When Life Hands You Lemons...

I was talking to a friend of mine who is going through a difficult time, and I had to fight the urge to recite the cliche and practically useless advice we're often given:

 "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!"

Is that suggesting that when life gets rough, we need something to drink? (lol). I don't know about you, but as much as I love lemons, I would much prefer drinking something else. Which leaves the question, what should we do with the lemons? 

1. Revitalize your wooden cutting board. I watched a lady do this on youtube. To get rid of the smell and help sanitize the cutting board, cut a lemon in half and rub it all over the board. That is certainly a whole lot child-safe then using mass amounts of bleach like I've been doing. 
2. Deodorize your garbage disposal. If you've been blessed with a garbage disposal, you can use lemons to help with the stink. Save leftover lemons and toss them down the drain. Can I say it? Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!
3. Whiten your clothes. I use lemon juice on my daughter's cloth diapers. Every so often, her diapers will have stains or just look sad. I put lemon juice in a spray bottle, give the inside of her diapers a good misting and hang them out in the sun. No bleach, no chemicals. From what I've read, you could also wash your clothes (I'm guessing just the whites) in your washer as normal, and during the rinse cycle, pour in about a cup of lemon juice. Then hang in the sun to dry.
4. Make Hairspray. I found this Hairspray Tutorial online, I haven't tried it yet; but when I do I'll blog about it. With a little boiling water, some lemons, and a spray bottle; you could be well on your way to having some eco-friendly and inexpensive hairspray.
5. Drink Homemade Strawberry Lemonade. And if you must make lemonade, why not make it special? I found this recipe here. It looks fabulous! Sugar, water, lemons, and strawberries!  

I couldn't upload a heartbreaking picture without adding a picture of her being happy again. I'm coming to realize that lemons, like several of life's challenges, only last for a season.