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A True Home

A roof to keep out the rain. Four walls to keep out the wind. Floors to keep out the cold. Yes, but home is more than that. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of loving hearts, light from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comaradeship. Home is first school..for the young ones where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick. Where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest food is good enough for kings beacuse it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving-kindness. Where even the teakettle sings from happiness. That is home.

by Ernestine Schumann-Heink

Time for a change???

Is it time for a change in your life? Perhaps you've been laid off, or fired. Maybe you are just stuck in a rut in a dead end job. It's time to think out of the box and move toward a more meaningful life. I would recommend Dan Miller's 48 Days to Work You Love to help you move toward a happier life. Your not alone in your frustration with work...read on…

Maybe Dats Youwr Pwoblem Too
by Jim Hall

All my pwoblems
who knows, maybe evwbody’s pwoblems
is due to da fact, due to da awful twuth
dat I am SPIDERMAN.

I know, I know. All da dumb jokes:
No flies on you, ha ha
and da ones about what do I do wit all
doze extra legs in bed. Well, dat’s funny yeah.
But you twy being
SPIDERMAN for a month or two. Go ahead.

You get doze cwazy call fwom da
Gubbener askin you to twap some booglar who’s
only twying to wip off color T.V. sets
Now, what do I cawre about T.V. sets?

But I pull on da suit, da stinkin suit,
wit da sucker cups on da finger,
and get my wopes and wittle bundle of
equipment and den I go flying like cwazy
acwoss da town fwom woof top to woof top.
Till der he is. Some poor dumb color T.V. slob
and I fall on him and we westle a widdle
until I get him all woped. So big deal.

You tink when you SPIDERMAN
der’s sometin big going to happen to you.
Well, I tell you what. It don’t happen dat way.
Nuttin happens. Gubbener calls, I go.
Bwing him to powice. Gubbener calls again,
like dat over and over.

I tink I twy sometin diffunt. I tink I twy
sometin excitin like wacing cawrs. Sometin to make
my heart beat at a difwent wate.
But den you just can’t quit being sometin like
SPIDERMAN.
You SPIDERMAN for life. Fowever. I can’t even
buin my suit. It won’t buin. It’s fwame wesistent.
So maybe dat’s da whole pwoblem wif evwytin.
Nobody can buin der suits, day all fwame wesistent.
Who knows?

Time to try something new-BURN THE SUIT!

Cabbage Soup

 

If you like cabbage you will love this soup.

Dice the following:

3 cups of potatoes

1 bunch of green onions

1 cup of carrots

6 cups of  cabbage

Make the broth by mixing the following:

2 chicken bouillon cubes

4 cups of water

Bring the water and bouillon to a boil.  Add the potatoes, onions and carrots.  Reduce heat to medium and steam for 5 minutes.

Add the following seasonings:

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt

Now make the cream sauce:

Mix together to make a paste:

1 cup of melted butter (two sticks)

1 cup of flour

Slowly add…

2 cups of chicken broth

2 cups of milk

Bring this mixture to a boil and stir constantly until it is smooth.

Add to vegetable mixture.  Heat gently and serve.

Soup reheats well in the microwave.

Sugar Cookies

This old family favorite evokes memories of my grandma, Clara, baking cookies on frosty-cold winter mornings up north.

1 C butter
2 C sugar
1 C sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
5-1/4 C flour (about)

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add sour cream with soda dissolved in it.  Add well-beaten eggs.  Add baking powder and vanilla extract.  Add flour.  Mix well.  Roll out on waxed paper.  Cut out cookies with a round cutter.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Alternate:  If you plan to frost the sugar cookies, omit sprinkling sugar on the cookies before baking.

Are you smarter than your computer?

NOVA (PBS) recently aired a program about a team of researchers at IBM that were building a computer to compete on JEOPARDY! They named the computer "Watson". "Watson" competed against Jeopardy's top winners and won. But don't despair. Computers can recall facts with a great deal of accuracy but have real problems with the nuances of language. The human brain is fearfully and wonderfully made. So celebrate your human smarts and enjoy these tricky word plays!
Watson can't laugh!

To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.

A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, UCLA

The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

The batteries were given out free of charge.

A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.

A will is a dead giveaway.

If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.

Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.

You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.

A boiled egg is hard to beat.

When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a
rest.

Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all
right now.

If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.

In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count
that votes.

When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds

The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

The optometrist who fell into the eyeglass making machine made
a spectacle of himself.

He had a photographic memory which was never developed.

Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

Acupuncture: a jab well done.

How to choose a nursing home for your loved one...

Caring for a loved one at the end of their life is both privilege and responsibility. If you have been named the health care representative you will be choosing your loved one’s long term care facility. Your guiding principal should be the golden rule. Care for your loved one as you would want to be cared for. As health care representative you have been entrusted with your loved one’s life. This decision is often made quickly and with little guidance as to what to look for in a facility. I would like to offer some helpful suggestions.

1. Take some time. Know that you can request a 48 hour extension to pick a facility.

2. Look up all facilities that you are considering on the internet.
www.medicare.gov.
Go to resource locator
Then click on nursing homes

Google: (your state’s) Department of Aging and Disability.
Find the Consumer Information reports.

These two resources will help you get a general idea of what the facility care is like but it certainly does not give you the whole picture.

Quality of care should to be looked at carefully. Medication errors and actual harm dings are really bad.

3. Go visit several facilities. This will help you make a sound decision. Do not just pick the closest nursing home or the one that your neighbor said was good. Nursing care can be great one year and poor the next. If a key person leaves the job then nursing home can quickly go from good to bad. Breakfast time is a good time to visit because it is the hardest for the nursing staff. If they have their act together at breakfast they probably have their routine down pat. You should expect faces to be clean, beds made up, and patients alert by 9 or 10 a.m.

4. Find the survey. Read it carefully. Surveys have to be easily found by the public. You should not have to hunt or ask for the survey. Surveys are usually in the lobby area at the main entrance
Interpreting the survey...
Quality of care. A-D ratings are generally not a cause for concern.
G level or above are REALLY BAD.
Medication errors are BAD.
Actual harm errors are BAD.

5.Questions to ask…

How was your last survey? May I see it?
Observe the staff persons response. A well run facility will not be threatened by your questions.
What is your staff/patient ratio?
Different department should have different ratios. Departments where more care is needed should have a lower ratio.
What is your percentage of pressure sores this year?
Don’t look at the number look at the percentage. The percentage should be less than 5% unless they are specialists in healing bed sores.

6. Observations during your visit.

What is the general atmosphere?
Is the staff happy? What is the general attitude of the staff? Are they snotty and cold or warm and caring?

Is the facility dark and depressing or is it warm, cheerful, and homelike?

Is there a lot of odor? Spot odors may occur due to accidents but in general the whole place should smell clean and fresh.

Is the staff checked out? Someone should stop you and kindly inquire as to whom you would like to visit.

Is the staff working? or are they down the hall talking?

Are the patients being fed? Patients should not be staring at a plate of food. Meals should be brought when someone is available to feed them.
Are patients being encouraged to eat?

Are patients alert? Patients should be alert and not drugged or tied into a wheelchair.

Is the facility restraint free?
Bolsters, scoop mattress, and M bars are all good.

Beds should not have side rails.
Side rails are dangerous as people can become trapped in them.

Talk to a resident… what do they say?

7. Listen for these buzz words.
Eden Alternative
Person-centered care
Culture change

Research each of these philosophies.

While these things do not indicate the quality of care they do indicate that the nursing home is focused on patient choices. These will also give you some sense as to the nursing homes underlying philosophy of care.

Two more things you can do…
Ask for daily skilled service. (this will ensure that an R.N. will check on your loved one on a daily basis)
Ask for a lawyer name that specializes in Medicaid.

Remember to look at the big picture…
Any short term disruptions or inconveniences that you experience will be rewarded by the satisfaction that you did right by your loved one. You are their friend and advocate.

Mom's top 20!

1. Follow Christ everyday and make sure your life reflects that you are a disciplined disciple.
2. Be good to your family. Make sure they are your first priority.
3. Love yourself. Love your neighbor as yourself. Don’t look to others for approval or love. Some people just don’t have the capacity to love others.
4. Truly love others and demonstrate this with acts of kindness and service.
5. Be kind with your words.
6. Hear and heed correction when it comes your way.
7. Don’t marry someone that is selfish or self centered.
8. Have a big family and raise them right.
9. Hang on to your money. Be a vigilant saver and a wise spender.
10. Stay out of debt.
11. Splurge once in a while. Your kids will be delighted.
12. Pay attention to your money. Know how much you have and how much it is earning. Educate yourself on investing. No one cares more about YOUR money than you do. Be careful whom you trust.
13. Don’t waste much time in front of a screen.
14. Work hard. Be polite. You will go far.
15. Eat your fruits veggies. Organic if possible.
16. Exercise and get some sunshine everyday. It will keep the blues away.
17. Count your blessings. Maintain a positive attitude.
18. Don't waste your time, effort, money, or emotional energy on people that don't appreciate you for what you are.
18. When going through troubles know that “this too shall pass.”
19. Take care of your stuff and don’t keep excess. Stuff can really burden your life.
20. Collect memories!