Month: November 2017

Musical Monday: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

When I was about 10 years old, a teacher sang this at a school Christmas concert. I was terrified of that teacher. But, she had an amazing singing voice, or I thought at the time. But then, I can remember singing with my classmates and thinking we sounded like a choir. I’m sure we didn’t.  Thank goodness for the music teacher we had back then (almost fifty years ago). It’s much of the reason I can read music and play (poorly) on my piano today.

Cold Season is Coming

Cold and flu season is upon us. I hate it when I have found the solution to a problem and then forget about it. And having a sore, red nose is a miserable problem. So to remind myself and lessen my own suffering and perhaps someone else’s I’ll record here what works for me.

There’s not much to love about a cold. As if the misery of the symptoms wasn’t enough, a raw red nose often results from keeping up with the flow of goo that plagues your sinuses. You can resort to the pills and sprays, but it’s hard to say which is worse…the sludge flow or the desert your sinuses become. So anyway, you’ve got a red, sore nose. Here’s what Ido.

Buy the facial tissues that promise to be soft on your nose, or have lotion. These are much easier on skin that the cheapy ones, which are fine for catching random drips, but are like sandpaper when things really get g flowing.

Keep vitamin E oil on hand. Not cream, as it may have other stuff in it that will sting your abraded skin. Either buy a bottle of pure vitamin E oil or buy capsules that you can clip open and dab on. This is good during the day if you can put up with a little shininess. But the way I look when I have a full blown head cold a little shininess is the least of my worries.

Butter on some Penaten cream (my German MIL pronounced it Pe-NOT-en)at night. That’s the stuff in the pale blue and white tin used for diaper rashes and other first aid. White and gummy, you probably don’t want to be seen with this stuff on your face. But this really works, even though it looks awful and feels sticky.

Incidentally, Penaten cream works within a night or two if you’ve got cracked lips or fingertips from being out in the cold. Mush some on your lips and go to bed. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get a goodnight kiss. On your cracked fingertips, glob on dabs, and cover with an adhesive strip.

You can try aloe vera, but I find it stings a bit after the coolness wears off. Some aloe vera products have alcohol in them—and that will hurt, as will many products that contain petrolatum.

So there you go. I hope I remember where I put my own good advice when I need it.