Tips And Tricks For Cool Kids

So a friend of mine sent this to me and I loved it! I sooo wanted to share it with you.

Hull strawberries easily by using a straw.

Rubbing a walnut over scratches in your furniture will disguise dings and scrapes

 This one is my favorite.Overhaul your linen cupboard, store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will  be no more hunting through piles for a match.          

 Pump up the volume by placing your iPhone or iPod in a bowl.  The concave shape amplifies the music.

Use wire to make a space to store gift wrap rolls against the ceiling, rather than clutter up the floor.

Add this item to your beach bag.  Baby powder gets sand off your skin easily, who knew?

Find tiny lost items like earrings by putting a
stocking over the vacuum hose.

Make an instant cupcake carrier by cutting crosses into a box lid.

Forever losing your bathroom essentials?  Use magnetic strips to store bobby pins, tweezers and clippers, behind a vanity door

Store shoes inside shower caps to stop dirty soles rubbing on your clothes.  And you can find them in just about every hotel.

Bread tags make the perfect cord labels.

Bake cupcakes directly in ice-cream cones, so much more fun and easier for kids to eat.

Install a tension rod to hang your spray bottles.

Turn your muffin pan upside down, bake cookie-dough over the top and voila, you have cookie bowls for fruit or ice-cream.

Freeze Aloe Vera in ice-cube trays for soothing sunburn relief.

Very cool sunburn relief!  

There you have it bloggers! I'm sure you found something helpful among these tips! 

Golden Moments

So, I literally just saw this on TV, and I hardly wiped the tear from my eye when I ran here to tell you about it.

See that gorgeous Golden Retriever there? That awesome animal is part of a wonderful organization called K9 Comfort Dogs. A charitable organization run by the Lutheran Church, K9 Comfort dogs are a group of 60 dogs whose sole purpose is to be pet and provide comfort to those in need. These trained service dogs are providing the country with a whole lot more than comfort. 

Since the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary shootings, Maggie, a K-9 Comfort dog has been serving at the Sandy Hook Elementary School everyday since the deadly shootings. Tim Hetzner, President of the Lutheran Church Charities, says the dogs are sometimes better than a grief counselor. 

"Some people hold onto the dog for five minutes or more because that's what they need," Hetzner said. "It depends on the person and what they're going through."


Soon, Hetzner said, the people begin speaking to the dogs. 

"They tell the dog the story of what happened," Hetzner said. "Dogs are great listeners…. They can sense when someone is struggling."


Those fantastic K9's jetted to Boston the day after the Marathon bombings and laid on the bricks just outside the First Lutheran Church on Berkley Street to provide hugs for those in mourning. Studies have shown that just petting a dog can decrease a patient's stress. 


"Being around dogs helps decrease patients' stress by prompting the release of oxytocin, which is the hormone that bonds mothers to babies. Studies have shown that patients who are around dogs have increased levels of dopamine -- the "happy" neurotransmitter that helps relieve depression – as well as endorphins and adrenaline."

I agree. 

And there's no better way to take away the pain, if just for a brief moment, by hugging or petting a loving animal. I think the world could use a little K-9 Comfort. Don't you?

The Ten Dollar Difference

She walked away thinking, "Who am I to have been blessed with so much?" Then,"
Why me and not her?" Realistically there was a vast difference between them, but
what was it? Clearly it was more than just ten dollars.

If it is true that people come into your life for a reason, she wanted to know
what the reason was? The woman told her she was her angel. An angel disguised as
a person but she was beginning to think it was the woman who was the angel.

It was a quiet Sunday in November and she found herself with something she
hadn't had in weeks; time. But she wasn't complaining. She was on top of the
world, feeling a high she hadn't felt in years. She was living out her dreams
and watching them come true. And she had the love and support of her family.
She knew they believed in her. That morning was not unusual. She had stopped off
to get some cash at the ATM, then on to the nail salon to pamper herself. The
few extra minutes to the city were worth it because they do the best job. She
almost stopped to do ten other things that morning before the bank, but she
didn't.

She pulled up to the closed bank in her expensive car, a pricey , designer
handbag dangling from her arm. As she took out her ATM card to gain access to
the door a man and his young daughter were exiting. They hurriedly pushed past
her when she immediately heard the bellowing sobs from within.

The woman stood shaking, short of breath, almost hyperventilating, fumbling
with her cell phone, her greasy nails and hands visibly shaking uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" she asked the woman.
"No," the woman said through heavy sobs. "That machine just ATE my ATM card!"
the woman screeched. "I came here to get ten dollars and that machine ate my
card."

Immediately, she felt a small sense of relief. She put her hand up to the
shaking woman and said,
"Relax honey. It's happened to me before. You can come back tomorrow and get
your card." she said. "Don't worry."
This only made the woman cry harder, as the tears streamed down her slightly
grey complected face and dropped onto her grease stained jacket.
"But that was my last ten dollars." the woman said. "I haven't eaten in three
days and I needed that money to get some food. I can't wait until tomorrow" she
cried.

She knew what was coming next, but she wasn't sure if the overwhelming feeling
of doom was because she knew that the woman was going to ask her for the money
or because she already knew that she was going to give it to her.
"Can you give me ten dollars? I haven't eaten in three days." the woman sobbed.
"I'm having a bad week."
"Why don't you call the bank and see what they can do for you?"she said.
"I already did," the woman replied. "I have to wait until tomorrow. Oh God, I'm
having a bad week. Can you give me ten dollars?"

She stood there, in all of her abundance. The blessings practically dripping
from her body and she quietly wondered why me and not her? She felt like a
little girl doing something she shouldn't. Like when you know your going to get
into trouble with your mother, but she didn't hesitate.
"I'll give you the ten dollars. OK? Now take a deep breath and calm down. It's
going to be alright," she said.
"Oh thank you. You're an angel,"the woman said as she paced back and forth
within the small ATM crucible. "I'm having a really bad week."

She kept repeating, "Take a deep breath." to the woman as she effortlessly took
out ten times the ten dollars so desperately needed . The two then walked across
the street to change the $20.00 bill that the ATM dispensed. "It's going to be
OK," she kept telling the woman, to which the woman kept replying, "I'm just
having a really bad week."

She knew she had to ask, but she felt a bit guilty after she did, "You are going
to buy food with this money, right?" she said. "Not something you shouldn't be
buying."
"Yes. I'm going to Hannaford Farms right now. You are an angel dressed as a
person. Thank you," the woman sobbed.

They then parted ways. She was left to feel the mixed emotions of that exchange.
Why her? Why that morning? And what makes them so different? Aren't we all just
ten dollars away from having a bad week? What was ten dollars to her on that
day? How could she say no, with everything she has been blessed with? It made
her feel sad because she knew that it was a lot more than ten dollars that
separated the two women.

She remained quiet for the next hour or so. Even her regular nail girl
commented, " You're so quiet today. Not your usual self." She had lots to share
about her own life, all the good news that was happening to her right now, but
it wasn't important any more. She just wanted to be quiet.

She didn't tell anyone about it either, because that's not why she did it. She
did it because that woman needed it and she knew she had to help her. She knew
there would be those who would tell her she got fleeced by a con artist, and
taken for a ride. Maybe she did but maybe she didn't. Maybe it was a cautionary
tale for her, but she decided to keep it to herself.

Until right now.