Eco-Friendly Alternatives for Everyday Cleaning...

following list provided today by boat-dweller guest blogger mama Cindy Wallach at TheGreenMamas.com blog ;)

Instead of using... Use these Eco-Friendly Alternatives

• Bleach... Borax
  
  
• Detergent & Soap... Elbow grease
  
  
• Scouring Powders... Baking soda. Or rub area with one-half lemon dipped in borax, then rinse
  
  
• General Cleaner... Baking soda and vinegar. Or lemon juice combined with borax paste
  
  
• Floor Cleaner... One cup vinegar + 2 gallons of water
  
  
• Window Cleaner... One cup vinegar + 1 qt. warm water. Rinse and squeegee
  
  
• Aluminum Cleaner... 2 Tbsp. cream of tartar + 1 qt. of hot water
  
  
• Brass Cleaner... Worcestershire sauce. Or paste made of equal amounts of salt, vinegar, and water
  
  
• Copper Cleaner... Lemon juice and water. Or paste of lemon juice, salt, and flour
  
  
• Chrome Cleaner/Polish... Apple cider vinegar to clean; baby oil to polish
  
  
• Stainless Steel Cleaner... Baking soda or mineral oil for polishing, vinegar to remove spots
  
  
• Fiberglass Stain Remover... Baking soda and salt in a wet paste
  
  
• Mildew Remover... Paste with equal amounts of lemon juice and salt, or white vinegar and salt OR diluted tea tree oil
  
  
• Drain Opener... Dissemble or use plumber’s snake. Or flush with boiling water + one-quarter cup baking soda + one-quarter cup vinegar
  
  
• Wood Polish... Olive or almond oil (interior walls only)
  
  
• Rug/Upholstery Cleaner... Dry corn starch sprinkled on; vacuum
  
  
• After Cleaning Cocktail... One part rum mixed with 2 parts fruit juice. Add ice as needed...
  
  :)

45 Life Lessons... by Regina Brett

Numbers 29 and 32 made me LOL...oh, and number 40... ;)

Here's to having a great day!


Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative--dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

The Best of Deterrents... How to Stop Writing Your Novel Today!

Walking in the store today, I stopped by the book section hoping to see my favorite author's new release. Still not there, I pursed alternative titles. There were books by the Prez and his wife, more scandals novels by the romance gurus, and a few health tip books that looked interesting, but not enough to warrant their price tags.

I picked up the latest by Jodi Picoult and started to read a few sentences in the middle of the book, just to see if I liked her voice. If I can't stand the author's voice, I can't read the book (I won't mention whose voice I can't stand since I wouldn't want to burn any bridges before I get there, kwim? ;)

Jodi Picoult. Love her voice. Love it.

Want to know why?

It's almost like mine...

Crap, I think to myself and deflate. Now I'll look like I was copying her voice when I go to try to have my novel published. I should probably throw in the towel...

But no! I don't want to. I wrote the entire thing already! There's a few editing tasks ahead then I can write the query and send it out. I'm not quitting just yet, are you crazy?!

Ok, no need to panic, right? Just breath and buy it since it does look like a great story. It's a movie now too, so it must be.

Then another book catches my eye: Just Breathe. Can't remember the author now off the top of my head right now, but when I read the back of the book, I practically drop it onto the floor. In a nutshell: a woman has an emotional catastrophe that makes her revisit her California beach hometown where she falls in love. Gee...Doesn't that sounds awfully familiar. Almost like my story line...

I put it back and retreat home to read the book my mother happily left for me. "You'll like it. Just look at the title." She knows that my first choice for the title of my own book is Live, Laugh, Love. Presumptuous? Maybe. But I think it fits my story to a T. The title of the book my mother leaves me is Eat, Pray, Love. I read it. Great story. I hear my own story - my own main character - in a lot of places throughout the book. There are many key points in the book that are just like my own, right down to the sound that flip flops make when you run in them!

So I change the title of my book so something else and the sound flip flops make...But now, when I look at my book, I see all these other published author's work in my work. I'm fighting back those nasty self-doubting writer demons that just want me to quit. "It's going to be embarrassing!" they laugh, snicker, sneer. "Plagiarizer!" they point.

But I know I'm not one. I've never even read a Jodi book until those innocent three sentences. Truth be told, her voice is much like Barbara Delinsky's voice, my favorite author. I'm sure Elizabeth Gilbert's voice is a bit similar as well...hmmm...maybe I shouldn't feel so vulnerable right now...Maybe...

And there are only 50 states, of which only a handful are on an ocean coast. Even if it's the same exact town as mine, and our stories have a similar thread, does that mean I should devote mine to the paper shredder? Maybe...Maybe not...

These are all deterrents to writing, making me - us - feel as if we shouldn't even try. It's hard enough to actually write the blasted thing. That's a deterrent enough!

However!...If you find that you are being sidetracked by multiple signs to quit, I think you should keep on going. Someone or something out there thinks you've actually have what it takes...and they are scared you're going to make it.

That's my outlook on this sort of thing. Whenever I have a massive amount of neigh sayers show up, I get going even faster! Hasn't always been. I used to drop everything at the first sign of a challenge and then regret never taking the chance. But my small brush with death taught me something: take your chance now, sista! You might not get another one...

So, deterrents aside, write! Keep going! Flip them the finger and just do it. Never know. You might get laughed at. Maybe. Or, more likely, you'll get one of those personalized notes in the mail..."We'd like to see more. Thanks!"

....

I Love Love... Making Love in a Novel...

Ah, l'amore...

I love love. It's one of my most favorite things in the whole wide world: Love. Attraction. That first kiss...Life would be non-existent without it!

And finally I've gotten back to the point in my novel where it all happens. What do I mean by getting back to it? Well, the 1st draft is written, and I read through it, edited, read through it again, and edited again. Now I'm in the midst of editing it a third time. Once you finish one round of edits, all the way back to the beginning you go...

Now, why would I dread going back to the beginning of my own novel? Quite simply, editing all the bla bla sad story stuff is getting me down in the dumps! It was hard enough writing it the first time!

But sometimes - well, ok, most times - it's essential to have all the bla bla sad story stuff. Without it, what would be the point of conquering all your deamons and coming out of hell a bigger, better, bad ass?

Eleanor Rosevelt eloquently once said, "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."

The thing I think I cannot do right now is stop blogging and start editing with vengeance! Blogging just so damned fun...

Ok, Lia, focus!

Did I accomplish something today? Yes. I just finished editing chapter 8 and half of chapter 9...Chapter 9 is when they first meet! I stopped at the second blush... ;) I might rearrange the chapters again, putting their first meeting closer to the beginning. I'll see what the 4th round of edits brings about...

My June writing goal is to finish editing at least another eight chapters, if not ten, getting me halfway through. I'll be taking a trip to the actual location - by wonderful chance! - where most of my novel takes place. Good thing too, I haven't been there in five years! Can't write descriptive detail about something - or somewhere- you haven't seen in a while...

My ultimate summer writing goal is to finish editing this 3rd round, edit an additional 4th and 5th round, write that dreaded query letter, and send it off before the last day of summer... An auspicious task, but I think it's doable.

I'll just have to edit first, blog second...

;)

When Silence is Golden...

Boy, oh boy...or maybe I should say Woman, oh woman... This week got a jump start in the insane category! Monday morning I felt fine, knew that the full moon was next week - when my cycle always starts - so I thought that I was starting out just another week of happy-go-lucky normalcy...

Woman, was I wrong!

I was in the middle of a La Leche meeting, surrounded by mama friends, my children at home with daddy. There were all the ingredients for a relaxing moment of me with like-minded mamas chit chatting away the hours. Or so it started out. But then half-way through, I felt it, and it came up on me fast: the worst lonely sadness that I've ever felt. It just hit me mid-smile, mid-chatter. Bam! I had to pack up my things and run!

And cry all the way home...

I didn't stop crying until my poor darling husband tried to fix things. Then I hormonally exploded on the poor man, grabbed my keys, exploded some more when I couldn't find my flip flops, then ran out of the house, got in the car, and drove.

And cry all the way nowhere...

After I came back home, knowing nothing was going to shake the feeling - I just flopped down into bed and tried to sleep it off. Only, it was still there in the morning. Not being able to depressingly stay in bed all day with a 5 and 3 year old jumping and climbing on me, I got up. Yet I was afraid that I would unleash the horror on them that day like I had the night before.

So I vowed not to by using the only tool that I could think that would help me accomplish it... I took silence.

I decided not to talk all day, only signing what I needed them to do - eat, shoes, play - and thank their little souls, they did. They actually listened to me better than had I asked them with my voice...

I didn't say a word all morning, went about my daily stay-at-home-mom routine, and even though I felt that heavy sadness lingering, it worked. I didn't get worse, the kids didn't get hurt, and things got done.

A miracle in and of itself!

Of course, my silence was broken when I went to the chiropractor and had to speak to other people lest they think I'm totally nuts... So technically, I only made it silent for half a day. But it did work! So I'm thinking, wow, this silence tool is something that I can and should use!

And maybe because I didn't rant and rave all morning, stayed quite and to myself, got things done - all keeping the feeling from getting worse - it got better. I got better. By evening the dread had lifted and left me for good. I'm not sure why I get these hideous hormonal episodes...but at least I know that next time I'm feeling totally not like myself, I'm going to keep my &$^#@%* mouth shut!

It was hard at first - a little scary too, as I was stuck with myself all through that silence - but it got easier...and it did help.

Silence is a gift that I have always craved - living close to the airport and a major highway can make for a noisy environment! - but I had no idea that I could generate that silence that I needed by and for myself. And for that I'm relieved to have found it, and grateful.

Camping Out in Mommyland

So Many Camps, so Many Opinions, Where to Pitch My Tent?

On my way to motherhood, I came upon many camps of thought surrounding birth. There was the "get an epidural" camp and the "induce your labor" camp, which were right next to the "opt for a c-section" camp. However, I knew that I didn't belong to any of these interventionalist camps. So I ventured over to the "just go natural" camp and found freedom in following nature's course.

After the birth of my son, I felt at ease having found my camp. I rested my eyes with my son nestled to my side and fell into a beautiful slumber. Little did I know that, upon waking from my two-hour nap, I would be looking upon many more camps of thought. The "are you going to breastfeed" camp came into view, and split before my very eyes into numerous camps such as the "just colostrum then quit" camp, the "exclusive breastfeeding" camp, "supplement with formula" camp, the "on demand" camp, to "pump" or "not to pump" and "return to work" camp...the questions and opinions were overwhelming

Thankfully I had read the La Leche League's Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book and, after a few bumpy months, found my ground again to "just go natural". I let my son tell me when he was hungry and how long he wanted to nurse. Again, I found freedom from worries, calculations, and schedules in following nature's course.

However, after a few trips to the pediatrician's office my eyes were opened to many more camps on the upcoming horizon. The "let him cry it out" camp emerged, along with the "vaccine, yes or no" camps, the "co-sleeping" camp which was at odds with the "you"ll never get him out of your bed" camp. "Attachment parenting"..."Detached parenting"..."semi-attached parenting"..."sears", "Ferber", "Dr. Jay"... Never in my dreams did I think there was so much controversy to raising a child. So many camps, so many opinions - where to pitch my tent?

Being a new mother had its own challenges, both physical and emotional. I just didn't have the time nor energy to take it all in and decide where to go. To make it easier for myself, I chose to find the easiest path and start hiking. So, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and listened to my heart and instincts. I took baby steps and didn't second guess or question what I felt. I blocked out the chanting from the camps all around me and trekked on.

Amazingly, I found a map!

A map deep within myself. The blue-prints were there all along. I just had to close out all else and listen to my instincts, my heart. If I felt pains watching my baby cry and I wanted to pick him up, I did. I didn't look to a book for advice on what to do or listen to "experts." I just did it. If I felt uneasy having my nursling in a crib in the next room and couldn't sleep without him cuddled against me, I went and brought him to bed with me. I didn't brood over what the pediatrician told me about tried-and-true methods of the past 50 years. I just listened to my instincts. I followed my own nature's path.

After again finding "my" camp - a camp centered on listening to my own maternal instincts - I have found it easier to navigate my way through the camps of Mommyland. I know that the camps that I've come upon in the short 10 months since I've had my son are only the beginning. Already I can hear the chants from the "toilet-training" camp, the "home schooling" camps, and the "you're still doing THAT?!" camps...

Thankfully, I know now how to find my way through it all, and I'll take each hill and mountain as they come. The instincts are there and I just have to remind myself to trust them enough to show me the right path.

I wrote this long ago. It's appeared many times since online, originally in VegetarianBaby Magazine. Had to 'replay' it :)

I Love Blogging...Yet Another Reason!

I've been contemplating why it is exactly that I love to blog so much. Given that I don't get paid from it and my writing has been 'lifted' a few times (it's appeared in the Washington Post, Nickelodeon Magazine, and some newspaper in Houston?!) I would venture to wonder just exactly why I keep keepin' on...

But it does pay me immensely as it affords me instant writer gratification: I hear what people think about my writing abilities, style, voice, almost as quickly as it takes me to click "publish".

This makes blogging a severely necessary tool for any wannabe writers out there. Here I was plugging away at my novel, dreaming of the day (possibly years from now) when/if it gets published and I finally hear what people have to say about my writing aptitude. I think that's basically - outside of getting paid and making a career of it - why we want to get published in the first place. So very few avenues until recently - aka: the dawn of the web - have writer's have easy quick access to so many readers and critiques!

I wish I could actually make a little cash with my blogs. But seeing how many blogs are out there and how utterly impossible it is to generate any traffic without first paying for it, it's just going to have to stay it's perfect, pure, self-paying creative outlet...