Grab Bag Cradle to Grave:

Image credit: Gloriana

The expectation of birth brings planning and parties and preparing our readiness for the impending event.

At the other end of the circle of life we are encouraged to write a will, which helps to clarify how we wish our earthly possessions to move on without us. But what about our own end? Our physical passing from this living existence?

As Judy McDonald points out here, saying “I want to die at home” is not a plan. There are myriad questions and issues that can and will arise in our final phase, and if we choose to ignore those considerations, our potential for trapping ourselves and our loved ones in a spiral of needless pain and sorrow is very real.

Below is Judy’s brief TED talk on dying well. May she inspire us all to plan our exits as meticulously as our entrances.

Judy provides a very simple website with basic worksheets that help build a viable plan to follow.

Grab Bag Awesome Moment:

Another compilation of People Are Awesome… and they are, aren’t they?

Grab Bag Power Play:

Many thanks to Suzanne C., a Stanford Cardinal herself, who shared this with me….. powerful stuff 🙂

There is actually a body language of power, and we know it, but we know it so well that we don’t knowthat we know it. It’s something that we’ve been learning through our socialization since a very, very young age.”

When going into a stressful situation, we think a lot about what we’re going to say. But according to Deborah Gruenfeld, professor of leadership and organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and codirector of the Executive Program for Women Leaders, we should be thinking less about what we’ll say, and more about how we’ll say it — through body language.

Grab Bag Chem-Free Oven Cleanse:

Oven cleaner ranks right up there near the top of the Toxic Chemical list. Here’s an alternative that gets great reviews:

How to Clean Your Oven Without Chemicals

“Ingredients”

• 1 Spray Bottle
• 1 cup Water
• 1/3 cup White Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup Baking Soda
• 1 Razor Blade Tool

Directions:

1.  Mix water and vinegar together in the spray bottle. Spray this mixture all over your oven door and/or the inside of your oven.

2.  Sprinkle a thick layer of the Sea Salt evenly over this mixture.

3. Sprinkle a thick layer of the Baking Soda over the salt.

4. Spray the vinegar/water mixture over the salt and baking soda until it forms a paste. Note: you should begin to hear the vinegar and baking soda working together at this point. Now. Let it sit.

5.  Then, using a scouring pad, scrub with a little man power until you start to see the crud coming off. Once you have scrubbed all that you want, get out your razor and, making sure that the mixture stays very wet, gently scrape off any remaining crud. 

Personally, I might just move straight to the razor blade first and see what it does.

Grab Bag Mosquito Magic:

It’s summer. You’re loving being in the outdoors, and the mosquitos are loving you being there, too. Review these tips to better your chances of avoiding the bites that take a bite out of summer fun:

Grab Bag Brain Game:

A few different versions are offered here to challenge your focus and concentration. In this one, you are shown a single symbol first, then must find it in the grid in 20 seconds or less.

Grab Bag Funny Stuff: