2009 was a very busy year for news and 2010 doesn't look like there will be any kind of a slow down! From terrorism in the air to swine flu to the latest info on medications for Alzheimer's Disease, keeping tabs on the news is important for the Sandwich Generation. The problem is finding the time to keep up with all that is going on in between senior home care giving, grandparenting, and living life in general! My senior mom reads the newspaper daily and loves it. I'm staying so busy, I prefer a quicker way to scan the headlines.

My favorite resource continues to be the Drudge Report, however it only gives major headlines, and doesn't stay on top of those as much as I'd like on the weekends. CNN used to be my second favorite news site however they recently upgraded their website. Their changes have led to a site that is flashier, yet lighter on the news headlines. Their site is no longer a good option for me for a speedy news check. I finally decided to search for another option and found my solution just a Google away – literally! In addition to all the other great tools Google offers, they also have a news tool. By going to http://www.google.com/news, you can either read the generic news options available or you can sign in to Google in order to personalize your very own news site.

I'm not going to tell you it's the easiest process, or the fastest, but with a bit of patience on a quiet New Year's weekend, you can have your own personalized news site up fairly quickly. Here's what I put together:

If you can read the words, you might notice two categories that are a bit unusual. Sandwich Generation and Health Issues for Elderly Parents and their Caregivers were topics I created. If you are interested in either of those, I believe you can select "create a custom section" and type each of those titles into the box, "Search for Sections."  It should then pull those topics up for you as welI.

If you give Google News a try, or have already created your own news site there, I'd love to hear what your favorite categories are and if you've created any special topics of interest to the Sandwich Generation. Be sure to sign up for the SandwichINK free email so you don't miss any info or resources for Sandwich Generation senior home care givers and grandparents coming your way in 2010. And have a blessed and beautiful New Year! l.

Are you in the throes of dealing with Swine Flu? Are you wondering if it is still around? Do you think you or one of your aging parents or grandkids has it? First and foremost for the first and last questions is to make sure you call your doctor and get their recommendations.WebMD has a fascinating article on where the latest Swine Flu outbreaks are After you talk to them, if you want more info (or while you are sitting on hold ), and the fact that college campuses are showing up as a signal for the hot spots.

A friend who has been dealing with it commented that he just wanted to know what Swine Flu complications to be concerned about. Turns out WebMD has an article with excellent tips to cover that as well, along with who is most at risk.

For the latest news on what medications are or are not being recommended, you can head over to the Wall Street Journal to read Swine Flu Update: Most People Don’t Need Antiviral Meds. There you’ll find an easy to read and understand summary of the CDC’s newest guidelines about the use of antiviral medication like Tamiflu.  The article also lists warning signs to watch for in children, so if you have a grandchild with the Swine Flu and you want more information after already talking to your doctor, this would be a good resource!

If you don’t have the Swine Flu and the grandkids are coming to visit, Flu.gov has created four short videos with tips for kids on how to prevent Swine Flu and other germs – starring everyone’s favorite Muppet – Elmo!  I bet your grandkids would have fun watching these a few times, and as they do so, some important lessons will wrap themselves around their adorable little brains.   Here’s one:

Be sure to check out the other three at the Flu.gov site.

While there, I discovered they also had a fun contest for the best videos to help educate young and old alike and we get to pick the winner. Educational videos were submitted, the best were weeded out, and now we get to pick our choices for best (or worst). My favorite video was Flu Sounds with Chainsaw as a close runner up. I was looking for ones that will hold a person’s attention while teaching them. These two kept my interest and made me laugh. I’ll stop my TIVO for commercials that make me laugh! That’s why I LOVE The Mac vs. IBM commercials!

Flu Sounds did all that AND got their point across very well. Chainsaw also accomplished all that, but most of the educational meat was at the beginning so I gave Flu Sounds the #1 spot in my voting. My least favorites, being a grandma, included Bagman – Kids might not understand it’s not serious and put plastic bags over their own heads, putting themselves at much worse risk from suffocation than from the flu! I also did not care for Hazmat – as I would rate it (on my conservative grandma scale) PG-13 for a bathroom scene and drinking scene.

You can vote for the Swine Flu prevention videos every day between now and September 16^th.  I just voted for ones listed above. Per their directions, “the order of the videos is randomly generated each time you visit the page. Voting is a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down for each video (at the bottom left of the currently playing video), and you are allowed one vote (up or down) per video per calendar day.” This would be a fun activity to do with our grandkids one or more times during the next few days. They’ll have fun voting AND be learning important health facts while they are at it. As I said above, I would personally avoid Bagman and Hazmat.

Let us know what you voted on and why. We’d love to hear your completely G-rated opinions as well.

And now, I’ll leave you with my two favorite videos from the contest:

Wouldn’t “Tim the Toolman” love that one!

CAREGIVING:

Caregivers’ tips to meet daily challenges from Alzheimer’s Disease International per @Carebuzz.

MindingOurElders’, Carol Bursack, has a great review of two excellent books for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Husband cares for wife with Alzheimer’s at home. Such a bittersweet, loving story from @ALZHEIMERSread . He also has an interesting article, Five Ways to Keep Alzheimer’s Away.

@TinaFightsFire reminds us, “DO NOT smoke when on oxygen!” “An elderly woman and her 66-year-old daughter died in a trailer park fire in northwest Tucson late Friday after a lighted cigarette and medical oxygen combined to spark the blaze.”

Sudden behavioral changes in dementia patients could signify medical issues, such as urinary tract infection. Be sure to call the doctor in this situation. Per @BethPo

Important for ALL AGES: Make sure you read your own medical records and those of your family members you care for!  Per@ mike_gamble.

GRANDPARENTS:

A big thank you to @toothfairycyber for the cute, personalized pillowcase I won! What a  lovely gift for for my granddaughters. Since my east coast granddaughter got the Hannah Montana book I won a couple of months ago, my west coast granddaughters get to have fun with this. We are going to use it as a “special day” and/or “sick day” special pillowcase.    She also has sweet, personalized tooth fairy pillows, complete with pockets for the latest tooth! Very cute!

If you’d like a chance to try to win one of these cute pillows, visit My Household Junk to enter her contest.

Got a brand new grandbaby on the way? Here’s a great solution for the Baby Shower Gift Dilemma – a handmade quilt.

Don’t forget about Twinstock! There are lots of great giveaways going on there!!

SANDWICH GENERATION:

The England newspaper, Daily Mail, has an article about concerns over the medicine for Swine Flu!

It’s good for caregivers to know that patients don’t have to be elderly to qualify for hospice. They just need to be terminally ill and in need of comfort. It’s a great service! Per @ruthannhogue.

Are you feeling crushed by your circumstances? Lynn Mosher has a wonderful article of encouragement, The Sweet Aroma of Crushing.

Speaking of Encouragement – Wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Ps 27.14

Last, but not least, here’s an adorable penguin video.

Wasn’t that a cute “caregiving” story?

Swine Flu. It hasn’t gone nuclear the way they thought it might. It also hasn’t disappeared from the landscape the way we all hoped it would! For Sandwich Generation caregivers dealing with both senior home care for our aging parents and helping with our younger grandkids, particularly any with special needs, it’s definitely something we need to keep our eyes on! For today’s Current Events for Caregivers and Grandparents, I thought it was a good time for an update on informative sites available as tools for caregivers. These are all in addition to my original article, SandwichINK’s Microblog Monday – Swine Flu.

NHSDirect is based in England and has an interesting Swine Flu symptom checker. As they will tell you on their site, if you think you or one of your family members might have the swine flu, it’s best to check with your own doctor as soon as possible. If you absolutely can’t or won’t, at least not right away, this could be a very useful tool. Just be aware that if they tell you to call 999, you would need to call 911 immediately. Unless, of course, you are testing the system as I was.    You’ll be happy to hear that my scratchy throat passed with flying colors, although the traveling gentleman I saw last week definitely needed to call his doctor ASAP!

CDC continues to be a good informational site with a U.S. H1N1 Flu Situation Update map, showing weekly flu activity estimates. As you may know, the CDC announced that “on June 11, 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) signaled that a global pandemic of novel influenza A (H1N1) was underway by raising the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6.” This was due to how much the flu has spread, NOT to how severe the flu is. Per the CDC, “Since the WHO declaration of a pandemic, the new H1N1 virus has continued to spread, with the number of countries reporting cases of novel H1N1 nearly doubling.” According to their site, there have been 211 deaths and 37,246 cases with California, New York, and Texas having the most deaths. Interestingly Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas are the states with the most cases. If you or your family member are concerned about the illness, their swine flu update has several good links for more information.

Our government has created an interesting site. Flu.gov has updates, information, and even a free educational health video we can share with our grandchildren! This could be a good addition to their various homeschooling programs and free is always one of my favorite ways to save money.   You can also sign up for Twitter, Facebook and/or email updates from them. Watch out on the email sign up – be sure you watch closely so that you get only the emails you want and not 50 others you don’t want.

There is definitely lots of great info online for all of us involved with senior home care and grandkids. Hopefully, we will never need it, but it’s a blessing to have the info bookmarked ahead of time. If you have other useful sites, please leave a note in the comments below.

For more Current Events News, visit Julie at The Surrendered Scribe.

CAREGIVERS:

Caregivers, here’s a great tip to help you take care of yourself. Another way to make sure you get your exercise is to take someone along on a walk with you. No one around? Use your cell phone. I now walk almost every day for 30-60 minutes and barely notice it since I am happily chatting away with kids and grandkids! I stay healthy physically and emotionally!

Deciding between in-home health care and assisted living? Read what other boomers have to say at Seniors for Living.

Check Out Flying With Disability Before Flying with aging parents or others with disabilities.

Those dealing with Alzheimer’s Care: Cognitive tests are the ‘first step’ towards an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Elderly adults being readmitted to the Hospital is a Medicare Issue. One that is becoming more and more common!

Excellent advice from ElderCareRN: Avoid monochromatic color scheme in a seniors home to reduce risk of falling and/or injury. Also, avoid clutter and have good light.

Check out the EldercareABC Blog Carnival for more excellent information to help you provide great elderly assistance to your aging parents.

GRANDPARENTS:

More fun 4th of July activities and printables for your grandkids at your family celebration.

Make some interesting popsicles for your grandkids and be the hit of the neighborhood.

SANDWICH GENERATION/BABY BOOMER GENERATION

With all the high-profile sudden deaths it’s time for an important reminder – are you ready to die? Are you taking care of your health property? Have you planned for your families? Including your elderly parents? Have you made a will or living trust? Most important of all, is your relationship right with God? Death can come at any moment with little or no warning. Don’t put off any of the hugs, kisses, and loving notes til tomorrow that you can do today! 

Good news from Prevention with yummy , healthy, and low-cal BBQ recipes

My home warranty company reminds us to use the dollar bill test on our refrigerators. Close the door on the dollar bill. Try to pull it out. If it pulls through easily, we may need to adjust the door or replace gaskets. Now isn’t that a fun money saver idea!

Moomettes Magnificents has her all new and updated contest and giveaway list up and running. Check it out if you are in the market for some fun and free goodies. 

Very Good News – The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock in Whom I take refuge!

For all of us Baby Boomers – Johnny Depp Wants to do a cameo in the 21 Jump Street Movie.

7 Refreshing Summer Salads at Homemaker Barbi’s. Yummy!

Google has created a new search portal where you can go to find out about community service and volunteer options and events.

The BBC is reporting that there is a strain of the Swine flu that “shows drug resistance” to Tamiflu. With this news and the fact that it isn’t going away as quickly as they hoped, we need to be extra careful as we monitor our aging parents and young grandkids!

SANDWICH GENERATION:

Sound Mind Investing has been one of my favorite financial sites since I discovered their book, Sound Mind Investing Handbook . They have a great article for those of us in the Sandwich Generation to share with our parents and work on together, Parents, Organize Your Financial Life — It’s the Loving Thing To Do

Complementing this article is another excellent one for the Sandwich Generation , Achieving Family Harmony in Estate Planning , Part 1:Leave Yr Estate in the Right Hands , by Free Money Finance.

Encouragement – The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Are you making plans for summer travel? Here’s something interesting to think about. The Statue of Liberty is scheduled to reopen on July 4.

Encouragement – Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.

POSTAGE INCREASE : Stamps go up to 44 cents today , Monday, May 11, 2009. “On May 11 the price for a 1-ounce First-Class Mail stamp will increase from 42¢ to 44¢. Prices for other mailing services — Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including Parcel Post), and Extra Services — will also change…prices for most shipping services, including Express Mail and Priority Mail, were adjusted in January and will not change in May.” 

May is a good time to buy appliances as prices are cut for both Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. So if you or your aging parents have worn out any of your appliances, this is the month to watch for sales!

CAREGIVERS:

Caregiving is not just a blessing for the recipient, it is actually very beneficial to us as caregivers as well. Dale Carter found a fascinating article at MomLogic, Caring for Elderly Leads to Longer Life , which describes what researchers at the University of Michigan discovered. Denise Brown conducts an interview with Stephanie Brown, one of the researchers of this study at the University of Michigan. These two resources are interesting, encouraging and eye-opening!

Privacy Concerns for Patients & Their Caregivers: Hackers breach UC Berkeley computer database. Read about medical records that may have been compromised.

Early treatment for stroke is absolutely essential – Stroke & the Golden Hour

100 Million Adults Touched by Alzheimer’s ! per Alzheimer’s Reading Room . Wow!

A useful flu tracker for swine flu . Give it a minute or two to load.

Do you have Lysol in the house ? I do, after reading the article, Lysol Kills Swine Flu Virus .The article also includes links for coupons.

GRANDPARENTS

I had to chuckle at TwinHappyJen’s comment – “ I just still feel like I’m getting hit by a couple of twinadoes every day .” As a grandma of two adorable twins, I know just how she feels and it is so much fun!    Speaking of Twins and TwinHappy, I just wanted to remind you they are sponsoring the TwinHappy carnival . If you scroll down their carnival page, you’ll find a rubber ducky with my name, Kaye, on it linking right back here to last week’s article, Grand Summer Fun for Grandma and Grandkids .

An adorably elfish and fun site for grandparents and grandkids can be found at Aunt Linda’s blog .

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin. That is so true. There are plenty of ways grandparents can invest in their grandkids’ knowledge . Helping with homeschooling resources is one of them. Here are some Homeschool Teacher Helps : Writing Links, Graphic Organizers, Learning Styles, Timelines, and more that you might want to share with your homeschooling kids and grandkids.

Here are some interesting tips, links, and information from Twitter this week for all of us in the Sandwich Generation:

CAREGIVERS:

Preventing the Spread of Swine Flu in Nursing Homes and Senior Centers is an excellent article from Seniors For Living.

A CDC update, Taking Care of a Sick Person in Your Home , has some very useful information including how it spreads, medications that can help, and steps you can take to lessen the spread.

GRANDPARENTS:

Disney is one of the most popular channels with my grandkids . Particularly since we have a tween! For those who also like Disney, but don’t get it with their current connections, the NY Times reports that “Disney/ABC adds shows to Hulu, joining NBC and Fox/News Corp .”

SANDWICH GENERATION – GENERAL TIPS & ENCOURAGEMENT:

If you, or someone you know, is a hair stylist, Seekzpeace has some really cute stickers for kids when they get their hair cut. Sounds like something my grandkids would love!

Free audio book download, Foxes Book of Martyrs , at ChristianAudio My pastors have all recommended that book. I’m going to have to get it! 

The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 Thanks to @RapturReadyNews . Speaking of them, Rapture Ready is one of my favorite sites for news updates from a Christian viewpoint.

CNN reports that the FDA says “stop using Hydroxycut products , which are popular dietary supplements used for weight loss.” Thanks to @NerdNews for that update.

Are you looking for friends from high school, or helping an aging parent track down an old army buddy? PIPL is a great search engine for finding people.

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

Be careful if you use Facebook to keep up with friends, family, and even grandkids . There’s a new phishing attack going on. Don’t click on fbstarter links Thank you @JesseNewhart.

That’s it for this week. More updates on the next Sandwich Generation Twitter Tips on Microblog Monday.

Swine Flu Updates for Caregivers:

It’s going to be very important for caregivers to monitor the Swine Flu situation. WHO (World Health Organization) raised the pandemic flu alert level to 4 .

Grandkids and Grandparents:

For all those who are helping with homeschooled grandkids, you’ll find this quite interesting – 10 Homeschooled Celebrities .

Here’s a great list of car contests . Wouldn’t it be fun to enter them together with an older grandkid ? Bet they’d think you were the best grandparent in the world!

If your grandkids are more into dollhouses, there’s a fun project for them as well at Grandma Wren’s .

Eldercare:

Five Tips for Preparing a Traditional Eulogy . Good advice from @cemeteryspot. In addition to his great ideas, I like to share their favorite Bible verses, hymns, etc.

What it means When Someone With Dementia Says “I Want to Go Home ” Thank you to @caring4seniors.

Caregiving.com has several podcasts of interest to caregivers including “Cooking with Mom “–tips on how to make cooking a caregiving activity to enjoy.

Pesticide exposure Found To Increase Risk Of Parkinson’s Disease .

Are you interested in HBO’s, “The Alzheimer’s Project ” but don’t get HBO? Alzheimer’s Reading Room has a great solution for you – a free copy of “The Alzheimer’s Project. ”

Alzheimer’s Disease – This article, with facts and figures about this disease, includes the 10 Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease . Thanks to @ alzheimers98 .

Encouragement:

The Lord God is my strength.

General Interest:

How many of you enjoyed the movie, The Sound of Music ? Here’s an interesting interview with one of the real Von Trapp kids, Maria von Trapp, talking about her new book, My Favorite Songs . Thanks to @ ActiveGeezering :

Bible Money Matters has an excellent article on what types of insurance we should have.

If you or an aging parent need help buying a new toilet, Terry Love’s Consumer Toilet Reports is the BEST site I’ve ever seen on that subject. I’ve used his site as a resource several times. He has reviews, recommendations, and a great forum with even more information and help

AARP – As a member of the Sandwich Generation and a Baby Boomer I qualified for AARP a couple of years or so ago. I wasn’t thrilled to know I was old enough for it, until I discovered that my optometrist gives a generous discount for AARP members AND Borders gives a great discount off all books to AARP members. Now I’m thrilled I qualify! 

Finally, as a special gift to all my fellow Sandwich Generation caregivers , I am ending this post with a big smile. Take a look at these photos. They were taken for a special event,  Extreme Grooming of Poodles – The dogs have been groomed into camels, Clydesdales, and more! That’s what you call a different kind of caregiving!

Welcome to SandwichINK and Microblog Monday. This is the weekly recap of all the interesting and informative new links concerning the Sandwich Generation , including caregiving, grandparenting, grandkids, etc. that I’ve discovered on Twitter. Since the first item is the Swine Flu and I have several links for that, I’ll actually be doing this post in two parts, with part two posting tomorrow.

First up today is a bit of a warning. You’ve probably already heard, but if not, the US has declared a public health emergency because Swine flu has been discovered in Mexico and the U.S. According to MSNBC, as of Sunday at 5:30 p.m. EST, “Napolitano said the emergency declaration is a warning, not a notice of imminent danger, similar to preparing for a hurricane…Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the CDC, said that compared to cases in Mexico, ‘what we’re seeing in this country is mild disease,’ noting that the U.S. cases would not have been detected without increased surveillance.” The thing that concerns us, as caregivers, most, is that its impact is hardest on elderly adults and children such as our precious grandkids. There doesn’t appear to be any immunity but there are some medications that can help. Here are some good links to read, including some to save as resources:

MSNBC – Global race is on to contain swine flu outbreak

CDC – Swine Flu – “Infected people may be able to infect others beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to 7 or more days after becoming sick. That means that you may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick. What should I do to keep from getting the flu? First and most important: wash your hands. Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. Try not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.” There is medication available that may be able to help. It would appear it needs to be started within the first two days of illness.

How to Track Swine Flu – Several Methods from Mashable

How to Track Swine Flu – HealthMap – The Mashable article suggests clicking in the left column in the DISEASES, last 30 days category box – select NONE first to clear all the checks, then only select INFLUENZA. This, of course, will show all forms of influenza including Swine Flu, so be prepared to see a lot of flags. [NOTE: This link worked fine when I first started working on this post at 7 p.m. At midnight, it’s trying to load but unsuccessfully. My guess is that it’s being overloaded with users. I’m going to leave the link here in the hopes they’ll be able to fix the problem in the next day or so and I think it is a useful tool. If it doesn’t work the first time you try it, you might come back to it later in the day.)

Swine Flu News Alerts on Twitter – (And yes, I’m definitely going to be following them)

MOST IMPORTANT, this information is provided for research and resource information only. If you have any cause for concern of any kind about the health of an aging parent, a grandkid, yourself, or anyone else you care for, please contact your doctor immediately. They are the best resource of all.

A merry heart does good, like medicine , so here’s a bit of medicine for us all.- A very easy way to return from a casino with a small fortune is to go there with a large fortune. Thank you for that chuckle to @ timbury and @ needmoneycom .

Good News! Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. Ps34:19 "With deliverance comes blessing." @ heartofwisdom

That’s all for part 1. Be sure to check back tomorrow for part 2, with links of interest for grandkids and grandparents, caregivers, and more