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The ADVANCE, December 27, 2023/Page 10A
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Fireplace safety during
the holiday season
Gatherings with family
and friends are an integral
component of the holiday
season. Certain rooms in
the house are on display
more than others, with
kitchens, dining rooms and
living areas serving as pop
ular places to congregate.
Of course, fireplaces also
serve as popular gathering
spots in homes that feature
them.
Lighting a fire in the
hearth can make any space
more cozy, but doing so
comes with some hazards.
Consider these fireplace
safety tips in advance of the
holiday entertaining sea
son.
• Have the fireplace in
spected and swept profes
sionally. Prior to lighting
the first fire of the season,
ensure that a profession
al inspects the fireplace,
chimney and venting to en
sure everything is in good
condition. The chimney
also should be swept to
remove excess debris and
buildup that could pose a
fire hazard.
• Keep items away
from the fireplace. Wrap
ping paper, rugs, cloth
ing, magazines, and the
like should be kept at least
three feet away from the
flames, suggests the Ameri
can Red Cross. Also, make
sure decorations are hung
securely and a safe distance
away from the fire.
• Check your smoke
alarms. Be sure the home
has working smoke alarms
on every level of the house.
And keep a fire extinguish
er close to the fireplace.
• Never burn wrap
ping paper. Wrapping pa
per contains additives, like
dyes, that make it burn ex
tremely hot. Do not think
of discarding wrapping
paper by burning it in the
fireplace.
• Keep the tree a safe
distance away. Although
it makes for the perfect
Christmas photo back
drop, Christmas trees and
fireplaces should not be
near each other. Also, the
Christmas tree is not safe
to burn in the fireplace after
the season, as the wood has
not been properly dried or
seasoned.
• Use a screen on the
fireplace. Make sure the
fireplace is properly cov
ered by a screen to stop
embers from escaping
when the wood pops and
sparks. The screen also can
help keep decorations and
other objects from falling
into the fire.
• Keep the fireplace
clean. Promptly remove
any ash and debris from the
fireplace after it has cooled
to improve indoor air qual
ity and provide greater con
trol over the next fire when
it is burned, advises the
American Society of Home
Inspectors.
Fireplaces bring
warmth and add ambiance
to a home, particularly dur
ing the holidays. But safety
must prevail when lighting
fireplaces.
A guide to dining out
for the holidays
For some people there
is no better way to celebrate
the holidays than to spend
time with friends and loved
ones around the dinner ta
ble. Although cooking and
dining at home are popular
this time of year, some cel
ebrants may not have the
time or the inclination to
host the holidays at home.
Preparing and serving holi
day meals to guests can be
time-consuming. In fact,
many holiday hosts and
hostesses lament that host
ing duties can compromise
the time they get to spend
with the ones they love
each year.
Dining out is one way
to save time and free up
more moments for inter
acting without the pressure
of food shopping, cooking
and cleanup. The following
are some tips for families
who opt to dine out for the
holidays.
• Confirm restaurants
are open. Many restaurants
close on major holidays
to enable staff to spend
time with their own fam
ily members. This may be
more so for Thanksgiving
and Christmas than with
week-long celebrations lifce
Chanukah and Kwanzaa.
Verify with restaurants if
they have holiday hours,
and more importantly,
that they will be open on
the day you will be dining
out. Christmas Day falls on
a Monday in 2023, which
typically is a day that many
restaurants are closed.
• Make a reservation.
If you find an establish
ment open for the holiday,
reserve a table early. Also,
some restaurants may ask
for a deposit on reserva
tions to ensure you show
up.
• Expect some menu
changes. To account for re
duced staff or even ease in
meal service, some restau
rants may opt for a price-
fixed holiday menu or a
limited menu from their
typical offerings. Some
may showcase a seasonal
menu that caters to holiday
favorites they think diners
will expect. There also may
be fewer substitutions or
customizations allowed.
• Avoid peak dining
times. Restaurants may fill
up after church services or
around dinner time. Con
sider reserving your table
for a less popular hour to
reduce the propensity for
long waits or being rushed
out.
• Be patient. Kitchens
can get backed up on a hol
iday, and it may take longer
than expected for food to
make it out to tables. Cut
kitchen employees and
servers a break as they are
likely frazzled. They are
trying their best to service
all patrons.
• Plan to tip generous
ly. It's the season of giving,
and you should make sure
you take care of your serv
er. You can make the day
even brighter with some
words of gratitude and a
nice gratuity.
• Pace alcoholic bever
ages. It's normal to enjoy
some spirited drinks dur
ing holiday celebrations.
It's easier to indulge a bit
more at home and you do
not need to get behind the
wheel. When dining out,
do not overdo things, and
have a plan for who will be
driving home.
Dining out during the
holidays is a possibility
with practical planning.
Tips to maintain your
commitment to exercise
At one point or anoth
er, millions of adults across
the globe have resolved to
be more physically active.
The benefits of routine ex
ercise are too numerous to
cite, but some of the more
notable ones include a low
er risk for chronic disease
and illness, improved self
esteem and greater overall
health.
With so much to gain
from routine exercise, it's
no wonder so many people
aspire to be more physi
cally active. But it's easy
to lose motivation when
aspiring to exercise more.
Each year, one of the most
popular New Year's resolu
tions is to exercise more.
In fact, Statista conducted
a survey regarding New
Year's resolutions for 2023
and found that exercising
more was the most popu
lar resolution. However, a
2021 study published in
the International Journal of
Environment Research and
Public Health found that 64
percent of people abandon
their New Year's resolutions
within a month of mak
ing them. Exercising more
requires commitment,
and there are some ways
to make it a little easier to
maintain that commitment
over the long haul.
• Break it up. The Har
vard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health notes that
people don't need to exer
cise all at once to reap the
rewards of physical activity.
If time is tight, break up a
workout over the course of
your day. Some strength
training exercises in the
morning can be followed
up with a brisk walk or run
over a lunch break. This ap
proach makes it easier to
fit a full workout into your
daily routine.
• Employ the buddy
system. The Centers for Dis
ease Control and Preven
tion suggests that working
out with a partner increases
exercise motivation and en
courages individuals to be
more consistent with their
exercise routine so they do
not let their partners down.
The authors behind a 2019
study published in the In
ternational Journal of Re
search in Exercise Physiol
ogy suggested the efficacy
of the buddy system may
require further study before
researchers can definitively
say it's an effective moti
vation strategy for people
who want to exercise more.
But there's no denying that
many individuals feel that
they are more likely to exer
cise with a friend than they
are if they go solo.
• Schedule exercise
time. Busy professionals
bookwork meetings, family
obligations and other daily
tasks in their schedules, and
the T.H. Chan School of
Public Health recommends
doing the same with exer
cise. Allotting time to exer
cise each day may decrease
the likelihood that you'll
skip a workout, and once
results start to manifest you
may be more motivated to
stay the course.
• Identify what prog
ress may look like. It's easy
to become discouraged if
a commitment to routine
exercise does not produce
visible results. But just be
cause your abs are not be
coming chiseled a month
into a workout routine or
the scale is not reflecting
significant weight loss does
not mean your routine is
not working. As the human
body ages, it becomes more
difficult to transform it. So
a workout routine that left
you looking lean and chis
eled in your twenties may
not produce the same body
in your forties. But that
does not mean the exercise
isn't working and ultimately
helping you get healthier.
Adults are urged to speak
with their physicians and
identify what progress with
a workout routine might
look like for someone their
age. Progress may look
different than it did years
ago, but if the end result is
a healthier you, then that
should be all the motivation
you need to keep going.
It's no secret that mak
ing a commitment to rou
tine exercise can be diffi
cult. But various strategies
can increase the likelihood
that individuals will stay the
course as they seek to exer
cise more frequently.
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