Beatitudes Community
Log in
Log in

Tag: holidays

Healthy Holidays

Wed, December 22, 2021 Published by

The holidays are often a time of joyful experiences, but they can also bring about unique health challenges. During the season of giving, it’s still important to take care of yourself; we hope to provide a few tips to stay healthy this winter.

  • Talk about vaccination status: Most of the breakthrough COVID cases among residents on Campus have resulted from family gatherings. Before planning your holiday get together, talk with your loved ones about who will be in attendance and be sure they’ve all been vaccinated.
  • Be mindful of medications: With winter allergy, cold, and flu season upon us, be mindful of over-the-counter medications, which can have unintended side effects. For example, medications that have sedating or pain mediating effects, such as decongestants and cough syrups, can lead to confusion. Consult your doctor before taking beginning new over the counter medications for cold symptoms, and always being aware of multi-symptom products that treat coughing, sneezing, pain, etc. These medications can contain similar ingredients to medications you are already taking, which can put one at risk of overdose.
  • Healthy healing alternatives: Try alternatives to over the counter cold and allergy medications, such as resting, drinking more fluids, saline nasal sprays, and drinking honey in your tea for coughing.
  • Winter workouts: It’s easy to fall away from your usual exercise routine during the holidays but maintaining an exercise regime for 30 minutes a day helps boost your mood and energy levels and improves sleep quality. Try to carve out regular time for yourself to prioritize walks and healthy activity even on busy days.
  • Seasonal schedule: Keeping a usual medication and sleep schedule, especially if you are travelling, also boosts your immune system and energy levels. Aim to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day and be consistent in taking your medications on time. If traveling, have an updated copy of your medication list with you, along with your labeled medications and pill organizer. Before you leave for a trip, make sure you have enough medications for the duration of the trip and for the days after you return, so you won’t need to rush to refill medications.
  • Holiday food and spirits: Maintaining a healthy diet can be challenging during the holidays, but it is important to stick to your regular diet as closely as possible. It’s okay to treat yourself, but eat rich, fatty and sugary foods in moderation and add more vegetables to your holiday plate. This season is also a time when people are more likely to drink alcohol at parties and gatherings. Studies show that regular drinkers have a tendency to over-imbibe during the holidays, while many holiday drinkers who do not drink regularly need to be aware of their lower alcohol tolerance. Be mindful of the risk of confusion and falls when drinking and ask your physician or pharmacist about how alcohol interacts with your specific medications.


Keep these tips in mind and enjoy a happy, healthy holiday season this winter!!

The Jewish Holidays in September

Sat, September 4, 2021 Published by

September 2021 is an interesting month regarding the Jewish Calendar. The Jewish calendar year is 5782 and theoretically dates from Adam and Eve, if you go through the bible with all the years listed for the generations. There are four major Jewish holidays that occur this month. Three of them are described in Leviticus chapter 23. The first is Rosh Hashanah, literally the Head of the Year, as the Hebrew word Rosh is “head” and Hashanah is “the year.” Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown September 6th and is celebrated on the seventh and eight for Orthodox Jews and the seventh for Jews who live in Israel and Reform Jews. It is interesting that Rosh Hashanah begins on the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew Calendar and is the beginning of the ten Days of Awe which end with Yom Kippur.

The Beatitudes High Holiday Jewish service, celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, will be conducted in the Life Center Boardroom on Friday, September 10th at 1 pm. The service will be led by Phil and Hannah Adelman.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on the 15th of September. Leviticus does not use the name Rosh Hashanah and only indicates that is a day of the blowing of the horn. The name for this day was first used in the Mishnah which is a Jewish text written in the first 200 years of the common era. The Mishnah describes the use of the ram’s horn as it was a ram who was sacrificed in place of Isaac by Abraham. Hence, the Shofar or rams’ horn is blown in services on Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is the end of the days of awe and is normally spent in the synagogue praying and fasting. The Yom Kippur fast begins prior to sundown on the fifteenth and ends, traditionally, after sundown on the sixteenth. During this 24-hour day the Jewish fast consists of complete abstinence of food and drink.

Sukkot, the feast of tabernacles, begins on the evening of the 20th of September (14th of Tishrei) and is a seven or eight-day holiday. It commemorates the harvest and traditionally we build a wooden structure, which is covered in palm fronds or other branches from trees. Many Jews eat their holiday meals in the sukkah. Simchat Torah, rejoicing with the Torah, begins at sundown September 28th. It is celebrating with the Torah and ends the annual cycle of reading the Torah in the Synagogue. On this holiday the final chapter of Deuteronomy is read, and the beginning of Genesis is read. The Torah, which is a scroll containing the 5 books of Moses is rewound from the end to the beginning and every synagogue and temple in the world begins the annual reading the Torah on Simchat Torah.

Article written by Phil Adelman, Beatitudes resident and posted on his behalf by Beatitudes Campus

State of the Campus – Dec. 23

Wed, December 23, 2020 Published by

Beatitudes Campus continues to see an increase in cases, which has doubled last week’s number of cases. As of today, we have 31 cases on campus – 20 staff and 11 residents. The individuals infected are across all campus areas. We continue to aggressively test staff and residents in our licensed areas as it is one of our tools to mitigate the spread.

Looking Forward to 2019

Sun, December 30, 2018 Published by

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were filled with love and joy. I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all of you for making Beatitudes Campus the wonderful, spirit-filled community it is. Your warmth and compassion for each other is inspiring. Your wisdom has taught me so much about living life to its fullest. You have blessed me with the lifelong gift of your friendship. Thank you!

Now that 2019 is upon us, many of us have resolved to change some of our “bad” habits and replace them with “good” habits. How did the tradition of New Year’s resolution even start? Some 4,000 years ago, the Babylonians rang in their new year by making promises to the gods in hopes they would earn good favor in the coming year. They often resolved to return borrowed items and get out of debt. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus. During the Middle Ages, knights would renew their vows to chivalry and uphold the values of knighthood by placing their hand on a live or roasted peacock.

Things have come a long way since then! Modern new year’s resolutions became “a thing” in the 19th century. The first recorded use of the phrase “new year resolution” appeared in a Boston newspaper in 1813.

The tradition of making resolutions at the beginning of the year certainly can put a lot of stress on us – especially if we don’t keep them. Every year, in some way or another, I resolve to be a better person, get healthier, work less, save the world, become smarter, be more philanthropic, become more spiritual, engage more in the world around me – whew – what a tall order! And what a lot of pressure! By the end of the year, I usually haven’t fulfilled all of my resolutions in the way I imagined I would in January. Sometimes life doesn’t quite go the way I planned it to go. But by bending with the winds of change, I adapt to changing circumstances. But even then, that sometimes means I don’t accomplish my New Year’s resolutions. What if I could just lighten up a bit and allow myself to live each moment of every day fully – rather than pressuring myself and forcing change and feeling bad when the change doesn’t happen?

So, this year, my “un-resolution” is to resolve to get out of my own way and trust that the better version of me will come through when it’s ready to do so. I am hoping that taking time off from forcing change through new year’s resolutions will open new doors of discovery for me. And I’m excited! 2019 is going to be the best year yet – a year of incredible growth and evolution!

May the new year add a new beauty and freshness in your hearts.*

TOWN HALL Recap for December 5, 2018

Sun, December 16, 2018 Published by

Rev. David Ragan, Sr. VP of Resident Services, called the meeting to order at 2:15PM, wishing all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a Joyous Holiday Season. David also asked residents to be sensitive to those who may have lost a loved one recently or have other reasons to be sad over the holidays. A kind word or deed can make a big difference. He shared the spirit of the holidays by showing some pictures of staff, both now and in previous years. Staff Christmas photo cards from years past of Michelle Just, Joe Kane, Mike Smallwood, Peggy Roberts, Jon Schilling, Barbara Wood and many others brought gales of laughter from residents. How we do change over the years!! David called attention to the Welcome Coffee held the fourth Wednesday of each month, but taking a break in December, with the next Coffee on Wednesday, January 23rd.

Michelle Just, President and CEO, also wished residents happy holidays and provided updates on several items. She thanked residents for their participation in the Holleran Survey and said the findings will be used by Senior Staff, the Board of Directors and others in planning for the future. Michelle also thanked residents for their generosity in raising over $165,000 for the Employee Appreciation Fund. The staff party with be on Friday, December 7th, and employees are very grateful for the money they receive from the Fund. It will definitely make a difference for Christmas. As for the redevelopment, residents have no doubt noticed that the homes along 17th Drive and Myrtle Avenue have been demolished. Abatement will be started tomorrow in regard to the old patio homes. They will not be demolished until sometime in January and residents will be duly notified of the date so that they may party on their balconies. A new name has been given to the Courtyard buildings. It is to be called the Promenade Residences. In response to letters received and rumors, Michelle assured residents that the Mall would not be closing down for this phase of the redevelopment. That will not occur until the Promenade Residences are built 2 ½ years down the road. She has also received word that residents are very happy with the Holiday decorations and she assured us that the Poinsettia tree in the Life Center will remain lovely without watering as the flowers are silk! Michelle asked a favor of residents—that some residents (in their Beatitudes T-shirts) would attend the Alhambra Village Planning meeting on December 18th at the Washington Adult Center. More information will be available in the Roadrunner.

As Barbara Carpenter came forward to report on the Residents Council, David noted that there had been a Barbara Luncheon. Barbara said that 18 Barbaras attended and had a lovely time.

Barbara reported on the November Residents Council Meeting, noting that David Ragan welcomed the Representatives, Committee Chairs, Staff and Residents. He had updates on the demolishing of the new patio home and garden apartment sites, the Community Channel and a new loop system for the Life Center. Bylaws and Elections Chairman, Herb Komnick, reported that the elections went smoothly, each building has elected representatives, and over 60% of independent living residents voted. Dining Services Chair, Pat Dellisanti, shared the mostly positive comments that the committee had received on our dining venues. Bette Henriques, Employee Appreciation Chair, announced that the 2018 fund had broken the previous record and she, too, thanked all who participated so generously. Enviroment Chairmen, Gerald Roseberry, said that servers in Buckwald’s and Elaine’s will be offering water on request as part of our conservation effort. It was approved for the Recycling Sub-Committee to move to the Facilities Committee. Facilities Committee Chairman, Roger Benson, and his committee are working with our Director of Plant Operations on the serviceability and appearance of the campus facilities. Committees reporting in December include Communications, Community Relations, Health and Wellness, Life Enrichment, Spiritual Life and Welcome. Representative, Nils Larson, of Plaza View welcomed new representative, Dick Tucker and reported on happenings there. Kathleen Hall of Plaza South and Hollister Newlin of Central Park South each reported about good things in their buildings and all independent living areas will be celebrating the season with holiday events starting next week. Donna Ellis reported for the newly formed Diversity and Inclusion Action Council, which will be working to promote these values, a part of the Beatitudes Promise. The Residents Council will be appreciating all our 2018 volunteers, electing new officers and seating our new representatives next week so join us for an exciting glimpse into 2019 on Wednesday, December 12th at 2:00PM. Cake and coffee will be served. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN 2018!

Jessica Meyer, Director of Success Matters, announced a Courtney Cookie Send-off to be held on Thursday, December 20th from 10 to 11AM. Courtney Ramos has completed her internship at the Beatitudes and we thank her for her work on Campus and wish her well in her upcoming career as an occupational therapist. Courtney, who has now completed her Master’s Degree, thanked the residents for being so welcoming and expressed her feeling that this is a wonderful community.

Didi Cruz and Monica De La Rosa, Life Enrichment Specialists, combined forces to remind residents of several upcoming opportunities such as the Holiday Light Tour Off Campus on Monday, December 17th and Wednesday, December 19th at 6PM. Call x12905 to reserve your seat. There will be a trip to Organ Stop Pizza on Tuesday, December 18th at 3PM. Organ Stop Pizza accepts CASH ONLY and to join this trip, call 12905 by Friday, December 14th. If you plan on decorating your balcony, and don’t mind having folks stop by around 6PM on weekdays, call Didi at 18473 by Thursday, December 13th. Those who participate will be entered in a raffle to win a $25 gift card. Free gift wrapping is available on Saturday, December 15th from 9AM to 5PM. Volunteers will be available to help wrap your gifts. All supplies are provided and please schedule a time by calling Monica at x18526. If you would like to be a Town Crier, and be available from 8 to 8:20AM to announce the events/classes going on for the day and the following day, and answer questions regarding the events/classes, contact Korry Nelson, Communications and Media Design Specialist at x18493 or talk with a Communications Committee member. You can volunteer for one day a week, or two days a week or whatever you might be able to do.

Michael Smallwood, Fitness Specialist, provided riddles and jokes along with good news about keeping fit. It seems that as Americans continue to live longer, we also are aging better and thriving more in later life. Seniors are more satisfied with their standard of living, worry less about finances, have a significantly higher sense of well-being and have reduced amounts of stress in their lives than their younger counterparts. Hawaii ranks as the #1 state for older Americans well-being, followed by ARIZONA, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Colorado. The least happy states were Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia. So stay here at the Beatitudes and join a workout and wellness class! The B-Fit winner for December is Norma Dieffenbach.

Tena Alonzo, Comfort Matters Director of Education and Research, introduced John Czaplewski, a Doctoral student, whose dissertation project involves the cognitive examination of people at least 90 years old. John said that participating in the project will require 20 to 30 minutes of activities such as puzzles, identifying pictures, remembering a short list of words, drawing pictures and connecting the dots. If residents participate, they will be a part of something that will benefit the care of others, create something new, represent individuals 90 years-old and over and impact the field of Neuropsychology. There is no other research like this in the country. If you are interested in participating in this important study, contact Tena at x16182.

David said that the DirecTV installation is complete and Cox is terminated throughout the campus. If Cox is trying to bill you for the white boxes that were in your apartment, tell them to cease doing so as they are part of the bulk account between Beatitudes Campus and Cox and this does not involve you. Always put in a work order should you have any issues involving your television or internet from now on.

The Arizona Republic is for sale in the Bistro for $2.00 a copy, including Sunday. Remember the Hootenanny takes place each and every Wednesday night in the Life Center. Bring your friends and enjoy the music. Wednesday Sundaes with Dave will take place on December 19th from 2 to 4PM in the Bistro. Enjoy a free yogurt sundae and share your thoughts with David. A big Thank You to Gregory’s Fresh Market for the bags of fruits and vegetables given to residents as they came to Town Hall on Wednesday.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL. The next Town Hall will be at 2:00PM in the Life Center on January 2nd, 2019.

‘Tis a Gift

Sun, December 16, 2018 Published by

Gifts arrive on birthdays, at Christmas, on Hanukkah, anniversaries, retirements and on so many other beautiful occasions throughout our life’s journey.  We celebrate great events and individuals who are extra special to us by offering something of ourselves in the form of a gift that reflects our gratitude and appreciation.  Some of you might have figured out that I try to send a birthday card of appreciation to all of you and begin writing them just before the new month.  Not a card goes by that I do not find myself reflecting on what a gift to the Campus, and to me, the particular individual is to whom I am writing.  We give gifts, but the greatest gift is not the gift itself but the giver and receiver themselves.  They make for the true treasures in life. And, like all gifts, with time, they are all meant to be shared and that is what makes our Campus so beautiful.  The sharing is abundant!

As the Holidays approach, and as much as gift giving is on many of our minds, it is a strange phenomenon whereby individuals forget just what an amazing gift they genuinely are.  This time of the year can be especially painful for the ones who just cannot see the truth and beauty about themselves.  In that we shine when it comes to gifts that keep on giving, I want to encourage you to make an extra special effort to keep an eye out for a neighbor who might very well be struggling and needing a special word or a little affirmation from you.

You are a gift! There might not be a more perfect time than now to share the gift you are by inviting someone you have not seen for a while to join you for dinner or a Campus event.  Or when you notice that fellow resident a few tables down eating alone consider checking and seeing if they might be open to some company.  They will be gifted by the amazing individual that is in you and I am willing to bet you will receive a beautiful gift in return in the gift they are as well.

It is every day of the year that Beatitudes Campus excels at sharing and caring for one another, but the Holidays allow us to be even more sensitive and compassionate creating a community where everybody belongs and is unmistakably valued.

You are a gift!  And there is no greater gift than sharing yourself to uplift another.  Enjoy the Holidays. *

Watching, Waiting, Hoping

Sat, December 8, 2018 Published by

Advent, which we now find ourselves in the middle of, is without doubt my favorite season of the year. Described by the poet Malcolm Guite as “a season for stillness, for quiet, for discernment … for active waiting, straining forward and listening”, Advent brings into sharp focus the advantages of learning to wait well and to exhibit patience whenever we can. We open the doors of our Advent calendars or light the candles of our Advent wreaths, with each being another step on a challenging journey of waiting. The whole idea is, according to the Prophet Isaiah, that by waiting well our inner strength is renewed by the time the Christmas festivities begin.
Learning to wait effectively is never easy no matter where we are on life’s journey. In our increasingly digital age, being patient and learning to wait is made more difficult each day. We don’t have time anymore to wait. Waiting is seen almost exclusively as a bad thing. Perhaps as a reaction to this, a British restaurant chain is currently trialing an initiative encouraging families to hand in their cell phones before being shown to their seats. The idea is to encourage people to view the time spent waiting for their food as an opportunity to talk to one another, to engage with one another, to listen to each other. The need to provide and receive an instantaneous reply to our wants and needs seems to be encroaching on all aspects of our lives, as is our need for speed in all things and our impatience when we are left waiting. It would appear as though waiting time is now wasting time.
Yet this season of Advent, when our eyes and ears are surrounded by all the glitz and glitter, with all the pressure and sales-hype and the stresses on our schedules and the wallets, it is good to pause. To be still. To wait. Of course, the partying and celebrations are wonderful things, and there is great joy to be had in the real meetings of faith and friendship in these days, but whilst Advent is still Advent, it’s good to keep a quiet space, a sacred time, a sanctuary away from the pressures, to be still and to listen to how God is speaking to each of us. That is the Advent challenge. *

Holidays and Empty Chairs

Sun, December 2, 2018 Published by

‘Tis the season to surround ourselves with friends and family, count our blessings and enjoy the excuse to overindulge in food.  It is a time to take inventory and acknowledge all that is good and sweet and right.  It is about celebrating presence but sometimes what this season is marked by more than anything else—is absence. Pastor John Pavlovitz writes: “Surrounded by noise and activity and life, your eyes and your heart can’t help but drift to that quiet space that now remains unoccupied: the cruel vacancy of the empty chair.  The empty chair is different for everyone, though it is equally intrusive. For some it is a place of a vigil; the persistent hope of a prodigal returning, of a severed tie to soon be repaired, of a long overdue reunion to come. It is a place of painful but patient waiting for what is unlikely, yet still possible.  For some, the chair is a memorial; the stark reminder of what was and no longer is, of that which never will be again. It is a household headstone where we eulogize and grieve and remember; a face we squint to see, a hand we stretch to hold, a voice we strain to hear. This may be the first time the chair has been empty for you, or you may have grown quite accustomed to the subtraction. Either way it hurts.”

I know that hurt as do you.  My father died twenty-one years ago on November 25th, so when my family gathers around the Thanksgiving table every year we are acutely aware of the empty chair which he filled.  The holidays are supposed to be filled with celebration, joy and peace but often they have a way of magnifying loss; reminding us of our incompleteness, our lack, our mourning.  The lessons that the empty chair teaches us are about living in the moment and being thankful for what we have, and about growing through our struggles.  Sometimes we acquire that wisdom and find that healing in our own way and in our own time and sometimes we don’t.  Life is unpredictable and messy that way.  In some way during the holidays, we all sit together gathered around this same incomplete table and one thing we can offer one another is our compassionate presence in the face of the terrible absence.  Pavlovitz suggests that “in this season each of us learns to have fellowship with sadness, to celebrate accompanied by sorrow. This is the paradox of loving and being wounded simultaneously.”  May we each make peace with the holidays and the empty chairs.*

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas…

Sun, December 2, 2018 Published by

The end of November and early December tends to be the time of year when we start decorating for the holidays.  It is also the time of the year in which we hear more about electrical fires caused by holiday decorations.  Below are some tips from the Electrical Safety Foundation International to help make sure your home and building is safe for the holidays:

 

Inspect electrical decorations for damage before use. Cracked or damaged sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may cause a serious shock or start a fire.

Do not overload electrical outlets. Overloaded electrical outlets and faulty wires are a common cause of holiday fires. Avoid overloading outlets and plug only one high-wattage into each outlet at a time.

Never connect more than three strings of incandescent lights. More than three strands may not only blow a fuse, but can also cause a fire.

Keep trees fresh by watering daily. Dry trees are a serious fire hazard.

Use battery-operated candles. Candles start almost half of home decoration fires (NFPA-National Fire Protection Association).

Keep combustibles at least three feet from heat sources. A heat sources that was too close to the decoration was a factor in half of home fires that began with decorations (NFPA).

Protect cords from damage. To avoid shock or fire hazards, cords should never be pinched by furniture, forced into small spaces such as doors and windows, placed under rugs, located near heat sources, or attached by nails or staples.

Check decorations for certification label. Decorations not bearing a label from an independent testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), or Intertek (ETL) have not been tested for safety and could be hazardous.

Stay in the kitchen when something is cooking. Unattended cooking equipment is the leading cause of home cooking fires (NFPA).

Turn off, unplug, and extinguish all decorations when going to sleep or leaving the house. Unattended candles are the cause of one in five home candle fires. Half of home fire deaths occur between the hours of 11PM and 7AM (NFPA).

In addition to the tips from ESFI, please remember to ensure any cords and decorations are not tripping hazards or hazards for pets and children. We want you to enjoy the holidays and it never hurts to have reminders about safety.  If you have any concerns about your holiday decorations, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Maintenance and place a work request to have them inspected.

 

Wishing you all safe and happy holidays!*