The Amazing Cucumber

The Amazing Cucumber

This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems.

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and viola, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finished a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

The Winter Boots

The Winter Boots

(Anyone who has ever dressed a child will love this)

Did you hear about the teacher who was helping one of her reception class pupils put on his boots?

He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on.

By the time they got the second boot on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, 'Teacher, they're on the wrong feet.'She looked, and sure enough, they were.

It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as, together, they worked to get the boots back on, this time on the correct feet.

He then announced, 'These aren't my boots.' She bit her tongue, rather than get right in his face and scream, 'Why didn't you say so? ' like she wanted to. Once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet.

No sooner had they gotten the boots off when he said, 'They're my brother's boots. My Mum made me wear 'em.'

Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But she mustered up what grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again.

Helping him into his coat, she asked, 'Now, where are your mittens?'

He said, 'I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots.'

She will be eligible for parole in three years.

Smiles

Here are 20 quotes & sayings about smiles.

1. People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile. -Lee Mildon
2. Smiling is infectious; you can catch it like the flu. Some smiled at me today, and I started smiling too. -Anonymous
3. If you smile at someone, they might smile back. -Anonymous
4. A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks. -Charles Gordy
5. A smile is a curve that sets everything straight. -Phyllis Diller
6. Start every day with a smile and get it over with. -W.C.Fields
7. If you smile when no one else is around, you really mean it. -Andy Rooney
8. Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it. -Anonymous
9. A smile is a universal welcome. -Max Eastman
10. All the statistics in the world can’t measure the warmth of a smile. -Chris Hart
11. You’re never fully dressed without a smile. -Martin Charnin
12. Beauty is power; a smile is its sword. -Charles Reade
13. Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. -Mother Teresa
14. A smile can brighten the darkest day. -Anonymous
15. The shortest distance between two people is a smile. -Anonymous
16. Wear a smile–one size fits all. -Anonymous
17. Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available. -Jim Beggs
18. Every day you spend without a smile, is a lost day. -Anonymous
19. It takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown. -Anonymous
20. I have never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. -Anonymous

What is Success?

What Is Success?

It’s doing your work the best your can,
And being just to your fellow man;
It’s making money, but holding friends,
And staying true to your aims and ends;

It’s figuring how and learning why,
And looking forward and thinking high,
And dreaming a little and doing much;
It’s keeping always in closest touch

With what is finest in word and deed;
It’s being thorough, yet making speed;
It’s daring blithely the field of chance
While making labor a brave romance.

It’s going onward despite defeat,
And fighting staunchly, but keeping sweet;
It’s being clean and it’s fighting fair;
It’s laughing lightly at Dame Despair;

It’s looking up to the stars above.
And drinking deeply of life and love;
It’s struggling on with the will to win,
But taking loss with a cheerful grin;

It’s sharing sorrow, and work, and mirth,
And making better this good old earth;
It’s serving, striving, through strain and stress;
It’s doing your noblest…that’s success!

- Author Unknown -

The Boss or the Leader

The Boss Or The Leader?
Here’s a good thought on the difference between a boss and a leader. If you’re in a leadership role, this might be a nice thing to print and stick up on the wall. Even if you don’t read it all the time, at least the people around you will see you’re trying to do what’s right.

The Boss Or The Leader?

The boss drives his men.
The leader coaches them.
The boss depends on authority.
The leader, goodwill.
The boss says “I.”
The leader says “we.”
The boss says “Be there on time.”
The leader gets there ahead of time.
The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown on you.
The leader fixes the breakdown.
The boss knows how it is done.
The leader shows how.
The boss says “go."
The leader says “Let’s go.”
The boss uses people.
The leader develops them.
The boss sees today.
The leader looks at tomorrow.
The boss commands.
The leader asks.
The boss never has enough time.
The leader makes time.
The boss is concerned with things.
The leader is concerned with people.
The boss lets his people know where he stands.
The leader lets his people know where to stand.
The boss works hard to produce.
The leader works hard to help his people produce.
The boss takes the credit.
The leader gives it.
-unknown-

Nails in the Fence

NAILS IN THE FENCE

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.
He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, ' You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Remember that friends are very rare jewels indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed; They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Please forgive me if I have ever left a ' hole ' in your fence.

Twas The Month After Christmas

Twas the month after Christmas,
And all through the house,
Nothing would fit me,
Not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled,
The chocolate I'd taste
At the holiday parties
Had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales
There arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber),

I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls,
The bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said,
"No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself
In my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again
To do battle with dirt...
I said to myself, as I only can,
"You can't spend a winter, disguised as a man!"

So, away with the last
Of the sour cream dip.
Get rid of the fruit cake,
Every cracker and chip.

Every last bit of food
That I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces
Have vanished.

I won't have a cookie, not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits,
Or corn bread, or pie.
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome,
and life is a bore...
But isn't that what January is for?

Happy New Year!