Lilac City Momma

Lynn

4 Tips For Getting Rid Of Mice

by

Unfortunately, when winter hits, mice are known for finding a way into unsuspecting residents’ homes where it’s warm and cozy. There are few things more frustrating than finding yourself with a mice infestation. Not only can they enter your cupboards and start eating your food, but they can also destroy your belongings and incur expensive damage. Apart from that, they carry potentially dangerous bacteria that can hurt your family.

So, how do you get rid of these critters as fast as possible? Take a look at some of the best tips for getting rid of mice once and for all.

Find Out Where They’re Coming From

First thing is first. You’ll need to find out how they’re getting into your home. If there is an entry point, then chances are more than just mice are making their way into your home. Make sure that you find the hole and block it off. Take a look around and see if they’ve built a nest, and if so, you’ll need to call a professional exterminator to get rid of it.

Unfortunately, putting mouse traps all over the place alone won’t do the trick. An exterminator knows how to effectively get rid of the problem.

Use Steel Wool

One of the oldest secrets for getting rid of mice is using steel wool to seal off entry points. Since mice are able to fit through a crack the size of a dime, they can easily sneak into places they need to get.

It’s important to know that anything that you place to block it off will easily be gnawed through. Steel wool, however, cannot be chewed through. Mice will not be able to get through anywhere that has been blocked off its sturdy material. Make sure that in addition is steel wool, you also seal off entries with caulk.

Cut Back Trees

One of the worst things you can do for pest problems is surround your home with trees. Tree branches that lead to your house’s roof or windows are basically an invitation for pests to come make a home there.

Even though you may love the shade that trees provide for your house, you’re not doing yourself any favors in terms of pests. In addition to your trees being cut back, you should also keep firewood far away from the home. Piles of wood are inviting mice and all sorts of insects to come make a nest.

Clean Away Food Debris

One of the biggest reasons why mice enter your home is to eat your food. It’s important that any time you make food in your kitchen, you wipe the remains away thoroughly.

In addition to wiping off counters and surfaces, you should also make sure that all of your food is kept in airtight containers. If there’s no food to get to, mice will lose interest in that area.

What’s the Difference Between Full-Time Assisted Living and Respite Care

by

Entering a new stage of life can be both exciting and overwhelming. With age, new considerations have to be made about what level of care is required. This transition can be tough as you navigate through the variety of senior living options available. If this is the first time you or a loved one is having to consider senior living, the range of options can be overwhelming. Though the available services for residential living are different, they can all sound the same if you’re unfamiliar with the terms.

Does your loved one need assisted living or respite care? What’s the difference, and which best suits their needs? Differentiating between assisted living and respite care doesn’t have to be difficult. Let’s look at the differences so you can find the right level of care for your loved one.

What Is Full-Time Assisted Living?

Assisted living is residential housing—often within a senior community—that provides nursing care, housekeeping, and prepared meals. Full-time assisted living is designed for seniors who may require additional assistance with their daily activities. Residents of assisted living communities have access to 24-hour supervision and care. This includes care services such as bathing and dressing as well as help with medication management.

Who Benefits from Assisted Living?

Assisted living may be the best option for your senior who requires long-term care and assistance. If your loved one needs additional help with their daily activities but still values their independence and social life, you may want to choose full-time assisted living. These communities are designed to meet the health and safety needs of your loved one while still promoting independence and community socialization.

What Are the Advantages of Assisted Living?

Assisted living care is personalized. Each resident has specific and individualized needs. With an array of care available, everyone receives the level of care that’s best suited to them. Assisted living strives to create autonomy and protect the dignity of the residents while providing help with medical needs or personal care. If needs change, the personalized care adapts to meet these changing needs or preferences.

Assistance may include help with bathing and showering, dressing, grooming, incontinence care, and medication management. If your senior struggles with daily activities, caring and professional staff will aid them with such tasks, ensuring they get the help they need while relieving them of any burden if self-care is difficult. With 24-hour supervision and emergency response monitoring, your senior can rest easy.

Assisted living also provides help with daily chores and offers a host of social and recreational activities. They provide meals in a group setting, manage housekeeping and maintenance, and assist with transportation. With the burden of these daily chores relieved, the freedom to pursue interests and hobbies abounds. Senior living communities offer organized recreational activities, exercise and wellness programs, and planned outings. Your loved one can get the care they need while still enjoying the lifestyle they’re accustomed to.

What Is Respite Care?

Respite care is temporary care for a senior recovering from an illness or injury. It is short-term care that provides relief for the primary caregiver. Though it can be offered in-home or at an adult day center, it’s often provided at residential senior living communities.

Who Benefits from Respite Care?

Providing care for a senior struggling with an illness or injury can be quite demanding. If you’re family or the primary caregiver and need a break, respite care offers temporary relief. If you’re overwhelmed and need support with your loved one’s care, it’s an opportunity to rest while not compromising their quality of care. Respite care is designed to share the responsibility of caregiving. You can help maintain the health of your loved one while also managing your own.

As a caregiver, it can be difficult to focus on your own health. You may even struggle with feeling selfish for simply wanting a break or vacation. Respite care relieves this burden so you can rest without guilt. Needing support is not selfish and is integral for sustaining your health as well as your loved one’s.

Respite care is also a good option for a senior who has been discharged from a hospital or nursing home and is in need of additional help during this transition.

What Are the Advantages of Respite Care?

Aside from a caregiver getting support with additional or transitional care, a senior needing short-term assistance will also benefit from receiving care in a home-like setting.

They’ll receive the same quality of care and benefits as full-time assisted living residents. This means they have the same access to all the same social activities and amenities, such as meal delivery, transportation, and help with daily needs, including laundry, bathing and showering, and dressing.

They also have the advantage of being within a senior living community staffed with trained professionals ready to help; your loved one has 24-hour supervision and support.

Respite care is also an opportunity to get a feel for what full-time assisted living is like without the decision of relocating permanently. Your loved one can test out assisted living and decide if it’s a good fit for them should they want or need it in the future.

If your loved one requires assisted living or respite care, consider choosing Solterra Senior Living. Our compassionate caregivers are trained to meet your senior’s needs with dignity and respect. We believe everyone should live well. Our well-trained and caring professionals are available 24 hours a day and focus on wellness and independence. No matter what level of care your loved one needs, we are committed to maximizing their quality of life.

Aging can be difficult but providing the best care for your loved one’s individual needs can help them age gracefully with minimal stress for everyone involved. Assisted living respite care doesn’t have to be confusing. Knowing the difference between the types of care available can help you and your family ease through the transition so your loved one can enjoy the highest quality of life for more years to come.

 

What You Need to Do Before Starting a Family

by

Starting a family is a huge step for most couples, and it is important that you come to the right decision for both you and your partner, taking into consideration factors such as your finances, and a child’s impact on your emotions and your career. However, once you believe that you are ready to take on the responsibility of a little one, here is everything that you need to do before you welcome your offspring into the world.

Turn your house into a family home

Although your house might be appropriate for you as a couple, you need to make sure that your home is a safe and relaxing space to bring a child into. For instance, you may want to remove hazards, create a communal living space where you can spend time together, and build a dream nursery for your child to grow up within. To make sure that you are able to create the perfect home to start your new life within, Wanda Michelle can help you to put the home of your dreams down on paper.

Secure your financial position

Children are expensive, and you need to be ready for the financial commitments that having children can place on your family, especially if you are renting or paying off a big mortgage. Before you have a child, you need to consider creating a savings account where you can put money for childhood expenses, ensure that you have life insurance, and make sure that all of your existing debts are paid off. You should also make sure that you create a realistic budget that takes emergency costs, such as medical bills, into consideration.

Cement your relationship

Although the number of single parents is increasing, if you are currently in a relationship, you should ensure that your relationship is secure before you bring a young person into the world. Divorce can have a negative impact on your child’s mental health, and so you should ensure that both you and your partner are on the same page. In some cases, you may consider cementing your relationship by attending counseling or by getting married or renewing your vows.

Find the support you will need

Even the most prepared couples will need help and support in bringing up their child at some point until your child reaches adulthood, and it is important to know where you can get this support from before it is too late. As well as highlighting sources of practical and emotional support within your close circle of family and friends, you may also want to research charities and organizations which can help you to bring your child up as well as you possibly can.

Look after your health

Having a child is not the most healthy decision for everyone, and before you create a new human being, you need to make sure that you check your own health. For instance, you should consider going for pre-pregnancy tests to look for genetic conditions that could be passed on to your children, and you should also speak to your doctor if you are unable to conceive or if you have a medical condition that could be affected by pregnancy. You should also work to improve your general health, which you can do through exercise and a healthy diet.

 

5 Ways to Instantly Look More Stylish

by

This year has been a funny one for style, and we have all let it go in place of wearing the same sweatpants and hoodie for days on end. Since we were not seeing anyone or leaving the house much, who could blame us? However, those days are over (sort of) and this might leave you feeling confused as to where to go from here. It might have been a long while since you glanced at your make-up case, even looked in the direction of your heeled boots, or thought about putting on a necklace.

So, with this in mind, this piece will help ease you back into fashion normality and give you five ways in which you can instantly look more stylish. We got you.

The Leather-Look Jacket

Nothing says “cool” as instantly as a leather-look or biker jacket. Somehow, they just make us look effortlessly cool—and yes, it is literally effortless. Just put one on over basically anything for a pop of “badass.” If you truly want to upgrade your look, a crisp, white t-shirt with a leather jacket is the perfect combo. For some sophisticated styles, head over to yuniont.com.

Switch Up Your Shoes

This one sounds odd, but Cosmopolitan said it, so we are not going to argue. The concept is pretty simple; whatever shoes you usually wear, switch it up for the total opposite. If you usually wear heels, opt for flats or boots, and if you usually wear boots… well, you get the idea. The thought behind this is whatever feels wrong is right. The more wrong it feels, the more right it is. Please only apply this recommendation to shoes (although it also works for eating a second tub of ice cream). Do it—its fashion.

Add Some Sunglasses

Sunglasses have far surpassed their original purpose of keeping the sun out of our eyes and protecting our eyes from being burnt (which is a real risk). While these are and will remain the most important features, sunglasses now have a style element to them that has nothing to do with the weather.

From hiding the bags under our eyes, helping celebrities disguise their appearance when out and about, and aiding us in avoiding any kind of light because of the hangover we definitely don’t have, sunglasses have come into their own as an accessory and are now one of the fastest ways to turn any outfit stylish.

Mix Up Your Textures

Unless you are going for the 90s double-denim look, we often have more than one texture in our outfits anyway, but this season is making it somewhat more of a deliberate style, with textures we might not usually think of. Think satin with velour, teddy wool with crisp blouses, and leather jackets with knitwear.

One of the bonuses of this tip is that it is a great way to layer up and keep warm while also looking stylish; instead of being wrapped up head to toe in one giant coat.

Reach a New Outfit High With Platforms

Not only do platforms give our darling shorties that extra height without constant heel pain but they are also “high” up on the list for making a regular outfit turn into a fashion statement. Platforms have enjoyed a burst of popularity over the past two years, and this trend doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon, so get ready to see even more platform styles continue to infiltrate the fashion scene.

 

 

What Are Retirement Communities vs. Assisted Living Communities

by

If you’re starting your research on moving yourself or a loved one to an assisted living community, you might see phrases such as “retirement community” and “assisted living community.” Those phrases are sometimes used interchangeably, but their definitions usually vary slightly. Of course, each community you check out could involve different services or amenities, so be sure to ask lots of questions when you’re looking at a retirement or assisted living community.

With that being said, which situation is better for you? And what are the differences between the two of them?

Retirement Communities

A person who moves into a retirement community is generally able to take care of themselves. They don’t need additional help with everyday living, though some communities will provide additional services such as laundry or linen service or light housekeeping.

Activities and socialization opportunities are often offered in these communities, such as day trips, classes, parties, and other events. A resident of a retirement community tends to have their own apartment within the community, and there are common areas throughout the community for gathering with friends and family. Sometimes a retirement community might also be associated with an assisted living community. This is a comfort if need more help in your everyday living as time passes.

Assisted Living Communities

Our brand-new location (conveniently located in Peoria, Arizona, near the intersection of West Olive Avenue and North 107th Avenue) offers assisted living and memory care services. These are specialized services for older adults who require senior housing and need additional assistance with day-to-day living.

Some examples might be if you require help managing medication or bathing. While some apartments have kitchenettes, meals are also provided in our restaurant-style dining hall. Every day you can expect three nutritious and delicious chef-prepared meals. You can relax in the dining hall with friends or visitors and not have to worry about cooking for yourself or cleaning up afterward. Snacks are also available daily.

At Agua Fria, assisted living means comprehensive and respectful care for each individual. Our mission is to provide the assistance you or your loved one requires while still providing independence to live your best life.

Nursing Home

Another phrase you might hear while doing your research is “nursing home.” A nursing home is more like a medical center than a living situation. People generally require a nursing home if they’re recovering from an injury or procedure and need a nurse or doctor to monitor their progress closely. The goal is to only require a nursing home for a little while so that once you’ve recovered you may go back to your assisted living home or retirement community. At the Mission at Agua Fria, our goal is to give you the care and independence you require so that you don’t need to visit a nursing home.

Moving to an assisted living community has proven to be better for seniors in the long run and can prevent accidents or illnesses with quick responses from your care team. After all, living in your own house may be difficult after some time, especially if you’re living alone. Climbing up on a ladder to perform maintenance or change a lightbulb can be risky if your balance isn’t as good as it once was. If you live in climates with winter storms, shoveling the driveway can be difficult and even hazardous if there’s ice. However, if you live in an assisted living community, we take care of all of that for you.

Assisted Living at the Mission at Agua Fria

When you receive consistent, respectful, and personalized care at the Mission at Agua Fria, our certified staff will be able to catch the beginnings of an illness before it becomes a bigger issue. Your quality of life will be much higher, not least of which because you’ll have the peace of mind that comes from letting someone else handle the details. With our partnerships with healthcare professionals, you’ll feel well taken care of so you may safely age in place.

When you first move to the Mission at Agua Fria, one of our licensed nurses will meet with you to complete an assessment on what your personal needs are. Based on that, they’ll outline a care plan. They’ll be with you every step of the way so that your preferences and interests are integrated into the plan as well.

Assisted living might be a little more involved than in a retirement community, but you can still expect to have your own apartment. We offer a choice of four different floorplans for one-bedroom apartments. No matter which style you choose, each apartment has the same safety features, including spacious bathrooms, walk- or wheel-in showers, grab bars, emergency response pull cords, emergency pendants, and plenty of closet space.

Memory Care

Sometimes memory care falls under the assisted living umbrella. At the Mission at Agua Fria, we offer state-of-the-art memory care for you or your loved one who requires the extra security and care that comes with this diagnosis. You can expect a secure environment; personal care services, including dressing, bathing, mobility, and assistance with meals and other activities; on-site, 24-hour medical care; ongoing evaluations and family support services; and medication management, assistance, and administration.

On top of that, you can expect enrichment programs and specialized activities to keep your brain stimulated. Studies have shown that access to art and other creative pursuits, exercise, movement, and social time all add up to help slow or stop cognitive decline. We want to supply all of that to you as much as you’d like. We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, though—this will be part of the care program our licensed nurses will work out with you and your care provider.

Whether you’re in need of assisted living or memory care, we’re happy to answer any questions you have about the Mission at Agua Fria. Contact us for more information—we would love to hear from you and to set up an appointment to meet with you in person.