Extreme Home Makeover

Bree and Kim today


Age 10 leaving at the airport, Bree and Kim











Kim and I
What a wonderful weekend we have had. Cody in from Los Angeles on Friday, Chris in from Amsterdam on Tuesday, and Miss Kim in from "Misery," oh excuse me, I mean Missouri on Friday also.. When she was 8 years old and her sister was 10 they lived with me for two years plus. Some family issues on their end needed to be worked out. Now I only get to see that little girl who is now almost 16 once or twice every two years, so this is a real blessed weekend.
We did the cookout potato salad thing with family over......then we did the reminicsing with famiy, then the swimming, more reminicsing...and now the day comes she has to leave.
But before that we are heading for Home Depot to try to find Ty Pennington. He is in town this week doing an Extreme Home Makeover and I just have to hug him...wait...the real reason for going to Home Depot is that Staples is next door and we are getting a new webcam because the old one says no go with my new Vista. Great! And because Miss Kim wrote a song and we are about to publish it to UTube! I will be back to post it when the deal is done. She is quite the marvelous young woman with only a few kinks to work thru considering what life has handed her in her few short years.

Are Razorblades Green?

Of course razorblades are green! I know because a stranger called my phone to say they needed "A Green Experience" cleaning service, Madison, Wisconsin to come to their home and clean it for a special party they were having the next day..... So we went and we cleaned with Green cleaners....Bio-Green, Vinegar, Earth Friendly Floor Cleaners with Lavender, Earth Friendly Window Cleaner with lavender, baking soda, no scratch pads, all cotton terry rags, and the infamous hardwood floor mop with terry covers....but.....no razor blades. Another lesson well learned for this owner of "A Green Experience."

You see some people don't call until the dust is knee deep or the flat top stove is crusted over. Why? I don't know but I do know now that razor blades are necessary and Green and I can use them to scrape the crust off the surface of a "used to be beautiful" black flat top stove. Well I didn't happen to have any. Nor had I considered the fact I might need any. So there I was with the crust, all alone..... I dug out the trusty yellow non scratch pad and the baking soda and spoke, no whispered to it, "come on baby we got to make this work!" I then took turns using the strength of each hand and then on to each finger pressing and pushing and looking around for anything sharp....nadda. The brown and greezzy thick crust started to move. Isn't baking soda wonderful, and you can even drink it to alleviate tummy gas which I was on the verge of considering the ordeal I found myself in, and I hadn't even gotten to the bathrooms. Or maybe it was my whispering to it that did it. Ya think? Not! I tried it, the whispering that is, the other day with a dragonfly and nothing happened there either. Back to my point...I asked the client, "Do you have any razorblades?" She ran off and came back with a USED Pink Bic underarm and leg and god only knows where else, hand razor and she tried to shave the greezy crust off the stove top. I am not kidding. I just stood there trying not to be Green. I thanked her and "whispered" that a one sided razor might work better, but good try. Oh My God! And I get paid for this. After a half hour of using all my strength it was for the most part back to a partially normal stove. People must not know that glass flat top stoves are not to be used like a campfire. I will tell you on top of my supply list is now Green one sided Razor Blades. Wait, don't go out shopping and asking for Green Razor blades because that is my personal name for those handy little gadgets I shall not be without ever again. Hey, they are chemical free and that means safe and green. I haven't even told you about my Green Lint Dog hair remover Brush... Next time.....

Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Pageant

This is Bree, one of my beautiful Grand- daughters who has been accepted into the Miss Wisconsin Teen USA Pageant 2008, which means we were out canvasing for sponsors today...she did very well but has a bit to go! I am soooo glad Bree didn't inherit the Drama Mama generational family curse. She is cool, calm, and collected and I am so proud of her. She will do great in the pageant. She decided to do this, and found all the appropriate avenues to be accepted. Now comes the fun part.....she needs shoes, and a dress, and so on.

Hair, nails, teeth, but the officials want her to be natural....hummm. Do the girls in the upper left photo look natur-a-a-l? Nope....tans, makeup, bleached hair ......Crest whiteners......butt push ups.....front push ups.....hair push ups.....shrimp gump boat push ups. OK when Bree was 4 she could do all the Forest Gump Shrimp talk verbatim. Not sure that will win her the crown, but it did with all of us... I have video to prove it...."R-u-n-F-o-r-r-e-s-t-R-u-n and Bubba Shrimp and Gumbo Shrimp and .......Life is like a box o' chocolates, ya nev'r know what cher gonna git." Then in early High School she talked her Mom into letting her take the Barbizon Modeling and Acting Course of which she did beautifully....I think some of those pictures are on a past blog.....she is funny and she can act. She would like to go to college in Los Angles and pursue her dreams of acting. For her charity she has chosen the "American Family Children's Hospital" located here in Madison. Excellent! She is someone to watch grow as I have had the privilege to do for 17 years.... Sometimes you do know what "cher gonna git.!"

The Dirty Dozen

I started a Green Cleaning business a few months ago with no revenue! One ad in a small newspaper called The Sustainable Times out of Middleton, Wisconsin....which was given to me free because I deliver the Times once a month for George Zens, owner and writer extraordinaire.

Back to my point which is research on what is Green and what is not. Whole Foods keeps me on the safe track even though using inexpensive vinegar, baking soda, borax, and bon ami also keep me safe but don't smell as nice. Obviously I haven't learned how to use the essential oils yet.

Yesterday I was in the "Googling Mood" and found this video below, http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/going-green-environment/green-home-makeover/personal-care-greenguide.html . A quick see and very informative I must say. Then I went to download the "Smart Shoppers Dirty Dozen Chemical in Cosmetics from TheGreenGuide as the lady in the video suggested and this is what is on the Foldover card:

12 ingredients to avoid in personal care products:

1- Antibacterials

2- Coal tar: FC&C Blue 1 and Green 3

3- Diethanolamine (DEA) ( I thought DEA was the Drug Enforcement Asses :-)

4- 1, 4 Dioxane

5- Formaldehyde (diazolidinyl urea and quaternium compounds)

6 - Lead and Mercury

7 - Nanoparticles (What the Chinese put in our Medicines I hear:-(

8- Parabens (methyl-, propyl-, butyl-, ethyl, isobutyl) That smell from lighters in the old days

9- Petroleum distillates

10-Phenylenediamine (PPD)

11- Hydroquinone

12- Fragrance (containing Phthalates)

Out of these twelve items I could probably locate two of these, as not having a serious Chemistry background, I have no idea what they are, with the exception of lead and mercury. You see I was going to give this little fold over card listing the above ingredients, to my clients letting them know how they have been slowly killing themselves their entire life, and actually thinking I am helping them! I am sure that will help my business.....not.

I am allergic to milk which meant reading labels. That took along time to learn but I know food labels very well now. This Green Guide will also take allot of time for the average human being to decipher. There must be an easier way? Yup, Whole Foods to start with. Let them decipher for you but make note you will pay for that service. I will continue to research and hopefully break down the ethyls, and phenyls, and quinones so we can better understand them. And maybe even find them on the labels. Not to mention I didn't mention cleaning products yet..... to be continued.

P.S. When I ran spellcheck on this posting, my new Vista Computer did not recognize most of the words in the 12 ingredients. In fact it told me to change Phthalates to Althletes!! And for some of the other words it said, "no suggestions." hummm

Dragonfly Friends

A special dragonfly came calling

To my house the other day.

His message was loud and clear

“All is well,” he seemed to say.

He has come to me many times

With his message of good cheer,

“Angels are working in your behalf

So give no thought to fear.”

He remained so very long

Perched on the flower stem,

Stately balancing before my eyes

So I would take good note of him.

Comfort and faith he brings to me

In his announcement from the skies,

Making sure I notice him

Before into the air he flies.

This time he stayed so very long

Making sure I heard his tale

Of miracles that are in the works

And that my God will never fail.

I don’t personally ask for visits

But suddenly he comes to me,

Just another beautiful gift

For a mortal’s eyes to see.

I received his message clearly

As my heart swelled with praise,

Lifting my thoughts above the earth

With this faith gift in my gaze.

When I noticed he had left my view

Another creature appeared for me,

A bright red bird perched on the fence

Singing love songs melodically.

A blessed day I would call it

With two messages from above

Letting me see the heavens open

And sending personal edicts of love.

written by T. Wieland Allen all rights reserved
painting by Karen Margulis

Head Trauma at Insane O'Clock

So the last child still living a home out of five still is of the age where she believes Mom to be less than intelligent. Like I believed someone "threw," placed, put, asked if it were alright, for this tiny little kitten to be put in her car and brought home to her room. And did that person say the owner was a big bad mean man that was going to "shot" tiny little kitten if said last child didn't rescue it and bring it home to her room. It, started out as "LuLu," and has moved on to "Sophie." I say it should be "Active Annie," or "Persistence," because this kitten never stops moving. Believe this or not, when my daughter leaves her room and closes the door, Sophie throws herself at the door with her body or head. We know this because we can hear the thuds. I just look at my daughter in awe..... I never in all my many years experienced this behavior from a kitten. Sophie is 6 or 7 weeks old....and smart! Or would banging ones head on a door be considered smart? We buy her kitty milk, and make toys to dangle from the dresser knobs...attempt to teach her manners with a tiny crinkled paper. She tends to attack my daughter's head in the middle of the night... Obviously that is why I am up at insane o'clock! I heard the screams of head trauma from the opposing bedroom. My daughter is trying to be responsible and decide if she wants a 14 year commitment to "Sophie." I told her she cannot leave her responsibility with me...nope, no way Hose'. I have one Lucy cat, and one Gracie Allen, 6 lb. dog! Do I need more? Nope...the vet bills alone are an issue when considering something such as this. We already went to the groomer and had 6 week old Sophie's nails clipped at $8.... They were razor sharp! So where is the evil person who "threw" this tiny, impending death, kitten named Sophie or LuLu into the car only to be saved by probably ME! Oh well, it could be worse, it could have been a ferret.... there would have been no difficulty in decision making for me on that one...

Is Death Selfish?

I decided to take my dog "Gracie Allen," for a walk this morning as I noticed the sky offering a foretelling of what was to come this day. I didn't need the weatherman, who is usually wrong anyway, to know what lay ahead. I had heard that later today would be more tornadic weather for our area, like we needed anymore. Gracie and I were walking along when I heard the sound of black sharp thunder. I never liked storms as my children can attest to, although I have gotten much better dealing with them as years pass. But today I went on a journey of my own passing when a searing bolt of hot bright harsh fire hit me with more force than the speed of the light it itself was. Done, over in a split second. We never really think about our own passing on. Death. Demise. The end of our life. We see it happen to others and we feel sorrowful for them, but we can never really have the true sensation ourselves. Some days we think we want out of this life. Some days we even ask for it, but we really don't mean it. We think we mean it......we don't. Today lightning struck my spirit while I was walking Gracie Allen. I didn't feel any pain and then suddenly I was somewhere else and I was "wondering" where. Floating is the only sensation I experienced at that point. Then from another place I could see Gracie Allen standing all alone on the sidewalk with her tail tucked under which she does when she is frightened. She is only five whole pounds and already lost one family in her life. I always take care of her and I was gone. I hope we don't cry when we die because I was feeling my own hot tears across my face. She didn't know what to do and no one was helping her and I couldn't get back. Then I saw my Son arriving from Los Angeles only to find I had experienced Death. I was gone. He was supposed to have a happy exciting weekend at a friends wedding, "A new beginning," but instead he was experiencing the worst sorrow and loss of his life. Then I saw my other son across the ocean doing motivational speaking and training only to discover he may now need help with that very thing himself ..... He wanted to buy me a house when he "made it" and he was on his way. Is death selfish? Then I saw my daughter all alone, no place to live and partially disabled. I couldn't get back. It wasn't like I was drowning and couldn't turn and swim against the death current. No, I was floating peacefully in a lazy atmospheric river with no fear for myself or what was ahead. That was the "feeling" I experienced more than not being in life anymore. Then there was my oldest son trapped in a prison cell far away, unable to see me one last time, never to receive the birthday cards I send him for seven days in a row because I celebrate his being born, or a letter, or my voice. Could he stand one more blow? And the Granddaughter I was to meet for the first time this summer, age 19. The Twins and their sister, still very young, and their father, my other son. My two Granddaughters that have done everything with me since they were born....they are 16 and 19 now. Who will give "Lucy" cat her one cool fresh shrimp a day? Is death selfish? They say there is more after the bolt of death. Like the dragonfly that spunks my faith when I see one. Why? Because they come from the depths of where they are borne and live, leaving their families behind to rise up out of the ponds into the brilliant white light of life. The ones they leave behind must "wonder" where they went when they "died" and rose from the depths. Do you suppose that is what will happen to us? I think so.

Dragonfly painting by Karen Margulis