Brady's First Time Snow Skiing

Brady finally had the opportunity to go snow skiing. Our wonderful Young Men's presidency took the boys night skiing at Bogus Basin Friday Night (located 16 miles from Boise Idaho). The leaders had equipment to loan him so we didn't have to rent it.

Brady has NEVER been snow skiing before. I was excited and nervous for him. The first time I went snow skiing, it was really hard and I fell down a bunch. After that first difficult day I finally got it and loved it.

While I was in my teenage years, we went skiing quite a bit, but it wasn't as expensive as it is now. I skied at Pebble Creek Ski Resort - Just south of the City of Pocatello in South East Idaho. Mount Bonneville (Pebble Creek) is the highest mountain in the Portneuf Range.Brady had such a great time and the leaders were great teachers. He told me he caught on pretty good and would LOVE to go again. I was VERY happy for him. He didn't like the chair lift too much. I didn't either when I was a teenager, it is cold and long and I hated it when it stopped.

Since I didn't go with them, I don't have any pictures (shucks). They didn't get home until 10:45 PM and I was getting a little worried. But lucky for me, Brady's phone was actually turned on and he answered it. They were almost home.

We sat and talked about all the techniques he was taught. He really did learn a lot and it was probably through Br. van Den Akker's motivation.

Br. van Den Akker had his pockets full of gummy worms. He would reward his "little birdies" with feeding them gummy worms. Isn't that the funniest idea - to visualize it makes me smile. Brady loved being his "little birdie".

I guess I'll have to get my act together and take him from time to time since he enjoyed it so much. I haven't been in - oh 20 years or so - yikes time goes by fast.... but I believe once you learn how - It comes back really easy.

I love how he had this great opportunity through the men in our ward and that they were awesome teachers. Brady has so much potential to learn and experience new things. It's a wonderful program and I am very thankful to the service the leaders provide. We have been very blessed to live in the ward we do.

Thanks Br. van Den Akker, Br. Bake and Br. Lloyd - You are wonderful!

Woo Hoo - I Won Again!! A First Aid Kit

Woo Hoo!!! I won this first aid kit from a contest I entered last week from "Safely Gathered In". I love their blog! It has great food storage recipes, motivatation to get your 72 hour kit together, long term storage, posts on what to do in an emergency - so many great ideas.

Last week their contest was to give away the first aid kit above. To enter you had to share:

What do you keep your 72-hour kits in? Do you use backpacks? Suitcases? Big plastic bins? Buckets? Plastic WalMart bags (I hope not)?

Don't have your 72-hour kits yet? That's ok, just leave a comment all the same - and start with a first aid kit!

So my comment to enter the contest was kind of a "rant" about the people who haven't put one together. Now since I won - it's there for everyone to read (not hidden amongst the 255 comments). ***insert foot in mouth here***

Here is my comment - yes..... I was ranting:

Sondra said:
Back packs.

I hope those who don't have one together - get it done. I know if there is an emergency - I will be soooo mad at the people who aren't prepared. Do you end up giving your supplies to the children around you - who's parents didn't get them a 72 hour kit? I think I would rather find a place to camp out - away from the unprepared crowd. I hope everyone who reads your blog will get it together and get their emergency 72 hour kits completed... Sorry for the rant!


This is everything in the first aid kit I won. I feel really lucky lately - maybe I should play the lottery - LOL..

Product Specs:
1 PREMIUM-QUALITY CARRYING CASE
1 CARABINER
1 FIRST AID GUIDE
1 SCISSORS
1 TWEEZERS
4 VINYL GLOVES
10 COTTON-TIPPED APPLICATORS
1 EMERGENCY WHISTLE
3 STING RELIEF PADS
9 ANTISEPTIC TOWELETTES
20 ALCOHOL PREP PADS
1 INSTANT COLD PACK
1 TRIANGULAR BANDAGE
1 5" X 9" COMBINE DRESSING
20 3/8 X 1-1/2" BANDAGES
20 3/4" X 3" BANDAGES
10 BUTTERFLY BANDAGES
1 FABRIC KNUCKLE BANDAGE
2 KNEE/ELBOW BANDAGES
6 2" X 2" STERILE GAUZE PADS
3 3" X 3" STERILE GAUZE PADS
1 4" X 4" STERILE GAUZE PAD
1 2" GAUZE ROLL
2 1/2" ADHESIVE TAPE

St. Patrick's Day Decorations!

This is the holiday that I have the fewest decorations. But...... of course I still have some :D.

We now have green .... green .... green decorations .... in and around the house.

My glass table in the living room. A few little Leprechaun's to give us the luck of the Irish .. or a pot of gold (always wanted). My build a bear all dressed up for the holiday, with her pot of gold.
I don't have too much on my coffee table - a shamrock and a couple of paper figures. A green throw on the couch.
Today my sister Chris, my Mom and I went out to lunch at the Cheese Cake Factory and then went shopping. I saw these great place mats and just had to get them. They were from TJ Maxx and More. Cute huh??
I also bought these cute napkins that I am using as towels at TJ Maxx and More. I kept 2 and gave my Mom 2 - from a set of 4 napkins. They are heavy and large. No one would have guessed that they were napkins. VERY FUN!!

Outside my front door is my cute little "Shamrock". He is waving Irish blessing to all who pass this way!

A St. Patrick's scene adorns the front door.

And last but not least - my flag. It has been through some windy March months and I have to keep repairing the bottom - to keep it going and going - year after year.

It's sad that I can't find these cute flags that I have had for years and years anymore. I love all of my flags! I wish I could find replacements as they become worn.

I hope you have enjoyed the grand tour of a green .... green .... lucky .... happy St. Patrick's House!

Cleaning the Bathroom Sink

Cleaning a bathroom sink is pretty straight forward. It is a place that should be clean and germ free. I love a shiny clean sink! Here is how I clean my bathroom sink.

One of the things I always stress to my customers is to keep beauty products off of the counter. If they need to have lots and lots of beauty products on the counter .. I ask them to put them in a basket. If they are in a basket, you take the basket off the counter to clean - verses lots and lots of beauty products.

It is too time consuming to remove beauty products because there tends to be a lot of them and they are small. To cut down on the time of cleaning, it is better to have all surfaces clutter free.

I like to clean the sinks with Comet. I sprinkle the comet on a damp sink. (these pictures are from a clients house - mine are NOT this beautiful)
I have a sponge with an abrasive no scratch surface in the sink. I put a little bit of water in the sink with the drain closed. Make sure you clean the drain area and on top of the drain stopper. I scrub the sink thoroughly. Also, since this sink is raised up - I clean the outside of the exposed sink too.

With my sponge nice an bubbly with the comet I then scrub sink fixture with comet in my sponge. Then I clean the whole counter with the bubbles and comet in my sponge. (your counter has been previously emptied of all beauty products and decorations. ) If they have a holder for a bar of soap, I wash it and shine it up too.

Then I get a wash cloth and rinse everything with water to get all the comet off the sink, fixture and counter.

Then I dry everything with a towel - I use white hand towels. Clean the mirror above the sink. Here I am using the Sprayway cleaner - but you can use 409 window cleaner or Windex. Wipe it clean with no streaks.

Don't use Pledge furniture polish - it doesn't work. See post here:
Next I polish the sink and counter with Pledge. Yup, that is right - I polish everything. You will not believe how shiny and protected the surface is when you polish it. You spray the polish on and make sure you buff it up to a brilliant shine. I think that is the key word - Buff it up. Lots of people spray furniture polish on their surface and just wipe. You need to buff it up to get the full affect of the shine and protection.

This also protects the counter from being dyed from beauty products and if nail polish gets on the counter - you can rub a razer blade underneath it and it comes right off - easily. On a brushed nickel fixture, you can shine it right up with furniture polish. If it is shiny fixture - polish isn't a good look on them - I shine them up with my window towel - you can use Windex to shine them up too.

Then I polish the cabinets. If the cabinets are white cabinets or painted cabinets - wipe them down with your wet wash cloth and use 409 if needed to get off stains or smudges. It's important to polish your wood cabinets to keep them protected from the moisture in a bathroom.
Then you put all the beauty products back. Aaaaah so beautifully clean, sparkling and germ free. Another shining sink and shiny fixture. Sooooooo clean.

Another thing I do at my home is wipe out my sink every day after I use it. I love the look of a clean sink.

More Texting Abberviations

Texting blog # 1 can be found here:

This new list of Texting abbreviations is PG rated. I don't think all of these abbreviations are meant to be PG rated - but that is how I am going to put them down. I think it is important to stay up with the times and I guess that means texting - LOL...

I don't do it - actually I have never been able to get my phone set up with texting. I have a tracfone - pay as you go, which suits me fine. I hate monthly contracts or basically monthly bills. I prefer to pay $99 for a year of minutes and airtime - yes, that is right only $8.25 per month. I'm a bargain girl. This is the kind of cell phone Brady has too - it's all I'm willing to spend.

Texting Guide part 2

IDK ........................ I don't know
OMDB .................... Over my dead body
OMG ...................... Oh my gosh
PLZ ....................... Please
PRT ...................... Party
PU ......................... That Stinks
ROFL ..................... Rolling on floor laughing
ROFLMAO ............ Rolling on the floor, laughing my butt off
RTFM ................... Read the freaking manual
RUT ........................ Are you there?
SOS ......................... Meaning help
SRY ......................... Sorry
STFU ....................... Shut the freak up
SUP ......................... What's up?
TTYL ....................... Talk to you later
TY ............................. Thank You
UR ............................. Your
WTF .......................... What the freak?
ZZZZZZZZ ............... Sleeping (or bored)
BTW .......................... By the way

Thats all for today. If you have any abbreviations that you know - please share. My niece TTYL shared and IDK. Happy Texting - but NOT while Driving!!

Piano Festival

Saturday Brady had his Piano Festival. He has been practising for months to prepare for the festival. He memorized two songs called: "Morning Star" and "Etude" to perform in front of the judges.

On the way out the door to the festival, wouldn't you know it - Brady shut his finger in the door. Yes - that is right ..... on the way to the festival. It was bleeding in the car, throbbing and hurting. Poor Brady.
We arrived at the festival in time, it was at the Ester C. Simplot Building in downtown Boise, Idaho.

Here is Brady waiting for his turn in front of the judges. It was only for Brady and the Judges, no parents could go in (frowny face). He was the VERY last one. They were putting away all the chairs while I waited - so of course I pitched in putting away chairs.

Brady felt that he didn't do as well as he could have (soar finger) .... which is kind of sad due to all the preparation. We don't have the scores yet ... they will give them to our piano teacher next week. I hope he passes level 4.

Here is Brady is standing outside the doors at the Ester C. Simplot performing arts building.

I also made him stand by the statues of children performing different arts - too bad you can't see them to well.

I don't have a video camera - but my regular camera has a video feature. The music sound has static - but it is the best I could do. Here he is playing his pieces if you'd like to hear him.

Here is Brady playing "Morning Star":


Here is Brady playing "Etude"

Weird that the music doesn't match his video... Hmmm quite strange. I don't know what I did wrong...

B-Day Present and Confessions of a Shopaholic

Looky - Looky!!! I received a birthday present from Ann Marie, my blogging buddy from Old Fashioned Girl. It came in the mail Saturday! I was excited to rip that baby open and see what it was.

Aaaaaaahhh LOOK! Isn't it beautiful?

A beautiful elegant picture frame. Of course the picture doesn't give it justice. It has a pearl essence that is breath taking. It has bling and lots of it. You can see the bling outline the photo as well as on the outside corners.

Thanks Ann Marie! I love it. It will always remind me of you and your love of vintage photo frames. I have always loved how you keep pictures of your family - front and center of the decoration of your home - every season ... every holiday. I'm very excited to put this to good use.. Now...... I just have to find the perfect picture of my family to put in it.

Yesterday my Mom came into town for a visit and to help me work this week. We (Mom, Brady and me) decided to go out to dinner at Sizzler. We originally wanted to go to Olive Garden, but the wait was toooooo long. We opted for Sizzler, which I love. I had my favorite broiled shrimp platter with a salad bar. Yum! Boy was I full. It was a nice dinner and then we were off to the movies.

We went to Confessions of a Shopaholic. I LOVED IT!! Very cute show. Very Cute!! I could see it again and again. It had a great message of the dangers of credit cards and bill collectors. Plus a love story, the love of two great parents, a love between friends, and finding a job that you love and can be successful in. We laughed and love it - no tears - Yeah! It was a really really good (feel good) movie. You should put it on your list to see.

Week in review

This week has been such fun! My birthday party was the best one I've every had. Being a single mom ... it's not often that I get any presents for my birthday or for Christmas .... that is how life is and it's really not been a big deal to me because I find the joy in giving.

This year though ... my children went way out in honoring their Mom. They really made the day special. Thanks again - Jason, Sharon and Brady for a wonderful day.

That being said .... Tuesday while I was cleaning a clients home, her son was home sick from school coughing up a storm. I swear he has whooping cough. I hate cleaning when there are sick people there. I am worried that I will catch whatever they have - it's the risk in this business.

When I got home, I felt like I was going to get that cold or whooping cough. My first thought was I need to run to the store and get some Zicam.

I went to the store and looked at all the different types of Zicam to purchase. I was clueless - there were so many. I decided to purchase the nose swab stuff.

I came home and swabbed and I am happy to say that I did NOT get a cold. I think this Zicam really works! Have you tried Zicam? What type did you use? Do you think it works?

While I was at the store I saw the Red Box Movie display and thought I would try it. I've had a couple of free movie coupons in my purse for a while and have been curious about using it. It was easy to use, but I felt slow as people behind me waited.

The only thing I DO NOT like is that you have 24 hours to get it back. I didn't make it - so it wasn't free - it cost $1.. It's OK, but I like getting it back by midnight. I rented it at around 3PM and didn't get it back until 5PM the next day... I wasn't quite sure of the time frame -so it was a lesson learned. I'm sure I'll use it again on a weekend when I know I will make it back on time.

It's been a "Movie Watching" week. We've seen some good one's and some that were so-so.

Last night we watched "Ghost Town". I laughed really hard. There are some bad words which always are a little shocking and really not needed. It has adult humor, I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids. Brady didn't "get" a lot of the referenced humor - but I was dying laughing the whole time. I really could own this movie. I really like the lead character Ricky Gervais. I've watched him several movies and I love his humor and the way he delivers a line. It was funny!

City of Embers was good too - kinda different. I wouldn't buy it but enjoyed watching it.

Eagle Eye was very action packed and fast moving. I knew I would like it. I think Michelle Monaghan is my favorite actor right now. I love every movie he has been in. He is a great actor! Again, it's not a movie I would own like Transformer, but it was good. I always wonder about technology and privacy. It kind of reminded me of I, Robot - with a computer taking over the world, because people make the wrong decisions. We enjoyed watching it.

I thought Night's in Rodanthe would be a great love story. The previews were wonderful and I really wanted to see it. This was the first movie I rented from The Red Box. I'm glad it was only $1 because I did NOT really like it. I HATED the ending... It's not a Love story but tragedy.
I caught Deja vu on TV Monday afternoon. I missed the very first of it but really got into it. I had to leave to clean the business customer I have so I DVR'ed the rest of it to watch later. I thought it was a pretty good movie. I wouldn't buy it but captured my interest and I had a tough time leaving to go work.
Lots of good movies and some bad. I really needed this week to unwind and relax. My way is to sit and watch movies. I am sure I'll be doing the same today! Happy Saturday to everyone!

Cleaning a Toilet and getting rid of the "ring"

First thing that I do when I start to clean a bathroom is put the toilet bowl cleaner in the toilet. I let it set while I clean the rest of the bathroom and then I come back and finish the toilet at the end.

While one of my customers had a toilet that was running water down the bowl all the time, it left a rust spot down the bowl where the water was running. I was so frustrated because it took such extra effort each week to get that rust spot gone. However, Lime Away toilet cleaner came to the rescue - it was on sale and I decided to use it. I put it in the toilet and cleaned the bathroom. When I came back the rust spot was gone without any effort. That is what hooked me onto Lime Away. It's not a good smelling as the Lysol - which does a great job too. But if you have a rust spot on the sides of your bowl - this may make the job easier.

After the toilet bowl cleaner has set for while, I come in with my toilet bowl brush. Make sure the bowl brush contains NO metal. The metal will scratch the bowl. It's better to use a a brush that is plastic - no scratching.

"Scrub away" all around the bowl. Scrubbing up under the lip of the bowl is very important as well as down the canal. I also have found with the new toilets they are designed in such a way that it is impossible to get your regular bowl brush into the groove down the canal. That is where I use the smaller brush - or even my sponge. Sorry - but I am sure the designers are people who don't scrub their own toilet - which is frustrating but you have to do what you have to do to get the tip of the canal clean.

Also while I am brushing the bowl, I slosh around the water to the lip to loosen any feces/poop. I scrub for a whole minute or more. If it is really bad and smelly then I flush and put in some comet and scrub again. I want it smelling clean and sometime it takes a second scrubbing.

Sometimes you will have a hard water ring around your toilet. This is from the new house I cleaned on Friday. No matter how much you clean your bowl - if you live in a place that has really hard water (like Idaho) the hard water ring is there every once and a while.

To get rid of the hard water ring (or ring from not cleaning it too often), you will need a Pumice stone. I usually find these in the hardware plumbing aisle. Sometimes a store will have them by the cleaning supplies and sometimes you can find the with a handle. They cost around $3.50.

I leave the plastic wrap around the stone and peel it back as I use it. That way it protects the stone until you use it.

After you have cleaned the bowl you gently rub the stone back and forth against the ring until it is gone.

Walla - ring is gone and bowl looks like new again. This also works where the water comes down into the bowl. Sometime the hard water makes lines running down to the bowl water. Use the Pumice stone on that too - always making your toilet looking new.

After the inside of the bowl is all clean, I spray 409 all over the whole toilet. The seat, the tank, the sides of the toilet, the place where the toilet is bolted down to the floor and all around the floor. I really like the "lemon fresh" 409. 409 is antibacterial and kills the germs.

Then I take my sponge and wipe every surface of the outside of the toilet.

I like how a sponge will fit into all the grooves.

Make sure you get the outside of the bowl where there are drips. Your toilet will not smell or BE clean if you don't clean the outside of it.

Make sure you get the floor around the toilet - very important. Make sure it is sprayed good with 409. Scrub right up to the ridge where the toilet meets the floor - it's gross but you gotta get all the pee that missed the toilet.

Then I wipe it down with a rinsed out wash cloth.

Then I dry it good. (my poor working hands - that are in chemicals all day long)

Dry the floor around the toilet and it will be clean and smelling clean.

Men/Boys and toilets! Seriously - can they hit inside the toilet?? It is just a frustrating thing when I have to clean up pee all over the toilet. I've had many discussions with my boys - on what the problem is.

One thing I have learned is that it is a MUST to have a night light in your bathroom. Boys don't sit and if it's dark - they can't aim... Make sure you have a night light to help with their aim.

It's all about training the male species in your house to lift the lid and hit the bowl. If they can't seem to get the pee in the bowl - the must be taught to grab a Clorox wipe and clean the mess up. No body wants to sit in it (me) or see it around the toilet. It's all in the training. Have Clorox wipes by your toilet all the time - it's a good thing (as Martha Stewart would say).

As a house cleaner .... I get pretty sad boys are not taught to aim into the toilet bowl. I wonder how they are at school -- really I don't want to know. But, I think it is vital that we teach our boys/husbands to be considerate and clean. Clean up their mess or aim better. Sorry to get graphic - but sometimes it just needs to be said.

Happy cleaning your toilets!

The Pumie from Amazon click here: