Tired!

EXHAUSTED! Finally caught up on my homework. Garage is almost civilized again. Kids are sweeping and picking up trash in there now. The dogs kinda trashed it while we were all sick. Bathroom.... is almost done. The toilet is defunkified, and man it was AWFUL... has been since we moved in: black hard water deposits, for instance... It's now an acceptably white toilet, thanks to baking soda, lemon juice, vinegar, comet, toilet bowl cleaner, a scrub brush, a steel wool pad, and a couple pairs of gloves. I said it was bad! To further my insanity, I got most of the tub cleaned before getting distracted by how horribly gunky the water handles were, and the white water deposits all over the gold (GAG!!!!) faucets. Yes, replacing all the gold crap IS on the to-do list... Someday. I was planning on just replacing them, but they were SO funky. So I sent Marissa after a flathead screwdriver, popped off the caps, and pulled off the handles. They are now crystal-clear hunks of cheap plastic again! Still on tonight's to-do list:

• Finish the tub (I ran outta hot water. Boo!)
• Clean the bathroom sink, and try not to rip the funky handles and faucet off of that!
• Bathroom floor, and then the bathroom will be done! Yay!
• Get a couple loads of laundry finished up and maybe folded.

I'll probably actually only get the tub finished.... and pretend I'm too busy to do the rest tomorrow! lol Baby steps towards a more motivated me, right?

I didn't forget!

I didn't forget about the blog! I just haven't had much to say lately. Getting ready for my daughter's birthday party this weekend, and I plan to make a bunch of food from Pinterest ideas to celebrate. And since the local WalMart has decided to stop carrying pinatas, a friend has very kindly offered to make one for us! That's a relief to me, because the artistic skills in my family tree didn't get passed on from my mom! So far, that leaves me with the cake and meal to make tomorrow through Friday (not getting started TOO early!) and decorating early Saturday. Very doable!

In other news, I found a bunch of spray bottles in cute and fun colors for $1 each at WalMart! They were in the gardening section, and they will work great for making my own sprayable cleaning supplies! I just need to snag something to print them some labels on so I can get started!

That's all from me today... More soon!

2 years?!?

I've had this damn blog for about 2 years now. What?!?! Nobody knew I had a blog?? Oh whew, good. Because it was mostly vapid whining about how life kinda sucks, and how much I hate cleaning. Good thing I deleted all 4 of those posts, huh?

This year, I actually plan to use this darn thing. Why? Because I discovered Pinterest, and have become a huge fan of the DIY beauty products and household cleaners. So far, I have made my own dry laundry soap (according to a recipe from The Duggar Family's website. They have a liquid version as well! and body wash from a bar of soap and water (still perfecting that one! Idea from here, link is to the "improved" method!)

With all the DIY laundry soaps out there, I'm sure you wanna know why I chose the one I did. Um, hello. They have like, a gazillion kids! I guarantee they have a ton of laundry, and they always look so neat and tidy. As such, I felt it safe to assume (hahaha) they knew their stuff. Let me say... I love it, love it, love it, and I will NEVER EVER EVER buy pre-made crap again. I do still use a Bounty dryer bar though. I love that thing, and I have such a bad memory that trying to remember to add a dryer sheet or add vinegar to the rinse water? Just not happening. As a result, my clothes simply smell clean, and FEEL clean too.

Oh, and for anyone on a super tight budget? DIY cleaning stuff is super cheap. Seriously. Lemon juice. Baking soda. Heck, the laundry soap I made we've used 6 bars of fels-naptha, 1 box of washing soda, and maybe half a box of borax so far. I won't need to make more for a few months at least (unless I give some away!) and have spent around $15... with Borax still left over. I had a piece of furniture that had dirt, grease, and crud (technical terms, yay!) caked onto the top of it. One swipe turned my rag into a blechy black mess. So I wiped down the top, had my daughter get me a half-bucket of water, sprinkled in some baking soda, sprinkled a tiny bit more onto the surface, and wiped. No hard scrubbing, and WOW it's clean. Anyway, as I was saying... SUPER cheap cleaning supplies, and if you're like me.... and on food stamps (I HATE admitting that, but someday we won't need them any more!!), then most of the supplies are COVERED BY YOUR CARD (The laundry soap wasn't, but the mats are still cheap!). Which means you won't need to set aside money for comet or whatever you use now. Huge savings? Not in some cases, depending on how crazy you are about cleaning, but if you're on a tight budget, you know every penny counts.

Also: Please comment and let me know how you think I'm doing. My purpose in this is to start my own home & self improvement blog, and share tips on stuff I personally make or use. My ideas generally come from stuff I find on Pinterest (my account here!) and some sound amazing, but not all ideas work well for me, and well... I'm lazy!!!