Listen to my BlogTalk Radio interview on Tuesday, April 30

I'll be interviewed by Chris MacLellan on his radio show, Be a Healthy Caregiver, on Tuesday, April 30.

We talk about my workbook and issues related to having "the conversation" about end-of-life planning.

Click here at 10am PT (1pm ET) on Tuesday to listen in...how prepared are you and yours are for dealing with a crisis?

You never know...

My son and grandson

We have all experienced a terrible week. We are all saddened by the events in Boston, Mass. and the events in West, Texas. We mourn the deaths of so many innocents and the traumas of so many others. We feel great empathy for those who survived these atrocities and know that their lives are now forever changed. We know that the families of those gone and those broken will never be the same. And at the same time, we realize that it could have been any one of us in their stead.

Death and injury have no reason. Young and old alike are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is, quite simply, chance. We must now continue to live our lives and be ever more vigilant. We must befriend those who may need a helping hand and reach out to those who seek a hand to hold.

Remember to make sure all of your pertinent information is in place, filled out and ready in the time of need. We can help you do this with our Caring Is Not Enough workbook. Please do this for yourself and your family.

Because, you never know.

Team sports can prepare your child for the game of life

Today my husband and I got to watch our granddaughter's first soccer game of the season. Proudly, I tell you that she is on the State A Team. We have watched her play soccer since she was 7 years old.

When she was little, she and her teammates held hands and danced in circles around the field. Now it's a much more serious game. These A-level players are tough! And I mean tough! They show no hesitancy in aggressively running into the girls on the other team. They twist and turn and take head shots and elbow jabs like the pros. It's amazing how effectively they use footwork and how powerfully they pass the ball to each other.

It's truly a great idea to have youth in team sports. They learn that there's no "I" in team. They put their faith in each other. They play with all different kids from all different backgrounds and nobody even notices any differences. They cheer each other on and console each other. They are preparing for the game of life, where being an active participant is the important thing....not standing on the sidelines. Exploring, experiencing and enjoying the great exercise and team spirit.

I only wish that we'd had those opportunities when we were kids, but there were no organized team sports back then. Perhaps if there had been, our world would be a more compassionate place.

Did you play team sports when you were a kid? Did you like it? Do you feel it gave you the ability to work better as a team player in your chosen field? Let us know.

Living to be 101 years old...do you have a spring in your step?

Peppermint Stick Amaryllis

When I begin to see the return of the beautiful amaryllis that we planted years ago, I know that spring has really arrived. The air is rich with pollen and fresh new green leaves are on the trees. The daffodils have come and are now withering on their stalks. They still have that pretty yellowish glow about them, though. Squirrels are busy and the birds are everywhere. And that's when I begin to think about families.

This week, I had a 1982 video put onto a DVD. It was from my grandfather's 101st birthday party. He is there in all his glory, smiling and joking with his great-grandchildren. He was in a wheelchair, but he did stand up for about half a minute. Grandpa was a kick. He had a full head of white hair. He was bright and well-read...he said he stayed that way by memorizing long epic poems, like Beowolf...that impressed me! He also wrote dirty limericks for Playboy well into his 90s! Grandpa always had a little limerick ready when someone asked him a question. He was like a real leprechaun. It's so great that I was able to preserve the video tape on DVD. How far we have come!

Think about what you are doing for your family on a daily basis...but not just by working, earning money and cooking meals. Do you do jigsaw puzzles or read a lot?  Do you go to your local library for classes and lectures? We do crossword puzzles, read loads of books, play gin rummy and Scrabble. We are hoping that these types of challenge will train our brains enough to make sure we are cogent when we get into our 90s. We are trying hard to keep in good physical shape  by swimming and going to the gym, so we'll be here longer for our family.

How about you? What do you do on a daily basis to help get you to the age of 101?

Why it's important to think about emergency and end-of-life planning

As difficult as it is to think about all the "what if" scenarios for your family...what if one of us gets sick, what if one of us gets injured, what if one of us dies...it's oh so much more difficult to have to figure out tons of logistics in the midst of an emergency or when you are overcome with grief and emotion.

How much easier it would be if all those logistics were just written down for you in a handy workbook!

If you're the one who is expected to handle everything, you'd know right where to find important files and documents, you'd have all the passwords you need, you can figure out what to do about the dog or the house alarm, you'd know what bills need to be paid and where the spare keys are...not to mention all the details that go into someone's medical care, legal obligations, and wishes for final arrangements.

We listed out over 150 things in the Caring Is Not Enough workbook that need to be dealt with in the event of a "what if" scenario, to make it easier for families to be prepared. We'd like to share several comments from people who have bought and used the workbook. We hope their stories will help you think about your own story.

My husband died suddenly a few years ago, and the only thing he had done was to name me as a beneficiary on his IRA. I am a cancer survivor, so I put together an advanced healthcare directive and provided formal instructions for the care of my minor children. I find your guidance helpful in completing my remaining tasks. It's so overwhelming to lose someone - I don't want my sons to have the headaches of the logistics of a loved one dying.

My husband and I are very lax and big procrastinators. Your book makes the work easier to present to my husband.

I am getting remarried and this book will make everything so much easier for our children.

After losing my mom and dad within two years, what a mess! I do not want my children to go through what we had to.

I'm going on 85 and my kids would go crazy looking for any of my records. Thank you for making me wake up.

I've been thinking about organizing my papers and making final arrangements. I'm only 52 years old, but my parents made their wishes known and were very organized. It really helped us when they died, it's such an emotional time anyway.

As a fellow nurse, I work in hospice care and every day I see how quickly death can create chaos for the living.

I just returned from 10 days of emptying and sorting through my in-law's home of 30 years. Pictures with no names or dates, checks from over 20 years ago, receipts for fine jewelry that nobody knows anything about. I am not putting my daughters through that.

Though my parents are alive, their march toward 90-years-old is quickening and I am finding it to be a great challenge to make sense of their financial situation while they are still around to answer my questions.

I am in a mess since my husband had a major stroke over a year ago and I was left in the dark about almost everything. He is 77 and I am 76 and in very bad health myself - I need all the help I can get.

When my mother passed away, my sister and I searched for three days before we found her will. I don't want my children to have to do that!

Last year, my 49-year-old healthy husband died suddenly of a heart attack. I have 4 children living at home and every day I tell myself I have to get things in order. I don't want them to go through what I am having to do.

The benefits of dogs

This week we have added a member to our family. Well not really, she is just visiting, but we have learned to really love her.

She is an eight year-old Goldendoodle named Ollie. When our son asked us to take care of Ollie the first time, it was only for a couple of days, which was nice. This time it is for ten days and I am really beginning to feel she is a part of our lives.

Ollie is big. She's at least 75 pounds which means she's almost always underfoot and she follows me into the kitchen each time I go there. And it is not a big kitchen!

The great part though, is that Ollie is not a nuisance and she loves to be loved. She gallops over to sit by me on the couch, and with one giant hop, the couch is taken over. She snuggles up and feels warm next to me.

Ollie has given my husband a whole new job, almost six years after retirement. He now walks the dog at the local reservoir, meets new dog owners and their pups, and picks up her doggie business. He happily brushes and feeds and waters the dog...no problems there. Ollie sleeps soundly all night, but having her sleep on the bed...oy!

When we wake up, we think Ollie. Throughout the day, we think Ollie. When we go to bed, we think Ollie. What will keep us occupied when Ollie goes back home?

I am not sure, but I do know one thing. I love other people's dogs, especially Ollie. We will miss her when this dog-sitting stretch is over. Do you have a dog?

Getting organized: Make the most of small spaces

Don't throw the cabinet out with the curios...if you have grown weary of looking at your collection of shot glasses or figurines, think twice about how you can re-use the display cabinet before you pack everything up.

Narrow-depth shelves and cabinets are really handy for organizing lots of small items from office supplies to seasonings to cosmetics. Whether it's wall-mounted or freestanding, a shelf unit that's less than 8" deep fits just about anywhere. A friend gave me this 5-feet tall narrow black cabinet from Ikea that originally had a glass door, designed to hang on the wall. It's only 1-foot wide and 6" deep, which meant I could put it right next to the doorway of my studio without blocking the entrance into the room.

I took off the glass door, set the unit on the floor, and secured it to the wall. It holds all my paints and other art supplies and now it's so easy to see every color and type of paint I have on hand. And by the way, the glass door has a really nice black wood frame, giving it tons of potential for being altered and turned into an art piece.

There are so many skinny spaces in the home - near a door, in a hallway, between two windows, over the commode - where you can create a little extra storage and make things much more convenient to access.

Think outside the box a bit, and you can find the perfect shelving for any space. In addition to curio cabinets, the shelf units at the office supply store are among the narrowest I've seen. The wall-mounted display shelves in the bathroom aisle of the home improvement store are great, too. Who says they have to be used only in the bathroom?