Tip of the Day

I have been spending a lot of time in my new kitchen; cooking, cleaning and having my trusty laptop nearby.

I just learned a new trick that I wished I'd had when all the drywall dust was flying.

Did you know if you place "Press N Seal" cling wrap to your keyboard, everything-including the mouse-trackpad still works?

But, no spills. No spaghetti sauces. No flour sifting through the keyboard at the same time!

I was just making bagels and afraid of having the flour go right through my macbook.

No worries anymore!

Real Simple Tip of the Week

I was just reading my March issue of Real Simple and they have a review on washing machines.
I have a washing machine and a dryer. But I hate them. I absolutely want a new set. But I absolutely do not have the money for a new set when I have a pair that work. But they don't work that great.

My dryer is from my mom and dad. They gave it to us as a hand-me-down seven years ago. And I am pretty sure that it is 25 years old. The buzzer goes for at least one minute long at the most alarming volume possible. It is inefficient and during our first year of marriage, I never checked Matt's pockets for items. He always left things in the pockets like Sharpie Markers or Chap-Stick. Did you know that Chap-Stick is ACTUALLY WAX? And it never comes out of a dryer? So occasionally...not that often, but occasionally clothes will emerge from the dryer with a big wax stain across it. Love ruining clothes. But it dries things and so it works. It is also yellow/beige and it is so ugly.

My washing machine was bought seven years ago as well and it just doesn't get the job done nearly like I like. Water doesn't run during the rinse cycle like it ought to and so our clothes often have to be run through the rinse cycle twice in order to get all of the suds out. What does this mean? Stains don't come out quite like they ought to simply because not enough water is getting to it.

All of this is to be said because Real Simple was reviewing washing machines and well...it made me realize that I really do want a new set. How 1950's housewife is that?

But the Real Simple Tip of the Week is this: "If you out a 1,000-rpm washing machine on the second floor without shock absorbers, it will shake the entire floor during the spin cycle. Don't worry if your machine is in the basement or the ground floor since they are reinforced."

I hadn't thought about if your washer is on the second floor of your house. Ours is in our basement, but since we are looking for new houses; this is now something to consider! Who knows if I will get a new set when we move. I feel like we ought to buy a new set simply for appearances when selling our house. Nothing too fancy, but simple and we can make it a conveyance on our house. Anyone have any thoughts on this subject? Would an ugly washer and dryer make you not want to buy a house?

Fitted Sheet Tutorial-Real Simple Tip of the Week

Okay, are you ready? Get your fitted sheet that you have wadded up into a ball in your linen closet and get ready to fold that sucka!



Turn the ugly side of your fitted sheet facing outward. Put your hands in the corners with the sheet being as long as you can make it.


Fold ugly side to ugly side, so that when you turn the sheet, the pretty side is now facing out and the ugly side is tucked inside the sheet.

Lay the sheet on the table, with the corners tucked inside one another. Press the sheet down so that it become a little more flat. Square the bottom corners.



Then fold the sheet into thirds. Bring your left side of the sheet to the middle of the sheet. Then bring the right side of the sheet to the middle.



Turn the sheet so that instead of the middle line going vertically, it now lines up horizontally. Fold the bottom of the sheet to the middle. Then fold the top of the sheet over your previous fold so that now it look like a letter.




Fold the "letter" like a "book." Bring the left side to the middle. Bring the right side the middle.


Fold the book in on itself.

You have now folded a fitted sheet!

I used a twin sheet in this example, but a queen size sheet will do just the same, it will just look bigger!

Give a big hand to Esther, my assistant! She was awake while I was trying to pull this off!

Sorry the picture kind of stink, the lighting in our house is terrible and it makes for bad pictures!

Real Simple Tip of the Week

SHINY SINK 101

1. Fill sink to the rim with very hot water; add one cup regular bleach. Soak for one hour. 2. Drain and rinse thoroughly. 3. Scrub with Ajax, Bon Ami, or baking soda. 4. Be sure to rinse thoroughly. 5. Shine with Windex or another glass-cleaning spray. Dry thoroughly.

Real Simple Tip of the Week

I have a Real Simple Tip that I have been using ever since I saw it published in an issue maybe two months ago.

"Put your eyeliner on before any eye shadow. When applying eye shadow, blend the shadow and the eyeliner together to create a more seamless and natural look."

I might be a total idiot, but I never thought of this one simple tip in all of my years of wearing makeup, but I love it!

It makes my eyes look a little more smokey and not so much like I am wearing a paint by numbers face!

There it is from Real Simple to me to you! Happy makeup application!

No Rest for the Weary

Sorry for no posts in the last few days, I have been pretty busy with deadlines at work and haven't had as much free time as I would like!

But yesterday, it looked like I was ready to achieve a little down time. I worked all morning as the kids were at Mother's Morning Out and after I picked them up, I brought them straign home and both laid down to take a nap. I finished up a few little details with work, picked up the house, ate lunch and then headed outside to my front porch to drink a Diet Coke and read my newest Real Simple. Soon after I sat down (I mean, five minutes), a dude comes riding up my street on a really old riding mower. He (and this is hard to describe) takes his mower off-road into the front yard of the house across the street. Our nut-job neighbor recently died and currently nobody occupies the house. So this guy is riding his mower in this yard, he does a lap around the house and drives back down the street. That's it, just a lap around the house. Here is a picture of the guy:

I took this picture because the whole scene weirded me out so much. Last night I asked Matt if he knew who it was and he said, "oh that's just Everett. He was one of Joe's friends." I guess I would like to think that when I die, my friends would miss me so much that they would like to take a lap around my house on their riding mowers. hmph.

Anyway, as soon as Everett drives down the street...Lucy wakes up from her nap. I had a total of 15 minutes. After I get her up, change her diaper; I hear Asher crying in the monitor. He pooped in his diaper. So I change his diaper and he is up and at 'em. Right after we return upstairs, I hear Slappy crying. So I go get her back in from outside. As I am returning into the house I see my Diet Coke (unopened), my Real Simple (barely cracked) and Lucy's baby monitor. I also see that my quiet, restful afternoon while the kids took a nap is going to go unrealized.

I wasn't able to clean any of that up until 10pm last night, when things finally settled down around our house. The days are long but the years are short, right?