Terrific ideas for cleaning everything

Clothes closet clutter
Clothing we no longer wear is one of the biggest sources of junk and clutter. (There are thousands of postmenopausal women reading this right now who still have their maternity clothes!) Plan an annual or semi-annual trip to your neighborhood Goodwill.

Lessons for success

If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can’t, you’re right.
Mary Kay Ash,
Founder, Mary Kay Cosmetics

Quotes

Best Things Anybody Ever Said
Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.
“A schoolboy” quoted by Mark Twain (1835—1910)
Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight.
Phyllis Diller
Until a child is one year old it is incapable of sin.
The Talmud (c. 200)
Nothing is said that has not been said before.
Terence (185—159 B.C.)
Wise men make proverbs but fools repeat them.
Samuel Palmer (c. 1710)

Why does popcorn pop?
Is it “ketchup” or “catsup”?

H. J. Heinz used both “ketchup” and “catsup” interchangeably up to the early 1900s, when he chose “ketchup,” based on the original Chinese Ke-tsiap, to identify and promote his product. Both words are still in use today. Some brands use the word “catsup,” but most major national brands have adopted “ketchup”.

Housekeeping tips

Fallen Pins
Pick up dropped pins with a little magnet – it is a good way to ensure that you get them all.

proverbs
Cuba
Every head is a world.
Listen to what they say of the others and you will know what they say about you.
Believe only half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.
Life is short but a smile takes barely a second.
What is new is pleasing and what is old is satisfying.

Terrific ideas for organizing everything

Clean out

Just before a new year starts, transfer all of your yearly due dates and events to the new year's appointment book or calendar. Use a single brightly colored pen for this task so the notations will be easy to recognize when you transfer them again at the end of the current year. Among these dates, include tax payments, car registration and license renewals, important birthdays and anniversaries, yearly trips and conferences, and your own birthday unless, of course, you want to forget it.

Party games

Washing-up bowl, corks, darning needles
Float a number of corks in a washing-up bowl full of water (make sure there are at least three times as many corks as players) and supply each player with a darning needle. They then have to lift the corks out of the water by spiking them with their needles. The player who has recovered most corks in two minutes is the winner.

Fun facts about dogs


What Should I Do If I Think a Dog Might Attack?
Never scream or run. Remain motionless, hands at your sides and avoid eye contact with the dog. Keep still until the dog loses interest in you; then, slowly back away until he is out of sight. If the dog attacks, "feed" him your jacket, purse, or anything that you can put between you and his mouth.

Carb counter


It’s good idea to include lots of different beans, chickpeas and lentils in your cooking, but keep the quantities fairly small. They have a high carb count, but a good part of it is offset by their fibre content. They are good sources of protein, B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium. Shop-bought baked beans often contain sugar or molasses, so should be avoided – or make your own. Barley, buckwheat, whole-wheat couscous and oat bran are also good sources of fibre and vitamins.