SOAP!

For those of you who don't know, I used to be a hard core soapmaker. I learned it as a hobby in early 2001 and then I started a business in 2002 so that I could work at home while taking care of Amelia (and then the other two who came shortly after). I would spend every weekend during the spring/summer/fall at farmer's markets and festivals selling my soaps and lotions and other various bath products.

I had always said that if it didn't feel like fun anymore then I would quit. I ended up getting pretty burnt out on it, so I did eventually quit. Much to my husband's dismay, I also stopped making it for our personal use. I, finally, just felt like making it again. Tonight I did!

Keep in mind that I am not showing you these photos as instruction on how to make soap (there are better websites that do a more thorough job of that). Also, I should technically be wearing gloves and goggles, but my glasses are huge and work like goggles and I don't like to wear gloves. Lye burns like a MOTHER, but I prefer to feel when I have gotten it on my hand so I can wash right away rather than having it on my gloves and then accidentally brushing it against my face or something. So there. My disclaimers.

My supplies involve several kinds of fixed oils and lye. For this batch of soap I used for oils: olive, palm, coconut, and avocado. It was strange using 7lb bottles of oils instead of 50lb pails like I used to!

Here is my mold that holds a loaf that makes 12 HUGE bars of soap (they end up being 5-6oz each)

My lye and water are set carefully in the sink. This is so that if it gets knocked over some how, the mess is contained to the sink. Lye is nasty to work with. I was only willing to whip up soap because Joe was home to wrangle children and be sure none of them would get hurt.

So, the lye mixture cools to about 100 degrees and then I had to heat the oils to about 100 degrees. Keep in mind that I did this for years and years (in huge quantities, many times per week), so I have gotten pretty comfortable working without a thermometer and just using my hands to tell me when the temps are right.

When the temps were right, I started mixing. I could just use the spoon, but it takes a few hours of stirring. A stick blender makes it MUCH faster. In just a few minutes it goes from looking like this to looking like pudding (called a "trace")

See? Here I am being all dangerous without safety gear!

This is what a trace looks like:

The fragrance oil is added at trace, and this fragrance oil made it start to set up quick, so I had to run it to my mold.

Edie snapped a photo of me slapping it into the mold (which I lined).

I covered the mold with a towel to help retain the heat. It will stay in the mold for 24 hours and then I will take it out and cut it.

Here the soap is starting a "gel stage." After it is removed from the mold and cut, it will need to "cure" for approximately 4 weeks to make sure it is nice and gentle.

4 weeks is an awfully convenient time for Christmas gifts ;) This batch was scented with Dragon's Blood fragrance oil, which is AMAZING. It is like a spicy incense. Yum.

I am excited to have enough oils to make about 6 batches of soap. Of course, I also bought the supplies to make lotion bars and I am thinking sometime this weekend making my oldest child do that with me.

Running for time instead of distance

The last few runs at the Community Center have been really freeing in some ways. I decided that since 13.5 laps make a mile, there was just no way that I was going to count laps or be able to keep track. Instead, I just ran and listened to my music. I ended up going for 38 minutes the first time and 31 minutes last night. It does hit my pride a little to not see the mileage building, but I think this method is better for my mental space.

It has been a challenge for me when I see other people's paces to keep my head held high. I am SLOW.  If I ever run a mile in less than 9 minutes, I will throw a party (no, really.... big party). On average, I tend to run a mile in about 12-13 minutes. This is even the case back before Fritz when I was running a lot more and on a more regular basis. Even when I had to run 2 miles in less than 18:54 to pass Army basic training, I barely made it and then threw up on myself and peed my pants... that is how hard I was running. And that was after being in extremely regular physical training.... hours every. single. day. At the community center, it is not unusual for little old ladies with walkers to pass me. One would think it would be inspirational to compare with others who are running faster, but for me, it hits me and makes it so I kinda just want to give up. So, I am feeling like if I stop keeping track of pace for awhile, it will keep me moving without me making the comparisons. I am a pretty competitive person in some ways..... usually in ways that bring me down on myself.

I thought a lot about training techniques last night while running in a circle. I was wondering if I would be able to train for any big races by ignoring distance. I think so! I find that when I am tracking distance, I sometimes will skip hills or other things that would make my run more challenging so that I get a better time. I also will often stick to only roads that I know I can map later so I know how far I went. If I am running slower than normal, I will find myself getting really angry at myself instead of just relaxing and going with it. When I have focused on wanting to go a certain distance, I have sometimes pushed myself much harder than my body could handle (hello, injury!). Even if I never pay attention to distance again, I guess I will know that I would be ready for a marathon if I could run for 5 hours :) I have a feeling that I will start tracking distances again before I am able to run for 5 hours straight, but for now it is feeling a bit more 'zen' to just let it go.

Our fireplace

I decided that Sunday was a day to repaint our fireplace. In one day I managed to degloss, prime, and put 4 coats of paint on it!

Here is a before:

You can see all the film on the glass and someone had also colored on the glas with a crayon. The wood looks better in this photo, but was quite washed out looking in person. It just needed a face lift.

Here is another before as we prepared the space:

Got it taken apart, set up, and I de-glossed it:

Then we primed it with some leftover tinted primer. If I was going to do it again, I wouldn't have gone with tinted primer. It was hard to cover with the white. However, like I said, this was leftover from our kitchen/bathroom door/stairs and so it was free.

Here I am applying 1 of the 4 coats of white paint.

 And, ta-da! It is REALLY white. Like, so white that when I stare directly at it I end up seeing spots and screaming, "My eyes! My eyes!" Joe is telling me that it will look different once we get all the stuff put back on top..... and maybe some dirty fingerprints on it to match the rest of our house.

The brass is now bothering me more, so I am planning to run to Home Depot today to get some paint for that. This fireplace still isn't perfect and doesn't look new, but it has now had a facelift and is looking a bit improved.

I tried to light it for the picture, but couldn't get it started. Yes, I turned on the gas, but nothing. I wonder if Joe turned off the gas in the basement? Anyhow, yes, I turned the gas back off when I couldn't get it lit. I will have Joe light it later.


ETA: I got the brass toned down and I am much happier. I took it all off, scrubbed it with degreaser, sanded it a bit to rough it up, and then I applied spray paint. I used Rust Oleum high temperature spray paint. I had planned on painting it all a flat black, but Home Depot was out of black and all they had was silver. For under $6, I figured I would take the risk and do the silver. I actually like it and will be keeping it this color. So, here is the finished product (yes, Joe got it lit for me):

This entire project was completed with leftovers from other projects in the house plus $11 worth of stuff: $6 for paint and $5 for new "burning embers" for the fireplace. I am really pleased with it.

More weekend projects

Our lives revolve around weekend projects. A few weekends ago it was cleaning up the yard in preparation for winter. Then we needed to organize our basement so we could actually find stuff down there. Today, I convinced Joe that it was time to take on our fireplace.

We have a gas fireplace that was installed in 1998 (we found an inspection tag with this date). It wasn't the most expensive of fireplaces to begin with, but good enough. Anyhow, we haven't been running it because it was filthy and we wanted to take the time to really clean it up and look it over first so we were safe. Today, we disassembled it and cleaned the entire thing and put it back together again. It is working, other than the blower isn't. We got new burning ember things, replaced the rocks, cleaned the glass, and inspected it all pretty carefully. We discovered a mouse trap in our fireplace.... one of those ones where you don't have to see your catch. It was tripped. I wonder how long...... ugh.... we might have had a mummy mouse in the fireplace.

We dropped by a fireplace place today and chatted with a guy about the seal on our glass and looked at beautiful stoves. Here is the one I want:

Isn't it beautiful? Of course, it is also around $3,000, so we will be wish-listing this item for awhile. It might need to go after the hot tub and cob pizza oven.

For now we have:

Can you see Fritz inspecting it all very carefully? In overalls! How cute are babies in overalls?!?!?!

I have also decided that tomorrow we will be painting the fireplace. The wood is in rough shape. At one time it was pretty, but now it needs a facelift. I plan to spend tomorrow painting. Yay for us! But, it should look nice by my appointments on Tuesday.

P.S. Just so no one worries about our safety, we did pick up a brand new carbon monoxide detector today to be sure we aren't going to kill ourselves with the fireplace.

So much to be thankful for

Today, like many of you, I am thinking about how much I have to be thankful for. 2012 has brought a whole lot of good things our way! I am thankful for:

• My wonderful husband. 2012 has been a year of building towards our future.
• My gorgeous children! 
• My children are all doing well in school.
• Fritz joined us this year and has been an incredible blessing. I am so glad he is here.
• This year we purchased a home. It is far from a dream home, but it is our future. It is currently saving us a ton of money by having a low mortgage and has a huge lot where I intend on growing our family food. It was a house and it is becoming a home.
• I have job that I feel.... well, I feel a lot of things about it. At times, it is overwhelming and so difficult and at other times it is easy and fun.... overall, it is important to me and I feel good about what I am doing.
• Joe started a new job this year. This job came with better benefits and better pay. Much, much better benefits. He enjoyed his previous job and we are thankful for that job as well! He worked there for 3 years and met lots of really good people. Now he is settling into this new job and meeting more good people and just enjoying life. Good stuff.
• We have amazing friends. Some of these friends live close and some live far away. I get to go out for drinks with some and others are a phone/coffee date away. We have these lovely people in our lives who happily help us with a wide variety of things and are up for a crazy corndog-based party..... what more could a gal want from her pals?
• I have a wonderful family. Not just my husband and kids, but parents and siblings as well. We are lucky people.
• I am thankful for the health of my family. There has been times in the past where this health was much more shaky and I am thankful (so. insanely. thankful.) that my loved ones are healthy again.
• I am thankful for the new person who will be joining my extended family very soon!
• I am thankful for my health. This last year I had a melanoma scare that has left me with only half my belly button, but there is nothing like a huge scare like that to make you appreciate the health you have.

I know there is even more that I have to be thankful for and will likely think of many things as soon as I hit "publish," but here is my list for now. Life is good!

What I will not be doing on Friday.

I will not be participating in any Black Friday deals this year. Not at all. Not online. Not in store. Nope. Nada.

Over the last few years I have become shaken by what this day has become. People have been trampled TO DEATH so others could get a cheaper television or toys. This disturbs me to my core. That person's life was worth soooooo much more than that. I am also soooooo bothered by the fact that retailers are starting their Black Friday deals on Thursday morning! All those minimum wage employees now not only have to deal with being trampled on Friday, but they also have to miss out on family time on a holiday. I have never been a huge fan of shopping anyhow, so maybe it is just easy for me to give up the good deals and standing in lines for HOURS.

I saw something on Facebook a few weeks ago that stated if families just spent a little bit ($64) of their Christmas budgets on products made in the USA, it would equate to 200,000 new jobs in the US! That got me started thinking. Why wouldn't I want to support more jobs here? And that led me to my next thought, which was trying to support small businesses.... work at home mom style businesses. Make sure that the money and job security gets to the actual person doing the hard work rather than to a large corporation with fat cats sitting at the top. So, we are trying hard this year to purchase handmade, local (or local-ish.... for sure from the USA), and ethically made items for our Christmas gifts. We have decided that local services also are ok (gift certificate for a pedicure or some such thing) and that thrift stores for certain second hand items (books) are ok, too. I am considering making coupon books for the kids that will have coupons they can cash in for special time with either of us.... like maybe each of them will get a coupon for a date and dinner out, or a slumber party with a parent (movie and junk food and staying up way past bedtime), or..... I am not sure what else, but this is something I am working on figuring out.

This is making shopping into a unique challenge this year! I, for the life of me, am struggling to figure out what to buy for an 8 year old boy that is handmade. This kid only likes legos and Star Wars. However, it has made me realize that it doesn't really matter. We live such an abundant life! I will find some sort of trinket of this abundance to gift him for the day, but I don't want to gift him some cheap piece of plastic that a child in a foreign land had to make, knowing that we will be throwing out next year when he outgrows it. There is nothing that we actually NEED. We have everything we need.... clothing, shelter, food.

I want my children to understand how fortunate they are. It was not so many years ago that I remember going to Aldi with our last $12 to buy groceries for the week. It wasn't that many years ago that I needed my parents to purchase winter coats for the kids because we couldn't afford them. We are still not wealthy, by any stretch of the imagination (free and reduced lunches at school? yep, we qualify), but we are able to pay our bills (although sometimes the student loan number shows up on our caller ID). I was able to buy all the children winter jackets. We bought our crappy little house this year which provides us with warm shelter (and hilarious adventures). We have vehicles to get us around. We have the basics AND extras. When I really think of what it is to not be able to afford food, I am struck by how absolutely ABUNDANTLY we live. So, I want to somehow share that with my children and not shower them with so many gifts that they can't even remember they should be thankful.

I promise that I will not judge you if you are shopping on Friday. I will not judge if you spend a small fortune on Christmas, really. I realize that my ideas are not perfect. I feel like it is a start. And it gets me out of having to brave the crowds on a day that I would rather be hanging out with my kids at home.

Why I am voting no. (my only political post of this season)

I promise that I won't rant a lot about politics other than this post. I am sure it won't come as a big surprise to many of you that I am a liberal. You have likely seen my compost bin, cloth diapers, lack of many disposable products in my home, unshaven legs (I normally would shave, but Fritz HATES the shower and screams the entire time I am in there, so there is just no time).... I am a tree hugger. I love nature... other than snakes, those little buggers I could do without. I love people. I think we should feed the hungry and provide medical treatment to the sick. If these things shock you about me then either you don't know me very well OR I really need to work on the impressions I leave on people. I am voting "NO" on the marriage amendment in the state of MN this next week. Voting "no" will not legalize gay marriage. It won't change anything in Minnesota. It will only stop our constitution from being changed to more strictly define marriage.

I recently shared an experience on my facebook page about my daughter making a comment about "homophobic candy" coming from homes with a "Vote Yes" sign and how she wouldn't eat this candy. Many people were supportive and then a few people became really offended by my 10 year old child's politics and ideals.

I am sorry if your feelings were hurt by my child stating that those signs were homophobic. It doesn't feel good to feel criticized or like people are calling names. However, there is another pain I would like you to imagine for a moment. Think of your wonderful husband/wife and imagine for just a moment that they were in a horrible accident. This is the person you have built your everything with. They are your best friend, lover, and your family. Now, imagine the hospital won't let you into the room because the state doesn't recognize your family. That hurts. Imagine it is your child who was in the accident and the hospital won't let you in because you are not the biological parent. This is easy for adoptive parents to imagine or parents who have had to use donated sperm or eggs to conceive..... they are YOUR kids (not in DNA, but in every other way)..... but what if the state decided not to recognize that? That certainly brings more pain than being called homophobic.

I support religious freedoms. If your church does not want to perform marriages between same-sex couples, that is a-okay with me (I won't be a member of your church, but I would support your church's right to be this way). I support your right to believe that homosexuality is a sin. I do not support people trying to impose their religious beliefs on the entire state. What if my religion didn't recognize 2nd or 3rd marriages? Should I lead a campaign to have these marriages lose any legal recognition? What if I am just trying to protect you from the sin of divorce and save you from a hot eternity? I will not debate out if homosexuality is a sin. That view really depends on what your religious views are and we are supposed to have separation of church and state. This is a legal matter we are voting on, not a religious opinion. Also, we aren't voting on if homosexuality is 'icky' or not, although one would think we were.

When people talk about the sanctity of marriage, I often find myself shaking my head. If the two ladies down the street are allowed to officially wed one another and gain legal rights to the property of one another..... this affects my marriage how, again? My husband and I have been married since 2000 and have been a couple since 1999. First marriage for both of us. We are boring and completely monogamous (right, Joe???) but with a rich relationship. It is not cheapened by what other people do. It does not matter in my marriage if people get married or divorced.... we are who we are and we have what we have. I would like for more people to be able to experience what I have.

Anyhow, I am voting "NO" because it doesn't affect me. It doesn't hurt me to allow others to have the same rights that I enjoy as a married person. Heck, voting "NO" doesn't even change anything. I don't see a reason to change our constitution. I have hopes that the future will bring more love and compassion, but at least for this year, I don't want there to be more hate.