If you're one of the few women who hasn't yet read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, then you don't have very nice friends. This is the kind of read passed from friend to friend--whether you're a Gen Xer or a Baby Boomer or a woman my mother's age.

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It's taken me awhile to process my visit to Chicago and the Oprah show. After one Monday being in the audience of the Oprah show and the next Monday sitting in a courtroom on jury duty, I needed time and distance.

I didn't get selected to be on the jury. I didn't get picked to sit up front at Oprah.

Was it luck in both cases? I sat in the back row of Harpo Studios, on the opposite side from where Oprah enters. I didn't sit on the jury of a trial that would have played havoc with my schedule because the judge didn't like one of my honest answers.

But I'm sure you're more interested in Oprah than the judge.

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If you've read my bio, you know I'm an Oprah fan and even whined in a previous post about people who get to be on her show. So here's my news: In four more days, I'm going to be on the Oprah show!

Got your attention, didn't I? Are you assuming I'm going on Oprah because my children turned me in for my outdated wardrobe like the poor unfashionable woman who was on last week? (I do have a lot of really old clothes I refuse to give away and I'd love a makeover just to hear Oprah say "Go 50, go 50," about me.)

Maybe you're imagining that I'm in need of some charity, some Big Giving that only Oprah can fix with her Midas touch. (Does it count that I'll have three children in college next year?)

Maybe you're thinking the Talk Show Queen finally took note of my work with fearful flyers after she got tired my email barrage. (I've only sent two really nice ones and another one to her magazine.)

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I don't care how old you are. Children are forever joined to your hip, no matter how close or far away they are from your nose. The hard part of parenting is not jangling that invisible chain too loudly as your children get older.

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Today Oprah featured the Cosby TV kids all grown up. Their visit was precipitated by a young woman who had written Oprah that she attributes her success in life to the positive role modeling of the Cosby family. The ground-breaking Cosby show which ran from 1984 to 1992 allowed her to see that not all black fathers were losers like hers was. She credited the show for the confidence she needed to grow into the successful wife, mother, and career woman she is today.

My first thought was to wonder how in the heck she got Oprah to read her letter. I've written Oprah twice about the work we do with fearful flyers, hoping for more than a standardized email response. But somehow this woman got through, ended up on the show, and met her TV family idols. Once I was over my jealousy, I realized it was nice to see some good news about the power of television.

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Donna Reed would be celebrating her 87th birthday this year had she not died of cancer when she was 64. You may remember her best as the wife and mother in the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life. But if you're a Baby Boomer you probably remember her as a TV mom from The Donna Reed Show that ran from 1958 to 1966. Maybe you even know this 50's and 60's model TV mother from Nick at Night reruns.

My kids grew up with the mother-less Full House family, but I was seven when Donna Reed became my TV mother. Who wouldn't have loved this pretty blonde mom--her perfection, her poise, her problem-solving. She could fix any TV crisis with her smile!

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I have this friend, let's call her Jan, who's afraid of what 2008 will bring. She'd like some good news after 2007's bad news: Her husband's job is ending.

Jan worries about her family's future. Will they have to move from the home they just remodeled? Relocate to another city? Should she give up her dream of finishing her degree? Return to full-time employment after being a full-time mom to her two pre-teen children?

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I was feeling bad enough about just turning 57, despite my self-proclaimed attitude that age is just a number. When the birthday reality first bites, it stings. So I was not exactly up for any more age reminders. Still, I read Jane Glenn Haas' syndicated column titled "Retiring Boomers Face Crucial Financial Decisions."

According to Haas, this year some 9 million boomers will turn 62 and be eligible for early Social Security. For all my working years, Social Security always seemed like some annoying deduction from my paycheck. Now I could be eligible in just five more birthdays? Haas goes on to say that about half of those Boomers are expected to file for early benefits at 62, just as their parents did. Yikes, I don't have to be an economist to know that this will put a huge drain on the system.

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I was born a saver, having been raised by Depression-era parents. Probably one reason why I showed up at my favorite department store to take advantage of the phenomenon my husband calls "saving money by spending it." Holiday home décor 70% off! Early bird specials! Extra 10% off of winter clothing already 60-70% off! Wow…what irresistible saving/spending opportunities.

I ignored the sign on the store's glass doors that "Senior Citizens take an extra 15% off." In the past, I'd read a sale flyer's fine print and concluded that I'm a tad bit short of senior years at this store, even though I'm a senior shopper at another favorite store where seniordom starts at 55. To be exact, I had to be "62 or better." Isn't that a politically nice way to look at aging? Still, according to the store's standards, I'm currently not on the "better" side of 62.

As I shopped, my 80-year-old mother called my cell to ask that I buy her a sale coffee maker. Then ask for the senior discount. Now remember, this is one of the people I learned my best bargain shopping tactics from. Did she think the store would grant me senior discount by proxy?

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