A stressful, protracted divorce. A difficult, painful death of a beloved husband. And suddenly, after age 50, you’re on your own again. Your children have moved out, your parents are aging fast or deceased, your friends’ lives continue onward, seemingly unchanged. Being suddenly single after age 50 can be terrifying, but eventually it can also be liberating. It can be fraught with worry and decisions you’re unprepared initially to make, but it can also be a time to reevaluate, reestablish, and reinvent. It can be financially and emotionally unstable at times, but it can be the start of a new chapter, or the discovery of someone you didn’t know you were, or could become, after the grief of a loss so difficult. Long-time friends and authors Barbara Ballinger and Margaret Crane have a lot in common. Both lived in the same city for years. Both are writers. Both married their husbands right out of college. Both are mothers of grown children who have left home. And both had aging parents when these difficult journeys began. Both found themselves alone, husbands lost to divorce and death, two separate situations that were equally traumatic— for Barbara, a divorce that took four years to end, and for Margaret, a five-year, gut-wrenching siege of myriad cancers that ended in death. Barbara and Margaret struggled but discovered not only that their new lives were, indeed, worth living, but that the insight gleaned from their experiences could help other people in similar straits. The result is Suddenly Single After 50, an honest and riveting, yet funny and poignant guide that provides advice for those who find themselves divorced, widowed, or otherwise suddenly single just about the time they start getting those AARP cards in the mail and while many of their friends are gleefully discussing retirement plans and toasting milestone wedding anniversaries. Suddenly Single After 50 is told with authenticity, wit, and compassion. They discuss living alone, attending social events alone, eating by themselves, sleeping alone, walking and traveling alone, then how they also came to feel they were not alone, not really, with loyal friends and family. They share how their once right-sized houses suddenly felt empty, too big, and too full of stuff that no longer made sense. They write about all the legal and accounting woes that befell them. And they tell readers what it’s like to be over 50 and dating again—after decades out of that scene, which had changed in unfathomable yet often hilarious ways. Suddenly Single After 50 addresses what life is really like when it’s suddenly shaped as single. It helps readers understand the grief, frustration, and sadness alongside reawakening into the world. Anyone who finds themselves suddenly single in middle age and beyond--or knows someone who is--will find in these pages both advice and reflection, support, and a way forward.

Suddenly Single After 50: The Girlfriends' Guide to Navigating Loss, Restoring Hope, and Rebuilding Your Life

Ballinger, Barbara

Crane, Margaret

Parenting & Relationships

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Two long-time, seventy-something writing partners share how they and other aging boomers can navigate this new stage of their lives with optimism, energy, humor, honesty, and empathy.It's a gift to reach old age and to arrive there well and ready for more years. The two authors of Not Dead Yet find that it's time now to tidy-up their lives--to live fully in the moment with less clutter, better planning, and to free themselves to travel more, read, work, volunteer, and enjoy grown children and grandchildren. These later years bring challenges but also the advantage of wisdom about their minds and bodies. Not Dead Yet is the one book that brings home all the challenges in witty, meaty chapters that provide realistic solutions through the experiences of its two female septuagenarian authors, as well as through those of other boomer women and men of varying incomes, religions, ethnicities, and locations. From sex and dating to travel and volunteer work, writers Barbara Ballinger and Margaret Crane, who faced becoming single in their last book, Suddenly Single After 50, now cope with the older decades by employing the same humor, honest storytelling, empathy, and energy. Their conclusions reflect a firm resolve that there is much life yet to be lived. Giving hope, guidance, and optimism to readers, they provide affirmation for anyone hoping to clear the hurdles and live life fully, presently, and with an eye toward fulfillment and wellness.

Not Dead Yet: Rebooting Your Life after 50

<ul>
<li>A step-by-step guide to creating your ideal kitchen</li>
<li>Richly-illustrated with over 50 inspiring kitchen layouts</li>
<li>Nearly 250 photos of gorgeous kitchens done by more than 80 designers and architects </li>
</ul>
<ul><li>Featuring 13 types of kitchens to inspire – kitchens of the future, sustainable kitchens, universal design</li></ul>
 Kitchens have been transformed from a purely utilitarian workspace to a culinary-family-friends' mecca where everyone congregates. While kitchens in condos and small houses may still be limited in square footage, even a tiny galley-style space is often now open to living and dining areas in loft-style arrangement for better camaraderie and conversation. Divided into two sections, this book will guide you professionally through the process of designing the perfect kitchen. The first section takes you through a step-by-step approach to kitchen design and renovation, complete with questions to ask contractors, layout suggestions and checklists. This is followed by over 50 inspiring kitchens, highlighting different options and styles to help you create your ideal space.

The Kitchen Bible: Designing the Perfect Culinary Space

Arts & Photography

Gilmer, Jennifer

Architecture

Images Publishing Dist Ac

<ul>
<li>A full-color, richly illustrated and comprehensive guide on creating your own great garden</li>
<li>Budget-friendly suggestions and ideas</li>
<li>This book focuses on 20 case studies of the most popular garden trends from around the United States, how they transformed a site, demonstrating how various challenges were involved and overcome to create beautiful gardens, and how the project(s) could have been done with more affordable options</li>
<li>Offers information on top regional garden trends with tips from garden professionals based on soil, slope, wind, rain, sun, shade</li>
<li>Provides a wide range of helpful tips on many topics, including themed gardens, tools, urban projects, how to organize a community garden walk, landscape mistakes to avoid, sustainable gardening, creating wildlife sanctuaries, and more</li>
<li>Includes a comprehensive 'Resource' chapter that lists useful websites, noteworthy nurseries, apps, books and catalogues</li>
</ul>
Transforming outdoor space is one of the hottest home trends today. It expands indoor square footage, makes a property more usable, keeps homeowners healthier whether they grow vegetables or swim laps. It also makes a neighborhood more aesthetically attractive.
The Garden Bible can help homeowners understand the challenges of their site and what needs to be done on an ongoing basis for their garden to develop and thrive. Explaining the many options available, this title will show you how to get it right first time. Many garden books explain how to grow specific flowers, care for shrubs, trees and lawn, and plan a pool. But none take a homeowner from the beginning of the process to ask a professional the right questions, know the challenges of a specific site - drainage, erosion, privacy, noise, wind, too much sun or shade, wildlife, and understand what needs to be done on an ongoing basis for the garden to grow, evolve, and look better in years to come, as well as be in sync with its surroundings. Few books also explain all the stylistic options available and cost-saving solutions. This book will do this, and help guide you through the process of designing the perfect garden.
With 20 case studies, highlighting the most popular garden trends - how they transformed a site, what challenges were involved, and how the project could have been done with more affordable options - The Garden Bible will show you that not only is a great garden beautiful to look at, but it's also great for the soul.

The Garden Bible: Designing Your Perfect Outdoor Space

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Glassman, Michael

Gardening & Landscape Design

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Books by Ballinger, Barbara