I haven't been able to write in here since February 2006 - that's how busy I've been. I go to work, come home, eat, clean up and go to bed. What an exciting life, huh? I remember growing up and my mother and father both worked at day jobs. They would come home and do almost exactly what I'm doing now. And I thought they were old fuddy duddies. Now I am.

My mother was ahead of her time, she was working at a job outside the home when I was in grade school and I was a latchkey kid before it was popular. But we had all the material things we needed because my mom and dad worked hard to pay for them. And now that's what me and my husband do although now he's retired but he still farms a little.

Now my 19 year old is learning that he has to work to make money even if it isn't much at this time of his life. I told him when he graduates from college and becomes a diesel mechanic, he probably will make more money per hour. He just recently got a second part time job at $7.00 an hour minimum wage. I told him he has to start somewhere. My first part time job, I made $1.15 an hour in 1966. And now I make $11 an hour doing secretarial work at a church which isn't too bad for a church in a small town.

I just wonder how it'll be in a few years with the price of everything going up. When I met my present husband of 20 years, I had been divorced for about 7 years and it was hard at that time to raise my now 31 year old son on the money I made at the time. BUT I think it would be a hell of a lot harder to make it nowadays. Good thing I don't have to worry about it. But I DO worry about it. Because if something happened to my husband, God forbid, I would be in a bad place because I only work part time and my health insurance comes through my husband. And even though I've tried, I can't find a different full time job because I believe, even though it's not suppose to be, there is age discrimination out there BIG TIME. Can you imagine, such discrimination against the babyboomers. Not Fair! So supposedly at 56, I'm suppose to be washed up. I would LOVE to retire, but even with my husband's pension because he is retired, he being 11 years older than I am, he really would like to see me work a little longer and I guess I really would like to hang in there a little longer to build up my IRA more.

I wish I would have built up my IRA more when I was younger. It's a good thing that I have social security built up but who knows if it will be there for me.

For all you 20, 30 and 40 year olds out there. If you don't have an IRA for your retirement, GET IT GOING NOW! Before you know it, you will be my age and now is the time to prepare financially. It snuck up on me and although I have a backup, my husband, and I have an IRA and savings, I'm afraid it might not be enough especially if the social security runs out which they say it might by 2025 when I will be 75 years old.