Mommy and Sweet Pea

For my birthday this year, my parents got me a new front door. Our door had irritated me since we moved in because it was the wrong direction for the opening (light switches and door stop were on the other sides), had no window or peep hole, and we have no windows on that side of the living room at all, and it was just completely blah. It was a plain synthetic door painted the same color as the interior of the house on the inside and the same color as the exterior on the outside. The new door that we chose is a lovely natural wood, has a dentil shelf, three window panes, and two panels. It was fairly inexpensive compared to other wood doors that look similar to it because the local giant hardware/lumber/home goods store (Jerry's) buys this particular model in larger quantities and stocks them. The price was more than $100 less than what we would have paid at Lowe's or Home Depot. My husband stained and sealed it, and installed it himself, after it lived in our garage for a...

This morning (probably closer to early afternoon, actually - we are not exactly morning people) Average and I went out on a run. It was our first run together in about two weeks. The weather was perfect and it felt great! We did a little three-mile loop, and brought Glen and Sweet Pea along with us. I am hoping we can do this on a regular basis over the next six months or so, or until one of us starts training for a longer race and needs to do some longer runs than Glen and Sweet Pea can tolerate. They can only make it for about five miles before becoming too tired and/or bored and needing to head for home. Since I started running last spring, I've lost about 10 pounds, gained a lot of stamina and lung capacity (I have asthma), and a lot of confidence. I have been a runner, sort of, at other times in my life, but this experience is better than any other time. I probably need it more than any other time, too! Running is hard to get started because it just hurts the first couple of...

One of the common misconceptions about cloth diapers is that they stink more than disposables. Generally, cloth diapers that are thoroughly washed on a frequent basis do not stink. However, particularly with the super-absorbent, wicking, man-made materials used in many modern cloth diapers, there is the propensity for build-up - of soap, bacteria, whatever. And build-up leads to stink. If you read the cloth diaper message boards there are pages and pages of problems, ideas, remedy suggestions, complaints, and so on. The problem is that not every stink is created the same. Your hard water may be the culprit, or you may be using too much soap, or not enough, or the wrong kind. You may need to add vinegar to your rinse cycle, or stop adding vinegar, turn up the temp. in your hot wash, wash more frequently, or spray off poopies before putting the diaper in the pail. You can try bleach, hydrogen peroxide, or oxy-clean. What works for you might not work for someone else with different water,...