The Blood Suckers

You might have noticed that I'm not exactly what you'd call an in-the-outdoor-elements-nature-loving-gal.  If you hadn't, let me be clear- while I love to admire the beauty of the outdoors, I myself do not like to interact with it unless there's a camera in my hand.  But I have a little girl who loves to be outside and so I find myself interacting with nature on a daily basis.

photo © 2008 dr_relling | more info (via: Wylio)

In the last month, I've found four ticks on Spencer, three on me, and four and the dog! And now I can't shake the feeling that there's always a tick on me, which is kinda driving me crazy.  I do NOT like ticks and my initial gut reaction each time I've found one is to call my dad.  Then reality and sets in, I mean I am 29 years old, I pull up my big girl pants, and do what needs to be done. 

Luckily, the first time I found a tick on Spencer we were in the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina and Spencer's Great-Gran taught me the best way to remove a tick that's currently engaged in sucking the lifeblood out of you.  I've since removed ten such ticks and her instructions have been so helpful. So if you'd are out in nature and find yourself with one of these little suckers attached to your body, here is what Spencer's Great-Gran says you should do.

The Best Way to Remove a Tick

1.  Don't just pull it out!
2.  Saturate a cotton ball with alcohol and hold it firmly over the tick for at least two minutes- longer if necessary.
3.  Remove the cotton ball and use tweezers (your fingers will work fine if you don't have tweezers) to gently pull the tick out.
4.  If it does not easily come off, saturate another cotton ball and hold it over the tick for another two minutes. Make sure you don't pull too hard- after the alcohol kills or knocks it out, the tick should be fairly easy to remove.
5.  Repeat steps three and four until the tick is off your skin. 
6.  Once the tick is in the tweezers, light a match and burn it.  There's good chance that if you flush it down the toilet and it's not 120% dead, it will work it's way back up the toilet and into your bathroom.  Once you've burned the tick, you can either flush it down the toilet or immerse it in a small sealable container of alcohol and then throw that away.  If you don't have matches readily available, sealing it in alcohol is just fine.
7.  Saturate another cotton ball with either alcohol or some other type of disinfectant and clean off the bite. Ticks carry a lot of diseases and you want to get the area as clean as possible as soon as possible.

I realize that some of you who find a tick on yourself or child will not have immediate access to alcohol, so if you don't, the best thing you can do is use tweezers and try and grab the tick as close to it's head and mouth as possible, and pull it off.  If you don't have tweezers, cover your hand with something like a baggie or paper towel, and then attempt removing it.  Ticks are nasty little creatures and you really don't want to touch them with your bare hands if you can at all help it.

Hopefully you'll never get a tick bite, but if you do, I hope these tips will help you! 

A Terrifed Parent

Last night, before I went to sleep, I went over to Spencer to give her a kiss, when I saw that her face was covered in chocolate.  I turned on light to look at my sleeping beauty- why was she covered in chocolate?  Only it wasn't chocolate; it was blood, and it was everywhere.

I'd like to tell you that I was completely calm and didn't overreact, but that's exactly what I did.  I started ripping off all her clothes to see where it was coming from and shaking her to wake wake up.  In my state of complete panic, I didn't think about how my reaction to this was going to scare her, and of course, she woke up scared. As she started to cry, her nose started to bleed (again), which was how I realized what I was actually dealing with was a bloody nose and not lethal wound of some sort.

Now that it's morning I'm able to be calm about all of this, but last night, the bloody nose scared the life out of me.  She has never had a nose bleed and then all of a sudden she has a major one while she's sleeping- what is that?  The next hour was not the most pleasant, as I had to stop the bleeding and Spencer didn't want her nose touched.  Then there was the clean up...

This entire experience has taught me a few lessons, well, more than a few.  I've never had a bloody nose in my life and this was Spencer's first, so I had no idea what was I doing.  Realizing that my reaction completely terrified Spencer, I felt so bad that I made an already scary situation worse.  It took awhile for her to calm down and go back to sleep and by that time I was wide awake, so I decided to look online for some answers.  I wanted to know why this happened and what I should do if/when she has a bloody nose the next time. 

1.  Bloody noses at nighttime are generally happen during allergy season and when the air is very dry.  You can fix this by having a humidifier in the room and putting some Vaseline inside of the nose.  (I can't imagine a world in which Spencer lets me put Vaseline in her nose, so I'm not sure what to do about that.) 

2.  Contrary to popular norms, you should not have them tilt their head backwards and pinch the bridge of their nose.  You need to have your child lean forwards and pinch the base of their nose-this will stop any gushing prevent, blood from going down their throat, and it will clot much more quickly. 

3.  Don't panic!  The good thing to remember is that bloody noses are almost never cause for concern.  The main reasons kids have them is because they pick their noses.  Their nasal passages don't have the thickest of skin yet and the blood vessels are closer to the surface.  So when they pick their noses, they sometimes scratch the surface without realizing it and then something as benign as a sneeze will start the nose bleed. 

4.  Sporadic nose bleeds are normal in small children, but if this is happening frequently, go to the doctor.  You should also go to the doctor if you can't stop the bleeding after ten minutes. 

5.  Don't panic!  I know I'm writing this again, but it's very important.  Something like this is really scary for kid and if they see that their parent is scared, it will make it all the more frightening for them.  Trust me, I know.  As difficult as it may be to not freak out when you see your baby with a bloody nose, remember it's a fairly normal thing.
aining calm will

Spencer is 100% perfectly fine today.  She did ask me if her nose was going to bleed again, but that's all she's said about it.  I'm trying not to be a hovering helicopter, but it's that's hard for me- I'm naturally a worry wart who can't let things go.  But I'm trying!  And if this ever happens again, I feel better knowing what I should and shouldn't do.

Photography Hints, Tips, Suggestions & Rules Part II

The Editing

Over the course of the last four years, I have made many, many, many photo editing errors.  I think when every person is first learning how to use Photoshop, they have tendency to be a little heavy handed in their editing- especially in the over-saturation department.  As I've learned more about actual photography, I've relied less and less on post-processing work.  When you are taking a picture, you should act as if you can't do any post editing.   If you're thinking that you can always go and fix something later, you won't take take the best possible picture.  But, almost all pictures can benefit from a little post processing work and I now have a few rules that I always use when I'm editing a picture.

First thing- you don't need Lightroom or ACR, but it might be something you should think about buying.  You can download a free 30 day trial of both from Adobe to try it out.  I know that they're expensive, but I purchased a used copy of both off of craigslist and I paid $35 for Lightroom 3 and $40 for Photoshop CS 4, which includes ACR. There are many free online alternatives, the only problem with them is that you can't edit a RAW picture with them. 

I open my RAW image in either ACR or Lightroom and do most, if not all, of my editing there.  I never adjust the saturation or sharpen my images because these are two sure fire ways to make your picture look photoshopped.  I almost always only adjust the contrast, brightness, and black; here is a before and after edit using only those three changes.

In the second picture, the contrast and brightness are both at 10 and the black is set at 6.  If you think that your picture is under saturated, increasing the contrast and black will give you a much more natural look than it would with an increased saturation.  I would just like to note that if I wasn't trying to show you that saturation isn't necessary, I would I have used lower settings to edit the picture. To me, it's still a little too much.

Below this, on the left, is the same picture where I've increased the saturation to 10 instead of the contrast- the brightness is still 10 and the black is still 6 and on the right is the one from above with contrast and not saturation

Now some people might like this picture better than the previous one, but it hurts my eyes and I think it looks a little unrealistic.  Yes, it's definitely more colorful, but it also looks like it's been edited and that's not what you want. The other problem with the one on the left is that it will not make a very good printed picture.  What looks okay on the computer does not always look good when printed because of the ink. A computer is capable of producing many different colors that ink printers just can't produce. So the many subtle changes in color you might see on the computer picture version will turn into one big blob of color on the printed one.

Once you've finished editing the RAW picture you can either choose to save it as jpeg or PNG or open it in photoshop.   I generally will only open a picture in photoshop is if it needs some touching up, ie., blemish removal.  There are a few other reasons I will do further edits in there, like adjusting the exposure on only a certain portion of the picture; something you would need to do with a photoshop layer mask. 


The Equipment

Most people will agree that the lens matters more than the camera.  So what does that mean?  It means the quality of your pictures will improve much more with a better lens than it will with a better camera.  If you are in the market to buy your first DSLR, and you're looking at the Canon Rebels, I would recommend purchasing only the body of the camera, without the lens kit, and buying your lens separately.  Why? Because the lens that comes with camera is not very good- certainly not worth the extra money that tack on for it.  You would be much better off buying the 50mm f/1.8 and it will save you about $100 in the long run.

I would also recommend renting any lens that you're thinking about buying.  There are many companies where you can rent a lens for just a day, or longer, at a very low cost.  A new lens isn't cheap and before spending your money you should first try it out and make sure you're getting what you want.  The things you'd want to check out are the weight, ie., is it too heavy for you, ease and speed of focus, distortion of subject, and overall performance.  If you are purchasing a zoom lens, you'll want to make sure of the quality of it's image stabilization or vibration reduction.

I hope this has been helpful and that I've answered some of your questions.  Please email me if there's anything else you'd like to know!

Photography Hints, Tips, Suggestions & Rules

I tend to get a fair amount of questions about photography, my camera, lenses, tips, and editing.  Last night, I was emailing back an answer to someone when I experienced a little deja vu- didn't I just write that exact same thing last week to someone else?  So I've decided to write down some of my own personal photography rules and give you a few of my suggestions and tips.


Taking Pictures

I only have a few rules that I consistently apply when I'm taking pictures.  These are just my own personal suggestions and everyone has a different style, so they might not work for everyone.

Mode

One of the main advantages to a DSLR is being able to control all aspects of how the camera takes each picture.  This is why it's so important to shoot in manual mode. If you have a DSLR and you are still in the automatic modes, get out of them and try practicing with the creative modes!   If you are already using the creative modes, like Av, Tv, A-Dep, etc., you're almost there- just start to practice in manual (M).  I wouldn't recommend practicing at your child's birthday party- stick with what is comfortable to you in that type of situation.  But the more you shoot in manual the easier it will get and the quality of your photos will greatly improve.

Flash

I never use the flash unless I absolutely have to and even then, I probably won't.  If I'm in a low light situation without a tripod, I use the lens with the lowest capable f/stop and increase my shutter speed. The reason you need to increase your shutter speed, which actually lets in less light, is that it closes the shutter very quickly, meaning your picture won't be blurry (but it will be darker). If that still doesn't work, I'll bump up my ISO.  The reason that's my last resort is the higher the ISO, the more noise in the picture, ie., grainy.  If that still doesn't work, I will look for any available light source and try to use it to my advantage.  When every available option has been tried and I still can't get a good picture, I might resort to using the flash.  If you have a built in flash, this doesn't apply to you, but if yours is attachable/removable, aim the flash upwards.  That should provide you with the necessary light without the full harshness a flash tends to produce.

f/stop

I prefer to shoot with the highest possible f/stop because it produces sharper and brighter pictures.  A low f/stop means smaller aperture, ie., less light.  Unless you are trying to take pictures of fireworks, the moon or stars, generally, in low light situations a lower f/stop is needed (with the aforementioned exceptions you will need to use a tripod and a larger f/stop) but not if you are outside on a nice sunny day. I like to go by the Sunny 16 rule of thumb:  In full light, during the brightest part of the day, the best camera settings are an f/16 aperture, 1/250 second shutter speed, and 200 ISO.  Using that as my go-to setting, I can then make the appropriate adjustments depending on the light I have.

Storage

(I'm a little crazy about photo storage and archiving- I have a ridiculously deep fear of losing all my pictures, so please don't think you have to do all of these.)

Taking pictures with a DSLR gives you the option to shoot in either RAW, jpeg, or both- I always choose both.  That may sound a bit redundant and like a waste of space considering RAW files are enormous. I know that the large size of the RAW file is a deterrent to many people who only have a two or four GB memory card, but there really are so many advantages to shooting in RAW and I will get to why I also do jpeg in a minute.  My advice is to purchase a few of the smaller sized cards or search for some good deals and buy one that has a large capacity.  I just got one that is 16GB for Christmas and I can't tell you how nice it is to not have to constantly worry about running out space and trying to delete pictures when when I should be taking them.  (My 16GB was $50, which, when considering I paid $29 for my 2BG one, was a huge bargain)  If you are someone who never edits their pictures, then there is no reason you need to have a RAW version of your pictures- jpeg is all you need.  But, if you do edit your pictures, especially in either ACR (which comes with all editions of Photoshop) or Lightroom, you need to be shooting in RAW.

When you attach your camera's memory card to the computer, whether via card reader, internal slot or USB, it will automatically select the option Delete After Importing.  I deselect that check mark right away!  After all my pictures are on my computer, I then immediately upload them to two different "in the cloud" services; first to my private picasa web albums and then I pick out the ones I want to make sure get saved and upload them to either flickr or shutterfly.  Finally, I save them to my external hard drive.  None of these pictures have been edited yet because I like to keep one copy in their original format- which is why the extra jpeg file is needed.

The only real disadvantage to RAW files is that they need to be converted to another format before you can see them on your computer or upload them to another site; this conversion is generally done in a program like Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) or Lightroom.  (There are other many other programs that also do it)  Since I like to upload a "just in case something bad happens to my computer before I'm finished editing" copy of the original picture, I have to have a jpeg file or else I won't be able to upload it. I hope that makes sense!

Erasing

Once I have everything safely stored in both locations, I breathe a sigh of relief.  Now comes the part you probably haven't have heard of or have been afraid to try.  With your memory card back in your camera, you have two options that will erase the images; using the trash can button or reformatting.  Choosing to reformat is the best option because it greatly decreases the likelihood of your card becoming corrupted and crashing.  When you erase pictures with the trash can, fragments of the files are still left behind and over time, this decreases card stability. 

Okay, well I think this is long enough for today!  Tomorrow I will post on my rules and suggestions on editing and and equipment.  Please let me know if there is anything here that needs some extra clarification and I will try to better explain myself.

My First Real DIY Project

I would like to preface this post by reiterating that I am NOT, not in the slightest, artistically talented. And my creative side tends to be a bit linear and inside the box. Good, so now that I've let you know this, I just finished my first major DIY project! I can't believe the sense of accomplishment I feel, you'd think I'd just painted the Mona Lisa.

The largest room in our house is Spencer's "playroom" I use quotations because it's not even close to resembling a playroom yet, but since that's what it's eventually going to be, I call it the playroom. Essentially, it's a room filled with my Mema's old (with a few exceptions)- furniture that my mom doesn't want, but also doesn't want to sell or give it away. None of it is good furniture, so I didn't feel bad about re-purposing this china cabinet/hutch.

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Seriously, does this look like playroom to you? Not to me, so I decided to redo and re-purpose it. I really didn't like the hutch before, okay, I hated it; it was a china cabinet with no china and it was brown. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This piece of furniture was so poorly made, that it was virtually indestructible. I know that sounds weird, but it's true.
For example, in the top part, the center panel doesn't open and there's a piece of glass inside of a makeshift frame that sits out about a 1/2 inch from the base. Well, that glass was glued in, caulked in, and nailed in. There was also an additional frame behind it, on the side you couldn't see, that must have had over 100 tiny nails keeping it permanently attached, forever and ever.

After an hour of trying to get that center panel out, I gave up. I took off the doors on the top and the drawers in the middle, sand papered, and primed the hutch. It took two coats of primer because the wood was so dark and not the best quality, so I wanted to be on the safe side.

Did I mention that the shelves were glued on and the back panel was staple gunned in all the way around it? Because that's what it was! I tried for awhile to get it off, but then I gave up. Oh, and the hardware on the bottom cabinets were screwed AND glued in. When I started trying to get the glue off, some of the wood began to disintegrate, so I just decided I would paint them too. It's not something I would have typically done, but my options were limited since I couldn't remove them. Please take note that the glass pane is still in place!

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No more glass! I didn't take any pictures of the stage in between because I was so In The Zone. But I managed to pry the back panel out, pull over 50 staples from it (there were still a lot I left in there poking through, but I couldn't take any more staple pricks on my fingers), re-sand, paint, and nail back into place. I don't have a staple gun, hence the nails.

Getting that pane of glass out in one piece almost killed me. At one point I thought about trying to break it with my hammer, haha, luckily, the rational part of my brain took over before any shattering occurred. I finally managed to remove all the caulk and glue, but it was taking down the back panel that really made it possible. With that out of the way, I was able to get at some of the shoddy, behind the scenes, framing. Once I had one side banged out, it gave me some room to turn it enough that I was able to shimmy out the glass. Success!

I painted the drawers and backing the same coral shade that the accent wall is painted in the room, so it would all tie in together (remember the linear thing?). And I figured I had to paint the handles, because it would look weird to have some that were painted and others that were untouched brassy metal.

I think it looks a lot more kid friendly now! I'm going to use the bottom shelf to put some of her books on and the top shelves (the ones she can't reach) with some of her keepsakes and mementos. The cabinets will hold toys, crafts, coloring books, DVD's, etc.

The final product. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. Even though it's not perfect by any means, it's so much better than it was before. And that was really my goal when I started this project- to not make the After picture worse than the Before picture.

• I used an ACE paint for the green - Royal Touch Satin Wall and Trim in Parrot's Feather. Cost: $9.99
• For the coral, I used the end of the gallon of paint from the accent wall - Behr in Cool Lava Cost: Free (well for this project at least!)
• The primer was ACE's 1-2-3 Primer Cost: $6.99
• I already had most of the supplies I needed, but I bought some extra roller heads and two brushes. You can never have too many brushes. Cost: $6.50

Total Cost: $23.48

Total Time Spentt: Approximately 6 hours of actual labor, not counting drying times.

So there you have it, my first DIY project complete. I definitely learned a lot, so hopefully my next undertaking will go a little more smoothly!

Retail Therapy Spending

Whenever I need a boost in spirits, I indulge in retail therapy. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but this is why I have had to make some rules for myself regarding spending.

Katie's 7 Rules of Retail Therapy Spending

1. If I buy something, I must sell something. They don't have to be the same value, but if I buy something I don't need, then I sell something on eBay that I no longer want. That way there is still money coming in and not just money going out.
   
2. I give myself a price limit before indulging. The price can vary, depending on my financial situation and the reason why I'm feeling I need retail therapy. Ex. A big fight with friends or family may have a $50 limit, whereas a difficult day with Spencer would probably have a $15 limit.
   
3. There is also a monthly limit that I give myself. If I spent $15 every difficult day with Spencer, that would roughly be about $300 a month! By setting a monthly limit, I have to decide what warrants retail therapy and warrants a nap and some Hershey's kisses. This month had a $75 limit, some months have more, others have less.
4. Retail therapy spending, (RTS) always comes from my PayPal account. I take the allotted amount out at the beginning of each month and put it into my regular account. I must always have at least $300 dollars in PP, I never let myself go under that amount, at least in terms of RTS. If I only have $350 in there at the beginning of the month, then I can only take $50 to spend.
   
5. If I don't spend the full designated amount in that month, I put it back into PayPal. Some months are more difficult than others, and I like to have a little cushion for freedom, just in case.
6. Know when to say NO. If my first thought is "I don't know if that's worth the money" then it isn't. I usually prefer to spend smaller amounts on many things than a large amount on one item.
7. RTS is only on me! Almost all of my money is spent on Spencer, so RTS only really works if it's something for me.

These are my purchases for this month, and I'm proud to say that the most expensive item was $6! For all of these items, I spent $20!!

Vintage flower pots with a really cool removable base.

As you all know, I am a Kappa Kappa Gamma. Our symbol is the Key and and our colors are blue and blue (different shades of blue). So when I saw this for sale at Maisy's Market, for just $4, I knew it was meant to be mine!

Little white vases

Mini vintage flower pots.


This is 50 tulip poppy seeds, for just $1.99!

This month's theme seems to be flowers, I keep gravitating towards anything having to do with them. So that's how I indulge myself, without going over the top. What are somethings you all do to boost your spirits?

The Easter Tree

So I finally finished our Easter tree!

It was not the easiest of projects and a it took me awhile to get it all done. Micha has a great tutorial about how to do this on her blog, so I'll only briefly tell you what I did to create such a masterpiece! (kidding!!)

I blew out the eggs and microwaved the shells for 20 seconds. I cracked two shells when I dropped my eggs on the floor because they were H-O-T!

Next, I painted the base coats and let them dry. They needed at least 3-4 coats, and some needed as many as 8-9, to make the finish un-streaky and even. Then I painted on the designs- I think it's pretty obvious that I didn't use a stencil, I am no artist!

After all the eggs had dried, I sprayed them with a shine finish and let them dry some more. So much of this project was waiting for the paint to dry. I spray painted some branches white while I was waiting on my eggs.

I then threaded a pearl with some really narrow ribbon, tied a bow, and used a hot glue gun to attach it the egg. I got my hot glue gun for $2.99 at Ben Franklin.




I had a little trouble figuring out how I was going to arrange it- but I just played around with it until it looked right to me. I put some daffodils in and tied a bow around my vase, and voila! My first Easter tree.

Micha also gave me the idea to do just a few eggs this year and next year we can add to it and Spencer can help. But I'm kinda liking my little tree, even though I would have had an easier time wring a 20 page paper!

I hope everyone has a great Easter weekend!

The January Blahs

January is the most depressing time of year, at least I think it is. I wouldn't go so far as to say I suffer from Seasonal Affect Disorder, but I definitely get "blah." I've been searching for some ways to help with this, and these are the best ideas that I've found, plus a few of my tried and true tips. Hope they can help with your January Blahs!


1. Decorate the rooms you are in the most, with orange, yellow and red. These are the colors that are in the sun and fire. In the long, dark, cold winter days, these colors will bring a sense of warmth and coziness. Don't think you have to do an extreme home makeover, place mats, curtains, throw pillows, afghans, and slip covers will do the trick.

2. Keep flowers and plants around the house. Not only will they remind you of spring, but doing a little indoor gardening is very calming.

3. I know this isn't want you want to read, but doing a little exercise can go a long way. Just 30 minutes a day raises serotonin levels and reduces stress levels.

4 Eat foods high in Vitamin D, it will boost your energy and decrease anxiety. The best sources are of VD are orange juice, salmon, shrimp, eggs, fortified yogurt, and milk.

5. Try some chamomile flower, it will help you get a good night sleep and decreases your morning moodiness.

6. Keep your insides warm and toasty! Drink tea and eat soup.

7. I like to set short term goals and incentives, last week the premiere of 24 kept me going, as sad as that is. It helps give me something to look forward to and the days seem to blend together less.

8. Go Outside- even if it's cold and you have a million layers on, 10 minutes of natural sunlight will work wonders.

How To Survive Falling Through Ice, Seriously

This morning I was looking through Discovery OnDemand, as Spencer LOVES HI-5, and I saw "How to Survive." I'm intrigued, how to survive what? How to Survive watching even one minute of HI-5? Please, yes, tell me how! I click on it and am met with the How to Survive Falling Through Ice, as well as a few others, like being kidnapped, but that just seemed morose.

I decided to watch the five minute lesson on how to avoid death by frozen water and I'm quite glad I did- I learned some valuable tips. And while I can't see myself ever voluntarily stepping out on any kind of ice that isn't on a rink or driveway, you can never be too prepared! (A good example of this is packing the same things in different suitcases in case the airline loses one- yes, I have done that more than once).

I then felt the need to share my newly acquired knowledge, and since Spencer wouldn't understand, I'm sharing with you, Blogospere.

Prevention

• Ice must be 4inches thick before it is safe for one person to walk on, 6-8 for a group, but even then unknown elements could still render unsafe. Differing water tempteratures, rocks underneath the ice, and snow accumulation are just a few of the reasons that walking on ice is never 100% safe.
• If you are stranded and must cross an ice covered body of water, AVOID

• Slush
• Grey Ice
• Snow Build Up on Ice

If you have the unfortunate pleasure of falling through one of these weaker areas of ice, here is what you need to do.

Beat The Freeze

• COVER YOUR MOUTH AND NOSE: When you fall into ice cold water, the body's natural response is to gasp, letting in cold water, this causes
  
• COLD SHOCK, were the body immediately shuts your airway to prevent further ingestion of water, your heart races and blood pressure spike. If this happens, try and stay calm, it will subside in one minute. If you hyperventilate, you are pretty much a goner- relaxing and getting past that first minute is the MOST important thing.

ORIENT

• Turn and face the direction from which you fell; this is the safest known route
  
• DON'T waste time trying to target another area, your body is losing heat at a rate 20-30% times faster than on land

KICK, PULL, AND ROLL

• DON'T try and swim straight out- it will put too much pressure on already weakened ice. Once you are underneath of the hole, begin KICKING your feet like a dolphin until your body is horizontal with the surface
• With your arms on the ice, feet still kicking, PULL your body up, while remaining horizontal and ROLL out of the hole to safety.

WARM UP

• When you get out of the water you will experience "after drop," where the cold blood at your extremities begins to go to your heart.
• If this happens too fast, you die, so DON'T rub your arms and legs, warm the torso first
• DON'T go near a fire, try and find a warm, dry place and slowly reintroduce a heat source
• Strip off your when you are at your warm, dry heat source
• SLOWLY sip a warm, NOT hot, beverage.
  

Here's the amazing part, within one hour of being rewarmed, your body will be at 98.6 degrees again! I hope you never fall into the icy tundra, river, pool, lake, etc., but if you do at least you're prepared.

Boost Your Brain Power

1. Use your non-dominant hand when possible, ex. put your fork in your left/right hand while eating.
   
2. Get a lot of sleep and power nap when possible
   
3. Block one of your senses, ex. Watch tv on mute, eat blindfolded, watch tv blindfolded.
   
4. Learn how to juggle.
   
5. Stand up straight
   
6. Start a hobby
   
7. Create lists that go beyond the grocery store, ex. Top 20 Favorite Songs, If my life were soundtrack it would be..., 100 Things to do Before I meet JC
   
8. Take something you really believe in and argue against it
   
9. Turn your desktop wallpaper upside down
   
10. In addition to crossword puzzles, do logic games, mine sweeper, risk, and sudoku
    

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My Papa on my mom’s side died of Alzheimer’s Disease, as did my Grandma on my father’s side- not to mention the many other great aunts, great uncles, and cousins who also met their fate through the terrible disease.

I figure the odds are stacked against me genetically, but I’m going to do everything humanly possible to try and not let it get me. My brain in probably my best asset, next to my eyes, and the idea of losing control of it scares the shit out of me. So I’m always looking for ways to increase my brain power- I do multiple crossword puzzles day- and look for ways to put of the age at which I get the BIG A.