Assisted Living Checklist: Things to Check for in an Assisted Living Facility

 Assisted living facilities vary greatly in terms of cost, services offered, types of homes available to residents, location, climate, and more. It’s easy to see how looking for the right assisted living facility can be overwhelming. However, there are a few things that one should look for in every assisted living facility before choosing one. 

• Licensure. An assisted living facility should be licensed by the state’s designated licensing board. Licensure ensures that the facility is clean, up-to-code, has properly trained and licensed staff, and emergency plans (such as for a fire) in place. 
• Culture. For many, an assisted living facility does not just become home, but it is also often the final resting place of aging seniors. That’s why it’s really important that before deciding on a facility, that the culture of the facility is vetted. For example, for some seniors, they will be most comfortable in a religious environment, and would benefit from faith-based assisted living facilities. Other facilities, such as assisted living in Orlando, work hard to create cultures centered around well-being and happiness. 
• Emergency Plans. Finally, before choosing a facility, it’s important to look for solidified plans they have in the case of a medical emergency of your loved one, and non-medical emergencies. Does every room have an emergency call button? How does staff contact family in the case of an emergency? For non-medical emergencies such as a fire or hurricane, does the staff have a safety plan in place that they have practiced? Knowing the emergency plans of a facility are very important to the decision-making process. 

3 Ways To Cut Back Spending And Bump Up Family Income

 Extra money in any family's pocket or piggy bank is always a blessing. It allows parents to save for important events in their kids' future, such as funding driving lessons or paying for college. And it also gives them more room in the budget to spend on vacations and experiences to spend to build lasting memories.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels - CC0 Licence 

Money has a whole host of benefits for you and your family. But if you feel like there's not much room in your budget right now, don't worry; there are three ways below, you can either cut back on spending or bump up your income. 

Benefit Entitlement

Many people in America are unaware that they are entitled to some benefit to help with living expenses. 

There is a range of circumstances that could qualify you for a bump in your income from the government. For instance, if you're on a low income, if you've recently lost a job or if you or someone you live with has a disability. You could be eligible for extra financial support.

And there's help on hand to help with your claims too. For example, if you're struggling to file a disability claim for benefits. The San Diego Disability Law Group can guide you through the process and help you get the funds you are entitled to.

My Life as a Homeschooling Door Dasher

Hi, I'm Kerrie, a Door Dash delivery driver. If you want to give Door Dashing a try after reading my post, just click on the words Door Dash in the previous sentence and sign up! (side note: if you happen to have a remote car starter for your vehicle, it'll make your Dashing career a bit easier.)

I'm 49 years old, have five kids, and I usually have one or more of them with me helping out. We split the money we make 50/50 since they help grab the food and deliver it to the customers, and I just like the time spent driving around with my kids, teaching them the geography of our large city, math, economics, manners, reading, and more.

I'm also a wife, blogger, self-published author on Amazon (check out The Tater Tot Casserole Cookbook: Over 45 Yummy Recipes!), writer of parenting magazine articles, and proofreader. Basically I see myself as a queen of the side hustle and I take each one very seriously. 

The excitement of Door Dashing

Let's say you take a Walmart Grocery Pickup order. You might be able to pick it up quickly or you might sit there waiting for 20 minutes. It might be a small order or it might fill your trunk. After you do the delivery, you might end up with the $5 or $8 or however much you agreed to accept as payment, but then I have had several experiences where hours later I got a $20 tip from the customer in the Door Dash app. 

We love the excitement and surprise of not knowing where we will be asked to go next to pick up food and what the challenges might be. We always advocate for the customer, so if a bag is not sealed and I can tell that something is missing, I make it right at the restaurant. I used to be a waitress, and I used to be a magazine delivery driver, so this is like combining the two 😂

Our first Door Dash experience

The first Door Dash experience was with Samuel, my 11-year-old son, on June 29, 2020, and here's my talk-to-text journal post from that night:

Left the house at 6:40 PM headed for Raymore.

Sam said it would be funny if someone did Door Dashing in a semi-truck. We also think it would be funny to do a movie like Dodgeball but it’s Door Dashing and so it’s like Julia versus the Mcloughlins and we are rivals trying to see who will make the most money that night and get the highest ratings. We picture a lot of high-speed chases and sliding into restaurant parking lots sideways to make good time.

Our first Dash was a pickup at McDonald's (just a McFlurry and a mocha), which we dropped off at a bar and grill to a guy who had been sitting outside on the patio. We got paid $3 from DD and were tipped $2 on the app.

Then we immediately accepted one for Hawaiian Brothers for $5.25 total. They didn't have the drink the customer wanted, so I was able to text the customer directly to ask what he wanted instead, which was convenient. Headed to Lee’s Summit about 20 minutes away with that order.

Got to the house and a teenage girl came out and gave Sam $20 cash for the tip! She said she tried to order from the one in Lee's Summit and didn’t realize I was coming from Belton and I said that’s fine because this is our time together we love doing it. 

Next top was China Star, and I texted the customer to let them know the order was taking a little longer than expected. The delivery location was pretty close in a run-down trailer park. It was a great chance to talk to Sam about not judging people by what they look like, what they drive, or where they live. A tech millionaire could live in that trailer, while we are driving a fancy Buick tonight that we are borrowing from my step-dad because we can't afford to pay for our car repairs just yet.

Hawaiian Bros. again was our 4th Dash and $7 tip probably because we came so far. 

Dash #5 was to SONIC off Red Bridge Road. Such a great way for my kids to learn the city for when they start driving on their own!

$45 for two hours of work sounds pretty good, but then we also have to consider gas and wear and tear on the car. I drive so much anyway that I hardly notice plus gas prices are amazing right now.

Got home at 9:45 p.m. since our Dashes kept taking us farther from home. We'll learn for next time that we can decline orders or pause Dashing until we get back to Belton.

My Experience on ADHD Medication as an Adult

 

I was officially diagnosed ADD at the age of 49 back in August of 2020. Everybody already knew it; I just wanted the confirmation. 

Here's a quote that sums ADD/ADHD up from the book Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., and John J. Ratey, M.D.:

"Having ADHD makes life paradoxical. You can super-focus sometimes, but also space out when you least mean to. You can radiate confidence and also feel as insecure as a cat in a kennel. You can perform at the highest level, feeling incompetent as you do so. You can be loved by many, but feel as if no one really likes you. You can absolutely, totally intend to do something, then forget to do it. You can have the greatest ideas in the world, but feel as if you can't accomplish a thing."

I wanted to share some posts and helps I found on the web when I first started taking Ritalin at the start of December 2020 because being ADD does not mean you can't be successful in life and in business. These are not things you're going to find on that insert your pharmacist gives you with the bottle of pills; this is information from real people who have taken it. Real experiences.  

How to Stock Your Freezer With Meals

 

Photo by Ella Olsson from Pexels

Stocking up on meals takes me to a happy place in my own mind and saves me frustration, money, and time. If you have meals already prepared and frozen, ready to pop in the oven, you won’t be seeing the pizza guy on a weekly basis or going out for fast food when you’ve resolved to feed your family more healthy meals. 

The reward comes when you can pull something out of the freezer in the morning to thaw, knowing dinner will be ready to slip in the oven as you rush off to after-school ball practice or swim lessons.

I don't think we've ever had to call appliance repair on this commercial freezer in over 15 years (but we have had plenty of other appliances that didn't even last a year before needing some work).