Single! Young Christian Woman August 09

single!

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F O N M Y O W N N O W M I N I S T R I E S

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Young Christian Women

Tail Pipe Dreams Finding the Right Used Car

Dear Gabby My Coworker Stinks - Literally!

Let’s Go Skinny Dippin’ Healthy Dips Recipes

What are we Smearing on our Faces?

Urban Legend vs. Harsh Reality of Cosmetics

Also

The fairy godmother of housekeeping

w w w. o n m y o w n n o w. c o m

in this

issue...

Straight Talk from the Proverbs: Looking for Treasure in Verbal Spewage

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by Donna Lee Schillinger

Moving Out ... Settling In: Two Jacks and June and a Total Stranger

by Kimberly Miller

Down Home Healthy Cookin' for One ona Budget: Let’s Go Skinny Dippin’

by Reba Ray

Dear Gabby: My Coworker Stinks - Literally!

Spare Change:

Tail Pipe Dreams

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by Paola Segnini

Fashion DIVinA:

What are we Smearing on our Faces?

Urban Legend vs. Harsh Reality of Cosmetics

by Gwen Schumaker

Just What You Need: A Shiny Sink

by Donna Lee Schillinger

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.8 .10 .12 .14

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o Fridge-worthy.

We see high drama in the movies all the time, but in real life, big acting does not win awards.

Straight talk from the Proverbs for young Christian women who want to remain pure, debt-free and regret-free. “In this interesting and thought-provoking exploration of the book of Proverbs, Schillinger takes young women along a journey that will help them to make better, safer, and more sound decisions.�

Cheryl C. Malandrinos The Book Connection blog Now Available at www.onmyownnow.com, at Amazon, B&N and a library and bookstore near you.

straight talk Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but she who hates correction is stupid.

Proverbs 12:1

g n i k o o L for e r u s a re

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l a b r e V age Spew

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by Don

The way of a fool seems right to her, but a wise woman listens to advice.

Proverbs 12:15

I was intrigued by the letter Dear Gabby answered in this issue – the one about body odor (a must read!). So I thought I would share a little story of my own in which an embarrassing incident actually yielded an improvement for me. In doing so, I hope to reinforce two points Gabby made and add one of my own. 1.

Ignorance of the annoying things about ourselves is not bliss – I would always prefer to know if I have spinach in my teeth, wouldn’t you? 2. If we have to burst someone’s bubble for their own good, we should do it with discretion.

3. For those unfortunate times we ours it the bubble being burst, by all means, we should take the advice in stride!

One afternoon during my junior year of high school, I was working on a journalism project with other students in a small class of about 10. We were having some fun with it and being somewhat boisterous, all of us except the teacher who was working in her office. All of the sudden, from her office she shouted, “Donna, lower your voice! Your voice has a very annoying quality to it!”

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Hold this thought: Listen for the Gems

Out of a low roar of intermingled voices, she found mine to criticize – and not the least bit discreetly. Of course, I was humiliated. When I got over the embarrassment (which took a while), I found some good advice in what she said. I started to listen to myself and found that when I wanted to be heard over the rest, I did put a shrill edge on my voice that cut through air like a chain saw!

I began to work on controlling the quality of my voice and I believe I have a much more pleasant

“crowd” voice now – thanks to an insult hurled at me in a moment of frustration! That was an early experience that helped me develop an ability to listen to (not just hear) people who are criticizing me or giving me advice.

When someone starts in on me, I try to brace myself and think, “OK, I’m just going to listen to this and see if there is something valuable in it.” I hear the words as if they are directed to someone else, not me. I have to stop feeling and just take notes. Later, I let myself feel all the emotions that criticism stirs. If I don’t control those emotions when I’m listening, I miss important information. The hurtful words can keep me from seeing the spirit in which they are being delivered or

hearing the more subtle statements that sound almost like afterthoughts but are really the crux of the matter.

Let’s bring our analytical thought into action as we listen to advice and especially criticism. Think of it as a treasure hunt. In all those words, there might be something very valuable. Listen carefully, sort through it and it could have a big payoff!

"OK, I'm just going to listen to this and see if there is something valuable in it."

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w moving out ... settling in

twO jacks, a My very first column for Single! was about the difficult, rapid transition to a new job and a new home after graduating from college. I described it as a storm happening around me, and I felt like a plastic bag just blowing around, helpless and aimless. What I didn’t say in that column was how God used complete strangers to minister to me in my time of need. This is that story and it involves two Jacks, a June and a total stranger.

The first Jack, aka Jack-O, was my brother’s good friend in college. When I needed a guy with a truck and strong arms to help me move from an apartment across town to a duplex on a cul-de-sac, he generously agreed to drive over an hour to get here from his hometown and stay at a friend’s house all weekend so he could help me during the day. He carried heavy things, assembled new furniture and joined my boyfriend in teasing me over every small thing. I am so, so thankful for his help.

In the tiny apartment I lived in before I moved to this duplex, I believed my neighbor to be evil incarnate.

He seemed to be the most obnoxious, selfish, inconsiderate neighbor in the history of all neighbors. In this move, I was desperately hopeful for a quiet, private, serene place to live. So when Jack told me that my new neighbors were busy-bodies who threatened to call the police on him for parking on the wrong side of the street, I rolled my eyes and thought, “Here we go again!”

I so wanted Jack to be wrong about my neighbors,

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and as it turns out, he was sort of wrong. My neighbors, Jack and June, are both disabled; she has a bad back and heart, and he had a leg amputated several years ago. She often loses balance and falls, and then he tries to get to her as quickly as his prosthetic leg will allow. They have been married over 25 years and have lived in the house next to my duplex for 12 of them. Although they are in fact “observant,” they’re the well-intentioned kind that looks out for the house while I’m gone and checks on me if I break my routine. They have repeatedly blessed me and helped me with a generous spirit. And, they hadn’t actually threatened to call the police; they just warned Jack-O that police have ticketed people for parking on that side of the street before.

That takes care of two Jacks and a June. Now for the stranger. When I moved in, the grass was already really tall in my yard. Part of my lease agreement was to keep the lawn mowed, so I knew it had to be cut soon. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get my boyfriend’s mower to work. Then one day, after worrying for a week about how I would afford a new mower, I was stunned to pull into my driveway and observe my lawn, freshly cut, neatly trimmed around the edges, and smelling nice and grassy. There was a note on my door that read, “I noticed you were having problems with your mower yesterday. Welcome to the neighborhood.” Apparently, my neighborhood had a resident angel.

Sometimes as Christians, we don’t like to be ministered to. It’s like how the disciples felt when Jesus

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a June

by Kimberly Miller

anD a total stranGer

washed their feet: what are you doing – why are you – hey don’t, I don’t need you to… when really, we need it more than anything. God had used the kindness of strangers to remind me that He is Master of all things, and I most definitely am not. Proverbs 27:10b says, “Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother far away.”

Here’s a practical tip for starting out on your own: evaluate the neighborhood before you sign a lease.

You will never realize how important it is to have good neighbors until you have bad ones. Remember in my Emergency Room column when I told you how wonderful it was for my neighbor to take care of me until I could get a ride to the hospital? Appreciate good neighbors if you have them. Don’t be too

prideful to accept blessings from friends. And don’t forget how God uses complete and total strangers to meet our needs when we need them the most.

"Welcome to the neighborhood"

Word on the Street Is ...

“If you could put one book into the hands of every young woman you know, this should be the book. And if she applied a fraction of the wisdom contained therein, she’d be spared a mountain of tears. This is an amazing book and I highly recommend it.”

Donna Partow Author, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me To Be: A 90-Day Guide to Living the Proverbs 31 Life Now Available at www.onmyownnow.com, Amazon, B&N and a library and bookstore near you.

Find out more at www.onmyownnow.com

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o Reba Ray´s down home healthy cookin’ for one on a budget

Let´s Go Skinny Dippin!

by Reba Ray

Whoa, now! Keep yur shirt on – I’m talkin’ about dippin’ chips in some healthy concoctions! I’m about to throw at ya five delish dips that you can make in a skinny minute and every dern one of ‘em is a whole heap more healthy than anythin’ you might buy in the dangerous dip section of your local grocer. First of all, these dips aren’t loaded with fat – well, except for one, but even that one is loaded with good fat. Secondly, these dips are made fresh with no ingredients created by some pimply professor with unwieldy facial hair in a white lab coat! Each of the ingredients in these here dips were created by the Creator Himself. As always, the recipes are for one person (on a budget), so if yur makin’ this for a soiree or something, better double, triple or even quadruple the recipe. Now make yurself a batch of corn tortilla chips (recipe below) or if yur feelin’ exotic, baked plantain chips, and dive in (with yur clothes on, pleeze)!

Homemade Tortilla Chips Let’s start with the chips, cuz you’ll want to get those in the oven so they can be bakin’ while yur makin’ yur favorite dip. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Stack three corn tortilla chip on a cuttin’ board and cut ‘em into 8ths (that’s four cuts across the center for the mathematically challenged!). Spread the tortilla triangles out on a cookie sheet then spray cookin’ spray lightly over all of em’. Now flip ‘em and spray the other sides too. Stick ‘em in the over for 10 minutes, then flip ‘em, then bake ‘em for a few minutes more.

Warning: Do not leave the kitchen! Nothin’ is easier to burn then a batch of homemade tortillas chips.

You want to pull the chips out of the oven just as they’re gettin’ lightly browned. And yur gonna have to watch ‘em like a hawk because the time between lightly browned and crispy charred is approximately 90 seconds. They say a watched pot never boils, but a watched pan of tortilla chips never burns either. Just out of the oven, sprinkle the chips with salt or yur favorite salt substitute and let ‘em cool for about 3 minutes.

Creamy Avacado Dip ½ ripe avocado 2 tablespoons light sour cream Salt and white pepper to taste

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Chunky Mater Dip 8 cherry tomatoes chopped in quarters 1 tablespoon of chopped cilantro 1 tablespoon of red onion 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 tablespoon minced jalapeño Salt, pepper and cumin to taste Yur gonna have leftovers of every one of these ingredients, but the good news is that they’ll all keep in the fridge for a least a week – and the red onion, lime juice and jalapeño will last a heck of a lot longer than that. Wash yur maters and cilantro beforehand, then add all these ingredients in a dish and mix. Arriba, arriba! Let’s eat!

Cut yur avocado in half, remove the pit (duh!), put one half in a plastic baggie in the fridge for another occasion and scoop out the green stuff from the other half, removin’ any brown or gray spots. Mash the avocado in a small bowl with a fork until smooth. Stir in the sour cream and salt and pepper and yur ready to dip. Whaddya think? I told you these were quick to make!

Black Bean Feta Fiesta Dip ½ can of black beans, drained 1 oz. crumbled feta cheese 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro 1 tablespoon of red onion 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 tablespoon minced jalapeño Salt, pepper and cumin to taste You might recognize the second half of this recipe – if you don’t, you might have Alzhiemer’s! It’s the same dang ingredients as the Chunky Mater Dip! Thought I’d give ya another option for all those leftover ingredients. And yet the black beans and feta are gonna make this seem like a whole new dip.

Mash the drained black beans with a fork (you don’t need to cook them, they’re already cooked). You don’t have to make a smooth paste out of the beans, just mash ‘em enough so they stick together. Now stir in the rest of the ingredients and we’re eating, we’re eating…

Creamy Dip-Lover’s Healthy Chois ½ cup light sour cream ¼ cup chopped spinach 5 black olives, chopped 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeño For you weanies who don’t like beans: Creamy DipLover’s Healthy Chois. Yes, I know I misspelled “choice”; I ain’t ignernt! But do you know what kind of a hornet’s nest I could get in for sayin’ healthy choice? Oops! Oh well. Unless yur plannin’ a spinach salad for dinner, I recommend usin’ thawed, frozen chopped spinach – with ever last drop of the water pressed out it – because you can save the rest of the spinach in the freezer. Don’t go buyin’ a whole bunch of fresh spinach just for this dip. The rest of the ingredients keep for a long dern time, so don’t fret about buyin’ a can of olives for five and a jar of peppers for a tablespoon. As for the preparation, you know the drill by now, mix and devour. But wait! I actually prefer this dip on some whole grain crackers rather than tortillas chips.

OK, now, we’re eating, we’re eating…

White Bean Dip ½ can of navy or cannellini beans, drained, but reserve a ¼ cup liquid 1 clove pressed or minced garlic 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro 1 tablespoon of red onion 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 tablespoon minced jalapeño Salt, pepper and cumin to taste OK, this is just gettin’ to be funny how we keep usin’ those same dang ingredients! But honestly, girls, this is goin’ to seem like a whole new dip too. In fact, these dips are so diverse that if yur throwin’ a party, you can make all three of them, put ‘em side by side and I’ll guarandadgumteeya nobody will come up to you say, “Do all three of these dips have cilantro, red onion, lime juice, and jalapeño in em?” Or yur money back, girls! Now I bet you can guess what to do on this: mash the white beans, except this time, you do want to make a smooth paste out of them. So if you have some kind of small blender or food processor, through ‘em in there with just enough bean juice to make a smooth paste. While yur at it, chop yur garlic and throw it in with the beans, that’ll distribute it better than just stirrin’ in pressed garlic. If yur low-tech, use a potato masher or the back of a fork to make the bean paste. Now stir in the rest of the ingredients and again, we’re eating, we’re eating…

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Dear Gabby

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s Gab

dear gabby: This is awkward, but here it is: My dear friend and co-worker, who I ' ll call Madame X, has body odor -- all the time, rain or shine. It ' s not the

kind that would set off security lights or trip metal detectors, but still it

arrives in the room just slightly before she does, lingers when she leaves

and I have to work alongside her. She is such an attractive, intelligent

well-dressed person with gorgeous hair; it ' s hard to believe she doesn ' t know she smells. She doesn ' t have a boyfriend and I wondering if this has

something to do with it. I feel bad knowing this and not saying something, but I can ' t imagine the alternative. Do I need therapy? Help!!

- Smells Belles in Smithville

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“As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman without discretion.”

Dear Smelles BellesHo boy, what a stinker of a problem. Gabby would rather deal with just about any other problem than this one. Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t really address the issue of BO – probably because those shepherds were curling up with their sheep at night and the rest of the town wasn’t showering – ever. Smells were relative I guess. But now-a-days, they’re trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for P-U! So what to do? Well, the only therapy that Gabby might suggest for this problem is aroma therapy. Maybe you could try putting one of those little scented trees that hang from your car’s rear-view mirror in your workspace. But that really doesn’t get to the root of the problem, which might as you suggest, be interfering with her love life. That leaves the tough road to take, so put on your work boots and roll up your sleeves, ‘cause we’re going in!

The long and the short of it is that you have to address this with her. That uncomfortable feeling that prompted you to write in sounds to me like the Holy Spirit urging you to “do unto others as you would have them do to you.” If you had some easily remedied hygiene issue that was causing others to look less favorably on you and you were the only person who didn’t realize it, wouldn’t you want someone, anyone to tell you? If you don’t address this, it could haunt you the rest of your life. If you do, it could be the beginning of a unique ministry that is greatly needed in the world today – that of compassionate honesty.

So the Bible doesn’t really address BO, OK, but it does give us plenty of advice on discretion. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in being honest with someone about something uncomfortable. We don’t need to avoid uncomfortable situations, we just need to exercise tact and do so in the kindest manner possible. Of course, that’s good advice for all situations, but telling someone they have ketchup on their shirt isn’t nearly as sensitive as telling them they smell. Proverbs 11:22 says that “as a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman without discretion.” How you handle yourself in difficult situations is either an accent to your inner beauty

Proverbs 11:22

or a detraction. A lot of ugliness can come out of a situation like this and stick all over you if you don’t handle this with grace. So what Gabby would suggest finding a quiet moment without anyone else around – go to lunch together or if you socialize outside of work, that’s even better – then start with a question like, “Have you changed soaps or detergents lately?” Even if the answer is “no” you can use this as a springboard to suggest something you think might remedy the problem. Just this dialog alone will probably not be effective, unfortunately.

So Gabby says you drive the point home in compassion by handing over a little brown bag of a couple of products that you think will solve the problem.

If you don’t do this, you’re leaving it up to her initiative to change her routine and if she honestly has never smelled herself, not likely to get off her haunches to do anything. Fast forward to the next day: Does your coworker still smell? If so, just ask, “Did you try that stuff I gave you?”

No? Encourage her again – “I really think you’ll love it. Try it tomorrow!”

Yes? “I love the way that smells on you! You have to keep using that. I bet the guys will be falling all over themselves to get a whiff of you now!”

And very worst case scenario: Yes, but she still smells? Try this, “Hmm. I don’t think that is the right product for you after all.” Your friend’s got a tough case of BO, and now that you’ve put your foot into it, you can’t step out. Go on a quest together to try every powerful deodorizing product ever made until she finds one that does the trick. If you like this gal, the experience will further bond you as you share in her intimate process of self-improvement.

The hardest part of this whole thing will be breaching the subject. You’ll think of a hundred reasons why today is not the day. And it will torture you! So just do it!

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I hope this experience goes well for you and that it teaches you that honesty with discretion is truly an act of love and compassion.

- Gabster

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Spare Change

tail pipe

I never thought this day would come, but I here it is – I now own a car! I thought about it for a long while because I never really “needed” a car. I’ve been working from home the last couple of years and there’s decent public transportation in my city. But my activities after work have increased – I do a lot of community service that requires me to get to far away places and late-night meetings – and I finally got fed up with getting rained on because, after all, I do live in a tropical rainforest. (Seattle’s got nothing on us!) So I made up my mind, tallied my savings, took a look at my budget and saw that I could afford the monthly expense, and I went for it.

Well it wasn’t as easy as that. I knew I couldn’t afford a brand new car, and even if I could have, I wouldn’t get one unless I were filthy rich. A car is a depreciating asset, which is smart talk for a thing that loses value over time. And cars lose their value FAST! Literally driving a car off the lot will make it worth significantly less than what you just paid for it. Cars lose most of their value within the first two to three years, so buying a car that’s just a few years old will save you money.

But for me, even a three-year-old car was out of my grasp. So I started looking for an oldie in good shape.

A neighbor was selling hers for what sounded like really cheap. I don’t know about you but I was pretty ignorant about cars. I know what looks good and have a fairly decent knowledge about good brands, but I needed the help of an expert. So I called my handy mechanic, Warner, and excitedly told him about my find. I was shocked when he explained to me that the car I was looking at was actually a terrible option. The parts for it where scarce and the quality was not as good as it was rumored to be. Back to square one –

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the first of several times in my car search.

With this little piece of information added to my bag, and feeling pretty confident with my newfound knowledge about cars, I started looking again. I decided to stay away from dealerships because during these hard economic times there are plenty of desperate people trying to sell cars. I figured I could get a better deal in a private sale. The downside to that is no warranty. So I called Warner and asked him to join me on my journey to finding my dream car – well maybe not the car of my dreams, but it would have to fit like a dream into my budget.

The next car I saw was not dreamy but it was cheap; my sister absolutely hated the color, and I thought, “At least it isn’t white,” – my least favorite color. I gave Warner a call and got my hopes up only to realize the car was in bad shape internally. This car needed surgery inside and out!

By the third car I inspected I was starting to feel like the universe was conspiring against me. The guy selling it was going to get another car but didn’t want to trade because he could make more money by selling his car than trading it to the dealer. But, alas, Warner, who by this time I was calling “The Engine Slayer,”

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by Paola Segnini

e dreams... took a look at it and said it didn’t pass the compression test. I know all about the compression of a car now, it’s one of the most important things you need to test before you buy a car because if it fails, the engine is no good. If you’re scratching your head right now, I recommend going to Yahoo! Cars and learning all about it.

So there I was after car #3, alone and devastated… well maybe not devastated, but pretty bummed out. And then the light! My grandma’s friend’s daughter was selling her car. A Hyundai Accent 1996 and she was asking 15 percent less than it was worth according to the book value.

Finally, an engine Warner didn’t slay – it actually passed with flying colors – and the car even has four doors, something I didn’t think I could get on my budget. The downside, it’s white! But you know what? For 15 percent off of book value, an excellent engine, great condition on the inside and out and four doors, suddenly the color didn’t matter all that much to me. Now I’ve even fallen in love with my white car!

If you’re car shopping too, I wish you a happy ending as well and here are a few tips to point you in that direction.

Paying outright for a used car is by far the wisest way to purchase a car. If you can’t do that because you are in desperate need of a car – and do make sure to recognize the difference between NEEDING a car to get to work and school and needing a ride because it’s a drag to be on time at the bus stop that’s only a couple of blocks from your apartment every morning – I recommend you get a loan from a bank or a credit union, if possible. You’re more likely to get better interest rates than financing through the dealer (0% interest deals notwithstanding), and having a preapproved loan will give you more bargaining power!

Start your car search with your head, not your heart.

Always review consumer guides and books that provide true market value for the brands and models you’re considering. Good places to start are Edmunds. com and Kelley Blue Book. Print out some of the prices these sources quote – trust me, you will not remember them when you need them to help in bargaining, and even if you could, it’s better to have a print-out to back up what you’re saying.

Don’t fall in love without getting to know him first: Dealers and sellers want you to see yourself with that particular car and that car only. They’re like matchmakers promoting love at first sight. Resist getting your hopes up, even if the car looks really amazing on the outside. Cars are like people, they may look like Brad Pitt on the outside but they could be an OJ Simpson on the inside.

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Fashi on DIVinA

c Did anyone ever tell you that mascara is made of bat poo? I have to admit, I haven’t heard that since junior high, but I recall it almost every time I contemplate putting on mascara. How about urine in your facial cream? That’s even grosser! Common sense tells us that if these things were true, millions of women wouldn’t be rushing to smear the stuff on their faces. And yet you will be surprised to learn what we are voluntarily smearing on our faces.

Mascara, a cosmetic essential since Ancient Egypt, may have at some point, in some culture contained guano, bat poo, which has a pearlescent quality to it. There is an ingredient in mascara called guanine that is derived from guano. Guanine can also be derived from fish scales, and if it’s in your mascara, that’s most likely where it came from. Guano is a cash crop, of sorts, for its use as an effective fertilizer and an ingredient in gun powder – it would make an

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expensive ingredient for mascara.

If you just consider for a moment the ease and availability of a guano harvest compared to that of fish scales, you can rest easy as you stroke that luscious, thick mascara on your lashes, unless you hate fish.

What about urea in facial creams?

Urea, also called carbamide, is an organic chemical compound which essentially is the waste produced when the body metabolizes protein, according to www.wisegeek.com. We excrete it in our urine as well as perspiration. For a long time people thought natural urea was used in cosmetics, and in fact, it is in the list of ingredients on my mom’s facial cream! Urea was also, in 1857, the first natural compound to be synthesized using inorganic compounds. It is made from synthetic ammonia and carbon dioxide, and is still in use today in fertilizers and, among other things, my mom’s facial cream.

Again, common sense tells us that using a synthetic variety is a lot more cost effective than harvesting urea from sweat and pee – even from sweatshop workers!

Whereas bat poo and people pee in your cosmetics is a bunch of bunk, there is one urban legend that’s true: lead in lipstick. Lead serves no purpose in lipstick, and you won’t find it on the list of ingredients. It seems that its presence may have something to do with the coloring agents. Whatever the reason, lead is very dangerous, especially when little girls use it to be like mommy. There is no safe amount of lead exposure because lead builds up in the body. At toxic levels, it actually lowers IQ and increases aggression. If you don’t want to grow stupider and meaner, you better start looking for a lead-free lipstick.

In October 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 popular brands of lipsticks at an independent lab for lead content. The results: 61 percent of lipsticks contained lead, including products

by Loreal and Covergirl. View the report “A Poison Kiss”, to learn which of the brands tested did and did not contain lead.

After researching this article and learning about lead in lipstick, as well as other toxins I’ll mention in future columns, I’ve concluded that I should look beyond the cosmetic counter in department stores and drug stores and seek out some natural alternatives. And fortunately, they’re not all that hard to find. Some 1,244 cosmetic

companies have signed a compact for safe cosmetics. Signing companies agree to disclose all the ingredients in their products, comply with ingredient prohibitions and restrictions, and substitute ingredients of concern with safer alternatives, among other safe practices. A complete list of these companies, along with their Web addresses, are found here.

It was actually a lot of fun browsing the Web sites of some of the many compact-signing cosmetic companies. I had no idea the variety of cosmetics, skin and hair care products that are available, and many for prices comparable to some of my old standby brands.

If you’re wondering how concerned you should be after reading this, why not get the low-down on your favorite cosmetics? Go to www.cosmeticsdatabase.com and enter the product name in the search bar. If your product has a red button next to it (scoring 7 to 10 on the toxic scale), you really should consider an alternative.

Use the advanced search feature to get suggestions on new foun-

dations, lipsticks, etc., that are free of known toxins, and you can search for organic and fragrancefree products at the same time.

Except for those days I stay in my PJs all day, I’m smearing my face daily with a variety of creams and colors. My skin is soaking this

stuff up and I had no idea that some of it can be hazardous to my health. Now that I know, I don’t want to be just another pretty face – I want to be a healthy face too.

e w r e u r o a n t o a h w aring es? e c m a s f

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l a

Just What You

SHINY SINK!

What’s your sink look like right at this moment? Is it clean and shining, or is it full of dishes and culturing about a dozen live bacteria? If the latter, my next question is, “Are you OK with that?” The old saying “cleanliness is next to godliness” is said to have originated as a Hebrew proverb, undoubtedly as a general summation of the many Mosaic laws relating cleanliness to one’s good standing with God. If you make the effort to wade through the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you can easily see the connection. I believe there is some connection between cleanliness and godliness – even in this age of grace. If nothing else, it’s a foundation for a good Christian example. Regardless of whether God cares about the dishes in your sink, if you’re trying to witness to a neighbor who needs Christ and she’s disgusted by your housekeeping habits, do you think she’s going to want to know the Lord of your life?

If you have even the smallest desire to be a better housekeeper but find that you just don’t know how to begin – the sad fact is a lot of mothers neglect to teach their daughters how to keep house – I know someone who can help. The Fly Lady, www.flylady.net, is your fairy godmother of housekeeping.

You’ll get the greatest benefit by signing up for daily or weekly e-mails with motivations and practical tips to improve your home management skills. There is also much to be gleaned from her Web site. If you’re completely clueless and perhaps the slightest bit reluctant to change your nasty ways, start by watching her

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corny What’s in a Shiny Sink video. Then move on to the Beginner Baby Steps. If your momma taught you well enough but you just need motivation to put in to practice what you already know how to do, just sign up for the weekly e-mails. The Web site isn’t very well organized and a gal can lose a lot of time trying to find the beef. So skip right to the Table of Contents page to check out what the entire site has to offer rather than following links. My favorite feature of the site is only found in the left-hand navigation menu, it’s called Hey Tom and it’s marketed to fly guys, but it’s a great resource for single women. You can put any home maintenance question to this Tom guy and get an answer in less time than it takes to get a technician out to your house. Tom’s breadth of handyman knowledge is impressive – he’s the dream dad!

Fly Lady also has social networking functions like forums, including one called Flying Single! So suffer no longer from CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome)! Don’t delay, check out Fly Lady today!