Just returned home from a glorious week at Bethany Beach with the Roda side of the family. Fabulous weather, even better food, and priceless time spent with people we love and are grateful to have in our lives. I returned home with a tan, more sand in the floor of my car than I'd like, and enough new stories and recipes and household tips to get me through the next year.

The week's best advice was about noneother than dryer sheets. Silly me, I thought they were just for, well, the dryer. But think again we all did. When mosquitoes and other insects were bugging people the first night, victims were advised to slip a dryer sheet between the sheets. You guessed it: no more nighttime bug bites. Then the sheets found their way onto the sand the next day in beach bags and shirt pockets. Again, no bugs. So the dryer sheets were taken on walks and fishing trips.

Then we got to talking about the mircaculous sheets' myriad uses. As a deodorizer in gym bags and sneakers. Used sheets as a dustcloth for computer and TV screens -- all of this prompting me to look up other ways I've underused them.

Consider the following, as reported on curbly.com: Pat yourself with a dryer sheet to reduce static cling; wipe the shower stall with a damp used dryer sheet to remove soap and mineral deposits; soak used paintbrushes in warm water with a dryer sheet and the latex paint will come off in under a minute; soak baked-on cookware in warm water with a dryer sheet or two and cleanup will be easier; and then there is the sheets' deodorizing effect on everything from the car to the dog to the room where you house the garbage. (Curbly.com reminds people that dryer sheets are chemical products. Consumers should read the safety labels and use "ecologically alert'' products for safer use.)

Bottom line: Who knew?

Spring is here, or so they tell us, and that means the schedule bulges with more than garden tasks and cleaning chores. So many events, school activities, household projects, extracurricular activities. Work hours have been, shall we say, extensive. So, where to start today when -- should I even write it?? -- there is NOTHING on the calendar except my mandatory morning coffee and church. Nothing. At least formally. So today I will act like a crazy woman. There will be grocery shopping, and an afternoon of cooking, cooking, cooking! My freezer is getting bare and I like to have dishes I can pull out on busy nights. On those evenings, when we rush home from work and school only to head out again, a home-cooked meal makes me feel like I can do it all -- at least while we're eating dinner!

Of course, while I'm hunched over the kitchen countertop I'll be simultaneously changing bed clothes and doing the laundry. And when I can, I'll be sliding a dustcloth across surfaces that need some .... sliding. Oh, to just sit and do nothing without thinking about what I should be doing ... now there's my fantasy! Have a great Sunday!

At the risk of having everyone believe that I am a disorganized mess when it comes to matters of the house, here I go again. Last night my daughter and I were simultaneously preparing dinner and cleaning out the refrigerator. The fridge was actually in pretty good shape, but when I lifted the cucumbers out of the crisper, what did I see looking up at me between the lettuce and peppers? The face of Abraham Lincoln. That's right, nestled among our veggies was a five-dollar bill! I guess that's what people mean when they're talking about cold cash!

Of course, I have no idea how it got there and I'm pretty sure that money neither grows on trees nor alongside the green beans. But I decided that the bill produced in the fridge drawer will serve as seed money. It's going in a kitchen jar, along with all of the nickels, quarters and crinkled dollar bills we find in pants pockets or on the floor of the SUV. And we'll see where we are by the end of the year. In the past, we've always been regular contributors to a "kitchen fund'' where, amazingly, the pennies add up into some significant sums. We've use it for special trips, dinners out and for church mission giving. One couple I knew saved like this for several years; in the end, they took a cruise to the Caribbean. We've let our fund be dormant for years, but there's no better time to start saving. Come Jan. 1, we'll count our coins -- and Abe Lincolns -- and see where we stand. I don't anticipate a trip to Europe, but I know we'll come up with something. I'll keep you posted!

It always happens like this: I can't find something in the kitchen cupboards. I let it go, and let it go, and let it go some more. Until, one day, I can't stand it and seize the moment no matter what else is in store for the day. And do what I should have done months earlier. CLEAN OUT THE CUPBOARDS!

That's what happened Sunday, when I was looking for a cake mix. Couldn't find the mix, but ended up pulling everything off of the shelves and starting from scratch. And what finds I found. I don't think I'll need to buy pasta or noodles until 2011. I had SOOO much on hand. Same goes for the chocolate chips, cookie decorations and cupcake liners. We're good. Probably until my sixth-grader gets to college. And we've got so many Halloween sprinkles, neighbors and friends alike can expect colorful cookies cut into pumpkins and witches. I FINALLY threw away the bottles of tomato chutney, kiwi dressing and berry sauce that were either long-ago food-basket gifts or something I picked up on vacation and vowed to put to good use immediately upon returning home. Never happened.

Most inexcuseable find was the bottle of beef bouillon wedged into the back corner of the triangular cupboard; the sell-by-date passed -- a decade ago. The good news? It looked like I never opened the bottle. But really!

Now, on to the spice cupboard ...