November Community Events

Holiday season is in full swing at The Villages. Come check out some of these activities:

November 5 - For the first time in 30 years, Tutankhamen has returned to the deYoung Museum and the Villagers have a tour scheduled. For $50/person the trip includes transportation and entry at the deYoung Museum. Come out to see the artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamen which provide insight into the daily life and royal burial practices of the 18th Dynasty, Egypt's Golden Age.

November 7 - Holiday Faire presented in the Cribari Center Auditorium from 10 am to 2 pm. Our residents, Walter and Hanna Howald, will demonstrate the art of chocolate confection making and 40 of our Villages artisans and craftsmen have beautiful and unique items available for sale.

November 13 - Wine Tasting and Cooking Demo event returns with wines from Tenuta Winery. The cost is $12/person. Come see what Gavin is going to prepare for our holiday special!

November 26 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
The regular Thanksgiving buffets are sold out and the restaurant is now taking reservations for mini buffet in the cafe and preparing for to-go packages.

December 2 - Holiday at Union Square
This is our Annual shopping trip to Union Square in San Francisco. The bus will leave at 8:30 am and return by 5 pm. - cost is only $28/person. Come shop til you drop, enjoy a meal at a wonderful San Francisco restaurant, view the beautifully decorated Christmas tree at Macy's and leave the driving and the parking to the bus driver.

GREEN TIP: Leaks Faucets

Leaky faucets that drip at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year. Not sure if you have a leak? Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.

Medicare Basics: A Guide for Caregivers

Please click the link to Federal Citizen Information Center in the sidebar to order this publication.

While there, please read over other publications that are offered to the public. Is this link informational for you? If so, please give me your feedback.

Baby Boomer Senior Expo 2009!

New Era Seniors Lifestyle Show
This is Information for Baby Boomers and beyond!

http://www.BoomerSeniorShow.com


Where: Santa Clara Convention Center
5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara
When: Sunday April 26, 2009
Time: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
FREE Admission and Parking

This is an opportunity for baby boomers, seniors, family of seniors and caregivers to meet experts. The full day Expo and Seminars include
topics such as:

*Affordable housing for independent living.
*Home care assistance
*Home improvements – room additions, painting, modifications, wheel chair access
*Long Term Care
*Real Estate - investments, mortgages, reverse mortgages, etc.
*Travel information
*Trust & Wills
*Wealth management and wealth creation
*And much more!

AS A NOTE, I will be exhibiting and talking about the real estate opportunities available in The Villages Golf & Country Club. Just look for B & A Realtors and ActiveOver50 publication.

Visit my exhibit booth and receive a FREE Thank You Gift!

GREEN TIP: Permanent Filters

Instead of replacing your air conditioner or furnace filter several times a year, consider replacing the disposable filter with a permanent filter. These filters can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner or garden hose and mild household detergents. Plus, these filters carry a lifetime warranty, saving you money in the long-term.

Economic Recovery payments

The stimulus packages provides for a one-time payment to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries - $250 to individuals and $500 for couples (if both receive benefits). You do not have to file forms or do anything special to get this money. It will just show up by early June as an extra check or automatic deposit, depending on how you usually receive your benefits.

WOWW - February 11, 2009; 8:30 am - 11:00 am

Councilmember Nancy Pyle's 2nd Annual (WOWW) (Westfield Oakridge Winter Walk and Resource Faire for Seniors) will be held on Wednesday, February 11 from 8:30 am to 11:00 am.

Schedule of events:

8:30 am to 11:00 am Resource tables open

8:30 am to 9:10 am Seniors register for WOWW in the Sears Courtyard of Westfield
Oakridge Mall and receive a FREE healthy breakfast

9:10 am to 9:15 am Councilmember Nancy Pyle's Welcome

9:15 am to 9:30 am Kaiser leads warm-up stretching exercises

9:30 am to 10:40 am Mall Walk

10:40 am to 11:00 am Kaiser leads cool-down stretching exercises
Raffle Drawing

11:00 am Councilmember Nancy Pyle's Closing Remarks

Come visit the table of B & A Realtors and receive a "Valentine" thank you.

COFFEE FILTERS...Who Knew!

Coffee filters...who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the Dollar Tree for almost nothing.

1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2 Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. Protect China . Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet
to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined
with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers20for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot
with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters.

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries,
chicken fingers, etc on them. Soak s out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great "razor nick fixers."

OH YEAH THEY ARE GREAT TO USE IN YOUR COFFEE MAKERS

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Weeds Away with Newspapers

When you start to put in your plants, work the nutrients into the soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go and cover with mulch. Forget about the weeds! Weeds will get through some gardening plastic and they will not get through wet newspapers.

2. Get Rid of Ants

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home', can't digest it, so it kills them. This may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

GREEN TIP: Paperboard is Recyclable

Paperboard is a thicker form of paper used in consumer packaging. Examples include cereal containers, tissue boxes, drink boxes, detergent packaging, and shoe boxes. Paperboard is recyclable--often at curbside--if the plastic liner has been removed and it has not been stained with cooking oil or water. While paperboard often is coated with kaolin clay to improve its printing surface, it's still recyclable.

GREEN TIP: Use Before Recycling!

Collect 8.5- by 11-inch paper that's been printed on one side by your printers and fax machines, designate a paper drawer on each printer, or as many printers as practical, for this paper, and use it to print drafts.

GREEN TIP: Stash Away Money in 2009

Drink tap water and before you know it, you can stash away $14,000.

You don't always have to drink bottled water. A $3 bottle of water a day x 365 days x 10 years x 6% interest is $14,694. That can be money in your pocket!

Small changes today means BIG bucks tomorrow.

Happy savings in 2009.

GREEN TIP: Confused about Plastics?

You're not alone. Experts have reached a consensus and recommend that you avoid these varieties -- identified by a triangle and number on the bottom of most containers -- for the following reasons:

1. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) commonly contains di-2-ehtylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), an endocrine disruptor and probable human carcinogen, as a softener.

2. Polystyrene (PS) may leach styrene, a possible endocrine disruptor and human carcinogen, into water and food.

3. Polycarbonate contains the hormone disruptor bisphenol-A, which can leach out as bottles age, are heated, or exposed to acidic solutions. Unfortunately, this is used in most baby bottles and five-gallon water jugs and in many reusable sports bottles.

Christmas Tree Solution

This is a simple little formula that, fed regularly to your tree, will keep it fresh, fragrant and green far longer than water alone. It's tried and true!

The first week is a critical time to keep the water level checked daily, and sometimes twice a day.

1 quart HOT tap water (hot water aids in circulation)
1 T. liquid iron (keeps the tree green). This is found in the garden section of stores.
2 T. light corn syrup (feeds the tree). This is found in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
1 T. laundry bleach (fights bacteria and fungi)

Happy Holidays!

(Recipe by Katherine Sturr, DesignerInside-Out Designs)

GREEN TIP: Toilet Dams

If water-saving or dual-flush toilets are not in your office or home improvement budget, then place one or two plastic containers filled with stones in your toilet's tank. This intermediary step will displace a significant amount of water use over the course of a year.

GREEN TIP: Plastic Linings in Cans

Bisphenol-A, the hormone-disrupting chemical found in plastic bottles, is present in the majority of canned foods.

The thin plastic lining found in canned goods contains traces of BPA that can migrate into food.

One way to avoid BPA-lined cans is to purchase foods packaged in Tetra Paks, aseptic cartons made from layers of paper, aluminum, and polyethylene.

GREEN TIP: Light-Emitting Noel

It's a fact: Christmas decorations will cause a spike in your electricity bill.

This year, consider purchasing strings and strands that contain light-emitting diodes, which use 99 percent less electricity than traditional bulbs.

New Era Seniors Lifestyle Show

This is Information for Baby Boomers and beyond!

Where: Santa Clara Convention Center
When: Sunday November 9, 2008
Time: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
FREE Admission and Parking

This is an opportunity for baby boomers, seniors, family of seniors and caregivers to meet experts. The full day Expo and Seminars include
topics such as:

*Affordable housing for independent living.
*Anti-aging products/services
*Assisted living, skilled care facilities, residential facilities
*Automobiles
*Clothing and accessories
*Entertainment
*Home care assistance
*Home improvements – room additions, painting, modifications, wheel chair access
*Insurance
*Landscape & gardening
*Long Term Care
*Managing chronic disease and services available
*Medical equipment
*Nutrition
*Optometry
*Part time job opportunities
*Products for grandchildren
*Recreational products
*Real Estate - investments, mortgages, reverse mortgages, etc.
*Senior Counseling (transitioning)
*Social Outings
*Sources for financial and legal advice and help
*Spas
*Travel information
*Trust & Wills
*Wealth management and wealth creation
*401K/IRA/ROTH/SEP
*And much more!

AS A NOTE, I will be exhibiting and talking about the real estate opportunities available in The Villages Golf & Country Club. Just look for B & A Realtors and ActiveOver50 publication.

Mistakes can cost you money!

The Villages Golf & Country Club is located in Santa Clara Co. which is a county in California that allows for property tax transfers from anywhere within the State.

Here are the guidelines of the law:

* Must be at least 55 years of age
* Never used the transfer before
* Value of new residence must NOT exceed the former (or perhaps 105 or 110 percent)
* the transfer claim must be filed within 3 years of the new purchase.

In order to avoid any costly mistakes in filing this claim, PLEASE do not rely on anyone other than yourself to complete the paperwork and file the claim.

For further information regarding Proposition 60 and Proposition 90 and for a link to the filing form, please click on (http://www.bandarealtors.biz/useful_links.htm).

HOW TO FIX LIFE'S LITTLE MISHAPS

Mishaps happen and it is important to know what steps to take in order to reduce their impact.

Crayon on Walls * Spray the marks with a car part lubricant and wipe with a soft cloth. Repeat as necessary, then wash the wall with warm water and dish soap.

Gum in Carpet *apply a small amount of muscle pain treatment cream and pull out using a plastic bag once the cream has heated the gum. Dab with warm soapy water and pat dry as soon as the gum is removed.

Wax on Table Cloth * Once cooled and set, scrape off excess with a credit card. Place one paper bag underneath and one above the cloth and run an iron over the area on medium heat. The wax will be absorbed by the paper bags.

Lipstick on Clothing * Use a clean, white, damp cloth to dab off as much as possible as soon as the stain is noticed, being careful not to rub. At home, dab or spray with any grease pre-treatment liquid, let stand, the wash in warm water.