Don't Be Jealous

I do not mean to offend, but I definitely have the best family and friends on the planet. You may argue your case, but I cannot be persuaded. Thank you all for helping me to usher in my 28th year with style :-)

Laundry Detergent Blues

We do a lot of laundry. Too much for just two people. Yes, we go to the gym so there are workout clothes that add to the day's pile. Yes, Matt washes his referee uniforms frequently during basketball season. Yes, we have two dogs that seem to be messier than a fleet of toddlers at times. And yes, I have been known to forget about a load and have to rewash it a time or two. We just plain go through detergent REALLY quickly.

I've been thinking about making my own laundry detergent since it is, according to the where website I found the recipe, about 1/4 the cost of traditional laundry detergents. I just don't know. There are plenty of environmental reasons to do it. It wouldn't be expensive to try it, and it would save some money, but it is enough to make the effort worthwhile? It is only three ingredients...Just mix them and store or wash... But would the life expectancy of our clothes go down after plenty of washings with the homemade stuff?

We just purchased a bottle of off-brand, super watered down, liquid suds last night. Maybe after that is gone, I'll try it out and report back about whether or not it's worth it.

Menu for Jan 9-16, 2011

This week we will be eating:

1. Ratatouille

2. Pumpkin Harvest Soup

3. Pot Roast Beef Stew with Guinness

4. Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives

YUM.

Does a Dog Really Need a Bed?

I am not a dog "parent." I do not think of my dogs as my children. In fact, I've actually thought about how great it would be to find someone who wanted to adopt them, but still allow me visitation rights. I do love them, but I'm not going to make my own organic vegetable and quinoa dog food or take them to a canine psychologist.

So Bama has a dog bed. He sleeps in it all day while we're gone, sometimes when we're here and then again when all the lights go out in our house at night. We keep it in the back room because I just don't like looking at it. We've noticed that Bama tries to sneak onto the couch (which they are NOT allowed to do EVER) when it's cold outside. Griffin has never really had much interest. In fact, he chewed on the last bed we purchased and spread the fluff around the living room. Dog bed privileges revoked! We weren't worried about his lack of a cushy place to sleep since he usually spreads out on the tile or wood floor to sleep - he's warm-bodied.

Little did we know he'd be stealing Bama's bed and using it for himself this winter. Bama was sneaking the couch when we discovered Griffin hogging the bed in the back room. Now we were in need of two beds, but I wasn't about to buy another one for him to chew up. So I made one instead.

I took two bleached and faded towels we had already designated as towels for muddy dog feet and such. I sewed them together on three sides, turned it inside out, stuffed them with the fluff from the chewed up dog bed and then sewed up the open end. Insta Griffin bed!

I'm pretty sure he likes it :-)

What I'm Reading #1

I've decided to keep track of everything I read this year. I started 2011 a few pages into a book Matt gave me for Christmas. It's called Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. I have wanted it for a long time - ever since it was recommended to me by my aunt. I've now finished 164 of its 356 pages. So far, I like it.

It is considered fiction, but it is an account of the real life affair between Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900's. She and her husband hired him to design a home for them in 1903 and that is where their story starts. What amazes me is the way this affair rocked the world of all the people around them - not just their families, but random people in the city of Oak Park, Illinois. Once word of their affair was public, they were outcasts - she feared being unable to get a job or see her children, he was afraid he would not be hired to design buildings and that his wife wouldn't grant him a divorce. The times were different and this was new territory.

There is a strong thread of feminisim throughout the novel - Mamah constantly thinking about her changing role as a wife and mother, a romantic partner, a citizen, etc. This was a beginning to women's rights and it's interesting to see those beginnings through the eyes of a woman who was living it, and who valued her independence much more than her peers.

And granted, I'm not finished yet, but I like these "characters" so far - both Mamah and Frank have made choices that have hurt other people and changed their lives forever. But despite their choices I can't hate these two.

The website for the book is fantastic - pictures, background information, letters, an interview with the author and much more. This whole topic has peaked my interest. Anyone want to take a road trip to Oak Park, Illinois to check out the setting in real life? Take a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio? I do!