Lazy Weekend and Sleeping Beauty

I had another low-key weekend, but it was nice.  I've been rubbish with this blog lately, and I thought about posting Thursday night after my class and then Friday when I wasn't doing anything.  But I just didn't.  Friday night, Zach had a guys night, and other than brushing the kitties, my butt stayed on the couch allllll night!  I wasted time on Pinterest and watching Extreme Couponing.  Oh, I lied...I did get off the couch when I made popcorn for dinner.  ;)

*I tell Zach about my night when he gets home*

ZACH:  How domestic of you!

ME:  What's so domestic about sitting on the couch all night?

Cue laughter.

Saturday was a bit more happening.  I was supposed to meet Katie for breakfast/brunch then lunch then lunch/snack time.  She had to bring Tommy up for a conference and was bringing Ella Kate along with her.  That meant I finally got to meet Miss EK, who is now two months old!

If you know Katie, you know she is the latest person in the world.  (Hey!  She admits it.)  So I can only imagine how late it must be now that she has a baby.  ;)  But I was just glad to see them for a little bit.  Zach and I ended up eating McNuggets for lunch and had what we fondly call a DipFest.

(I hate myself.)

So I just planned to have a snack when I got to meet up with the (Ella) Katies.  We met at Briar Rose, Katie had lunch, I had dessert, and Miss Ella Kate napped and got photographed by moi.  :)

She is absolutely beautiful with the loveliest eyelashes and lips.  Ella Kate also has such a funny little personality (at least, the little bit I saw when she woke as they were leaving).  I told her all babies have this reaction to me (see tri-photo collage above).  :)

After visiting with them, I stopped by Target and got some Cheez Its on clearance!  Then I picked up a shirt on clearance with a $10 off coupon at Kohl's and popped into Sam's and got gas.

For dinner, I made Eggs Florentine, and it was sooo good!  I made my Hollandaise sauce too soon, and my butter had cooled, so it wasn't quite right.  Still yummy though.

Today, we lazed about for just about all of the day.  I did pop down to Harp's to pick up some blueberry muffins and a paper this morning.  For lunch, I thawed some bolognese and planned our meals for the week.  I was so proud of the haul I got at the grocery store tonight!  I spent just over $21 for 2 family-sized boxes of Cap'n Crunch, 2 boxes of Honey Grahams, 1 jar of pickles, 1 box of Texas Toast, 2 boxes of scalloped potatoes, 1 Cool Whip, 1 4-pack of Greek yogurt, and 1 box of cheesecake pudding.  (I volunteered for office snack time this week.)

Looks like that Extreme Couponing is rubbing off...

How did your weekend stack up?

Gratitude Journal: To teach is to touch a life.

I bet you thought I was going to be reeeeeeal sappy with that title, right?

WRONG.  ;)

Remember that teach that wore the same thing in his yearbook photo for, like, 40 years?

(He's over here.)

Yeah, he's still got something on me.

(More accurately, 37 years...)

BUT.

THIS.

I've worn this blouse at some point during the first week of classes for the past three years now. In fact, I bought this shirt during my first week of teaching (at NWACC--I was already teaching at U of Px).

(I paid next to nothing for it with a $10 Kohl's gift card.  They send those babies out all the time in the mail!)

I accessorized it with my chaotic jazz hands, terrified eyes, and gaping mouth. Because those are the BEST accessories. Annnnnd THAT is how scary students are.

BUT. I'm EVOLVING. Not so as scared of those kiddos anymore. I'll get up there and sing jingles, tell them all about my slimy first kiss, and punctuate "y'all" properly to try to get them to learn SOMETHING about writing.

That's why, this year, I'm like: BRING. IT. ON.

Because it's actually quite a bit of good fun to make a foo' o' yo'self.

In reality, I do take this calling very seriously.  I feel so blessed to be teaching my eleventh class this semester, my ninth at NWACC.  I get so excited thinking about how my students are going to move on from my class, get through school, and go on to live their dreams!  I have future nurses and engineers, lawyers and business owners, writers and future colleagues in my class.  And honestly, this is the first semester that I have been more excited than nervous to meet my students and see how we are going to rock this class.  All of the assignments are going to deal with advertisements, which = Mad Men.  Score.

Of course, don't come near me an hour before six Thursday evening.  I'll be quakin' in my boots.

Wish me luck!

Weekend Update and a Laundry Day Recipe

Over the weekend, I joined Twitter, started an account on Pinterest, and started uploading to Instagram.  Oh, I started a Facebook page, too!  But I haven't really done anything with that yet.  ;)  This 21st Century social networking business is hard stuff.  You can connect with me through the icons on the left.

Speaking of social networking, I give you my weekend in Instagrammed pictures.  :)

1)  I had to take Hobie to the vet on Friday.  We've been having some behavioral and tummy issues with the kitties.  :(

2-4)  So they got lots of lovings this weekend.

5)  This is how my husband naps when he has gotten up at 11 to take a nap at 1.  *smh*

6)  We captured a sweat bee (by we, Zach), and we let the kitties watch it in the jar.  They were the ones who actually found it in the fireplace.

7)  Late in the afternoon, we headed out to take care of some business.

8)  We fought the tax-free-weekend crowds at Target and rewarded ourselves with some Starbucks.  I got an iced chai tea latte of course.  :)

9-10)  Then it was time for some Bliss!  Thanks, Living Social.

11)  I found some sandals on sale at Kohl's and fell in love.

12)  I've been drinking lots of hot tea this weekend because my allergies (thank you, vet/Hobie) have been acting up and giving me swollen lymph nodes.  (At least, I think it's my allergies...)

13)  Saturday night, I made a turkey pot pie.  YUMMY!

14)  And Sunday morning, we had biscuits and gravy.

And I can't forget my clothes.  It was a royal blue and orange weekend!

I decided to do something a bit different for Menu Monday.  Over a year and a half ago, I started making my own laundry detergent to save money.  It has worked well for us; two gallons last about four months, based on my calculations.  Keep in mind, there's only two of us.

We ran out this week, so I had to make some more.  First, however, I had to buy some more washing soda.  Then, once I got home with that, I realized I was out of bar soap.  Thankfully, Walgreens had Coast soap on sale (8 bars for $3.99) AND I had a coupon, so I got the soap for $3.49!  The coupon was from a few weeks ago, but Zest is also on sale, and there was a Zest coupon in the paper THIS week.  So this might be the perfect opportunity for you to try making your own soap!

HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

1 bar soap
1 cup Borax
1 cup washing soda
2 gallons water
2 empty gallon jugs

-Shred bar of soap into a large stockpot.

-Add 1 gallon of water and boil until the soap is dissolved

-Add Borax and washing soda.

-Bring to a boil until it coagulates.  It will start to get foamy.

-But make sure you watch it very closely--or it will boil over!  Every. single. time. I turn my back for a second because it's not doing anything, and then it boils over onto my stove!

-Turn off the heat.  Add 1 gallon cold water; stir well.

-After it cools a bit, use a funnel and ladle to place detergent into jugs.

Sometimes it will get too thick; try using less soap next time.  Since this was my first time using Coast, I think I used too much, and I also overcooked it.  It was pretty solid by the time I began to funnel it!  *lol*  So I just heated it up for a bit until it started to melt again.  I really liked how easy it was to grate Coast; some of the other soaps have been near impossible!  You can choose what soap you want; I tend to add some of the Downy Unstopables to boost the fragrance anyway, and I have come to like much less fragrance than I used to.  (I also got my Downy beads as free samples; it said to add the whole pack, but I find ten or so increase the smell quite nicely.  :)

If we hadn't spilled our washing soda accidentally some months back, it would have lasted even longer.  I feel like the box of Borax and washing soda should last over 6 recipes' worth.  I believe Borax is a bit more, but the washing soda is only about $4.

I hope you will give it a try!  It only takes about thirty to forty minutes or so to cook from start to finish, but the funneling does add considerable time, especially if it is thick.  I think it is much more affordable than buying detergent.

What have you tried to make homemade?  Has it turned out?