Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure

Fooz table and toys

We have this big yard sale coming up on Saturday to raise money and awareness for the Run for the Cure race that I am doing next month. I have been asking, nicely of course, if friends and families have items from their homes that they had been wanting to get rid of that they would willingly donate it to me for such a good cause. All week I have been collecting things filling every square foot (at least in Keith's mind) with stuff for the sale.

But 2 incidences happened this week that really touched me. One of our neighbors and friends have 3 children, 8, 6 and 4 years of age. They have a Fooz (sp?) table that they had planned on selling so they could have some spending money. When their mom told them what I was doing they decided, on their own according to mom, that they would donate it for our yard sale so the doctors would fine a cure so I didn't get cancer again. And one of our granddaughters who protects her toys with every being of her little body and would never ever let them go, decided to let Mommy and Daddy pack them all up to bring to the sale so that Nana would never get sick like she did last year.

How do you respond to something like? By swallowing the thick lump in your throat.

Sleep Sleep Sleep

Or rather lack of it.. so today begins my 6 day regime of no medication. Nothing Nada Rien, I am scheduled for a 2 nights and day sleep study at the UBC hospital beginning Monday night. For 2 nights they will hook me up with all the electrodes and read how I sleep. After the second night, I will remained hooked up all the following day so they can gauge how I react from sleep deprivation... uh... come hang around me on any given day. Sitting at the hospital with nothing to do doesn't give you a true reading.

But I can handle all that. It is the get off all medication beginning today that won't be so easy, no get out of bed card, no do not go past the bed card, and the do not collect your medication card. No medication for my FM, nothing for my restless leg syndrome (Keith has truly been missing his black and blue shins)and definitely no medication that fools my brain into thinking it actually is sleeping so it stops talking to itself and actually goes into deep sleep so my body heals.

Good thing I have the yard sale on Saturday so I can keep busy and not go to bed at all :)

Sunday a day of rest

Keith has really been on my case to slow down this past year and a half and to me I am already slowed down!! But what he said really hit home these last 2 weeks while I have been helping with my friend's husband for her funeral. So I told him last week that I would consciously keep one day a week completely work free..not even computer work although emails were ok. You would think that would be a snap right? WRONG!

Every time I turned around today I could feel Keith's eyes on me or hear his throat clearing. I don't know which was worse..sitting still or knowing he was watching me lol. I had promised I wouldn't do more then go to church, make meals and read or do letters etc. At one point I was on the couch reading and he was watching a movie and he tells me that tapping my foot against the coffee table was NOT being quiet and that he knew I really wasn't really reading because he knows I am a speed reader but had not turned a page in several minutes..sheeesh. Who would have thought staying still would be so difficult?? My mom has also been really on my case since last year as well telling me to slow down, asking me if I had a nap that day.. uhhh mom I had a 53 mother of 5 and grandmother of 14 I am too told to be go to my room for a nap... of course I would NEVER say that with my outside voice..nope nope nope. I am never too old to be brave enough to say that out loud!

So I decided to at least work on my day timer tonight for this coming week seeing as I couldn't do anything else productive today. Although I did do spagetti squash and some homemade sauce for dinner. Last week was an emotional and mentally busy week..this week I can put my brain on R&R and have a normal week.

Monday am: Executive meeting
Monday afternoon: doctor appointment (just for checkup so no worries!)
Monday evening: do rest of grocery shopping, go to ICBC for insurance for the new car; work on getting handouts for October's seminar

Tuesday am: put battery in car; take car to Air-Care, get it to the car wash and clean it out;
Tuesday afternoon: make some homemade pasta dough ahead of time for Wednesday's class I am teaching so I have some extra on hand, not too sure how many people will be at the class
Tuesday night: go through dining room and kitchen for items for Saturday's yard sale; write our recipes for Wednesday's class; work on October's seminar

Wednesday morning: Take Rosaleen to her first full day of Kindergarten, gather up all equipment for tonight's class and get it to Suncreek common room
Wednesday afternoon: print all the recipes, double check attendance and list items; send out all letters and schedules to family history centres and genealogical societies in BC
Wednesday evening: Teach homemade pasta and sauces class; clean up and get all things back home

Thursday morning: get all instruction packets out to all the presenters for October's seminar; go through linen closet and bathrooms for yard sale
Thursday afternoon: go to work
Thursday evening: Get poster boards and supplies for yard sale posters; go through spare bedroom for items

Friday morning: go through office for sale itmes.. try not to panic but yet be objective to getting rid of things
Friday afternoon: do up posters and pink ribbons/signs etc; start pricing items; do some baking of items for kids snack table to sell
Friday evening: focus on yard sale, make sure I've gone through the house with a fine tooth comb, try not to nag at Keith to go through his things and the storage room; get hot dogs and pop for the sale; get posters out in the neighborhood

Saturday morning and afternoon: YARD SALE!!
Saturday evening: Keith's surprise birthday party

Sunday: day of rest

I think that's about it for this week.

One Bowl Brownies

I got this recipe from one of my mother in laws cookbooks that I inherited after she passed away. I have been thinking of her a lot recently and thought I would make something from her book. Well I came across this brownie recipe that looked so easy a child could make it. But I have to tell you this recipe BY FAR is the BEST brownie recipe I have ever tasted in my life... hands down... so thought I would share with you. I think a recipe a week would be a cool touch to my blog :)

One Bowl Brownies
4 squares Bakers Unsweetened Chocolate
(I did not have any because I have a husband who constantly eats them so I checked the Chipits bag and for cup chips is the substitute for the squares)
3/4 cup butter
Microwave both items in large bowl on HIGH for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is melted
Stir in 1 cup white sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until dissolved
Mix in 2 eggs until well blended (still only using spoon)
Stir in 1 cup flour and 1 cup chopped nuts until blended

Pour in 9X13 pan which you have lined with foil that has been extended over the ends so you have handles later. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30-35 minutes until toothpicks inserted in middle comes out with fudgey crumbs. DO NOT OVERBAKE. It should look slightly "wet". Cool in pan. Life out from pan by foil ends onto cutting board. Cut into 24 brownies

I loved this because I did not have to use the mixer, I didn't have to use 2 bowls, my pan remained clean and they are so moist and delicious!!!!

enjoy!

PS. All of my new cookbooks or recipes that I get all have nutritional values attached to them with calories and fat content. But because this is an old book it does not have them so that means they are calorie and fat free. WOOOHOOO Bonus!!!!!

Who Will You Run For

Hello Family and Friends
Getting a cancer diagnosis is probably one of the most devastating things a person has to experience. You read all of the time about people telling you how to cope with cancer and what your treatment options are, so I'm not going to do that. What I am going to do is to tell you that you are in my heart and on my mind, and I promise to continue saying a prayer for you every day for all the support I have received from my family and friends these last 18 months!
If there is one thing I know, I know that God is able. And as if that weren't already enough, I know I’m a trooper. I instantly thought that if anyone could get the diagnosis and beat it, surely, it was me. I can't say that I wasn’t scared to death when the doctor told me the news, but I can tell you a few things grounded me in that instance first, my faith, then, my love for my family, and then my zest for life.
I didn't flinch as I asked my doctor, "So, what's next?" She said, "Well, I believe I've removed all of it, and it doesn't look like it has spread. Through 6 long surgeries and recuperation sessions in these last eighteen months I’m happy to say my story ends well. The cancer hadn't spread, and I will be fine. I know everyone's story doesn't end like his. And I didn't tell you that to make you feel bad if your experience with yourself or someone in your life isn't looking like it will end the same. What I do want to offer you is hope; hope and belief other good things may come from it like how something like this pulls and welds families together.
So, if you're living with cancer or experienced it the way I have or through a loved one, a diagnosis doesn't have to be the end. Everything happens for a reason. Whatever season I’m in with this disease, I take it one day at a time and sometimes one hour at a time. My prayer is that a cure will be found to stave off this disease once and for all. But until it is discovered, I take heart that someone out there loves me and is praying on my behalf.
I also have an amazingly strong will to live.
I get out of bed every morning as if nothing is wrong. I may have known I was going to have to face things and could feel sick during the day, but I never got out of bed that way. There was a lot I was fighting for. I have children who think I am the best thing since sliced bread, a wonderful life and a magical love affair with my husband and since I was diagnosed I now have 2 more granddaughters making a total of 15 grandchildren! Who wouldn’t want to live after that?
My will to live means that I really want to live, whether or not I’m afraid to die. I want to enjoy life, I want to get more out of life, I believe that my life is not over and I am willing to do whatever I can to squeeze more out of it. The threat of death often renews our appreciation of the importance of life, love, friendship and all there is to enjoy. We open up to new possibilities and begin taking risks we didn't have the courage to take before. Facing the uncertainties of living with an illness makes life more meaningful. The smallest pleasures are intensified and much of the hypocrisy in life is eliminated. When bitterness and anger begin to dissipate, there is still a capacity for joy.
A way to strengthen this partnership is to extend the relationship to others. The emotional experience of sharing and enjoying your family and partnerships supports your love for life and your will to survive. This was the main reason I NEEDED to do our family reunion this year even if it meant it would exhaust me. I knew that being around that large of a family would be a drug that was like no other medication I could have been put on.
As I made the transition from helpless victim to activist, one of the most important realizations is that you have everything to do with how others perceive you and treat you. If you can accept your condition and hold self-pity at bay, others won't feel sorry for you. If you can discuss your disease and medical therapy in a matter-of-fact manner, they'll respond in kind without fear or awkwardness. You are in charge.
Sharing my life with others and receiving aid or support from friends and family will improve my ability to cope and help me fight for your life. A person who is lonely or alone often feels like a helpless victim. There is a need to share your own problems, but helping others find solutions or cope better with the problems of daily living gives strength to both the giver and the receiver. There are few more satisfying experiences in life than helping a person in need.
Hope can be maintained as long as there is even a remote chance for survival. It is kindled and nurtured by even minor improvements or a remission and maintained when crises or reversals occur. There are times when I feel exhausted and drained by never-ending problems and feel ready to give up the struggle to survive. All too often it seems easier to give up than to keep on fighting. Frustrations and despair can sometimes feel overwhelming. Determination or dogged persistence is needed to accomplish the difficult task of fighting for my health.
The experience of cancer is not only destructive in a physical way but can be a major deterrent to my fighting attitude and will to live. But even during the roughest times, there are often untapped reserves of physical and emotional strength to call upon to help me survive one more day. This reserve adds meaning to my life as well as serves as a lighthouse that leads me to a safe haven during a turbulent storm. Hope has different meanings for each person. It is a component of a positive attitude and acceptance of our fate in life. I use my strengths to gain success to live life to the fullest. Circumstances often limit my hopes of happiness, cure, remission or increased longevity. I also live with fears of, pain, of being a real financial burden to my husband, a bad death or other unhappy experiences.
Each of us has the capacity to live each day a little better, but we need to focus on both purpose and goals and set into action a realistic daily plan--often altered many times--to help us achieve them. These resources are the foundation of the will to live. Only by using the power of the will to live--nourished by hope--can we achieve the sublime feelings of knowing and experiencing the wonders of life and appreciate its meanings though vital living.
So that is why I am going to put my body into action so that it practices what it preaches. I have registered to attend my 2nd annual Run For The Cure Breast Cancer Race on October 2nd 2009. I had been unsure whether or not I would be able to attend as I knew I had my 6th surgery coming up in the fall. So needless to say when I came home from our family reunion in Sask in August I was thrill to find out I had a call from my surgeon’s office saying she had a cancellation that week did I want it?? YESSS!! And the first thing I did once I could move my arms without so much pain was to send in my registration to do the race. Here is where you come in by choosing one of the following ways you can assist me with my goal to raise awareness for breast cancer research.
1. Join our race team named SMILESONLY. If we can get the minimum of 10 people registered we get our t-shirts monogrammed  You can still do the race with us and not register. You can run the race, walk it, be in a wheelchair, stroller or any other way you need to do it by.
2. Send a monetary donation either through my snail mail address or through the website (at end of letter)
3. Join us for our 1st Annual Race For The Cure yard sale on September 19th. Address below. That date is actually our 31st wedding anniversary and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate it then by being thankful we still have one to celebrate and by using the funds collected that day to donate to the Breast Cancer Research. You can either come by and support us by visiting us that day (and buy things hehehe) or else if you have household items you are trying to get rid off please feel free to drop them off the day before with the understanding ALL monies collected will go to Breast Cancer Research,
4. Offer your continued support through letters, emails, calls, cards.. all things I get I print and place them in my pink scrapbook. So on days where I don’t get dressed and I spend more time with my head in the bucket then out of it, I open up my scrapbook and I am reminded I am loved by a lot of people.
5. Do the run in the city you live in
So whichever way you wish and are able to support me, I am eternally grateful. On closing I would like to give you the lyrics by Melissa Etheridge to a song she wrote after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She too is a survivor.
It's been years since they told her about it
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete

[Chorus:]
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend I run for life

It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To waken when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all

And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more
Again thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul!!!! If you have any questions please ask away or if you have any fund raiser ideas that I can do in one more month let me know that too!!
All my thankful love
Sally
#101-13340 70B Ave
Surrey BC V3W 7Z1
shaysom@gmail.com

Shoe Additction:NOT!

So Keith and I are watching TV tonight while we have our laptops on the dining room table doing work and Ikea comes out with this bedroom closet organizer commercial. It shows a couple getting all dressed up fancy but neither speak it is just the Ikea narrator having this 2 sided conversation. You know kind of the inside voice versus outside voice that we all have had.. you know what I am talking about.. you know when people ask you how you are doing and you say oh fine and smile and the whole time you are cringing with a migraine.. yeah you.. see I knew you did that.

Any way.. the man is taking a tie out of a tie drawer (now that is OCD.. have you seen how neat that drawer is and how each tie has it's own compartment.. oh puhlease!) and smiles at his wife but the guy is thinking how lucky his wife is that her 73 shoes never fell on his head. I snorted or some similar thing.. the wife's shoes are all above his head and each shoe is securely held in place with individual hooks. I said what? Keith said that guy knows the truth.. what??? He said why do women have to have such shoe addictions.. what shoe addictions? There was hardly any shoes on the wall!! I mean he had a WHOLE drawer of ties.. get real! Keith replies about how ALL women have a shoe addiction that even our 4 year old granddaughter has more shoes then most adult women. I replied I don't have a shoe addiction.. now his turn to snort and asks if I even know how many pairs of shoes I own... no why would I need to know that? He said guess... I said I don't know maybe 20 pairs.. he laughs out LOUD and says he has 3 and 1 doesn't count cause they are his work boots.. well duh.. how many screwdrivers do you have? He said Solange (I hate that tone... )I need those for work,, uh huh then why are they in my storage room...

So he said you don't even know how many pairs you have do you? Sure I do.... He said you don't even know how many BLACK pairs of shoes you have.. yes but they are all different shoes..how many different pairs do you need.. uh.. dressy high high heel for dress up, flats for skirts and leggings, loafers for pants, pumps for other skirts, slingbacks just because every girl needs sling backs.. open toed sling back because uh I am a girl hello!! Then I need leather ones and suede ones and matte ones and high gloss ones.. the eye rolls begin at this time with the tongue sticking out his cheek..

Ok and how many white ones do you have and how many colored shoes and how many brown ones.. I only have 2 pairs of brown I say in self-defense! One high heel pump and 1 loafer so he goes to get the other "brown" ones.. uh Keith that is not brown that is taupe and that one is sand and that one is beige and that one is nude.. there goes the eye roll again.

So he bets me supper dishes of who gets closer to the amount of shoes I have.

Bet:
Keith: 34
Sally: 25
Actual: (not counting flip flops cause we all know those are not considered real shoes thank goodness)
35 pairs of shoes
3 pairs of runners
5 pairs of boots

It's not important to dwell on who's right in this case.. the important thing is that we all learn a lesson through all this.. and I will think of what that could possibly be while I load the dishwasher!

Thankful for Smart Hubbies

For many MANY years Keith has always told me to always back up my work.. he usually says it AFTER I start freaking out thinking I have lost something.. well upset because I think I have lost it and that Keith has retrieved it which usually comes attached with a "did you back it up before you decided to change it" which I normally have to grudgingly say that I didn't or that I meant to right after I was done what I was doing which I hate admitting I didn't do something properly!!


Last while my blog template has been bugging me.. I wanted something new and fresh and so decided this morning I was going to work on it at 4:30 in the morning when I thought it was 9:30.. first mistake.. but I worked on it, changing this changing that moving things around.. the site kept reminding me to save it and I kept thinking uh huh just as soon as I am done this I don't want to lose my concentration... but then Keith's voice kept ringing in my head which was pretty good seeing as he was wrapped up in watching a movie.. but I finally did and kept working a couple of hours more.... so I hit save and went to check out the new site..

YUK!!! I did not like it.. did not like the formatting, was missing several links and html gadgets that I thought I had entered in.. groan groan groan.,.. Keith kept asking what was wrong of course of which I replied nothing! Heaven forbid I would have to tell him I lost my site and ask for help. I HATE asking for help.. drives me crazy.. especially if it is for help because of something I neglected to do.. but then his inside voice spoke out about backing up and thought WOOHOOO I did back it up, pulled it out and the site was back to the way it originally was with all my links... phewwww.. thanks Keith :) I love you too :) Even when you are right.. but you being right does NOT mean I was wrong hehehehee

But now back to formatting...........

To My Dear Friend

Today I grieve for the loss of my dear friend. When I had my mastectomy last year she kept me together, held my head out of the puke bucket, arranged for someone to stay with me, feed my family for 3 weeks till my mother got here and took over like only a mom can do. These last couple of weeks I watched her slip farther and farther away. Then in her last hour I watched her face turn into peace, her breathing became less rattly and noisy, she became quiet and I knew she had started her path towards her next life and she was ready.

I told her I loved her right in her ear right till the last breath. I know hearing is the last sense that leaves a person and I needed to make sure she knew I had kept my promise to her and had not left her alone.

I know that if my friend could stand in front of those of us who are grieving at the loss, I think this is what she would tell us:

I've traveled paths you've yet to walk
Learned new lessons old and new
And now this wisdom of my life
I'm blessed to share with you

Let kindness spread like sunshine
Embrace those who are sad and grieving now
Respect their dignity, give them joy
And leave them feeling glad

Forgive those who have slighted you, offended you
And though you have your pride
Listen closely to their viewpoint
Try to always see the other side

Walk softly when you are angry
Try not to take offense
Invoke your sense of humour
Laughter's power is immense!

Express what you're feeling
Your beliefs you should uphold
Don't shy from what is right
Be courageous and be bold

Keep hope right in your pocket
It will guide you day by day
Take it out when it is needed
When it's near you will find a way.

Remember friends and family
Of which you you are a precious part
Love deeply and love truly
Give freely from your heart

The world is far from perfect
There will always be conflict and strife
But you can still make a difference
By how you live your life

Take your marriages to heart
Learn to forgive hurts
Learn to say "I'm sorry will you forgive me?"
Life is too short to let things get to you

Take those disagreements with others
As a way to communicate your feelings
If often is difficult to see another's view
But forgive and ask for a new beginning

No life is worth wasting
Every marriage has worth and worth saving
Families need to be together and eternal
So do what you need to do to, stand strong and do not cave

I have been very blessed to know
The wonders you have done and will continue to do
Because you are my family and friends
And I have always believed in you.

Take care my dear friend,I shall miss you dearly but I will remember our time together, I will remember the laughter we shared, the tears we wept, the hugs we gave one another. I will remember the love we had together. Be at peace now and let Heavenly Father take you home now. Save a good spot for me! I love you.

Because I Have Been Given Much

It's just after 1 in the morning and am just getting home from my time by my close friend's hospital bedside. She has been there for over 6 months now and for the last couple of weeks has been deteriorating. I have posted a few times in the past on here on how I have been friends with a lot of women in my life, even more acquaintances.. but over the course of my life I have only gotten very close with a very few women. These women I have called my "Almost Sisters". Almost because we aren't biologically related but that is all that prevents us from being true sisters.

We all know or at least most of us know that we were all brothers and sisters in the pre-existence but at times in this life certain people cross our paths for no unknown reason they just do. Six times this has happened in my years. Each time for different reasons, these same 6 women have left my side. Each time I tell myself I am NOT going to get that close ever again.. but then just when I least expect it in walks someone. I really am beginning to believe that God insists that I need a bosom buddy that is not my husband.

This friend, is one of those women and my heart aches while I watch her slip from us. It aches because I am watching her suffer. It aches because I am watching her husband by her side trying to hang on to her. I was telling a co-worker today how I wish that in an ideal world our hearts and heads would be on the same page at the same time.

I have been asked many times these last couple of months why I keep going back to the hospital every day, when I have just myself gotten out of the hospital just 2 weeks ago from my own surgery. I just keep saying because I need to. Last year when I had my mastectomies, this friend arranged for meals to come to my home for 3 weeks, arranged for my home to be cleaned, arranged for rides to appointments, most of which I tried overriding her with my pride and " I don't need help I can do it" attitude which she completely ignored. I was telling her night nurse this when we were changing her and cleaning her up. I said it's my turn now to take care of her.

On the quiet ride home tonight I thought of a hymn we sang at church on Sunday. Keith had been sitting sort of turned away from me dealing with a grandchild and all of a sudden he sensed I had changed inside. I don't think my singing had changed or that I had even shifted in my seat but he just knew the song had hit a raw nerve in me as I thought of how much God had given me this past year and a half. Most of all He gave me my life back, he gave me 2 new granddaughters, a new grandchild to be, the chance to reconnect with my family this summer in my home town many of which I had not seen in 20 years; He gave me the ability to be a little bit more patient with others; to learn to trust in others; to have trust not only in Him but in His timing.

As I thought of the words to that song on the way home, I knew why I was going back to the hospital every day.. it is simply because I have been given much...

Because I have been given much, I too must give. Because of thy great bounty, Lord each day I live. I shall divide my gifts from thee with every brother that I see, who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care… I cannot see another’s lack and I not share-my glowing fire, my loaf of bread-my roof’s safe shelter over head, that he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love dear Lord, I’ll share thy love again according to thy word. I shall give love to those in need. I’ll show that love by word and deed, thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.

10 Brilliant Uses for Aspiran

I came across this article while I have been sitting by my friend's hospital bedside. It gives ideas to use aspirin other then taking it for a headache. Some I already knew about, some I had known before but I had forgotten and some I didn't already know so thought I would share them with you.

1. Battery Boost
You get in your car and find the battery is dead. It will take too long to get the auto service over to you drop 2 aspirins into the faulty battery. The acetylsalicyclic acid will react to produce a strong enough charge to charge your car and you will be in your way.

2. Patch up pin holed walls:
In a small bowl, crush 3 aspirins into a fine powder, then add 2 DROPS of water. Stir until blended. Using a plastic spoon, apply the paste to the affected areas and smooth it with the back of the spoon. The paste will fill the holes without having to sparkle and re-paint.

3. Lift stubborn sweat stains effortlessly
place 5 aspirin under running water to soften them a bit then smooth the pills over the tint. Rinse with hot water in the morning then wash as usual. The asa will loosen the dirt, sweat and antiperspirant residue which discoloration.

4. Restore and refresh faded highlights
mash one aspirin tablet and add it to a bottle of shampoo then wash hair as usual. The asa will dissolve the chlorine buildup from too many dips in a chlorinated pool which is the major cause of brassiness, restoring your hair's shine in a single wash.

5. Soothe a scratchy throat fast
Dissolve a tablet in a glass of water. Gargle with the solution for 10-15 seconds then swallow. Repeat the following day if needed. The asa will penetrate the inflamed throat tissue to quickly numb the pain and reduce swelling.

6. Eliminate bug bite itch
Moisten the affected area of your skin then rub an aspirin tablet over the bumps. The pill's anti-inflammatory agents will seep into the sores, reducing swelling and discomfort

7. Minimize pores in just minutes
Simply crush and aspirin in a dish and add enough water to form a paste. Apply the mixture to the blemish and leave overnight. Aspirin restricts the production of prostaglandins (unsaturated fatty acids secreted by cells that cause inflammation) while easing irritation.

8. Soften calloused heels in a pinch
Mix 1 TBSP of lemon juice with 5 crushed aspirins tablets. Apply the blend to your calloused heels and cover with a plastic bag. Leave on for 10 minutes then rinse off with warm water. The combination of the acids in both lemon juice and aspirin will exfoliate the rough layer of dead skin cells to reveal the rough layer of dead skin cells to reveal soft smooth skin

9. Double the life of cut flowers
To make cut flowers last longer, drop 2 tablets into the water filled vase BEFORE adding the flowers. The H20 is a breeding ground for bacteria which causes blooms to wilt before their time. Aspirin decreases the pH level of the liquid which makes it inhospitable to the tiny organisms, ensuring the water and the bouquet will stay fresh longer.

10. Wipe away pesky rust marks
To remove rust rings left by hubby's shaving cream can, wet the area then smash an aspirin and sprinkle it on the mark. Let sit for 10 minutes before rubbing with a damp sponge. The acid components in the aspirin will loosen the iron oxide particles while the abrasive quality of the powder will help scrub off any stuck on grit.

So there you are.. my good deed for the day :)