GIVE AWAY!

Ta-dah!  This is my second batch of soap.  I have since made a few more.  It's amazing to see how much you can get out of a relatively small batch.  So, this is the GIVE AWAY.  Who wants soap?  Leave me a comment.  Depending on how many responses I get, I will draw names.  I'm planning to give away a few bars, in a few different scents.  Then you can tell me what you think.  So far, I have to say, I am a big fan of homemade soap.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

When Technology Goes Wrong

Tonight was Mazie's dance recital at the high school.  Last night was the dress rehearsal in the same place-- the high school auditorium.  Of course, both nights I had to use the bathroom while I was there.  The new high school has automatically flushing toilets.

Now, I'm all for technological advances, but this one bugs me to no end.  First of all, if there are toilet seat covers and you put one on the toilet, the movement sets off the sensor.  FLUSH!  Then you do your business and when you move to wipe, FLUSH!  Finally, you stand up and pull up your pants, and wait.... no flush.  Who invented these sensors anyway?  Is it so hard to flush a toilet that we have to have one that flushes itself?  So, I'm standing there waving my hand in front of the sensor now that the toilet actually needs to flush, and I have to push the microscopic back-up flushing button because the toilet, which thinks it knows when to flush, really doesn't. 

I liked the old, kick-flush toilets.  I know you were probably supposed to flush those with your hand, but nobody did, right?  The foot flush was more satisfying.  Even though you were going to go right out and wash, you didn't want to touch the public toilet flusher.  Now I cringe when I go into the stall and I don't see one of those big flushers.  Instead is the evil red dot on the back of the toilet trying to catch me wiggling and flushing too early. 

I'm all for automatic sinks and paper towel holders.  They seem to work just fine.  In one hotel lobby bathroom I was in recently, the sinks had automatic soap dispensers.  It was a nice idea, but like the toilet, faulty in execution.  I put my hand under the soap dispenser, and soap poured out.  It was hung over the sink, so any excess went into the sink.  That was a good idea.  However, when I rubbed my hands together and rinsed under the water, the soap dispenser kept spitting soap.  Motion, soap.  Motion, soap.  I'm sure they went through twice as much soap as they would have if they just let people pump their own.

If technology makes a job, like flushing the toilet and dispensing soap, harder than it actually is manually, where is the sense in it?  It's probably just me.  Doesn't this bother anyone else???


Okay, enough ranting for one day.  Spread the word, tomorrow I am starting GIVE AWAYS.  I have a few in mind.  Check back to win something that smells good, and makes you smell good, too.

P.S.  My spell-check button has returned!  Hip-hip hooray!

Let's Begin Again, Shall We?

I've been thinking about this blog a lot lately.  That, somehow, has not equated to updating.  However, I very much enjoyed blogging when I started, and I feel that I will enjoy it again, too.  So, I have decided to begin again. 

Check back tomorrow.  On my mind for tomorrow.... automatic toilets and a GIVE AWAY!

Quote of the Day

Josie:  (crying incessantly)

Mom:  What's the matter, Josie?  Are you wet?  Are you stinky?

Josie:  I not wet.  I not stinky.  I Josie.

Okay, so maybe I can forgive the crying now.  :)

Sick

Today I have been laid up with the stomach flu.  I haven't been this sick in years.  I've managed a whole ten minutes out of bed the entire day.  This morning I ached all over and couldn't sleep, couldn't keep anything down.  It was horrible.  This whole experience has reminded me that I never want to be pregnant again.  This should be gone in twenty-four hours, not six weeks from now. 

Also, I'm feeling very blessed that it hit on a Sunday when Nathan was home.  He's such a great guy.  He cooked the kids waffles for breakfast and hamburgers for lunch.  He washed the dishes and broke the sabbath buying me pop so I could keep something down.  I simply could not have cared for my family today, and he stepped in and did it all.  Dylan baked muffins this afternoon, which turned out awesome.  So, while I'm lying here in bed feeling terrible, I've been thinking how blessed I am to have such a great family.

Bloggin', Dietin' & Walkin'

I've neglected the blog again.  Mind you, not as long as others on my blog list, but that is another matter.  Today, I made cold-processed soap for the very first time.  It was so exciting.  I would have done it sooner, but I was scared.  Silly, I know, but it was the lye.  I was afraid of the lye.  Then I finally found it dirt cheap at my local hardware store, and I bought it.  No more excuses.  (It is drain cleaner, by the way.)  Before I could actually make soap with the lye, Nathan sees it and says, "Hey, drain cleaner.  Let's try it on our sink!"  Our sink is stinky and we don't know why.  So, I MADE him correctly follow the instructions, instead of the typical male, just-pour-a-bunch-down-and-see-what-happens.  Guess what?  No more stinky sink.  Good stuff for drains.  Good stuff for soap.

I have to wait until tomorrow to cut the soap, but so far it looks like it is going to turn out.  Then, it has to cure for two weeks before it can be used.  (Sort of like a jar of pickles, only soapy and inedible.)  After that I will be able to tell you if my homemade soap is awesome or just okay.

Today is day seven of Phase 1 on South Beach.  I lost six pounds then gained a pound the last two days.  How does that happen?  I am eating next to nothing compared to before, and I still gain.  Hopefully, before this week is up, I will be on the losing side again.  Nathan joined in for support.  It does make it so much easier when we do this together.

As for walking, well my number is not climbing as fast as I would have hoped.  In fact, Tif-do and Mama Echo are leaving me in the dust!  It has been windy and rainy and actually snowed over spring break.  I fully admit I'm a fair weather walker.  Plus, we are putting in a new irrigation system, so in the evenings when Nathan and I usually walk, we've been shovelling dirt, which is one heck of a workout, but doesn't put miles in my handcart.  I will begin again and do better.  Maybe spring will come back and stay for real.... Maybe.

Hooked

Okay, I know this is old news to the rest of you, but today I made my first visit to Cash & Carry.  Wow!  I am hooked.  I'm not sure that everything at Cash & Carry is a better deal than Costco, but I bought cheese, lunch meat, and veggies galore.  It's Saturday, and I was so happy to find almost the same products that I could have found at Costco at comparable prices without the out-of-control Costco crowds.  Plus, I love their bulk ice cream, which I didn't buy today because I am still on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, and that is the no-carbs-at-all-phase.  I know from a young women's activity that the hot fudge in the #10 can at Cash & Carry is absolutely divine.  I brought home some of the left-overs.  My husband, I serious chocolate critic, loved that hot fudge. 

Today I splurged on sugar free Italian soda ingredients, which I can have on my diet.  I am currently sipping my second sugar-free soda as I type.  The whole reason I went to Cash & Carry in the first place is because Costco stopped selling unsweetened cocoa, and my mother-in-law happened to pick up some of the Hershey brand at C&C.  Nathan informed me that the Hershey brand was much better.  I found it, and I also found a screaming deal on marshmallows for making future fondant cakes.  I think I was most intruiged by all the restaurant stuff.  I'm a sucker for decorative platters, cool glassware and such.  I managed to get out of there without buying any, but there's always next time....