mamasaysmine

Free shipping this weekend at my favorite place for non-diaper-bag-looking diaper bags - Brooklyn Industries!

Here are the details: free shipping with $20 purchase through Monday (August 3) with code 20SHIP.

My pick? This super-fabulous H Bag for only $24. Yum.

If you’re a parent and you don’t use some form of OxiClean (or another oxygen bleach powder) then you’re probably my sister in law, who returned all of my baby clothes full of stains.  (ah, family drama, you rear your head at such inopportune times) (but really. if you’re getting FREE BABY CLOTHES, freaking take care of them.) (or at least apologize and ACKNOWLEDGE that they’re stained.) (methinks a wee “Come to Jesus” meeting is in order with a certain family member.)

ANYWAY.

I picked up a new bucket of OxiClean (after getting a recent shipment of stained baby clothes, IN CASE YOU HADN’T GUESSED THAT) and noticed on the side that it says you can use it to clean your carpet.

Really?

Because I have two stains that keep going away and coming back.

The stains were originally dog related (use your imagination, if you dare) but are now just strange grey stains on my awful beige carpet. (note: beige carpet is a terrible choice if you have pets or children. terrible.)

In my dreams, I would simply use this as an excuse to put in hardwood floors.

In reality, I was down on my hands and knees scrubbing these stains with OxiClean.

Did it work? Pretty much. Which is not to say that the stains won’t come back, because they do that (disturbingly). But right now, they’re gone.

Additional bonus: no awful carpet-cleaner smell.

So I began a second 30 day challenge using EA Sports Active last week and have decided to bring you weekly recaps!

The details:
* I completed my first 30 Day Challenge on “medium.”
* I’m doing this one on “hard.”
* In my last 30 Day Challenge, I figured out that a good pattern for me is to work out Monday & Tuesday, take Wednesday off, workout Thursday and Friday and then rest or work out on the weekend, depending on my schedule.  This technically cuts out one workout a week, but is way better for my schedule, so it means that I’m more likely to stick to it. 

Notes from week 1:

* I was most definitely ready to switch from “medium” to “hard.”  Medium wasn’t leaving me as sore or burning enough calories, especially towards the end.  (Note:  in the beginning, I was DEFINITELY sore, so I’m glad I started there.)  My goodness, folks, I think that’s me making progress.
* The main difference so far between hard and medium is that you do each exercise more times… this is great for the stuff I enjoy, but I notice that I’m watching the reps on the stuff I don’t like and counting down to the end. I’m not bored, but, still, I don’t like watching the clock.
* In this second 30 days, I’m not as ravenously hungry as I was before, thank goodness. I think my body is finally accepting a new normal - one where I’m much more active!
* Since I’ve stuck with this, I went out and bought a new pair of workout shoes (which I’ll review later because I think I love them a lot!). Even though this is a video game, it’s a real workout, and I was feeling the effects of having sub-par sneakers. Definitely money well spent.
* Last week, while running, a though flashed through my mind: Maybe I should run a marathon. People, this is crazy talk. The last time I was in a race was 8th grade, and even then it didn’t end well. But, it does say something about the power of exercise to change your thoughts!  

Free shipping at my favorite shop for bags - Brooklyn Industries - with $75 purchase. Use code MEGASHIP.

Bags not your thing? Really? Ok. They’re having a pretty big sale on clothes & stuff too.

Offer ends at midnight, Sunday, July 19. (seriously, how is it July 17?)

Ok, so I’ve written before about how I tried to use an eco-friendly dishwashing detergent and how that little experiment crashed and burned. (see here)

Since I am nothing if not well-intentioned, I decided to try not rinsing my dishes before putting them into the dishwasher.

Did you hear me, internet? I PUT TOTALLY DIRTY DISHES IN THE DISHWASHER.

Let me back up for a moment. I have lived in some pretty awful apartments, and those that had dishwashers had, predictably, pretty awful dishwashers. The kind that even if your dishes were essentially CLEAN when you put them IN the dishwasher, somehow CREATED FOOD DEBRIS (I hesitate to even imagine where these came from) so that sometimes dishes would come out DIRTIER THAN THEY WENT IN.

So putting DIRTY DISHES in the dishwasher was kind of a big deal, ok? And by a big deal, I mean that I walked into this experiment knowing fully well that it may eventually include vomit.

Here’s the verdict: after a month of doing this, there has been little to know food residue on the clean dishes. I think it happened twice, and then only on one or two dishes, not the whole load.

Huh.

And I’ve become VERY AWARE of how much water I was wasting rinsing out the dishes. I’m thinking gallons.

I gotta say, this is one worth trying IF you have a newer dishwasher. Hell, maybe even if you don’t, because technology has to have improved since I was living in those crappy apartments.

(sidenote: my dishwasher is a GE Energy Star and is almost three years old)

Here’s the short review:

I love EA Sports Active for Wii and think you should go buy one now. You’ll be happy you did.

Want more info? Fine.

What I love:

* The 30 day Challenge (which I recommend to start and get your momentum going) is set up so that you work out 2 days, then rest one day, work out two days, then rest one day. Perfect for me, because if I would take a day off from other routines, it was easy to feel like I’ve failed and then just stop all together.

* There’s no “body test” or “weigh in” like on the Wii Fit. I get discouraged, not motivated, by learning that I’ve gained a tenth of a pound. This kept me focused on being active, healthy and fit, instead of on numbers.

* The Trainer doesn’t say snide things at you if you miss a day or two (compared to the Wii Fit, which reminds you of exactly how much time you’ve missed). Again, for me, this kept the focus very positive.

* The exercises are all laid out for you, so you end up doing activities that you might not choose on your own. (because, I don’t know, THEY’RE HARD!) With the Wii Fit, it’s way too easy for me to stick to what’s easy.

* Each day of the 30 day challenge contained a different set of exercises, so you don’t get into a rut.

* You can pick the level of intensity of your workouts (easy, medium, hard) and change it every day if you want to. (I stuck with medium for the first 30 days)

* You do the whole routine at once, with no stops. With the Wii Fit, you pick an exercise, finish it, pick another, and end up wasting time that way.

* You can play with other people, which is awesome.

* I really got a good workout. Hooray!

What I don’t love so much:

* For some exercises, the position of the Wii remotes is more important than the actual form of the exercise. That’s distracting and irritating.

* You really need a wireless nunchuck, or you’ll be hitting yourself in the face with cords when you play volleyball (and the cords get in the way with lots of other exercises too. really, the game should just COME WITH a wireless nunchuck).

* The boxing exercises are too slow for me (this is the one area where the Wii Fit wins compared to EA Sports Active).

* You need to invest in re-chargable batteries, because you’ll go through them every couple of days. (and if you don’t, the Wii Remote won’t work well and you will swear at the television. trust me on this.)

Here’s how my 30 days went:

Since my emphasis isn’t on losing numbers on the scale, I started the challenge trying on a skirt that is too tight to be worn in public. Ouch. By the end of the challenge, the skirt fits, although not to where I feel like it looks good. Give me another 30 days and I’ll even post a pic, though! My husband totally noticed I was losing weight and firming up, and I definitely feel healthier. I actually packed up my Wii and brought it along on vacation, just so I could keep my momentum going. I did end up taking a week off when I got sick, had company and was teaching an awful summer class, all in the sam week. HOWEVER, it was easy to just pick back up where I left off.

Like I said… I love it. Go get yours now.

Free shipping today at Victoria’s Secret with code FREESHP4 (note that there’s no “I” in “SHP” - I was typing in “FREESHIP4″ and getting pretty frustrated).

Save even more by using code 30CLR to save an additional 30% on clearance clothes & shoes.

And, finally, maximize your savings by shopping through ebates and getting 2% back.  New to ebates?  Click here and get $5 free when you make your first purchase.  I’ve used it for years for my online shopping and have earned almost $300. 

Happy shopping!