Driving with five of my grandkids last week, I enjoyed lots of fun chat time with them as we waited in the car for mommy to run her various errands. It’s a nice treat for her to get to do them quickly and a nice treat for me to spend quality time with my grandkids.

We had a fun time talking but eventually they started getting a bit wiggly and giggly. “Time for a Grandma game,” I thought. Wracking my brains, I came up with an old favorite from when my kids were young.

Animal Alphabet! With younger grandkids like mine, we just worked our way through each letter of the alphabet. For every letter, we thought of as many animals as we could that started with that particular letter. Since their ages range from 2-8, I gave each child one chance per letter to think of an animal to make sure all got turns. I also gave clues to any who needed them, using the sounds the animals make, descriptions of the animals, and phonics clues for the name itself. For older grandkids, they’d each be on their own and you could all have fun keeping score to see who gets the most animals.

They, and I, enjoyed it thoroughly and continued to play it when mommy rejoined us. All in all, Grandma and grandkids had a wonderful time and enjoyed some phonics practice as well. (Who says homeschooling programs always have to be done in the home? )

Traveling is fun, but it’s also hard work. It can involve lots of heav-ing and ho-ing of luggage, eyestrain trying to figure out maps in strange places, and a constant sense of disorientation as you try to remember which room you are in.

Traveling as a member of the Sandwich Generation, with an aging parent or young grandchild, can add an extra level of difficulty to the trip. Throw in an unexpected illness and yet another challenge rears its little head. What DO you do if someone gets sick while traveling?

Here’s a few tips I learned the hard way that might be a help to you:

• Call your medical insurance carrier, if you have one, to see what their requirements are, if any, BEFORE you ever leave home. It’s a lot easier having a plan in place then to have to try to figure things out in a strange area when someone doesn’t feel good.
• When you check in to each hotel / motel, map out the location of the nearest facility that your insurance allows. When I had Kaiser, they required you to go to Kaiser, if there was one close enough. Otherwise you could go anywhere and just save the receipt. With the Blue Cross I had, I was allowed to go anywhere for a basic checkup, though I did have to get approval for certain procedures. Currently, I just look for the nearest Urgent Care Center. I’ve been very pleased with the ones I’ve been to and there always seems to be at least one within five minutes of any of my locations.
• Barring an HMO like Kaiser, most people can select from a broad choice of pharmacies. I use Target which has stores almost everywhere I go. That way, I can have my medications transferred to whatever location I am in without much problem. I assumed I would be fine anywhere I went, until a few months ago when I spent a week in a city two hours away from the nearest Target. They did, however, have a Walmart. I’m not going to change now, but if I ever have to change pharmacies, I will definitely be keeping that in mind. With a guestimated 4000+ Walmarts in 2008 (including Sam’s Clubs) and only 1500+ Targets, Walmart is in a lot more locations. Then again, Walgreens has almost 7000 stores! The area I visited had both Walmart and Walgreens giving me two excellent choices.

Hopefully all your travels will be easy and healthy, but implementing these tips in advance should help make things easier if you do have to deal with illness on the road.

Summer time often means travel time. This includes those of us providing senior home care for our aging parents, with and without those parents. I, too, am doing a bit of traveling off and on this summer and am keeping my eyes open for helps and hints to share with all of you.

On one such trip, I learned some important questions to ask every time I make a hotel or motel reservation. “Do you have more than one floor, and if so, do you have at least two working elevators?” I look for two, in case one is broken. Would you believe, I learned this because of a repeat stay at one of my favorite places. It’s a delightful Inn in small town America, very up-to-date and spiffy, and even used as the area’s primary meeting and conference center.

We’d stayed there several times before but always had ground floor rooms. On this particular trip, I was traveling alone, which was good! I got in late and exhausted. After registering, I got my room key, realized it was on the second floor and asked where the elevator was. What a shock to discover they had no elevator! They had no other room that night so I had to lug two suitcases and a heavy box up a flight of stairs, thinking how grateful I was my senior mom was not with me!

Once all my luggage was deposited, I did OK with the stairs since my arthritis was behaving itself nicely. It would have been a different story, though, for an elderly adult. As you can imagine, we now make sure to request downstairs rooms every time we stay there.

On a later trip, I traveled with my grandkids and stayed at a different, family hotel. Most of their sites are all inside with elevators. This happened to be one of their older locations and is set up similar to more traditional apartment buildings. Again, we ended up with an upstairs room requiring using stairs. In addition, this particular set-up was a larger unit with a living room and loft, and included stairs inside the unit as well. We did fine with it. In fact, it was a big help for our particular needs on that trip. If I had been traveling with my senior mom or my arthritis was flaring up, however, it would have been much harder.

I can assure you, I now call the individual location when making reservations, and ask about the room set-ups and stair situation before finalizing my reservation. If you will be traveling with those you provide senior home care to, have a wonderful trip, and be sure to check up on those stairs.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s a perfect day for us to head for a carnival. What’s that? Is it raining or snowing where you live? No worries. Our carnival is right here on the internet.

At the carnival you’ll find all sorts of information specific to Baby Boomers and Senior Citizens. You’ll find things to help you, to help your elderly relatives, and more. Let’s take a peek:

Michelle Seitzer of Seniors for Living has written a very interesting and timely article on the new stimulus package and how it will affect our elderly parents. There are good things to be found in the package, including a rebate that does NOT need any paperwork to be filed. Sadly, there are negative things in the package as well including some unpleasant changes to Medicare.

My Wealth Builder has an interesting article on going back to school when you are older. I never quit school until two years ago. That’s when I FINALLY finished my A.A. in Real Estate in my 50s! It was a great feeling. Right now, I’m busy learning a ton on the internet as I work on building this and other websites. Eventually, in my 60s or 70s, I may decide to go back for my B.A. if they’ll give me a senior discount.

If you love to travel, check out Donna Hull’s travel site, MyItchyFeet. She has excellent advice for the carnival on visiting your local travel clinic before going overseas. After you finish that article do a bit more exploring. You’ll find interesting travel stories and great pictures. My favorite is the cottage with the grass growing from the roof!

Dale Carter posted an article that I would recommend bookmarking for an excellent resource. It explains more about Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia symptoms, and how to help an aging parent who is suffering from dementia.

These are just a few of the many articles you can find at Seniors For Living . Other topics include Senior Care and Caregiving, Senior and Boomer Trends, Financial Issues, Health, and Wellness. So let’s all head on over and do some visiting and even leave some comments. As a matter of fact, I’d love it if you’d say a cheery green "Top O’ The Evening" in the comments below.

Traveling – whether by car, boat, train, or plane – generally requires plenty of packing. I do it frequently and have a pretty good routine. Even so, on my last trip, I forgot several key items. Why? Because I was so busy and interrupted so often, I forgot to follow my most important rule. Make a list of all the items to take and check it three times! I think a bit of pride got in my way as well. After all, I’m traveling enough to earn frequent flyer miles. I’ve got this thing down pat. Right? Wrong! I forgot a decongestant I needed, important keys, and even the one item I never leave home without. My pillow! (Don’t laugh. You’d be amazed how many people I’ve met who travel with their own pillow(s). It makes for much easier sleeping at strange hotels.)

Today’s tip is to start making a list of everything you need to take with you the minute you plan the trip. Add to it whenever you think of something else. When it’s time to pack, if you refer to that list as you pack, doublecheck it when you are done, and triple check it before you walk out the door, you will probably not forget anything important, even if you are interrupted nonstop during the process.

For caregivers, interruptions are often a given. Not having to worry about that or deal with forgotten items at the end of the trip thanks to your list = priceless.

1. Bring an empty water bottle to fill up at the airport, after you pass security. That can save you a bundle. Be aware, however, that a few airports have poor quality water. So tuck in a few extra dollars for a water bottle, just in case.

2. Bring your own pillow . It’s cleaner, more comfy, and you’re guaranteed to get a pillow. I love the Therma-Rest compressible pillow I bought at outdoor recreation store, REI. It goes from big and fluffy to tightly wrapped and relatively small in just a minute or so and has a strap that makes it easy to carry on your carry-on. http://budurl.com/REItravelpillow

3. Bring a blanket or plan ahead to get one from the overhead compartment as you head for your seat. If you forget, you’ll be stuck going back through the throngs of on-loading passengers, giving you the feel of a salmon swimming upstream. If you wait until the flight has started, there’s a good chance there won’t be any available.

4. Rare are the flights that provide meals on the plane . If your flight is longer than two hours, I would suggest you eat right before flying, or bring a meal with you. I like to buy a sandwich at the airport, but you can bring outside food as well.

5. Liquids are still limited to 3 ounces per bottle and only as many containers as can fit into a quart-size bag . Make sure you put it on the top of your carry-on so you can find it easily when going through security, That bag, your laptop, and any big electronic items all have to be removed and put into separate containers to be scanned.

6. If you are traveling with grandchildren, don’t bring playdoh or other types of clay . They might let you bring it on, but you will probably have to have an extra-close security check and they might actually confiscate it. It’s easier to not even bother with it.

7. Diaper wipes are a handy idea I learned from my mom. They make cleanup a breeze, even in tight spaces.

8. If you do a lot of texting or emailing with your cell phone, you may wind up with lots of messages you no longer need . If you put your cell phone in flight mode before take off, you’re allowed to turn it on when other electronic equipment is allowed on. This can give you a quiet, uninterrupted opportunity to read, delete, clean and organize your text messages.

9. If you aren’t traveling with young children or anyone needing special assistance, you might enjoy sitting in the emergency exit row . It has the most space of all the seats and has a tray.

10. Be sure to drink lots of water and try to get up at least once or twice on long flights . It’s healthier and you’ll feel better, even if it does require contortions to get in and out. If you, like me, deal with those occasional arthritis twinges, taking a pain reliever like ibuprofen or acetaminophen (per your doctor’s instructions, of course), can help you feel more comfortable. This is especially true on longer flights.

Over the hills and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go… During the holidays many adult children go home for Christmas. Parents and grandparents also may leave home to visit their adult children. I’ve enjoyed both these types of visits. In November, I wrote some tips for “taking home with you” as you travel, perhaps on business or even pleasure – http://www.sandwichink.com/take-a-bit-of-home-on-your-travels . Here are more travel tips for those times when you are traveling to visit family or friends you see often, or vice versa.

When I first went to visit my daughters’ homes, I bought a big plastic tote (like ones made by Rubbermaid or Sterilite). I filled it with items I normally use, such as shampoo, conditioner, a bath sponge, hand soap, and other toiletry items. There are small bottles of my vitamins, pain relievers for headaches, etc. I have coloring books, crayons, and a couple of favorite children’s Bible song CDs in there for a special time with my grandchildren. I also packed a copy of my favorite study Bible. Now when I go to visit them, they pop that tote out from storage and I have all my favorite items without having to run to the store. We all use different soaps due to allergies, dry skin, etc., so it makes it really easy to visit them without adding to their busy schedules or mine. Trust me, when I’m visiting, I’m constantly moving, because there’s so much to enjoy and so little time to do it . This also results in lighter luggage and fewer headaches in the security line at the airport. We even bought one extra booster seat for my visits with the grandkids. That way I can take one grandchild at a time with me on errands for some one-on-one visiting, and their parents don’t get stuck without a car seat when we forget it’s in the back seat.

When regular guests, including grandchildren, visit me, I have the same type of tote waiting for them as well. I have filled this tote with a special sponge, a wash cloth, slippers, a bathrobe, favorite lotions, manicure goodies for the gals, and aftershave for the guys that we purchased together at various times. The day they arrive, I put the tote out on their bed, along with a fresh towel, new box of tissue, and a bottle of water for each.

Some other ideas for welcoming guests can include:

Stocking up on breakfast items they enjoy, like cereal, fruit, milk, and yogurt

Putting a few books and magazines you know they’ll enjoy into their room

Providing an alarm clock and making sure there are enough available outlets for their needs, including cell phones, laptop computers, etc.

They say you can never go home again. That’s not true, for which I’m quite grateful. But it is certainly different. These ideas help to make it seem less different and more “at home and homey."

Many Sandwich Generation caregivers have to juggle caregiving responsibilities with travel. Whether it is for personal reasons or business, travel is hard work and in this economy it’s getting harder every day. I’m always looking for good travel solutions to help make things a bit easier. Whenever possible, once I’ve landed (all my trips tend to be by plane), I head for a store. There I pick up liquid hand soap, my favorite liquid shower soap, a pack of Coke or Pepsi, some bottled water, a few snacks, yogurt, and some V8. When I get to the hotel, I use these to transform a somewhat sterile environment into something a little homier. Not only that, it saves me money in the long run and allows me to eat a bit healthier. Have you seen the price of sodas in the hotel vending machines!!! And even if the hotel has free breakfasts, they never have my favorite Whipped yogurts. I may be jetlagged but I’m definitely happier.

How about you? Do you have any great travel solutions for making a hotel a home? Drop us an email or comment. We’d love to hear from you.

Due to a variety of different issues, I have gone from not flying until I was 30, to being a white-knuckled flier in my 30s and 40s, to now being a relaxed frequent flyer in my 50s. I have flown several different companies but my favorite airline is Southwest and I appreciate them HUGELY. They are not perfect but no airline is. However their prices are reasonable, their people are wonderful, and their policies work great around my caregiving schedules.Those are all wonderful travel solutions for those of us in the Baby Boomer Generation of caregivers, otherwise known as the Sandwich Generation!

When one friend had to cancel a flight with American Airlines due to illness, they would only allow her one year to use her ticket and she wasn’t allowed to transfer the credit to anyone else. If she had not been physically able to fly during that year, she would have had to get a doctor’s note and MAYBE get a refund. With Southwest, I can cancel tickets right and left and they make it ultra-easy for me to deal with the credit. It goes into my account and I can then use it to make new arrangements for anyone I want, whether myself or someone else. When you are dealing with health issues for more than aging parent, not to mention grandkids, cancellations can be more common than the actual trips, so that is a very important option.

I have learned a trick or two to make flying easier for myself as well as for others who might be traveling with me. This is the first of an occasional series listing some of those tips. Hopefully they will be a help to you if and when you take off into the wild blue yonder.

1. I like to wear comfortable shoes that are easy to slide off and on. When I am going through the security checkpoint, juggling luggage, laptops, and maybe even a fellow passenger, whether grandkid or senior parent, I’m so glad not to have to stress over getting my shoes back on.

2. I try to be sure to put everything that would normally go into my pockets inside my purse or other carryon before getting into the security line. That way I don’t have to stress because I accidentally set off the alarm over my car keys or cell phone. Also, if you haven’t flown recently, be aware that in addition to removing your shoes, you will have to take off sweaters and jackets, and you will have to remove your laptop from its carrying case and put it in a separate plastic bin.

3. Don’t forget the newest security requirements. I like to keep a couple of quart-size plastic bags in my carry-on at all times so that if I do forget, I will have them anyway. (If you are traveling with others, make sure they have put their liquid items – 3 oz. or less – into a plastic bag as well.)

4. I always bring a snack and a water bottle, which I purchase after going through security. That way, if we run into turbulence right away and they can’t bring food around, I don’t regret being too busy to eat before flying. A good friend of mine practices excellent frugality by bringing an empty water bottle. Once she is past security, she fills it up from a water fountain. Just be sure the water at that airport tastes ok. There is one airport I used to fly in and out from that had the worst tasting water!

5. After years of lugging a purse and a backpack, I changed over to a rolling backpack and find that so much easier. Because some planes are smaller than others, I’ve learned to pack the stuff I am going to read, along with my snack, pens, and iPod into a big nylon tote that fits nicely into my rolling backpack. That way, when I get to my seat, I lift out the nylon bag and stick it under the seat in front of me. Then the bigger bag goes up in the overhead bin. If I am going to work on my computer, I pull that out as well. If it is a full flight and all three seats are going to be taken, I usually leave it in the bag that goes up above. It’s just more cramped than I like in that situation, especially if the person in front puts his seatback down.

6. I like to bring my MP3 player with me on the plane. I started doing that back when I was a white-knuckled flyer. I discovered if I listened to praise and worship music on the flight, it kept me a whole lot calmer. Now that I am flying so much and doing better, I still like to have it so I can listen to audio books, classical music to help me sleep in spite of the noise level around me, and yes, if it gets turbulent, I often pop those praise and worship songs back on as well. (Word of warning in case you haven’t flown with one before, you cannot have any electrical device on for take-off and landing. This includes the MP3 player, as well as a cell phone set on flight mode, a DVD player, a computer, a video game, etc. Fortunately, you reach the necessary altitude quickly, and then you can turn any of those on.)

7. There is a great site called Seat Guru, www.seatguru.com , which can give you a lot of useful information on what seats are best on each airline. For me, I’ve learned that if I fly alone I love the emergency row as it gives you a bit of extra room. Due to arthritis and tight seating, I get very achy on a long flight. On those rare occasions I get to sit in the emergency row I’m a happy camper! And I am such a caregiving nurturer by nature, as most of you probably are, I have no problems agreeing to help any and all if there is a true emergency. It’s what I would do no matter where I sat.

When I fly with senior citizens who need extra help, or grandkids who need supervision, I pick a seat in the last couple of rows. I avoid the last row because it doesn’t recline at all, but I love the last two or three rows. I am close to the restroom and the flight attendants. That way, if I have to leave a little one, I know they are safe. And if my companion has to go to the restroom during the flight, it’s easier for them to get there and back when it’s so close. I usually avoid the front because you are no longer allowed to form a line for the restrooms and it can get a little frustrating trying to deal with that and taking care of others.

That said, I do make one exception. If I am traveling with a grandkid, I will often look for an unaccompanied child around the same age or a family with a child around the same age. If I can find someone, I’m very glad to sit up front and let that child and my grandchild have fun talking to someone their own age and keeping each other company on the flight. (I always ask the flight attendant first to make sure it is ok.) We’ve met several nice kids that way and it makes the flight so much more pleasant for the kids AND the adults with them. Instead of “whennn are we going to gettttt there,” we hear, “oh no, we’re there already. I’m having way too much fun to land!” Now that is music to my ears!

8. When it’s time to land and pick up the luggage, I have found it is a piece of cake finding my luggage, which looks like everyone else’s, by tying something bright that will catch my eyes onto the handle. It can be yarn, a bow, a hair ribbon, or whatever. Don’t make it too long, though, or it might catch on something and get stuck.

Well, this article is quite long, so I’m going to end it now and start saving up more tips for the next one. I will leave you with one last recommendation, if you fly often. When my flying started to increase, I read the book, Guerilla Travel Tactics, by Jay Conrad Levinson and Theo Brandt-Sarif. It has many excellent ideas and suggestions. My copy is dog-eared and underlined like you wouldn’t believe! It has suggestions for cheaper tickets, picking out seats, wisely using your frequent flier miles, and more. There’s even a chapter on how to complain properly. Hopefully none of us will need that! You can find used copies of this book at Amazon and half.com.  www.amazon.com www.half.com

I hope that all these travel solutions that have worked well for me will be a great help to you. And now, to quote those great singers of yore, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”

There is a wonderful service out there to help all of us who don’t have perfect memories! That is DEFNITELY me! It is called Jott. It offers quite a bit, but I personally only use it for one thing. I call their 800 phone number using my speed dial 6. When the recording asks me who I want to Jott, I say “myself.” I then have 15 seconds to leave a voice mail of whatever it is I need to remember. It then sends my message to my email and it is waiting for me when I get to my computer. Plus I am now able to have a copy sent to my cell phone as well. Fantastic!

 I was privileged to be a beta tester for the last year for free. That time has come to an end and they are now charging. It is STILL well worth it!!!  The subscription prices are Free for Jott Basic (this is ad-supported but no email is sent to your box – you have to go to their website daily. With my memory, I figured I might not always remember to do that J), $3.95 per month for Jott and $12.95 for Jott Pro. Following this article is a chart to show exactly what you get for those fees.

My average time for messages I leave is 17 seconds so I opted for the $3.95 plan which my budget preferred as well. As you can see, I have a lot of other options available to me and I am definitely going to have to look closer at them. But even if I never use them, I still LOVE JOTT! It’s like having my own personal secretary!

In case you are wondering why I need it or how I use it, I will give you some examples from the last few days. Today we were at the dermatologist’s office. They told me to make a new appointment in three months. I called Jott and when I got home was immediately reminded of it. I wrote it down as well, but sometimes those little notes get misplaced so I definitely appreciate getting that Jott.  Yesterday I sent a Jott to remind myself of the great Christmas present idea I had thought up for one set of grandkids. I also sent a Jott to look up an item I heard about on the news that I wanted to research more.  And, of course, I have often Jotted writing ideas for this blog and other writing projects. When a loved one was sick and I couldn’t get home for long periods of time, Jott was invaluable to me to capture fragments of thoughts before they disappeared due to worry, exhaustion, and stress.

My Jott notes are always in my computer and I can even do a search when I need to find one. Plus, if I were to have a computer crash OR be traveling, I have the added backup of being able to go to Jott’s website to go through my old notes.

One caveat to all this is that I would never recommend Jotting anything confidential. For that matter, I don’t recommend emailing anything confidential or giving confidential information over a cell phone or a cordless phone. Any of these methods have a slight element of risk due to the possibility of someone being able to listen in. Therefore I would not give out social security numbers, driver’s licenses, etc. I do have one credit card I comfortably use but I monitor it closely as does the credit card company themselves. But that is not to say I have a concern with Jott. It is just a fact of life in our world.

Overall though, Jott can be a great time saver and stress reliever and I highly recommend it! You can find them at www.Jott.com . They also have a blog with more information at http://jott.com/jotters/ . If you do sign up with them and try some of the other options available, I’d love to hear what you think of them! Just leave a comment (below) or send an email to Kaye@SandwichINK.com .

No long term contracts. Change your plan or cancel at any time.