Mary Lou,<br /><br />It&#39;s nice to be back on board - I really have missed you guys.  Have been a bit in the doldrums<br />with my medical stuff, ever since the tree demolished my van in early January.  Still feeling some<br />of the effects of that and just getting older, I guess...but always feel cheered up here.<br /><br />Deb, you should definitely have your son check out the Helium.com site....very slowly, based on your ratings, you accumulate money for your efforts but you won&#39;t get a check until you reach &#036;25.  I&#39;ve been writing a long time and I&#39;m almost halfway there&#33;&#33;  It is great fun, though.  There are also writing contests where you might earn more.  The woman who referred me, a friend I met on myspace, formerly a New Yorker who lives on the Costa Brava in Spain, is actually writing freelance magazine articles for several magazines, thanks to her Helium efforts, and getting paid about &#036;300+ for them.<br /><br />Jen, it&#39;s so hard seeing our parents get infirm.  My mother, at 84, still lives alone in GA.  She has macular degeneration and can barely read anymore - her greatest love - without using a huge magnifier.  Even then, her eyes tire easily.  She will not go into assisted living.  She&#39;s pretty antisocial - always has been - thus far, she&#39;s done okay with someone coming in weekly to do her shopping and clean a little.  She&#39;s been in her duplex for fifteen years now and likes where she is so, as long as she<br />is able, my brother and I haven&#39;t pushed her to move.  We&#39;d be so much more comfortable, of course,<br />if she were in assisted living.<br /><br /><br /><br />