Niagara: Beautiful! Plus Age-Friendly

Niagara is a picturesque destination all four seasons of the year but it's particularly beautiful during the summer months when the city is literally in full bloom. If you've considered a retirement community in Niagara, why not spend a week or two visiting, touring around and getting a feel for the community.

The Falls
Horseshoe Falls attracts visitors for the famous photo ops year round and after filling your camera with magnificent shots of the falls, there's still much to see and do.

Tour Queen Victoria Park - the Floral Clock
The face of the time-keeping Floral Clock at Queen Victoria Park in the heart of the city is photographed nearly as much as the falls. Westminster chimes inside the back of the clock toll every quarter hour and its color comes from nearly 16 thousand beautiful viola flowers in spring and four cultivars of alternanthera plus green and grey Santolina Sage in summer and fall.

Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens
A quick drive up the Niagara Parkway leads to the Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens where students at the Niagara Parks School of Horticulture are known to love studying. The rose garden alone features more than 2400 roses and the park is home to one of Canada's loveliest collections of ornamental shrubs and trees.

Oakes Garden Theatre
Events and concerts are a summertime routine at the Oakes Garden Theatre stage featuring the falls in the background. If you haven't seen enough of the city's unique parks yet, there's McFarland House and Old Fort Erie both boasting "kitchen" gardens where old fashioned horticultural favorites are grown today, just as they have been for generations.

Laura Secord Homestead and the Mackenzie Printery
Fall and winter at Niagara are breathtaking with the changing leaves and the many choices of hiking trails around the falls. Trails are from a quarter mile in length to two miles through spectacular forest and vantage points. During the cooler months Niagara has many stories to tell between the walls of the historic sites like the Laura Secord homestead and the Mackenzie Printery.

Whether you love exploring alone, with a tour group or with friends and family, you won't run out of options in Niagara.

Niagara is Age-friendly
An inviting reason to retire to Niagara is that it is an age friendly community with the fourth largest percentage of seniors in Canada. Seniors in Niagara are known for giving back to the community by way of volunteerism, staying active in politics, community events and second or even third careers.

Holiday Retirement at Stamford Estates
The Stamford Estates Holiday Retirement community in Niagara Falls, invites guests to set up a tour to include a complimentary dinner if you're considering the option to retire to Niagara. Their amenities include the option to entertain family and friends in the private dining area and community members enjoy craft rooms, fireside lounges, chapel, billiards room, onsite beauty parlor and barbershop. There's no reason to become bored at Stamford; the activity programs are geared to seniors of varying fitness levels and appear to be enjoyable to everyone involved!

After delving into the highlights of the Niagara area, I personally look forward to visiting, not only for the many gardens and parks and the historic stories that the city is built upon but also for the natural beauty of the surrounding areas all seasons of the year; and I particularly love knowing that Niagara is an age-friendly city.

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Pros And Cons Of Multi-Generational Housing

Can You Be Happy With Multi-Generational Housing?

Multi-generational housing is absolutely nothing new. It simply means that multiple generations of the same family decide to live together. Of course, it is very common for parents to live with minor aged children. This term refers to the less common situation when adult children live with parents and, sometimes, grandparents. Sometimes those adult children have their own minor children. This means that three or four generations of the same family could live together in the same home.

Combining families has become more and more trendy. In fact, it has become so popular that a new term has even been coined for it. Baby boomers, who may live with elderly parents and/or adult children, are called the boomerang generation. Actually, it may be the younger and older generations who are doing more of the moving in though.

Families may decide to combine households for lots of reasons. The most obvious reason is probably financial. Living together can be a great way to economize. It may help some family members save money or get back on their feet. Other times, some family members may need more help caring for themselves. Working parents may get child care help from retired family members. Elderly people may need assistance with some daily living activities. Sometimes, living with a family can provide companionship, and it is simply a remedy for loneliness.

Is the boomerang movement positive?

Actually, there are a lot of good reasons for families to live together. Companionship, economy, and child or elder care are a few of the best. If you look into the history of many other cultures, multi-generational housing was normal. It may be that our society's tendency to move off and live alone is odder.

Do families ever have problems combining households?

Are there every problems when more than one generation lives in the same home? Actually, that is like asking if families ever have problems. If your kids move back in, you may remember why you were so relieved when they went out into the world in the first place. Your elderly parents may have trouble adapting to living in a household where they are no longer the bosses. Hopefully, you can over come these issues, but you are probably prudent to expect some rough times.

It is very important to make sure everybody understands their rights and responsibilities if you choose to combine households. Grandma has the right to get to sleep without listening to the kid's music blaring at odd hours. On the other hand, young children do need a pleasant and safe place to play sometimes. Your adult children should become responsible about cleaning up after themselves. When they were you, you may have expected to find dirty laundry or dirty dishes in unexpected places. If they return home as adults, you need to make it clear that the rules have changed.

Is Combining Households A Good Idea For You?

I have known many families who enjoyed taking in adult kids, grand-children, and elderly parents. On the other hand, I have also seen situations where one party took advantage of another and things did not work out so well. I think that having clear expectations and open communication helped the successful families a lot.

This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.

Emergency Contact Numbers

Think about all the different kinds of emergencies you experience in your everyday life. It doesn't have to be life threatening to be an emergency. Anything you have to take care of now, qualifies. And where are the emergency contact numbers for all those different people, businesses, organizations and distant relatives in your life? Some may be in your address book. Some, on your contact list. Others, the ones you never anticipated having to call, could be anywhere. Most likely, on a document you need right now. A contract, maybe. Or, an insurance policy. Maybe a medical specialist you haven't seen in years. Maybe your babysitter's friend's name and number for a last minute change of plans. So, you start searching. You know you put it away carefully so you could find it when you need it. Where did you put it?

Sound familiar? It happens all the time. You go years without thinking about all the people and companies you do business with or interact with. Then, when you need to reach them, you can't find the contact information. Worse yet, someone else in your family may have filed the information and he or she isn't available right now.

Manage your home and family better with personal record keeping software. You can store and maintain the whereabouts of important documents and keep track of emergency contact numbers all in one place. When the need arises, it's just a quick trip to the computer and there it is. The information you are looking for is at your fingertips.

Well organized family contact records start with a personal profile for each family member. In an emergency you can print it and hand it to medical professionals. Otherwise, you might have to compose one from scratch or waste time searching for details to fill out forms. Software is available that combines personal profile information with other fields in family medical records and emergency contact numbers to create a wallet-size medical alert card. It includes the kind of information emergency technicians say can help save a life.

When you have to contact somebody in an emergency it isn't just a number you need. You most often have to find a document, as well. It might be a contract or account statement or policy. Wouldn't it be best if you recorded the location of important documents in the same software programs you recorded emergency contact numbers? Where are your insurance policies, service contracts, financial assets, medical records, retirement and pension documents? If they're in the home safe, what's the combination? If they are in a safe deposit box at the bank, what bank? Where's the key? You can write emergency contact information in an address book, but it's not likely to be much use in an emergency if you can't find the documents and the rest of information you need.

Record keeping software gives you an organizing framework in which to record emergency contact numbers and the locations of important documents. Your emergency contact numbers can include all the people and organizations you may have to reach one day. Attorneys, bank managers, accountants, customer service people at companies you do business with, insurance agents and companies, mechanics, roofers, plumbers, congressmen, city councilors realtors, human resources people at former employers, the list can go on. You can't keep all your emergency contact numbers on your cell phone. Nor, can you record the location of important documents on your phone. For that, you need record keeping software.

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Tips for Living Aboard a Sailboat During Your Retirement

Tips for living aboard a sailboat during your retirement will assume that you know nothing about sailboats... There is a way for you baby boomers to go from zero knowledge to enjoying this lifestyle.

We know what we are talking about because we went from knowing nothing about sailboats to living on one in the Caribbean in four years... There are steps that made the process doable, we can show you how.

Taking baby steps in this process is especially important if one spouse or partner is somewhat reluctant about making such a drastic lifestyle change.

When I announced that we would be living on a sailboat, retired within five years, my spouse was most skeptical about being able to do so...yours may have some doubts too.

If both baby boomer spouses are enthusiastic about trying this lifestyle it will obviously be a much easier and faster process.

The steps in our process were as follows:

• We took a shore excursion on a cruise ship, six people from the ship with a Capt. and a mate for four hours, we sailed a little, we snorkeled, I became infatuated with the idea of living on a sailboat
• We signed up for sailing lessons to learn the basics of boat handling and navigation when we returned home...Houston
• We took vacations in the British Virgin Islands where we chartered a boat with a Capt. and cook to start
• We graduated to chartering a boat that we took out by ourselves
• The last step was a three-week charter boat vacation, by ourselves, to determine if we would really enjoy this process
• We then purchased our first sailboat in the Clear Lake Texas area... Spending most weekends on the boat
• Five months later we sailed the boat from Texas to the Caribbean ( Virgin Islands) and embarked on an eight year adventure

Who are the prime boomer candidates for living aboard a sailboat in retirement?

• Couples that can peacefully coexist in a small space
• Persons who have a desire for a simpler life
• Persons that are patient and laid-back
• Persons that are not risk takers... safety is priority one
• Non-type A personalities

If this sounds like you and your spouse/partner...living on a sailboat can be the experience of a lifetime... It certainly was the highlight of our 37 years of marriage.

Living on a sailboat is not as difficult as some would make it... The skills necessary are easy to learn, not complicated, and are basically common sense.

Because living on a sailboat is not considered a conventional way for baby boomer retirement... You should be prepared to get little encouragement from your friends.

However if you take baby steps like we did... You can go from zero to sailboat cruising in four years.

We can show you how... If we did it you can do it.

This news article is brought to you by ELECTRICAL - where latest news are our top priority.

Retirement - Muscles And A Home Business Equals A Great Life

When you picture your retirement do you picture yourself sitting in a chair, lonely, sick, and staring at the wall with nothing to do? If that is the picture of the retirement you are facing it is probably easy to get up and go to work. You will probably hang on the work life as long as possible.

A successful retirement needs to have planning and money. You need to start planning early. You don't want to get to your retirement day and then say OK now what. You want to be ready to hit the ground running.

You should start getting in the best physical, emotional, mental and financial shape possible years before your actual retirement date. Why, because you had to work for a long time to get there and you owe it to yourself to provide for the best life possible.

Maybe you are one of those people who started planning many years ago and everything has gone according to plan. If that is so you are a lucky person. If you are one of the millions that are going to be in trouble on that day then you need to get busy.

What is important is to actually start changing today. Don't put it off another day. Start planning what your life will be like after you retire.

If you are not in the best physical shape start working on it today. It is amazing what just a few minutes a day can do for your body. You can start making one small change at a time. Adding weight training is a fast and easy way to start improving your health.

If you are not in the best financial shape tackle that problem head on. If you can see that your job is not going to allow you to afford to retire with what you need then find ways to add to your income. With the internet it is possible to make money from your computer in the evenings. Use that money to pay off bills or save for retirement.

If your social life is nonexistent start working on a plan to change that. Again with today's technology you don't even have to leave home to start making changes. Groups, forums, and online conferences can be a great way to make new friends both locally and across the world.

If you need to wrap your mind around being retired start thinking about what you are going to do when that day arrives. You have worked long and hard through life so be sure to be ready when the reward time gets here.

This news article is brought to you by DATING AND RELATIONSHIP ADVICE - where latest news are our top priority.

Health Care 2.0 Is Truly Underway

What if you could tweet your symptoms to a doctor and receive an immediate diagnosis? With the international medical community expanding their innovative use of Web 2.0, this might not be too far off.

At the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), patients are already conducting a virtual visit to the doctor's office on their iPad or iPhone by accessing the online "HealthTrak" portal established by UPMC a few years ago to serve its 20 hospitals, 400 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, and 1.4 million health plan members. Users can schedule appointments, renew prescriptions and view medical records and test results, and even conduct a virtual visit to the doctor's office. Designated for patients with non-pressing, common place health problems such as back pains, rashes, sinus infections, headaches and colds, an "eVisit" entails answering a series of questions about your condition then awaiting a response from the doctor. With approximately 600 new users joining HealthTrak each week, UPMC expects to have 100,000 users by the end of the year. UPMC's chief medical information officer G. Daniel Martich, MD, anticipates Web 2.0 playing an expansive role: "Eventually, care will evolve using a whole range of technology: chatting, texting, apps."

There are also individuals who are proving just as inventive as mega-hospitals on the social media frontlines. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and researcher at Children's Hospital Boston, invented HealthMap, a website and mobile application that scours the blogosphere, news outlets and social-networking websites to track global disease outbreaks. With the ability to access tens of thousands of web pages in a single hour, HealthMap was able to detect a new pattern of respiratory illness in Mexico in 2009 before public health officials even realized it was there.

Brownstein also created Outbreaks Near Me, a smart-phone application that allows users to enter information such as if a family member falls or if there is a line-up at a local clinic in order to help researchers identify patterns and possible outbreaks.

Use of social media is not only expanding among medical professionals but patients as well. According to the National Research Corp. survey one in five Americans utilize social media (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and FourSquare) as a source of healthcare information.

With the limits of social media being constantly pushed and pulled, its increasing role in the healthcare, pandemics and emergencies could potentially shape an entire new definition of medical interaction around the world.

This article is brought to you by SINGLES.