Cindy Riddle

I learned this watching the Food Network years ago and it changed my life. I've cut a lot of onions, knowing this trick would have been awesome back when I worked at Zesto's as a kid.

Start by cutting your onion in half.

Not like this:

Notice that the knife below is positioned to slice through the bottom root section and the top stalk section simultaneously:

Peel and cut off a small portion of the top to remove any dried portion of stalk. Do not cut the root side:

Now slice the onion without cutting all the way to the root section. 2 photo's below:

No turn onion and slice perpendicular to your previous cuts:

Creating small even pieces thanks to the layers already in the onion:

Like my daughter says "Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy"

**Update**
I need to apologize I have had many people read this hoping to find out how not to cry while cutting an onion. It has been so long since I've had that problem I really had forgotten that it was even a problem! I store my onions in the fridge, the cold inhibits the release of the eye-irritating juices. (FYI - Onions may cause your other veggies in the fridge to spoil quicker though). It also probably helps that I chop quick using the above method so there isn't much time for crying, and I have the wingspan of an eagle so the onion is a pretty good distance from my eyes. Happy Chopping!

A tiny spot of pretty

I did it! School starts tomorrow and today I completed the one major project I wanted to get done this summer. I might be celebrating a little harder if I didn't hurt so bad, and just realized I hadn't even looked at the packet of information the teacher sent home to be completed and sent back in the morning...

My neat office. NOT

I'm back, and I only had to run to the store once to get something I missed. It's going to take me a couple of days to get back into the old routine. It will also help to put my house back in order now that every item from my basement doesn't need to be stored throughout the rest of the house. Speaking of which, that's why your here. Ooops... I guess the muscle fatigue includes my brain.

The haze was everywhere!

I started last week, but really got into it this long weekend. I anticipated needing upwards of 30 gallons of paint. And only used a measly 23 gallons. I started by getting refresher instructions on the paint sprayer from My Vet's dad, then I suited up and went to town! I made it a full 45 seconds before my first glitch resulting in oil based primer all over my hands, I quickly learned how to clear a clog, and that my bottle of paint thinner on the shelf had a whopping 1/4 cup left. I found a cute pair of pink gloves to wear, while My Vet quickly ran to the store. By the time he got back I had moved along and he snapped this photo.

I had barely finished a small corner of the basement when my sprayer started to suck air. Uh oh, I only grabbed 3 buckets for the entire basement and I'm out already!! My father-in-law came to take a look, Apparently the hose doesn't go to the bottom so, it still had at least 2 gallons left. Phew! We poured in more from a different bucket and kept on going. Why don't they come with longer hoses though? I'm sure there is a good reason though since Graco has the best lead engineer. (They are the best sprayer out there, and I'm pretty sure that being my best friend in grade school, and living in Brown Hall is the only real qualifier needed for 'best'.)

Wow another winding thought train. If you think this is bad, you should have seen me on Saturday. Even though I was suited up and wearing a respirator, I still had to step outside at one point and get some fresh air for a few hours before heading back in to finish up.

With the Oil Based Primer Sealer finished, we let the house air out all night, and I suited back up the next morning for the top coat. This went much better than the oil. The mask didn't irritate me as much that day, and I only had to stop for water and rest. Working above my head 2 days in a row, I thought I was sore. Then came the clean up.

I started the day slow, by adding some accent color behind some of the shelves. Then I grabbed a scrub brush and a mop and cleaned the floors. I changed the bucket often, and still had thick water most of the time. It also wiped me out. I spent several hours at this chore, and several hours later can still attest to the fact that was worse than painting over my head. On a side note it does smell a lot nicer than the primer though.

It's been a long 3 days of work, but I am really happy with how bright everything is. I haven't even changed out the light bulbs yet for ones without paint haze. Amazing right? Did you Labor this weekend too? Or did you help the MN State Fair break their all time attendance record, or something equally as fun?

Here are some obligatory before and after photos.