Packing the house

Have you ever tried to pack up a lifetime of memories? That is the situation I find myself in right now. What do I pack up? What do I keep out? What will I need in the next few months? What do I want out where I can see it, vs what do I want ready to be stored away in a storage place on short notice?

I am going to start with the things put away in the basement and bring them up one load at a time to sort through them and repack everything. I need to create a stash of things that can be sold, and things that are to be stored away. Or maybe I would be better off to start with the sheds. Wherever I start, I need to get things sorted and either ready to sell to help pay off the house, or put away in storage.

Fighting to keep my parents' house

I don't want to lose my parent's house, but I'm also enough of a realist to know that after a lifetime of being a family caregiver I have a very bad credit history and nothing that a bank would even consider when it comes to extending trust to me on a home loan.

I am going to be working on getting my writing career back on track now that I am not dedicating 24-7 of my time to helping my dad, and on starting up a bookbinding business for hand binding and repairing books.

Diversify your portfolio with precious metals

Every day that passes is another day that you are closer to your own retirement. As a family caregiver it can be difficult to save for the future, and that means that you need to be sure that you make the right investments.

If you want to diversify your portfolio with the purchase of silver, gold or other precious metals and coins, it is as easy as visiting the United States Gold Bureau website. Their hard asset professionals can assist you in the purchase of precious metals that can be delivered to you via immediate personal delivery, or you can arrange for your investment to be placed in storage at an independent bank or depository. As an investment product, precious metals such as silver and gold bullion are excellent ways to diversify any portfolio.

Started in 2003, United States Gold Bureau was incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008. Their large, dedicated staff of hard asset professionals are committed to serving your precious metals investment needs and provide their customers with competitively priced precious metals.

To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

Wait, I need an EIN tax number?

I talked to the IRS about my dad's taxes, and it seems that I will need to get him an EIN number, usually used for businesses, so that I can file his final return. I have to get some more research done on this, but it was not something I had expected to need. This came directly from one of the ladies on the IRS help line, though, so I will be doing more looking and share whatever I find out about that with everyone when I get that sorted out.

Working on a handbook for insurance for the elderly

I'm going to be looking into some of the pros and cons of getting life insurance, particularly those ones you see advertised on television late at night. I want to sort through my experience and compare that to some online research I need to do, see just what ones are the best insurance to look into for someone that wants to make arrangements for being paid for caregiver duties out of life insurance.

That had been supposed to be how my dad was going to pay me, unfortunately all of the insurance companies we worked with demanded at least 2 years of active policy for any kind of maturity on the policy, and it did not reach the 2 year minimum on any of them, so I am still awaiting how that will all work out.

I intend, when I have everything sorted out, to create a handbook for caregivers so that others are not caught up in the same fumbling along situation I was caught up in.

Gold bullion

My parents gave me a love of reading, and that spread into a love of words, so, is it any wonder that with all of my talking about things such as "gold bullion" and stuff for the United States Gold Bureau, I begin to wonder exactly what "bullion" means?

The term "bullion" refers to a mass of precious metal that has been formed into an easily sortable shape such as bars or coins. For example, you might say that a pile of gold in a safe is comprised of "stacked bars of gold bullion".

If you want to have your own stacks of gold bullion in your safe, or even in an independent bank or depository, then the hard asset professionals at the United States Gold Bureau can assist you. They are ready and waiting to help you in the purchase of precious metals for investment, then can assist you in arranging for home delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

Started in 2003, and incorporated as an LLC in Austin Texas in 2008, the United States Gold Bureau provides its customers with competitively prices precious metals. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government. To find out more about the United States Gold Bureau visit their website at the link above.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning.

November is National Family Caregiver Month

Start getting ready now for ways that you can assist family caregivers that you know, even if it is just a simple thank you card, or as nice as a few hours of sitting visiting with the care recipient while the caregiver sleeps or otherwise relaxes.

Another thing that you can do is to write to your congressman and ask them to please support bills that help family caregivers.

Made my own throat drops

I made up a batch of hard candies that I'm using as a combination cough suppressant and sore throat lozenge.

Easy to make if you are familiar with how to make hard candy.

I just used a orange herbal tea bag to make a very strong tea infusion. Added a bit of ground ginger and some sugar and corn syrup. Boiled to a hard crack stage and poured onto a buttered marble cutting board.

1 1/2 cups of tea infusion
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup

Bring all ingredients to a boil on stove, turn heat down (but maintain at a steady boil). Continue to boil until temperature reaches 250 degrees (hard ball stage). Pour onto buttered marble board and score with knife to drop sized pieces. Break apart when cool and wrap each piece in a small rectangle of wax paper.

Investing in Gold Coin

My family seems to have some sort of inability to understand that I am here, at midlife, and have nothing to show for it. When I tried to point that out to them they seemed to think that I was the better off of the lot for not having had personal relationships or any chance to have children or been able to work at any job that would allow me to earn Social Security points.

I'm now looking toward what I can do, in the next ten or fifteen years, that would allow me to retire with the same level of retirement security as someone that had worked for 35 to 40 years. It's not easy. Saving for the future is all about making the right investments. Which is where investments in things like gold coin and billion come into the picture.

The United States Gold Bureau is able to assist you with you precious metals investment needs and has hard asset professionals that are ready and waiting to assist you in the purchase of investment products such as silver or gold coin or bullion, then assist you in arranging for home delivery or safe storage at an independent bank or depository.

Note that no investment, even one in a precious metal such as gold, is without some risk. Enter into any investment with care and careful planning. The United States Gold Bureau is not associated with the United States government.

In Memory Of My Beloved Father: Billy L. Fikes (1928-2010)

When I began my family caregiver website and blogs it was as a way to chronicle what I discovered as a caregiver for my father, and to help raise awareness about family caregiving.

My father passed away earlier this month, and in honor of him and my mom, I will continue to maintain my family caregiver site and blogs so that I might pass along the things I learned as a caregiver to others who are going to be taking on this most difficult of acts of love for their own loved ones.