Family Care: Tracing Down Your Family’s Medical History
Medical history is an important, although often overlooked, component of a family tree. Understanding your genetic predisposition to disease can aid physicians tremendously in diagnosing and treating illness. In addition, individuals who know their health risks are more likely to develop healthy habits and engage in preventive practices. Tracing your family’s medical history will not only teach you about your heritage; it can also prolong your life.
Interview your parents and siblings. Medical information about immediate family members will likely help you the most if you encounter health problems. Record information and take it with you to all medical consultations. Whether you’re pregnant and seeing an Ob/Gyn for the first time, or have cancer and have an appointment with a new Oncologist, the physician will ask questions about family medical history.
Talk to other living relatives. If your grandparents are still alive, interview them regarding their health history and that of their parents and siblings. Ask to record the conversation or take detailed notes. Talk to your relatives about immunizations, childhood illness and chronic diseases. Also ask about hospitalizations and surgeries, whether major or minor. Find out at what age distant relatives died and the causes of death.
Try to get information about mental illness. This may be difficult as people have only recently begun to talk openly about psychiatric disorders. Even if a relative did not receive medical treatment for a mental illness, she may have exhibited symptoms that family members can recognize in retrospect. Ask about mood swings, suicidal behavior, impulsivity, prolonged periods of sadness and overall emotional demeanor. Some mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression are believed to have a genetic component.
Read death certificates and obituaries. These records can help you determine whether a potentially heritable disease such as cancer or heart attack caused your relatives’ deaths. Some states black out cause of death on certificates and not all obituaries provide cause of death, but this is a good place to start your investigation.
Ask a doctor to provide a posthumous diagnosis if there is no information about a relative’s health or death. If someone suffers from a genetic abnormality that affects appearance, a physician may be able to identify an illness by looking at a photograph.
Just about everyone has paper plates hiding in the pantry and on a rainy day, or a really hot afternoon, those paper plates can come in handy to create fantastic art projects for any age. These projects need basic materials such as crayons, markers, paints, construction paper, scissors, glue, string and lots of imagination.
Masks
Every child loves imaginary play, and masks make it even better. Using a paper plate to create a mask is simple and lots of fun. Take a plate and measure where the eyes and mouth should be. Make circles and allow the child to cut holes. There are hundreds of possibilities for creating masks, including African tribal masks. Using a hole punch, put holes on the sides of masks and attach string. Children can wear masks while they participate in a special celebration of their own creation.
The Solar System
The sun and planets look like circles, and paper plates are perfect circles just waiting to be turned into special planets of your child’s own creation. Education.com suggests using yellow and orange construction paper and glue to create a colorful sun. When your child tears small pieces of yellow paper and glues them onto the paper plate, she is using fine motor skills. Have her cut out orange triangles to glue along the outside of the plate to add extra detail. When she finishes her sun, she can use other paper plates to create her own unique solar system of colorful planets by following the same technique and using other colors of paper.
Mobile
Paper plates are great for creating a mobile, and children of any age can make interesting designs. Allow children to use markers and crayons to create lines and patterns on their plates. Painting over them with water colors or tempera paint creates a resist, where the wax crayon will show through the paint. Additional materials can be added to make the plates unique, such as gluing string, construction paper or tissue paper on their plates. When finished, punch holes in plates and, using string, hang them on a long stick or wire hanger in an interesting way. Plates can even be attached to each other and hung in a vertical line if a stick or hanger isn’t available for a long mobile. Hang the mobiles in a spot where they will move in the breeze.
A wax hand statue can capture a moment in time. This unique art form is ideal for making casts of children’s hands to make comparisons as they grow. Wax hand statues can also make statements through different hand gestures or sign language phrases. Wax hands have a striking visual impact, and they look more difficult to create than they actually are. Wax hand statues or candles are easy to make at home with only a few craft supplies.
Here are the instructions:
Heat wax in a saucepan over low heat until it is liquefied. Pour the melted wax into one bucket and hang the candy thermometer on the side of the bucket so the probe is in the wax. Fill the other bucket with water.
Rub hand lotion all over the hand and wrist of the hand you want to cast. Apply a thick layer of lotion; the idea is to keep wax from sticking to your hand and breaking during removal of the statue.
Watch the thermometer for the temperature to read between 105 and 110 degrees F. If the temperature drops below this point, put the wax back into the saucepan and reheat to this range.
Dip your lotioned hand in wax to above your wrist. Dip your hand into the water bucket immediately after to begin cooling the first layer of wax. Continue alternating dips between the wax bucket and water bucket until the wax becomes thick enough to remove, about seven to nine dips.
Wiggle your fingers gently inside the wax mold while your hand is underwater. Pull your fingers up slowly into the hand area of the mold. Once the finger areas are empty, dip the wax hand in water only to the knuckles to harden the fingertips.
Hold the wax mold from the back of the wrist area and carefully slide it off your hand. Submerge the wax statue in water until it is fully hardened.
Dip the wrist of the finished wax hand into warm wax to melt it slightly. Gently fold the edges of the wrist inward to create a solid base for your statue to stand on.
Sand dollars are beautiful treasures easily found on many beaches. The ones that wash up onto the shore are only the husk of what used to be a living sea creature. All sand dollars are round, white and have five small holes. These pieces can be used in many ways to create beautiful artwork.
Instructions:
Lay out three to five sand dollars face down and next to each other. Line up the side holes on the sand dollars, making sets.
Clip a piece of wire 2 1/2 inches long. Put the wire through the back of a side hole in one of the sets. Thread the wire into the front of the hole in the sand dollar next to it and close the ends by twisting them together several times.
Repeat Step 2 until all of the sand dollars have been linked together in both holes on each side.
Connect the free ends in the chain of sand dollars with a long piece of wire in only the top side holes. This long piece of wire will be used to hang the wall art.
Cut a piece of hemp for each sand dollar in the chain. Vary the lengths but don’t make any very short. Arrange the pieces below each sand dollar.
Tie a knot at the end of the hemp string and thread each string through the back of the hole in the middle of the sand dollar. The knot should be in the back of the sand dollar.
Thread the unknotted end of the hemp through the front of another sand dollar and tie a knot as you did before. Add more dangling sand dollars by tying hemp to the pieces of wire and attaching to more sand dollars.
In 1989 NASA released the results of a two-year-long study on the effects of indoor plants. Their findings proved that growing certain common varieties of plants indoors (including philodendron, spider plant, and golden pothos) help to reduce indoor air pollution. Their study was mainly focused on office buildings and the phenomenon known as “sick building syndrome,” but growing an indoor garden in your home can help improve the air quality and possibly your health.
Purchase plants that will grow well indoors. All of the plants listed in NASA’s study grow well indoors. Most varieties of ivy, as well as most tropical plants, will grow easily indoors.
Use quality containers. An indoor garden should make a homeowner or visitor feel relaxed and peaceful. Cheap, lightweight plastic containers (such as those in which the plants are transported to gardening centers) are too light to properly support a growing plant and will end up being knocked over time and again.
Use potting soil for houseplants. Do not use topsoil from your yard, because it is devoid of the nutrients needed to grow healthy houseplants.
Find an area of your home that receives a lot of sunlight during the day. An eastern-facing window gets a great deal of sunlight in the afternoon and is ideal for an indoor garden.
Mist your plants frequently. Most modern homes have air conditioning, which saps the indoor air of humidity. This makes the air pleasant for humans but can make plants uncomfortable. To make your plants happier, mist them daily (or as often as possible) with a spray bottle filled with filtered water.
Arrange the plants in an attractive way. Consider hanging some plants from the ceiling (especially those that like to grow downward, such as spider plants and ivies). Place taller plants in the back of plant groupings, so that the smaller plants can be seen.
Photo Arts: Make Your Customized Wall Mural from Your Own Photos
If you have a large, blank wall inside your home that you just don’t know what to fill with, a photo mural is the perfect project. Inexpensive and completely removable, the mural won’t damage the walls of rental properties. You can use any picture you like to make a completely unique decorative focal point in your home.
A wall mural also makes for great advertising and party decorations. You can use it for creative photography backdrops, or just to add an original decorative element to your home. When you are tired of your mural, there is no painting over anything, you simply peel it down and throw it away.
Choose a photo. For this project, you need a high resolution photo no larger than 1 megapixel in size when saved. If you use a low resolution photo, your mural will look pixilated, which some people find to be an interesting decorative element.
Use the free Block Posters software listed in the Resources section. Upload your photo, determine how tall and how wide you would like your image to be, and choose if you want a white border or not.
Print the PDF file you created at Block Posters, or take it to a print shop to be printed for you. Be sure to keep your pages in order.
On the wall where you wish to install your photo mural, measure and mark with a pencil the dimensions of your mural, so you know where to begin hanging it.
Lay the pages of your mural out on the floor to assure that they are in the correct order, and are of the image quality you want, with no mistakes. This also helps you install the mural on the wall in the correct sequence of tiles.
Take the first page of your photo mural and apply double-stick tape to each of the four corners. Get the tape as close to the outside edges as possible. Find the mark you made indicating the top right-hand corner of where your mural will begin, and attach the first page of your mural to the wall.
Add tape to the back of the second page at all four corners, and attach it so that it aligns perfectly with the first tile. Repeat this step, using each previous page as the guide for your new page. Check with the level from time to time to see if you need adjustment.
If your mural is outside, spray it with a protective finish that will not cause the ink to run. Test the sealer before you apply it to the mural. If your mural is inside, you do not need to complete this step. If your mural will be in a place of high humidity, try laminating each sheet, or using spray adhesive to first attach the sheets to poster board to add stability.
The wedding reception is the first time the newly married couple truly socializes with one another as bride and groom. It’s the first time to share time with friends and family members as a married couple. It’s also the time right before the honeymoon starts, and many newlyweds are getting pretty nervous as the reception comes along–even more nervous than during the wedding. To break the ice, try some fun wedding reception surprises.
Give everybody in the wedding party masks to wear that feature celebrity faces. When the bride and groom walk into the reception, they will find themselves looking at an A-list celebrity party. This can create huge laughs, especially if Mom and Dad are wearing the most outrageous of the masks. You can even theme it based on groups of families and friends. One part of the family may be the Brady Bunch, and the other part may be the Osbournes. Have fun with it.
Give mock speeches for the first few tries. (This should later be rectified by a proper speech). It should usually be done by the bride’s family, but it would be funniest if done by the most conservative-behaving of the families. A father acting drunk while roasting his son-in-law is a good prank, but make sure that the bride and groom have a comfortable, easy relationship that makes this funny instead of inciting a fight on the most important day of their lives. This part is hard to balance successfully. When in doubt, do without. Keep it lighthearted.
Have the DJ work with you in pretending like he only has a certain type of music. Pretend like you accidentally booked a band that can only play polka music. When the couple starts to actually get frustrated, have the real band step up and play the couple’s favorite song.
Make up last-minute excuses directly after a wedding ceremony for not attending the reception. While all people attending should accept the invitation to both the wedding and the reception, have a large amount of people back out at the last minute. In addition to the people backing out, all should hide at the venue. Then have all hide in an adjacent room, with one person keeping an eye out. Have the bride and groom show up to find nobody at their reception, despite many people at their wedding. Pop out to surprise them when the joke stops being funny.
Write outrageous things on the car for the couple to find on the way to the reception. While decorating the car of the bride and groom is hardly an original concept, this can get really funny if you go the outrageous mile with it.
Dress it up. The bride and groom have the most important costumes of all. Do a theme like “Two Worlds Collide.” In this, half the celebrants can dress up like exaggerated types of people on Earth–from trashy to trendy–and the other half can dress up as aliens in all their fictional incarnations.
Hire a celebrity impersonator that is the bride’s favorite singer. Have one that is the groom’s. Let the two duet together all night for an ideal, fun pairing of the favorites of the couple coming together as one.
A birthday party doesn’t have to be limited to having cake and ice cream at someone’s house. There are a number of ways to celebrate a birthday, ranging from traveling to trying a new activity to celebrate. Whether you’re into romantic dinners or thrilling adventures, there are places that can provide the perfect birthday location for you, no matter what your interests are. Take your friends or go with a date, and make it a day to remember.
Party Locations
If you’re tired of your usual hangout, try a different spot to celebrate your next birthday. If your budget is limited, find free places around your town. For example, you could visit a local park, or drive to a recreation area in a nearby town. Many parks offer gazebo rentals, which are ideal for a large group and to protect against the rain.
The free picnic areas are also an option for smaller groups or to save money. If you enjoy roller skating or laser tag, big cities often have a laser tag building or a roller rink. Chuck E. Cheese’s offers a variety of activities for children, and will organize and help you throw a birthday party there for a price of around $15 per child attending. Bowling, a trip to the pool hall or a drive to an arcade are also good options. For a 21st birthday, going clubbing is a way to relax and enjoy good music and dancing.
Traveling
Consider saving money to travel when you want a birthday to be extra special. A cruise is the perfect way to celebrate, whether it’s with friends, family or your sweetheart. Smaller cruises are available in certain cities that last only a few hours and provide dinner. If you’ve moved far away from home and haven’t visited recently, consider taking a road trip to see friends from your hometown.
There are other shorter adventures you can find in nearby large cities too. For example, you can go skydiving, rock climbing or even visit a cave. These vary in price depending on location and group size. Think about what interests you, or the person you’re planning the party for. If he likes golfing, pay to take him out for an afternoon on a golf course. If she enjoys shopping, buy her a gift card and plan a weekend at the mall.
Romantic
For couples celebrating their partner’s birthday, a romantic dinner for two is a great way to mark the occasion. Pay to take her out somewhere special, or cook dinner yourself at home. You can also base your plans around the season. In the winter the two of you can go ice skating or skiing. Cuddle up by the firelight afterward and drink hot chocolate. In the summer, swimming and fishing are options. Rent a cabin in the woods and enjoy the nights alone together.
Reuse packing peanuts yourself or take them to local packing and shipping stores for reuse. The Plastic Loose Fill Council operates a 24-hour hotline to direct consumers nationwide to businesses that reuse polystyrene peanuts. The organization’s website also offers a list of drop-off sites.
Recycle molded polystyrene packaging–the rigid blocky Styrofoam used to protect electronics and other delicate products–by sending it to the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers’ Mail-Back Recycling Program. Check that the polystrene packaging is marked with a recycling symbol and the number six. Remove any paper labels, plastic film or glued-on cardboard from the polystyrene.
Break the polystyrene packaging into smaller pieces if desired. Pack the polystyrene into boxes or sturdy plastic sacks to mail to recyclers. The Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers’ Mail-Back Recycling Program accepts clean expanded polystyrene at any of their 47 participating locations across the country which are listed at epspackaging.org/images/stories/National_Mail_Back_Locations.pdf.
Recycle material such as Styrofoam cups and pressed polystyrene egg cartons, meat trays and other foam food containers at recycling centers operated by Dart Container in 15 states, Canada and Mexico.
Empty and rinse the Styrofoam cups, egg cartons, meat trays and other foam food containers. Make sure they are free of food remnants.
Pack the cups and containers into transparent plastic bags and write your name or organization and phone number on the front. Take it–or package and mail it–to one of the recycling centers found at dartcontainer.com/web/environ.nsf/pages/drop-off.html.
Recycling materials instead of letting them sit in a landfill has led to the development of new technologies to deal with almost any type of material. According to Seawolf Design, fiberglass insulation and pressed panels used to be difficult to reuse but now can be used in many ways. Most homeowners encounter fiberglass material when removing and replacing old insulation, or in the form of corrugated panels. Both of these materials can be remade into boats, spray insulation, and many other items.
Call your city or county waste management office. Ask if any of the recycling centers in your area accept fiberglass insulation.
Contact the state environmental protection department and ask about hazardous waste recycling. The United States Environmental Protection Agency website explains that each state has at least one office that can help you find a proper recycling outlet for your fiberglass.
Find a company or association that specializes in recycling fiberglass. The experts at Fiberglass World maintain a list of such organizations from all around the world.
Wrap the fiberglass insulation or paneling in heavy plastic garbage bags and seal them with duct tape. Wear work gloves, safety goggles and a respirator while handling insulation to avoid eye or skin irritation.
Salvage and reuse the fiberglass panels or insulation. If the batts of fiberglass insulation are still intact, they may be able to be used again as they are. Broken pieces of fiberglass paneling can be reused for smaller projects, such as a miniature greenhouse.
