It started in 2000; my life as I had known it changed.

My father, the biggest cheerleader in my life passed away after suffering from a malignant brain tumor.
A few months later, I was returning home from Australia and got caught up in the wake of the 9/11
disaster. I sat on an airplane on the airport tarmack for five hours before the horrifying images popped up
on the monitors for all passengers to see. Some months later, I was offered an early retirement package from my
work of 26 years.

Fate was clearly pointing me to a new direction.

Both my sons were in the internet business and had kept me interested in its developments. With new found
time on my hands and the help of my “techy” son, in 2001, I launched my first website called “Ladybug”. It was
cute, with cartoon icons of a ladybug shopping, combing her hair and cooking. An internet advertising company
became interested and before I knew it, so did investors. It was an interesting time and it looked like I had hit
upon an exciting second career.

Not so fast… without even a hint, the dot coms began falling by the wayside. One by one, investors zipped up
their briefcases and ran.

So, I learned many valuable lessons. I was not defeated and continued to research my newly chosen field.
My other son by now was well ensconced in the sales development end of the internet business. With a “techy” and a “sales”
guru by my side, I launched a new website called “Not Just the Kitchen”.

This website was geared to Baby-Boomer women, since the advice I received was “don’t try to be all things to
all people. Stick with what you know best”. Being a Baby-Boomer woman, I felt somewhat qualified to start this project.

I worked diligently keeping up the content and enjoying the experience. Then in the spring of 2008, I made a switch
from a static site to a WordPress blog. This was a whole new set of challenges ranging from re-directs to designing
a custom Home Page. My son’s technical experience sent me on my way but once my demands took too much of his time,
I hired an experienced technical support person.

Now, almost a year later, we continue to grow adding new features as they are developed. We offer 300+ compelling
articles and since many of our visitors suffer from a degree of vision impairment, the articles are also offered
in audio versions. Our partnership with Divinecaroline.com adds further content by way of a widget. In a few weeks,
we will launch a widget by TiB Concerts that will allow the visitor to search concert dates and venues for their
favorite artists.

I continue to scour the web for new ideas and having found Blogging for Boomers, I visit often. I’ve received some great tips
and tons of encouragement from Rosie.

About the author:
Rita Morgan is the Founder & CEO of  Not Just The Kitchen. Her previous career was working for an airline in various
management roles. She attended both University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal majoring in Marketing.
She presently spreads her time between Canada and US working much of the time on an airplane.