Camera is broken!

I'm working hard on getting my camera fixed - what good is a soap blog without the pretty pictures?

In the meantime, I discovered something weird about soap. I first read about it while browsing Snopes, one of my favourite time-wasting-while-still-learning-something websites. Now, clicking the link will take you straight to the article, and it is worthy to note that the status of this urban legend is "undetermined". So what I am about to relate is purely anecdotal, and as we all know - say with me out loud, kids - the plural of anecdote is NOT DATA! With that in mind, this totally worked for me.

I have had problems with my legs cramping up at night - I just barely wake up, get in a good, long stretch - only to wake in sudden, horrible pain as I feel a muscle pull out of place. It takes every ounce of my strength not to scream loudly and startle my peacefully sleeping husband! And over the years, I've tried everything. Everything! My father told me to eat a banana before bed (potassium solution). Nope. I exercise regularly, and stretch before bedtime. ARGH! Still no. I increased my water intake. Nope, but I have to get up to pee more. Sometimes with a throbbing leg. And then, one day, I read the Snopes article.

I have lots of extra soap laying around - some failed experiments, some mutant shapes, some funky scents gone wrong, some layers not properly adhered and fallen apart. I have a huge basket full of these next to the bathroom door. My husband happily uses these - we've obviously never had to purchase soap for the past couple of years! It was from this basket that I decided to try an experiment.

I took a bar and put it at the end of the bed, down by my feet. Somewhere I wouldn't kick it too much. However, when I slipped into bed that first night, I kind of kicked for it, making sure it was still there. How was this supposed to work, anyway? Did I need to make contact with it? Should it be between my knees or something? Maybe I'm just supposed to ignore it? Eventually, I quit fussing over it and went to sleep. I woke up the first morning with no leg cramps and toes that smelled like sugared walnuts. A good start.

Now, usually, I get these cramps once or twice a week. It's terrible. But since I started sleeping with soap in my bedsheets, I haven't had a single cramp. I still kick around quite a bit (my husband thinks I've got restless leg syndrome, and I think it's just a fancy name for restless, period), but I no longer cramp up. It could be a placebo. A placebo stronger than a banana before bed.

But I like it. It works for me. My sheets smell nice.

But keep in mind, Vick's Vapo Rub on the bottom of my feet has eliminated my nighttime cough last time I had a cold, too. Perhaps my brain is easily placated. :)