sarasomeone's Profile

I've become a total addict to a white noise mp3 i ripped off a "soothing ocean waves" cd I got at the dollar store years ago. I set my mp3 player for about an hour of audio-book, and then 7 hours of white noise. It's like my own bedtime story, and really helps me sleep much better. My library (the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh) has audio books you can download. Many other libraries probably do too.

A TV tray could also work NICELY indoors as an impromptu side table when guests visit.

Sorry to resurrect such an old post, but it is easy to cover (cheap poster quality) prints in clear contact paper before framing/hanging them in a bathroom. I have had good luck with this.

I was a horrible sleeper as an infant (My mother was nearly hospitalized for chronic sleep deprivation; the doctor recommended sedating me.) and I still am. As a newborn, I slept about 8 hours a day, never more than about 3 hours in a row.

I have found that white noise (I like mine mixed with ocean waves) is a godsend. Many white noise MP3's are available online for free or very low cost. Try a couple to find one you like. The one I really like I bought on a cd at a dollar store, and ripped to mp3 myself. The cd was called "Body and Soul Sounds: Relaxing Ocean Waves".

I have trained myself to sleep when it is playing, and to wake up when it ends. I fix the playlist so that it finishes 10 minutes before my alarm clock goes off. I am nearly always up before the alarm.

I begin the playlist with a chapter of an audio book; it's my own personal bedtime story. I see no reason why this wouldn't work for kids as well. Especially if you recorded a few stories in your own voice.

If there's no way to play mp3s in the room, then burn a cd, and put it on repeat. For me, however, waking up with the white noise still playing leaves me groggy.

ps; the white noise needs to be louder than you think...about the level of a vacuum cleaner or window air conditioner.

RE: PAINTING OVER SHARPIE MARKER

I noticed someone talking about how hard it is to paint over sharpie marker. There is a special primer called "Killz" that works very well.

Ok, so I know I'm opening myself up to all sorts of flaming, given many of the posts above, but what caught my eye in this article was the sentence, "...they were pricey, so they built one". Perhaps I am the only one brave enough to ask for these instructions, but I can't be the only curious one.

Do you just cut the two sides out, and then make slats and a covered piece of foam?

ps: I think it could be really awesome looking if you painted a wave, a la Hokusai (http://www.mendeley.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/the-wave.png) on the side

I buy bottles of rose water, or orange blossom water, at my local middle eastern market. (About $2 per bottle) I pour about two thirds into an empty bottle and fill the rest with water and a cheap vodka. I find the spray nozzles from many cleaning products fit right onto the glass bottles the scented water comes in.

Do you know anyone who has just moved? I never realized how useful those magnets are until I moved and didn't have any.

Almost any kind of random small junk can be stored in attractive boxes on book cases; sewing supplies, office supplies, hardware, anything like that. Many tobacconists will provide you with several wooden cigar boxes a week if you ask nicely.

Since they are going in different rooms, do they need to match exactly, or just be similar? That style seems to have very been very common for a long time; I've had lights like that in many apartments.

If they just need to be similar, take a photo, and email it around to people you know who live in older houses or apartments. They will most likely be happy to trade you their (in their opinion) outdated light fixture for a new one.

I, for example, have an almost identical fixture in my kitchen. (In mine, the stripe does not have the hex pattern, but is just a different level of opacity). I'm not much for that look, and I would happily trade if I lived near by (but shipping a fairly generic light fixture from Pittsburgh seems silly).

I used to live in Pasadena, and I remember it being slightly harder to find old stuff, but on the east coast, I see big bins of similar light fixtures at nearly every yard sale and flea market I go to. I'd try that as well, if I were you. Buying new fixtures so similar to common older ones seems wasteful to me.