Serve the macaroni salad at either room temperature or chilled. If you are not serving the macaroni salad immediately, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve it.

Summary: Serve immediately or refrigerate the salad for up to 24 hours.


If you do, take an at-home pregnancy test. With most tests, you'll place the end of a dipstick into a small container of your urine, or move a testing stick into your urine flow. Within a few minutes, the dipstick should indicate results by changing colors, showing the words "pregnant" or "not pregnant" on the stick, or symbols.  Most pregnancy tests will not be reliably accurate until the fifth week of pregnancy. Instructions for home pregnancy tests vary. Follow the directions on the test you choose. Home pregnancy tests check for the presence of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) which accompanies pregnancy. Although at-home pregnancy tests rarely give false positives, they can give false negatives if it is early in the pregnancy. If you feel you are within a week or two of implantation, you should test twice.  Take the home pregnancy test first thing in the morning when your urine is concentrated. Drinking too much fluid before taking a home pregnancy test can result in a false negative. A false positive result can occur in cases where hormonal changes with menopause are occurring or if you are receiving HcG injections as part of infertility treatment. If you are consistently getting positive results in a home pregnancy test, or your symptoms of pregnancy persist despite getting negative results, call your gynecologist or family doctor. Blood tests that doctors perform can pick up on pregnancy quicker than at-home urine tests.  The sooner your pregnancy is confirmed, the sooner you can learn about options. Your healthcare provider can discuss options for your pregnancy with you. If you plan to continue your pregnancy, your healthcare provider can help you with prenatal care.

Summary: Determine if you have two or more of the early signs of pregnancy. Repeat the test in a week or opt to go to the doctor for a test. Make an appointment.


If you cannot find any, try baby oil or olive oil. Some sources will recommend rubbing alcohol, but this is not a product you'd want close to such a sensitive area. If you must, use some facial toner for sensitive skin instead. You do not want to rip the merkin right off. Spirit gum is very strong, and you could damage your skin this way. You might also end up ripping the merkin itself if it is lace-backed. Be sure to have several q-tips handy. The spirit gum remover will get under the merkin and start dissolving the spirit gum. Keep doing this until you can peel the merkin away completely. Do not try to forcibly pull or rip the merkin from your skin. Allow the remover to dissolve the spirit gum. If you feel any resistance, get out a q-tip, soak it with some spirit gum remover, and run it around the area where you feel resistance. Wipe the area down first using some cotton balls soaked with spirit gum remover. Next, wash the area using some soap and water. Pat yourself dry. Some people recommend applying moisturizer or baby oil to the area to keep the skin soft. Dampen an soft-bristled brush (such as an old tooth brush_ with spirit gum remover. Gently scrub the back of the merkin where the spirit gum is. If the spirit gum is not coming off, try using some 90% rubbing alcohol instead. Keep doing this until the spirit gum residue is gone. Once it is gone, gently pat the merkin dry. Spirit gum remover can leave behind an oily residue. If this happens, simply wipe it off using a soft cloth soaked with rubbing alcohol.

Summary: Find some spirit gum remover. Dip a q-tip in the spirit gum remover, and make sure that the cotton part is saturated. Wiggle the q-tip under a corner of the merkin. Once you have the q-tip under the merkin, run it around the edges. Gently lift the merkin away and set it aside. Clean your skin using spirit gum remover, then follow up with soap and water. Clean the merkin using more spirit gum remover.


It doesn’t matter if it’s an aluminum or rubber balloon. They’re sold at party centers or you could rent a helium tank to fill up your own balloons for a special event. You’ll know a balloon is filled with helium if it floats. Helium is lighter than air, so it naturally rises. If a balloon stays down near the ground, it doesn’t have helium in it. If you don’t have a safety pin, a pushpin or sewing needle will work just the same. Use the pin to prick the balloon and create a really small hole, and then squeeze the hole shut with your fingers to keep the helium from escaping until you’re ready to inhale. If the balloon is inflated but not knotted, you don’t need to poke a hole in it. You can simply suck the air directly from the opening. Don’t just hold the helium in your mouth—breathe it in like you would a normal breath of air. Just 3-4 seconds should be enough to fill your lungs with helium.  It helps to exhale fully before inhaling so that you can get as much helium into your lungs at once as possible. Helium doesn’t have an odor, taste, or smell, so you really won’t be able to tell that you’re breathing in an element different from oxygen until you try to speak. As soon as you’ve finished inhaling, start talking! The helium-effect will only last for 5 seconds or so, so don’t wait too long. What you say is totally up to you! Have fun and come up with unique phrases or just repeat your name over and over again to hear how you sound. If you suck too much helium at once or for too long of a period of time, you can hurt yourself. So between each inhalation of helium, take a few minutes to breathe normally.
Summary: Get a balloon filled with helium. Poke a small hole near the balloon’s knot with a safety pin. Put your mouth over the hole and inhale while squeezing the balloon. Say something funny to hear how the helium affected your voice. Wait 2-3 minutes between each helium-inhale to rebalance your oxygen.