What I've Learned from "Squeaky Green"

I've just recently read "Squeaky Green," by Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry and I liked it! Its an easy read and gives some great tips for detoxing your home. Since its due back at the library, here are my notes:

1. Living Room

• Leave the shoes at the door.
• Use a steam carpet cleaner (2x a year) instead of a shampoo-er
• Use vegetable, milk based, low VOC paints, rugs and carpets.
• Use microfiber cloths to dust.
• Don't use ammonia based glass cleaners. Use vinegar instead.
• Older furniture has less harmful materials. Buy furniture that is certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
• New car/carpet/plastic smell is not good.
• Clean the vacuum every 6 mos.
• Use non-toxic paint strippers.
• Buy PBDE-free furniture.
• Particle board is made with formaldehyde.
• Get a high efficiency pleated furnace filter.

2. Kitchen

• Get rid of antibacterials.
• Get rid of chlorine bleach.
• Replace plastic microwave containers with glass/Pyrex.
• Use wax paper instead of plastic wrap.
• Buy phosphate free dishwasher detergent.
• Buy produce locally.
• Don't buy cleaners that say "toxic, corrosive, caustic."
• Use a microfiber mop with non-toxic floor cleaner.

3. Bedroom

• Buy a PBDE-free mattress, such as organic natural latex.
• Buy un-dyed linen, organic cotton or bamboo sheets.
• No-iron (sheets or shirts) are treated with formaldehyde.
• Use paraffin wax candles only.

4. Bathroom

• 'Hydrosol' in beauty/body products means nothing.
• 'Extracts' just means water.
• Try to buy 95% or higher of natural ingredients in beauty/body products.
• Triclosan in toothpaste is dangerous.
• Buy bar soaps that are EDTA free.
• Avoid lotions, shaving gels, shampoo and toothpaste that don't have parabens or other "-abens".
• Buy an non-PVC shower curtain and liner - like hemp, cotton or canvas (which are also machine washable).
• Put the lid down and then flush.
• There's propane in aerosol air fresheners. Use essential oils instead.
• Hang a sprig of eucalyptus from the shower head. It released essential oils and helps relieve congestion.
• Squeegee the shower.

5. Laundry room

• Use nontoxic, concentrated un-chlorinated bleach that's biodegradable or hydrogen peroxide (16 oz.)
• Use 1 cup of white vinegar in the "clean" cycle on the washing machine.

6. Kids' Rooms

• Use paints and markers certified by the ACMI.
• Check out www.thegreenguide.com, it has a list of clean and dirty arts and crafts supplies.
• By organic cotton, snug fitting PJs instead of the flame retardant ones.
• Buy PVC free toys (AKA: the #3 in the recycle triangle or the letter "v").

7. Pets

• Avoid flea shampoos and collars. Use eucalyptus oil or cloves instead, as well as feeding dog a few cloves of garlic daily.
• Give the dog a bath 1x a week with a natural soap.
• Use PVC free toys.

Step by step...

Design 1 Salon - Third Time's the Charm?

Walmart service and average quality haircuts at Manhattan prices?

The week before Christmas, I decided to get my hair chopped off. I was tired of looking the same way for the past 5 or so years. I wanted to look different and also not be able to put my hair in a ponytail all the time. I went in and came out looking pretty good - I could even make it look good on my own! (That's the true test of getting your hair cut - if you can make the cut look good at home, on your own.) I just thought that some of the layers on my left side were a bit long. So, I decided to go back a couple days later to get the left side tweaked, just a little bit. Unfortunately, my stylist had that day off and I ended up with a different lady.

She totally messed me up.

I got home and tried to do it the next day, and i looked like I had a bowl cut. I was furious. So I called to let the salon know what was going on. The receptionist told me that the manager would call me withing the next couple of days - by Tuesday (the 23rd) at the latest.

He never called.

Being that I've had 12 years of customer service work, things like this REALLY tick me off. The man had 2 1/2 days to call me!

I called that evening and left a message and also sent an email message to them, demanding a phone call on the day after Christmas.

He calls me, gives me a half-hearted apology and tells me that my next appointment is on the house. Essentially saying that he was perfectly content to let me deal with a bad haircut for a month. I hung up, frustrated. It was one of those situations that just kind of festers and I was getting more and more pissed off by the second.

I called back and told Mr. Manager that I thought it was unacceptable that he was content to let me sit with a bad haircut for a month and that he could mail me a refund for the haircut.

That changed his tune. All of the sudden, he was singing a different tune, telling me that he could get me in as soon as I could get in.

I went in last week and got re-tweaked. My hair looks OK, I can get it to do a little bit, but its still more challenging than I think it should be. Plus, one section is still a little long. But hey, I got a free eyebrow wax out of it.

I just don't understand why it is so difficult to get a decent haircut. I am upfront with the stylist and tell them that I don't want anything high-maintenance. I am only willing to spend 10 minutes on my hair on any given day. I have too much else to do, than to waste time primping in the bathroom. Why is every stylist afraid to CUT MY HAIR! Don't they get trained on face shapes and trends and judging what cuts are more difficult to style?

Just cut it! It will grow back!

Maybe its time to grow it out again - at least I can throw it up into a pony tail.

...And A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Oh, my goodness! Am I tired! I spent 13 hours on my feet in the kitchen today, baking. I don't like to bake - I don't like the mess and I don't like that once the food is in the oven I can't tweak it if necessary. Its like the point of no return. So, when I bake, I bake a LOT.

I got up at 7:30 today and fed the baby. I got up again at 8:00 and changed her diaper and fed all the kids and started making batter. I made sugar cookies, thumbprints, peanut butter blossoms, chocolate chip, white chocolate chip and chocolate raspberry chip cookies. The first 3 required refrigeration for 1-3 hours before baking, so I made those first. Then I started on all the chip cookies, nursed the baby and laid her down for her morning nap, made lunch for the kids, made some more cookies, made lunch for myself, made more cookies, nursed the baby and laid her down for her afternoon nap, and finally finished up the cookies.

Then I took a shower, at 4:30 pm, got out and reheated leftovers for dinner. After dinner, I cleaned up, gave the kids a bath, played crazy eights and started tomorrow's dinner - lasagna. While that was simmering, the kids and I watched the Grinch Who Stole Christmas (animated) and I nursed the baby and put her down to bed. Then I assembled the lasagna and here I am watching the last episode of Friends, Season 7 and blogging. As soon as the episode is over, I'm going to switch the disk, make some popcorn and PUT MY FEET UP!

Back to the cookies, I made what must be about 1,000 cookies (only a slight exaggeration). I used 21 eggs, almost 5 pounds of butter, 6 pounds of flour and about 5 pounds of sugar. It was a lot of fun making the sugar cookies with the kids. I was much smarter than I was last year, when I let the kids decorate in the (carpeted) dining room. They used so much colored sugar that my carpet was red and green and took more than 3 swipes with the vacuum to get it all out. This year, I had them decorating in the kitchen. Still lots of sugar used, but MUCH easier to clean up.

Now I've got to figure out how I'm going to get everything done that I need to get done tomorrow: sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, heating up dinner, dropping off cookies to my brother- and sister-in-law's house, taking care of all the kids plus my nephew and dropping him off before getting to church at 7pm; all while being lazy and relaxing. Something tells me that the being lazy part isn't going to happen. Especially with the forecasted 10 inches of snow that we are going to get making the roads all nasty.

I love Christmas!!!

Christmas "Break"

So, we had ourselves another busy weekend this past weekend. My son was a reader in the Church Christmas Program. He had a practice on Saturday at 3pm, while he was practicing, we went to Meijer down the street to get some groceries. The place was an absolute madhouse! Every single checkout lane was open and had at least a 15 minute wait. By the time we got done shopping and got back to the church, we had about 20 minutes to pass before the first performance, which took place at the 5pm service. We left as soon as the performance was done - we had to feed our dog and get the kids home, fed, bathed and in bed at a decent time. As it was, my oldest daughter fell asleep in church and didn't wake up until we got home.

The kids were in bed by 8pm and asleep by 9. I went to bed at midnight, well, I attempted to anyways. The baby woke up just as I was laying down, wanting to nurse. I had to get up at 6:30 the next morning. I got up at 6:30 and got myself ready, then woke up the rest of the clan at 7am to get dressed and out the door. Did I mention that it was blizzard conditions that morning? Being that there were 40mph winds, I let the van warm up for 30 minutes rather than my usual 10 or 15. The roads were nasty and visibility was worse. I had to drive the whole way with my hazards on, because there is a fuse out or a loose connection causing my tail lights not to light.

We got to church by 8am. I nursed the baby and got her dressed while my wonderful husband got the breads that I brought ready for the breakfast after the program at the 8:30 service. The kids performed, had breakfast and then went to Sunday school. I went to the nursery to feed the baby some Cheerios and crackers. And to change her clothes 2 more times because she managed to pee through 2 diapers within one hour. Then we went in for the 11am service and performance. We left as soon as the kids were done with that one. We were all tired and had had enough. We went to Meijer to pick up a few things that we had forgotten on Saturday and we bought our "big" family Christmas gift - a Wii. Yay!

We went home, had lunch and the kids watched a movie while Mom, Dad and baby napped. We were beat!

Political Correctness Gone Crazy

Why are people and/or government so intent on pushing their opinions and preferences on the rest of society?

1. Saying Merry Christmas - Seriously? If this offends you, why can't you just ignore it or just respond with a polite "Happy Holidays" or even just a "Have a nice day".
2. A man at work giving a woman a compliment is NOT sexist! If a man (or anybody) saying anything nice to you really offends you, either ignore it or politely ask them to stop. There is no need to involve superiors or lawyers.
3. "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance - If this offends you, just close your mouth when this part is said and jump back in on "indivisible..." Seriously, nobody will notice!
4. Smoking - I am not a smoker, but shouldn't business owners decide whether or not they want to allow people to smoke on their property?
5. Separation of church and state: "In God We Trust" and other religious items - Get over it! This country was founded by Christians, looking to be able to practice their religious beliefs without persecution. You can't change history. If you don't like it, ignore it! The colonists wanted separation, so that religious leaders wouldn't influence and control every aspect of how the nation was run. Separation does not equal obliteration.
6. Illegal immigrants - Why are people so concerned about offending people who don't belong here in the first place. If you aren't a citizen, why do you think you deserve to be treated like one?

Does EVERYTHING need to be an issue? I'm all for being polite and courteous, but political correctness is just out of control and impossible to accomplish.

You can't make everyone happy all of the time.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

I was listening to the "Rick and Scott Show" yesterday morning, substitute hosted by Allen Hunt. I enjoy Mr. Hunt, who is a former minister and now radio talk-show host who focuses on societal issues of right and wrong, not 'left' and 'right'. One of his topics today was asking how people are handling tightening their belts for Christmas.

One woman called in and told a story about her kids' wonderful demonstration of love and maturity. Basically, she is a wife and stay at home mom of 5 kids, I'm not sure what ages. Her family has weekly meetings (a really great idea) and at a recent family meeting, they were going to discuss with their kids about what one really special gift they would want for Christmas, without breaking the bank. Each and every kid told Mom and Dad what toys that they wanted. The special part is, as Mom found out later, the kids had their own meeting prior to the family meeting. They discussed their Christmas gifts and they knew that money was tight and they all agreed to only ask for gifts that were less than $10.

What wonderful kids! Obviously, they understand the TRUE meaning of Christmas and I think that the initiative that they showed is indicative of what good parenting they've received.

I can only hope that my kids are even moderately as compassionate as those kids are.

My All-Time Absolute Favorite Christmas Song

O Holy Night, as sung by Josh Groban




This song gives me chills up and down my spine. The beauty of it almost brings me to tears.