The new normal

Now that we're in Swine Flu Central, I'm surrounded by worried people watching news and washing hands as we all wait for vaccines (squalene-free or otherwise).

Meanwhile, it's all about the handwashing! And other preventative steps, helpfully outlined here.

In addition to remembering to take my Vitamin D supplement every day and pondering whether I need to wash my hands again after shifting something I brought home from the grocery store less than 2 days before, I've been drinking a lot of hot honey and lemon:

the juice of 1/2 lemon
honey to taste (I use 2.5 tablespoons)
the rest of a mugful of boiling water

Consequently, I've spent a lot of time lately looking at the inside of a lemon - holding it up to the light to see where I need to dig out more seeds, simultaneously feeling like I'm holding up an X Ray and looking for cancerous masses and marveling at the number of offspring this lemon would have had if all its seeds had sprouted.

I've also been discovering some interesting skin care tips. For example, if you accidentally drizzle some honey on the counter while spooning it into the mug, you can rub it into your chapped-from-washing knuckles. When you rinse off the sticky, you'll find your knuckles are youthfully smooth and soft again.

(you can get the same result with olive oil or baking soda, too, but I find the honey lasts longest!)