Add 1/4 cup of vinegar to the final rinse water  when washing clothes.  By rinsing off dulling saop residue, vinegar brightens colors and whitens whites.  It even keeps your black clothes as dark as when you bought them.

Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to laundry detergent  when washing new clothes. It gets rid of manufacturing chemicals in new clothing.

Add 1 cup of vinegar to your dishwasher and run it empty for a cycle.  The vinegar gets rid of any soap residue that makes glassware cloudy.

Make a spray bottle of a mixture of vinegar and water to clean and freshen counter tops, inside of the microwave, lunch boxes, plastic food containers and  the refrigerator.

A mixture of white distilled vinegar and water (mixture amount depends on the size of the job) will get rid of varmints such as fleas on your dog, or ants in your yard.

I know this blog entry may seem lack luster is comparison of what is going on in the world.  We have an economic crisis, two wars, a new president, and sometimes with all this going on, I feel like the only thing I CAN control is the health, and happy hum of my home!

Sarah Palin, during your campaign trail, with the responsibilities of mothering five children, you have time to attend a table read, rehearsal and performance of a SNL show?  REALLY?
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Most grocery store chains have a gift card mall with gift card for everyone! There are gift cards for everything you can think of! Of course we are all know about gift cards to the book store and restaurants, but you should stop by and look at all the new and unique gift cards that are now available! Give your babysitter a gift card for gasoline! How about a fast food gift card for your postman? Your child’s teacher would love a gift card to Michael’s craft stores. What college kid wouldn’t love a gift card toward the purchase of an airline ticket?! Give that “hard to shop for teen” a gift card to a show store. My mom loves to go out once a week with her girlfriends for lunch and a movie. I am getting her some gift cards for her Girl’s Day Out.

You can find a gift card for any budget and anyone on your list!

I have always shopped year round for Christmas and enjoyed having everything done by holiday time. But, I did have to secure one whole closet for my purchases, boxes and gift wrap. I am able to store all my Christmas gifts in an envelope! Wrapping is so easy! I can use an decorated envelope or a small gift box or bag.

I don’t have to run around the mall looking for deals, I am crossing people off my list every other week, and I don’t have to worry about storage!

VISIT HER WEBSITE:
Melinda Kelley
www.melindakelley.com

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In a day and age where friends, girlfriends, are so very important, the manic mommies offers a place where other moms can get advice, empathy, ideas or laughs!  I don’t know my next door neighbors, our schedules never really permitted us to bond.  I have some good friends from church and school, but again, our schedules get hectic and we get busy.  Many of us grew up with stay at home moms who had good friends up an down the street!  They helped each other out, watching kids, borrowing a can of tomato sauce, doing laundry for a sick mom, helping with carpool.  But today’s woman doesn’t have that.  We can,  however, reach out out to other moms on the web.  I am hoping my own blog can do that.  I do enjoy the Manic Mom Web site, blogs and message boards.  There are so many  smart, savvy, and humorous women who share ideas, thoughts and suggestions.  It’s like a neighbor who is available when you are!

You go Manic Moms!

My hubby’s Sausage & Peppers recipe. It’s fast and so delicious! Serves three. (With a little left over for a lunch the next day!)

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Polish Sausage (Chicken, pork or beef… your choice)
• 1 green bell pepper (Chopped or sliced)
• 1 red bell pepper (Chopped or sliced)
• 1 green apple (Chopped or sliced)
• 1 pat of butter
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 cup of rice

Slice the sausage into small pieces and heat them up in a skillet. When they are cooked, drop in the bell peppers and apple. Heat until the peppers and apple are soft. Serve over white rice. An alternative is to not use bell peppers and add more green apples. Either way, this dish is perfect for those cool Autumn evenings. Your whole house will smell wonderful and your dinner will be delicious!

Enjoy!

My uncle lost his best friend and partner of 33 years 2 weeks ago.  My sister’s husband and one of my favorite people in the whole world, Uncle Dave, had a stroke.  We looked at a public school for our daughter and had to make a choice as to where we were going to send her to school for the rest of the academic year.  My unions are back to fighting and a possible strike once again looms over Hollywood.  My husband saw his doctor yesterday and now has to have a surgery he has been able to avoid up until now.  Throughout it all, I have been auditioning for TV shows and have had some great stand up spots in town.  I have been managing my home  during financially tough times.

No wonder I haven’t had a chance to blog!  But I have missed it.  Those of you who journal know just how therapeutic it can be.  I will be blogging on all of this and more.  I am having a cup of coffee while my little girl sleeps well into the weekday morning.  We were all up until 4 A.M. with the noise the wind makes when it whips through our canyon.  My poor husband didn’t sleep at all.  He was like a guard dog over his family trying to figure out if the noise was actual damage to the house!  I look forward to sorting out the thoughts in my head and sharing with you.

We have a family friend who recently got married.  We are friends of the groom.  We know all about his love of fishing, hunting and camping.  He’s a guy’s guy!  When he shopped for a dining room table, he looked for one that would be strong enough to hold a car engine so he could work on it in his spare time! So, now, you have a picture in your head of the groom.  Now, he announces he is going to get married!  My friend Linda, the groom’s brother, told us how wonderful this woman is.  She is a beautiful, kind and loving woman.  But when I saw her wedding cake topper, I knew she was going to be a wonderful wife!
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There is another big difference, a pit-bull mother will protect her litter. God help the person who tries to lay a hand on her puppies, the unfortunate person will withdraw a bloody stump! Not so with Sarah Palin! She is willing to sacrifice the happiness and safety of her children for her country. In Palin’s world, Country First, children are much further down the ladder. Apparently Sarah Palin disagrees with President Bush and believes some children should be left behind.
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I know you were a prisoner of war. As the wife of a former Marine, a former Marine who flies his POW flag every Memorial Day, we are a family who remember them in our prayers often. The fact that you were a POW seems to be your platform and your answer to everything.

The biggest slap in the face to middle class of America came when you said you didn’t know how many houses you have! Americans are losing their one and only home on a daily basis and you don’t even know how many you own! Obviously you can’t relate to the American people who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, food on the table and a tank of gas to get to work to provide it all!

You are like a Catholic priest giving marital advice! You haven’t lived this life, how can you advise?

Even when you were asked to qualify days later about the homes you owned, you still danced around the issues talking about your blessings, and of course, your time without a home, a kitchen table, or a chair at all….

There are Americans who have nothing now! We are desperate for answers.

Here’s my question to you Senator McCain, do you fly the black POW flag with the silhouette of a captured soldier over ANY of your homes? Perhaps the homeowners association in those particular areas won’t allow it. It may “disrupt” the look of those perfect neighborhoods.

Just a thought.

My husband made 4 of these Emergency Kits last Christmas and gave them to each of our immediate families. You can personalize them to match your needs and even do one with just food and water! Having these little luxuries in an easy to carry duffel bag would mean so much to us if we had mere moments to evacuate our home.

Keep this in an easy to find place. We keep our in the closet next to the front door. Also, you may want to add to it throughout the year. It would be a good idea to open it up and inspect it once or twice a year. Give yourself a visual reference as to what’s in there so if the time comes to use it, you’ll remember more easily what you have.

Putting all this stuff together may seem like a daunting task. If you take it little by little, you’ll see that it’s not that hard and it won’t be such a hit on your bank account. Before you know it, you’ll have an emergency kit and a sense of security knowing you’re covered if an emergency hits.

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Here is a quick and easy idea for a healthful dinner and the presentation is so beautiful! It is also a great way to cook a great piece of fish and make it stretch to feed the whole family.
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