10 Uses for Aspirin

Compare this recent picture of myself and the one above.  Are there any vestiges of my babyface in this one??  The haircolor is the same--Natural!!  It gets boring from time to time and I used to dye it.  No more.  Don't have the money, time, nor the wherewithal (love that word).
I am sharing the following list of Ten Brilliant Uses for Aspirin that I got from a magazine.  It is public knowledge so I thought it would be okay.

10 USES FOR ASPIRIN


1. Give a dead car battery a boost: When you turned the key in the ignition & your old but trusty car won't start...you call roadside assistance but they won't be here for awhile, reach for the aspirin bottle in your purse, drop 2 tablets into the faulty battery. The acetylsalicylic acid in the painkiller will react with the battery's sulfuric acid to produce a strong enough charge to start your car!

2. Patch up pinholed walls with ease: When you have tiny pinholes/small nail holes, you can disguise these marks without having to spackle & paint. In a small bowl, crush 3 aspirin tablets into a fine powder, then add two drops of water. Stir until blended. Using a plastic spoon, apply themix to the problem spots & smooth with the back of the spoon. The thick paste will fill in & seal the holes, making them barely noticeable.

3. Lift stubborn sweat stains effortlessly: (underarm, specifically) Place 5 aspirin tablets under running water to soften them, smooth the pills over stained areas. Leave on overnight, rinse with hot water in the morning. The salicylic acid in aspirin loosens the sweat/dirt/antiperspirant residue that causes discoloration.

4. Restore & refresh faded highlights: Try this at-home fix: Mash one aspirin tablet & add it to a bottle of shampoo, then wash hair as usual. The salicylic acid in aspirin will dissolve the chlorine buildup, restoring your hair's shine in a single wash. (Worth a try!!)

5. Soothe a scratchy throat fast: To help ease discomfort, dissolve one aspirin tablet

in glass of water. Gargle with solution for 10 to 15 seconds, then swallow. Repeat following day, if needed. The acetylsalicylic acid in the pill will penetrate inflamed throat tissue & quickly numb the pain & reduce swelling.

6. Eliminate bug-bite itch--STAT: To soothe the itch, moisten the affected area of your skin, then rub an aspirin tablet over the bumps. The pill's anti-inflammatory agents will seep into the sores, reducing swelling & discomfort! This really works, I tried it!!!!!

7. Minimize pores in just minutes: To get rid of a pimple, crush an aspirin tablet in dish, add enough water to form paste. Apply mix to blemish & leave on overnight. Aspirin restricts the production of prostaglandins (unsaturated fatty acids secreted by cells that cause inflammation) while easing irritation.

8. Soften callused heels in a pinch: Mix 1 Tbs. lemon juice with 5 crushed aspirin tablets. Apply the blend to your calluses & cover with a plastic bag. Leave on for 10 minutes, then remove & rinse with warm water. The combination of the acids in both lemon juice & aspirin will exfoliate the rough layer of dead skin cells.

9. Double the life of flowers: Drop two aspirin tablets in water-filled vase before adding * the freshly cut blooms. The H20 is breeding ground for bacteria, which causes the flowers * to wilt. Aspirin decreases the pH level of the liquid, which makes it inhospitable to ** bacteria.

10. Wipe away pesky rust marks: To remove rust marks on bathroom or kitchen countertops, wet the area, then smash an aspirin tablet & sprinkle it on the mark. Let sit for 10 minutes before rubbing with a damp sponge. The acidic components in the pain reliever will loosen the iron oxide particles, while the abrsive quality of the powder will help remove any stuck-on grit. (Hm. I wonder what else this would work on.)
 
Enjoy your day and I hope this helps just one person and I will be happy!  Linda

Wednesday and still Cold-City!!

I have a cold and I sound like a guy on the phone.  It has been a long time that I have been ill.  Do you think I should take myself to the doctor's?  "Yep," says Linda, stupidly. 

These smiling faces are my son, Tim, and his wife, Julie.  They are good together! 

I am still trying to make time to knit and crochet for our upcoming Craft Fair, however, I keep getting caught up in patterns online.  I collect patterns and love sitting down to look through them for what I want to make next!!  I love new techniques.  I have been crocheting for over 55 years and I still find new techniques.  It is amazing to me. 

I will keep this short because I don't have much to say today.  I had nightmares last night and that is overriding anything I might add that is good.  In my nightmares I am always looking for something and I am always without clothes in some way and trying to save people.  What a mix-up that is, huh?  Nuffathat.
Have a most wonderful Wednesday.  I pray to Norma to watch over Julie and help her to work her way through what she is experiencing.  Norma, are you listening?  Smile.  I am thankful for small things:  toilet tissue, water, (or is that big thing???), and my computer that allows me to search and learn.

This Cat Sweater is the first sweater I knit that included working with colors. It was frustrating for me & very satisfying because I did indeed finish it!!

The pastel colored thingy is a baby "cocoon" that I crocheted using heavy soft yarn. It came out well, if small. It could be used for a preemie or a doll. It was just an experiment that I didn't write down. I think it would be great for a little one coming home from the hospital. It also has a hat to match. Soft, soft, soft!

Yikers!! Still bleah. This chest cold has moved up to my sinuses. Never had that happen before. I am allowing myself the time to read, rest, and blog.

I am still crocheting a hexagon sweater with a pattern that I got on http://www.ravelry.com/. My granddaughter is a size 14 girls and I am adapting that pattern and also using double yarn so that it will be warm. See how that goes. I am knitting a pair of slippers to felt for my friend, Melinda. I can't wait to see how they turn out! I use a little "wonder" washer pail-type washing "machine" to felt things. The apartment washers do not open once they start and all my felted things would be minute and sized for Barbie and Ken. Smile.

I have to say again and again that I am very Thankful for everything I have and everything I don't have. I have learned over time that things don't matter truly. I have de-stuffed many times and am just about finished de-stuffing. I still have too much. Hm. I am Thankful for my abilities: to handle the pain and physical stress I have from my illnesses; to be in touch with my sons and know where they are; to have friends here who help me; to be with no car now so that I will learn to be simpler and spend less money!; I am thankful for all that God has given me and I think about it every day!! Every day that I am able to overcome my Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (disease? disorder? whatever) reactions, I am thankful. I am very thankful for my counselor who is a Spirit Guided Person and is very resourceful and very nice. I am thankful for Friend Eileen who brought me chicken soup while I was sick!!

Nightmares and Fibromyalgia and PTSD

These are two floorcloths that I designed and painted. The first one was easy (done with lots of painter's tape for the lines), the second one is mostly freehand and I am not an artist but I love the results!! I had a craft room then.....

It has been a most horrible past two weeks. I guess Fibromites call it a "flare up." I don't know what it is but I have been living two lives: one in the day with trying to set up the RIDE program for doc's appts. and getting a Bus Pass to replace the sold car (couldn't afford the car insurance on disability--oh, well); and the other life is at night. After I go to sleep, I have nightmares on and on and on. When I was younger, I would wake up sweating, crying, and have to call someone to help "ground me." But now I just wake up, read a book, hold Bearli or Regan and brush them, or get on the computer knowing that I will not be able to sleep again. And I am ALWAYS and FOREVER tired. I get so tired I could fall down and I can't lay down because it hurts so I wait until night time and do my "Getting Ready to Sleep" campaign. I read a book for awhile, Drink some hot Ovaltine (yum. My favorite drink of all besides to-go stuff), make word and variety puzzles, and then play my handheld FreeCell Game (which has been WELL worth its value!!). And then I just hope sleep comes. I do have trazodone and sometimes use Tylenol PM, however, I hate doing that. Trazodone has a little "hangover" and I feel driftier than normal after I take it. Tylenol PM does help the pain and works occasionally.

So. Here I am, tired, wound up, and grouchy today and it was my day for an appt for a mammogram. I didn't anticipate it and am not afraid of them so things should have gone fine. However, I had the mammogram done and felt totally disoriented in my head and I had to sit down to focus. Then later I had weird pains hither and yon on my body. Bleah. The doctor once told me because of the arthritis (duo kinds) in the back of my neck/spine that I sometimes will have parasympathetic pain. And I think that is what happened. Don't know for sure but it was weird. I must have looked green because ppl kept asking me if I was alright. I told them I am fine. I was NOT about to go to the emergency room just because of a little "green tinged" skin. Hm. What do you think I am?? OLD???? Decrepit?? I am 62 and don't look a DAY over 61. So there.

We have been having sing-alongs downstaires in the community room two afternoons a week. It has been so much fun. Every once in awhile I let loose and act up. I love it. I remember so many of the songs. My hearing impairment doesn't do for me to learn new songs, however, my brain is ALL SET with the oldies and soft rock and 1940's, etc. Yeah!!!

I have been knitting and crocheting up a storm for the craft sale here that will be held Nov 7th. I also am still working on Christmas gifts. I want so much to make most of everything I give but that doesn't seem to be the case this year. I started off with a bang and then went steadily downhill. I got three out of six grandkids done. Not bad, I guess. Two of the grandkids I didn't finish I think is because they don't "appreciate" home made things and I kind of got logged down with that thought.

Please have a most blessed week. I love my sons and their families and want the best for them. I would love to hold them in the palm of my hand forever but that is not the way of life. I want to win the Lottery and give them each money for schooling, a house, new car, trust funds for their children, etc. etc. etc. Again, that is not life. But I can still fantasize, can't I???? Smile.

This beautiful rascal to the right is my granddaughter. She is SO Cool!!

-----I had an insight this morning that I couldn't wait to write down and share with myself so I could read it over and see what I think. Smile:

-----Sometimes when people are jumping in to tell you about THEIR pain in response to something you've said--they COULD BE telling you that they understand, NOT trying to one-up your story. I know that is sometimes the case from my end and I have never turned it around to observe from the other person's viewpoint. Hm. I think that is a valid looksee that I must have now so I can understand people better.

-----I have been knitting and crocheting up a storm to get ready for our annual craft sale in the community in which I live. We have fun, eat a lot (badme), see interesting stuff, get a few more ideas, and buy something we probably don't need but it's beautiful.

-----I think daily of my sons: Timothy of the "working to get along better in life" mode; Shawn of the "anger is my aim, being smarter is my game" mode; Brendan of the "being promoted, taking care of family, and helping others" mode; and last BUT NOT LEAST, Kevin of the "having severe diabetes and trying to make Jenn's life easier" mode. I miss them and love them so much. I never thought that anyone or anything could be as beautiful as the day each one of them was born and looking at this newborn with clean and clear eyes of motherhood. Wow. That is all I can say. Growing up with them (and I did) (I think it's a requisite in parenthood) was a map for someone with energy and creativity. I guess that is why God gave me that Right/ Rite. I wasn't big on maturity, nor was I full of perfection, but I WAS protective of them like a mama lion!!!! Probably to their detriment. I just happen to lose my Motherhood Book of instructions that they came with....oh, wait, there wasn't one. grin.

-----I'm going to go do the dishes. I'd rather be posting but.... Blessings.

That "puppy" to the right is Bearli 'Longboy.' Isn't he beautiful??

It has been awhile. Everyday I look at my blogspot and then leave it. I don't know if I think that it will mature and grow on its own or what! smile. I am having a fasting blood test this a.m. and will be taken by friendSue. She is so nice to be around and we have some good conversations.

I have been going back and forth with my senator(s) (There is supposed to be two however only one responds.) regarding the health care reform. I read a statement by Senator Jack Reed and it said nothing clarifying where elderly and Medicare fits into this new plan. I am concerned. Right now I have no medical insurance, but eventually I will get Medicare--that is, if it still exists. I don't know. I just pray to a Higher Power that things will work out as they are supposed to. I know that I won't vote for Obama again. He has done too many negative things to people since he got in. I thought this would be a better change and at first it looked like it might be...then time marched on and it seems that things are not what they "orta" be. Again, I will pray for what God's Will is and to accept Her/His Will.

Bearli is here looking for bugs. His favorite thing is to watch spiders on the ceiling and that longboy can Jump High!!

I will keep this short today. I only want to thank my friend, Pat, for hanging in there for me and being there for me. It's nice to have the same friend for 58 years!! Yikers. And she is the same person and has the Same Face as always.

I love my son, Kevin. I miss roller skating with him and his sense of humor. I also miss his caring. I pray for him often.

I love my other three sons, also, but today is Kevin's day. Thank you, God, for all I am, all I have, and all I have experienced.