Freshly Fallen Laundry

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So running and jumping in piles of dirty clothes is just as good as the leaves thing, right?  Thank goodness my daughter seems to think so.

You Are Beautiful, Just the Way You Are!

Today I came across the lovely site operationbeautiful.com devoted to helping others find beauty in themselves.  I'm talking BEAUTY, not physical stuff.  I love this idea.  I actually keep post-its in my purse (along with a million other things I rarely need), so I think I will be posting my own little note soon.  If you get a chance, this is a powerful blog post about how one of these little notes can affect someone in a big way.  Finally, the short little video below, which I hope you can see, gives a great overview of what the Operation Beautiful project is all about.

Keeping Your Toilet Fresh between Scrubbings

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Yes, this post is all about the glamorous world of toilet bowl cleaning.  If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will.  Seriously, as of late this has been a problem in my house.  Ever since my first daughter was sleeping in a bedroom adjacent to the main bathroom and her little ears would pick up on everything, every flush waking her and subsequently making her (and me) cry, we've been more of an "if it's yellow let it mellow" kind of a household (particularly at night).  I've heard all about how this saves water and is therefore good for the environment, but there is a serious drawback: our toilet gets FUNKY!  I'm mean really grody fast.  Ew!  Sorry if this is TMI, but I'm just keeping it real.  So all of this disgustingness had led to me needing to scrub said toilet about three times as often as I normally would.  Notice I'm not actually disclosing how often this is; I'm well aware it's still not as frequently as I should.  But the point is, I was definitely not enjoying the extra work.

That said, I'm happy to report I've found a solution!  It's actually something my husband picked up when I asked him to buy toilet bowl cleaner.  He brought home Comet (Don't ask me why he's convinced Comet is a toilet bowl cleaner.  It is not.  Don't try it!, it will forever turn your toilet bowl blue--I know this from experience, which he still denies.) and a little box of Clorox Automatic Toilet Bowl Cleaner, which does work!  Each box contains two tablets.  After scrubbing your toilet, you drop one in the back of your tank when the water level is low after flushing.  Clorox says it cleans and deodorizes the toilet for up to three months and it repels stains.  According to the product website, it's safe for plumbing and septic systems.  I do occasionally smell a subtle bleach smell from my toilet, but it's ten times better than what I was smelling before.  And now I'm back to cleaning my toilet at my normal leisurely rate (which will remain undisclosed).

I do need to mention that there are plenty of product reviews online that warn that this product harms valves in the toilet.  For now, I'm trusting Clorox and risking it.

If you're reluctant to try the Clorox solution, I've also read that you can use effervescent tablets (think Alka-Seltzer or denture cleaner) dropped in the actual toilet bowl.  You leave them set for 20 minutes and then brush and flush.  But that still requires brushing, so I'm not sure what the benefit would be.  You might as well clean your toilet if you're getting the brush out. 

The same article say a can of cola dumped in and left for an hour works, too.  I swear, our intestines must be indestructible. On a related note, I was this close to spelling it "bowel" instead of "bowl" throughout this entire post.  I'm an awesome speller ;o)

We Won the Neighbor Lottery

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I'm convinced we scored big when we moved to our little cul-de-sac almost six years ago.  I've always known we've had wonderful neighbors, but after an insanely generous gift of a wooden outdoor swing/playset this weekend from our neighbors whose two daughters have grown into teenagers, I've taken the time to really think about all the blessings we've received from eight special families on our block.

Here is a partial list:

1. An antique rocking chair when we were awaiting the birth of our first child
2. A teak outdoor dining table and chairs
3. An offer to watch our daughter if I went into labor with my second child in the middle of the night
4. Countless offers for help when my husband is out of town
5. Expertise and help when building new stairs on our deck
6. The use of some pretty swanky power tools
7. Offers for free babysitting
8. 2 fishing poles, a loaded tacklebox, and a pink tent for my daughters
9. Some very thoughtful (even homemade) baby gifts
10. Baked goods (yum!)
11. An occasional snowblowing of our driveway when my hubby's been out of town
11. A hand-carved wooden pen
12. Some lovely meals out and some delicious meals in
13. A movie night out
14. A condolence card when we lost a pet
15. Great conversations in the driveway

We do try to reciprocate.  We've hosted a dinner party for all the neighbors.  We've invited them over for tea and for beers around the fire pit.  We've lent out our tools and even our car.  We've bought new baby and graduation gifts.  We've baked goods.  We've invited them out to dinner and a Twins game.  I've taken their dogs out (and took one to the groomers!).  We've given them houseplants.  We've picked up mail.  We given thoughtful thank you gifts.  We've visited them in the hospital when they've had a sick child.  We bought Girl Scout Cookies and wrapping paper. We've given donations for schools.  We've given them extra veggies from our garden.

In the last couple of years we've paid the neighbor kids to help mow the lawn, weed the garden, babysit, gather mail and feed fish when we're on vacation, and and let our dogs out. 

I didn't grow up in this kind of neighborhood.  I grew up in a micro neighborhood in the country where houses were rather spread out, and people kind of kept to themselves.  But I'm sure glad my daughters will be growing up surrounded by all of this kindness and generosity.  I encourage you to get out and say "hi" to your neighbors today.  Get to know them before there's two feet of snow on the ground and everyone hides away inside for four months (even on our block!).  Be good to them; you never know how they might be there for you in the future.
What about you?  Have your neighbors done something special for you, or did we really just get lucky and win the neighbor lottery?

Book Deals

If you are the kind of person who thinks Wal-Mart is evil, you may want to stop reading now and go about your day. 

If you're more apt to think a deal is a deal, carry on.

I'm not much of a Wal-Mart shopper.  As I've made clear time and time again, Target is my supplier of choice.  Wal-Mart makes me anxious and depressed.  BUT, last night when I was searching the Internet for my next book club pick (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks) I remembered a little tidbit from some marketing?/econ?/business? book I worked on last year.  I don't remember the details exactly, just something about Amazon and Wal-Mart being in an book online pricing war.  I don't even remember who won.  But that doesn't matter.  My evening went something like this:

* Checked local used bookstore inventory online (no luck)
* Checked library availability including all interlibrary loan options (no luck.  wth?  popular book!)
* Checked Amazon.com and BN.com (bingo.  started the order process on Amazon--almost always the cheaper of the two) but then...
*Remembered to check Walmart.com. (score! cheaper and only $1.97 for shipping.) I even had the option to have it delivered to the store for free, but I decided it was worth the extra couple bucks to avoid driving 20 minutes to the nearest store with two young kids in tow.

I did some more checking, and a number of the books I'm interested in are less expensive at Walmart.com (hardcovers, no less).

Of course they don't have quite the selection as the other two big book retailers, but I'm definitely adding Walmart.com to my book-buying search list.  I have a book addiction, and I need a cheap fix.

P.S. I am very sad our local bookstore closed last year.  R.I.P. River City Books!  I would have loved to have given you my business.

Namaste: 10 Reasons I Love Yoga

Last Thursday a friend of mine invited me to join her for a beginning yoga class.  It was a first for both of us.  Is it too soon to say I'm head over heels in love with yoga?  I went back tonight, and I'm already looking forward to next week.  I mean, really, is there anything better designed for a young, frazzled mother?  Let's consider:

1. I get to be away from my dirty house, needy kids, and annoying dogs for an hour and a half.
2. My biggest focus for that period of time is my breathing.  When was the last time I stopped to breath even for a few minutes?
3. I get to be in a warm, dimly lit, beautiful room that I'm not responsible for cleaning.
4. My husband thinks yoga is going to make me all sorts of fit, strong, and flexible, so he's supportive.  I'm just letting him think that, even though my beginning yoga class really is about 80% breathing.
5. I get to relax and stretch.
6. I don't have to rush.  In fact doing things slowly is sort of the point.  Again, this is the opposite of everything else in my day.
7. No one there needs me.  No one there even knows who I am.  I dig.
8. I'm feeling some tiny semblance of being an individual (that thing I was before I was a wife and a mom), and that's probably a good thing.
9. When I tell someone I'm doing yoga they often react in a way that makes me think they're impressed.  Seriously!  People will be impressed that you spend time alone breathing, relaxing, and stretching, so there's no guilt!  I love not feeling guilty.
10. Finally, there are probably some really great health benefits, but really, that's just a bonus at this point.

So I implore you, if you are feeling stress, on edge, grumpy, pulled in a million directions, check out a yoga class.  Beginning classes are easy.  Breath in, breath out, repeat.

P.S. My husband actually said he'd watch the girls so I could do yoga two nights a week.  Just to illustrate how much I love yoga, I'm as equally tempted to take a second class as I am to pretend I'm taking a second class and take my book to the coffee shop.  It really is a toss-up. 

P.P.S. Shhhhh.  That's coffee shop info is between you and me.

Douplespeak

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Yesterday my two-year-old daughter came over and said something that distinctly sounded like "Momma, I want a tattoo.” Now she's never asked about tattoos before, she's never pointed them out or commented on them, and she's never even had a fake tattoo, so I really didn't think that's what she actually had said. I clarified:

"You want a tattoo?"
"When I oooolder."
"Where did you hear about a tattoo?"
"Thank you! That's a great idea!"

And she walked away.

What just happened here? I have a feeling this is just a tiny glimpse into her impending adolescence. Clearly she's already mastered the art of talking in circles around me. I cringe at the thought of what is to come. Someday when she's 18 (hopefully she waits until she's 18), she'll be proudly showing of that new ink and wondering why I look dumbfounded. And she'll say, "Mom! We talked about this. Remember?” And she will remember.