Me and My Shadow

Us.

This weekend has been blah.  And now it's pouring down rain- which it's supposed to do for the next three days.  Double blah.  It is so not fun to be stuck inside with a very active two year old.  I have no idea what we'll do, hopefully I'll get some divine inspiration in my dreams tonight.  Or maybe you have some ideas?

Ms. Clean, Ms. Clean

Anyone who knows me in real life is probably going to laugh out loud at this post because I can't stand to clean; I avoid it like white pants after Labor Day.  But this week's Show Us Your Life  at Kelly's Korner is about our best cleaning tips, which, oddly enough I am an expert on!  Well, an expert for the Lazy Person or Hates to Clean Person, but still knows it must be done.  Since I am not a fan of household chores, I've slowly figured out what works for me and what doesn't and I think I've got it down to a science.  So if you don't like to clean but can't afford someone to do it for you, I'm pretty sure these will help you out!

My Best Tips

Regular Maintenance & Upkeep

1.  Separate cleaning supplies:  I keep separate cleaning supplies in each area that needs regular attention.  Every bathroom has what it needs to be kept clean, the laundry room has it's supplies as does the kitchen. Trash bags in every area are a must as are paper towels!  This really helps because you can tackle something right when it happens instead of putting it off; my usually excuse was "Oh, I'll take care of it the next time I'm in here and I have my supplies.  Then I'd forget and the process would repeat itself.  And it really doesn't cost more either, because you run out of cleaning materials much less quickly then if you were just using one stash for everything.

2.  In the bathrooms:  I am a big fan of Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner.  It keeps your shower looking nice and fresh until you're ready to do a good scour and scrub.  And it makes that whole process much easier and quicker since there isn't that much left to do.  I also like the disposable, biogradeable toilet scrubbers that you can flush after using.  Those might be a little more expensive, but I hated looking at a nasty scrub brush and so I'd then throw it out and go buy a new one.  Scrubbing Bubbles is the only one of I know that is both disposable and biodegradeable, but if you know of others please let me know! 

3.  In the kitchen:  I don't have a dishwasher, except for me, and that really stinks.  But I refuse to use paper products so something's gotta give.  There really are only two options for avoiding a sink full of nasty dishes and those are- rinse off and leave in the sink for later or wash right away.  I usually wait until the end of the day to wash them, but it's much easier if I don't have to scrape off dried food particles.  I use a scrub brush and I soak it in bleach every night to get rid of any lingering bacteria.  Don't use sponges, they are nasty!

Even though I don't have a dishwasher now, I did for many years prior to living in this house.  So here is my tip for those of you lucky enough to have one (so everyone, right?);  buy these.  It's the Oxi-Clean Automatic Dishwashing Detergent, and when you use it you don't have to pre-rinse!  It always baffled me as to the purpose of a dishwasher if you had to pre-rinse everything before using it.  But with that detergent you don't have to PR and it gets the dishes clean on the first wash cycle.  (Am I the only one who lets a dish stay in the dishwasher for multiple cycles until it's clean?)  Of course, if you are one of those super lucky people, the best thing to have is a dishwasher that eliminates the need for the PR.  My parents got one a few months ago and let me tell you!  That bad boy can clean anything in one wash.  One day...

4.  All the other rooms:  I have a two year old so I need to do some type of carpet cleaning daily.  Since I don't like to lug out my huge vacuum every day (which means I'd end up leaving it out all the time) I have one of those little carpet sweepers.  Unless we have some type of disaster, it's what I use; it gets the job done both quickly and easily, plus it's very light weight and compact. Perfect!  I usually do a major carpet clean, wash, and vacuum every weekend or every other weekend, depending on what type of catastrophe has occurred. 

For the Big Clean

As unpleasant as it is, no matter how much maintenance and upkeep you do, you still have to have do a full house cleaning every so often.  In the winter I usually do it once a month but in the summer it's every two weeks.  For me, this is the best way:

1.  A fun playlist:  Have a great play list full of upbeat music with which you can sing along.  Nothing takes your mind of the task at hand better than a good song.  I mean, it's next to impossible not smile when Bon Jovi's Livin' On a Prayer is playing!

2.  Just clean, don't organize.  These are two separate tasks and if you attempt to do them both then you will get side tracked and end up getting very little accomplished.  I know that when I'm cleaning it can be very easy to want to sort and alphabetize and all those type of things, but it really is just another way for me to avoid doing the nitty-gritty cleaning.

3.  Give yourself a break.  I either take a 10 minute break after each room or every hour.  It helps to keep my energy levels up and at the beginning of every room or 50 minutes, it's in the back of my mind that if I can just get through this, I can relax for a few minutes.  (I take this approach with studying, too.)

4.  Do your best to keep the kiddos out of the house.  I know it's not always possible, but for me, it's next to impossible to do a major cleaning with Spencer in the house.  The best and most efficient way you can clean your house is to do it alone.  Plus it's easier to rock out to your music if no one is around, haha!

5. Clean one room at a time.  Accomplish your task and move on, don't clean all the windows in the house- do all the windows in in one room.  This way, if something happens and you have to stop, you at least have one or two rooms finished rather than a bunch of rooms done half-way.

6.  Wash, Dust, and then Vacuum.  The vacuuming should be your last step in the process because you don't want to have to do it multiple times.  And it gives a nice sense of completion to a room.

I hope you learned a few things you didn't know before.  I know that I'm always trying to find new ways to make cleaning easier, so please tell me if you have any great tips!

Sweet Feet

Would you ever believe that these are the feet of my Spencer?  She's only two and a half, but she has the feet of a five year old- or so the sizing charts tell me.  But I love those sweet, stinky, sweaty feet!  

Even if she does outgrow her shoes at an alarmingly fast rate.

Power Tools

We were in North Carolina all of last week.  On Friday evening Spencer's cousin came up to spend the weekend with his grandparents, who live just down the mountain side.  They'd met once before when she had just turned one, but they were both completely oblivious to one another.  This time they were both fascinated by each other.

After tagging along with the grown-ups while they were walking the dogs, Spencer and her cousin moved right on to the next logical thing:  power tools!  To be more specific, a Fischer Price "Power Saw."  His grandparents had already split a piece of wood for him, so he could pretend that he sawed all of the way through the log.  They took turns, but Spencer just couldn't quite get it.  So her cousin gave her little lesson and how to best wield such a powerful piece of machinery. hehe

Showing her how to do it "right"

Then they decided they'd had enough of that and they moved right along to Poppy's tractor.  Spencer might have been willing to be more demure where the power saw was concerned, but not when it came to the tractor!  She was going to drive it and that was that.  (The engine was off and the keys were not in the ignition)  He didn't seem too mind too much and provided a nice soundtrack of tractor noises while Spencer was "driving"

She's thinking that this sharing stuff is for the birds...

Edging her way over

Making her move...

And going in for the win - a toddler on a mission.

And when the day was over, they weren't just cousins- they were friends, too.

A Girl's Best Friend

Meet Leah.  

She is Great-Gran's 10 month old Shih-Poo.  For those of you not familiar with the all-of-a-sudden ubiquitous "Poo" dogs- she is a half of a pure bred Shih-Tzu and half of a pure bred Tea Cup Poodle.  I was never a huge fan of these "designer dogs."  Until now.  Leah is the perfect dog!  She has her issues, as all dogs do, but she is sweet, gentle, fun, and most important- she loved my Spencer! 
 
I'm very careful with Spencer and dogs- especially small dogs, since she often mistakes them for toys.  I know she wouldn't mean to hurt a dog, but a two year old and 7lbs dog don't always make a good outcome.  But Spencer was as gentle as I've ever seen her and Leah was a happy little camper.  There were times I had to "rescue" Leah from Spencer's clutches, but that was mostly at the beginning of the week when she was figuring out her boundaries. 

When we left North Carolina yesterday, Spence kept saying "I love Leah!  I want Leah!" She talked about her in the car ride home and even dreamed about her last night.  (I know this because Spencer talks in her sleep!)  I'm thinking this might be a friendship to last span the ages...

Princess Spencer and her Little Dog, too!

A New 'Do

It's good to get back to my blog, especially since Jennisa at Once Upon a Blog worked her magic and crafted me this new look you see here!  She was so wonderful to me and really made sure I was getting what I wanted.  Thank you SO much!

Spencer and I have spent the last week in the Middle of Nowhere, North Carolina with her PGP's and PGGP's.  We just got back tonight and I am super tired.  But I have some great pictures and some even better stories to share with ya'll.  For now, I'm going to bed and I'll be back tomorrow to fill you in on our wonderful week!

Charity

I've been meaning to do a post about my favorite charities for a long time now, so I was excited when I saw that it was this week's topic for Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner.  I've been thinking about charity and "giving back" a lot recently.

Ever since I was a little girl I've always been very aware that there were people (and animals) who needed our help.  My first experience with a charity came at the young age of four.  While my mom was talking on the phone I started watching a documentary about sea otters and before I knew it, they were showing the cute little creatures being clubbed to death and all sorts of other things.  I cried and cried and when I saw the number to help save them flashing across the screen, I tried to call them. My mom put an end to that and I was SO mad at her!  I still remember how sad I was and how helpless I felt.  A year later, after watching one of those Save the Children commercials, I called the number to sponsor a child.  When the operator asked how old I was, I responded "five years old."  I was not successful in my attempt. (Or my second try a week later!)

Basically, that lengthy exposition was meant to explain that giving to charities has always been something very important me.  And while I was always trying to give away my parents money when I was younger, it wasn't until I got to college that I became an active donor to the causes near and dear to me.  I minored in African Studies and I was really convicted to start giving in any way I could.  As luck would have it, I became a Kappa Kappa Gamma my sophomore year and our philanthropy was UNICEF.  We did all kinds of things to raise money and I loved knowing that our donations were being put to such good use. I also got the benefit of learning the best ways to help,  how to watch for unscrupulous and wasteful spending of money, and just how great of a need for our help that there was.

I am an avid supporter of UNICEF.   Their mission is to save lives by "ensuring that all children have access to basic education and by focusing on children marginalized by poverty, HIV/AIDS, conflict and discrimination." They do this by providing families with clean water and sanitation, vaccination against childhood illness, and protecting children against malaria.  UNICEF fights starvation by providing nutritional food rather than just food to fill their stomachs, protecting children from abuse and giving them an education.  They're not only concerned about today, but also the future of these of these kids- the ultimate goal is break the self-perpetuating cycle of poverty; and I think that's pretty great!  Charity Navigator gives them a 4-Star ranking, which they've had for the last five years.  They spend just a little less than 10% on administration costs and over 90% of their donations are used directly in their life-saving programs.

My heart is on my sleeve where my Africa is concerned and I'm always interested in helping in any way that I can.  So when I began reading about a group of bloggers going to Kenya on behalf of Compassion International, I was intrigued.  As I read some of their posts and stared at their pictures, I could feel myself wanting to sponsor a child so badly.  Then I saw it was going to cost $38 a month and there was no way I could afford that.  I kept going back to the same blog This Is Reverb, and I couldn't get his words or images out of my head.  My inner voice was telling me that this was something I needed to do, something I had to do.  So where was this extra $38 a month going to come from?

I was trying to think of ways I could make the extra money and I hadn't come  up with anything promising.  While I was going through my email, my BlogHer weekly newsletter popped up into my inbox.  And that's when I had my "Ah, Ha" moment.

Up until yesterday there was only one BlogHer ad on here.  Awhile ago I had thought about adding a second one, but I realized I'd have to have to have three ads and I didn't want three adds, so I stuck with my one.  But more ads means more revenue and that's what I was looking for.  I did some quick calculations about how much more revenue my traffic would generate if I ran a few more ads and I found out that if I added those two, I would be able to afford sponsoring a child.  So that's what I did!  I set it up so that all revenue from my new ads will go directly into my Compassion account.  I am now the proud sponsor of a little girl named Ega!  She's from Kenya, is five years old, and lives in an area devastated by HIV/AIDS.  She'd been on the waiting list for more than 6 months, which is a very long time, and was deemed "high priority."  I knew she was the one I was meant to sponsor.

Since this is my first time doing anything with Compassion, I don't think it's right for me to say "go sponsor one of their children!"  But I do think you should have a look at the blog I mentioned earlier so you can really get the right perspective.  But I did some research and Charity Navigator awarded it with four stars and only 8% of their donations are used on administrative costs.

I think one of the reasons I most excited about this is because it's something Spencer and I can eventually do together.  I want her to understand the importance of helping others who are less fortunate. I think this is a really great way for her to get involved and when she's a little older she'll be able to write and email  Ega!

Another great charity that I support is Bead for Life.  Spencer's MiMi told me about it and she gave me two of their beautiful bracelets. Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads, The beaders and tailors are primarily impoverished women who want to make a better life for themselves.  They make gorgeous handcrafted paper beads from recycled paper and turn them into necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.  Because the beaders use recycled, colorful paper, the beads help prevent environmental degradation.  "What was trash becomes beauty, money, food, and hope."  You can help by having a "Bead Party" or shopping at their store. They'll even ship you everything you need to host a party at no cost to you- it's free.  And they make such beautiful jewelry!

These bracelets are only $5 a piece. 

"To whom much is given, much is expected" and Spencer and I have been given so much.  If I can leave this world a better place than when I entered it, I will hopefully have held up my end of that bargain. 

More Show You How Live Posts

My Ministry

Project Runway

I Resolve

Other Charities That I Support

The Alzheimer's Association 
Fight SMA & The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation

Following On Friday

It's time for Friday Follow again! I love finding new blogs to read and meeting new readers. For the rules, you can check out my last FF post or just head on over to the blog hop by clicking on the button. I hope some of my regular followers will get involved this week because it really is a lot of fun- and it's easy as pie! For you new readers, here are a few "Get to Know Me Posts."

In the Beginning

My Daughter
Single Mom Status

Forget Me Not

My Girl Likes Her Park

We spent the last few days and nights with Spencer's PGPs.  They really helped me out by watching her so I could go to class, study for my tests, and take my tests.  And of course they love getting to spend time with her, so it was a win-win for all of us.  They didn't even complain when she woke up at 5:30am to get in bed with them (which is code for jumping on the bed while watching Dora) and they let me sleep in! 

After I finished one of my quizzes yesterday we all went to the park.  Spencer LOVES the park.  She had her own little agenda of what she wanted to do and when she wanted to do it.  So I just stood back and let her go at it.  (Okay, maybe stand back isn't the right word. Hovering is probably a more accurate description!  What can I say?  I'm a little paranoid where she's concerned!) And she didn't even mind me taking pictures- she even posed and said "cheese" without me having to ask! I would have taken a thousand pictures if I could, but my camera battery chose then to die on me.  Such is life.  But here are a few of my favorites.

Spencer The Charmer!  

She was making "eyes" at this little boy and then kept following her around.  I actually think he reminded her of Diego, because, well, she called him Diego.  Probably not the most PC thing in the world, but his mom thought it was cute and we laughed about it.  I'm thinking that I'm going to have my hands full when she's a teenager!

A is For Embarrassing

I promised you some Katie Embarrassment and I'm here to deliver.  It all started on Monday night when I had a test in my Sociology class.  I studied for it, but nothing like the way I work my butt off for Anatomy.  You see, I took a government sociology class at W&M, but for some reason the nursing program here doesn't count that as "real." Now I'm having to take SOC 101- which means that even though I'm learning a lot of new information, some of it is also a repeat/overlap of my last class.

So when I sat down next to my "class friend" she was feverishly looking at her 100+ note cards that she made to prepare for our test.  She asked me if I studied and I was all yeah, but not too much. I should've studied more, so who knows how I'm going to do. (Big Mistake)

We take the test and I thought it went fine; I knew most of the answers and I felt okay about it.  After everyone was finished, our teacher went to run them through the scantron machine while everyone chatted about how they thought they did.  Once again, I was all I think I did okay, not great, and there were some questions I didn't know.  I wasn't trying to lie, but no one likes that person; the one who talks about how easy the test was and how great they think they did. 

Our teacher comes back in shaking his head. Out of the 50 student in our class we had managed to make the wonderful average of a 67.  Because he's a really nice teacher, his rule is that the class average needs to be a 75; so in this case everyone would be getting an extra 8 points added to their final test grade. But we'd have to wait til the end of class to find out how we did.  (That's his trick to keep students from leaving after the test- if you're not there when he passes them back out then he counts you as absent). The lecture begins and it's kinda interesting- I'm having no problem keeping myself from daydreaming.

Now here's the thing you have to understand- people in this class don't ask questions.  Most of them just sit there, some sleep, and others play games on their indiscreetly hidden cell phones.  Also, all 50 students where in there because it was a test day- usually only about 25 show up.

And that's when I did it:  I asked a question.

The teacher looked at me and smiled.  Then he said, "That's a great question!  That's the kind of question that makes me teach instead of just talking to all of you who aren't listening."  My face began to turn pink as every pair of eyes turned toward me. (Which was pretty easy to do, as I was sitting directly in the middle of the room)  I tried to shrink in my chair as I could feel the negative vibes radiating in my direction.

It got worse.

Our teacher then said something like this: (I can't remember verbatim, but this is almost word-for-word)   

You're Katie, right? Katherine?

I shook my head, yes.   

Class, she's the only one who's yet to ask a question and guess what?  She's the only one who got an A on this test!  And she got an A before the extra points were added!

(Oh, it get's worse.)

Let me ask you a question- I have a theory about these kind of things.  Did your parents pay you for good grades? 

With my mouth agape, I should my head no.

Were your parents the "B is for Bad" type?" 

I managed to squeak out "Yes, sir."

He smiled again and said that this  just re-proved his theory about parenting styles and learning.  Something about how parents who pay their kids for good grades aren't instilling a love of learning into their child. Instead, they've turned it into a chore rather than making it an "intellectual lifelong journey." (he actually said that! "intellectual lifelong journey.") And that your attitude about learning extends into adulthood; I didn't just want a good grade- I wanted to learn something new "just for the sake of knowledge." 

At that point into this tangent I was hearing his words, but that's about it.  Then for the next few minutes he talked more about why we needed to ask more thought provoking questions. My "class friend" was glaring at me, everyone was staring at me with looks of disdain, and I was just sitting there like a deer caught in the headlights.  And we still had over an hour of class left!  Mercifully, after this 10 minute "discussion" about me, my grades, my parents, and my question, he made his way back to what he'd been talking about in the first place.  It was sweet, sweet relief when I finally realized that the stares and glares had stopped (mostly).

You're probably thinking it can't get any worse.  Of course this is me we're talking about, so you'd be wrong.  About 15 minutes before class was supposed to end, our teacher finished his lecture and started getting ready to hand back our tests.  So I'm packing up my things, trying not to draw any more attention to myself, when he calls out the first name; it's me.  As I'm making my way to the front of the room he tells me that I can go home now, but everyone else has to stay!  He wanted to talk to the rest of the class about the poor performance on the test and ways to help them improve their grades and I didn't need to stay for that.

But I'm not sitting down in the middle row this time - now I'm standing at the front of the class!  I can actually see everyone's mean looks at me- and it was everyone. I wanted to put my head down and stare at my toes, but I somehow managed to keep my head up.  After getting my test I tried to fake a smile and I said goodnight to everybody. I've never been so happy to leave a class before!

I was plum full of righteous indignation and was all "how dare they" during the 30 minute drive home. It was just me yelling out loud to no one in particular about how unfair it all was, how people are so mean, how I never should have asked him that question, how I never should've said that I didn't study very much, etc.  And then I started to get mad at myself for being mad at myself.  I didn't do anything wrong!  I made an A on a test, I asked a question about something I really wanted to know the answer to, and I received praise from my teacher.  Those aren't such bad things.

And that's how I'm choosing to think about it all right now.  It annoys me that the other people were so easily able to make me feel embarrassed about something which I should be, and am, proud.  It was an unpleasant reminder that I still care too much about what other people think.

We went over to my parent's house tonight for dinner and I was telling my dad this story. It's Wednesday night- two days after the "incident,"  but it wasn't until he pulled me in for a hug and told me how proud he was of me that I truly started to not feel that embarrassment.  If my dad is proud me, I should be proud of me.  Period. End of story.

And that's the end of this Katie Embarrassment episode.  Since next week is our spring break it'll be awhile before I have to face my classmates again.  I'm hoping that by then they'll have forgotten what happened.  I'm hoping by then I won't if they've forgotten or not.

Spencer's ABC's and Other Assorted Letters

You might think you know the correct way to sing the ABC's, but you don't.  To be sure, Spencer Elizabeth knows exactly how the song goes and where every letter belongs.  And you better not try and interrupt her aria of letters, lest you want to get an earful of "Spencer TRY!  Spencer TRY- Don't Sing Mommy!"  (Insert your own name where Mommy goes.)  I'm usually the only one who dares to try and re-guide the direction of a song that's begone to wonder away into Spencer Land.  So please enjoy my little Singing Songstress Spencer as she dazzles her way through those 26 letters in the English alphabet!

Lots, Heaps, Bundles, and More

I'll be back with a real post soon, I promise.  Life has been busy, busy.  I just finished a sociology test tonight and I have to take an anatomy quiz tomorrow morning.  We have our spring break next week, so there's always so much to do in the weeks right before it.  Ugh.

On Saturday I have an all day anatomy lab- 8am-4:30pm. Double Ugh.  We will also be taking two tests!  Who does that?  So I am trying to avoid that scary place where I get super stressed.  Which actually means I've buried my head in the sand about all that's coming up in the next 4-5 days.  One day at a time, right?

After I take my quiz my tomorrow I plan on rewarding myself with a blog writing break, so I'll be able to do some updates and recaps of what's happening in our world.  And I have a pretty good, highly embarrassing story that I need to tell ya'll!