 and Evicted
When I read on the BBC news website about the 106 year old woman being evicted from her care home made me even more angry about the way this country is going.
This woman who has lived through 20 prime ministers and two world wars has been evicted from her care home where she currently stays due to lack of funding from the government.
Yet, the money for the 2012 Olympics is draining away as we speak on more and more autentatious, over the top showcases. We may look like the country to be in around Olympic time but what kind of country are we living in when we cant look after one of the oldest women in Britain! I try not to rant on this blog but this really got my goat.
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I came across the brilliant site partypop where there was a mixture of 50 year old birthday celebration ideas. Why not theme your birthday party around The Beatles or even a Wild West theme. This adds a little excitment to a birthday that some of us could dread.
No doubt after listening to the Beatles and their music throughout your childhood, take elements and add them to your party like yellow submarine inspired invitations, with details of location, time and date inside.
You could even rent out life size cutouts of the fab four and of course, turn up the Beatles hits!
One of my favourite ideas is a Studio 54 birthday theme, with disco balls and the theatric style outfits, digging those platforms out and adding a little drag queen makeup. This party theme is always a good excuse for gitter and plenty of it!
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So I just read that the BBC are on the hunt for a 50 plus news reader in the mist of the agesim row over the replacement of Arlene Phillips on Strictly Come Dancing with 30 year old Alesha Dixon.
Over 5000 compaints have been made since the replacement and the BBC feel that this could be due to much loved Arlene been replaced by someone over 30 years younger.
The BBC are looking for the news reader, and although no minimum has been set, it seems the bosses are looking someone to fit into the shoes that have been left by Moira Stuart and Anna Ford, who were dropped by the television channel.
At last, agesim is coming to public light and hopefully the BBC can rescue their image to an older audience and find us someone who we can not only enjoy to watch but relate to.
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