By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife

Wow, it was nearly 6 years ago that I mentioned stevia on this blog. At the time, the ingredient was not well known, whereas now, it’s found on all grocery store shelves. Though it is all natural, pure stevia has its detractors. It has a bitter aftertaste which doesn’t make it a good option to sprinkle on foods. Personally, I still enjoy it in already bitter or sour drinks such as coffee, tea or lemonade. Not so good on oatmeal.

The new kid on the block of the all-natural, no calorie sweeteners is the Monk Fruit (also known as Lo Han or Luo Han). The monk fruit is a vine fruit native to China and Northern Thailand. It has been used in China for centuries to cure diabetes and obesity. Like stevia, the sweetness potency of the calorie-free monk fruit is much higher than sugar, about 150 times in this case. And, besides having zero calories, monk fruit is also loaded with antioxidants making it a nearly miraculous alternative to sugar and certainly to artificial sweeteners.

For detailed information on this sweet little fruit, you will want to visit the BioVittoria site. This company is pretty much responsible for bringing the monk fruit to the attention of the Western world. They are the largest producer of the fruit and watch over the whole supply chain process from seedling cultivation, harvesting, processing and product formulation. The company markets its product under the Fruit-Sweetness™ and has more information under the site MonkFruit.org. Basically, they’re the ones with the real stuff!

I have been waiting for about 18 months to write about monk fruit because, until very recently, it was not readily available as a commercially ready consumer product. And whatever versions of monk fruit that were available were blended with various sorts of additives.

But, hurrah, at long last, you can now find monk fruit sweeteners in your grocery store sold under new brands such as Nectresse™ and Monk Fruit In The Raw (A note though: Nectresse has a small amount of sugar as one of its “natural” ingredients. I’m not sure about In The Raw’s version). And more good news, monk fruit is added to more and more food products such as with Kashi  which features the all natural sweeteners in many of its cereals (here’s a list of products with monk fruit as an ingredient).

I had to try it. Nectresse was the brand available at the closest grocery store. I found that the taste of monk fruit is indeed as advertised: “pure, clean and sweet taste”. Its texture is finer than sugar though similarly granular, with a color more on the beige side. All in all, I think it’s a GREAT alternative to sugar and to artificial sweeteners especially.

Won’t you try it and let us know? I haven’t researched cooking or baking with monk fruit. I would love to hear about anyone’s experience with that.

By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor

Interior designers have simple tricks in making a house a home. You know, those little techniques to bring not only style but warmth and intimacy into your personal space. Candles are a great way to do this, and using reusable peel and stick accents takes you one step further to suit the mood, season or special occasion. Indigoroot has created a simple, chic, interchangeable and reusable solution to add those nice touches to your home.

With Valentine’s Day coming up, Indigoroot makes it easy to add a romantic touch using their CandleClothes™ and Wrapitz™. If you are a classic romantic with a little bit of a wild side, the Fire Red Giraffe CandleClothes™ can help set the mood. Create a quick centerpiece by wrapping them around flameless candles or glass hurricanes. Add the Wrapitz™ to side dishes, vases and other accent pieces to complete the ambience.

Indigoroot also has a full line of WineWrapps™ and DrinkDotz™. They are fun, alternative drink identifiers that cling without the clink. But they are so much more! Add a quick flare to a hum-drum picture frame or mirror.

I love all their endless possibilities. Just watch this Youtube video for more ideas:

If you are like me and are time starved, these are definitely a very easy and inexpensive way to liven up the look of any décor quickly. Just Peel it, Stick it and Wrap!

To view their complete design lines, and to purchase, go directly to IndigoRoot.

You may have just taught your interior designer something new.

By Susan Keats, Contributor & Seize-the-Day Propagandist

A month ago I wasn’t worrying about my mom.  I wasn’t wondering about her safety or if she would have a way to get help if she should hurt her back or if that crazy heart rhythm should start up again, leaving her breathless and sick.  But in a moment, everything can change.

A month ago, my dad died, leaving my mother alone for the first time in 53 years.  Now I worry.  I worry constantly.

Without dad there to help if something should go wrong, mom and I have had to discuss other options.  She is NOT moving from her home, she is TOTALLY clear about that.  She isn’t a little old lady.  She still gets together with friends, goes out, and keeps busy doing a variety of things.  But she also has some health issues so if something should happen, how will she be able to let me know?

We considered a monitoring service.  These services can be useful, but involve monthly fees.  I don’t think my mother is at a point where something like that will be helpful, and in addition she says “I don’t want to pay someone every month to sit with their feet up on a desk waiting for me to call some day.”  A good point.

I believe we have found a reasonable solution with a new product from VTech called CareLine™ Home Saftey Telephone System.  I was fortunate enough to be offered the CareLine phone system to review, so you can’t imagine how grateful I am that this opportunity came along exactly when I needed something just like this!

There are a few other components to the CareLine that we don’t need yet, but I can see how another family would find them very useful.  For example, there are a number of unique features for people with hearing loss and also a feature which slows down playback to help you understand a recorded message more easily.I received the phone system and brought it over to my mom to set it up.  Taking our first look at the CareLine, we were both pleased.  It has a built-in answering machine base with a large screen, large print, and big buttons for dialing.  It also has a cordless handset that can go anywhere in the house.  It too sports large buttons and has easy-to-use features.

The features I like the best, the ones that are giving me the peace of mind I’m looking for, are the smartest features of this system.  There are 4 large buttons that you can program phone numbers into.  You can also slide a photo into the clear surface of the button to easily identify the person who’s number it is.  My mom and I immediately programmed the first button to call 911.  The second, third and fourth buttons are for my brother and I.  Now, if mom wants to reach us, she doesn’t even have to dial or remember our numbers, she can simply press one button and we are immediately called. If she has an emergency, she needs only to press one button and she will reach 911 services.   Perfect!

The greatest feature of all is a pendant that my mom can wear either around her neck or clip to her clothing.  This is similar to a pendant that paid services provide, however this one has two buttons that can be pressed to call your top two choices of people.  In our case, 911 is the first choice and I am the second.  Should mom press the button, she is immediately able to speak to the person she is calling using speaker phone technology.  Essentially, if she has fallen and can’t get up (yes, that really happens!) she will have the pendant around her neck and can get help right away.  Phew!  THAT makes me feel all kinds of relief.

Mom has had the phone for a week now and I have to say there has been a bit of a learning curve. The setup would have been easy for my techie dad to handle, but my mom would not have been able to do it without my help.  The set up is not difficult, but it is unfamiliar to an older adult, so I would highly suggest that if you buy this product for your own parents, you should help them to get it going.

We did need to call V-Tech for one small issue and once we got through they were extremely knowledgeable and eager to help. We were happy to know that technical assistance was easy to reach and our problem was quickly solved.

Overall, I am finding that the V-Tech Careline has created an ideal solution for my family and I’m grateful to have one less thing to worry about.

Below is a short video from V-Tech that explains the product more fully.  Check it out, I really do recommend it!

I wrote this blog post while participating in a campaign by BOOMboxNetwork.com on behalf of VTech Communications, Inc. and received payment for my participation. Even so, all opinions stated within are my own.

By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor

Recently I traveled with a couple of girlfriends where we shared a hotel room for several nights. Three women having access to only one bathroom is always a challenge. Particularly, three baby boomer women where the concept of “holding” goes out the window after the natural birth of the first child.

I was pleasantly surprised when we all pulled out our travel Poo Pourris!  We obviously shop at the same place. With names like Deja Poo and Daisy Doo or, for men, Heavy Doody and Trap-A-Crap, you may already have guessed that these are before-you go bathroom sprays.

The Poo~Pourri motto is “Spritz the bowl before you go and no one else will ever know” and it is true to their word. Their strong but non-offensive potion will stop bathroom odors before they even begin by creating a protective film on the surface of the water with the blend of natural essential oils.

Buy directly from Poo Pourri and also look for your university student’s team colors on special “Collegiate P.U.“ bottles – because we know that those communal bathrooms can use a little freshening up!

Now, if we could do something to cover the noise!

By Susan Keats, Contributor & Seize-the-Day Propagandist

The theater was dark, the movie had just started. The woman was large, slowly making her way down the aisle, popcorn in her right hand, eyes on the screen. Just as she came to my row, she started to edge her way in, then, without taking her eyes off the movie, she sat. On me.

What would you have done?

I know exactly what you are saying. In fact, that question seems stupid doesn’t it? What would I have done? I would have said something like, “Hey LADY! Get off me!” Or maybe something more polite, like “Er, excuse me ma’m, but this seat is already taken.” Am I right?

My first thought when the woman sat on me was something like, “Oh, she’ll be so embarrassed when she realizes that she is sitting on my lap. Maybe if I wait a moment she’ll realize and I won’t have to point it out to her and make her feel bad.”

A moment later, I thought,”this would be a good scenario for one of those hidden camera shows. Could I be on a hidden camera show? Nah, it’s too dark in here for that. Besides, I’m pretty sure they need special lighting.”

Next thought, “This is actually pretty funny. You can’t make stuff like this up. Ha! This big lady is sitting on me and she doesn’t even realize it!”

Then, “hmmm…she’s been sitting on me for nearly a minute now, maybe I’ll have to say something…realistically, my legs are starting to hurt and I can’t see the movie.”

Finally, I tapped her shoulder and before I could even utter an “um…” she jumped up and quickly moved down the aisle to find another seat.

Go ahead and laugh. I’m wondering though how common is this being invisible problem?

I can trace my invisibility back to moving to a new state when I was an insecure teen, starting a new life in a new school where no one knew me, and trying to be extra nice, so that I would fit in. Part of fitting in as a teen is to try to be as much like the other kids as possible, so speaking up, being assertive, those were just things you did not do.

Without meaning to, I had figured out the formula for invisibility, so check it out and maybe you’ll realize that you can be invisible too:

Strong desire to always be nice + lack of desire to be assertive = INVISIBLE!

You too? Go figure. I’d fist bump you, but people might look.

I can also remember the day when I first began to realize that being invisible was not

Read the full story »

By Audrey van Petegem, Chief Editor

A high school friend of mine is just going through a divorce and getting back on the dating scene. He is successful, attractive and with a great sense of humor. At age 50, he does not want to settle down but rather, wants to have fun and simply enjoy someone else’s company. Although, he has not had any problems meeting women, he still finds it challenging to meet someone who has similar interests, tastes and is old enough to have watched Seinfeld as an adult (and not in reruns!).

Clearly, social media does make it easier to meet people. And to make it even simpler there are three new apps to help connect people for anything to catching a movie together to wanting an exclusive relationship.

They are:

	Moosify - My friend is a classic rock junkie and tries to go to every classic rock concert he can in a year. This free app connects like-minded and age appropriate people who love the same kind of music, venues and places you do. Think of it as Match.com meets Foursquare.
	Meet Me - This app shows you who is near by to meet for coffee, a movie or just to chat.  A great, no pressure, spontaneous way of getting out there and meeting new people in very casual settings.
	Crazy Blind Date - OkCupid has just launched a new app where you can set up your own blind date. Simply indicate when you are available and, through the app’s algorithm, get matched with an appropriate person in your area that is also available during that time.

If you or someone you know does not want to be alone on Valentine’s Day, give these apps a try.  I would love to hear how they work for us baby boomers.

By Anne-Marie Kovacs, Chief Wife

My colleague, Chris Bradshaw, at BOOMboxNetwork.com, was the lucky one among us to attend CES this year in Las Vegas. She wrote about her favorite consumer electronic finds for baby boomers here. Fun stuff. Chris – like every other attendee, I’m sure – was overwhelmed by the amount of electronic “stuff” to be found on the near 2 million square feet of exhibit space and the ridiculous amount of smartphone cases available. She developed a real case of phone case fatigue… Still, she mentioned a few that I felt were too cool not mention here. And I added another one (not from CES) that I had bookmarked recently and thought fit well in this collection!

Indeed, it’s true. A phone case is just a phone case, no matter how pretty it is. That is, until said phone case is also something else! Like these!!!

	Coyote Case – This case protects your smartphone AND you. The durable case is equipped with a piercing 100+ decibel panic siren to alert others for help. The Coyote Case is also coupled with an automated safety app that automatically sends an SMS text alert with your GPS location to your pre-selected emergency contacts. We love this for our college kids, our young urban women but also for our seniors.  It’s only available for pre-order at the moment. You can sign up for product availability updates on this page.
	SmartSound Case - This case was awarded the 2013 CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award and is the first ever smartphone case to amplify and improve the sound of the phone’s built-in speaker without any need for an external power source. The amplifier also acts as a built-in kickstand. Unfortunately, the website tells us that this patent pending design will not be available for another year.
	Survivor + Catalyst Waterproof Case –  Here’s a completely submersible waterproof case. Rugged too but with a clear case that allows for touchscreen and photo/video use. The sealed, waterproof (up to 10 feet) case also keeps out dust, sand, grime and grease. Perfect for peace of mind when you are near the water. Great for that adventurer who can’t resist the extreme environments. Priced at $79.99. You can sign up to get stock availability updates.
	Wisdomaze Silicon Case – Unfortunately, this case is only made for the iPhone 4 & 4S, but I like the premise of having the headphones and cord stored conveniently – and untangled – within the phone case. Buy on Bouf.com for about $15.00.
	FlyGrip -  Though technically not a case, I like that this little attachment offers the promise of a better grip on our phones. How many times has your phone (especially the iPhone 5) just slipped out of your hands? The FlyGrip is device agnostic. Just apply it to the back of your phone, slip two fingers into the springloaded top for a secure and comfortable grip. Now you have a free hand and a phone that won’t slip away. And the FlyGrip also becomes a kickstand when needed. The FlyGrip is available here in a multitude of colors.

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