Family Musings

Want to know one of the awesome things about finding a great product at an amazing price? It's that you can stock up on it and not have to buy it for 2 or 3 years. Want to know one of the worst things about having that stock pile for so long? It's that you don't pay attention to the fact that all of the companies who make said product had reformulated it and none of the new products work as well as what you had. And that folks, is what happened to me last spring. I used up my 3+ year old stock pile of dishwasher detergent and was left with nothing that actually got my dishes clean. Talk about frustrating... I was washing my dishes before I put them in my dishwasher and they still weren't coming clean. So, once I figured out it wasn't my machine and that it had something to do with the phosphorous being removed from all of the detergents, I set out on a quest. A quest to find something that would clean my dishes the first time, without a lot of pre-washing. ...

I'll admit it. I'm kind of a geek in that I like to watch documentaries. My favorite so far this year has been Helvetica , a documentary devoted to the famous font. It really was quite fascinating. Trust me. I was searching for Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead based on the recommendation of a couple of friends who had seen in and within 2 minutes, I'd added 13 documentaries to my Netflix instant streaming queue. It is almost certain that I won't agree with the perspective of all of the film makers, but it will be interesting to compare all the different viewpoints and perspectives. So, here is a list of the documentaries I've added. There is a definite theme here and you'll see that they all deal with food or water as it relates to our health or how we treat it as a resource. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead Deconstructing Supper Ingredients Broken Limbs The Future of Food Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution What's On Your Plate The Real Dirt on Far...

I love my purple hair. It makes me happy. It is an ice breaker with strangers. It keeps me from being pigeon-holed as a typical suburban, conservative stay at home mom. But I miss my no 'poo routine . I liked using baking soda and apple cider vinegar to clean my hair. It felt a little softer and was cleaner. However, the purple highlights mean no baking soda in the hair. It would strip all the color I just spent money putting in. So what to do... how should I keep my curly hair soft, manageable, and lovely? I only wash it on average twice a week right now because otherwise it gets dried out. I was doing some random blog hopping tonight and found this book called Curly Girl: The Handbook . And it sounds like exactly what I need. What really got me is that one of the bullet points on the cover is the "No Shampoo Epiphany." So mom, you wanted to know what was on my Christmas list. Well, now you know at least one thing. And you can just print the order confirmation fo...

My 30 days ended last weekend and I have no plans to discontinue my baking soda/apple cider vinegar hair care program. I made it the entire month without using traditional shampoo. And you know what, it wasn't any harder to use BS and ACV than it was to use the drugstore stuff. Plus, I like my hair a lot better! (Ha! I love this cartoon on the left I found at Babs blog. It cracks me up!) I didn't think to take a before picture, but just imagine it a lot frizzier and less manageable than the following picture. I assure you anyone who knows me in real life can vouch for that! So, this is no longer experiment. It is now going to be my way of life. Yes, I will still have to fight the almost 100% humidity of  Florida, but that is okay... I now have better tools. Let me know what you think? Anyone other than Luke or Babs going to follow my lead?

Just wanted to check in and let ya'll know I am still happy with my no 'poo experiment. My hair is most definitely less frizzy and I find I can go longer until my hair reaches the ball cap stage. It used to be that my washed and styled hair would last about 2 days and by the third day I had to wear a ball cap if I didn't want to wash it again. I only did the baking soda rinse one time last week and the ACV rinse twice and I ended not having to resort to wearing a hat at all. My hair is definitely into the more greasy than usual phase, but yet, it isn't yet gross. I found that when I did the baking soda rinse this week, I had to rinse and repeat. It may be that I didn't use enough baking soda for the initial rinse, so I repeated it and got that squeaky clean feeling again. I have reached the conclusion that my hair may never be completely frizz free. I live in Florida ya'll. It is humid here, like walking around in a swimming pool some days. Of course, if I...

If you have been paying attention, you know that I gave up traditional shampoo and conditioner 2 weeks ago. I went no 'poo , and so far I have no regrets. Day 8 - I didn't do anything with my hair except pull the front back with some clips. Day 9 - Same as day 8. Day 10 - Had planned to rinse my hair with apple cider vinegar (ACV), but woke up too late. Just pulled the front back with more clips. Day 11 - Um, woke up late again. I guess it will be more clips to keep my hair off my face. It doesn't feel bad at all, but the frizz is creeping in a little bit. Really wish I had rinsed it yesterday. Day 12 - I think sleep is more important than hair and don't take the time to do anything to it. Day 13 - My hair is starting to feel a little slimy from not getting any water or anything for almost an entire week. I have definitely been showering, but didn't want to waste time with my hair while my VIP is in town. Day 15 (April 30) - I finally had time to properly rinse ...

Thirty days ago I decided to go 'poo-free. That meant I was casting aside my organic lavender-eucalyptus shampoo in exchange for baking soda and apple-cider vinegar. Hair Prep - I spent the last two weeks using less shampoo, less frequently. In between actual shampoo uses, I just rinsed out my hair. It has probably been shampoo'ed and conditioned only three times in 14 times. Not exactly sure why I did this, except maybe in an attempt to gently wean my hair from shampoo. Day 1 (April 16) - Mixed ~1 tablespoon with baking soda (BS) in a cup with warm water. Wet hair just a bit and then poured the BS over my head in stages, working it in as I went. Some did trickle down my face and it tasted salty. (Duh!) Then, when I was rinsing the BS out, I actually heard my hair squeak! Next, I mixed ~1 tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar (ACV) with more warm water in the same cup and poured that over my hair in stages as well. ACV in the eyes doesn't really sting, but it isn't comfor...

Use cloth napkins for meals and instead of paper towels. Dilute my dish soap to make it stretch farther and to add less sulfate to the water supply. Recycle used soda cans and try to just use 2-liters at home. Keep air conditioning set as high as my body will regularly tolerate (currently 76 degrees) and use fans to make up the difference. Purchase toys and clothing from resale shops. Gave up bottled water in favor of a reusable cup. Walk to the grocery store, drug store, and bank during day light hours instead of driving. Print my internet coupons on both sides of the paper. Drive a small car and my husband rides a motorcycle to conserve fuel. Live in a townhouse with a small footprint. Use electronic bill pay instead of paper checks and envelopes. Turn off electronic equipment at a central point to avoid phantom power drain. Next week I will share with you the green things that I am not quite willing to do or am still on the fence in considering them. What do you do to...

I love to read. It used to be, pre-Charlotte, that I could read a decent sized book in just a day or two. Once she came along, I took to reading more on-line though since I couldn't hold a book and a nursing baby at the same time. That was when I discovered blogging. It never really occurred to me though, that I could read a book on my computer. I had downloaded some cook books in PDF format, but never novels or non-fiction. Now though, as e-books grow in popularity, there are so many titles available. And, just like in the real world, there are niche publishers that focus on special topics - even green living. Think about it, doesn't an e-book publisher that focuses on environmental issues make sense? Of course it does. EcoBrain is a relatively new e-book publisher that does just that, and then some. They even have an Environmental Mission Statement ! They publish e-books about the environment , sustainable living , outdoor activities , and even the business of being green. I...

I've always tried to pay attention to what I use when I clean the house. (No jokes about the when part allowed!) But now that I have a little one ready to crawl all over everything, it seems more important that I use products that are non-toxic. I've read about Basic H in several places and might just give it a try, especially if I win this week's giveaway from Crunchy Domestic Goddess . One thing I am already doing to help make the world a little bit greener is to not use all of the lights in my classroom. Now, during FCAT testing they will all be on. We don't want anyone thinking it is nap time. But in the normal course of teaching, I just don't need that much light for the students to see properly.