House and Home
Ask an Expert: Food Labels with Nan Allison
Have a question for our experts? This line is open until Friday, October 22nd. Nan will then answer a few questions and we’ll post her answers right here and on the forums.
Q: Amount of servings per container varies on each food label and is misleading. I thought this was going to be standardized?
A: The serving sizes are standardardized. However, when something like cheese is randomly cut off of a block, and then re-wrapped, the number of servings per package will vary….so you will have to look the serving size and then look at the total amount [...] Read More
Caregiving for a Parent
NAME: Z
STATUS: Confused.
GOAL: Peace of mind.
PEEVE: Crazy old drivers.
GLEE: Sunday dinner.
My mother is a menace.
She’s wonderful and I love her, but when it came time to renew her driver’s license, she just sent it in. No new vision exam, no test of skills that may be fading.
Her eye doctor says she has cataracts that are shrinking her field of vision. He’s suggested outpatient surgery but she put him off. Mom and I talked about this months ago, and she agreed she’d cut back on her driving if I’d come down to Columbia at least once a week for her errands [...] Read More
Ask an Expert: Caregiving for an Aging Parent with Maribeth Farringer
Have a question for our experts? This line is open until Friday, October 1st. Barbara will then answer a few questions and we’ll post her answers right here and on the forums.
Q: What does Medicare cover in long term care?
A: Very little. Medicare will cover up to 3 months of nursing home care when someone is coming from a hospital stay of 3 days or more. Most assisted living and nursing home care is covered by private payment, long term care insurance or Medicaid. Qualification for Medicaid looks at both the medical condiation [...] Read More
Pregnancy
NAME: Lily
STATUS: Bemused
GOAL: Save save save
PEEVE: Breeders
GLEE: I’m going to be an aunt!
When you live with the health nazi, you tend to get a little defensive about your own less-than-healthy habits. That’s why I can justify stealth-binging gummy bears in my bedroom; it’s just so much easier than listening to my sister preach about the evils of corn syrup, processed sugar and red dye #37.
I mean, seriously, a girl can’t even enjoy a freakin’ cupcake after a nice workout without Rose intoning something about how it will spike my blood sugar and make me fat. (And here I [...] Read More
Ask an Expert: Bullying with Jim Schleicher
Have a question for our expert? This line is open until Friday, Sept 3rd. Jim will then answer a few questions Monday and we’ll post his answers right here and on the forums.
Q: I have two grandsons who are 4 and 10 years old. The 4 year old is small for his age and the 10 year old is large for his age and had been diagnosed with ADHD. He tends to be agressive with his little brother and bully him on occasion going as far as to hit him, often times in the head. [...] Read More
Budgeting
NAME: Lily
STATUS: Irritated.
GOAL: Wealth.
PEEVE: Sucking at math.
GLEE: Payday is this week.
No matter how I envision it, the conversation just doesn’t go well:
Me: “Mom, I really need $200 for a new phone so I can post videos of Otto on YouTube.”
Mom: “Two hundred dollars?!? Your phone works perfectly fine – and you never should have gotten that stupid cat, either – you need to get a full-time job.”
Me: “If I had a full-time job do you really think I’d be calling you and begging for money?”
OR –
Me: “Mom, do you think I could borrow $200? I really feel like [...] Read More
Time Management
NAME: Z
STATUS: Stepped on scale. Don’t ask.
GOAL: Manage time to garden more.
PEEVE: Slugs eating my hostas.
GLEE: Spotted cardinals every day in backyard.
I wonder if anyone has studied how long the average married adult male will use a stained, dirty toilet before cleaning it without being asked. I’ve experimented but always cave and clean it myself. Someone, somewhere must have the secret to getting the husband to help more around the house.
Clearly, I do not. My last attempt was a bust. My husband Clay and I were finishing up a joint cleaning frenzy to prep for out-of-town guests. “Hey,” I said. [...] Read More
Ask an Expert: Time Management with Cindy Sullivan
Cindy Sullivan’s mission is to help people achieve order and balance in their lives. Founder of cbSullivan Consulting & Organizing, Cindy is a Certified Professional Organizer®, Time Management Consultant, and Organizer Coach. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) since 2004, Cindy was the founding President of NAPO Nashville. Cindy helps her clients be more effective through good time management techniques, creating systems, developing routines, and organizing homes & workspaces that work for the client. Cindy offers services that include time management coaching and consulting, business & residential organizing, training, and seminars. http://www.cbsullivanconsulting.com/
Q: When I get home [...] Read More
