March Pointless Lists

Good-bye, March!  Can't say I'm going to miss you at all.  Because I've been cold.  Where is spring?  Between the idea and the reality falls the shadow:

Sun and snow!  And yet, still cold and crappy.

Skilly is unimpressed.

But it wasn't all just complaining obsessively about the snow this month.  Or making all those cleaners.  Not that anything is coming to mind.  Just that I can't believe that's it.

Although maybe it is?

Johanna helped me clean house this morning while Eric and Abby went to a little league work party at the baseball field.  They came back rather early, as it were, since it's raining hard and everything was soaked.  No such luck inside.  But!  Johanna dusted the living room, cleaned off the table, swept and spot cleaned the kitchen floor, cleaned her bathroom and washed windows in the living room and her room.  Oh, and made Abby's and my beds.  And she STILL had time to decorate for Easter.  There's toothpaste on the faucet in the bathroom, and some streaks on the windows, but do you know what?  I don't care because I didn't have to do it.  Sometimes unlimited energy is a boon for everyone involved.

All right, enough of that.  Pointless list time!

Books read:
The Three Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting by Christie Mellor.  Hilarious.  The premise is that parents were here first, so why are kids taking over?  Teach them to make you martinis and canapes, and everyone will be better for it.  My friend Mara gave this to me with the instructions to "pass it on to someone who gets it," so if that person is you, let me know.

...And then I reread the Hunger Games series and then just my favorite parts from all three books.  Well, I'm not ready to let it go, obviously.

...But I did start American Gods by Neil Gaiman.  I follow his Twitter feed and Amazon had the Kindle version on sale for like two bucks awhile back, and how do you say no to that?  So far so good.

Movies watched:
The Hunger Games (!).  Opening day, baby, because that's how Abby and I roll.  She wants to see it again.  I wouldn't mind seeing it again either.

The Spy Next Door.  We've technically seen this one several times, but anyway.  We were flipping around on Netflix one Saturday night, trying to find a family movie to watch, and this is what the girls decided on.  Because our other choices weren't really choices.  Wait, why do we still have Netflix again?

Things my children actually fought about:
Whether or not the other has tap dancing skillz.  Technically, neither of them do.  Except they don't know that, apparently.  And they do not appreciate an honest evaluation of said skillz by a third party, just FYI.

Things I actually said:

"What can you do right now that doesn't involve brushing the cat's teeth?"

Things I learned:
I'm tired of interviewing the fam when they don't want to even think about what they've learned over the course of a month, so fine, just me.  I learned how to measure the paper (which is essentially figuring out what the percentage of ads are verses the percentage of news.  It's not hard, but wow, it's a long involved process that makes my brain hurt).  I learned that artists are usually at home when you call, unless they're checking into a motel, but they'll still talk to you.  I learned that iTunes thinks it would be a good idea for me to download some music by the New Kids on the Block / Backstreet Boys hybrid band.  I learned that I would rather download music by Fuel instead.  (Okay, fine, I already knew that.)  I learned that my uncle has cancer again.  I learned that the hits just keep on coming.  (Fine, I already knew that too.)

ALL the homemade cleaners from Trisha's Homemade Cleaner Month

So just as a public service I've decided to put all of the homemade cleaner recipes I tried this month in one post rather than make you / myself remember what stupid title I gave to which random entry.  Um, not that any of my titles are stupid, because the lines I quote make me happy.  But it isn't the easiest way to find a post.

You know what I learned this month?  Homemade cleaners are awesome.  Well, I already knew that, but I would never have gone out of my way to make so many different cleaners had it not been for the blog.  Even if I'm the only one who cares.  I also learned that peppermint castile soap is rather lovely.  I would not have guessed that.  Cleaning and then having the house smell all minty?  Is very pleasant.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't thoroughly enjoy this whole ordeal.  I really did.  And I'm so happy with the results as a whole.  There's no going back, I tell you what.

Dishwasher Detergent: The other day I was unloading my dishes and I realized that I was putting them away just assuming that they were clean.  Because I've had very good luck with rinsing off my dishes, my homemade detergent, adding three drops of Dawn to the dispenser and hosing everything down with white vinegar.  I'm not sure if I should really post this recipe or not since what I'm currently using I sort of made it up (read: didn't read the directions very closely), but what the heck:

1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda

I have some Cascade I'm trying to use up, so I also added a cup of that, and since I messed up, I added a cup of baking soda, too.  Maybe it's not a mess up but my own special dishwashing powder genius!  Take that, The Man!  Oh, except.  I might have read that Borax is terrible for plants.  Is that true?  Because if it is, that bothers me.

Bath, sink and tile cleaner: This was my favorite recipe of the month.  It's just wicked groovy.  It's my best friend.

2/3 cup baking soda
1/2 cup castile soap
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 cup water
A few drops of tea tree oil

Shake like crazy to combine, and then shake like crazy every time you use it.  You're welcome.

Liquid dish soap: This is not particularly sudsy--or, should I say, the suds don't have staying power.  But it works like a champ and is especially pleasant with peppermint castile, just FYI.

1/2 cup castile soap
1 tablespoon white vinegar
A few drops tea tree oil
1-1/2 cups hot water

Shake like crazy to combine, and then shake like crazy every time you use it.  Wait, that sounds awfully familiar...

All purpose cleaner: Ah, I love this stuff.  I use it on practically everything in my kitchen, from floor to counter.

3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon washing soda
1/2 teaspoon castile soap
2 cups hot water
10 drops tea tree oil

Mix in a spray bottle.  Give it a good shake before using.

Room freshener: Well, this was probably a waste, really, since I hardly ever use room fresheners anyway.  Mostly I was just curious how it would turn out.  Watch where you spray this or you'll end up with baking soda droplets on your TV and windows.  Not that my girls know ANYTHING about that.

2 cups hot water

2 tablespoons baking soda

10-12 drops essential oil (which for me means tea tree)

Combine water and baking soda and stir until dissolved. Add oil.  Place in a re-purposed spray bottle and use liberally.

Homemade laundry detergent: I had the most fun with this little experiment.  I can't believe that a tablespoon of this stuff gets my laundry so nice and clean and fresh.  But it does.  It is NOT sudsy, so keep that in mind.  But it IS awesome.

2 bars Fels Naptha (look in the laundry aisle)

2 cups Borax

2 cups washing soda (NOT baking soda!)

Grate the Fels Naptha in a food processor, then run the blade until it turns into "powder."  It won't actually turn into powder, but more like little soapy yellow beads, which is cool.  Then add the Borax and washing soda, mix it all up, and store in two quart jars.  

Carpet stain remover: This does not get out old stains, but it works pretty well on new stains.  Read: That blueberry Johanna ground into the carpet?  Still there.  That dirty looking blob by the wood stove?  Gone.

1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap (I used peppermint castile soap)

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 cups hot water

5 drops tea tree oil

So mix that around in your re-purposed spray bottle.  To use, spray, then blot with clean, damp cloth and repeat as necessary.  Don't saturate the area or all hell will break loose.  I think.

Window and glass cleaner: This is the very last recipe I tried this month, but I have yet to post it.  Well, I got bored writing just cleaning posts all the time.  This works just as well as the cleaner I was purchasing, so yay me!  At first I wasn't so sure because the mirror looked all streaked, but then all of a sudden it evaporated and my mirror was gorgeous.  Weird.

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup water

Few drops of Dawn

Mix that around and then go crazy.

Tub and shower cleaner: Technically this one was from February, but what the heck.  I'm continuously surprised how well this works.  Goodbye, soap scum!  I wish I could get rid of my water stains too, but perhaps that is too big of a wish.

12 ounces white vinegar, hot

12 ounces Dawn... unless you think that is excessive, then cut it down to like 4

Heat the vinegar, add the Dawn, and then mix that around well.  When it cools, pour into a spray bottle.  Spray on tub / shower and let sit about 10 minutes to a couple of hours, wipe down with a damp cloth or sponge and then do a happy dance.

And now for something completely different

Guest post by Abby, written March 26.  Angst is fun!  Enjoy!

They See Me Rollin...

Today, I went to my little sister's coach pitch practice, and let me say, it was a bad idea on my part.

It all started when my Dad asked me to tag along. "I don't want to have to drive you all the way home, and then back to the school," he said. "It's right along the way, c'mon. I even brought a basketball so that you can shoot around!" These were the magic words for me. I'm on my school's basketball team, and I've been meaning to practice on a good court. I have my own hoop, but it's hard to dribble because the driveway is covered in gravel, and so I agreed.

When I got there, the play shed was empty, good luck. I shot around for a little while, making at least 90% of my lay-ins (I'm a post), but then a high school varsity player showed up and started making me feel stupid with his fancy three-pointers and his awesome Nike shoes.

And I was like, "I'll show him who's boss."

So little old me began shooting harder, more fancy shots, and I was getting pretty good too, when suddenly, like it was a flash mob, all these other varsity guys show up. I guess the one guy who was there was getting tired of me showing him up (ha!) and so he invited them over. And they be bro huggin', and they be makin' ALL of their threes. They be playin' three on three half court and they ALL had awesome Nike shoes, while I stood there, a lone chick, standing in my socks and holding a rugged old basketball underneath a netless hoop.

And I was like, "Okay, this is getting awkward."

So I left for the playground, lugging my Puerto Rico gym bag behind me, which was a bad idea. Of course, since it was like 5:00 and there was practice going on, there were a lot of little kids running around, playing tag and jumping around on the equipment. As soon as I set foot on the playground, at least half of the kids in my vicinity ran away, peeking out from behind the little metal poles like I'm going to pull a gun out of my bag and kill them. Or offer them some drugs. Whatever.

I left and decided to go swinging, feeling awkward because not only was I the oldest, tallest kid on the playground (aside from the varsity guys), I was the only white kid (no racism intended).

And I was like, "This blows."

Lo and behold, my stomach started hurting, and so I opened my gym bag and everybody froze like I was going to shoot them. Instead, I pulled out a 500 pill bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of water (And no, I'm not a druggie. I just have bad stomach cramps, and 500 was what my mom bought me). Acting all nonchalont, I popped the pill in my mouth and took a swig of my water.

Casually, I looked up. And every. Freaking. Mom. Was staring at me like I was a druggie.

This, was actually a pretty good assumption on their part. I have bad allergies this time of year, and so my eyes are all red and puffy, and today wasn't my best hair day, and I haven't been feeling good so I just threw on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt, and I was carrying around a little Puerto Rico gym bag, which looked like it could be carrying some drugs. And I did just pull out a huge bottle of pills and pop one.Yeah, I probably looked like a stoner today.

Sensing that I was no longer welcome on the playground, I went back to the car and sat there. For about half an hour.

I had a great time, actually. I'm glad I went.

Haha.

-A