Works for Me Wednesday

Do you own a pair of fabulous knee-high boots?

Does your pair of fabulous knee-high boots have creases along the ankles from standing (drooping) forlorn in your closet?

You can solve that problem by following the shoe guru’s advice of packing your boots with tissue paper and then returning them to the box you bought them in for storage.

As if any of us have that kind of time (or space).

I choose an easier route, a simple three step route:

1. Purchase 2 bottles of wine
   My vineyard of choice is James Arthur Vineyards. And while White St. Croix is shown here, my favorite (and recommended option) is the fruity red “San Realto”. Mmm-mmm!
2. Drink bottles of wine
   If you’re a bit eager to get those boots held up, I recommend throwing a dinner party to make the wine go faster. Don’t forget that the healthiest alcohol consumption is MODERATE alcohol consumption–that means 1 drink per day (or less) for women and 2 drinks per day (or less) for men.
3. Use empty bottles to hold up boots
   Just slide ’em (the bottles) in, zip ’em (the boots) up, and set ’em (the boots and bottles together) in your closet. No more nasty crease lines–and your boots take no more space on your closet floor than the rest of your shoes do.

Disclaimer: I am not encouraging either underage drinking or drunkenness. If you are less than twenty-one (in the United States) or are an alcoholic or at-risk-for-alcoholism (or just prefer not to drink alcohol), you can use bottles of sparkling grape or apple juice to fulfill the same function. Furthermore, even if you ARE over 21 (in the US) and don’t think you could ever become an alcoholic, I reiterate: the healthiest drinking is moderate drinking. You’re only jeopardizing your health (and possibly that of others, as well as your Christian witness) by practicing drunkenness. Just choose NOT to drink to the point of drunkenness.

Check out more “Works for Me Wednesday” posts at We are THAT Family.

Yes, they’re what you expect from an old lady with varicose veins. No, I’m not old–and I don’t have varicose veins. But I have got a couple sets of compressions stockings: one pair of hose, one pair of knee highs.

And they’re absolute lifesavers.

For those who aren’t familiar with compression stockings, allow me to educate you. Compression stockings are like ultra-control-top panty-hose, except that the “ultra control” is in the ankle and leg portion of the hose. The pressure that the hose exert on your legs prevents blood pooling by enhancing venous blood return.

The end result? Legs and feet that don’t ache after being on them all day. As a food service manager, clinical dietetics intern, and now a food labs teaching assistant who has to spend a considerable amount of time on my feet–I LOVE my compression stockings!

When I’m not wearing my hose, my legs and feet hurt and the last thing I want to do after work is take a walk, cook a meal, or clean my house. On the other hand, when I wear my compression hose, I often still have the energy to get something productive done after work. And that WORKS FOR ME!

Compression stockings (also known as “support hose”) can be found at your local pharmacy or online. They’re a bit pricey–$20 per pair for mild compression (8-15 mm Hg)–but in my mind, they’re definitely worth it. Compression stockings should last longer than your regular hose because they’re more closely knit and therefore more resistant to running. I can rarely wear regular hose more than once, but I’ve worn my current pair of compression hose at least 20 times and still haven’t had a run.

Check out more “Works for Me Wednesday” posts at We are THAT Family.

I started “fluttering” with Flylady over a year ago. I’m still barely fluttering–certainly not flying–and I’ve taken plenty of nose-dives along the way.

But one thing has stayed with me. I’ve started developing little habits–some official “FlyLady” habits, others my own–that go a LONG way toward maintaining personal order.

First, I ALWAYS lay out my clothes every evening and I ALWAYS get fully dressed (all the way to shoes) when I first get up in the morning. With my clothes all on, I feel ready to get started on my day–and am less tempted to do something like, well, crawl back in bed to read a book! Also, setting out my clothes the night before leaves me with that much less early-morning stress–especially on those days I sleep longer than I intended and find myself in a time crunch to get to work or classes.

Second, I always make my bed the moment I get out of it. Actually, I tend to make my bed before I even get out. I pull up the covers, make sure they’re relatively straight, and then slide right out. All I have to do is straighten a bit and tuck in any loose corners and I’m ready to go. Keeping my bed made means I feel like I have some order in my life–even when everything else is chaos! Instant sanity saver.

Third, I always close my closet door as soon as I’m done in the closet. It sounds like a simple thing because it is a simple thing. But it has enormous effects. With that simple act of closing the closet door, I have established another oasis of order (or at least seeming order) within my room. It enables me to rest in peace!

Maybe these particular habits aren’t for you (although once you give them a try, you might find yourself hooked!) Maybe your habits should be preparing lunches the night before or wiping out the sink after you brush your teeth or keeping mail off the kitchen table. But, regardless of what YOUR specific habits end up being, I can almost guarantee that developing simple daily home habits can help you along the way to peaceful, productive living. They certainly work for me.

Check out more “Works for Me Wednesday” posts at We are THAT Family.