It's the little things...

It's fun to recognize when you are feeling giddy because of some really, very little, seemingly insignificant thing. 

First, I should share a little background.  I had a friend introduce me to Fels-Naptha Laundry soap many years ago when we were still living in Utah.  It is seriously old school for stain removal and packs a powerful punch!

Well, since moving to Kansas I've been looking for it at all the stores knowing at some point I would use up my golden miracle bar, (especially after using a bunch when I had poison Ivy... Ah, it finally stopped coming back after I used it a couple of times).  I've intensified my search this past year, but to no avail, that is until today.

Today at my local grocery store I found it by accident.  I was looking in the cleaning supplies and happened to look down on the bottom shelf and there was a big box full of those beautiful powerhouse laundry bars! (Silly me, I had been looking in the LAUNDRY section!  Silly, silly, silly me.)

Needless to say I didn't even so much as hesitate to add a bar to my purchase, especially for the steal of a deal price of $1.25.   If the truth be known, I had to calm my inner "Elaine" (Seinfeld sponge episode) and ignore the urge to hoard them!

Sometimes I make me laugh.  Silly, silly Paige... you don't need 25 bars of fels-naptha... you want much more than that... think BIGGER!  Maybe I could hoard them now and see if I can pass them off for bars of gold in a year or two.... or not... everyone, please ignore the crazy lady behind the monitor...  =  p

~Love & Hugs~

I'm Absolutely, Positively, Going to Explode!

Today I realized that I am either a "Brain Geek" or a "Psychology Nerd", not that I'm slow in figuring that out, just that I think I've officially crossed the "invisible line" never to return to the other side again.  Either way I eagerly and gladly accept either, or both!. 

My latest "find" is all about the teenage brain, "The Primal Teen" by Barbara Straugch.  It was a slow start, but after the first couple of "tease" chapters I'm hooked!  I LOVE learning about the brain and behavior, and the connections as to why it all works the way it does... especially the adolescent brain...

Turns out that the adolescent brain is a lot like the developing brain in the first 3 years or so of life.  So, my frustrated comment to my own teen last week of, "How old are you, Two?!" isn't so sarcastic after all.  In fact, it's quite accurate.  (Does that mean you can ask your 2  year old tantrum-throwing child, "How old are you, 13?!  Somehow, that doesn't seem to sound quite right.) 

I find myself SO excited by all I'm learning I feel like I'm going to explode if I can't tell other people about it... and then, if I could, I question if I could get all my words in the right order to make myself understandable. (Could I possibly be addicted?! Oh wait, no, because that would mean my Dopamine levels are very high, and I'm pretty positive that they are actually lower than they should be, but I'll stop with that so I don't put everyone to sleep.)  

Speaking of sleep, I'm going to stop here so I can turn off the computer, go to bed, and spend my last few bits of brain processing power to do more reading.

Love & Hugs ~

Always a Lesson to be Learned

It seems to me that I learn something several times before it really occurs to me how significant that "tidbit" of information is.

For instance:
Over the past several months I have become less and less motivated and more and more frustrated with the simple tasks that accompany daily life. Dishes, Laundry, and so forth. (especially parenting... it's just zapping any hint of motivation that might acquire over the course of a night's rest)

I couldn't tell you what exactly happens to my time, and I especially don't set out to waste it, but somehow or another my days are spent generally trying to avoid doing what I just really need to get done. The very NOT getting it done just complicates matters.

But, when I make time for my priorities, whether that be Scripture Study, reading, writing, or whatever, I'm amazed that having done those things that fill my reservoir allow a whole different approach to take place. Dishes? Done. Yard work? Bring it on. Parenting the ever increasingly independent teen? Piece of cake!

Now to find the approach I can take each day to make it all happen. My guess is if I make it a morning routine it's going to be a great deal more effective.

Maybe, just maybe, my poor husband will start coming home to a happier and cleaner home at the end of his long day. 


Love and Hugs~

Grasshoppers & Ants

This was just TOO good to keep to myself, so whoever the original author is, Thank you! Not only is it informative, but it gave me, and hopefully others, the biggest laugh!

We likely all know the original story of The Ant & the Grasshopper;

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

BUT... This seems to be the exception rather than the rule anymore, so someone updated the parable to be a bit more accurate here in the 21st century.

The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...'

ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Then, Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.

The President condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight.

In an interview with Larry King, Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the ‘Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act’ retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs. Having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes with, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall is the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it., and the ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and abandoned ramshackle house is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once prosperous and once peaceful neighborhood. The entire Nation collapses, bringing the rest of the free world with it.

MORAL OF THE STORY, (mine is different from the original), It is impossible to spread wealth, because when wealth is spread, not only is no one wealthy, but on the contrary, everyone becomes destitute

~Much Love & Hugs

Lessons learned from a flooded laundry room/kitchen/basement

I'm not even sure there is a good way to introduce such a list, so I'll let your imaginations go wild...
= p

Top ten lessons learned from having a flooded
laundry room/kitchen/basement:

10-) I assume the washer/dryer must be "grounded" somewhere because no one got buzzed... (or worse...)

9-) Half of my kitchen floor no longer needs to be mopped!

8-) 40 gallons of water is MUCH more than it looks like when it's inside the washing machine.

7-) The "Cold" cycle has more benefits than those listed on the laundry soap bottle/box.

6-) A hamster can roll an exercise ball at least 5 - 8 feet through 1 inch of water (cold, not hot) with out drowning. (Neither did the dog who was closely following the hamster in the ball through the water...)

5-) Cats can't (or won't) walk on water, and though a wet towel offered a bridge to dry land, Tommy still sent plenty of water flying, flipping his paws with every little step. (I probably shouldn't have laughed.)

4-) Wet/dry vacuums only suck up water when the hose isn't clogged.

3-) Clearly, the law of gravity is still fully functioning, evidenced by all the water that moved from the upstairs to the basement.

2-) I realize now that turning the basement into a swimming pool really isn't as good of an idea as it might sound, not that the idea was being entertained mind you. That said, the basement floor is the cleanest it has ever been since the house was built.

1-) Always change the water filter on the fridge before cleaning up the flood water from the floor. I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but after I replaced the filter for the fridge I tested the water, only it wouldn't turn back off... so, more water on the floor...

Maybe I should have left the water on the floor, bought some goldfish, and told everyone that the latest trends in interior design are "flooded-floor" ponds...

Do you think anyone would believe me?

Coming up next week: Top-10 reasons why sucking lint from the clogged "past due for a cleaning-my clothes are taking two hours to dry" dryer vent with the same wet/dry vac used to clean up the flood water is a bad idea...

Much Love & Hugs~

Content or Packaging?

So, I think it's very lame that I still have my Christmas theme up for my blog, but, with the lesson I just learned, I'm kind of glad. Let me explain.

My best friend has Breast Cancer. I have another childhood friend that I found out has been battling stage IV Esophageal Cancer for some time as well. It blows me away to think, they are both my age. I can't imagine the life trials which have been thrown at them becoming part of my own life.

As I was reading and responding to their most recent updates today, I was taught one of those "how could I have missed this all along" moments.

My friend Jennifer is at the stage where she is just losing her hair from chemo. She has always been beautiful, but I don't think I've ever seen her more beautiful than she looks with all her hair shaved off! I was trying to think of why that is and soon realized it is because it leaves absolutely nothing to distract from her beautiful eyes, smile, and the beauty and brightness of her faith that shines stronger than I remember ever seeing it! (personally, I think she should keep the look permanently!)

She mentioned in her update that she asked her husband why it wasn't bothering her. I think it goes beyond knowing other women who have been where she is and how strong they are/have been that she mentions. In addition to having the unconditional love of her family and so many friends, she knows who she is, and her hair is just a part of the package, and by far not the best part!

Here is the lesson part. Like a gift, too many of the rest of us have it all backwards and rather than treasuring the actual gift we disregard it and value the wrapping paper instead. Sure, wrapping paper can be pretty, but as pretty as it might be it was never meant to be important, let alone the main focus/most important. Can you imagine what the curb-sides would look like after Christmas if we treated our temporal gifts this same way?!

So, I'm glad I still have my Christmas Blog Theme up, because what it looks like doesn't matter. It's the content that counts, and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful friend to be my teacher!

For anyone interested in following her inspiring journey, I know she would be okay with sharing her blog in hopes that it will be a blessing to others. Stubborn & Strong

Much Love and Hugs ~