Gingerbread House Patterns

Wow friends and family this holiday season with beautiful, edible architectural gingerbread wonders. They're classic Christmas decor and fun to create alone or with family. Free patterns give you a basic structure to start with and the rest of the decorating ideas are open to your imagination.

CLICK HERE TO GET STARTED!

Pictures of Short Hairstyles for Gray Hair

Need some inspiration for your next hairdo? You might find it in this gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to visit the gallery.

Free Computers for Seniors

Senior citizens who want to keep up and be engaged in the multiple benefits of technology can find free or low-cost computers if they can't afford the usual retail prices. Look for access to free computers from local and national corporate-sponsored programs, the government, nonprofit organizations that help the elderly or computer recycling enterprises.

READ THIS ARTICLE to learn more (including lists of possible resources for free computers).

110 Activities for Elderly & Seniors [Ultimate List]

You've just uncovered the ultimate list of activities for elderly & seniors where you'll find endless and entertaining ways to pass time, get involved, and discover new passions.

FIND THE LIST HERE.

Licorice lovers beware: FDA warns eating too much may have dangerous side effects

I have always HATED black licorice and red licorice was barely tolerable.

"On Monday, the FDA issued a consumer update advising candy eaters who are 40 years of age or older to limit their gorging of black licorice to a maximum of two ounces (about three 1-inch pieces) a day — or risk hospitalization from an irregular heart rhythm or arrhythmia."

READ THE STORY HERE.

A Bummer Morning

Every Friday morning,my sister drives to my house and we go out for breakfast. It's usually my only time to get together with her (plus, she does drive me to a monthly doctor's appointment). Those weekly get-togethers mean a lot to me.

But, I have severe sleep apnea and just generalized sleep issues. I actually fell asleep last night about 10 p.m. At some point after that,my Mexican family that lives here in my house came home and they banged on my bedroom door to tell me the wife had spent all day at a friend's house making hand-made tamales. They know I love them.

I couldn't say no without hurting their feelings so I dragged my sleepy self to the kitchen and got two tamales. They tasted wonderful but being that sleepy and already having eaten dinner, I could only manage a few bites. The family doesn't know I threw most of them out. I had to.

And now I am awake for the rest of the night. Once I go to sleep, if you wake me up, I can't get back to sleep for many hours.

The only morning of the week where I need to be wide awake by 9 A.M. is Friday morning. I know my sister is coming.

I finally nodded off about 4 A.M. and woke up about 7:30 A.M. By "wake up" I don't mean my brain or body was really awake. I just had to go pee and my swollen legs were threatening to go charley horse cramping on me so I had to stand up on them.

After taking my morning meds, I knew the next thing was to get a cup of coffee but I saw it was now close to 8:00. I needed at least an hour of sitting with coffee and letting my lungs un-collapse themselves and my sinuses to recover from the wind tunnel torture device known as a CPAP machine. I was feeling very shakey and wobbly and I wouldn't feel strong enough to take a shower for at least another hour. Exactly when my sister would be arriving to go out for breakfast. I wasn't going to make it.

I had to call my sister before she left her house. I felt so bad because I was really looking forward to seeing her.

I'll take naps later today but it makes the whole day seem dreary when it starts out on a bummer.

Oh well.

A Good List for Emergency Preparedness for Older People

"Each person's needs and abilities are unique, but every individual can take important steps to prepare for all kinds of emergencies and put plans in place. By evaluating your own personal needs and making an emergency plan, you can be better prepared for any situation. A commitment to planning today will help you prepare for any emergency situation."

TO VIEW THE LIST(S), CLICK HERE.

Age pays: 43 senior discounts, some starting at age 50

Aging doesn't always have its perks, but this list of discounts might add some pizzazz to the fact of getting older. Starting at age 50, the minimum age for AARP membership, seniors may cash in on numerous deals just for being born on or before the date required for the bargain. Simply flash an ID to collect on most discounts, although some apply only to AARP members and some are offered only by select chain franchisees.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS ARTICLE.

Stay tuned for more opportunities for discounts!

Do You Remember Yardley Cosmetics? I loved this stuff.

A WRITER'S RESOURCE (for ALL writers)

Are you a writer... of anything? Would you like a massive resource of useful links related to just about any kind of writing you can think of?

Resources for novelists, screenwriters, short story writers, poets, young writers...

Resources for getting published, magazine article writing, how to find an agent, subject matter references...

Story starters and prompts, character links, genre links...

And much, much more!!!

CLICK THIS LINK to discover a wonderful resource!

The most famous company founded the year you were born

Making a business work over the long term is a major challenge. Research shows the majority of start-ups fail within five years and the companies that do survive can struggle to make a profit. But these long-lasting enterprises have had no such problems.

Click ahead to discover the most famous business founded the year you were born.

Okay, it's kind of sucky that I ache and feel draggy in the mornings and only by taking a Tylenol-3 do I come back around to feeling human. Well, that and two cups of coffee.

It just doesn't seem right that I should have to rely on external and/or artificial means (like medication) to feel "normal." 

When my Mom was alive, one of her physical therapists told me that pain is a most unnatural state. Pain should be treated as an official disease and just as you'd take medicine for other things and not weird out about it, so should you do what you got to do to get rid of the "pain disease."

For me, it's not ONLY pain that's an issue.  Ladies, you will understand this... you know that all-over feeling-like-crap feeling you got with your period? Yeah. That. I wake up with that or it sometimes drags me down throughout the day (and I haven't had a period in over 20 years). The Tylenol-3 helps make that go away, too. 

I must be doing something right because nowadays, I only need Tylenol-3 in the mornings. It used to be that my back was in so much agony all the time, I had to take the Tylenol-3 every several hours.

It's also a puzzler to me how coffee has a magical way of smoothing things out. I'm just glad that it does.

Do You Know What Only Baby Boomers Remember?

Baby Boomers know a lot of things and remember a lot of things, but some of these things are unknown to the generations that followed! In this quiz, we'll test your knowledge of things that Baby Boomers know and understand. When you're done, feel free to put on a Beatles record.

TAKE THE QUIZZ HERE.

89-year-old evicted from her home rescued from homelessness by her neighbors

89-year-old Angie Tyma from Houston, Florida was evicted from her home and was living in at a Days Inn hotel, pondering what her next decision would be.  The unexpected 3-week reprieve from the home she was renting was the result of the owner, whom she herself had sold the house to a few years ago, having stopped paying the mortgage.

Tyma had been a widower for 20 years and it had been that long since she had anyone helping to pay the monthly mortgage. That’s why she eventually sold the home and rented rather than owned the property. When foreclosure proceedings began, she didn’t know what to do, but she never expected that she would be evicted from her long-time home. That is, however, exactly what happened.

This was not just a place to live for Tyma. It was her home of 35 years. “They threw me out,” Tyma told Today in an interview. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Tyma never dreamed she would be evicted from her home, and at her advanced aged it was a surreal experience. “I went through hell and back,” she said.

READ THE ARTICLE AND WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

Graham-Cassidy Bill, The Last-Ditch GOP Effort To Deprive Millions Of Healthcare

First, the bill ends current protections on discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions . This is critically important, as it affects 52% of adults under age 65.

Next, the current prohibition against lifetime limits on benefits would be lost. This would be particularly devastating to premature babies, those with disabilities, the rare disease community, and cancer patients.

Another “gotcha”, is that insurers would no longer have to provide “essential services.” These currently include: 

Emergency services
Hospitalization (like surgery and overnight stays)
Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care (both before and after birth
Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (this includes counseling and psychotherapy)
Prescription drugs
Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills)
Laboratory services
Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
Birth control coverage

Medicaid would be cut, particularly hurting poor children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Medicaid expansion will end. This has helped provide care to more low-income adults than were previously eligible; the subsidized care for moderate-income families will disappear entirely under this proposal.

The public should demand that their representatives tell them how this bill would impact them, and allow open debate and consideration, rather than railroading this destructive bill through.

You can find your representative’s number here or by calling the Capitol's switchboard at 202-224-3121. For future reference, or to complain about their vote, here's Senate contact info.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE HERE.

Gene Pitney - Who else loved this guy?

Gimme a kiss! Or else!

The booking mugshot of 92-year-old Helen Staudinger is seen in this handout released March 23, 2011. The central Florida woman fired a semi-automatic pistol four times at her 53-year-old neighbor's house after he refused to kiss her, police said on Tuesday.

(REUTERS/Courtesy of Marion County Sheriffs Office/Handout)

Low Vitamin B12 Level in Elderly May Spur Dementia

Low vitamin B12 levels may be to blame for some cases of poor memory and cognitive decline in the elderly, a new study suggests.

The analysis of 121 people found that those with lower vitamin B12 levels scored worse on cognitive tests, and had smaller brain volumes as revealed by MRI scans. Shrinking brain volume has been linked to dementia in other studies.

"Every single marker of low vitamin B12 was correlated with low brain volume," said study researcher Christine Tangney, a clinical nutritionist at Rush University in Chicago.

"As folks get older, their guts change in their ability to absorb vitamin B12," Tangney told MyHealthNewsDaily. "For many people, the reason is that their stomach acid production is reduced." You need acid to break down the bonds between vitamin B12 and proteins, so older people may need more vitamin B12 as they age, and may be more likely to be deficient in the vitamin, she said.

In a normal brain, vitamin B12 allows cells to form new connections, a process that allows memory formation. B12 is also a vital component of myelin — the coating that protects many brain cells. These roles of B12 could explain why low levels of the vitamin lead to dementia or memory loss, the researchers said.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

A new fitness band can tell you exactly how dehydrated you are and how much water to drink

In the same way your eye uses incoming light to create a visual image, the LVL band shines near-infrared light into your body, which then comes back to the band in the form of a spectroscopic image — essentially a fingerprint from inside your bloodstream. Software in the band analyzes that information to measure specific biometrics, like heart rate and hydration level.

Throughout the day, the LVL band gives wearers a small vibration to notify them when their hydration levels are getting low. A smartphone app that accompanies the band offers an estimated dehydration level, say "18% dehydrated," and advises you to drink a certain amount of water accordingly.

Over time, Freckleton says, the app will learn when you tend to exercise and go to bed and calibrate its recommendations based on those behavior patterns. For example, you might get a notification encouraging you to drink 12 ounces of water two hours before your regular workout time, so that you're in the best state possible to exercise.

Later that night, you might get another notification reminding you to drink 10 ounces before bed, to keep you hydrated as you go 6-8 hours without water.

READ MORE BY CLICKING THIS LINK.

RANDOM MEMORY -- When the Bad Kids Were Treated Like Royalty and the Good Kids Were Ignored

When I attended Patrick Henry Junior High School in Granada Hills, California from 1962-1965, I was automatically assumed by the adults (teachers and administrators) to be one of the "good" kids. I think they made this assumption based on the fact that I was quiet and smart and good grades were easy for me. 

I remember in eighth grade, I was in a program of getting high school level college prep credit for certain classes either because I took a test or because I was already way past my own grade level. That, and going to summer school every summer meant that I could have graduated high school by the end of tenth grade.

So, I was a good kid. And, that meant I could be ignored. Oh, she'll never cause any trouble so we don't even have to think about her. The reality was that I required even greater challenges. I loved my teachers who understood this. 

One teacher challenged me to stand in front of the class and recite the names of all the U.S. Presidents in chronological order. After a couple of days of study, he called me to stand in front of class. Not only did I recite the Presidents, I also recited their Vice-Presidents, their main political opponent and the prevailing issue or scandal of the election. Overachiever? Maybe. But, I was being a smartass. On purpose. It was fun.

Another teacher said his maps were getting old and worn and if I wanted to help, then I could start with drawing and coloring a map of Europe. Oh. Did I say a map? He wanted a series of maps of different eras - today's Europe, medieval Europe, and so on. Then, I had the same task for the United States to show different eras in our history. My maps were perfection.

I probably would have drifted through all of school like that, being somewhat bored, grades coming easy, just floating. I didn't have much emotional investment in school. 

Then one day, I saw a sight that my eyes could barely believe. The school principal and the Boy's V.P.were leading around a group of boys who were the worst juvenile delinquents in our school and they were being treated like visiting royalty, being coddled in the extreme. They were going to eat for free at the school cafeteria, watch a movie, told they could have a free period or be allowed to be late to classes (so they could smoke cigarettes inbetween classes out on the gym field). They were being given carte-blanche to be bad boys but they had to stay in school and leave any fighting or other harmful behavior outside school gates.

I know all the details because not only did I see the V.I.P. tour, one of the bad boys in it was one of my best friends. 

Ha. Didn't see that coming did you, all you adults? Little Pattie hung out with the juvenile delinquent crowd. I learned how to hold my beer, how to hot wire a car, how to "maintain" when pulled over by the police, where to hang out on Hollywood Blvd. and lots of other great bad kid stuff.

I wasn't getting any coddling or V.I.P. tours or massive effort to keep me interested in school. Because it was assumed I was a good kid and didn't require the extra effort.

I resented that. Extremely. I had a crazy image in my mind of shooting my hand up and jumping up and yelling, "Hey! Over here! I'm a bad kid, too!" Just because I thought I deserved at least equal effort and equal attention. 

Why did the bad kids deserve the royal treatment and the rest of us didn't? That just wasn't fair. Not right at all.

And it still kind of pisses me off.

Memories of the 1950's

Get Ready! Medicare Will Mail New Cards to 60 Million People

Medicare is getting ready to issue all 60 million of its beneficiaries new cards with new ID numbers as way to combat identity theft and fraud.

The rollout begins next April, but the agency is already beginning its outreach campaign.
"We want to make this process as easy as possible for everybody involved," said Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, on a conference call Thursday.

The agency has set up a website, is sending out handbooks to all enrollees, and has call centers ready to answer questions from beneficiaries and doctors.

Until now, Medicare used people's Social Security numbers. But Congress in 2015 passed a law requiring the agency to change that as a way to protect seniors from identity theft. The new identifiers will be a randomly generated sequence of 11 numbers and letters.

READ MORE BY CLICKING HERE.

Ann Frank Quotes

14 brainteasers and riddles only smart people can solve

Who doesn't love the feeling of satisfaction you get after you solve a brainteaser? While intellectual jokes can be understood in seconds, riddles take a bit longer to unpack, which makes the payoff even better.

INSIDER combed through Reddit to compile a list of challenging logic problems, word puzzles, and more.

You'll see the answers to most of these brainteasers in the caption below each picture. Scroll down slowly to avoid seeing the solution too soon.

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW SMART YOU ARE AND TO HAVE SOME FUN!!!

Social Security Facts

These tips will help older adults avoid life-threatening falls

The likelihood of falling – with potentially serious consequences – increases in old age. About 30% of people over 65 fall at least once a year, according to Dr Clemens Becker, a specialist in clinical geriatrics.

Since bones tend to weaken with age, there’s a greater risk of fractures after tripping and falling. A hip fracture, for example, can be life-threatening.

Read more at http://www.star2.com/family/2017/09/01/tips-will-help-older-adults-avoid-life-threatening-falls/#1MKc0CISFLY0TjLO.99

Here's a website that might come in handy. It's called Scambusters and can help keep you up to date on scams, identity theft, urban legends... don't get fooled! Check things out first by CLICKING THIS LINK.

Howdy! I sort of gave up this blog for a long time after a great deal of stress and crises in my life. First, there was the very real fear of losing my home. I had no clue how to survive as a homeless person. Where was I supposed to go? Where do I sleep when my medical needs require an electrical outlet for my life support equipment? And how do I walk out the front door and leave behind all my sentimental family treasures? Things that belonged to my mother, grandmothers and great-grandmother... my mind couldn't wrap around leaving it all behind to be homeless. I took care of my mother here for 30 years. She was bedridden,on oxygen, on a tube feeding the last few years. I still feel her presence here. It comforts me.

To be clear, it wasn't that I couldn't afford mortgage payments. That was doable even with my meager social security income. What I couldn't afford was to pay my property taxes. It got right up to the edge of five years, the deadline for when your house is put up for auction.

I had no choice but to get a reverse mortgage. I'm still not sure if that is a good thing but it paid off my property taxes and the remaining mortgage and it's given me a little extra money every month. Plus, my home has been remodeled top to bottom.

Then there was the stroke I had on New Year's Day 2014. I guess I would call it a mild stroke. My speech was not affected but to this day,my left arm and hand are still not 100% reliable. It took me 18 months to train my left arm and hand to cooperate in putting a shower cap on my head. I still can't trust that left hand to carry a cup of coffee. But, mostly, I rebuilt my life.

And now, there's some funny business going on with my heart. I get palpitations and a whirry fluttering feeling from time to time. Once in a great while, the fluttery feeling shoots up into my brain and makes me woozy. My pulse which is normally rapid races up to 197 and sustains there for several hours. This has only happened two or three times in the last couple of years. I do avoid going out for fear that it might happen when I am out in public. In fact, the first time it happened, I was driving my car so I pulled into the nearest parking lot. I was able to get out of my car and stagger into the CVS pharmacy and flop down into a patio chair on sale. I thought I was going to black out. It had been an extremely hot day and I was sweating too much and not drinking enough water so I think those were contributing factors.

Anyway, I kind of lost my mental oomph to keep a blog going. Here I am now. I think I will maybe add stuff of interest to seniors here from time to time. I haven't completely lost my spirit.

I'm still here.

Me, my sister, and brother cerca 1956 or thereabouts.