This only took thirty years (Day 42)

My husband and I celebrated our first Chanukah together in 1993, when we were expecting baby number one. My mother-in-law gave us what I thought was a beautiful chanukiah, and it should be a shock to everyone that we have kept it this long. The shabbat candlestick holders came along about six years later, when our second baby was very young. 

I moved around a lot when I was a kid, and at some point a lot of possessions in storage were lost. I'm not sentimental about possessions because that wouldn't have served me, and overall, I think it's for the best. But I do take a special bit of joy in a handful of items I own, and these are among them.

The only thing that marred said joy: the wax stuck to all three. And while I did try to flick wax off on occasion, it clearly wasn't enough, and it made me groan after a while.

Today, for some reason, it seemed like the perfect time to try out a tip I had read on social media--the only thing I gleaned from my recent misadventure--and put them on a low oven with some brown paper underneath. 200 degrees for 30 minutes, twice--and voila! Almost all of the wax is now gone. 

 

Trust me, this is significantly less than there used to be

I can prevent this in the first place by rubbing oil on the metal before I melt the candles, but I've always resisted that because that tip came to me and not my husband. But since there are two candlesticks, maybe he can take care of one and I can do the other. That's fair, especially for something I enjoy.

Deb in the City