Laundry Detergent October 31, 2008

Several of you emailed/commented and asked for the laundry recipe. I found this somewhere on the wonderful internet, and it’s is so easy to do! First, purchase three things I never knew existed until I tried to make this detergent: Fels-Naptha soap (about $1), Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (about $3), and Borax (about $2.50). ETA: All three are in the laundry aisle at my local Kroger, Walmart, and Publix.

1) Cut the soap into smaller pieces and run it through a food processor or mini chopper to grind it up. I suspect you could use a cheese grater, but I don’t own one. I can tell you I heard a rumor that a blender will not work. That’s the word on the street (not proof that I tried to use my blender and it was disastrous).

2) Measure out 1 cup of the soap powder you just made. Add 1/2 c Washing Soda and 1/2 cup Borax.

3) If you like, run all that through your processor again to make it finer and more like store-bought detergent.

4) 1 tbs for small/light loads, 2 tbs for more heavily soiled loads (I know that doesn’t sound like enough, but trust me). I sort of toss in 2 tbs whenever I feel like it because I like to try to wash waaaay too many clothes in a load. It does not have suds, so don’t be alarmed.

The recipe is just this (one batch fills one small Gladware container and lasts us about a month):

1 cup grated soap flakes

1/2 cup Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

That’s it. It smells like nothing (in a good way) and does a great job. I make up a few batches at a time because I always make a mess with the soap by trying to cram too much into my tiny food chopper. You will be smarter than that and will even put yours into a really cute container instead of my old Gladware.

Let me know if you try it.

Folks, if this stuff can get my cloth diapers clean, it can clean your clothes. We have pretty hard water here, in case that matters.

Note: I have not tried the online recipes for liquid detergent (that sounds like a pain to me, and I don’t have room for a large bucket). They are out there, though.

Thoughts while grocery shopping October 28, 2008

I thought my meeting-induced headache was turning into a full-blown migraine with all the frills, but it went away. Congratulations! In honor of making-dinner-procrastination, you get a blog.

I hate to grocery shop, but I think it is good for my brain. Also, there is just something so very satisfying about going in with a list (oh, how I love lists) and crossing off all of it. I will even toss something into the cart and then write it on the list to be crossed off. Admit it–you do it, too. I am not a freak. I’m not, right? I tried to keep the impulse buys to a minimum in respect of the good ole budget, though. Apple cider and caramel syrup made the cut.

• I see these women going into the store with 3, 4 small children. Who ARE you??? I know I only have the one kidlet, so I’m sure I will have to BE this woman one day (eek)–but I will move heaven and earth to keep from having BG with me when I go. I will hire a sitter, beg my mom to come, shop in the middle of the night, threaten my husband, cook with only saltine crackers and frosting, cry big mascara tears–you name it. There is no way I can wrangle her (even on my back in a carrier) and pay enough attention to my list to decide what to buy. The few times I have had to take her, I whined my way in, tossed her on my back, and handed her a (pre-paid-for) plum to gnaw. Magic. She got it in my hair, I think, but we made it through alive. However, that was just a quick trip. It was not the big stock-up trip. I know the obvious answer is that they probably have no choice, for a million reasons. Bigger woman than I, every last one of them. May God have mercy on your souls!
• My criteria for what to scrimp on and what can be splurged on is really funny and not clear even to me. For example, these things must be on sale/as cheap as possible, or I walk right on by: any meat but chicken, ice cream, soups, frozen veggies, any snacky foods, cereals, cheese–almost all the basics…but these get tossed in pretty much whatever they happened to be priced: coconut oil (very spendy to me, but great for cooking/stirfry), any cool Asian sauces I happen to see, Kashi bars (a new love), fruit leather for BG, chicken (and I’d love to start buying organic), coffee, good flavored creamer, goldfish crackers (WHY is there not a generic anyplace but Walmart?), raw sugar, Lean Cuisines for work (I try to buy on sale), and Sunbutter. The system has no rhyme or reason, really.
• Why is it I can scour the cabinets to see what we need, add to my always on-going list (as soon as we run out of something, I write it down), buy everything on it, and STILL have another list going 5 minutes after I get home? Not one hour after unpacking the last bag, I had a new list with 5 things on it. Geez. It’s not that I forgot them but that I didn’t notice they were almost out–then they get used up when I cook dinner after grocery shopping. Drives me nutty.
• I would love to spy on people at the store and just see what they buy. I wonder what my list (and what actually ends up in the cart) says about me.
• I get an inappropriate amount of pleasure from being able to pass up certain aisles of the store. Otherwise, I pretty much go down every blessed one and probably end up buying more because of it. I remember when we first starting using cloth diapers when BG was about 8 months old; I loved to breeze right by those diapers and calculate how much I didn’t have to spend that time. I was so relieved to stop buying formula (yowza). I am now making our bread and laundry detergent, which makes me alternatingly (is that a word?) feel like a hippie and a good wife for some reason my feminist souls rebels against (I also have working mommy guilt, so it all balances out in the end).

Okay, that’s way too much thinking about the groceries. This post was a little boring even to me. I’ll try for more swashbuckling adventure next time. I’m off to cook an actual dinner for BG and for tomorrow’s small group (Minnesota Wild Rice and Cherry Cheesecake). If it’s pretty, I’ll take a picture and post the recipes).

Rambling thoughts (aka nothing too profound) October 24, 2008

(Just cleaning out the old brain so I can go to bed)

Okay, God. I get it. Okay, I don’t really get it, but I’m trying. Today’s theme is “Life is uncertain.” I’m just rambling here, but I’m feeling mired in uncertainty today. Not necessarily for myself, but for the world in general and those around me. I know this isn’t earth-shattering news for anyone, but I typically spend a lot more time thinking about what to make for dinner, whether the car needs gas, and where BG hid her latest sippy cup full of milk than about the workings of the world. Call it tunnel vision–I find my stress level is much less if I can remain task-oriented and not really focus too much on the big picture. That tunnel vision means I usually get focused on the wrong things. Today I feel very impacted by all the negative news coverage of the economy, crime, and general gloom and doom. So many people around me are struggling with such big, all-consuming problems. It’s not the drama of our younger years (which was usually at least a little fun if we’re honest); it’s all big-time-adult-stuff and  heartbreakingly serious.

I don’t understand why some people end up in circumstances they don’t even want, when others would give everything they have to walk in their shoes. I have several friends who are struggling with infertility. I haven’t experienced this myself, but I see the hurt and longing and just plain unfairness of it all.  All of them would be phenomenal parents, are ready to provide for those precious babies, and yet their families are not completed when we think all the components are right there waiting. I see babies who need homes, expecting mothers who don’t feel at all capable of parenting, and even tiny embryos who are basically suspended in time (waiting, too). I’ve gotten on the email list for Bethany Christian Services, and the last few emails I’ve gotten are about embryo adoption–something that was never even on my radar before. Even those babies are weighing on my mind. I can’t imagine how they must weigh on the hearts of the parents who created them and then were unable to use them.

Jobs are uncertain. Money is uncertain. The time you think you have with those you love, uncertain. The time you think you have to make a difference, uncertain. I am a planner by nature. I like schedules, agendas, bullet lists, and organziation. It makes me happy, I swear. I am learning that all of that planning means nothing if you’re not using your time to build real, meaningful relationships with people. All the stuff-temporary. All the tasks you have to accomplish on a given day at work–temporary. That’s difficult for me to grasp and remember. Good thing I get smacked in the face with it every once in while, right?

I don’t know where I’m going with this one…but there you go. I am so thankful for the perfect child I have. Honestly, I had no idea I would love her so much. That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I really didn’t. I had no idea I would like her so much. I can’t wait to get to know the person she becomes.

Oh, Macaroni Art. I’ve missed you. October 24, 2008

I am now the parent of a “preschooler.” Baby Girl came home from Mother’s Day Out with painted macaroni glued into the shape of a pumpkin, using what I can only assume is an entire bottle of glue. That’s the universal sign of preschoolerhood, right? There’s just one teeny thing. Now, I have seen BG make things (though I’ve NEVER let her have glue–must be rookie teachers). Let’s just say she is more of an abstract-type artist than a realist. There is no WAY she created this perfectly proportioned pumpkin. Her teacher totally made me pumpkin macaroni art. How sweet. I’m very proud.

Hey! You out there! October 23, 2008

Unless I just got remarkably more interesting (or there’s one bored person just visiting my blog obsessively–Mom, is that you?), there are a lot of you reading this all of the sudden. Yeah!
If you’ve never commented before, would you just leave a quick one so I know who’s reading? I’m dying of curiosity. Really, I am.

Just some pics to tide you over… October 19, 2008

I get this look a lot.

You can't tell, but she's standing on her footprints. Ta-dah!

This was right after she took a header on the sidewalk and got a beauty of a busted lip.

A different kind of Thursday October 16, 2008

Oh, yes. It is finally my fall break, and it is glorious.

Well, “glorious” may be a little much. I’ll say…good.

On the agenda for tomorrow:

• Sleep in (yeah, right) while Andrew takes BG to Mother’s Day Out–which is usually actually Parents Go To Work Day, but tomorrow will actually provide Mom with a day out
• Go for a walk/jog/run/try-not-to-collapse-in-front-of-the-neighbors-and-embarrass-myself. Our neighbors are an EMT/nurse combo, so I should be good. It’s a new goal.
• Big fat trip to the grocery store (Publix, I love you, even though you are more expensive than Kroger).
• Meet Andrew for lunch at Marina’s (yum)
• Vote (even though I think all the candidates are raging morons). Whatever. It’s my civic duty, right?
• Actually get to pick up BG from MDO (I’m always at work–her teachers probably think Andrew is a single dad)
• Go to Hendersonville to see Phil Wickham and have a date night (complete with babysitter, real dinner napkins, and going to the bathroom ALL BY MYSELF). All noteworthy events.

Now that’s a good day, folks. Much better than what I do on a typical Thursday–work.

What I like about being a mommy today October 7, 2008

Incidentally, I also could write a list of things about being a mommy that wear me the heck out today, but who wants to hear about that?

I started the day in a very optimistic mood today, but the day at work sucked that right out of me (never fails). However, I came home to a sweet girl who cheered me up.

Things I like about being Mommy today:

• the fact that Baby Girl woke up from her nap calling for me, even though I wasn’t even home when she went to sleep (today was a special Daddy Tuesday)
• the waterfall of words that came tumbling out of her mouth the millisecond I opened her door: Hi, Mommy…Mommy has pretty shoes?…they have bows?…pretty…Daddy go work…Moses is outside?…Moses is on porch? (that would be the cat)…I have snack?…I have Dora pants…pants have monkey…I have no money in my pockets…where’s money?…I have White Bear…I have drink…Daddy turn light on… and on and on. Now, all of that would probably be pretty impossible to understand for anyone but our immediate family, but very cute nonetheless.
• the fact that we have now gone 48 hours without a significant head injury! Believe me, this is big. Expect a post coming up on our Campus Crusade retreat, and you’ll see why. I swear the child is going to need a helmet. You’ll also see why I’m going to need to learn how to Photoshop BG’s big fat lip out of all the fabulous pictures I took. It is pitiful. Photographic evidence to come as soon as I can get access to a card reader.
• BG has been wearing these green Tinkerbell wings nonstop for about four days. This includes overnight. It really adds to her overall fashion statement.
• BG surprises me every single day with some word I had no idea she knew, and I usually don’t know where she learned it. Scary and amazing at the same time. I need to start watching what’s on the radio. Eek.
• I’m sure most of my other teachings are going by the wayside, but that child says “thank you” for every blessed thing I do for her. I’m going to savor that small victory and ignore the fact that she sometimes runs away from me in parking lots. Baby steps, people.
• (edited to add one more) When I take BG to the grocery store, she will point to the women on the magazine covers and say, “Dat’s Mommy!” Last time it was Angelina Jolie. Now, that’s just a smart child.

Oops. I thought I had more points, but I was distracted by the inspiration for this list. Tell me what you like about being a parent (or what wears you the heck out, or what makes you chuckle like a cartoon villain because you are child-free and can do whatever the heck you want to do when you want to do it–I’m flexible).

Today’s post is brought to you by the word “heck,” apparently.