You Can Laugh At Me If You Wanna.....

BUT I..... AM.... AWESOME! No, seriously I am! GIVE IT UP FOR ME!
I made 3 gallons of homemade laundry soap. If you know me, you know I like making, baking, caking, creating whatever. And when I find something new to make, I take a recipe or instructions, analyze it, make it my own and then obsess and make tons of it because it' so exciting and new to me. This is no different. If I had containers I'd me making different colors and scents of the stuff. As it is I only made 1 batch and it'll probably last all winter long.

It's not that I can't afford laundry soap cuz I can. But shoot if I can make something at home for pennies of the cost why the heck not? It's like a fun science project that you can use on almost a daily basis and you can personalize it with different scents or no scent at all if you want.
It works so well I'm thinking of selling the stuff. It can be made into laundry liquid or powder so it covers all the basis. You can make it a family project. I can't wait to send it to my daughter in college so I can save her come $ too.

K. so I know you're anxious to get started on your own batch so I'll share the recipe and instructions. I promise you've never be so anxious and giddy to do laundry in ALL you life. You Pioneering generations that walked the earth hundreds of years before you did will gather as angels and sing praises to your good ol' fashioned old school roots. And this soap is as Eco and environmentally safe as YOU make it.

Let's get started!

The ingredients you'll need are quite simple:


2 bars of soap

(Use whatever you have on hand or whatever you like. Keep in mind this will also be what your laundry will smell like. I had some "coast" hanging around so I used that. All you eco friendly and Greenies out there, go find yourself an environmental friendly bar of soap that is fat or vegitable based and not petrolium based.)

1/2 cup of Borax

( This is a natural mineral mineral: , also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water.) Although it is a natural mineral becareful and mindful of breathing too much of it is, it can be irritating.

1 & 1/2 cups of Washing Soda (this is usually found in the laundry isle in the Arm and Hammer box. it actually looks like a box of baking soda on STEROIDS.)

*Pppppst! I have a side note....* Notice above I mentioned washing soda and not baking soda? They are 2 different things. Washing soda is Sodium Carbonate. Baking soda is Sodium bi-carbonate. No, this doesn't meant it's corbonate that "swings both ways", it just means it a different compound. If you go to the website of the yellow box with bicept and mallet they'll tell you the 2 aren't interchangeable. And they aren't. You CANNOT use washing powder for baking, cooking or for any ingestion at all. However they do not tell you that you can, indeed, use baking soda for cleaning and external needs. I thing it's because they want you to go out and purchase their other product but that's just me. I bring this up to say that You can use baking soda is this recipe if you can't find washing soda and it does a might fine job as well!

3 gallons of good ole hot tap water

one 5 gallon bucket


First thing you wanna do is put 4 cups of water into on the stove and bring to just under boiling.

Then fill your 5 gallon bucket with 3 gallons of hot tap water ( you can boil this water as well but I haven't found it necessary)

While your 4 cups of water is heating you'll want to grate your soap into small slivers. You can use a potato peeler, cheese gater, or cut it up and then add to your food processor or blender for smaller pieces.
Then slowly add the soap into the pot of hot water and start to dissolve it. Make sure you're stirring the soapy water so it doesn't boil over. It can boil, but you dont want it to boil over. Stir soapy water mixture until all the soap is dissolved.

When all the soap is dissolved, add that mixture to the bucket of hot water and stir. Then add the Washing/baking Soda and stir that until dissolved. Then add the borax and stir until dissolved. When it's all mixed together... in the words of Ronco... "set it and forget it." You'll want to let it cool, usually over night.

When you wake up the next morning you have this GLORIOUSLY sludgy gel that works just as well as the leading laundry detergents on the market.

Now My own variations:
I used coast because I had some, I like the smell and wanted to see if that's how it would smell. Also the color was of interest. I wanted to see if it would make blue laundry soap. It did. It's a pale light blue and that's ok. So just know if you use a yellow, pink or purple bar of soap, that's what color your detergent will be.
So what ever bar you use will be the scent and the color. ( I can't wait to use my pink morrocan oil scented caress bar next *wink*)


I also added a little salt (sodium) t0 the mix because we tend to have hard water and this breaks up mineral deposites that make colors dingy and allows the fabric to keep their dye fabrics longer.

Last but not least I added Tea tree oil into the hot water bucket. about 7-10 drops. I chose tea tree because I had it readily available and because winter is coming.
Tea tree oil has the following properties: it’s anti fungal, anti microbial and anti septic. It also has been historically known to aid in headache, and sinus relief. ( See I TOLD YOU I WAS AWESOME!)

Now for those of you who don't have a place to store 3 gallons or poo poo on liquid laundry detergent, I have not forgotten you! You will use the same recipe except omit the water.

So with your bar soap, you'll put it in the blender/food processor with the borax and Washing Soda. Place wet towel over the top of it to capture the dust from the blending of it. Blend it all together into a powder. Put the washing powder into a jar or zip lock baggie for easier space friendly storage. Use about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon per load.

Try it! And holla back at me on how it works for you.

The Job

Sometimes I complain about my job, I guess we all do. But in reality, I measure the atmosphere of where I currently work with other places of employment. Nature's Sunshine Products is unique in the way the employees treat each other... well at least in my department.

I dare say my department deals with each other almost as much out of work as we do at work. I'm with these people more than I'm with my family for the most part. They really are my second family. And we've created an atmosphere of genuinely caring for one another.
Last year one of our coworker's didnt show up for work on a Monday. When she didn't show up on Tuesday when she didn't come and no one could get ahold of her or her grown children on the phone, 2 other colleagues when to her house. Long story short she was very ill and was in the hospital for about 3 days after we found her. Her blood pressure levels had dropped to a point where she was unable to wake herself up. She was about 24 hours from passing away when we found her.
When she was in the hospital we went to her home, did he laundry for her, cleaned her home, took care of her pets, stocked her fridge. Under the circimstances...we had fun doing all of it for her. It brought us closer as friends and collegues. Some of us have gone to the movies, dinner, taken cooking classes together, bailed off for the weekend and so on. It really does make the work atmosphere more bearable AND I gives us each security in knowing we're partner on the job and look out for each other. I've never had that kind of working atmosphere.

I can remember times when we'd be off the clock and still at work chillin 30 minutes after we should have gone home. Such are the calibre of people I work with.

Other departments we enjoy as well and even partner with in company competitions and it makes it a more enjoyable atmosphere. We've gone to each others weddings, Graduation of kids from high school, shared the birth of children and grand children and several other things that secures those ties that bind.

These things make this week even more sorrowful. One of your colleagues went to preparing for his 18 year old son to Graduate high school in 2 weeks to laying him to rest on Tuesday. The basic details: His son was in a car accident due to having a seizure. was taken into the hospital to find out the cause of the seizure. A brain tumor was found and removed, brain hemmoraging, stroke, coma, and then the family pulled the plug that kept him alive after the coma. All of this happened from Friday-Tuesday. That's only a 5 day span. How is it your world can be totally normal one day and so drastically changed the next?
Although most of us in my department couldn't go to the funeral, because the world doesn't stop when people leave it, those of us who were able to go were so deeply touched and relayed all the details of the service to the department. When one of us rejoices, WE ALL REJOICE! when one of us has sorrow WE SHARE THAT SORROW.
To make matters more difficult We are in the middle of one of our conventions this week as well. So we have about 150 distributors in town touring the offices and manufacturing centers. We've been playing tour guides and hosting banquets and formal dinners and socializing at dances and such while fielding questions about the company, mixed in with questions about the the colleague who lost a family member.
About a year and a half ago we lost 2 colleagues within a few days of each other. It was a devistating blow to the company more so because we lost "family members" who some of us hand known for 10-25 years. There was an earie feeling walking the halls, as we came in we would take a head count of who was at work that day and then verify who had time off and panick if someone called in sick. After about a month things got back to normal but it was still hard on us a whole.

I've worked in places where you just go in, do your job, and leave, without any real ties to those around you. I'd much rather work in an atmosphere where I know close ties and emotions run deep.
People in my department have given rides for months when there's been car trouble,
Made meals when others were ill
Gone shopping with and for each other
taken another to 2nd jobs
Car maintenance
home maintenance
gone to sporting events
taken and picked up other kids from school
taken lunch to the hospital when a loved one was in surgery all day
visited the hospital
Forever sending flowers for various reasons
baking birthday cakes
grabbing lunch or breakfast just because
lending money when times were hard
....and the list goes on and on.

I may complain some about my job...
... but I complain about my family too...
And most of the time, this place called work
really is just like home.

SURVIVING MONDAYS.

The man (see photo below) hates mondays. HATES THEM! I dont think they're so bad actually. Once in a while they get to me but not too often. I wonder is Monday really that bad? There's defineately something up with Mondays, there's even a band call "Surviving Mondays."
Let's think about this:
It's the begining of a new week and new adventure.
It's one day closer to the weekend
Monday Night Football!
"water cooler chat" with the buddies about the weekend.
Kids back to school, moms get the houses to themselves.
Family night with family discounts at restaurants and gaming places.
There's only 1 monday per week!

See now think about it, Mondays aren't THAT bad are they?

Ok so maybe they are for some of you. Here are some ideas you can try to help you survive Mondays:
*Take yourself out to lunch or dinner at your favorite restaurant every monday.
* I bet Starbucks Love Mondays and the nationwide caffiene rush
*Give your sweetie a suprize of some kind every monday.
*Tape your favorite shows you aren't able to watch during the week and turn monday

into your own special Monday night feature party.

*Girls night out or Guys night out every Monday, it's cheaper to go out in the middle of the week then it is the weekend.

*Make time do to something you really really love to do on a Monday

What if we found ways and did things to make Monday the BEST day of the week? Reward yourself for getting through it and then reward someone else too.

What do you do to Survive your Mondays?

What could someone else do to help you Survive Mondays?

I Need A Mormon Holiday!

Yeah, that's right i said it... A MORMON HOLIDAY! It's tough being a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints. That's ok and all but everyone once in a while, I need a Mormon Holiday. That's a Sunday off. No that doesn't mean I pick a Sunday and break all the covenants and gospel laws and stuff. That just means I've had it with meetings and Im not gonna go. Im going to stay home and truly have a Day of rest. I can, can't I? Aren't we entitled?

Exodos 20:7-11
7You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 8Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Lets visit the definition of rest:
1. Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.
2. Peace, ease, or refreshment resulting from sleep or the cessation of an activity.
3. Sleep or quiet relaxation.
4. The repose of death: eternal rest.
5. Relief or freedom from disquiet or disturbance.
6. Mental or emotional tranquillity.
7. Termination or absence of motion.

And now lets visit the Definition of Worship:

a. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity,( an idol, or a sacred object.)
b. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.
2. Ardent devotion; adoration.

Ok the reason I bring all this up is this: I swear us members of the LDS faith have a 10th commandment: We must hold meetings.
Sure meetings are necesarry in the planning of successfull events. But must we have all the planning meetings on Sunday? We are already in church for 3 hours. And if each auxiliary holds their planning meetings after or before the 3 hour block of worship... well... let's take a look all the different other meetings we have: Now let me clearify, not everyone has to go to all of the ollowing meetings. But a good majority of us go to one or two. If you're lucky they arent on the same Sunday and they aren't last minute.
3 hours of church, leadership meeting, presidency meetings, welfare meetings, High priest group meeting, key scouter meetings, committe chair meeting.. and if you're doing something extra, like standards night, choir, night of excellence, or roadshows, those planning meeting arent all the time but they do tend to happen ona Sunday as well.
Each auxiliary has their own presidency meeting, then committee meeting.
Oh and then we have our Home and Visiting Teacher's we're supposed to fit in. Most of the time, they want to come on Sunday. Because you if 3 hours of church are enough, lets just come over and get that First Presidency message in as well. Because you know, there's usually only 4 sometimes 5 sundays in a month. And we can ONLY come on one of those 4 days, because Mondays are reserved for family nights.. so that takes out another 5 days out of the month. So you know that only leaves 20 OTHER days/afternoons, nights evenings that we can have these other meetings.

Firesides! Did I mention Firesides? If there's a fireside happening, then chances are you'll be trying to slip a meeting in before the fireside. OH, wait... Dinner! A person's gotta eat, right? Becuase we must nourish our bodies somewhere in there.
So I ask you. WHERE IS THE DAY OF REST? Cuz it surely isn't Sunday! There is a difference between Sunday worship and Sunday meetings. And between the both, Sundays are becoming my least favorite day. It feels like a work day just like any other day. There is no physical rest. There is no mental rest. There Spiritual renewal is becoming short lived on Sundays. Not enough time to fill that Vessle for the week. Perhaps this is why I prefer Home or Visiting Teachers in the middle of the week, when Im pissed off or peaked and could use a message to get me thru til my busy day of worship and meetings on Sunday.

Mormon Holiday! That is simply a real day of rest. Church Worship. No meetings. No visitors. No having to go out and visit. Come home, put on some jammies, and dwell until I have to get up for my job Monday morning. The only requirement is Church, Dinner, some light reading if i feel like it, stillness and quite. AHHHHHHHH, doesn't that sound just glorious?

I wonder how the church would function if we were mandated to only have Sunday worship on the sabbath? Our Temples aren't even open on Sunday. Could that mean I really should be taking the day to enjoy my family or friends and not jam pack it with meetings? And do we really need to have other meetings on Sunday? There are at the most 26 other days, at the least if you exclude family night...21 other days to get our meetings accomplished.

Hmmmmmmmm!


Mormon Holiday....Who's with me?

NOT ENOUGH DAYS IN THE WEEK?

Did y'all used to think that the weekend was for resting from all you did during the week and then having a little free time to kick with family and friends? Yeah, I was under that impression too. Jokes on us? The weekend is like home work. Remember how it was when you went to school and did school work all day and then went home and had to do homework to finish up you school stuff? Yeah, it's like that. The weekend comes and you rush around finishing up what you forgot to do or couldn't to during the: Pay bills, scrub floors, laundry, mow the lawn, return phone calls, work on that lesson for Sunday school or some project due at work next week. The weekends but the work doesn't end.








We need the weekend AND the Workend.



What if we broke down the week like : Moneyday ( pay bills) Toolsday (fix anything that needs it) Wisdomday ( Schedules, presentations,) Thorough day (finish up what you didnt do M-W) PhysDay (all the physical back breaking work and sports things) And then Saturday (SatuRound all day) and Sunday (Sunned myself all day). That wouldn't Work though, because bills become due on Thorough day and little Timmy's rained out soccer game would be played on Wisdomday and there there'd be an even bigger mess of the week.
Ok so here's what I propose: We have 9 days in a week, M-F is typical work week. And then we have the weekend.But as we said earlier, the week may end but the Work doesn't end. Those days after Friday can be called, Catchupday and Finishday. Catchup day you catch up on all the stuff you didn't get done M-F and then Finishday you finish all the stuff you got caught up on. So we have the Weekend, then the Workend, And then SatroundallDay and Sunnedmyselfday aka Saturday and Sunday.
Oh, even better! The whole Town Shuts down on Saturoundday and Sunnedmyselfday. Only parks and unsupervised recreation area's are open those days. That way the whole world could Saturound and Sunthemselves.

Maybe I'm on to something.

All in favor?
*closing eyes.....* Any opposed!


If you could add 2 extra days to the week, would you?
What would you call them and how would you use them?