NOT! (Nursing Open Thread) is a community forum hosted by Nurse Kelley to provide folks with a regularly-scheduled interactive place to discuss their health problems, share remedies that have worked for them, seek suggestions, or raise bloody hell about their situation. Everyone is welcome to participate and lively discussion is encouraged. Nurse Kelley's only rule is this: Be kind.♥
Have you come up with a unique way of doing something? Have you had an idea that you haven't seen anywhere else? Have you put your own "twist" on someone else's invention? For that matter, have you learned something from someone else, something so great you'd like to share it with us today?
Here are a few of my own great ideas:
The first one is "borrowed" from something I saw on the teevee. It's a way to shrink wrap food you're going to freeze without buying an expensive, counter-hogging machine. Using regular ziplock bags, put the item to be frozen into a bag of the right size and "zip" it closed around a straw, the smaller the better. Suck the remaining air out of the bag and quickly remove the straw as you do so, pinching the bag closed. Voila! My only caution, based on personal experience, is to be wary of baked goods with crumbs. Aspirating cake crumbs is not good for you.
Last year I was feeling down because I can no longer do the kinds of volunteer work I used to do. I was thinking about this one morning when I happened to glance at my son's first formal portrait, a lovely picture of him at six months wearing our family's antique christening gown. I am holding him in my arms in the photo and, for the first time in over thirty years, my eye was drawn to the mother instead of the baby. "Look at all that long hair," I thought. And then it hit me: my hair is still thick and strong and fast-growing - why don't I grow it out long again, then have it cut and made into a wig for someone?
The layers in my hair have all grown out to one length, and my hair is now down to my shoulders. Is it the most attractive style for me? Heh. Not on your life. But it's something I can do for someone else.
One more idea. It's not original, but it changed my life: 6" bed elevators, available at any bath shop or multiple online locations. I originally elevated my bed because it was too painful for me to bend over and care for my linens. OMG! Once the surface of my bed was raised to hip height, I could easily change the linens and make the bed. I quickly discovered how much more functional my bed is: whether I'm folding clothes or petting a pootie, my bed is no longer something that makes my back ache. I bought a low, sturdy stool at the same bath shop for assistance in climbing into bed at night, along with a 20" drop bed skirt that has two functions. It hides the box springs and elevators, and it helps keep dust away from the myriad things I can now easily store under the bed.
How about you? Have you got a great idea to share? Let's talk!