Streak Free!

I did it! I actually did it! I have wondered my whole life--since I started washing windows--how to get them clean without all the streaks. So last night I did a search for cleaning mirrors and windows without putting streaks on the glass. The source said to use newspaper and vinegar diluted in water.

After watching the video that detailed the process, I decided to try it. Instead of using vinegar, I used window cleaner, since that is what I had on hand, but I used the newspaper and it worked. I discovered as I cleaned the mirror that the key to cleaning glass without streaking it is to use newspaper and to rotate it as you go so that you are always using a dry part of the newspaper. That is why I have not had any luck with the papertowels--I'm always using the part that is already wet. Not only that, but the newspaper is lint-free, unlike many paper towels.

Awesome! Now, off to clean some more glass!

Something to Aspire To

I have always noticed that the women who have always stood out to me are those who stay at home with their children, take care of their children's and husband's needs, keep their homes clean and organized and still manage to have a business of their own on the side, or have their fingers in a lot of pies. They have their priorities in order--keeping their family as primary receivers of their attention--while still managing their other dealings. These women would know how to work with others on a professional level even though they are in the home much of the time. This is something that, whether consiously or sub-consiously, I have wanted to aspire to much of my life.

Stripping Diaper

I heard of something new today that I hadn't heard of before: adding washing soda to diapers when stripping them to neutralize the detergent that has built up in the diapers. It helps the detergent to get washed out of the diapers. I will have to remember that for the next time I strip Henry's diapers. Now I just have to find some info on how much washing soda to use.

Cloth Diapers

When I was growing up, my mom used cloth diapers. I was one of the older children in a larger family, so I got the priviledge of changing more than my share of diapers before I ever had children of my own--and most of the time when I was changing diapers they were cloth diapers!!! I decided I would never use cloth diapers when I had children of my own! But what you can't plan on that far in advance is what you'll be able to afford or what kinds of new items will come out that you didn't anticipate.

So, when I was planning what I would use with my first child, I automatically planned on using disposable diapers. But, then a friend who was planning to visit a cloth diaper store asked me to go along. I agreed and went with her. After all, it was a chance to spend some time with her, and I had to admit I was impressed with the cloth diaper system she had. Although it included prefolds--the kind of diapers my mom used, which I absolutely detested--it also included a way to put them on the baby without using pins! And furthermore, there were other things that fascinated me, like all-in-one diapers, and covers that weren't plastic pants. So the idea of seeing more items like this definitely piqued my interest.

All it took was that visit, and I had a new perspective. I wasn't convinced that I would use cloth diapers for sure, or all at once or even right away, but it gave me the motivation to at least give them a try. Thus, I started purchasing the basic items I would need: 24 Prefold diapers, 8-12 covers, and 4 snappis; beyond the basics, I even purchased a couple pocket diapers and a few all-in-ones. I was also impressed with a couple products that I didn't purchase right away, but just from seeing them and knowing how they work--and the fact that they now exist--I was able to realize that this is something I can do. These items are the diaper sprayer that attaches to the toilet so you don't have to dunk the diapers, and the flushable liners.

When my baby was born we started using disposables right away. After a couple weeks I decided I really should use the cloth diapers I had purchased, but getting going wasn't quite so easy. My baby was on the small end of the normal weight range of a newborn and didn't have a lot of baby fat on his legs, so the diapers ended up leaking a lot. I realized that though I saved a little money on my cloth diapers, I would have been better off purchasing the newborn size instead of hoping that the next size up was going to cut it right away. So I kept using the disposables, but I felt bad that I had bought all those cloth diapers and hardly used them, even though I could just find someone to buy them from me, but after all, I already had experience with using cloth diapers. How in the world could I let something defeat me that I had already mastered!?! So I kept giving it a try. I did it during the day because Henry seemed to know when he was wearing a cloth diaper and want it changed right away once it was wet. That is one of the advantages of cloth diapers--the baby feels the wetness and it can be used to help the baby keep from getting used to sitting in wetness and sometimes it can result in potty-training the child earlier. Well, for both Henry and me it was an adjustment, but we made the transition gradually, and by the time he was about four months old I was using cloth diapers full time. It helped that he was a little bigger by now and the diapers fit better, but I had also gotten better at putting them on him with a fold that fit him better. I also got some diapers that were more absorbent for night time.

Well, everything went pretty well till I started feeding him table food. I had been trying to train him to go on the toilet even as early as a couple months old (once he could hold his head up), but now he was starting to fight being on the toilet, and his when he went there were a lot more solids when he pooped.  I put up with it and cleaned it off the diaper before putting the diaper in the pail, but I was getting really frustrated with it. I wanted to get a diaper sprayer, or sometimes just wanted to switch to disposables, but now I was stuck in cloth diapering because it was what we could afford! We hadn't thought that it would make that much of a difference financially, but when Henry was about five or six months old we realized how desperately we needed to budget and stick to the budget just to make ends meet, but eventually so we could get out of debt and start saving, and down the road fix up some problem areas on our house. So, I stuck to cloth diapering.

Well, one day I was talking to my friend and telling her my dilemma, and she reminded me about the flushable liners! Oh yes, I remembered now, that was one of the things that I saw that made me realize that I was okay with the idea of using cloth diapers in the first place. So the next time I was able to, I fit it into the budget, and when payday came around I made the purchase immediately. It shipped the next day, and the day after that they came in the mail. Well, how do I feel about cloth diapering now? I don't mind it. I know that with the flushable liners I can keep doing this as long as I need to. When Henry has a messy diaper, I just take him in the bathroom and take off the diaper and put the soiled liner in the toilet, give it a couple minutes for the water to soften it and then flush it down, and go put a clean diaper on Henry. We have a septic system, so I am careful only to flush the liners that are soiled. The wet ones I just put in the garbage. The liners are safe for the septic, but do take a few days to break down once they are flushed, so I keep from overloading it unnecessarily. I do hope that I can get a diaper sprayer eventually since it pays for itself more than the flushable liners, but I do wonder if I will even like that method one I try it since I like these liners so well. I guess I will just have to find out.

Jeremiah 50-52

Jeremiah 50
Who: Spoken by Jeremiah to Babylon
What: The word of the Lord concerning the destruction of Babylon
Where: On Jememiah's way to Babylon with King Zedekiah in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign
When: After the nation of Israel has gone into excile
Why: Babylon will be captured, and face terror.
How: On a scroll to the staff officer, Seraiah

God had used Babylon to punish Israel for its rebellion, but now It seemes like Babylon can expect payback for what it did to Israel.

Assyria had been the first to attack Israel, Babylon the last and now Israel will return to her own land and be satisfied.

It almost seems like those who hold to Replacement Theology miss something that is very important concerning Israel: Israel bind themselves to an everlasting coveneant with God, v. 5, and the remnant of Israel that returns will be forgiven and her sins will not be found, v. 20. Israel will not be forsaken in spite of her guilt. 51:5. Isaiah 40:2 also speaks to this, that Israel has paid double for all her sins.

Jeremiah 51 continues the discourse of chapter 50.

Chapter 52
The Destruction of Jerusalem, King Zedekiah tortured and taken into captivity, the Destruction of Solomon's Temple, and the Release of Jehoiachin.

I have often wondered why the Bible puts so much detail into the Temple that Solomon built. If for no other reason, it gives an idea of how drastic of an event it was when the Temple was destroyed. This temple was an object of glory in Israel previously.

Today's Tasks - August 23

X indicates tasks completed.

x Wash vent covers. Note: Washed by hand instead of in dishwasher. Very dirty before cleaning.
x Wash laundry
- Put Henry's toys in dishwasher.
- Dust living room, dining room, bedroom and kitchen.
- Mop Kitchen.
- Declutter surfaces.
- Take pictures of items to get rid of.
- Clean bathroom.
- Call library about returned items that don't seem to be checked in.
- Call Jill about diapers.
- Clean Henry's frog humidifier.
- Harvest beans.

Henry - August 23

I gave Henry some pieces of kiwi fruit. To my surprise, he liked it in spite of its tangy taste. This gives me the impression that texture may have something to do with which foods he likes since he doesn't like fresh tomatoes.

This morning, Henry put his sandal on the floor and put a pair of his socks in the sandal. I guess he knows that shoes and socks go together!

This afternoon, Hery laid down on the bed and looked at a book, and was content to stay there for probably 15-20 minutes! It was a nice break while I ate my lunch--without him clamoring for food at the same time!!! I can put that down as an accomplishment!

The Clothesline

I just got a new clothesline last week. Actually, Dan built it for me. I am really glad to have it. Last Monday, I washed six loads of laundry and hung all of them on the line. The weather was perfect for it--it was warm, but not too warm, it was sunny and there was a breeze. I was surprised how quickly the laundry dried on the clothesline outside compared to the clothesline in the basement. In the basement, the laundry was likely to take all night to dry a single load of clothes; however, outside, the clothes are likely to dry in about an hour. Even the king-size mattress pad dried in the time it took to wash three loads of laundry, so about two hours and fifteen minutes. I did turn or flip the mattress pad a couple times to maximize the exposure of sunlight to it.

There are some wonderful benefits to using a clothesline. First, it cuts down on energy costs. We have pretty high energy costs for the house we are living in, so we have been looking for and investing in other options for energy use, like unplugging the TV and computers when they are not in use, and having a natural gas line run to the house. Even when some items that are line dried may need some ironing, the energy costs are lower since the dryer takes more energy than an iron. Second, the laundry smells and feels better when it has been hanging out in the fresh air and breeze. Come winter, I don't think hanging the clothes outside will be as effective since the clothes would basically freeze dry, and would need ironing as they de-ice just to complete the drying process. (At least, that is what I have read, but it makes sense.) Third, using the clothesline adds a little more exercise and some fresh air to the usual household chore of doing laundry. This is probably my favorite of the benefits since it has a direct affect on me.

I have experienced only a couple of drawbacks to using the clothesline. The first is that there is a greater presesnce of lint on the laundry items after they have dried. The second is that there are some items that will need to be ironed after drying on the clothesline that may not need to be ironed after drying in the dryer. The solution to the first problem is brushing the clothes with a lint brush rolling a lint roller on the clothes. Fortunately, the lint has been light enough or just traces on items on which it would really matter if there was lint on them, such as work clothes. Items like tee-shirts seem to attract more lint than a woven cotton shirt, but tee-shirts are casual clothing so a little lint on them isn't going to be as big of a deal.

The weather has not been adverse this past week when I was doing laundry, so it has not been a problem to hang out the clothes. There was one day last week when it threatened to rain so I took the diapers off the line before they were completely dry and finished them in the dryer. However, since they were half way dry, they only needed about half the time in the dryer as they would normally need.
The next time that I washed diapers last week, the weather was hot, sunny and somewhat humid, which turned out to be perfect weather for drying diapers on the line.

The cloth diapers I am currenly using are made of multiple layers of microfiber. Because of this, they take longer to dry than my normal laundry would take, and I am guessing they would take longer to dry than cotton prefold diapers would. I think the diapers took about 3 hours to dry. Drying the diaper covers on the line helps the covers dry faster than if they were line dried inside. I always dry the diaper covers on the line as opposed to drying them in the dryer, which increases their lifespan. Drying the covers inside though would take about five or six hours, where drying them outside only takes an hour or two!

As far as clothespinse are concerned, I have noticed that I prefer the clothespins with springs. (The only downfall is if Henry gets a hold of them and starts taking them apart!) I find that I don't really like the stick clothespins. They don't have the same kind of grip effect and adjustability that the springing clothespins have. Also, I find that it is easier to get slivers on the stick clothespins.

As I mentioned previously, some items that are line dried may need some ironing. One good thing I have found though is that items that are line dried outside tend to need less ironing than items that are line dried inside due to the breeze.

I am constantly thinking of things I could write about the clothesline since I am really excited to have and use it and since I have time to think while I am hanging out the laundry. But I think this entry is quite long enough, and what do you know? I have to go outside and hang up another load of wash. Today I have only four loads of laundry, (I may split one into a fifth load since it is large) but I started with hanging out the towels I washed last night and that has set me back a little bit becasue they take longer to dry and it was a little bit cool when I first hung them up this morning. Some of the smaller items dried faster and I took them down to make room for the sheets. In fact, I used all 100 feet of clothesline for the towels this morning! Most of the space was taken up by washclothes which I hung in half at first and then later hung up by the corners as they finish. I digress. Anyway, I have to finish the laundry. Okay, off to the clothesline I go!

Summary:
I like my new clothesline.
Benefits of using a clothesline.
Downfalls of using a clothesline.
Weather allowing for line drying.
Drying cloth diapers.
Clothespin preferences.
Ironing needed for line dried items.
Concluding paragraph

My Blog

In the past, the idea of having a blog and blogging seemed like a ridiculous fad. It seemed like it was something people did just to show off who they were or put things out in cyberspace that might have no use whatsoever. I never thought that I would have a blog of my own, but lateley the idea has been more intriguing to me.

I guess it intrigues me because sometimes it seems like it is a source of interaction in my world of limited interaction. I interact with people every day, but mostly family members, just because of where I am in life.

But then I found another reason for blogging as well. Being a mom who is home with a little child almost every day, I sometimes feel that I am losing my touch for other things besides washing dishes and diapers and little hands. Those are good things --washing dishes and diapers and little hands--but sometimes it is easy to feel that I would like my day to count for more than just cleaning and taking care of other people. I enjoy caring for others, but sometimes I feel like it is all I do.

Another reason besides keeping up with my typing skills and writing abilities, is that should somebody happend to stumble across my blog, who knows but maybe I will post something that will be helpful to somebody else. For instance, one day, as I was searching for infromation on how to strip cloth diapers, and I ran across somebody else's blog and it was helpful. Not only did it tell me how to do what I needed to do, but it also told about another mom's experience in picking out which kind of diapers she would use and if it was truly more cost-effective to use cloth diapers instead of disposables. I found it to be interesting. And, it gave me the feeling of, "I'm not the only one doing this." True, I know that other moms are doing the same things I am doing from day to day, but sometimes it can make a big difference just knowing you are not alone.
So, that is my reason for blogging.

Hopefully, I can think of interesting things to say besides the mundane things that I may encounter daily. Many days are hardly more than routine, but I do have a myriad of other interests in spite of being a mom. It reminds me of somebody I know who feels that I probably have little more to talk about besides the latest thing my child is doing, but the more I think about that idea, the more I realize that I think about so many other things besides, and that I have so much more I can talk about. Yes, I am a mother, but that doesn't define everything about me. So, this is my attempt to work at something more that "just being a mom."