Volume 6 March 2006

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Welcome to TAKE-A-MOMENT!

The Take-A-Moment newsletters strive to provide quick-to-read content to improve and enhance the quality of life at home and in the work place...for when you can "take-a-moment" from your hectic schedule. Take-a-Moment is provided by the Louisville Area Cooperative Extension Agents. When you have "more-than-a-moment" visit our web site for expanded articles, article archives, sign-up and contact information, and links to other web sites of interest.

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Did You Know...?

C O N T E N T S

Stain Removal --  MOLD- What it does and how to clean for it
Financial Fitness -- Tax Refund Scams
Family Life -- A Smile For Health
Nutrition & What's Cooking -- Small Steps to Reachable Goals
Home Tips -- Keeping Children Safe
Ways to Wellness -- March is National Nutrition Month
In The Work Place -- Stress ... A Part of Life

STAIN REMOVAL
MOLD--WHAT IT DOES AND HOW TO CLEAN FOR IT
stainremoval@take-a-moment.com

What do molds do to our body?

When a growth of mold appears, it can send clouds of invisible bits of mold through the air. These bits of mold can cause infections, allergies, asthma, and other breathing problems. To avoid these health problems, keep your home as mold-free as possible.

How can I tell if I have a mold problem?

Any part of your home that gets wet is likely to be moldy. Check:

• for leaks in your roof or plumbing. If water is trapped inside your walls or under your carpet, molds may grow there, although they can't always be seen. See if your walls or rugs have light stains or a strong musty smell.
• for mold in your basement, especially if your basement floods because of rain. Moisture can also seep through your home's concrete foundation and make the bottom of carpets or the inside of a finished wall moldy.
• for water damage around your windows or doors to the outside of the house. In winter, moist air can change to water on these cooler surfaces and cause molds to grow there.
• for mold on walls, ceilings, floors, carpets, books, or piles of newspapers. Smell these areas too; sometimes a musty smell is your only clue that you have a mold problem.

How do I get rid of a mold problem?

When molds get inside materials like carpets and beds, they cannot be cleaned. Throw them away. But you can get rid of molds in bedding, curtains, drapes and clothes by washing or dry cleaning them.

Wash moldy walls, ceilings, and floors twice: once to clean and once to disinfect.

First, use a cleaner such as tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) to clean them. You can buy TSP at a hardware, paint, or building supply store; it is not costly. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands and follow the directions on the TSP package for mixing the cleaner with water before you clean. After you clean with TSP, let the surface dry.

Second, wash the wall, ceiling, or floor again using a mixture of liquid household chlorine bleach and water. If you are cleaning a small area, use 5 cups of water mixed with 1/2 cup bleach. If you are cleaning a large area, use a 5-gallon pail of water and add 1/2 gallon of bleach to it. Be sure to open windows when you use bleach, so you have fresh air to breathe and the bleach does not irritate your lungs. Also be sure to follow all the directions and warnings on the bleach label.
You can disinfect areas that are hard to reach by putting the cleaners in a hand sprayer or garden pump sprayer.

For more detailed information, contact your local Extension Service Office. Further information can be found at the Extension Disaster Education Network. www.eden.lsu.edu.

FINANCIAL FITNESS
TAX REFUND SCAMS
finances@take-a-moment.com

Taxpayers need to be aware of tax refund scams. A page on the IRS Web site says, “The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a consumer alert about an Internet scam in which consumers receive an e-mail informing them of a tax refund. The e-mail, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to a link that requests personal information, such as Social Security number and credit card information.

“This scheme is an attempt to trick the e-mail recipients into disclosing their personal and financial data. The practice is called ‘phishing’ for information.” The purpose of the scam is to steal your identity.

According to Sophos, an antivirus software protection company, the problem is caused by a security configuration error on the IRS site that enables criminals to divert you to their site. Again, from the IRS Web site: “The bogus e-mail, which claims to come from ‘tax-refunds@irs.gov’ tells the recipient that he or she is eligible to receive a tax refund for a given amount. It then says that, to access a form for the tax refund, the recipient must use a link contained in the e-mail. The link then asks for the personal and financial information.

“The IRS does not ask for personal identifying or financial information via unsolicited e-mail. Additionally, taxpayers do not have to complete a special form to obtain a refund.

“If you receive an unsolicited e-mail purporting to be from the IRS, take the following steps:

• “Do not open any attachments to the e-mail, in case they contain malicious code that will infect your computer.

• “Contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine whether the IRS is trying to contact you about a tax refund.”

Source: Adapted from “IRS Warns of e-Mail Scam about Tax Refunds.” Nov. 30, 2005.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=151065,00.html
and “Tax Scam Preys on Refund-Hungry Public with Real Gov Site,” Nov. 30, 2005. http://www.eweek.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=166452,00.asp

FAMILY LIFE
A SMILE FOR HEALTH
familylife@take-a-moment.com

Most of us understand instinctively that emotions have physical components. For example, fear can provoke a stress response in which the heart and breathing quicken and blood is shunted to large muscles to prepare for fight or flight.

Interestingly, research now indicates that adopting a particular facial expression--a smile or an angry look--produces a corresponding effect on the body.

Researchers directed subjects to adopt various facial expressions. At the same time heart rate, finger temperature, skin conductance and muscle activity were measured. Results showed that the physiological changes associated with the emotional states can be produced through facial expression alone.

The face we turn to the world may not only reflect our inner well-being, it also may continually play a role in shaping that experience as well. Adapted from The Heart of Healing, Turner Publishing, 1993.

Source: Sam Quick

NUTRITION & WHAT'S COOKING
SMALL STEPS TO REACHABLE GOALS
whatscooking@take-a-moment.com

We all know that unhealthy eating habits can lead to many of the chronic diseases such as heart disease and some cancers. It's true that cutting back on fat and increasing dietary fiber can be important in contributing to a healthier diet. But, it can be mind boggling to know how to cut back to 30% fat from calories each day and to include 25 grams fiber daily. Taking small steps is a good beginning that may lead to more realistic and permanent healthy habits.

Tips to begin:

• -skip second helpings

• -eat breakfast - you won't be tempted to eat fatty snacks before lunch

• -enjoy some foods you like-even if they have a few calories

• -bank some calories-if your going out for a big dinner, skimp but don't skip a prior meal

• -do not have lists of bad food-just eat them in smaller amounts

• -eat small meals several times a day instead of 2 or 3 large ones

• -eat nutrient-dense foods with nutritional value and not empty ones

• -eat a variety of foods

• -try new foods

When eating out try these tips:

• -don't eat every bite, leave some on the plate as servings are usually larger than at home

• -split a whole dessert with someone

• -order flavored coffee or tea rather than pie or cake

• -look at menus ahead of time before visiting, especially if your diabetic

Take foods in Smaller Portions:

TO help you visualize, use these familiar examples

• -one ounce of meat as a matchbox

• -3 ounces meat as a deck of cards or bar of soap

• -8 ounces meat as a thin paperback book

• -1/2 cup ice cream as a tennis ball

HOME TIPS
KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE
hometips@take-a-moment.com

"Children Act Fast ... So Do Poisons!" is the theme of Poison Prevention Week. It takes only a few minutes for a child to grab and swallow something that could be poisonous. And the average home is full of chemicals, medicines and cleaning supplies that can be potential hazards for children.

Be Alert

Take away the opportunity and you've reduced the chance for an accidental poisoning when small children are around.

• Schedule routine cleaning around the kids' routines, such as nap time or when they aren't at home.

• Don't be distracted when you're cleaning. Keep your attention on the tasks at hand and the children around you. Save activities like talking on a cell phone, conversing with another adult in the room or "listening" to the TV for another time.

• Don't leave children unattended around cleaning products. If you need to answer the doorbell or the phone, take the child with you.

• Don't leave cleaning buckets containing liquid unattended. Besides the obvious chance of spilling, slipping and sipping, there's the fact that toddlers are "top heavy." If they topple into a bucket, even one with a very small amount of liquid, they could drown because they can't pull themselves up.

Store Smart

Since children are naturally curious, the danger doesn't end when the cleaning is finished.

• Close cleaning product caps securely. Even child-resistant packaging doesn't work if the container isn't properly closed.

• Lock products up. Store them in a location that's away from children, pets and food. Install child-resistant locks on cabinets and doors.

• Keep cleaning products in their original containers. If an accident occurs, the label should provide information concerning the product's contents and advice on what immediate first-aid to perform.

• Carefully dispose of empty cleaning containers. Replace the caps, and then discard in a sealed recycling bin or garbage container that's safe from exploring children and pets.

If there is a poison-related emergency, call the Poison Control Center's hotline: 1-800-222-1222. Post this toll-free number, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, next to every phone in the house.

WAYS TO WELLNESS
MARCH IS NATIONAL NUTRITION MONTH
wellness@take-a-moment.com

Your food and physical activity choices each day affect your health– how you feel today and tomorrow. The following tips can help you. Choose a change that you can make today and move toward a healthier you.

• Make at least half your grains whole
• Eat 5 to 9 servings of vegetables and fruits each day
• Get your calcium rich foods from low fat or fat free milk and milk products
• Go lean with protein
• Find your balance between food and physical activity.

For information on the NEW Food Guide Pyramid and a food plan just for you, go to www.mypyramid.gov or call your local extension office to ask for a copy of the new Food Guide Pyramid.

IN THE WORK PLACE
STRESS...A PART OF LIFE
workplace@take-a-moment.com

Ever wish you had a magic wand to wave all the stress from your life? The swift, sometimes furious daily pace of an employed person is made even more challenging when the babysitter quits, the car won’t start, your daughter catches chicken pox, or you’re asked to work overtime. Such days are clearly stressful. Even pleasant events, like a promotion at work, involve change and can cause stress. Stress is how you respond to what you think threatens you. A degree of stress is as much a part of life as breathing. We thrive on stress. It makes life interesting, prompts us to solve problems, create, and grow.

So why worry about stress? Because if we don’t manage stress and our body’s reaction to it, stress gets out of hand and causes damaging physical mental and social problems.

Signs of undesirable stress include feelings of dissatisfaction, fatigue, loss of humor, and difficulty making decisions. Some people lose sleep or their appetite when they feel tense. Others withdraw, wanting to be away from people and activity. Next month, “Are Things Just “Too Much”?”