Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!

I attended my first Todd & Michelle Halloween Extravaganza. Mr A and I went as the infamous Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Even though Mr A looked slick in his fedora, our costumes barely registered on the full out freak show scale of that particular gathering.
The winners, in my opinion, would have to be Nate & Lara - shown here. Theres not a whole lot you can say about a couple costume this awesome.

I need to go and scour the thrift store off my skin now.

The Challenging Life of the Self-Employed

Sometimes I think that I just say "Im self employed" because it sounds nicer than "Im unemployed".
I probably do more work, technically speaking, than I used to when I had a 9-5er. But theres something about not punching a time card or asking my bosses permission to smoke that leads me to believe I really have no job.
The challenge is that we are told no job = no purpose. Instead of celebrating my liberation Im left feeling like a freeloader.
I was told, and agree wholeheartedly, that I should never work again unless I really really wanted to. I know that no one could possibly pay me what I think Im worth. I dont think that anyone is going to care about my wellbeing the way I do. Or let me take Wednesday off because I would rather finish my book. So why should I leave those sorts of decisions up to anyone besides myself?

Thank you Shaklee. Although sometimes I feel guilty for things I shouldnt (like hooking up my loved ones with high quality healthy stuff that they probably want anyway) in the end I know that a Tuesday afternoon hike with my dude is worth feeling a bit of vunerability.

Hook Line & Sink

Yesterday I went to my grandmothers house to deliver a bottle of Basic H because she has fallen in love with my mom's super slick cleaning style. We started talking about her white counters and how metal pots and pans leave unsightly grey marks all over the place. (interestingly enough, Basic H will take those marks off her counter, but thats not relevant to my story) She informed me, casually, that she uses bleach to clear up said marks. What in the hell she is thinking putting bleach anywhere near her food, Ill never know.

But thats not the point. The conversation turned to her sink, which she also cleans with bleach (same metal streak mark problem there). I asked her why she doesnt just use a sponge and she said, in true Granny fashion, "Well, I dont know my dear, I guess Im under the crazy notion that white sinks should be white." And she asked me what color my sink was. I truly dont know because Ive never looked at the sink that closely but I insisted that it is not and has never been white.

Then I got to thinking last night...

So this afternoon I reached for the Scour Off and scrubby-deal from my much loved Get Clean kit. Its made from cherry pits and did a marvelous job on the oven last week. I peered into my sink and said to Mr A "maybe at some point in its life it was white, but now its scratched..." He told me to try anyway. I think he could sense the premature surrendering in my voice. So I took to scouring and...


TA-FREAKIN-DA!


My sink smells a whole lot better now and - Ill be damned - it is white! Amazing. This isnt the best picture but its half way through the job and gives some idea of what Im talking about.