Runs/Walks in Kansas City: Trolley Run April 24, 2018

What: Trolley Run

When: Sunday, April 29, 2018 at 7:45 a.m.

Where: 75th and Wornall is where it starts, and it concludes on the Country Club Plaza

Trolley Run is the largest annual fundraiser for the Children’s

 Center for the Visually Impaired. All funds raised from the

 race go toward critical programming at the center.

Check the link (above after WHAT) for more info!

P.S. I get my info from the fabulous KC Running Company website.

On a personal note, here's my walking story for National Walking Day a couple of years ago with an update.

When you're all done, you'll be hungry! Grab a copy of my Tater Tot Casserole Cookbook and whip up a batch of happiness for dinner!

Turning the Tables: Helping Your Parents Stay Healthy

As your parents get older, it's difficult not to worry about their health. Keeping them happy and healthy becomes one of your top concerns, but you might not want to appear to be too interfering. If you want to help them with their health, make sure you work with them, keeping communication open. You don't want to make decisions for them if they're capable of doing it themselves or at least having some input. Whether they're able to decide things for themselves or they need some help, there are a few things you can assist them with.

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Medical Coverage

Everyone needs adequate medical insurance coverage if they want to avoid having to pay huge medical costs out of pocket. People aged 65 or older can use the government's Medicare program, which offers federal health insurance for retirees and seniors. You can also "top up" Medicare coverage using supplement plans, like the ones at www.gomedigap.com/medicare-supplement-plans/. These plans are standardized, so whichever insurance company you use, you will get the same coverage. Health insurance can always be hard to understand, so lending a hand if your parents are struggling is helpful.

Making Care Decisions

It's not unusual to need some help with care as you get older. You might find that your parents can no longer be completely independent and you need to think about getting them some extra help. These are the types of decisions you can make together, looking at the options and discussing them to find the best choice. You need to think about several factors, including their care needs, affordability, and what's available in your area. It can be a delicate decision because accepting that you need care is often difficult. Try not to rush things and make sure you communicate with each other.

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Helping with Mental Health

Older people are at risk of developing mental health problems such as depression due to a variety of factors. One of the things that can affect mental health is loneliness, as well as not having an active or sociable lifestyle. You can help by spending time with your parents or encouraging them to socialize, perhaps helping by providing assistance with transport or other things. You can also look out for the signs of depression. It's a good idea to be familiar with the symptoms of dementia too. You can find them at https://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp.

Maximizing Quality of Life

A good quality of life can help to prevent a range of health problems. Staying active and social, as well as maintaining a good diet, all contribute to a healthy lifestyle. Your parents don't need to be living with you for you to encourage them to keep up healthy habits. You can encourage them to stay healthy, and help by making it easier for them. For example, if they need help getting around, you could drive them places or arrange transport. If they have trouble cooking healthy meals for themselves, you could help to provide meals with a meal delivery service or someone who could cook for them.

You can help your parents stay healthy in a number of ways. Just make sure you're not being overbearing or stepping on their toes.

Is A NYC Vacation Possible On A Budget?

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If you ask people which destinations they want to see and experience, I’m sure that the majority will answer with New York City. It’s true that this city is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States but, unfortunately, that means that it is also a very expensive city as well. In fact, it has such a reputation for being such an expensive location for tourists, that some travelers are put off from visiting altogether, especially if they are traveling as a family.

Money shouldn’t be a reason to stop you going to NYC, though. In actual fact, it is very possible to enjoy a trip to NYC on a budget. You just need to remember the following tips!

Prepare Your Finances Before You Go

If your finances aren’t in such a good state, it could put a bit of a strain on your vacation. So, it’s a good idea to try and fix them before you head off to NYC. It’s worth checking the Debt Consolidation USA as they have lots of tips to help you get out of debt, and you could also see about consolidating your debt into one easy to handle monthly payment. It’s also worth paying off any credit card bills before you go as well. But be sure not to max out your credit cards again while you are away, as it will only put you in more debt.

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Stay In An Airbnb

Hotels can be incredibly expensive in New York City. In fact, there are a lot of tourists who expect to pay a minimum of $350 per night! No way you and your family can afford that? No problem, you can just book an Airbnb instead. These are much cheaper than staying in a hotel, even if you want to book an entire Airbnb apartment to yourself.

Seek Out Free Entertainment Options

There are lots of free entertainment options in New York City, so you don’t always have to worry about paying for expensive tickets and passes into sights and attractions. For instance, some museums and galleries including the Metropolitan Museum of Art simply ask for an entry donation so you can give as much or as little as you are able to. Other museums, like the American Museum of Natural History are completely free.

Eat During Happy Hours

There are a few budget diners dotted around New York City, but the majority of restaurants and eateries can be quite expensive, especially if you need to feed an entire family. But there is one way around huge bills - you just need to time your meals so they fall into happy hours. Lots of bars and restaurants offer happy hours throughout the day, which involve a lot of deals and discounts. In some cases, you might even be able to half the standard restaurant bill by eating during happy hour.

As you can see, visiting New York City doesn’t have to completely bankrupt you. There are ways to keep it cheap!

Reborn baby dolls – An important piece of Americana

Throughout history, various toys have been created. Every civilization made toys according to the technology that was present at the time. In fact, some of these items have historical value, teaching us how people lived during that period.

When it comes to toys, you might think that video games or plastic guns are the real American legacy. This is not true. Although other countries also had dolls throughout history, they reached their peak in the US. Nowadays, baby dolls are regarded as the American legacy to the world. Some of the most popular dolls are reborn baby dolls, highly collectable items which are popular all over the world. There are big collections of reborns you can find online today.

 

What are reborn baby dolls?

Dolls were created in a human image. Kids could play with them by moving their arms and legs, walking them around, etc. It is a role-play game that was always an important part of growing up for both girls as well as boys (just remember G.I. Joes and other plastic soldiers).

Due to this fact, people who were creating them always tried to add as much realism as possible. This is how reborn babies were created. Reborn baby dolls (or simply reborns) are dolls that are further modified to be more realistic. They are often called lifelike dolls, and this is a pretty good description of the item.

First reborns were created during 1930s when doll lovers started a trend of changing and improving paint, fingernails, hair, eyebrows and adding other small details to already existing dolls. In a way, this was improving the doll.

The trend persisted for quite a while without becoming mainstream. Still, given that dolls were always popular as collectables, some people started noticing reborns more and more because they were much better than other manufactured dolls. Furthermore, every reborn was unique (at least it tried to be) in its own right. This means that once you buy one of these dolls, you will be the sole proprietor of a unique item, which makes them even more valuable in the eyes of doll lovers.

During the 1990s, some of the doll companies started employing reborn artists either part-time or full-time. They started designing lifelike dolls for them, and reborns finally became a mainstream attraction. However, there are some experts who claim that dolls produced this way shouldn’t be regarded as reborns due to their lack of uniqueness. In other words, every reborn should be hand-made.

How are reborn baby dolls made?

On paper, the process of creating reborn dolls is rather simple and straightforward. In practice, it takes a lot of time and skill to master all the techniques. Given that a doll artist has to work with all these small parts, there is lots of opportunity to make a mistake. This is why you need to create lots of dolls until you’ve mastered the process.

Here are some of the things that a person has to do during “reborning”:

·         Disassemble a doll and wash all of its parts

·         Paint all the parts (usually has to be done more than once)

·         Bake the parts in the oven

·         Add hair or mohair

·         Add various small details and accessories

·         Dress a doll

 Initially, artists would use a finished doll to begin the process. With the increase in popularity, doll companies started selling reborn kits. These kits have all the necessary parts as well as tools that an artist needs to create a doll.

It usually takes between 30 and 40 hours to reborn a doll. Sometimes, it might take even more.

When it comes to prices, they are based on several factors such as the popularity of a doll artist, the quality of parts, the overall number of details and so on. The cheapest reborns are around 50 dollars. The most expensive one was sold for more than $20,000!

 

Last thoughts

If you’re looking for something to decorate your baby’s room, you might as well go for reborn dolls. When your baby girl grows up a bit, she can play with them.

Keep in mind that reborns are quite delicate and can easily be broken. So, ideally, you should wait for a bit until you let your child play with them. Of course, there is always an option of keeping them to yourself and starting a collection.

The Questions You Should Ask Before Getting a Personal Loan

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If you’ve never applied for a personal loan before, it is vital that you do your homework and ensure that you get the right product, just like you would do when you’re buying a big ticket item from the store. I mean, personal loans are basically a product, albeit a very different kind than a car, for example, right?

There are numerous online sources, such as Market Review and Money Crashers that can help you get to grips with the basics of personal finance, and personal loans in particular, if that’s what you’re interested in, and you should certainly make good use of them. In the meantime, however, here are a few pertinent questions you should ask yourself before getting a personal loan:

Why Do I Need a Personal Loan?

The number one thing you should ask yourself before you make that application is why you need that loan in the first place. If you know exactly what it is needed for, it will help you to determine exactly how much you should borrow over how long a period, or even whether you should get a loan at all.

It’s unlikely that you’ll be asked your reasons for applying, but some loan companies, especially banks, and especially when larger sums are involved, will ask you why you want the loan, and if you don’t have a good answer, you could end up being declined, so there is that too.

How Much Do I Really Need?

The thing about personal loans is that you have to pay interest on them. I know this is an obvious one, but it is one that too few people think about when they’re applying, but they really should because it can help them narrow down how much they borrow. Another thing that will do that is (obviously) working out how much you actually need so that you don’t end up borrowing too much needlessly and accruing a lot of interest that you could have done without. So, sit down and look at your finances and what you need and then work out to the cent what you need to cover that. Apply for that amount, and that amount only ( no adding a few G’s extra so you can have some fun) and your debt will be much more manageable.

How Much Can I Actually Afford?

This is clearly a crucial question that you should not neglect to ask yourself before you apply for a loan. You need to think about how big that monthly instalment will be and how much interest you will accrue, and you need to look at your accounts/ cash flow and see if you can actually afford it. Taking out a personal loan, when you know you can’t afford the total repayments, or you know that doing so will be tight is never a smart move, but it’s a move that’s so easily made by so many people who simply don’t bother to ask this question and review their budgets for a response.

How Long is the Repayment Period

Some loans you pay back the next month, some you can be paying back for years, and you need to know which you are getting yourself into if you want to be sure that you can pay them back.

When looking at the length of a loan, you should not necessarily be fooled into thinking that 60 month loan is the better option because your monthly instalments will be lower - you should take into account the fact that you’ll probably be paying more interest over that period too - so it’s never clear-cut what you should do but if you do your homework and you behave sensibly, you should be able to work it out and get the best deal for you. Just remember, check the interest!

Is My Credit Good?

You should always find out what your credit score is before you apply for a loan because if you do this, you can apply for lenders who are more likely to be favorable to people in your situation. By doing this, you’re more likely to get accepted, and you won’t end up potentially damaging your credit score further.

Would a Co-Signer Help Me and is It Worth It?

Having someone who is willing and able to co-sign your loan will increase your chances of securing a personal loan, especially if you don’t have the best credit history. However, if things go south and you’re unable to make your repayments, would they really want to be responsible for your debt? Would it ruin your relationship? Is it worth the risk? Unless you desperately need the money and you really are confident you can repay the debt, it probably isn’t a good idea to ask someone to be your co-signer.

Can I Get a Better Deal?

This should be really obvious, but so many people apply for a loan with the first company they find or the bank that they hold an account with without ever looking elsewhere. It might end up working out for them, but it probably won’t. Why? Because there are literally thousands of personal loan companies, so it’s almost guaranteed that there will be one who can do you a better deal. Your job is to seek out and compare as many of the companies you think might be right for you as you can before you make a final decision.

Is the Lender Legit?

Finally, once you’ve worked out how much you can afford and what best options are, you should ask yourself if the lender you’ve chosen is actually legitimate. There are so many lenders out there who, if they aren’t downright fake, operate in a manner that is not befitting of a professional company. The last thing you want to do is end up in debt with a cowboy who will rip you off, put the pressure on and make your life a misery, so check out reviews, ensure that the paperwork is crystal clear and generally just try to get a feel for the company - if you’re uncomfortable don’t sign anything and don’t get the loan.

Ask these questions and act upon the answers and you should have no problem when it comes to personal loans!