Boom This! Ezine for Boomers (and Wannabes) 11.19.04

By Teri Flatley (www.tflatley.com)
Volume 3 No. 23 November 19, 2004
(To subscribe: teri@tflatley)

Wishing you and yours a healthy, happy Thanksgiving holiday.

In This Issue

• Serendipity: The Voice is Still Everywhere
• The Morals of a Half-Marathon…by Shelly Sinton
• The Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe Ever
• Skiing, Anyone?
• More Thoughts on Reunions

Coming up in the next Boom This!: The “It’s Not Too Late! Gift Guide" for the holidays. If it’s a hot item this year, we’ll tell you all about it.

Serendipity
The Voice is Still Everywhere
By Teresa K. Flatley

“The best revenge is massive success.”
~~ Frank Sinatra

While driving to my cousin’s daughter’s wedding in September, I listened to some of my favorite Frank Sinatra songs, ones from his Capitol Years. I don’t play them often, but once in awhile I get nostalgic for The Voice. Frank was in his some of his best form with classics like “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “I Get a Kick out of You” and “Young at Heart.”

I’ve been a Sinatra fan as far back as I can remember. I listened to him croon while I was growing up, watching eagerly as his vinyl LPs fell into place on our cabinet stereo. I know I had a crush on him, even though he was my dad's age. That irresistible something he had affected women of every age, apparently.

Once, in college, I put a warning note on my door: “It’s Sinatra Night. Enter at Your Own Risk.” I felt it was only right to give fair warning to all my hippie friends.

So it was with a little surprise that when I arrived at the wedding reception, the DJ was playing the same Ol’ Blue Eyes’ songs I had just listened to in the car on the ride over.

It would have been more understandable if the bride and groom were “older,” but they were young people in their twenties and, naturally, a lot of the guests were closer to their age. There were some of us more mature revelers, but it seems to me that Frank has become a singer for the ages, all ages.

According to an article by David Poltz in 1997, Sinatra is “the greatest pop singer in American history,” something that both critics and the rest of us would agree on.

Walk into grocery stores, Italian eateries, bookstores and even my favorite rubber stamping store and you will feel you’ve taken a step back into the 40s. Frank’s voice is everywhere, even emanating from TV commercials.

How this skinny kid from Hoboken, NJ, achieved such fame stems from some good fortune, but as Frank once said, “People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it.”

And that he did.
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The Morals of a Half-Marathon
By Shelly Sinton, MS

“After all, in running and in life, the difference between success and failure sometimes comes down to a single step.”
~~John “The Penguin” Bingham

My most recent experience of that single step extended into 13.1 miles of step after step after step. Mind you, not all running steps, either. After a four-year hiatus from long distance running, I decided to revisit the last half-marathon course I ran in California, a mildly rolling scenic route from downtown San Luis Obispo to the green at Avila Beach golf course. Aptly named, the City to the Sea Half-Marathon gives runners of all fitness levels a chance to enjoy the beautiful countryside while pounding pavement and striving for the finish line.

I had forgotten how far 13.1 miles stretched and the mental games required to endure despite speed-induced leg cramps, drizzling rain, and the looming question “Why Am I Doing This?”

I crossed the finish line with the worst pace time I’ve ever ran but with the most jubilant realization that the two hours I ran, walked, and stumbled had a mirth of life lessons imbedded in every mile.

1. You can do it! A phrase of persuasion and near-coercion that I chanted throughout the race when my body got tired and my mental support became questionable. It worked, I kept going. Even though I had 101 excuses for pulling out of the race, I continued. On a daily basis, we rouse self-doubts and, on a daily basis, we need to rally self-support and encouragement. Oftentimes our lack of self-confidence holds us back from reaching our goals. Likewise, that lack of self-confidence can keep us from effectively dealing with crises, such as disease, injury, or a loved one’s death. To succeed and master the challenges in life, believe that “You CAN do it!”

2. Looks are deceiving. Road races entice beginning runners, elite runners, and many runners in between. And you can’t always judge a runner by appearance. Naturally, at the start line, I assessed my competition, looking for people I assumed I could outrun as well as people that would outrun -- but inspire -- me. Oh, how often I was mistaken. Many of those “slow-looking” runners quickly pulled ahead of me and some of those “hare-looking” athletes stayed behind. I would have never known the abilities of these runners had I not experienced the race. Similarly, if we make assumptions about people in our lives based on looks, we risk deluding ourselves and missing out on the gifts and talents others have to offer.

3. Preparation is the key. Everything worth achieving is worth the time and effort of preparation. Upfront, I did not log enough quality miles during my training phase and, consequently, my race-day performance showed it. I put my best foot forward (repeatedly!) but I could have run longer and faster had I better committed myself to preparing. Many things in our lives need preparation -- our health, our families, our careers, and our finances, just to name a few. If we deeply desire success in these areas, we must prepare. One of the most important areas is our health. We can “train” for good health with sensible lifestyle practices such as eating well, exercising regularly, getting adequate sleep, shunning smoking, drinking in moderation, and effectively managing stress. We will all get to the “finish line” but the quality of our performance along the way depends largely on how we prepare.

4. Reach out and help someone. You never know what unexpected rewards may come out of it. I found myself unable to run at mile eight and relegated myself to speed walking until mile ten. At that point, I estimated my 13.1mile ordeal would all be over in 40 minutes if I could keep walking fast. It was also at that point that I met up with a young female runner struggling to keep going and trying to ignore the shooting pains in her knees. We laughed at our suffering and made a deal that we would complete the race together and run across the finish line. She helped me pick up my pace and I helped her stoically endure. The obvious payoff was that we both ended up having better race times. But the best, unexpected, reward was having someone to share a celebratory and empathetic hug at the end, and even better, making a friend.

5. Take pride in all you do. I expected that I would run “slow,” but I really didn’t know how my ego would take it. Surprisingly, I felt a genuine elation when I finished that race, despite my record slow pace. I had a choice: I could beat myself up for a substandard time or I could esteem my impressive accomplishment. I opted to take pride in my race and feel jubilant. Every day we have a choice between berating or celebrating our attributes. It is, in general, emotionally and psychologically healthy for us to set self-standards, but it is even healthier for us to be able to adjust those standards accordingly and rejoice in the abilities we possess.

I don’t recommend running a half-marathon to experience the above epiphanies. They are, in truth, simple common sense. However, sometimes we need special events to open our eyes to things we already know. For me, it took 13.1 miles of pavement pounding. For you, it could be a long walk in the woods, a weekend away, or, perhaps, just reading the above. Regardless, life lessons are everywhere for our taking.

Shelly Sinton, MS, is a freelance writer and cookbook author who resides in Bozeman, Montana. She is the founder of www.shellysfitnesskitchen and author of The Fitness Kitchen: Recipes for a Fad-Free Lifestyle.
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The Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe Ever

Larry’s mom Loretta made a pumpkin pie that was more like a custard then the dense variety we usually see.

I am including the recipe here in her honor and to give you a little lead time to go out and shop for the ingredients so you can serve these beauties on Thanksgiving Day. This recipe makes three very full pies (or two LARGE pies) so there’s plenty to serve with luscious whipped cream.

Loretta’s Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• (2) 15 oz cans of Libby’s 100% pure pumpkin
• (2) cans (from above) of sugar (You can reduce this, but really, this recipe calls for filling these two cans with sugar and adding all that to the pie mixture.)
• (2) teaspoons of salt
• (5) tablespoons of flour
• (1.5) teaspoons of cinnamon
• (1.5) teaspoons ginger
• (5) eggs (separated)
• (1) quart of whole milk

Blend first six ingredients in a mixer. Beat the egg yolks with a fork in a separate bowl and then add to the mixture. Add the quart of whole milk and mix.

Beat egg whites until they are stiff and then fold them into the mixture.

Pour mixture into three prepared pie shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours. You may want to place a cookie sheet under the pies in case they spill over, although we have not experienced that. Enjoy!
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Skiing, anyone?

If you’re one of those people who can’t wait to get out on the slopes, visit http://ski.orbitz.com/index.html for a Ski Resort Guide to see where the snow is – or isn’t so far this season.

The website has links to resorts in different regions of the country, often including webcam views of your favorite slopes.

With Thanksgiving on the horizon, snow can’t be too far behind
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More Thoughts on Reunions

Here are more opinions on whether to attend your high school reunion or not.

Deborah writes:

I say "NAY" on the reunion. I really wanted to go to my tenth high school reunion, but I couldn't make it. I was living in Charleston, SC and my husband was a nuclear submariner in the Navy. He was out to sea and I was taking care of my two little ones. Last June was our 30th reunion and I decided not to go. I did order a reunion yearbook, and a VHS tape and boy, you are "right on" when you said:

"These people look so old. They CAN’T be my age. But they are. Say it ain’t so.”

When I received my VHS tape, I was in SHOCK as I kept re-winding it and thought to myself: "These people look so old. They CAN’T be my age. But they are. Say it ain’t so.”

• Tracey writes:

My husband went to a small parochial school in Indiana for all K-12 years and graduated in 1969. He had had almost no direct contact with any classmates for a couple of decades when the 25th reunion rolled around. Since his graduating class was small (30+), they had the reunion at someone's home and then everyone was to go see Johnny Rivers perform at an open air park. My husband was not going to go, but I made all the arrangements and surprised him with the trip.

In retrospect, I realize the "surprise" could have had dire consequences, but he went along. We had a great time and he was quite at ease with the "gang" again.

My husband was an overweight kid in elementary school but had lost most of his weight in high school. However, no one remembered that. Everyone said, "You've lost all your weight!" The best retort he had was when the BMOC (star forward in basketball - now big businessman) said, "You've lost all your weight, Leonard!" to which my husband retorted "And you've lost all your hair, Jim!" Another humorous moment was when two moms compared pictures of their two-year-olds. Only thing was, one was a daughter and one was a granddaughter.

Teri writes:

The question of whether to attend a high school reunion or not produced a lot of responses from readers, both pro and con. I had actually been convinced (sort of) to attend my 35th next weekend, but then realized that our son Dan was coming home from military training and I didn’t want to spend one of the few nights he was home away at the Par-Tee.

Guess I will just have to wait till my 40th to attend. Now isn’t that something to look forward to!
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