One of the more popular films of 2005 was the comedy hit “The Wedding Crashers”. It related the antics of two bachelors who crashed weddings in the hope of meeting eligible women.

Jewish tradition also deals with the issue of unexpected wedding guests, but of a highly different nature.

A brief look at the three types of visitors who might “crash” a Jewish wedding provides wonderful insight into the law and lore of Jewish values, as well as a profound understanding of the Jewish wedding itself.

The three unexpected “crashers” include departed souls, the Creator, and the poor and needy.

While conventional texts of Jewish law make almost no mention of afterlife, according to the Zohar, the classic work of Jewish mysticism, souls of departed ancestors may be present at the wedding.

It writes: “Even though his (the groom’s) father and mother have departed from this world, they participate in every ‘simcha’ (joyous occasion). The Holy One, Blessed Be He, goes to the Garden of Eden and takes the groom’s father and mother, who are partners with the Creator (in giving birth to the groom) and brings them along with Him to the simcha. And all of them are present but the people are unaware.”

Other opinions go so far as to say that even the grandparents and great grandparents are present as well.

What’s so remarkable about this passage is not only that the souls of the departed participate in the wedding, but the Creator, Himself, takes them by the hand, so to speak, and personally escorts them to the wedding. And, as if this were not enough, the Creator too is a guest at every wedding!

Being the skeptic and rationalist that I am, I never placed much faith in this idea until the birth of my youngest son, eleven years ago.

Several months before he was born my mother passed away.

When we conducted his “brit milah” (circumcision) eight days after his birth, as is traditionally done, I had the strangest feeling that my deceased mother was amongst the celebrants.

I can’t explain it, but I felt her presence near. I had never experienced that feeling prior to this event, nor have I since. But I’m convinced, on that special morning, she was with us.

The third type of Jewish wedding crashers I’ve become accustomed to see are more prevalent in Israel than in America. These are those whom the Kabbalah refers to as society’s “broken vessels”. The poor, the hungry, and the homeless.

At my own wedding, twenty six years ago in New York, the planning of seating arrangements was a major undertaking. Taking care to make sure that each guest was seated with the right people, required considerable thought and sensitivity. Every table and chair was carefully accounted for.

In Israel, where I’ve lived for the last twenty five years, weddings are much more informal.

Usually there is no reserved seating. Guests tend to sit wherever they feel comfortable. It is not uncommon at Israeli weddings for a number of uninvited guests to also attend. These include the indigent and the less fortunate members of society.

Jewish law is very explicit in it’s demands that the wedding feast is not complete unless such guests are present and seated. The groom himself must take special care to personally attend to these guests and show them honor and appreciation. He must do his utmost to make them feel welcome.

In reward for such behavior the bride and groom are assured a life of happiness and blessing. Which they most certainly deserve.

So the next time you attend a simcha, look for the Jewish wedding crashers. These are the departed souls, the Creator, and the poor and needy.

And if you, like I, initially have difficulty finding them, rest assured that when you witness the hungry and homeless leaving the wedding hall, their handbags filled with rolls and overflowing with food… you’ll know for certain that the first two “crashers” are also present.

And you will understand why the Creator, who takes particular pleasure seeing His needy children fed and cared for (especially by the bride and groom, on this, their wedding night)personally escorts the souls of the proud, departed parents, to witness their precious children’s wedding.

I think it’s safe to say that talking dirty on the phone is serious business! Let’s be honest; phone sex operators have mastered how to talk dirty to your man without feeling embarrassed, can you? The biggest clients of phone sex industry to date are married men and guys that have been in relationships for more than a year. If you think about it, phone sex creates sexual fantasies, which most men still have and desire. The adult industry proves they’re willing to pay good money for it all the time with videos, strip clubs, escorts, and extra-marital affairs. It’s no shocking surprise that as time goes by in a committed relationship; the man often reminisces about those first weeks after you met. When things were new and the two of you had fun doing just about anything together like inventing crazy sex positions and playing footsies.

It’s a fact that once a woman “gets her man”, she slips into this undesirable comfort zone that completely strips away her naughty sex kitten instincts. Leaving behind the inner workings of what has often been referred to as “The Starter Wife” syndrome. I’ll be the first to say it; every man has a breaking point, it usually begins with something as innocent as a call to one of those Dial-Me-A-Sexual-Fantasy hotlines.

Most women have no idea how to keep a man at home and out of the arm of some other woman. The secret is simple, be his ultimate fantasy girl! The art of seduction has a way of adding the kind of spice to a relationship that keeps the sparks of intimacy flying for what seems like forever. All it takes is for you to learn how to create the fantasy. It’s like inception, your planting the seed in his mind, feeding him dirty talk throughout the day. So that by the time he reaches you, he’s up and ready to blow!

I find that it’s always easier for me to do something out of my comfort zone when there is no face to face contact. That’s what make talking dirty on the phone so sweet! Here’s some dirty phone talk to get the ball rolling:

• Call him up, using a sexy seductive voice, and innocently tell him that you are touching yourself
• Give him a few moans then say, “talk dirty to me” remember that delivery is everything.
• The more that he feeds into it, the more that you will feel comfortable with it, and allow yourself to continue on in a natural manner.
• When it comes to referring to your breasts and his penis use the words that you find most comfortable to you. There are a lot to choose from, I’m sure you have a few in ideas right now!

A Dieter’s Best Friend

One of the best foods that block the absorption of fat (as well as burn up calories from stored fat cells) is dietary fiber. This little wonder-food sounds almost too good to be true, but it does just that and much more.  

By combining the proper amount of high-fiber foods along with some of your favorite “fatty” foods allow you to cheat on your diet – so to speak, as the fiber entraps those fat globules in a web-like mesh structure and escorts them through your digestive tract system without allowing the fat to be absorbed by your body and stored as fat.

Fiber Is The Ultimate Fat Burner  

Fiber is a highly efficient fat burner as well. It causes your intestinal tract to work doubly harder in order to digest foods containing fiber. This actually boosts the body’s metabolism since it needs to burn more energy to process the fiber, and will get the calories it need from your existing body fat to produce the needed energy.

Each gram of fiber that you eat with your meal can burn approximately 9-10 calories of stored fat, therefore eating just 30 grams of fiber a day, you can burn an additional 270 to 300 calories daily. You can see why fiber is referred to as one of the best “cheat foods” you could eat.  

Feel Fuller On Less Calories  

Another great benefit of making fiber part of your weight loss plan is that fiber binds well with water in the digestive system – thereby forming bulk which makes you feel fuller early on in your meal. This ultimately helps you to eat less and consume fewer calories at mealtime.

Furthermore, your hunger mechanism (known as the appestate) is satisfied for longer periods of time due to the longer length of time it takes to digest fiber foods – and this helps you to cut down on snacking between meals.  

Fiber Makes for Better Digestion  

As the fiber absorbs many times its own weight in water, it creates a soft bulk in the stool. This speeds up the passage of waste products through the intestinal tract and out of your body. This greatly enhances your bowel regularity and can be used to treat and prevent many types of constipation, hemorrhoids, and diverticulitis. An added benefit of dietary fiber includes a lower risk of colon cancer since is dilutes many harmful substances that are present in the colon.

So you’re interested in the Skettis daily quest? Better make that ‘Skettis daily quests’ because there are actually three of them! Surprised? It’s not always easy to find all the information regarding the daily quests that are available. Learning about the quests available in Skettis is a good idea though, because they can be quite profitable.

Daily quests are a whole new breed of quest that was released after The Burning Crusade expansion for the World of Warcraft. Unlike their traditional brethren, daily quests can be repeated every single day, reaping the rewards over and over while continually improving your skills at completing the quests quickly and efficiently.

Skettis is located in the south eastern part of Terokkar Forest, and requires a flying mount to access. If you do not have a flying mount, you will not be able to complete any of these quests unfortunately. Don’t give up on daily quests though – there are plenty of others to do that can be finished without a flying mount.

There are two regular daily quests in Skettis as well as one cooking quest. The two regular dailies are available all of the time and thus can be completed every day. The cooking quest is part of the cooking rotation so it may or may not be available on any given day. You’ll have to check out the cooking quest of the day to see if it’s possible to complete it.

Fires Over Skettis is a quest that requires you to take blasting charges and fly around Skettis blowing up arakkoa hatcheries. They are located in the tops of the trees and buildings. This quest can be pretty quick but you’ll need to watch out for the adult arakkoa that are flying around trying to knock you off your mount.

Escape From Skettis is a fairly standard escort type of quest. You have to find the prisoner and then escort him off of the platform or building he is in. It is much shorter than most escort quests though, and often times the hardest part is just finding him. You probably want to clear a little ahead of where he is walking so that he doesn’t get killed.

Revenge Is Tasty is a cooking quest that requires a Giant Kaliri Wing from Skettis in order to complete it. If you don’t have a flying mount and this quest comes up, you’re probably better off just passing on it and waiting to do a cooking quest the next day.

If you are going to head to Skettis for one of these quests, you would be best served to do all of them. Why? You’ve already spent the time to fly all the way down there, you might as well take advantage of your location. Think of it this way: if you spent 5 minutes on travel and 5 minutes doing one quest, you are pacing at 1 quest per 10 minutes. If you do the second quest in another 5 minutes, you are now pacing 1 quest per 7.5 minutes, and if you do all three you will be approaching one quest per 5 minutes. That’s much better than flying out there just to complete a single daily quest. Also, if you do all three quests you will have almost 30g, and after all, that’s really the point, right?

“Nova Swing” by M. John Harrison takes place in the same universe as “Light” which was published in 2002, but it can be read on its own. Part science fiction, part noir detective story, it’s well-written and inventive space opera. It’s a tale of physics gone weird and warped reality.

In the twenty-fifth century, part of an astral galaxy crashes to the earth and transforms into an area of skewed geography known as the “event site.” The site becomes a tourist attraction and travel agent Vic Serotonin escorts clients in and brings back illegal artifacts. But the area is changing and becoming unpredictable. People who enter are altered in strange ways and things are coming out of the site on their own and transforming the world in dangerous ways. Detective Lens Aschemann is determined to shut Vic’s business down – but it may already be too late. Vic’s new client is a strange woman who is obsessed with going into the site but another trip inside could end in disaster for both of them.

Harrison writes beautiful prose. His dark gritty atmosphere sets a scene that is recognizable yet bizarre at the same time. It’s a world that is sometimes incomprehensible; the event site is never fully explained. The focus is on the lives of the characters and how they’re affected by the site. If you’re looking for a simple plot, you won’t find it between these covers. This is a thought provoking, challenging read that is guaranteed to make you think outside the box.

Publisher: Spectra, Reprint edition (December 2008)

ISBN: 978-0553590869

Pages: 336

Price: $6.99

Looking for tips on how to hit th g spot? If boring and normal sex positions are all you want, don’t read on. We have the best g spot sex positions that guarantee you a tumultuous ride. All set? Read on!

Go cowboy style

Let her be in charge for a change. There is something incredibly sexy about a woman on top! Let her take charge of finding the right spot, deciding the speed and the depth. Tilt your pelvis as much as you can, the more the better! It will let you explore and notice the subtle nuances of pleasure. When you are doing this, it will help tremendously if you are already hot and aroused, so don’t forget the foreplay!

The doggy style

This is where you come from behind. It is an incredibly erotic and sensual position. Men could position their legs outside the woman’s and try to find the g spot. You can relax and let the woman take charge. She can use her legs to press back and forth so that the right spot can be found. Of course, you need to be physically fit in order to practice these positions. No use getting a cramp and diverting attention to that spot!

Try kneeling or standing in front with her legs on your shoulder. Having her legs in that position will make it easier for you to find the right spot. This is one of the best g-spot sex positions you could try! You can use the sofa, a chair or even the coffee table for this position.

Remember-exploring g spot sex positions are the only way you can find out more about how to hit the g spot.

In the movie Contact Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey are at a Washington cocktail party debating the possible existence of God. Jodie is not a believer. She is a scientist who wants empirical evidence before she’ll believe anything. He is an intensely religious believer who feels that faith, by sheer definition, is belief in God without empirical proof.

Jodie Foster: “It’s like you’re saying that science kills God. What if science reveals that he never existed in the first place?” Matthew McConaughey escorts her out to the patio. Jodie says, “I’ve got one for you. Have you ever heard of Occam’s Razor? It’s a scientific principle. It says that, all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one. Which is more likely? That an all powerful guy created the universe and decided not to give any proof of his existence, OR He simply doesn’t exist at all and we created Him so that we wouldn’t have to feel so small and alone?

Matthew McConaughey: “I couldn’t imagine a world where God didn’t exist. I wouldn’t want to.”

Jodie Foster: “How do you know you’re not deluding yourself. For me, I’d need proof.”

What’s Occams Razor all about? Occam is a tiny village in Surrey County, England about 15 miles from where I was born and not far from the M25 ring freeway that circles London. These days it’s spelled Ockham. It probably would have faded into intellectual oblivion centuries ago if it weren’t for a fellow named John who lived in Occam and fancied himself a bit of a philosopher. This was in the 14th century, so long ago that people didn’t even have surnames. John was known as John of Occam. He first postulated the theory to which Jodie Foster refers – Occam’s Razor. Strangely enough he never actually stated what we now call the scientific principle named after him that says all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one.

What he did say (in Latin, which was the language of 14th century English intellectuals) were two principles:

The Principle of Plurality – Plurality should not be posited without necessity.In simpler language that means don’t make it more complicated than it has to be.

The Principle of Parsimony – It is pointless to do with more what is done with less.If you can solve a problem with a simple solution, what’s the point of looking for a more complicated solution?

It was future generations of philosophers who promoted the theory of simplicity in his name, no doubt buttressed by the knowledge that John was a Franciscan monk who took his vow of poverty seriously. He did live a very simple life.

Occam’s Razor (the razor part refers to the process of shaving down more complicated explanations to get at the truth) is not a problem-solving tool. It doesn’t prove anything. It’s a heuristic devise, a way of suggesting solutions.

Let’s say that someone presents you with a light bulb that turns on without being screwed in. It looks like a regular light bulb but it lights up without being attached to anything. How could that be? Think about it for a while and you might come up with three possible solutions:

1. They have invented a way of transporting electricity through the air like a radio wave.
2. They have found a way to conceal the electrical cord so that I can’t see it.
3. They have hidden a battery inside the stem of the bulb.

I’ve listed those three explanations from the most complicated to the simplest. Occam’s Razor suggests to you that number three is the simplest and therefore the most likely answer.

Let’s look at a more complicated problem, the sudden appearance of crop circles in farmers’ wheat fields. In 1991 circles started appearing in fields near Southampton, England. It didn’t attract much attention. Soon another more complicated pattern appeared in Matterly Bowl, a natural phenomena that is visible from several main roads. This raised a lot of publicity and public opinion on the cause of the phenomena went wild. Suddenly crop circles were popping up all over the place. The designs became more and more complicated.

Conspiracy theorists had a field day and had half of England convinced that extra terrestrials from outer space were landing at night to send us messages. A simple application of Occam’s Razor would have solved the problem. The thought that extra terrestrials were responsible was the most complicated solution. The simplest solution was that humans were doing it as a prank.

Meanwhile, a Doug Bower (the secret perpetrator of the circles) had a marital problem. His wife thought he was having an affair because he would frequently disappear overnight. She tracked the mileage on his car to determine that he was driving long distances. (In England, 50 miles is considered a long journey. You can never be more than 72 from the sea, which would be the distance from Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire to the North Sea, according to the government ordinance survey.) Evidently fearing his wife more than the wrath of the farmers whose fields he was damaging, he confessed that he and a friend of his had caused the circles.

If you’re a fan of the television series House you’ll remember that the third episode of the first season was named Occam’s Razor. Houses students at his infectious diseases ward in a New Jersey hospital are convinced that their patient has a previously unknown exotic disease. House argues that the answer is simpler, that somebody screwed up his treatment.

Why does Occam’s Rule work? Why is the simplest solution the most likely? Good question. I don’t know why. It’s why apples fall off trees and hit philosophers, I suppose. It’s just one of the laws of our universe. Remember that John of Ockham was living in a very simple world. He was not concerned with tsunamis in Malaysia or trapped miners in Chile.

We live in the very complicated world that is hard for us to comprehend. That alone makes Occam’s Razor a more valuable tool that it was in John’s day. Remember that, when your IT expert is going though reams of paperwork that explain why horse food sales are down. Maybe it’s just because the horses don’t like the way it tastes. If you’re still saying, “Yes, but I need to understand why Occam’s Rule works,” I suggest that you reread Occam’s Rule.

While strangely named Occam’s Razor may not be a problem solving tool it will serve you as a very useful heuristic or problem solving device. When faced with trying to understand a problem, consider the simplest solutions to be the most likely.

The luxury word cruise offers guided tours of discovery and exploration to several ports across six continents, including Antarctica. The cruise is a luxury vessel which is designed in such a way that it can accommodate thousands of people. One of the most interesting facts of luxury world cruise is that the ambiance on the board is individual, personal and accommodating.

With the help of such world cruises the people can make extraordinary voyages. They can have lots of fun on such cruise and can have great experiences. Moreover, the people who will travel on such ships will certainly become full of enthusiasm and zeal. Such people will certainly be charmed through voyages on such a cruise.

There are various special facilities which are provided to the people on such a cruise. The people will be served special meals besides the facility of polished crew, captivating speakers and attentive service. In addition to this the specialists of such cruise are recognized as world leaders in this field across the world. Such cruises also have the special facilities like escorts, exclusive shore excursions, parties, and much more.

The people can travel the ancient waters of the Bosporus and Dardanelles to the grand summer palaces of the czars in Odessa. The people can also feel the healing powers of mineral springs in Sochi. As a matter of fact the luxury of flexibility and choice are offered by such cruise on destination-rich World Cruise voyages.

There are also various websites of luxury world cruise available which is developed for purpose of giving excellent service to the people. In addition to this the people can save a lot by finding the best world cruise offers on the websites. Apart from that special cruise deals besides free car parking, free onboard credit and extra cruise village discounts are provided to the people. Moreover, the best offers are provided by such cruise for giving affordable rates to the people.

The people can explore the beauty of the world with the help of world cruises. They can explore the ancient empires, pearls of the pacific, European reflections, Bali and the barrier reef, etc. The people can travel from Miami to London, Athens to Rome, Rome to London, Los Angeles to London, Los Angeles to Papeete, Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to Singapore, etc.

Splendid voyages on luxury world cruises will be a great experience. It would be undoubtedly one of the greatest experiences that you can think of. So, you must not leave any chance for enjoying a lovely cruise voyage. Moreover, facilities of all types will be provided to you on the cruise. The voyage on cruise will certainly give unforgettable moment to you. In this way you can enjoy the gorgeous scenic beauty of the ocean through cruise voyage.

The Corte of Honor is one of the beautiful Latino traditions of the Quinceanera celebration. The Quinceaneras Corte of Honor, celebrate her as she makes her passage from girlhood to womanhood supporting her hopes and dreams in her life.

Family members and close friends of the Quinceaneras family members are usually chosen to be in her Corte de Honor. They participate in a special waltz for the celebration.

The Quinceanera tradition has been for the Corte to consist of fourteen boys and fourteen girls, plus the Quinceanera and her escort for her celebration. Each couple represents a year of the Quinceaneras life.

Many Hispanic families in the United States prefer to have a half court. With 7 girls and 7 boys. Now each person represents one year of her life and the Quinceanera adds the fifteenth year. Families have the reduced number of participants in the Corte of Honor to be easier to work with. They have found the major benefits of the smaller court to be reduced costs and the challenge of organizing dance rehearsals,

Some families choose to have a Corte of only boys. The number of boys in the Corte can range from four to fourteen boys. The reason behind this idea is the all boy Corte of Honor allows the Quinceanera to be the only crowned princess at her own ball.

Some families choose to have the Corte de Honor, to be only girls. Many times each girl is escorted by her father. There is an unlimited amount of options for the Quinceanera and her family to choose from.

• Of the other options where the Quinceanera is escorted by her honor escort or Dama de honor, or her parents might escort her in. Or the Quinceanera may choose to only have her father escort her in. There is no right way or wrong way for how the Corte de Honor should be. The final choice is for the Quinceanera and her parents to decide what the Corte of Honor should look like.

• When choosing who you want to invite to be in your Corte de Honor it is very important for those you ask to commit to part of the Corte of Honor must do so willingly. It is a major a commitment for every one involved. The commitment involves much more than just time and money. The boys and girls who commit to be in the Corte must honor and respect everyone else in the Corte with good behavior and to be on time for rehearsals.

Things to consider before inviting someone to be a member of the Corte of Honor:

Before the Quinceanera and her family invite the boys and or girls to participate in the Corte de Honor, they should outline the amount of time and money that would be required for each one to fulfill the role in the Corte.

Other areas needed to addressed is: the number and location of each of the rehearsals, the length of time of the rehearsals, the projected cost of the dress and shoes for the Damas and the projected cost for renting a tuxedo or any other outfit for the Chamberlains.

It is very important to write out this information and hand out two copies to everyone you are inviting to be in your Corte. One copy is for the participant to keep for themselves and the other copy to be returned with the signed approval and permission for their son or daughter to participate in the Corte de Honor.

The Corte of Honor just like every other part of the Quinceanera celebration requires planning and commitment for the outcome to be what you want it to be. Therefore it is much better to inform everyone up front what is expected of them. Avoiding embarrassment for those involved or any awkward moments later on. It also keeps you and your family from having to find replacements at the last minute.

If you have determined that the time for Assisted Living is near, for your parent or spouse. There is an overwhelming amount of basic information to be gathered: location, price, comfort. Then when you add types of services: medication management, bathing, escorts, it adds another level of complexity to the process.

Now, when you add in more global factors, like proximity to friends, relatives and doctors and changing health status, it gets even more difficult. Everyone wants to make the right choice, and god-forbid that the whole process might have to be repeated because of an unseen or unaccounted factor. Admittedly it’s a stressful process. And few people have any previous knowledge in this field. Few are the number of people that have a friend or relative in the “aging” business. If you are one, count yourself lucky and why then would you be reading this article?

Here’s the scoop: every Assisted Living has at least one full-time marketing person, whose sole job is to convince you that their assisted living is the perfect match for you and your loved one. To that end they give you brochures, comparison sheets, tours and meals, floor plans, the works.

I would not compare it to car sales, but many of the large assisted living chains have training for their sales people on how to overcome resistance. Granted, as an executive director of an assisted living, I see both sides of the story, and on your end you may feel stuck between picking the right place and trying to convince mom and dad that they need this. Even though they may be in denial that for their own health and safety they need to be in a more structured, supervised environment.

Here’s the rest of the story from the first article.

1. I find that instinct is your best guide. Good ole gut feelings often gets borne out as accurate over time. It’s a feeling you can verify: Do staff seem happy? Do they run away from a tour, or do they stand their ground and say hi to people touring? That is often a great indicator of what is going on in the facility.
2. Think about the facility’s proximity to whichever relative is going to be visiting the most. You have to get honest with yourself about this…no wishful thinking. It’s like the gym: you may have every intention on going there on a regular basis, but the greater the distance, the more excuses will come up.
3. This is a big one. Ask the facility if they had any licensing complaints in the past year. And then ask to see them! Yes. They are supposed to be posted, and available to anyone that asks. Every complaint has the evaluators conclusions on it. So if a complaint is “unfounded” then it was probably a disgruntled employee or resident, if it was “inconclusive” either the facility covered their tracks well, or again it’s due to a former employee or unhappy resident, but if it was “founded” then read the “plan of correction” and then ask the facility representative about their version of events…watch for evasiveness.
4. Next, look on the wall for the Ombudsman poster and write down the phone number. Call them and ask them what they think of the facility. You will usually get a volunteer (they rely on them a lot), and the even though they are not supposed to express an opinion – they often leap at the chance to talk about what they know about a place. Many Ombudsmen are a pain in the facility’s rear end. Because no one really knows the rules that govern them, and they are often showing up at a facility unannounced and start asking the residents if they are having any problems. What neglected old busybody is going to pass up a chance to throw the place ‘under the bus’. (when I say neglected I mean by family not staff).
5. Take a look or ask about the emergency response system. Older building will sometimes have a voice intercom in the room, new buildings will have a pendant (like a life alert). Each has its own advantages. The voice intercom is great for immediate responses, but can get misused with people using it for non emergency issues. The pendant has its problems because the resident has to wait for someone to respond, and late at night that can be a long time.
6. Ask if they offer escorts to the dining room. Residents often need someone to walk them down to meals, or if in a wheelchair, for someone to push them there and back again. Ask if they charge for this? Some places will not charge for the service, and this can be something that gets used a lot.
7. Ask about periodic checks. What if your loved one is under the weather, and needs someone to look in on her a couple of times during the night. Some places will charge for that, and others will not. This is another often overlooked service.
8. When talking about showers and bathing…2 or 3 times a week is plenty. Just because you and I take one or two showers a day, most people over 80 don’t need or want to shower that often. Unless she is incontinent, 3 times a week is plenty. Is she a big woman? Will she need two caregivers to be with her for things like showers? Ask about extra charges if this applies.
9. Room/meal trays – how much? This little thing can add up, there are on average 90 meals per month. What if she needs them for every meal? Do they have a discounted plan for that?
10. Laundry? Do they charge by the load? Some places will have a laundry day, and they will not count the number of loads (because they use a big commercial washer and dryer), other charge for every single load (average price is $10 – $25 PER LOAD!)
11. Be ready for incontinence care. Nobody likes to think about, but it happens, it is almost inevitable, and it is very expensive. She may be OK now, but have the flexibility in your budget to accommodate it. If she needs it…it will not be optional, and you will not be able to postpone it.
12. Finally, when you pick a place and move her in, be very conscientious to bring a lot of her stuff to make her feel at home…But do not bring anything that has a sentimental value or is irreplaceable (beautiful jewelry, stuff that has been in the family for generations, etc.) Things get broken and thing disappear…even in the fanciest places.
13. Also, if she needs cash for a hairdresser or shopping, never give her more than $50 a month, better still, try to arrange to have hairdressers and other service providers bill you.

Ask these questions, and I bet you will see beads of sweat on the sales person head. But that’s OK, this is a big decision and you need to sure. Because you do NOT want to move them again. In fact, there is not enough room here for the remainder of my Insider pointers. But you can get them at www.easycaregiving.com even if you are not dealing with Alzheimer’s, if you have older parents and feeling that you will need more information, come sign up for my free newsletter.