This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of NMEDA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Having a disabled brother, and a father who lived with disabilities for years after several strokes, I’m sensitive to the physical needs of people who are disabled, as well as those who have to look out for them and provide their needs.

Getting my Dad from here to there became a problem as his condition deteriorated. It was so sad to watch, and we would do the best we could for him. My Mom never got a drivers license, and if he needed a ride anywhere, it fell on us, his children. Before my brother moved into a wonderful group home, it was the same with him…though he was able to sit in the car like anyone else. Now his equipment is provided for at the place where he lives. For many with disabled children, young adults and adults at home, a resource for tracking down proper equipment is of great value.

My dad went through a long period where he could not walk and was moved from place to place by wheel chair. It would have been wonderful to have a way to take him places, but his condition didn’t really allow for that. For others, it is possible to get around if the person has the right driving equipment.

This is where NMEDA comes in. They can direct you to the right resources and equipment for the disabled person, including proper driving equipment, and vans fully customized to the specific needs of the individual. Just as my father and brother differed in their circumstances, so no two people people who have disabilities are alike, which is why a personalized “in person” evaluation like you will receive from NMEDA is so valuable. What a wonderful site, I wish it had been around when we needed it.

If you want to be included on NMEDA’s site as a service provider for the disabled, you will want to look at the QAP (Quality Assurance Program) and complete the necessary requirements.

If any of you reading this are disabled, or caring for someone who is disabled, there are many things you can do to improve your quality of life, and NMEDA can help.

Many predict that the baby boomers are going to eat up all the social security available, there’s quite a bit of talk and quite a few sites on the web projecting this.  Time will tell how all of that goes.  I’ve heard gloom and doom predictions before and they don’t always turn out as bad as predicted, but we are living in challenging times now, so it’s hard to say.

This gloomy article from foxnews.com states that 10,000 Baby Boomers will be retiring each day…and will start collecting Social Security, not to mention Medicare for some and Medicaid for others, things that we’ve just taken for granted that we will have available to us, just as they were available to our parents.  There are also interesting facts at the Social Security Reform Center website.

Fear does come along and rears it’s ugly head as I try to sort it all out in my thinking, and it’s good to think and plan as much as we can, but there’s a lot of things we can’t plan for…it’s those things that can bring fear.  It’s at those times that I love remembering and singing this old hymn of the faith, my faith:

I don’t know about tomorrow;
I just live from day to day.
I don’t borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to grey.

I don’t worry o’er the future,
For I know what Jesus said.
And today I’ll walk beside Him,
For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand

I will find a picture of our beautiful snow to add later, but for now, offer my hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and my wishes for the coming New Year!

I’m an online shopper but this year, with a challenged economy and how it has challenged us financially, I’m going to try to rediscover my creative side, and see how we can save.

Thanksgiving holidays…yes, we have lots to be thankful for, there is no doubt about that, but it’s a deeper more meaningful kind of thanksgiving, not the kind that is thankful because we own this or that, but the kind that is thankful that someone in the family who is aging is still with you, the kind that remembers those that are no longer with you with thanksgiving for the part they have played in your life. There’s missing, the missing of those loved ones, missing children that may be overseas in the military, missing children that have married and moved out of the area. Everyone’s circumstances are different, so their approach to the season varies.

This was maybe not the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, not feeling well and various circumstances, but still, there are so many things to be thankful for, always…it’s a good exercise to take time to count your blessings, to count my blessings, especially if my mood isn’t lining up with the season as it should.

I’m thankful for you, my readers.

When this Baby Boomer got her first car, it HAD to have a working radio…the tires could have been bald, the finish not quite perfect, but the radio had to be perfect. I got my first car as we entered the year 1970, there was only a front speaker on the dash for the radio. My second car had front and back speakers. Then there were the cumbersome 8-Track players, then cassette tape players, and finally CD players…that’s what I still listen to in my car, but not my husband…read on.

The advances over the past 40 years have been amazing to watch, and now Dual Electronics has multiplied the “amazing-ness” almost beyond my understanding…but not quite.

My husband has the best iPod money can buy right now, sleek and attractive looking. But he has also purchased this very odd looking gadget he uses so that he can listen to it through his car radio…I mean really strange looking…I can’t quite describe it. But he still has to reach down and do all the adjusting directly on the iPod…hopefully at a stop and not while driving.

His experience would be much nicer if he had one of the new and attractive units that Duel Electronics offers for car entertainment, like the the XDMA7650, providing a front panel with a USB connection giving you easy access to controls for your iPod® and/or your iPhone®. Though sound quality is important, the feature I think I like best as I think of him out on the road trying to tune the iPod, is the wireless remote control, which I would imagine would be safer than looking down at a contraption plugged into a cigarette lighter like my husband is using right now. And here’s some “techie” info that I don’t really understand, but may impress you, it has 3.5mm auxiliary input & 3-RCA preamp outputs.

This is not all that you’ll find at the site, there are many other car entertainment units available to suit a variety of needs. Take a moment to take a look.

It is really a pleasure to be able to write about something that is close to home for me…literally and figuratively.  I have a brother who is disabled, or physically handicapped…unable to do things that you and I may take for granted.   In his case, it is more than just a physical condition, but for many who are simply unable to walk, or get in and out of a car or van, NMEDA has excellent, easy-to-use solutions for you.  I was so impressed looking at the vehicles and seeing what they were capable of doing…not all of them are alike, there are different solutions for different needs.   I looked at the drop-down menus under the categories along the top of the site, and visited a few links, and got the feeling that this was a very supportive organization.

The next thing that I wanted to know was whether or not there were dealers in New Jersey that provided these vehicles, and so put my zip code in, a relatively rural, out-of-the-way part of New Jersey.  I found 2 within a reasonable driving distance…1/2 – 1 hour away, in Fairfield, Saddle Brook; others in New York; and one near where I grew up before moving to this area, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

If there are that many locations in my area, I’m sure you’ll find them in your area, too. Visit and check, and if you have a moment, let us know what your closest location is in a comment.

UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare to Provide Free Support Groups for People Affected by the Economic Crisis

NEWARK – Panic over job loss. Fear of unemployment. Profound worry about meeting mortgage and tuition payments. Unfortunately, these are the realities of this severe recession.

If you are experiencing any of these kinds of reactions to the current fiscal crisis, it is important to know that you are not alone; there is a place you can go for assistance.

Beginning March 3, UMDNJ-University Behavioral HealthCare (UBHC), a statewide mental health and addiction services network, will offer free 90-minute support groups, run by experienced counselors, for those affected by the economic downturn. Sessions will be held weekly at the following locations on the days and times specified:

-Newark: Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. at UBHC, 183 South Orange Avenue;
-New Brunswick: Wednesdays at 3 p.m. at 303 George Street, 2nd Floor;
-Edison: Thursdays at 3 p.m. at 100 Metroplex Drive, 2nd Floor, Suite 200;
-Monmouth Junction: Tuesdays at noon at 4326 U.S. Highway 1.

• Sessions are open to the public and no appointments are necessary to attend. Participants may remain anonymous.
• People interested in attending may call (800) 969-5300 for more information.
• Members of the media interested in more information about this new initiative should contact Zenaida Mendez at (973) 972-7273.

PLEASE VIEW THE COMMENT(S) BELOW if you are viewing this as a single post, or click the “comments” link under the title of the post, for more support group information that has been added since this post was published.  Thank you.

If we were in a position where we needed to explore benefits, the “red tape” involved in seeking them out in New Jersey, …

 THE REMAINDER OF THIS POST HAS BEEN REMOVED because a link that was sponsored in the post lead to a site affiliated with ACORN.  Until matters are resolved with ACORN, this site will not promote any sites that are related to them to the best of our ability.  Why?  Take a look at what’s been going on at http://biggovernment.com