SINGING NOTES OF HAPPINESS!

OHMYGOSH, OHMYGOSH, OHMYGOSH,

OH. MY. GOSH!!!

IT’S DONE…OUR BOOK IS DONE!!!

A little behind schedule, yes, but our latest eBook, The Caregiver Organizer for MY Aging Parent is DONE!!!

The only thing left to do is get it on our website, which will hopefully be completed by the end of the week (you know how techy guys can be sometimes), and then it’s LIVE and FOR SALE!!!

Be sure to watch our Facebook page for a roll-out SALE soon.

We’re so, so proud of this book and can’t wait to share it with everyone.  From the first day of introducing our first book, The Caregiver Organizer for MY Child, people have been telling us this is exactly what they need for taking care of their parents.  We listened and here is the result.

In case you’re new here, it’s not a “how to” book.  The Caregiver Organizer is a way to organize all that information you know about your child or your parent in one convenient place.  So when you need to hire a caregiver to help you from time to time, all your information is in a clear and concise format, and you can relax, knowing your loved one is being taken care of the way you want.

So join us in our celebration!  Feel free to sing your own note of happiness for us!

Karen

Tuesday Tidbit-We do for our kids, why not ourselves?

So to echo Karen's thoughts yesterday, it struck me as odd that when I'm at the doctor with my child, I have absolutely no problem speaking up for them. I am their advocate and they are my charge. Or to say it a little more picturesquely, Mama Bear is in the room and ain't nobody movin' on 'til Mama Bear is satisfied that all of the issues have been addressed.

So why is it that when I go to the doc for myself I can turn into Little Miss Muffet? Seriously. It must be the editor inside me saying,"Now Melissa. Don't be silly. They'll think you're a hypochondriac. You're just over reacting. Don't be such a drama queen!" To the extent that remember that blood test I was getting about a month ago? Well, my doctor had added on another test because I mentioned something and since it had not acted up for a month or so, I promptly scratched that test off the list.

And now, after Karen's experience, I'm thinking that may not have been the best course of action. Hmmmmmmmm.....

If I can speak up for my kids, I can speak up for myself. I'm finding ways to do it more often, and politely, but I must remember to not stand there and just 1.) accept what I'm being fed and 2.) smile and nod when I don't agree. Afterall, I'm just a big kid. So I should have no problem speaking up for myself.

Yours, wondering how I will speak up and still keep it filtered.....

Melissa

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

Today’s blog post is going to be a bit of a digression from what I usually write.  It’s not funny.  It’s not about our upcoming book.  It’s not about caregiving.  It’s about a personal experience that I’m hoping you can learn from.

I mentioned in a recent post that I recently had surgery.  My lesson to you today is to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY and make your doctor listen to YOU.  I knew something was wrong after surgery but my doctor said everything was fine.  The specifics aren’t important, but what is important is that after a week of getting worse, I finally convinced him that what I was saying needed to be checked out.  And guess what?  I was right.  And it was life threatening.

I was admitted to the hospital immediately and everything is fine now, thank goodness.  I shudder to think what could have happened if I had not pursued this.

YOU KNOW YOUR BODY BETTER THAN ANYONE.

DO NOT BE SHY!  INSIST ON TESTS IF YOU FEEL THERE IS A PROBLEM.  If your doctor won’t listen to you, find another doctor.

That’s my lesson for the day.  I promise to be more funny on Wednesday!

Karen

Saturday Sass. . . .

Below, is a friend of mine, a Mr. Bill Filer, who's blog, whit and humor I enjoy throughly. Here are his thoughts concerning those lovely Nigerian Spam Scams...

To the Regal and Generous Kingdom of Nigeria,

I must sheepishly admit that the abundance of your countries riches were unknown to me, that is until I began receiving daily solicitations inviting me to partake in your nation's largess.

Every day thousands of normal citizens, like me, have their in-boxes flooded with once in a lifetime opportunities from your country. By simply following a few short steps, usually involving name, social security number, and bank account information, vast sums of cash can be ours for the taking.

In no geography or economics class taken was there data presented indicating that Nigeria sits atop an inexhaustible supply of money. I fault our educational system. The amazing thing in all of this is if you were able to somehow sum up all the offers received in a given day, the cash prizes we lucky few stand to gain would total 5,467% of your annual GDP, approximately.

To the extent that your financial resources are unlimited, your charity is boundless as well. Clearly, if we're to believe that you indeed possess such wealth, you must have found a place in your government for all of the out-of-work or paroled accountants and financial officers from Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, AIG, Goldman Sachs, and Countrywide Mortgage. For that, we thank you. No unscrupulous corporate raider should be without books to cook and treasuries to bankrupt.

Your country's wealth lies not just in money and charity. Apparently, Nigeria is literally teeming with royalty or near royalty. Every correspondence is tendered sincerely from a King, Queen, or Tribal Chief. Your country should immediately beseech the UN security council for the opportunity to address the world's nations on how to peacefully co-exist with so many heads of state present in one small, small geographic area.

The embarrassment of riches does not end there. Clearly your royal and most wealthy countrymen are all gifted with quite a turn of phrase. Just yesterday I received an inquiry from one of the multitudes of Royalty with "Kindly and Generous Most High Person of Interest" as the salutation. Several weeks ago, an inquiry received from an eager tribal chief read "Your humble regards to urgency is appreciated utmost" and "to the heart of worlds and love is all unkept in Godly fashion." Just let me state, for the record, that if Keats or Wordsworth were alive today, they would openly weep at beauty and passion and artistry displayed in your electronic communication.

Untold riches, charitable, regal, and creatively literate, you Nigeria are a nation of note and due admiration. Please allow me to speak for the entire country of the United States, weary of computer viruses and tired of hitting the delete key, when I humbly beg you to redirect your kindness to a country more worthy of your resources, reign of nobility, and place among the champions of prose, poetry, and literary works of art.

Shall we say....Albania. Maybe Kazakhstan. Possibly Peru.

Thank you for your kindly and unseen fortitude in homes and hearts a flame with tomorrows decisions in the man made hollows and perpitude.

Bill

When Does it Get to Done?

I have a "to do" list. Several of them in fact. They are divided into categories (currently by which job they apply to) and even color coded in some areas. (Hey- if it's not fun, it doesn't get done!)

My question is, "When does my to do list get to done?"

This is going to require some chocolate chip cookie meditations. Or at the very least, a cupcake from my friend's baking service. I had her Mexican Cupcake on Monday evening. I'm ruined. Simply ruined! you can check out her tasty treat here at Pisa Cake!

Yours, off on a cupcake hunt,

Melissa

The Unexpected

One of my closest lifelong friends is preparing to adopt. It's been a huge decision for her and her husband. There's a lot of hoops to jump through, and nothing is guaranteed. Last night, she was over for a gathering of friends, and she began asking so many questions about raising kids and parenting and what it's like..

"The best that I can tell you is this," I said." It's 75% really, really hard work. And some days you don't know top from bottom. But the other 25% is so incredibly sweet, that it makes the other melt away. And it's usually those moments out of the blue..."

Like yesterday, when I was in the car with Z1. He was being such a gem- I altered his schedule and it required him to run to work with me and he just grabbed a book and said,"Okay." I was driving and said,"Son, what did I do to get so lucky to have a boy like you?"

Without missing a beat he said,"You were just being you, Mom. And that's enough."

I think he's golden for a while. :-)

Yours, reveling in the unexpected,

Melissa

THIS IS WHY HE DOESN’T GO GROCERY SHOPPING…

I recently had surgery.  Nothing major, but enough to keep me down for a couple of weeks (thanks, Melissa for picking up the blogging slack!).  One of the areas that my husband needed to take over was the grocery shopping.

Let me just sidetrack here and say, not only do I not EVER send him to the grocery store, but I don’t even let him come with me. It’s worse than having the kids with me.  Really.  Because I can’t really say “no” to him when he puts something in the basket like I can to the kids!

So he comes home from his little excursion, with this HUGE smile on his face, SO proud of himself, and all I can think is “Uh oh!”

“I spent $200” he tells me.  “Um, on what, honey?”  “All sorts of really great stuff!”  I start looking in the bags.  I see frozen pizzas, boxes of sugar cereals, bags of miniature donuts, Bagel Bites, more pizzas, UGH!

Then he tells me, “And then I see ALL THESE FOODS that all you have to do is take them out of the freezer and put them in the microwave and you have dinner.  WOW!  Look at this lasagna I got!”  I don’t even try to explain to him the nutritional content of prepared foods, I just let him ride his high for a while!

So a few days later, one of my neighbors was nice enough to go back to the grocery store and get me some milk, fruit, veggies, you know, the staples that should have been included in that $200 my husband spent.

I let him think he did a great job before I burst his bubble, but he’s still not convinced that the lasagna wasn’t a great find.  And it was pretty good!

Karen