We are an animal household.  We always have been.  I’m a firm believer that children need to grow up with a dog.  Of course, I came to this conclusion at the most inopportune time in my life, having just moved to a new city with a 6 and 4 year old, didn’t know anyone, where anything was, etc and decided to get a dog.

Not just any dog, either.  A black lab.  Clearly, I wasn’t thinking straight because it never dawned on me that the cute little puppy, just 13 weeks old, would grown into a monster of a dog.  But, while making sales calls, I called on the local kennel and as I did before I left every other time, I would ask to go back and see the dogs animals that were boarded.

Except this time, there was an dog there that wasn’t waiting on an owner to come home from vacation or business trip as she was thrown out of a car window just weeks prior and had no home.

“Wouldn’t you love to take her home to your kids, Heather?” the owner asked.

No.  Not really.  We don’t need a dog.

That’s what I WANTED to say.  What actually came out of my mouth?

“Oh the poor thing!  Who could do something so cruel to an animal, especially one that is so cute?  Of course, I’ll adopt her.   I’m a firm believer that children should have a dog.  I’ve not found any, but I’m sure there is research that would support the affects of animals on childhood.  I had dogs growing up and I loved it.”

Yeah, that’s what came out of my mouth.  I couldn’t believe how cute “Gracie” was.  She was timid, shy, even, but I fell in love with her instantly and I knew that my children would, too.  I had already envisioned trips to the park with her and playing fetch with her.  Yes, I had it all worked out.

I mentioned something about getting a dog to the kids that night and as expected they begged for me to get a dog.  They PROMISED to take care of it with me and help me, walking, feeding, playing, etc.  They PROMISED.

The next afternoon, I went back to the kennel, only this time, I wasn’t trying to sell ad space, I was getting a dog.  I was bringing Gracie home.

The only problem with Gracie was (a) her name and (b) she stunk.  The latter was rectified with a bath when we got home but the former?

Oh dear Lord.  Gracie is a great name.  I have no problems with it, however, I was dating a man at the time who had a daughter named Grace.  That just wasn’t going to work.  So we renamed her.  After much deliberation between my co-workers, children, mother, and I, we narrowed it down to Pouncey and Rhoda.  My co-worker and I sat in my office and called an imaginary dog to determine what we liked better.  Both names were suggested by my mother, and personally, I hated both of them, but eventually, we settled on Rhoda.

Why Rhoda?  Because she was found on the road.  (Coincidentally, my mother had a dog named Highway.  Three guesses where they found her and the first two don’t count.)

Rhoda’s been in our family 5 years this April.  We love her.  We couldn’t imagine life without her.  Everyone loves Rhoda.  I never have any problems finding someone to dog sit my now 70 pound black lab. In fact the boy often jokes that he’s only using me for my kids and my dog.

Last spring we added another animal to our humble abode… Casey.  Somehow, she managed to find permanent residence here despite the fact that I told Sam that she would not have a cat.  She’s allergic to cats.  I hate cats.  But Casey is now a member of our home and she’s a great cat (most of the time).

But these animals?  Smell.  I mean, it’s not their fault, but I hate the smell of dog.  Wet dog is even worse, and we live in a home that has very few windows that open and it’s hard to air it out.  (I’m having a similar issue with my 12 year old.  I don’t like “boy” smell either.)

Air fresherers cover it up and we’re all about some Febreeze on the bed and the couches.  But the carpet?  You know, where they play and lay and chew toys?

A little more difficult.

So, when the opportunity to try out Carpet Fresh by the WD-40 company. (Is WD-40 not the best?  Do you know all the things you can do with a can of WD-40?  My grandfather used to rub it on his body swearing it helped with his arthritis, but i didn’t see that on the list of 2000+ uses... lol)

Anywho, Carpet Fresh comes in Country Potpourri, Morning Rain, Apple Cinnamon, Fresh Scent and Super Pet Neutralizer.  I chose the pet one because, well, I think I mentioned, I can’t stand the smell of pets.  My mother flew into town last night and even though I had candles lit I could still smell it.  So I sprayed it on the carpet and let it dry (while screaming at the kids for 15 minutes not to walk on it) and immediately, it was better.

And it was easy to use.  I have issues with the carpet deodorizers that you shake on your carpet and then vacuum up.  It’s messy.  It’s a hassle.  And the powder is everywhere.  Not with Carpet Fresh. the Carpet Fresh Quick-Dry Foam format allows you to simply spray your carpets and walk away without scrubbing or vacuuming.  It dries in minutes, leaves no residue, and is safe for use around your family when used as directed.  (Carpet Fresh is a great resource for drapes and car interiors as well.)

Easy peasy.

Carpet Fresh Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator permanently neutralizes carpet odors and helps keep entire rooms smelling fresh by delivering odor-fighting agents deep into carpet fibers and reaching places air fresheners can’t and leaving a long lasting fragrance.

Want to try it out?  (You should, by the way…) Simply go to the Carpet Fresh website and you’ll get more information on how exactly it works as well as a coupon for $1.50 off.  What more could you ask for?  (I mean, short of someone to come in and clean the carpets for you?)

Until next time…

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When I got to the grocery store, the last thing that I want to purchase are cleaning supplies.

They are expensive.

So what do I do?  Probably what a lot of America does.  I pick up the cheapest thing that I can find.

However, in the past few months, I have been bitten with the green bug.  I’ve not gone all tree-huggery, but I’ve been a little more conscious about what I use in my home.  I’ve already turned to a natural laundry detergent and love it.  The inconvenicence to me wasn’t great, none at all really.

And so, over time, I’ve been working on it and I’m trying to only buy green cleaning supplies from here on out.  It will take me awhile to use up what I have since, you know, I never clean… ha ha.

Kidding.

Kinda.

But, GreenWorks has a new website called 30 days to Natural and it’s a great place to start in taking yourself natural in the cleaning supplies department.  On the site you can follow the video diaries of three women who have traded in their traditional cleaners for Green Works natural cleaners for 30 days.  The women vary from a small town mom to a single mom in an MBA program and cover various regions of the United States.

The site also offers tips that can be delivered to your cell phone or via email to help you work your way toward green in 30 days.  There’s even a handy kitchen checklist that you can print out.

Want to know how you can get started?  It’s simple!  Just visit http://www.30daystonatural.com and plant a daisy.  Planting a daisy puts you among all the other people in the world who are taking the challenge right along with you.

And who doesn’t love a good challenge?

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Ah yes…

I love infomercials.  So when I was asked to review Spot Shot, and the kids asked me to video tape the demonstration… I said yes.

It’s not quite as good as the ones on TV, however, I can tell you that the stains came out and even this morning, they haven’t shown back up… nor can I smell the ammonia, which I had no idea why I was even spraying the ammonia until the end.  It’s because this product not only eliminates stains but odors too.

Ammonia has an odor.

Big duh moment.

Captured on video.

Tonight, I’ll be dashing around the house trying it on the rest of the stains that my children have blessed me with because this appears to work better than any of the other stain removers I’ve tried in the past.

So back to the how I got caught part of the story that I started here.

We went grocery shopping one night and I pranced around the store displaying products that I found and asking my brother to play pricing games with me.

While normal children might have been able to play that one off, as in telling your mother that you were just trying to spice up the otherwise boring trip, I couldn’t.

“Watched TV today, didn’t you?” she asked.

The look on my face gave away my guilt before any verbal retort could escape my twelve year old lips.

Busted.

There ended my days of watching the Price is Right.  Sure, we got our TV privileges back, after being grounded from the TV at night as well for awhile, but it was never the same.

But secretly?

I still think it would be cool to be a Barker Babe, even though, the Price is Right has moved on.

For now, I’ll stick with my homemade infomercials and be happy with those, knowing that stardom isn’t on the horizon.

Until next time…

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Can I be real with you for just a moment?

The whole “going green” thing really hasn’t hit the southeast the way that it has in other parts of the country.  And I know that I’m not the only one who thinks this because I had a very interesting conversation about this with The Smart Mama and LA Blogger Gal as well as the Michelin Man while at BlogHer.  And no, not the white, look like a tire Michelin Man, just a man, a very nice man, representing the company since they were a sponsor of the event.

When I was in San Francisco, it was obvious that everyone was making an attempt to go green and here?  It’s not been too terribly long since they just introduced reusable grocery bags at the store that are in a prominent place, and maybe I’m just not going to the store at the right time, but I don’t see many people using them.

We’re a little slow in the south, what can I say.

However, while I was at BlogHer, I was given a sample of soapnuts to try.  They explained the whole “organic, good for the earth” thing to me, but honestly?  If you’re not in tune with that, then that won’t sell me on something.  But I took a sample of the soapnuts and oil, shoved it down in my bag and went about my merry way, tracking down and attacking the Redneck Mommy shortly there after… the soapnuts, a distant memory.

That is until I got home and dumped all my SWAG and samples on the floor.  I promplty divided everything into piles… basically who it would be distributed to and called it a day.

Two weeks later, I went to do laundry and I had no detergent.

Being lazy, I didn’t want to go to the store, but remembered the soapnuts that I had in my SWAG bag.  I figured it wouldn’t hurt and the worst thing that would happen would be that I would have to run to the store to get detergent, which, I would’ve had to do anyway, if I didn’t have the soap nuts.

I followed the instructions on the pack.  Place 4 soapnuts in the pouch, add a few drops of essentail oil and toss in with your laundry.

That simple?

Yes.

And when my clothes were done?  They were clean and they smelled great.

I used my sample pack of soapnuts, enough for 8 loads and when I realized that I was almost out, I went to their website and ordered more.

They were here lightening fast.  I was overly impressed.

So, do you want to know what soap nuts are?

Soapnuts are the fruit of a tree (Sapindus Mukorossi), found primarily in India, Indonesia, and Nepal.  The outer shell of the soapnut contains saponin, a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash.

We currently have the Energy and Baby Powder oils that we use and love them both.  I’ve got a few extra bags to use for when I am doing multiple loads and I accidentally throw one in the dryer.

I have to admit, every time that I do a load of laundry, I do think about how I am helping the environment and it makes me feel a little better.

I highly recommend soapnuts, and the cost?  It’s not that much different than what I have to pay for the dye free detergent that I was using and the kids think it’s awesome.  So much that they like to put the laundry in!

Now…

the best part about this review is that Laundry Tree has graciously offered TWO of my readers a SoapNuts Starter pack.  From LaundryTree.com:

This starter pack contains everything you’ll to wash nearly 40 loads of laundry with SoapNuts, (plus a few things that you don’t NEED but are really nice to have). You’ll get one 100 gram bag of SoapNuts, one 1 ounce bottle of the scent of your choice, and one extra washbag. We’ll also toss in an extra sample bag for you to share with a friend!

Want to know how to win?

Easy peasy…

Simply visit the Laundry Tree website and tell me what oil you would choose to do your laundry.  Leave your response in the comment section below and you’ll be entered to win!  That simple.

You don’t have to have a blog to enter, just dirty laundry. 

Contest ends at midnight on Friday, October 3rd and the winner will be announced by Monday, October 6th.

Now… get to it!  Go check out Laundry Tree.  You’ll love it, not only because it’s cool, but because you’re doing something for the environment too!

Congratulations to Arika and Imelda! I’ll be contacting you soon for details!

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