Coping with heat

God has given me two great ideas for coping with heat, e.g. when you’re in a non-air-conditioned vehicle on a hot day.

Idea 1: a spray bottle. Big spray bottles for your car; or a small one to carry in your bag.

I found this tiny spray bottle in Minisou. It doesn’t have the inside tube, so you have to hold it upside down.

Idea 2: A bottle of cold water is nice, but in blazing heat it doesn’t stay cold for very long. Try this trick for cold water that lasts a few hours instead of a few minutes:

The night before you need to spend a few hours in the heat, fill a plastic water bottle NOT all the way, and put it in the freezer in a tilted orientation:

Make sure the frozen water won’t block the mouth of the bottle.

The next morning when it’s frozen, add water on top of the ice. You can start drinking cold water in a couple minutes, and the gradually-melting ice will give you sips of cold water for the next few hours.

How to remember what you went into a room for

I have two tricks:

1) Carry something that will remind you what you went into the room for. For example, if you need a hanger, carry the clothing item with you.

2) Sing a silly song as you go. For example: “Go, get my glasses. Go, get my glasses.”

btw, I think it’s not that my memory is bad; it’s that I get distracted along the way by things I see; or by my thoughts.

I find the same thing happens when I turn on my computer or my phone to do something: I often get distracted by the first thing I see. What helps me in this case is to write down on a piece of paper the task(s) I want to accomplish on my device, BEFORE I switch on the device.

Conversational Bullying Tactics

You’d like to debate an issue; but someone makes YOU the issue.  You end up defending yourself instead of having an exchange about the issue.

What to do?  First of all, realize that it’s better to ask questions than make statements.  Questions force the other person to think.

Bullying tactic 1:

You get labeled as ‘racist’ or ‘one of those,’ or someone criticises your approach.  (distracts from the issue, and you start defending yourself, instead of discussing the issue.)

Suggested response: Ignore the charge, and ask another question about the issue.

Bullying tactic 2:

Someone asks, “What do you want?”

Suggested response: “Is this a matter of what I want?  What do YOU think should be done?”

Bullying tactic 3: anger

Suggested response: Stay calm, and ask another question about the topic.

 

Bullying tactic 4:

‘Poor me,’ often accompanied by tears. (distracts from the issue)

Suggested response: Briefly express sympathy, then ask another question about the issue.

 

Coping with cold

To me, the hardest part of living in China is the fact that it’s cold INSIDE homes and buildings.  Sure, I’ve lived in Ohio and near Buffalo, where it snows; but in those places the INSIDE of homes, schools, offices, and stores are warm.

Since the inside of my home is cold, that means that everything I touch is cold: doorknobs, bedding, laundry, light switches, dishes, books, and computers.

God gave me a few good ideas for coping:

Wear gloves INSIDE the house — because everything I touch is cold!

Warm clothes with a hair dryer before putting them on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use an electric mattress pad.  Turn it on ten minutes before getting into the bed, so that it can warm up both the mattress and the blankets.  If there’s no electricity, use two hot-water bottles: one at your chest area, and one at your feet.

When lying down to sleep, pull the stocking cap down to cover your nose. — and wear gloves.

Bed wetting: Get up for your child

All three of our children went through a period of bed wetting some time in their elementary school age.  After unsuccessfully trying a couple of discipline methods, I said to myself, “I got up in the middle of the night when my child was a baby; I can do it again now.” When the child went to bed, I would set myself an alarm for the time when I thought my child’s bladder would be full. When the alarm went off, I would get up, get the child out of bed and help him to the bathroom to urinate, then help him back to bed. After a couple of months, the problem dissipated, and I didn’t need to get up at night any more.

How to form calluses without getting blisters

Every year when the weather turns warm, I want to wear sandals.  I know the sandals will rub my feet in places they’re not used to being rubbed, so I bring along some bandaids or plasters or tape. As I walk, I can soon start to feel the irritation of the rubbing.  I let it continue until it’s almost painful, then I stop and put a bandaid on the spot, to protect it from further rubbing that day.

The next day I start without the bandaid and follow the same procedure: walk until almost-pain again, then apply a plaster.  After a few days of this procedure, I have developed calluses, and don’t need to use plasters any more.

To get calluses, you need the irritation, but a blister will set you back.  If you get a blister, then you have to wait for the blister to heal before you try again.

Time management – How I do my schedule and do-list

I show two weeks so that I can see if there’s something coming up next week that I need to be preparing for this week.

Do-list by categories in the third row.

I write in appointments; that allows me to see when I have time slots to accomplish the items on my do-lists.

I like to have it on paper so I can see it when my computer is turned off.

To see how I fold the paper, go to

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9KIGmmkwk2dRXRUX1lrcC16bVE

Packing Tips

• Roll each clothing item, and put a rubber band around it. That way you can rearrange items easily
• Put small items into transparent zipper bags. You can see what’s inside, and the small items don’t get lost among the other items.
• Put shampoo into a leakproof plastic bag. Air pressure changes can pop a lid open and spill your shampoo.
• Put cosmetics and toiletries into small containers, and only fill them with as much as you need for the trip. You don’t need to fill the container; if you can get through your trip with half a container, you’ll save weight.
• The same for vitamins and medicine: instead of carrying a bunch of bottles, put enough vitamins for the trip into a small ziploc bag. Put it in your purse or backpack so you’ll have it with you when you go out to eat.
• Have folders for each city or country you’ll be visiting, with map, bus cards, currency, SIM cards and such.
• Have a folder with envelopes, notepaper, red packets, and an extra pen.

For more packing tips, see my videos:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9KIGmmkwk2dZHBDQnZTaE5vSnc

Hilarious audiobooks for long car trips

Hank the Cowdog is a hilarious audiobook series. Great for long car trips!

They also come in book form, but you’ll miss the funny songs!

Best Marriage Advice

My husband gives people this word of wisdom, “Every married person has things you like about your spouse, and things you don’t like.  You can spend your time thinking about the things you like, or spend time thinking about the things you don’t like.”

Guess which way you’ll be happier?