How To get Spray-Paint off your hands without killing the Skin

I joined the Resident Housing Association council for the housing complex where I live. As a hall rep, I represent the interests and concerns of my buildings on my council. I also work on/walk by the RHA float in BYU's homecoming parade. today, in order to get my three required hours of out-of-class float work in for the grade.

It was snowing, blowing, and cold as blue blazes for those of you reading from outside of the Provo area. But I worked on--I want our float to look nice as much as anyone else!

However, while spray-painting the letters "R H A" to go on the float, I drenched my hands in blue {I believe latex} spray paint.

{Um...yeah, about like that. I'd have actual pictures of my own hands, but didn't wish to ruin my camera}

So, after a vigorous hand-washing in the bathroom of the building near the pavilion where we have the float stored, about half the paint was gone. Yes, I did use my fingernails.

All I could think was "Oh gosh how am I going to get this stuff OFF??"

I called my immediate family and other relatives. All of the removal methods seemed pretty caustic and hard on the skin.

• My Father suggested I buy paint thinner and pour some on a rag, wipe the paint off, and then wash my hands thoroughly. Yeah, we aren't even allowed to OWN paint thinner here {apparently it is highly flammable}, plus NO WAY am I putting that on my hands.
• I thought of nail polish remover, but I'm pretty low on that, and even it isn't wonderful on skin.
• My uncle suggested dousing my hands in gasoline or turpentine.

So I figured I was on my own.

However, Brittany, my friend and student coordinator, dropped me off at my apartment before we took a housing car to get more staples for the staple-guns. 

"Ok, I have, say, five minutes."

Not enough time to google, so I did the first thing I thought of.

I got the big bottle of dish soap from our kitchen, doused my hands in it, and began to scratch away under warm water.

{Basically, the Great Value brand of this stuff with a handle}

It still wasn't working, and I began to despair, when I realized: this paint is like a sticky, blue layer of extra skin. An d how do you get rid of extra skin, i.e. calluses?

You use an emery board.

So I grabbed the emery board I keep on top of my dresser {soapy hands and all} and rubbed away at the paint.

It was a miracle.

Yeah, there is still a little stuck in my cuticles and other places it was hard to reach, but I no longer look like I'm turning into Katy Perry as Smurfette.

{Both are lovely ladies, and blue is my color, but spray paint feels so gross on the skin!}

 

How to Have Fun whilst Temporarily Homeless

No, no I was not evicted. But on moving day, those of us who move out of our winter apartments and move into another for Spring, there is a period of temporary homelessness. For my friend Cherie and I, this period lasted about five hours. Luckily, we survived and moved in ok with Hailey's help.

{Little plug for Hailey, she's an incredible friend and she deserves it: Hailey's blog has some pretty funny stuff in it, sometimes she even mentions me! Yes, it's a wordpress blog, but nobody's perfect. ;) Love you girl!}

So, here is how Cherie, Hailey, and I had fun while homeless.

We piled our stuff into my car and the back of Hailey's truck, Little Buddy. My Prius, Dillinger, was so stuffed that the poor little guy was un-driveable. So we took Little Buddy to the library and then to J-Dawgs so we could eat lunch.

I don't know if any of you have ever ridden in the cab of a smallish Toyota Tacoma with two of your friends. For those of you who haven't, it is an exercise in togetherness. We have, over the course of Spring term, figured out how to sit so that Hailey can still drive. I love Little Buddy to death, but his is not the roomiest of truck cabs. All the better for bonding!

They kicked us out pretty early in the morning, so we were not quite yet ready for the pure awesome that is J-Dawgs, so we went to the library instead. Now, the Harold B. Lee Library is quite something, but we see that one every day on campus. The Provo Library, on the other hand, was alluring in its novelty. It was the home of the Brigham Young Academy before it moved to Temple Hill and became the University it is today. We parked and went inside. The sheer number of books overwhelmed us. We REALLY wanted to get library cards, but guess what you need for that? That's right, you need proof of address. So we couldn't exactly do that. We still need to, actually.

After a while we were actually hungry enough to eat a full lunch, so we left the library for J-Dawgs. This wonderful place, for those of you who do not know, grew out of a small stand that still sits outside the new location. They sell, as the name implies, hot dogs...some of the best hot dogs you will ever eat.  They have all the traditional condiments available, and then their special sauce...it's like honey-hickory-sweet-smoke-barbecue HEAVEN! I get a polish dog smothered in special sauce and ask  them to line the bun with their wonderful, salty, crunchy pickle spears. It sounds completely weird but that is how I like them. You can personalize your hot dog there, which is just one more reason it's great. Hailey and Cherie had never been there before, so we thought it was a good time for them to try it out. They actually quite enjoyed it.

After that, we were quite tired and we still had a few hours left before we could move in. We decided to go to RC Willey, a large furniture chain. We moved from couch to couch until we found the most gloriously comfy leather couch. We were pretty darn sure it had memory foam inside, and stayed there for about an hour. We wanted to buy it, but it was real leather so we couldn't afford it. Eventually, we started examining mattresses, including a really nice memory foam one that we also wanted to buy. We joked with the floor salesman about donating to poor college students...they laughed.

But at about this time we could move into our new places. We helped each other get everything in. It was a really fun bonding experience, and it could have been a horrible hassle. But anything goes better with friends.

How To Survive in College if You Get a Cold (Without Killing Yourself)

So, many of you may be in college, or considering going to college, or know someone who is currently attending a college or university. And you may be wondering "If I get a cold (or something like it) how will I get better without ruining my lovely GPA?"

Never fear, friends! I am a BYU student fond of my own GPA, and I recently had to deal with a cold. I'm pretty sure either my boyfriend or roommate is to blame, but since I am well again, there's no point laying blame. Which  leads me to the first point:

1. Don't try to figure out who got you sick. It wastes time and mental energy, which you will need to conserve in order to emerge from this cold with both your sanity and GPA intact.

2. At the beginning of each semester, familiarize yourself with attendance policy and procedure. This way, you know what you absolutely CANNOT miss and which professors would be sympathetic to your situation.

3. Arrange a note-stealing buddy. A note-stealing buddy shares one or more classes with you and with whom you get along well. Someone you friended on Facebook is ideal. This is a symbiotic relationship and it works like this: one of you gets sick, informs the other one of said sickness, and asks to get a copy of the notes or be allowed to copy the notes. It is important that you use a similar medium (both use a laptop or paper) and it really helps if you have similar note-taking styles. Once you've arranged this, tehn sit back and don't think about school until you feel better ( the exception is reading the assigned passages in the tub with aromatherapy and Enya-type-music).

4. Rest. Don't try to honor previous commitments. E-mail your group that you can't attend this meeting because you're sick--you want to be well for the presentation, right? Beg your significant other to apologize to their friend for you, you are in no shape to attend that planetarium show now! Reschedule, postpone, and relax on the couch or your bed. Nap or sleep if possible; your immune system loves those extra ZZZzz's.

5. Eat right. Keep a water bottle full at all times, stock up on Orange juice, eat plenty of fruits and veggies, and make sure you have plenty of chicken soup. No longer just a home remedy, chicken soup has been scientifically proven to fight the viruses that cause a common cold (whether it engages in a duel to the death with the viruses or just boosts your immune system, I'm not sure; but somehow it does).

6. Get the Meds: Find someone who will run to Wal-mart for Zicam, tissues, Vapo-rub, herbal tea, cough drops, or whatever else you need to get you feeling better and up to getting back to class.

7. Play on Sympathy: I promise this helps, though I can't explain why, but find your designated complaint hearer ans moan about how icky you are. Then let them reassure you that you'll get better.