INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Wash your hands with soap and water before rinsing the lemon under cool water. Shake it over the sink and dry it with a paper towel to remove the excess water. Set your fruit out on a clean cutting board. This process can get kind of messy, so wash your hands to keep the juice free of contaminants.

SUMMARY: Wash your lemon and set it out on a cutting board.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Inquire about open positions you can apply for. This is the time when schools renew contracts and learn about vacant positions. Few schools need to hire during the fall semester. Occasionally, paraprofessionals must work 1 or several part-time positions, depending upon the need for special education paraprofessionals. Take a job as a general paraprofessional while you wait for work in special education. You may be asked to assist an elementary school teacher, oversee a computer lab, work with pre-school children, be an administrative assistant or be a playground attendant. Many schools choose to promote people to new jobs from within. Ask if a special education position is opening up before the end of the school year.

SUMMARY: Call your local school districts. Conduct your search for a position between April and August. Apply for a part-time job. Be flexible. Discuss changes in position with your school district.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Boil one cup of tightly packed lemon balm leaves, one cup of water, and one cup of sugar. Set the mixture aside for 30 minutes to cool down after the sugar is completely dissolved, and strain the leaves out. Add your homemade syrup to iced tea, lemonade or mix it with vodka. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. Lemon balm is known for its relaxing qualities and there's nothing like warm, herbal tea to soothe jittery nerves. Pour hot water over a mug of fresh, cracked leaves and let them steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Wrap the leaves in cheesecloth first or strain them from the hot water. Bring the spa home by making refreshing lemon balm water. Place a handful of fresh leaves in a pitcher. Pour water over the leaves and place it in the refrigerator for several hours. Squeeze a slice of fresh lemon or lime in ice-filled serving glasses for an extra citrus flavor. Make special flavored vodka with lemon balm leaves easily and amaze house guests with your bartending skills. Fill a jar with fresh leaves, pour inexpensive vodka over it and place in a dark cabinet for one month. Shake the jar every once in awhile to distribute the flavors and after the month's over strain the leaves for lemon balm infused vodka.

SUMMARY: Make a simple syrup. Steep hot tea. Make flavored water. Infuse vodka.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Applique is a method of design where one pattern is sewn top of another. You can buy applique templates from a craft store if you don't want to design your own. You can also find patterns in quilting books. If you use a quilt pattern, make sure you resize it when copying so that it fits your greeting card. To make a paper applique card, you will need the following: One 4.25 by 5.5 inches (10.8cm 14.0cm) card blank Colored cardstock Decorative paper A fine-tip black marker Glue Scissors A ruler A pencil and eraser What kind of card are you making? If you're making a birthday card, you might consider making a card with a cake, or party hats. Try to customize the card to reflect the interests of who you are giving it to. Make a space scene with astronauts and planets, or make a card with cars and a racetrack. Make a card with snowmen for Christmas, turkeys for Thanksgiving, or clovers for St. Patrick's Day. Your only limit is your imagination. Pick three different patterns for your card. You'll need a pattern for the applique pieces, a pattern for the background, and a pattern for the card mat. Select a variety of solid colors and patterns. Depending on the complexity of your design, you may want to choose more than three types of decorative paper. Whatever you decide to go with, make sure all the colors and patterns match. For example, if you're making an underwater scene, pick a variety of blues for your solid colors. Choose patterns that mimic waves or fish scales. If you're following a template, trace the shapes on the back of the your decorative paper. If you're drawing your own shapes, draw them lightly in pencil on the back of the decorative paper. Once you're happy with the designs, cut out the shapes. Since you're working with paper, you won't actually be sewing anything. To give it an authentic applique look, take your fine-tip marker and add stitch marks around the border of the shapes. Choose a solid color for your card mat and cut it a little smaller than your card blank. It should almost cover the entire front of the card, but you should still see a little white border. To make the background, take a patterned piece of decorative paper and cut it to about 5 by 3.75 inches (12.7cm 9.5cm). Using your fine-tip marker, add stitch marks to the background pattern. Glue the mat to the card. Remember to leave a small border of white from the card blank. Then, glue the background to the card mat. Once the card mat and the background are glued to the card blank, start arranging your shapes to build a scene. Take some time to make sure you have everything arranged where you want it. If you find that you need to add more shapes to flesh out your scene, grab more decorative paper and start cutting. Don't forget to add the stitch marks! Once everything is to your liking, glue your shapes down.

SUMMARY:
Gather your supplies. Think of a design for your card. Choose your patterns. Cut out your shapes. Add the stitch marks. Make the card mat and the background. Arrange your scene.