Favorite Thing Friday: Vinegar

Yes, vinegar is my favorite thing this week. I actually had fun cleaning the house this week after discovering vinegar is a fantastic natural cleanser.

It all started on Pinterest where I found a post about using vinegar and Dawn soap to clean stubborn stains in the bathtub. To my shock and awe, the concoction actually worked! Hard water stains I swore were permanently embedded in the bottom of my shower disappeared after a short soak and a few swipes with a scrub brush.  I don’t think my shower has ever looked so good.

Then, I went to clean my kitchen counters and I realized I was out of spray cleaner. I pulled out what was left of the vinegar I bought for the bathtub  and mixed 1½ cups of water with 1 cup of vinegar in a spray bottle.

Miracle cleanser: vinegar and water!

Everything from my counters, bathroom sinks, toilets, and floors came out sparkling clean. I even put vinegar to the ultimate test of cleaning my kitchen tile grout. The dirt came up within in seconds. Like the shower, my kitchen floor has never looked better.

Not only have I been spending way to much money on mainstream cleaning supplies, but I’ve been putting more elbow grease into removing stains than necessary. After cleaning my entire house with a little vinegar and water, I can honestly say I will never buy another bottle of Windex or all-purpose spray cleaner again!

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What is your favorite thing this week?

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c.b.w. 2013

Black Holes & Mischievous Elves

After looking at my stats for the first in months, I’ve decided it’s a good thing that I have a sense of humor. No amount of pretty graphics can hide the fact that my numbers are in a coma.

Really?

There is one silver lining in that I’m still receiving lovely comments and likes which tells me the quality of my posts is not in question, (at least I hope it’s not), so the writer in me can’t help but speculate possible reasons for why my numbers are flatlining.

1. My inner critic is getting back at me for ignoring her for most of the last year or so.

2. The subscription thingy is out of whack.

3. My blog is imaginary.

4. Fate is trying to tell me to focus more on refining Novel #2 and finishing my query package.

5. My counter is either malfunctioning or messing with me.  Or mischievous elves are stealing my hit counts and hiding them.

6. My readers want to read my novel more than my posts and this is their way of forcing me to work harder on getting an agent, (if only . . . . Lol!).

7. The internet is broken.

8. There has been a disturbance in the Force.

9. I accidentally jumped into a parallel universe where I am not a writer.

10. The garden rabbit nibbled on my numbers thinking they were a snack.

11. My computer desperately wants to take a vacation and its purposely hiding my posts so people can’t find them.  It’s hoping I’ll get so discouraged that I’ll stop writing and it can rest.

12. Everybody is at the movies or watching TV, (Hmmm . . . Star Trek: Into Darkness is pretty awesome in IMAX/3D).

13. People are reading actual books instead of firing up the computer (which isn’t totally a bad thing).

14. The universe is collapsing and I’m so busy writing, I haven’t noticed.

15. I accidentally set my blog on private.

16. My stats are stuck in a time warp.

17. I’ve lost my mojo.

18. I was inadvertently mean to someone and I’m being punished, (unlikely, but worth investigating).

19. The gods are trying to teach me a lesson for continually breaking the dress code at work (I won’t stop wearing jeans and Converse sneakers).

20. Solar flares and black holes are acting up again.

My muse and I are both scratching our heads for a way to get out of this funk. Meanwhile, many thanks to readers who stop by each day!!

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c.b. 2013

Quiet Contemplation

Near Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin
Photo by: c.b.w. 2005

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There’s nothing more peaceful than sunset on the lake. Stillness coaxes leaves to hang without a rustle, while the water placidly asks the sky to reflect on the day. When the dragonflies begin to soar, listen to those inner thoughts that otherwise have no voice.

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c.b.w. 2012

Saying Goodbye to Twilight

Tonight, I’m standing in line waiting to see the final installment of the Twilight Saga. Before spending untold hours in lines for every movie, I devoured the books with the ferocity of a teenage girl. It’s hard to explain why I am so taken with all things Twilight, but I own my guilty pleasure completely.

Breaking Dawn: Part 2 signals the end of an era. For the last four years, I’ve had a lot of fun watching the books play out on the big screen and hanging out with other Twihards. I’m going to miss it, but at the same time I’m looking forward to saying goodbye. Excuse the cliché, but all good things must come to an end. Otherwise, we’d never have room for all the new things waiting on the horizon. I’m ready to let go, but the Twilight Universe will always be something special to me.

In the midst of Twilight mania, I wrote my first novel and embarked on a second. The ideas were always there and so was my muse, but the inspiration of Stephanie Meyer’s journey of becoming a published author gave me the final push I needed to get writing, (along with my mother). I will always be thankful for that and I’m even more thankful that I got the opportunity to tell her how she inspired me, (see The Autograph Ninja).

As the series comes to a close, I am anxious to see what Stephanie Meyer and the cast will be up to next. Everyone involved is so talented and I wish them nothing but the best as they move on to new projects.

If I am a bit scarce throughout this weekend, it’s due to a Twilight hangover and multiple viewings. I’ll be back to normal soon enough!

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c.b.w. 2012

The “Take A Smile” Experiment

A few weeks ago, I posted about an image I saw on Pinterest of a sign that had a row of smiley face tabs with a caption that read, ”Take A Smile,”  (see Free Smiles).  I was so inspired by this project, I decided to make a similar sign and post it at work.

I hung the smiley face invitation on the bulletin board in an area where everyone stops by at least once a day to eat lunch, pull something off the printer, or heat up their coffee in the microwave. For two weeks, the sign remained completely intact. Either no one needed a smile or they simply didn’t know what to make of such a thing!

Then, one morning I walked in to heat up my coffee and I noticed a smiley face tab was missing. Someone finally got brave enough to use the sign as it was intended! I was so excited to see a little piece of joy had migrated to a new place. Three days later, a second smiley face tab went missing. And then this week, another tab was torn from the sign. I guess all we needed was for someone to break the ice!

Three smiley faces have found a new home!

I never said a word about hanging the sign, but I’m pretty sure everyone knows it was my doing.  I have another one ready to go as soon as all the tabs are taken from the current sign.  It’s nice to know something so simple can do so much to brighten someone’s day.

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c.b.w. 2012