For all of us, there are certain things you need to do each day. As you get old, or just really busy, and the days start melding together, some things become so automatic that you can’t remember if you did them or not. One of these things is getting enough water to drink. If you don’t have enough water in you to hydrate your body, you get deep wrinkles and dehydrate. It’s one of the reason old people look so old. Coffee and tea actually rob the body of water, so you can’t count cups of tea as water. Even fruit juice doesn’t hydrate as well as plain water.
I found that when I got to the end of a day, I didn’t know if I had drunk more than two or three glasses of water. When I didn’t drink enough, I’d get terrible cramps in my legs during the night. I tried a checklist, but would forget to check it off. Finally I devised a system that worked well for me. See if you like it. I use it to keep track of other things too. You might want to show this idea to your elderly relatives, who tend to forget things that have become routine.
I bought clear flat glass gems from the craft store, the kind used in flower arrangements. Depending upon the size of your water glass, you will want 6 or 8 of these. I prefer the flat gems to regular round marbles, as they don’t roll off the counter. Also the clear gems remind me of water, so I know what they are for.
Next get a small container, like a teacup, and something to put under it, like a candy tray, small basket, or a large saucer. Since this is going to sit out on your counter, you want something pretty that looks like a work of art. Here are some sample containers.
When you finish drinking a glass of water, toss a gem into the cup and refill your glass with water. Set the full glass beside your counting display. When you’ve drunk that water, you toss in another clear glass gem. 
I have other glass gems that are colored that I use to indicate when I’ve taken my vitamins or done some exercise. 
A small slip of paper in the cup reminds me of what color I use for each thing.
The next morning, dump out all the gems and start over again. This is fun and easy to do and keeps you from looking around for a pencil every time something needs to be checked off. A full cup of gems in the early morning means you haven’t had any water so far that day, and is a better reminder than a piece of paper with a checklist on it.
Let me know if this idea works for you.
In one of my pioneer Trahern books, Ruth Trahern knew she wasn’t “The Prettiest Girl in the Land,” but she wanted a husband, and set out with her rifle and a stray dog to find one. Ruth could take numbers and make them dance. She figured there must be some jobs for a woman who could calculate in her head, so left the Tennessee mountains to find a job which would take her to California, where she hoped to find her a man. This book is free on Friday, May 31. .
A USA Today bestselling author, Nancy Radke grew up on a wheat and cattle ranch in SE Washinton State. She attended a one-room country school through the eighth grade. She learned to ride bareback at age 3 (Really! It was a common practice.) and when she got off or fell off, she would pull her horse’s nose to the ground, get on behind its ears, and the horse would lift its head so she could scoot down onto its back. Nancy spent most of her childhood exploring the Blue Mountain trails that bordered the ranchlands. She and a friend once took a trail that turned out to be a two day trip. They always rode with matches and pocket knives, so made camp and returned the next day. These long rides worried her parents, but provided plenty of time to make up stories. Her first novel was set in the Blues, and is entitled APPALOOSA BLUES. TURNAGAIN LOVE was the first one published. It rated a four star review from Affaire de Coeur. Scribes World said “Turnagain Love has some fascinating twists and turns, unexpected complications, and charming scenes.” It is light and humorous. Nancy currently has over 30 books written, both modern and western. All her stories are sweet and wholesome.
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