[dadsaid]

64 yrs old, 2nd marriage, 4 kids, 1 daighter-in-law, 11 grandkids, 2 great-granddaughters. I had to retire because of medical reasons. My mom committed suicide 36 yrs ago, father died 8 yrs ago @ 82 yrs. Husband treats me like 12 yr old. Grandkids (24yrs to 3yrs) call when they want something. One brother, who lives in another city, is distant. One sister, lives in same city is close. No real friends, seems I chose losers, I hate being at home all day!

[Wondergirl]

I'm the same age and am willing to give you ideas.

Do you have a car and can drive yourself places?

[twinkiedooter]

You need to get something to do outside of the home even if it's just a job volunteering so many hours a day or week to help lift your spirits. Have you gone to the local library and see if you could volunteer reading to kids? How about volunteering at your local animal shelter just petting the kitties or doggies and making them feel loved? I know all animal shelters would love to have some nice granny to help them do that as they do not have enough time during the day to help calm down animals and make them more adoptable. I did this for one winter and hopefully I made a difference in the animals being adopted out versus keep staying there. You can also contact your Local Area Agency on Aging and see if they have any part time jobs you could do that would be less than 3 hours one day once a week type thing. It does not take much effort to sit and answer the phone for a few hours versus mop and scrub or other similar jobs. You could get paid or you could do as a volunteer. There are so many counties now that are truly hurting for money that they would jump at a volunteer. You don't have to do hospital volunteer work either. I know I wouldn't want to do that and expose myself unnecessarily to sick people or an environment where I could catch who knows what. But I would definitely look into something outside the home for you to do.

To keep my sanity I work several hours a week (less than 6) for my insurance agent calling up new customers drumming up business for her. She really appreciates this and (best of all) I get to talk to all sorts of people and actually have fun when I call them! I do remarkably well since I'm not under pressure to "make a living" out of what I do and I guess it shows it as I have a lot of folks who eagerly want a free insurance quote. I have fun and best of all it gets me out of the house and I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile for someone who truly appreciates my talent and the gift of gab. (My mom did kiss the Blarney Stone!)