Category Archives: problem solving

Believe it or not, one of the first phrases that was drilled into my son’s head when he became a Marine was “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!”  I’m not saying there weren’t MANY other things drilled into his head in the Corps…but I am not exaggerating when I say I think that phrase would be in the top five. Without question, that training served him extremely well during his three tours in Iraq. Good son ♥ that he is, he taught his MM (Marine mom) this useful phrase, early on. It will still pop up in conversations every now and then, years later.

Water is my friend. A really, really important friend. But for all my awareness about the importance of hydration, sometimes I still abuse that friendship.  My body usually begins by gently saying, “Excuse me, water please!?”  If that goes ignored for too long, the head begins to throb and all the other body parts, both within and without, begin to dry out, gasp, and complain, each in its own individual way.

Before my divorce, in the house we lived in, I had the luxury of a water filter which (I evidently hadn’t truly appreciated) had greatly enhanced the taste and smell of tap water. In my girl cave (aka apartment), I am without that luxury. The taste and smell of the tap water isn’t horrendous, but it is just enough that I ‘notice’ it, however slightly, each and every time I grab a glass full of water.

I’m not buying bottled water. I am not only trying to be Green as possible but I’m also trying to keep my green as much as possible. And I’m not buying a pitcher filter system that has to be replaced every week. (ditto, same reasoning).

Which all amount to excuses. However, the body doesn’t do well, living on excuses (and without adequate water intake), for too too long…

So, recently, when I asked myself the question, “What is one thing you can do, right now, that will make today (and tomorrow) better?” the answer was quite simple. And actually pretty l-o-u-d (picture drill Sgt, screaming in my face) :   “HYDRATE. HYDRATE. HYDRATE!!!”

So it was time for solutions, not excuses. The answer? Restaurants do it all the time! Easy – economical. Why didn’t I do this ages ago??? I buy two lemons and a cucumber at the grocery store. At night I’ll cut either a couple of thin wedges of lemon or a couple slices of cucumber (or both) and float them in a pitcher of water.

The result? The next day, the flavored water is actually something I really enjoy drinking.  Cost? About $2 a week…and about 2 minutes of self discipline, each night.

After use, I often cut up and freeze the lemon rind pieces. I’ll throw a couple frozen lemon pieces with an ice cube or two — grind in the disposal — and the girl cave plus the disposal smells nice.