Doin' the washin'

A little over a year ago, my best friend, Alicia mentioned that she makes her own laundry detergent. I remember looking at her skeptically as if she was kidding. She wasn't. I couldn't imagine doing that- giving up the freshly laundered smell of Tide or Gain in my clothes- somehow that smell just makes the world seem in order.

But still in the weeks that followed, I started to ruminate on the home-made laundry detergent scenario. It makes sense. We pay around $15 every couple of weeks for a box of powdered gold. Apparently, there's a whole black market out there for Tide- as people are stealing truckloads of the stuff and selling it off for profit. Who knew? Reminds me of the days when the kids were still on formula and I had to go to the guest service desk at the grocery store to buy formula because people were stealing it off the shelves. To me, baby formula would be on my list of things to steal- but laundry detergent? I'm not sure that's worth hard time. I joke. I totally joke.

Anyway, I kept thinking about it, and finally had the nerve to mention it to Martin. You should have seen his face. Now, I have had my fair share of hair brained ideas (in his defense), but I could tell he thought that this was one of them. Little did he know that with the advent of Pinterest, there is a whole wide world out there now, of home-made stuff that can save us money and trips to the store (and in some cases, even cut out harmful chemicals and toxins). Nevertheless, he was a good sport, but still replied, "I don't think I'm ready for home-made laundry detergent". Okay, that's fair. I will bide my time.

Cut to about 2 weeks ago, and Martin was out of town. I ran out of laundry detergent. The stars had finally aligned, and I could try out my experiment with little resistance. Muhahaha. I texted Alicia and got the recipe she uses and the ingredient/supply list.

Powdered Borax
Arm and Hammer Washing Powder
Ivory Soap
Coffee scoop (I used the one with the slotted bottom for closing a coffee bag- found it at Target)
Jar or container with lid
Grater
large bowl
Twine
Stain remover (such as Spray on OxyClean)

Seriously? That's it. I couldn't believe how few ingredients it had- and all in all I think that totaled maybe $10 or so including the bottle of OxyClean (which I will use as needed). I had no problem finding the Ivory Soap or Borax at Target, but I did have to jump over to Walmart to find the Arm and Hammer Washing Powder. Now, I've since seen recipes on Pinterest that include Powdered Oxyclean and powdered Fabric Softener Crystals. I still have some of my original batch left, so I'll probably stick with this for now, as it's cheaper, and also, does not contain all the chemicals- and I'm starting to like that idea.

Now, I'm no allergist, but I would guess this is a great recipe for someone who's washing baby clothes or individuals with sensitive skin.

Here are the instructions:

1 bar Ivory Soap
1 c. Borax
1 c. Arm and Hammer Washing Powder

1. Grate one bar of Ivory Soap into a large bowl. I bought a special grater just for this, but I did notice that since it's soap it cleaned right up in the dishwasher so I really don't think it would matter- you could probably also use your food processor.

2. Add one cup Borax.

3. Add one cup Washing Powder.

4. Mix and pour into your jar or container.

5. Label jar and attach coffee spoon to the side. Done!

You only need 1 Tbsp. of detergent per load. It does not suds up the way other detergents do, and if I have a particularly smelly or dirty load, I will add 2 scoops for my peace of mind, but I don't think that's necessary. I did print instructions with my label maker and attach them on the side, so Martin would not be afraid to use it. He tends to over think these things. Please note- there is not a stain remover in this mix, so you will need to pre-treat stains with a stain remover, and use bleach on your whites, if you normally do.

Of course, I couldn't wait to sniff my first load of laundry. It doesn't have the heavy fragranced smell, but my clothes do, indeed, smell clean. If the fruity and flowery smells are really that important to you, I would suggest looking up the recipe using fabric softener on Pinterest. I have also pinned it onto my "Home Remedies" board for future use.

When Martin returned home, I immediately stuck the laundry in his face and said, "Smell! It's home-made detergent!!!" He is fine with it! No complaints from the hubby, and yes, he's even helping me wash with it. Two weeks later, I still have about half of my jar of detergent (I do about 8-10 loads of laundry a week), plus a ton of leftover supplies to make more- I'm probably set for 6 months to a year...

....which leads me to wonder how much I can get on the black market for the home-made stuff. Guess I'll just settle for sharing with y'all instead.

Trimming the fat....

Well, it's been a little over 6 months since I decided to pull back from my job as a sales rep (working from home) and allow myself to focus on the things in life that should've been my priorities to begin with. My family, my home and my health.

With Martin's work responsibilities keeping him away more and more often, I knew that the stress of balancing the home responsibilities and taking care of the kiddos was really taking a toll on my health, and happiness. I had gained 20 lbs.- probably due to stress, lifestyle and some medical issues, and was also struggling with acid reflux, which my Dr. was chalking up to "life stress". Plus, the hours I put in did not balance with the happy income I had hoped for last year. So Martin and I took a look at the budget and decided that I would pull back from the job. Instead of networking, knocking on doors and trying to gain new clients, I would maintain a select few accounts and work less while working smarter. Best. Decision. Ever.

I've since lost 20 lbs, and am working toward my goal of 15-20 more. While I've been a bit lax this summer, I'm in the best shape of my life, and can now run 2-3 miles- a feat which I never in my wildest dreams thought I could achieve. I'm enjoying the summer months, and have taken my boys to the zoo, the library, the park, on bike rides, to the pool, and to the splash park; gone to Six Flags as a family, taken a family trip to Schlitterbahn and sent them to some pretty awesome camps- and the summer's not even halfway over yet. All of that with little to no guilt or anxiety about neglecting my job in the meantime. It is exhilarating to finally be able to enjoy my kids with minimal distractions. When I was working before, I felt guilty for not being with or enjoying time with the kids; while at the same time feeling guilty for neglecting work while with the kids. Some of you can pull off both, but I can tell you that for this mom, at this phase of my life- I could not- not without mass amounts of anxiety, guilt and the start of an ulcer from being pulled in so many directions. I am so much happier (and pleasant to be around- I think).

While it's been great, we're finally starting to feel the loss of the little income I did have coming in. Like every true American, we have amassed some debt, and that has started to wear on us. And with that, I find myself with a new guilt (it's what I'm best at)- the guilt for not contributing enough monetarily.

Martin and I have been discussing our big money plan, and with a desire to get our eternal goals and contributions more in line- how we can save some money, eliminate debt, etc. We had some scary conversations about cutting out things we love... and of course, we have to start with the glaringly obvious.

So, I'm redirecting where I'm going with the blog, and will be writing about our experiences in this "trimming the fat" at this stage of our lives. I will share our melt downs, our kids melt downs, some of my money saving tricks I've learned, and light bulb moments. Hopefully, it will encourage and perhaps inspire someone out there in our scenario.

My hope is that if I can trim 20 pounds of fat from my body, we can do the same in our budget. Happy reading y'all!

A Glimpse of Royalty

Okay, so it is shameful that it took me this long to come out of hiding and blog again. But when it's worth blogging, what can I say? It's worth blogging.

So, what- might you ask- is worth blogging over? Well, several of you have clamored for details, and at this point, I am duty bound, and frankly- driven by my own love of story telling- to give them to you.

It was a crisp, lovely evening in Las Vegas. I had on the the most uncomfortable shoes of the 3 evening trip- black satin sling backs with rhinestones and bows on each ankle. Every other evening of the trip my shoes had been much more forgiving, but not so on this night. My friends and I had dined at an amazing restaurant in the Bellagio Hotel, and while every bite (and sip) was worth it -truthfully- we were running late. We all knew that Cirque Du Soleil's shows do not accommodate late arrivals, and accordingly, our host scrambled to close out the check while we enjoyed our desserts in the most expeditious (and delicious) manner. The ladies in our group all made a mental note that we would have to wait for intermission at our show to freshen our make up and make the ladies' room run.

The wine from the dinner made my shoes a bit more bear-able for the evening as we booked it across the casino floor, headed for the hot show in Vegas- "O". We took our seats quickly, and were ever so impressed that they were probably 3-4 rows back from the stage. The show itself began- lots of laughs drawn from the white faced clown who opened (and continued to draw laughs) throughout the show. We felt the mist from the water as the divers made their daring plunges into the shallow pools, and the heat from the fire dancers as they literally "played with fire". It was so entertaining, amusing, and yet... nearly unbearable, because, literally, I NEEDED that intermission. My good friend leaned over beyond my husband and hers, mouthing to me that- Yes, she, too, was in the same position. I nudged Martin, and asked if there was an intermission in the program. Surprise! The program we were handed, was- in fact- NOT a program, but an advertisement. Bad news- halfway through the show, and no intermission in sight.

At this point, my friend Courtney and I decided it was worth filing out of our seats- at the very front of the show- to the very disruption of everyone- to make our run. I grabbed my evening bag, and hoping I wouldn't step on anyone's toes (in my cute shoes) as I filed out of center-middle-down-front, I made my way out of our row. Those of you who know me, know that I am clumsy by nature, so each step I took was accompanied by sincere concentration- I held on to the brass hand rail, focused on each step, and planted each black shoe firmly on each step in front of me to avoid further "entertainment" for the whole of the audience of the Bellagio. As I made my way up, Courtney followed me out. Near the top of the landing, I glanced to my left, and out of the corner of my eye, noticed a line of younger looking guys in the very last row of the lower section of the lower level. I was waiting for Courtney to catch up, and so, had a moment to notice the guy in the seat closest to me (for my husband- when I say "notice" I mean- "Make Note Of"- nothing beyond that) dark close shaven hair, in the white shirt, with black and red print on the front. For some reason, I glanced up the row- and noticed a guy- head thrown back, mouth open- laughing uproarously at the show. My eyes absorbed red, spiky hair, sharp nose, blue/navy plaid shirt. And then. THEN it dawned on me. I felt my eyes widen, and looked at Courtney- as she finally caught up- "I think that's Prince Harry!!!!" I whispered ecstatically. "Really?" she said. I think- but I might be wrong- that she *might* have been a bit skeptical. I can't say that I blame her, as I had been a freak all weekend. I knew Prince Harry *could* be in town, and while I do NOT stoop to paparazzi levels, I do happen to LOVE the Royal Family to an embarrassing level. (I will show you the Royal Wedding China when you're in town next). In fact, I might have (on one occasion) "pursued stealthily" someone who I thought could be him, and let's just say- I had kept my eyes open, and everyone in our little group knew I was on the lookout.

We headed to the ladies room, and the staff seemed, well, a little flustered to let us out. I noted- what's the deal, we're just going to the ladies room, not robbing the vault or anything.... as we were in the ladies' room, I conspired with Courtney and we agreed we would definitely check things out when we returned. Good plan, and GO!

No, not so much. Got back only to discover that the house lights were so low, we couldn't see a thing except lighted stairs. Darn it all. I couldn't even tell who's profile belonged to whom- we could barely find our row, much less see who was in the audience.

We made our way back to our seats, and I must confess, I was distracted for the rest of the show. I whispered my suspicions to my husband, and he actually, amazingly did seem to buy in. I mentioned that if it was REALLY him, he would be in the back, and ready to bolt when (or before) the lights came up. I can't tell you how I wished for eyes in the back of my head so I could watch the show AND scope it out. Towards the end of the show, and at the curtain call, I threw my cards on the table and turned around- to see if there was movement on the last row. I noted that a couple people- not all- of the last row were filing out. I was slightly disappointed. Maybe I was wrong. However, when the lights were up, and that row was empty, I felt a little more confident. As we filed past, the seats were empty, but for the clear plastic cups with lime slices (Martin noted that detail) to which everyone was required to transfer drinks. I motioned, and showed Martin where I had seen the blue laughing shirt. I think he maybe believed me- probably 65-70%.

After the evening at the Bellagio, we enjoyed the gardens and then headed for the taxi line. Courtney's husband said he heard mention of "Prince Harry" , but no confirmation. I joked that he was probably headed to the club that we were too old (and we are NOT old) and too fat- to be.

We made our way back to the Encore, and after a drink or two, found our way in a crowded casino/hotel hallway. There was a buzz in the air, and apparently, Steve Wynn was rumored to be out and about. Also, suddenly, the night club price spiked. We joked several times through out the night about checking out the night clubs in the hotel, but at a price of $120 for men, and $20 for women, we decided that was TOO steep, and to call it a night out of sheer fatigue.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to reports that Prince Harry did indeed attend the Cirque du Soleil show of "O" on the same night, in the same section as me- 103. Apparently he was in the very club that our cocktail server recommended we go to because of the DJ that was coming in that night. Apparently, he did, indeed have on a blue/navy plaid shirt that looks like one my husband has. Needless to say, I met this news with a giant yell and "I TOLD YOU SO!!!". My only regret is that I didn't yank out my camera to prove it all. But I could never betray the Prince that way (I don't think). His mother would NOT approve.

Nevertheless.... One royal down, several more to go....