Sherry Scull, of Rutherford College, can testify to that. She had been divorced for eight years after a 28-year marriage when she made the decision.
“I just didn’t want to spend the rest of my life by myself,” she said.
Scull was over 50 when she decided she wanted a second try at love, but she wasn’t exactly of an age to start bar-hopping.
It was hard for her to meet new people, she said, so online dating seemed the best route. She’d already heard about Match.com.
“It took every ounce of courage in me to do it,” she said.
Her cousin, Renee, was scared enough for the both of them, but Scull thought, “What have I got to lose?”
Scull said she was smart about meeting men online, and everyone she met was very nice. They just didn’t give her that spark.

Steve

Steve Lowrance was living in Charlotte when he decided to try Match.com.
Lowrance never was one for going out. He went to work for his dad right after he came back from Vietnam. Like Sherry, he had a lengthy marriage before he got divorced.
When his dad died, Lowrance moved in with his mom to take care of her and squire her about.
He said he came to realize, “I’m not going to meet anyone like this.”
Lowrance set up a profile on Match.com. He was only on there for a few days when he got a message from Scull.

Sherry & Steve

They e-mailed back and forth, and because she said a woman shouldn’t give out her phone number, he gave her his. Scull said they ended up talking for hours.
“I was three hours late to work that day,” Scull said, laughing.
They decided to meet at Tripp’s Restaurant in Hickory.
As the saying goes, their eyes met and the rest was history.
“Steve seems to think we must have been old souls together,” she said.
Scull said she and Lowrance couldn’t stop talking even long enough to order until their waiter kept coming back.
They dated for over a year before they were married. Their five-year anniversary is June 13.
“If it hadn’t been for the Internet, we never would have met,” she said. “It’s been a happy journey.”
As for Valentine’s Day, they don’t have anything planned, but they’re bound to do something spontaneous.

The warm, damp environment of many gyms and health clubs is a breeding ground for microbes. You’re vulnerable to staph infections at the gym, Sinnott says, but showering with soap and water immediately after a workout should suffice.

Germs thrive in the kitchen, where vigilance is required. Use separate cutting boards for vegetables and meats, Sinnott recommends. If you’re handling raw meat, which often harbors pathogens, wash your board and knife with soap and hot water between cuttings. Always wipe down counters after preparing meals.

It may be impossible to create a sterile environment, but fortunately for me, there is a growing arsenal of products to help combat germs at home, the office and the gym.

BUG BLOCKERS
For the home:
~ Bath & Body Works Antibacterial Hand Soaps, Gels and Moisturizing Lotions contain cleansing beads, germ killers and nourishing vitamins. They leave hands clean and fresh in scents such as Midnight Pomegranate, Japanese Cherry Blossom, and Brown Sugar and Fig. $4 to $4.50; http://www.bbw.com
~ Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues kill 99 percent of cold and flu viruses. The three-ply tissues have a moisture-activated middle layer treated with an antiviral formula. A cough or sneeze triggers the tissue to kill viruses in the tissue within 15 minutes. $1.39 to $1.99; http://www.kleenex.com
~ The patent-pending VIOlight Toothbrush Sanitizer claims to eliminate 99.9 percent of the bacteria that grow on your brush. A germicidal UV bulb — the same kind used in hospitals — sanitizes with the push of a button. It ac-commodates standard and most electric toothbrush heads. $49.95 for a bathroom unit; $29.95 for a travel unit; http://www.violight.com
~ The reversible Williams-Sonoma Antibacterial Cutting Board inhibits bacterial growth. One side is flat for chop-ping and mincing, and the other has a groove around the perimeter to collect juices from meat. It’s dishwasher-safe. $20; http://www.williams-sonoma.com
~ Clorox Disinfecting Wipes offer a quick way to disinfect surfaces. Wipe and let sit for 30 seconds to sanitize or four minutes to disinfect. Toss and you’re done. http://www.clorox.com
For the office:
~ The Paper Mate FlexGrip Elite Pen has antimicrobial protection built into the soft-grip barrel. Price varies by store; http://www.papermate.com
~ Fellowes Cordless Keyboard and Mouse Combo incorporates Microban to inhibit the growth of office microbes, as well as stains and odors. The combo works in a 6-foot range, and the scroll mouse uses advanced optical technol-ogy. $119.98; http://www.fellowes.com
~ Fellowes Gel Wrist Rest and Mouse Pad unit offers the comfort of gel and added Microban protection against bacteria. A durable covering withstands daily wear and tear. $27.99; http://www.fellowes.com
~ Purell Hand Sanitizer kills 99.99 percent of the most common illness-causing germs. It contains 62 percent ethyl alcohol. It’s simple to use anytime and anywhere, without leaving a sticky residue. Price varies by store; http://www.purell.com
For the gym:
~ Harbinger FlexFit all-purpose training gloves, which offer maximum range of motion, have an antimicrobial mesh that bags bacterial growth and reduces odor. The wash-and-dry leather is 100 percent safe for the washer and dryer. The gloves come in men’s and women’s sizes. $20; http://www.harbingerfitness.com
~ HandleBuddies handle and hand-grip covers eliminate skin-to-surface contact. Just fasten around fitness equip-ment and go. The washable HandleBuddies come with a carrying pouch. $20; http://www.handlebuddies.com

Jeff Houck is a staff writer for The Tampa Tribune in Florida.

That can be good and bad for health, says Buchanan, who works as an ER Nurse at Catawba Valley Medical Center.

“My 2-year-old has a perpetual runny nose,” she says. “It is the norm rather than the exception that his nose is running.”

Day care germs may be partially to blame. That isn’t entirely bad, Buchanan says.

“I just keep in mind that every illness builds immunity for the future,” she says. “I hope when they go to grade school they won’t battle as many problems.”

When kids get sick they build antibodies to the bacteria, says Jackie McLean, child care health counselor with the health department.

“That means they are less likely to get the same thing,” she adds.

McLean recommends parents follow Buchanan’s lead and carry an antibacterial sanitizer. Washing hands is the best way to ward off germs. Even the ones that don’t bother you.

“Kids are little reservoirs,” McLean says. “They may not get sick, but they carry bacteria around all the time.”

Germs are the harshest when immunity is the weakest from birth to 1 year of age, says Dr. John Whalley with Mountain View Pediatrics.
If possible, he recommends children under 2 stay with family until their systems strengthen.

That usually happens around 2 or 3 years of age, he adds.

They should also stay home if they are sick.

“It is never a good idea to intentionally expose kids to germs,” Whalley says.

Here are a few things to consider before sending your child to play with others. If they are feeling well but their nose is running, like Buchanan’s boy, they are OK to go to day care, Whalley says.

“The trick is about the fever,” he adds. “If it is a significant fever the child needs to be home.

“Many times kids run a fever at night, and in the mornings they go to school or day care. Then at 11 a.m. the fever comes back.”

Whalley says a child should be without fever for 24 hours before going back to his or her daily schedule.

Howard spent 30 minutes a day, six days a week working with weights. After three months she noticed improvements. Well, actually her husband saw it first.

“He noticed when I laid down that my boobs were actually on my chest instead of beside me in bed,” she says.

The workout also increased her cup size and decreased her band size. Plus it helped her drop 110 pounds from a size 28 to 18.
“It makes me feel more attractive and feminine,” Howard says.

That was four years ago. The 44-year-old says she hasn’t gained a pound back. Now Howard even works at Curves, passing along tips to others.
Howard helped one 71-year-old woman up her bust measurement to a bigger cup size.

“We told her we were going to get her a bikini too,” Howard jokes.

She says its never to late to improve the bust line. Here are a few tips that might help.

Try the fly
Working out can take years off your chest, says Tim Thomas, assistant manager at Body Tech Fitness.

Thomas says ladies of all ages come to the gym for a pick-me-up. Here are some tips you can try at home.

Thomas recommends building muscle with what’s called the dumbbell fly. This exercise firms the top part of the breast, Thomas says.

Lay belly-up on the ground with a weight in each hand. Keep the dumbbell’s parallel to your body.

Pull both arms straight up, keeping your elbows bent, so the weights meet over your chest.

Then, return the weights out to your sides at shoulder height, Thomas says.

He recommends 14-18 pulls followed by a 1 minute rest.

“It will work,” he says. “I guarantee results if people stick with it.”

But they have to do more than the dumbbell fly. That is just step one.

Step two follows the same format, only lying on an inclined surface. Hence the name incline dumbbell fly. This exercise works the middle part of the chest.

Each work out should include both phases at least two or three times.

Thomas says most people see results in four to six weeks.

Magic pills?
Nature’s Bounty sells two different bottles of pills promising to firm you up and fill you out.

“I’ve been selling them for years,” says manger Bob Feimster. “I wouldn’t keep stocking them if they didn’t keep selling.”

One product is called Great Curves. It sells for roughly $20 and each bottle is a month’s supply at two capsules a day.

Feimster says most women will probably see results after two bottles.

The other supplement is Miracle Breast. It retails for about $26. Each bottle holds 180 pills but the recommended serving is a bit higher: two tablets three times a day.

Feimster says both bottles add fluids to the breast, giving them a healthy appearance, like when a woman is pregnant.

Strap it on
The torture devices — bras — actually are there to help.

“They work by preventing gravitational pull,” says Dr. David Kirk with the Women’s Health Group.

He says women who go without are the first to feel the downward pull of growing up.

But don’t go overboard by sleeping in your boulder holder. Kirk says that doesn’t offer additional support.

“Because gravity isn’t much of an issue when you are lying down,” he says.

The situation also is different when exercising, because of the added motion. That’s why Kirk recommends a good sports bra or one with added support.

Lather up
Soaking up the rays may give you a temporary tan, but it permanently ages your body. The sun weakens the elasticity of your skin, causing it to sag sooner, Kirk says.

“Sun exposure is the number one culprit in aging,” he adds.

Lather up when laying on the beach or when wearing anything low cut, he says. Especially in the South.

A daily moisturize on your neck and chest also helps skin stay firm, he adds.

Howard spent 30 minutes a day, six days a week working with weights. After three months she noticed improvements. Well, actually her husband saw it first.

“He noticed when I laid down that my boobs were actually on my chest instead of beside me in bed,” she says.

The workout also increased her cup size and decreased her band size. Plus it helped her drop 110 pounds from a size 28 to 18.
“It makes me feel more attractive and feminine,” Howard says.

That was four years ago. The 44-year-old says she hasn’t gained a pound back. Now Howard even works at Curves, passing along tips to others.
Howard helped one 71-year-old woman up her bust measurement to a bigger cup size.

“We told her we were going to get her a bikini too,” Howard jokes.

She says its never to late to improve the bust line. Here are a few tips that might help.

Try the fly
Working out can take years off your chest, says Tim Thomas, assistant manager at Body Tech Fitness.

Thomas says ladies of all ages come to the gym for a pick-me-up. Here are some tips you can try at home.

Thomas recommends building muscle with what’s called the dumbbell fly. This exercise firms the top part of the breast, Thomas says.

Lay belly-up on the ground with a weight in each hand. Keep the dumbbell’s parallel to your body.

Pull both arms straight up, keeping your elbows bent, so the weights meet over your chest.

Then, return the weights out to your sides at shoulder height, Thomas says.

He recommends 14-18 pulls followed by a 1 minute rest.

“It will work,” he says. “I guarantee results if people stick with it.”

But they have to do more than the dumbbell fly. That is just step one.

Step two follows the same format, only lying on an inclined surface. Hence the name incline dumbbell fly. This exercise works the middle part of the chest.

Each work out should include both phases at least two or three times.

Thomas says most people see results in four to six weeks.

Magic pills?
Nature’s Bounty sells two different bottles of pills promising to firm you up and fill you out.

“I’ve been selling them for years,” says manger Bob Feimster. “I wouldn’t keep stocking them if they didn’t keep selling.”

One product is called Great Curves. It sells for roughly $20 and each bottle is a month’s supply at two capsules a day.

Feimster says most women will probably see results after two bottles.

The other supplement is Miracle Breast. It retails for about $26. Each bottle holds 180 pills but the recommended serving is a bit higher: two tablets three times a day.

Feimster says both bottles add fluids to the breast, giving them a healthy appearance, like when a woman is pregnant.

Strap it on
The torture devices — bras — actually are there to help.

“They work by preventing gravitational pull,” says Dr. David Kirk with the Women’s Health Group.

He says women who go without are the first to feel the downward pull of growing up.

But don’t go overboard by sleeping in your boulder holder. Kirk says that doesn’t offer additional support.

“Because gravity isn’t much of an issue when you are lying down,” he says.

The situation also is different when exercising, because of the added motion. That’s why Kirk recommends a good sports bra or one with added support.

Lather up
Soaking up the rays may give you a temporary tan, but it permanently ages your body. The sun weakens the elasticity of your skin, causing it to sag sooner, Kirk says.

“Sun exposure is the number one culprit in aging,” he adds.

Lather up when laying on the beach or when wearing anything low cut, he says. Especially in the South.

A daily moisturize on your neck and chest also helps skin stay firm, he adds.

No longer is a woman’s place just in the home. And hunting isn’t just for men either.

More women than ever are embarking on this popular hobby once considered an interest predominately enjoyed by their male counterparts.

Fathers’ bonding with their children during hunting season now includes fathers and daughters getting closer in the great outdoors.

“I coon hunted as a little girl with my dad,” says Tracy Norman.

She also has hunted turkey, deer, rabbit, dove and even bear.

Norman, whose brother also hunts, says her niece got her first deer this year.

Norman is preparing for Turkey season. “I went out yesterday and saw four turkeys,” she says eagerly.

Recently during the Wild Turkey Federation Banquet, Norman set up a display table to encourage participation in a local chapter of Women in the Outdoors.

She says, “I helped with the banquet committee and was the first female to serve on the committee.”

Norman’s participation has paid off. This year, she also won a shotgun during the banquet.

According to womenintheoutdoors.org, an outreach of the Wild Turkey Federation, many of these women are taking to the outdoors and hunting in order to spend more quality time reconnecting to the special people in their lives.

That’s just what Patricia McGinnis of West Virginia did around five years ago. Her husband and his friends from Ohio gathered the day before deer season with a major air of excitement.

They were really having a good time. Early the next morning they went out to hunt and she went to work.

“I thought, ‘I know they’re out there having fun and I need to experience this,’” McGinnis says.

“On the way home, I purchased a hunting license and by that time they arrived with one or two deer in each truck bed. I let them finish their stories, and then I showed them my license and told them ‘I’m going tomorrow.’

“I love animals and never want to hurt a deer, but there’s something different about deer season,” McGinnis says.

On her first hunt she waited through most of the day, placed her sights on a deer and took two shots.

“After the first shot I thought, ‘ooh, that felt good.’”

Her husband was disappointed with its size.

She says, “I took it as a compliment because I shot twice and hit it twice even though it was a small target.”

McGinnis also enjoys photography and quilting and runs a profitable Mary Kay business, which are complete oppo-sites on the spectrum, she adds.

“I’m the girliest girl there is, but when it comes to getting in the woods, I’m there,” says Crystal Burns a college student at Appalachian. This is Burns third year hunting for turkey, but she says she also likes to squirrel hunt, along with a little deer hunting.

Last year Norman and Burns spent the night in Norman’s vehicle during a storm, just to get a good spot on the opening day of turkey season. “Tracy is the first woman I’ve ever met who hunts, and I can’t talk any of my friends into trying it,” Burns says.

According to these two die-hard hunting women, it was a very rough night.

Regardless of lots of lightning, thunder and a tornado warning, this pair of brave women were determined to keep their vigil through the night.

Burns says it was very interesting and a little uncomfortable, Norman adds “I wasn’t afraid though.”

It’s not just girl talk that keeps these women in the wild, but calling in the turkeys. While demonstrating some of their turkey calls, Norman tells how Burns brought in more than just Tom turkey she called in two men hunters last year, says Norman.

“They thought I was a turkey,” Burns says.

Turkey hunting is one of the most challenging hunts, Norman says, because turkeys see in color. But it is my favor-ite, she adds.

The turkeys are very smart and their hearing is really good.

“You can hardly move when you’re out there,” she adds.

These women even know about turkey droppings enough to tell whether it came from a Jake, Tom or hen. (For those who are not sure what these terms mean, a Jake is a young male bird, a Tom is a male and you know what a hen is.)

Norman even cleans out her birds and freezes them for later use. From last year’s catch she saved the tail feathers and wings in order to have a fan made. This year her plans include having a turkey call made out of the wing bones of one of her birds.

Until then, she wants to get the word out to other women about hunting. With great enthusiasm in her sport Norman says, “I love it, I can do it every day.”