Understanding Senior Independence

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By Nurse Diane

From a teacher who asked her third grade to write how they spent their spring break holiday. One child wrote about visiting his Grandparents at their Retirement Home.

"We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live here in a big brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona. Now they live in a place with a lot of other retarded people.

"They live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on big tricycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

"They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed, because it is all right now.

"They play games and do exercises there, but they don't do them very well. There is a swimming pool too, but they just jump up and down in it with their hats on. I guess they don't know how to swim.

"At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it. He watches all day so nobody can escape. Sometimes they sneak out. Then they go cruising in their golf carts.

"My Grandma used to bake cookies and stuff, but I guess she forgot how.

"Nobody there cooks, they just eat out. And they eat the same thing every night: 'Early Birds Dinners'.

"Some of the people can't get past the man in the doll house to go out. So, the ones who do get out bring food back to the wrecked center and call it pot luck.

"My Grandma says Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too. When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house.

"Then I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren."

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This is National Senior Independence Month.  Senior Adults are living longer, and staying healthier.  Many adult children who have lost a parent have concerns about the remaining parent being alone, and being able to take care of themselves.  However there are many things that can ease their fears about living alone.

1.    They can check on them regularly, or call daily,

2.    Help with grocery shopping or contact Meals on Wheels if necessary.

3.    Keep check on medications, making sure they know when to take them and what they are being prescribed for.  Make sure they are able to open the bottles too.

4.    Make the home safe from falls or fires by removing throw rugs and checking to make sure electrical outlets aren't overloaded.

5.    Make sure there is plenty of space to move around the room freely without bumping into furniture.

6.    Make sure there are proper locks on doors and windows.

7.    Obtain a service to contact emergency assistance at the push of a button.

8.    Install handles in the bathroom

9.    Make sure there is proper lighting and working bulbs.  Have a flash light handy for when electricity goes out.

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Adults want to keep their independence for as long as possible.  My family has been fortunate, they have all been able to stay home during their lives, and have been able to take care of themselves with little assistance.  With a few precautionary measures, the senior adults in your life should be able to function at home without any difficulty, if they have no serious medical conditions that would prevent that.  Senior adults deserve our time, assistance and patience as well as our respect.   If you have any seniors in your life who are living independently, take some time this month to check on them and make sure they have the things they need to make their lives more comfortable.

Totally Amazing – Ice Sculpturing

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By Terry Orr

These talented, creative and amazing artists create truly works of wonder in a medium unlike others.  Each time I get to see one – in person or visual images – that happy feeling within that makes us glow comes on – I smile and am thankful for that moment in time.

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Ice sculpture is a form of sculpture that uses ice as the raw material. Sculptures from ice can be abstract or realistic and can be functional or purely decorative. Ice sculptures are generally associated with special or extravagant events because of their limited lifetime. (Source: Wikipedia)

Winner

In London, the recently concluded (January 11-13) - their annual Ice Sculpturing Festival - Piers Griffin and Jonathan Lloyd won the doubles competition. To view other winners and pictures, please follow the link below.

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References and Links:

http://www.londonicesculptingfestival.co.uk/

Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

By Chef Diane

Have you ever seen Bill Cosby do his Chocolate Cake for Breakfast routine?  It is the funniest thing I have seen by him....and this is how it goes....You can also watch the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZlCPQur4hc

My wife woke me up 4:00 in the morning.

She said,

“I want you to go downstairs and cook breakfast for the children.”

And I looked at the clock and I said,

“Dear, it’s 6:00 in the morning.”

She said,

“Exactly. Go down and cook for the children. They have to go to school.”

I said,

“Yes, but to eat at 6:00, isn’t that bad for your stomach? I mean, they just ate twelve hours ago.”

My wife said,

“Bill, get out of that bed and go downstairs and cook breakfast for your children!!”

I said,

“Well, I don’t know what they want to eat.”

She said,

“It’s down there! Now you get out of the bed!”

And I said,

“But where are the pans? Do we have pans to cook with?”

She said,

“Bill, I’m not talking to you anymore! You ask another stupid question, so help me God, I’ll get the shotgun out of the closet and blow your face off!!”

I said,

“Well, there’s no need to become violent about this. You seem to be having trouble intellectualizing on where the cooking apparel is.”

So I fell back to sleep again. The next thing I knew, there was a bucket of ice water being shaken over my head, and this woman, that I’ve been married to for some 17 years, was standing over me like this. [makes angry face at audience]

“Now, you get up and cook some breakfast or you’re gonna wear this bucket of ice water!!!”

So I said,

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

So I got up. Needless to say, I was angry. And I went downstairs without putting on my robe. Standing there in my pajamas, and I’m talking to myself. I said,

“Get these, go down and cook breakfast, but it’s six o’clock in the morning,”

[angrily cooking breakfast] and I slam the pans down. Blam! On the stove. I slam them down and go to the refrigerator and look around and I get to the damn bacon and the sausage, cooking breakfast, six o’blam in the morning, and I grab the- you have to be careful with eggs.

“God! I have to cook breakfast! Boom!!”

I turn around. The first one down was the four-year-old. The child looked lovely. Cute little face, clean. Hair in little braids, little things, you know.

“Good morn’, Daddy.”

And I said,

“What do you want for breakfast!?”

The four-year-old has the ability to see through and find the wrong thing. The child saw through my body what was behind me. She saw the chocolate cake. She said,

“Can I have the chocolate cake?”

And I said,

“Chocolate cake, where?”

She said,

“Chocolate cake behind you.”

And I looked… and there was chocolate cake! The child wanted chocolate cake for breakfast! How ridiculous! And I said… and someone in my brain looked under chocolate cake and saw the ingredients: eggs! Eggs are in chocolate cake! And milk! Oh goody! And wheat! That’s nutrition!

“What do you want?”

“Can I have some chocolate cake?”

“Chocolate cake coming up.”

[imitates slicing sound] Sliced it for her and served it.

“Now, you need something to drink with the chocolate cake, something breakfast… grapefruit juice!”

[Woman in audience]

No-o-o!

[Cosby]

This is not your child!

So I give the child a glass of grapefruit juice and chocolate cake — nutrition. Eggs, milk, and wheat in the chocolate cake. And… I didn’t have to cook. And the other four came downstairs. And when they came downstairs… Those of you who have children, you’ve seen them come downstairs for school. [imitating sluggish children] And they got to the kitchen. [imitating sluggish children] They saw the four-year-old eating chocolate cake. And they said,

“Dad! Where did she get the chocolate cake?”

And they went to the child and said,

“How did you get chocolate cake?”

She said,

“Dad give me chocolate cake!”

And they looked at me and said,

“Father… could we have chocolate cake?”

And their father said,

“Chocolate cake coming up!!”

Four slices — [imitates slicing sound] — and grapefruit juice! And five children sat at breakfast and the morning music was playing [imitating bass guitar] and they were eating chocolate cake and singing songs to me:

“Dad is great! Give us the chocolate cake!”

And we had a ball until… she came down like this. [makes angry face at audience] And when she saw what the children were eating… [when his wife sees that he has given the kids chocolate cake for breakfast] I’ve always heard about people having a conniption, but I’ve never seen one. You don’t want to see ‘em! My wife’s face… split! The skin and hair split and came off of her face so that there was nothing except the skull! And orange light came out of her hair and it lit all around! And fire shot from her eye sockets and began to burn my stomach! And she said,

“Where did they get chocolate cake from?!?”

And I said,

“They asked for it!!”

And the children, who had been singing praises to me, lied on me, and said,

“Uh-uhh!! We asked for eggs and milk, and Dad made us eat this!!!”

And my wife sent me to my room, which is where I wanted to go in the first place. So you see? We are dumb, but we are not so dumb. It takes great thinking and work to keep from working.

Today is Ice Cream for breakfast Day.  While it may not be chocolate cake, you can still use Bill's reasoning that Ice Cream has eggs and milk.  You can dish it on a waffle for the wheat.  So, have a little fun today...and start off with some creamy ice cream!!!

National Carrot Day

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By Chef Diane

We have been having some unseasonably warm weather lately, so when it turned a little chilly, I decided to make a pot of chili for me to eat.  Every time I fix chili, it reminds me of a friend of mine who's wife made him some chili, and put carrots in it.  He loves carrots, but not necessarily in chili.  Carrots are a root vegetable, usually orange in color.  The can be purple, red, white or yellow as well.

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They are very nutritious and crunchy, and every time I think of them, I can see Buggs Bunny asking "What's Up Doc?"  Carrots contain beta-carotene and are rich with Vitamin A. According to Wikepedia.com, Massive overconsumption of carrots can cause carotenosis, a benign condition in which the skin turns orange. Carrots are also rich in dietary fiber, antioxidants and minerals. Ethno-medically, the roots are used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsillitis or constipation.

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Lack of vitamin A can cause poor vision, including night vision, and adding it back into the diet can restore vision.

My husband loved the baby carrots cooked in brown sugar, I prefer eating them shredded and raw as in a salad like carrot raisin salad, or just sprinkled on salad greens. My favorite way to eat them is hidden in a Carrot Cake!

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Today is National Carrot Day, so increase your eye site and much on a few with some dip or cook them in a stew, or bake a cake - the uses are endless!

Did you know that: The average person will consume 10,866 carrots in a lifetime!

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Dream of carrots - it portends prosperity and health; For a young woman to eat them denotes she will contract an early marriage and be the mother of several hardy children!

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