I would love to say that the main reason I am on a quest to becoming a chemical free household is because of how bad chemicals are for you not only to breathe in but also when it comes into contact with your skin... but I will honestly admit that it is mainly because I'm cheap. There I said it... cheap.
With the awesomeness that is Pinterest I have found so many great homemade cleaning recipes. I do not know if I would have looked for or even thought it was possible to make your own cleaners that actually work. So far I have made and successful use Laundry Soap (both liquid and gel), Dishwasher Soap, Shower Tile Cleaner and today's success... floor cleaner.
My kitchen floor is textured which means it's a nightmare where all the dirt and grime gets stuck in the little crevices. Ack. So gross. With a dog, cat, and a door that leads from the kitchen to the outside the floor gets pretty grimy. I have tried everything and the only thing that seemed to work was on my hands and knees scrubbing with a bleach solution. No. Thank. You. I used a steam mop which works but only when the floor is mostly clean. It's good for the in between the major clean cleaning.
Today I found on Pinterest something called along the lines of "super heavy duty floor cleaning" where both professional house cleaners and daycare workers sang it's praises. So super simple to make... 1/4c vinegar (but I ended up using a 1/2 cup because it was the end of the bottle), 1/4 cup Washing Soap (made by Arm and Hammer but not to be confused with Baking Soda) and 1 tbsp dishwashing soap- I gave a nice healthy squirt of the blue Dawn soap. Next time I might try it with Castile Soap. Put that in a bucket add 2 gallons of hot tap water. Ta da. It still took a little elbow grease but the floor is sparkly clean. Used it on both of the bathroom floors and then tried it on the hardwood floors in the guest room and the living room. Not sure if I should have used it on the hardwood but it seemed to have worked pretty well.
All in all... a cleaning WIN!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The Summer - Winter Clothes Shuffle
This past week was not my favorite week.
Hurricane Sandy came blowing into town on Monday. We were very lucky that we only lost power for 4 days and that a family member who didn't lose power let us borrow their generator. My mom had a huge spruce tree come down in her yard that took out all her lines and pulled some siding off the house. She lives an hour south of here and it's hard to have her so far away. But thankfully she has her power back and my husband is going to go down there and cut up that tree.
Thursday a friend/co-worker announced that she was pregnant with her second and it "just happened." Anyone who has gone through infertility knows how much you want it to "just happen" for you. Of course I am very happy for her but at one point I went into the bathroom to cry. It's just something that I want so badly.
Friday was the big day that I went for my blood test to see if the second IUI (insemination) + the injectable medication that I was giving myself daily worked. I was so nervous and excited that I woke up that morning at 1:30 am and wasn't able to fall back to sleep. It was going to make for a very long and exhausting day but I told myself if I found out I was pregnant I would be able to ride that high all day...
It was negative. Ugh.
So needless to say it was a very hard day. Only my manager knows what is going on with us (because I've had to ask for time off to make so many appointments) and she was very sympathetic and brought me into a conference room so we could chat and I could cry a little. A lot of people were coming over to my coworker all day to offer congratulations and another asked me to help her start to plan the baby shower... GAH!
I want to say again that I am very happy for my friends at work (I have 2 good friends, M & M, who are pregnant and are due 4 days apart) along with the 8 other pregnant women at work. I don't want to come off as a bitter person, please don't think that. This is just something that's so hard to deal with when I see it all the time. M & M aren't showing really yet so I am praying that this month is our month...
I am now waiting for the UPS man to come and deliver my next round of injectable medication. If this IUI doesn't work then the next step is IVF (invetro-fertilization). That scares the heck out of me because it involves one or two surgeries and there is a huge chance of multiples... which I'm not sure we are ready for. But whatever God blesses us with we know we will be able to handle. Hopefully it wouldn't be more than 2 at a time though!
It's getting colder this coming week (my heart breaks for all of those still without power) so I am going to be switching out my summer and winter clothes today. I hate this process. For the past 5 seasons I have been telling myself, "next time I do this I'll have a lot of maternity clothes in the mix" and taking out things that I can use for now and as well as when I'm pregnant (like cardigans and bigger pants/blouses).
So here I go again... next time I make the big switch it won't be that big of a project because of all the maternity clothes, right?
Hurricane Sandy came blowing into town on Monday. We were very lucky that we only lost power for 4 days and that a family member who didn't lose power let us borrow their generator. My mom had a huge spruce tree come down in her yard that took out all her lines and pulled some siding off the house. She lives an hour south of here and it's hard to have her so far away. But thankfully she has her power back and my husband is going to go down there and cut up that tree.
Thursday a friend/co-worker announced that she was pregnant with her second and it "just happened." Anyone who has gone through infertility knows how much you want it to "just happen" for you. Of course I am very happy for her but at one point I went into the bathroom to cry. It's just something that I want so badly.
Friday was the big day that I went for my blood test to see if the second IUI (insemination) + the injectable medication that I was giving myself daily worked. I was so nervous and excited that I woke up that morning at 1:30 am and wasn't able to fall back to sleep. It was going to make for a very long and exhausting day but I told myself if I found out I was pregnant I would be able to ride that high all day...
It was negative. Ugh.
So needless to say it was a very hard day. Only my manager knows what is going on with us (because I've had to ask for time off to make so many appointments) and she was very sympathetic and brought me into a conference room so we could chat and I could cry a little. A lot of people were coming over to my coworker all day to offer congratulations and another asked me to help her start to plan the baby shower... GAH!
I want to say again that I am very happy for my friends at work (I have 2 good friends, M & M, who are pregnant and are due 4 days apart) along with the 8 other pregnant women at work. I don't want to come off as a bitter person, please don't think that. This is just something that's so hard to deal with when I see it all the time. M & M aren't showing really yet so I am praying that this month is our month...
I am now waiting for the UPS man to come and deliver my next round of injectable medication. If this IUI doesn't work then the next step is IVF (invetro-fertilization). That scares the heck out of me because it involves one or two surgeries and there is a huge chance of multiples... which I'm not sure we are ready for. But whatever God blesses us with we know we will be able to handle. Hopefully it wouldn't be more than 2 at a time though!
It's getting colder this coming week (my heart breaks for all of those still without power) so I am going to be switching out my summer and winter clothes today. I hate this process. For the past 5 seasons I have been telling myself, "next time I do this I'll have a lot of maternity clothes in the mix" and taking out things that I can use for now and as well as when I'm pregnant (like cardigans and bigger pants/blouses).
So here I go again... next time I make the big switch it won't be that big of a project because of all the maternity clothes, right?
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