Tuesday's Tips

Today I thought would be a good day to share with you some miscellaneous tips that I find useful in my everyday life. You may think that some are common sense (tip #1) and yes I may have to agree with you on a few. But my hope is that you will gain at least one useful tip out of today's list. Enjoy.

1) Water boils much faster when you cover it with a lid. (Thank you Beth for sharing that with me - every time I boil water I think of you. No joke.)

2) To remove gum from hair use some vegetable oil, olive oil, or cooking spray. The gum will slid right out. (Every time Luke sees the PAM cooking spray he points to it and says - "that's for getting gum out of my hair.")

3) A dryer sheet placed under the seat of your car is a great (and inexpensive) air freshener.

4) For my over-the-counter medicine and cooking spices I put them on a Lazy Susan which makes it easy to spin it and find what I am looking for.

5) To make your bread and fruit last longer, store them in the refrigerator.

6) When cleaning glass surfaces use a newspaper and you'll avoid streaks.

7) To avoid splatters in the microwave cover your food with a paper plate, it stays in place a lot better than a paper towel or waxed paper.

8) A great way to get rid of hiccups is the pour a glass of water and get a straw. While drinking the water through the straw plug your ears. You might look silly, but every time I have tried it I have been successful and it is a lot easier than drinking from a cup upside down.

9) If you ever get a headache (especially sinus ones) I find that a heated damp washcloth works wonders and feels so good. I own a rice bag (there are also buckwheat and flax seed) that you heat in the microwave and it has some nice smelling herbs/oils in it - very therapeutic. It's also great for sore muscles.

10) If you feel gassy and want relief, lay on your left side. My mom taught me this years ago and it really does the trick. But if that doesn't work, try a downward dog (I knew yoga was good for something) or do a handstand against the wall. That'll get the gas moving.