Temporary Housewife

Whelp, we've gone beyond "Stingy September" or "Frugal February". Miserly March. ... Anti-Spending April?  Yeah, I'm out of money saving themed names for months. Ever since the great recession of Aught Eight, America has embraced frugality.  First, it was out of necessity for many of us.  Then, it became the cool thing to do.  Pinterest and frugal blogs boomed with ideas of how to save money.  To this day, you can Google a ton of ideas on how to be frugal.  Here I offer up my own little list of what to do or avoid to pinch those precious pennies. 1.  Accept that Target is the devil. Yes, I know we all know this, intrinsically, and yet the bulls-eye hypnotizes most of us to come in anyway.  I think we can all gather around the electric fireplace to share our most shameful Target runs that began with the need for a deodorant and ended with a complete set of silver charger plates, an insulated water bottle, two clearance shirts, a package ...

*WARNING.  The tone of this post is a little bit uneven, but stick with the soppy sadness of this first part.  It gets silly.* The growing up part of childhood has been more pronounced as of late, and I haven't been collapsing into myself (yet) with the realization of the pace of time or that she's becoming more and more of herself every day.  I mourn the passing of each little milestone, true, but the tears are all colored with a sort of happiness.  I'm glad she's advancing and that she's healthy and she's encountered no more than the normal trials and tribulations of growing up.  However, the the passing of time (when I actually take the time to reflect upon it) is painful because it is something that is lost and can never be recovered fully. Yes, I remember a lot of things, but even science proves that the finest details of a moment are lost forever once it passes.  "A done bun can't be undone" as they say, and for me, that loss hurts if I t...

While I Big Puffy Heart Norwex, this post is NOT about that magical product, nor the similar e-cloth product. This is about making your own cleaners for that nice fresh clean. First, you need The Internets and a Search Engine.  Like Google. Type in "DIY home cleaners." Pick one.  GO. I'm partial to Clean Mama recipes .  She's brilliant. For my counters and appliances, I use this .  Or just Norwex. I like the daily shower spray concept, but since we are budgeting, I didn't want to purchase a new bottle.  So I made this and mixed it up in the old bottle.  I use it in all showers, and have been for about a week now.  Smells delicious! For my fridge, I use Norwex then goob it with oil .  I thought it was supposed to resist finger prints, but my brother immediately poked it and produced a giant print, so there goes that theory.  But boy, does it shine!  With a finger print.  For my tile floors, I use the lemon pepper...

I just found out from my latest interview with that I did not get the job. In another instance, I checked up on an unmoving resume online to find out that the company that I submitted it to in August finally decided that they were not going to pursue candidacy with me. Needless to say, my employment endeavors have been humbling.  Very humbling. I've always identified with my job.  Even during my first stint as a voluntary stay at home mom, I was very much uncomfortable with the homemaking making lifestyle.  Mostly because I had no idea what to do to help myself feel fulfilled. I find myself in an extended period of unemployment.  It's no longer a joking matter. What do I do? I find myself embarrassed.  Am I not interviewing correctly? Am I unlikable? I've been deluding myself on how my work ethic has come across? Why doesn't anybody want to employ me?  The reality is likely that the climate for an environmental scientist/geologist is not exactly friend...

Now that I got all of my angsty rage out, I feel better.  Sorry about that. Not me feeling better about it, but rather the need to vent about anything else other than the boredom in my life.   But hey, my blog, right?  Right! Back to ennui inspired stuff!  Look! I've: 1. Fixed the chair that the dumb movers broke. 2.  Made homemade calzones and chocolate chip cookies.  AT THE SAME TIME.  WHAT. 3. Painted my kitchen! 4.  Nearly finished a scarf for G. 5.  Used the word "ennui" in a blog post. And it's only midday on Wednesday. W atch out world.  I'm making a run for tomatoes soon and I'm going to ROCK IT.

Then f*** off. Especially on this day of all days. When thoughts and prayers are the only thing that the American people had in the face of such tragedy. When I had to watch from hundreds of miles away while my fellow Americans burned, thoughts and prayers were all I had. The thoughts and prayers are what people send on days of tragedy when things are happening around the world and there's absolutely nothing that you can do in that moment, all you have is a thought and a prayer. It's empathy, folks. It's a "sorry for your loss", when you can't be with your friend when they lose their dog or Mom or child. It's when you can't give a sick friend or family member chicken noodle soup when they are sick. Thoughts and prayers are not the absence of compassion and financial support and help. It is the verbalization of "hey, I'm here for you in every way that I can be."  And you send flowers or food or money along with your thoughts and prayer...

https://youtu.be/W_VBE938fLU When she asks to watch the clouds with you, you drop everything. And you do just that.