Thanks all for your love and support!

I am now hired as a caregiver. I have my CPR certification, and TB test negative. I am signed up for 80 hours a month. My daughter, who is over 16, is also being employed for some additional time, 1.5 hours a day. She works hard to help me. However, I do not know how happy the insurance carrier service will be about this. I will not say anything for now. We are being honest for the time worked. My daughter permits me to get away for errands and a break from it all. So everything is on the level. This allows me to keep my mother's care within the family, those who I can trust and will be reliable. I need to make sure I will be all right with the IRS and Social Security.

I have a neighbor helping me for a few hours a week. I pay $100 per week for her as a "babysitter" only. This equates to at least $25 an hour. Full service care givers get $15 per hour. She is very conveniently available, so she is worth the premium. However, she is very very greedy. Once she finds that I have additional income, she will want part of it. Since she is also a freind, I have problems with saying "No". She will not give up on this. What a headache!

Tucson