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Category: randomness

  • NaNoWriMo

    “NaNoWriMo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides tools, structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds — on and off the page.”

    I used to be pretty good at writing regularly.

    Then I got this crazy idea to work on a PhD and my “for fun” writing went out the window. I got to the point where I despised having to write. I never finished my dissertation. Yep, I am ABD (all but dissertation). One of the few things I put my mind to but failed. All was not lost. In the process I learned how to research and GREATLY improved my writing skills.

    I have so many ideas in my head that I want to write about, but have struggled to get started.

    I am probably not going to write a novel this month…

    But my goal is to write a blog post every day in November. Hopefully that will kick-start me back into writing regularly. Although I am not using NaNoWriMo to do the writing, I love the organization and spirit behind it!

    Go check them out…maybe you can write a novel this month!

    😉

  • Contracted Datana

    I went out to the front one evening to look at the clouds as a storm as blowing in.  As I was walking back up the path to front door, I could hear this weird crunching noise, like something chewing.  I walked over to one of our two trees in the yard and noticed that 2 big branches were just skeletons!  The leaves were all gone!

    I ran in and got Wade so he could take a look and grabbed my iPad to look up what they were. They are Contracted Datana and apparently they just eat until they are finished and then move on to another tree. There was no suggestion on what to do, so Wade cut the branches that contained the worms (they were in giant clusters!), and we put them in a bucket of scalding water with a drop of dish soap (to remove the surface tension). They all drowned.

    A month later and they still have not returned.

  • Vonage

    About 2 years ago we decided to do away with AT&T Uverse (and just kept the internet). We replaced our land line with Vonage, which is VoIP. Having a newer house, all of the phone lines are actually cat 5 cabling. (Funny thing when we moved in…I complained that we did not have any traditional phone wiring. Duh.)

    Since Vonage is done through the mail, I hooked it up like it said in the directions. I just plugged it into my router. Well…that limits the phone to 1 line. We have those expandable phones where only the base has to be plugged in, but we only have 3 additional ones and we have more placed we like to have a phone.

    Not sure why now that I am typing this because in all reality, we use our cell phones for everything. But anyway…

    About a year ago we had to have AT&T out for something and the guy was REALLY nice and told me how to hook up the Vonage box so i worked throughout the whole house. Another duh moment for me. I could have figured it out had I thought about it.

    Basically you take the Vonage box, and hook it directly into the cable box for the house. After 2 years, I know have a working phone next to my bed again. 🙂

  • The BEST Shower Cleaner in the WORLD!

    Yes, I am that excited about this, that I used caps!

    I hate cleaning the shower.  I always have.  We went with a solid marble shower when we built the house in hopes that would be easier to clean.  It is.  But I still hate doing it!  My cleaning routine is as follows:

    • Mold builds up in the caulk lines
    • The floor turns a weird orange color
    • Time to clean
    • Spray the caulk with the strongest mold and mildew cleaner
    • Sprinkle with Comet, let it sit for an hour
    • Scrub off the chunks (or until my elbows fall off)
    • Forget the soap scum on the walls, it is white like the marble

    I know…it is gross.  Just keeping it real.

    Pinterest is FILLED with cleaning “miracles” most of which I am skeptical about.  I made the laundry detergent which I have been really happy with.  The few other things I have tried…not so happy with.  When I stumbled across this shower cleaner and people swore up and down that it worked, well I had to try it out myself.

    The main ingredients are extra strength vinegar (pickling vinegar), dawn dish soap and a spray bottle.  The vinegar is what does the trick.  The dish soap just adds thickness to it.  Some suggested using cornstarch or flour to thicken it up…I tried it and it does not work as well.  Stick with the Dawn.

    Heat up the vinegar until it is almost boiling (about 4 minutes in my microwave for 3 cups). CAUTION: The smell is STRONG! Don’t inhale it or you will burn your nose/lungs! Mix in about 2T of dawn, or just enough to thicken it up. Put it in the spray bottle and spray on the shower. I let it sit for about 15 minutes.

    OH.MY.WORD.

    It worked!

    The 1 inch thick layer of soap scum wiped off fairly easily! I was so giddy with excitement, I got out the scrub brush and with a few strokes, the shower was clean! This picture does not do it justice. (And since I did not believe it would really work I did not take a before picture.)  You can see the window reflection on the wall and the water drops.  That WAS a layer of soap scum!

    *This will not do anything about the mold and mildew though.  I guess I will have to keep bleach on hand for that.

  • The Shoe Basket

    Since my family is from the north, I grew up taking off my shoes when I entered the house.  You wouldn’t want to track in snow and mud!  But I have lived in Texas my WHOLE life, so the snow is not really an issue.  Taking off your shoes when you enter the house is just a habit (unless you are Wade and then you don’t understand the point).  Either way, taking off your shoes helps keep the floors clean.

    We have always had 2 wicker baskets behind the couch right by the door.  The get filled with dirt, sand and dog hair, not to mention we usually have a pile of shoes outside of the baskets.  In an effort to make it look at tad bit nicer, I cut pieces for a shoe cabinet at the same time as the laundry room cabinets.  These I decided needed a door though to hide the innards.

    I had some scrap beadboard (wainscoting) left over from the girls desks that I decided to use on the inset of the door. I have never built frames or cabinets before so this was an experiment for me. I set up the table saw and made a small 1″ line through the frame pieces to insert the beadboard.

    I had to make 2 passes to get the track wide enough to fit the beadboard. Then I assembled the frame around it. Not too bad for my first time!

    For this project I opted to paint it before assembling it (since I did already have the pieces cut).  I used a metallic oil based paint that I just love!  I could have added 3 tracks and put in another basket…but that would mean more shoes would get put in here instead of the closets.

    We now have a nice place to hide our shoes!  (These are iPhone pics, so they are a bit grainy…just trying to get caught up on blog posts.)

  • Refrigerator Motherboard

    Who knew that the newer refrigerators have motherboards?

    Last summer, our fridge started making this weird revving noise about every 2 hours.  We did not think much of it and just ignored it.  Around Thanksgiving, the ice maker stopped dispensing ice.  It still made ice, but nothing would come out when you pushed the lever.  Fast forward to April…we had a storm come through on Friday evening and the power went out.  When it came back on, the fridge no longer worked…AT ALL.

    After doing some research, I found that refrigerators have motherboards in them.  And there just so happened to be a recall for ours.  The bad news was that we were over the 5 year mark and the recall was no longer valid.  It was going to cost $100 to have a repairman come out and look at the fridge, or there was a motherboard on Amazon for around $100.  With $100 gone either way…we took our chances.

    It was just like replacing the motherboard of a computer (which I am VERY familiar with since I have built my computer from scratch the last several years). Voila! A working fridge AND the ice dispenser worked again! Who knew???

  • Losing a cell phone

    In the 16 years I have had a cell phone, I have yet to lose one.

    When Wade and I got iPhones 4 years ago, they did not have insurance on them.  Fine.  We have never needed it before…so no big deal.  Well…that all changes when you drop your phone in a lake and can’t reach it.  I still have not *lost* a phone.

    Luckily I keep everything backed up or in the cloud so I was not too concerned, I would just call AT&T on Monday and get a new phone.

    WRONG!

    I was informed that since I did not have insurance (which is now offered) and my contract was not up until October 2013, I would have to pay retail for the phone…to a tune of $650!!!  After searching I found that iPhone 4s are in demand and you basically can’t find them unless you want to pay the $650.  Sorry, I just can’t stomach that.  If I had insurance (at $7 a month), then I would just have to pay for a new phone at the new contract price ($200).

    I started looking and found that to add a line it would only be $10 more dollars a month.  Wade and I have talked about having another phone for the girls if they go somewhere to take with them.  So…I ordered a refurbished iPhone 4s and when it came in, activated it to my number and bought a cheap phone from WalMart for the additional number.  Even at $10 a month for the next 2 years, plus the cost of a new phone, that $390 is still cheaper than $650!!!

    Is it cheating?  Yes.  But we have had our account since 1992…they have made some money on us in those 20 years.  I don’t feel so bad.

  • Pinterest Project #2- Homemade Laundry Detergent

    Yes, I am slightly addicted.

    Today I decided to make homemade laundry detergent and dish washing detergent (which I did not get one thing…so that will be a later post).

    WHY did I decide to do this (was the first thing Wade asked when he walked in the door)? No, it is not about saving the environment and being all granola. Although I would enjoy that, it would be impossible in my right-winged conservative house. It was about saving money.

    I am not ashamed to admit Wade and I are Tide snobs. It makes our clothes smell SOOOOOO good. But after months of experimenting we found that the added Febreeze makes us both itchy, so we went on a laundry detergent hunt. We have been using Gain, and it is ok, but nothing like Tide. But whatever we choose, it is still pretty expensive. We pay around $17-20 a container that lasts about 40 loads. (Roughly 6-8 loads a week means we are buying it every 5 weeks.)

    In comes Pinterest with all of its crafty goodness! Here is the original link:

    Being Creative

    Yes, I followed it exactly and am hoping I can go 9 months without buying laundry detergent!

    Cost breakdown from Walmart (about $25…but that includes a $10 container):
    Container- $9.97
    1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz)- $3.38
    1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg)- $2.08
    1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz)- $3.24
    3 bars of Fels-naptha soap, found in the detergent isle- $2.91
    2 small containers of store brand oxyclean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg))- $3.92

    Initial thoughts…so far I have done 4 loads of laundry with it (about 2 tablespoons per load). Our clothes come out smelling…clean not overly fragranced. I can’t tell about stains yet, I have 2 girls that don’t get too messy. I am not a fan of powders, I don’t think they work as well, but so far I am pleased. I tried first putting the powder in the water then adding the clothes, I also tried mixing a small cup with water and 2T of powder and then lastly I put the powder directly on the clothes. It all seemed to work the same. I will update in a few months and let you know how much I use before I have to get new detergent!

  • In case you were wondering…

    If someone by accident turns the old fridge that is super cold, even colder, it will freeze the sodas and this is what they look like when they explode.

  • Unclaimed Baggage

    Have you ever wondered what happens to all the luggage that never gets claimed at the airport?  Ok…so maybe you haven’t.  But when you travel for work A LOT, you start thinking about things like this.

    Meet the Unclamied Baggage store in Scottsboro, Alabama.

    The place is so big there is a map of the departments when you walk in.  It is kind of like a big Marshalls, except all of the stuff in here came out of someone’s luggage that got left behind at the airport, or in the overhead bins, or ripped apart getting on/off on the plane. And some of the luggage was not that of other people, but brand new stuff that was shipped over from China (or where ever the clothing sweat shop is located).

    Some of the locals were telling me that they have some great bargains, but like any place like that, you have to know when the shipments come in and you have to be willing to search.

    I am all about resale and hand-me downs, but the rows of underwear bothered me a bit.

    I was shocked at the number of digital cameras. Most were marked about $20. They had a big counter that you could take the cameras out and actually test them. (And the laptops, and ipads, and ipods, etc…)

    My favorite thing in the whole store actually had NOTHING to do with unclaimed baggage. As I mentioned in the previous posts, I am a total 80’s girl. They have a huge display of things from the movie the Labyrinth. How cool is that??? (Well…I thought it was cool!)