Tag Archives: memory lane
We’re Too Old For This Crap
One of our top priorities when becoming gypsy — as opposed to empty — nesters was to use our new found freedom to see family and friends that we hadn’t been able to visit in years.
While finishing up our childrearing years on a Caribbean island a thousand miles from the mainland we were understandably limited in our opportunities to drop in on folks.
Now that we are unfettered, we have had the opportunity to reunite with quite a few of our old friends. In every case I’ve noticed… CONTINUE READING >>
60 Years of Marriage: A Gift My Parents Gave Me
This week our family is celebrating a remarkable event, my parent’s sixtieth wedding anniversary. Only an extraordinary mixture of love, trust, faith, hard work, and — yes — luck could have made this event possible.I’m not going to attempt to analyze the inner workings of how a union can not only survive, but thrive over six decades, I am simply going to offer thanks.
More than gratitude for the care and security that I received, although that too often goes unspoken, I want to particularly express how grateful I am for… CONTINUE READING >>
Helping Your Aging Parents Move: A GypsyNester Guide
Helping your folks downsize and move as they get on in years can be a daunting task. The emotions of leaving a place that has been home for many years — along with that elephant in the room, aging — are heavy burdens.We have recently assisted with three moves with varying degrees of success, and have… CONTINUE READING >>
Things We Wish We’d Known BEFORE We Sent Our Kids to College
With autumn upon us, many new empty nesters have sent a fledgling off to college for the first time. Here are some DOs and DON’Ts on how to get through that first semester without losing your mind. 1. Don’t start off on a bad note. It’s hard to let our kids go. The day our babies head out on their own is a tough one for any parent. Because of her self-awareness about her emotional outbursts, Veronica
… CONTINUE READING >>
War & Peace, Volume II
A reader wrote:“The best part is when they finally get it, and tell you sorry for being such pain in the ass during those (teenage) years. My son told me he now understands everything I was trying to convey to his logic blocked brain back then…”
Oh man, I can relate.
I was pretty certain that at least one of my envelope-pushing teens would flee the nest — i-Pod at full… CONTINUE READING >>
Go Ahead Punk…Make My (Father’s) Day
Whenever Father’s Day would roll around when I was a youngster, the inevitable question arose, “Why isn’t there a kid’s day?”Every parent ever to draw a breath gave the same reply, “Everyday is kid’s day.”
Thinking back, there was a lot of truth to that statement. We did celebrate kid’s day nearly everyday, and I certainly don’t remember going out of my way to make my father’s days resplendent on any regular… CONTINUE READING >>
See You in the Funny Pages!
Our favorite “Saturday Funnies!” Get a laugh!Funny stuff for parents, boomers, and the young at heart!
Hey Mr. Spaceman!
For many of us the moon landing in July 1969 holds a prominent place in our memories. The scratchy black & white images are burned indelibly into our minds. We were children of The Space Age. We drank Tang, ate Space Food Sticks, watched The Jetsons and dreamed of Jeannie.This made our visit to The John F. Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s Space Coast as much a trip down memory lane as an exploration of current… CONTINUE READING >>
A NASA Engineer Talks Neil Armstrong & Early Computers
NASA engineer Roy Whitson was ready, willing and able to answer any questions that we could throw at him! He told us how Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, nearly botched… CONTINUE READING >>
What Happened to the Evening News?
I know, I know, I risk sounding like a get-off-my-lawn old guy, but seriously, the network news just ain’t what it used to be. In fact, a good bit of it isn’t even what I would call news.I’m not talking about the feel good human interest pieces, those have always been a part of journalism, but when did viral videos become news? It seems that anytime I have a chance to tune into the news, I get treated to the latest YouTube sensation. Since when did cute cats, talking babies and folks getting hit in the nuts become fare that rivals the important events of the day?
Add that to the… CONTINUE READING >>
Heavy Petting
When our nest emptied, it emptied it not only of kids, but of pets too. We have nothing against pets. We’ve had both dogs and cats and loved them, but the GypsyNester lifestyle of no-plans and go-anywhere isn’t very conducive to taking an animal along. So, for now at least, we are finished with being pet parents.But pets are often a part of parenting and I got to thinking about some of the colorful characters that were a part of my family through the years. When I was a little kid, our first pet configuration was a… CONTINUE READING >>
GypsyNesters on the Radio!
Get the GypsyNester story!We joined Jill and Claudia over at Empty Nester Radio and had a BLAST.
Listen in as we answer these great questions:
How did you become known as the GypsyNesters?
What did your kids say when you told them of your plans?
Do you have… CONTINUE READING >>
Facebook and Memory Lane
About a month ago, a thought popped into my head. What ever happened to Tamera? Where did that gangly, sweet and truly unique little girl with the pig tails and big glasses that I went to Junior High with end up? What did she become?We were the original Valley Girls. We hung out with boys who skateboarded, went to the beach every weekend and said “Like” and “You know” like, way too much, you know? I wonder if Tamera finds it ironic, as I do, when she hears today’s college girls speaking like this, while most of us old school Valley Girls don’t anymore? Actually, I’ve managed to completely kill off the “likes,” but the “you knows” keep sneaking in… CONTINUE READING >>
Vegas – Bright Lights, Big Elvis
For many of us, if over a certain age, Las Vegas conjures up images of The Rat Pack tuxedoed up at The Sands, others immediately see Elvis straining the seams of a rhinestone studded jumpsuit. Personally, we can’t help but love them both. However Las Vegas today bears little resemblance to either of those eras. Other than a few impersonators there is not much left that The King or The Chairman of the Board would recognize. Is it better? We’re here to find out.Since our first foray into Sin City, back in the late… CONTINUE READING >>
Neon Sign Gallery, Downtown Las Vegas
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The old Vegas is alive and well! The Neon Museum Las Vegas has restored many of the classic bygone signs from The Strip and displayed them… CONTINUE READING >>
The San Francisco Treat
Growing up all we knew about San Francisco was that it was really cool. Eric Burden sang about it, Otis Redding sat on its dock of the bay and it required flowers in your hair if you were going there. Sure Tony Bennett left his heart there but Jimi Hendrix left his guitar, on fire! Well… it’s true, it’s true, it really IS cool.
We rode the subway under the Bay into town (comforting ourselves with the knowledge that the odds of an earthquake rolling through while we were underground were minimal)… CONTINUE READING >>
