With grandkids on both coasts who LOVE old AND new LEGOs, not to mention my senior mom's OTHER sweet AND great-grandkids who are also fans, LEGOs are a constant source of fun, creative thinking, and comment for this Sandwich Generation granny nanny.
This week, they also ran the gamut of educational wonder to sadness, sorrow, and actual tears on the part of one of my grandkids! The educational part was the pleasure of enjoying a program, the Ultimate Factories – LEGO, put on by National Geographic. A very interesting show for my grandson and I enjoyed it as well.
Sadly, that was followed with the very upsetting news that one of his favorite websites – LEGO Universe – is closing it's virtual doors permanently in about a month. They've apparently refunded all the fees and it is supposed to be open – including its premium site – to all for the remaining days but we weren't even able to do that successfully. I'm not sure if the issue was on their side or ours but it was a definitely frustration.
Coming on top of the sad news about Picnik.com also migrating PART of their tools to Google+ and closing down as well, it wasn't a fun tech week for this Sandwich Generation family. I have been busy learning new tips and tricks for the photos from my easy to use digital camera AND iPhone camera that I hope to be sharing with y'all over the next few months. And my grandkids were consoled somewhat with playing on Jumpstart.com along with some very fun new iPhone game apps for kids, like Dragonvale, not to mention playing with their actual LEGOs, so it wasn't all a totally depressing week. But still… So if you have LEGO-loving grandkids who have enjoyed LEGO universe, I wanted to make sure you were also aware of this. And in the meantime, I'll keep researching great options and reporting back to you. Don't forget…
Depression! It can hit all ages, can't it? I was mildly depressed when I discovered my favorite, easy to use editing tool, Picnik.com – perfect to help me with pictures from my digital camera – was closing up and partially moving to Google + (yes, I do take my tech goodies a little too seriously at times, but really – this is costing me a TON of time to find a replacement, so it is a bit of a big deal. ). One of my grandkids was in tears over similar geeky news in his world this week (more on that tomorrow – and yes, he's doing fine! ). And for the Sandwich Generation, caring for elderly parents, we well know that depression can also impact our aging parents.
Whether it is over the loss of a beloved spouse, being alone so much, or having to move from their beloved home to a family member's home or a senior care residence, depression can definitely be a big factor in all of that.
If your senior parent is taking, or thinking of taking, medication for their depression or anxiety, do have them be extra cautious. I had already heard that Xanax was a cause for concern for a beloved senior citizen as they are more likely to fall due to it. Now there is important news for seniors about Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) that are often prescribed for depression – they, too, are causing more falls among the elderly – particularly those with dementia – At Dementia Today, I read, "However, now it is being said that SSRIs make a person suffering dementia to fall quite often which could lead to his death. As per the research, the risk of this kind of medication is three times more than that caused by using conventional dementia drugs."
Holidays are over, winter – full of wild weird weather – is fast upon us, and with health issues, money issues, and all the other issues that are bound up in the multigenerational Sandwich Generation family, it's easy for us to sometimes slow down, grow weary, maybe even struggle with depression over a variety of issues – like finding out my fave photo editor site, Picnik, is closing – or my grandchild's fave website, LEGO Universe is closing (Can you tell it's been a tough tech week for us ). But Paul, and this sweet little grandcat are here to remind us…
Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. Galatians 6:9
Sigh! DEEP SIGH!HUMOUNGOUS DEEP SIGH with a tear or two dribbling down my cheek! No no no – it's not over a person. It's not even over a football team (though I hear tell that mega tears were shed over the games this past weekend – many by men!) Nope! This Sandwich Generation is mourning the upcoming loss of one of my very favorite and sooo easy to use tools! Picnik.com – the wonderful photo editor I love – so easy to use and it makes made my photos from my digital camera look so good so quickly and easily…. is being shut down in 3 months! Even my granddog is sorrowful for me!
Now mind you, I have a Mac. It comes with iPhoto. I tried to figure that out two years ago – and had such a hard time. That's when I found Picnik and never looked back. Now, it's time to find a new photo editor so I went back to looking at iPhoto. I did better! I found a handy dandy little instructable that helped me figure out how to crop. But apparently, you still have to leave the program and go through a regular "rigamarole" just to add text to the picture. And don't even ask me how to add one picture on top of the other. Not to mention all the cute little stickers and other goodies offered by Picnik.
They are still open for three months and supposedly you get the whole shebang for free. Anyone who paid for the premium (me) has or will receive a refund which was nice. But when I went to use it today, even though they say we can use premium, it would only let me upload 5 photos at a time instead of as many as I wanted (like I used to be able to do). It took me three times as long to edit a photo as normal! For a busy Sandwich Generation granny nanny trying to squish everything in to the few spare minutes I have each day, that won't work well! And that definitely makes me feel like the young man in this photo!
They are also supposed to be adding all the capabilities to Google+ which I DO use and love, but I'm not sure it will be exactly the same. Time will tell there. Then again, not everyone uses or wants to use G+, although it is quite handy and easy to use.
SOOOOO I am on a hunt to find another very easy to use photo editor for myself AND to share with any of you who also have that as a need. AND if you have already found such a treasure, please share it with all of us. Whether we are in the Sandwich Generation or not, that is something that is just plain a necessity for those of us who love our easy to use digital camera but who may not be that great at using the really good photo editors like Photoshop or Photoshop Elements or who don't necessarily need THAT much power. What do you think? In the meanwhile, don't forget to check out some good tips at Sweet Shot Tuesday. And to keep updated…
Words With Friends - such a fun game for all ages and yes, that includes boomers like us AND many of our senior parents in our Sandwich Generation families.
My senior mom is NOT a "tech-happy" or "tech-interested" person, preferring books, long walks, and gardening any old time. But I have a few other tech-loving seniors in our family and, while not all have iPhones, there are a couple of other fun options for them like:
Apple iPad2. Yup! The Words With Friends game apps work on this handy-dandy and senior-friendly gizmo that also lets our senior parents enjoy fun and easy "Face-time" with grandkids, read books in type font that works well with their aging eyes, and even do fun and easy research projects online – like look up the recipe from today's Rachael Ray cooking show. I do not have one of these myself and have only occasionally test driven a friend's, but various reports keep indicating that these are much easier for seniors to use! So, if they have them, they can also enjoy exercising their brains with fun word game apps like Word With Friends.
Facebook. Another option that I have NOT tried, and probably won't as I'm quite happy playing on my iPhone. But for a couple of my sweet seniors who don't have iPhones but do have Facebook – this would be an great thing for them to test out, as I'm planning on telling them as soon as I finish typing this. They'll be able to enjoy a fun brain exercise with delightful social notes back and forth.; Definitely a double blessing for them both and others besides.
So how about you and your Sandwich Generation family? Have you tried Words With Friends on Facebook or an iPad? If so, we'd love to hear about it.
We're so blessed by our friends and family, aren't we? And my family has been thoroughly enjoying the Words With Friends game apps lately – exercising our brains while having fun with close ones, near and far. But best of all is our very best Friend – our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's one of the sweet old Christian hymns sung by a young Larry Ford along with Bill Gaither and the Gaithers Homecoming Tour Friends, What a Friend We Have In Jesus. I especially appreciated hearing the story behind the song that Larry Ford shared at the beginning. This is definitely a sweet treat for our whole Sandwich Generation family!
"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. "You are My friends if you do what I command you. "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you." John 15:12-15
Such rich blessings from the Word of God and from Bill Gaither and the Homecoming Tours friends for us to share with our grandkids AND our senior parents, don't you think? Lovely and encouraging Bible verses and praise and worship music for our Sandwich Generation family to enjoy. A fun way of leaving a sweet spiritual legacy! Have a blessed Spiritual Sunday!
Dictionaries, dictionaries, dictionaries! It's definitely been the week for them in my Sandwich Generation family! My senior mom always has her light-weight, large-print paperback dictionary handy and loves it. She uses it whenever she writes her cards and notes to her friends and family and wouldn't trade it for nothin.'
My granddaughter needed a dictionary for a special project this week. I suggested adding the dictionary app I have to her iTouch that she received at Christmas but she wanted a hard copy. I had recently lucked into a not-too-old used set of encyclopedias from the library for a whopping $2! I thought it had a dictionary with it, but when we looked – no luck. Later that day, I took her home and we checked in her room. Guess what! I had already given it to her and it was sitting on her bookcase just waiting for this project.
My grandsons are loving their new home schooling computer program they work on daily and this week, one was even learning all about dictionaries and encyclopedias.
And I, the Sandwich Generation granny nanny, have been having a blast with many in my family playing the Word With Friends game apps and exercising all our brains. It's been a very busy two weeks, but playing those words are easy to sneak into the seconds we spend standing in line and give me a bit of fun and a huge smile as I virtually giggle with friends and family.
As a result of our games-playing, I added some new dictionary apps to my already useful and free Dictionary! app:
Word Lookup is a dictionary and anagram finder for word games like Words With Friends, Scrabble, and crossword games. Use it to resolve a 'challenge,' improve your game, and learn new words and their meanings. There is both a free version and an upgraded version for 99 cents.
WordWeb - An English dictionary and thesaurus: fast searching, spelling suggestions, definitions, usage examples, synonyms, related words – and no ads. Free app.
The Free Dictionary by Farlex – as it says, it's a free app and it's great!
I also have two medical dictionaries that come in handy with caregiving AND Words With Friends:
MedAbbreviations: Medical Abbreviations Reference – Provides instant access to over "thirteen thousand" abbreviations, including medical terms, common shorthand, and professional associations and organizations. Provides fast search and fast scanning. 99 cents. It's an excellent app that helps us understand the different abbreviations that may up with medical treatments
Medical Dictionary online – I bookmarked this to my iPhone home page – it's a very handy site, as well.
All these dictionaries are quite useful to most, if not all of us, in the Sandwich Generation – whether for our grandkids, our senior parents, our medical needs, or just plain having fun with brain exercise games like Scrabble, Hangman, Boggle, or the Words With Friends game apps. There are many other apps, as well – many of which can actually "do the work" of figuring out the words to help us win. But I generally skip those, as I want the brain exercise – for myself AND for my grandkids. How about you? And have you got any great dictionary resources to share with us? We'd love to hear.
Think fun iphone games like the popular Words With Friends game apps are just for the young? The latest Baby boomer and senior citizen news says otherwise!
My grandkids and I love the Words With Friends game apps for fun with phonics activities & resources. Today-it’s also helping with Bible memory verses for the grand children!
Too cold for the Sandwich Generation granny nanny & grandkids outside so we’ve enjoyed Words With Friends game apps-great fun with phonics and reading practice!
What is the Words with Friends free and paid game apps for the iPhone, Android, or iPad? Join the Sandwich Generation granny nanny this week and find out!
Often, it’s the simplest tips for taking care of our elderly parents that can be a BIG help. As a member of the Sandwich Generation, I’m always on the lookout for those helpful hints.
All kinds of multigenerational fun in our Sandwich Generation family-science fair projects to senior gardening to easy crafts for seniors & grand kids.
Encourage one another and build up one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
PRACTICAL RESOURCES FOR THE SANDWICH GENERATION:
Studies are showing that iPads make great gifts for the elderly parents, as well as our grandkids. As this headline from BusinessWeek proclaims, "Seniors love the ease of use the tablet offers!" How about yours?
My Senior Mom’s favorite clothing store – She loves her Blair Fleece Jacket
The easy to use Canon Powershot digital camera is my favorite way to save your family memories
Then share them just as easily with Smilebox
Search Amazon from the comfort of your SandwichINK
Help for those Caring for Elderly Parents w/ Alzheimers Disease, Other Dementia Symptoms, and Memory Loss
Encouraging Bible verses and Wisdom for the Sandwich Generation
Dealing with grief and loss issues? An excellent book full of encouraging Bible verses and devotions!
Valuable legal-medical info for the Sandwich Generation
With grandkids on both coasts who LOVE old AND new LEGOs, not to mention my senior mom's OTHER sweet AND great-grandkids who are also fans, LEGOs are a constant source of fun, creative thinking, and comment for this Sandwich Generation granny nanny.
). One of my grandkids was in tears over similar geeky news in his world this week (more on that tomorrow – and yes, he's doing fine! 
They are still open for three months and supposedly you get the whole shebang for free. Anyone who paid for the premium (me) has or will receive a refund which was nice. But when I went to use it today, even though they say we can use premium, it would only let me upload 5 photos at a time instead of as many as I wanted (like I used to be able to do). It took me three times as long to edit a photo as normal! For a busy Sandwich Generation granny nanny trying to squish everything in to the few spare minutes I have each day, that won't work well! And that definitely makes me feel like the young man in this photo! 
SOOOOO I am on a hunt to find another very easy to use photo editor for myself AND to share with any of you who also have that as a need. AND if you have already found such a treasure, please share it with all of us. Whether we are in the Sandwich Generation or not, that is something that is just plain a necessity for those of us who love our 
