A swarm of bees came for my birthday.

It’s that time of year again! No, besides summer. It’s my birthday. Is it weird that I find it slightly strange to be turning 22? Usually I laugh at people when they ask if I feel any different but this year it does seem a little weird. For some reason I never got used to being 21. Not that there’s any special feel to that age either but I very rarely had to even think about how old I was never mind say it, so it still sounds strange to say. Oh well. At least I’m still at the point where I can just be happy with my age instead of where I’ll be 10 years from now and denying it.

Besides the fact that family is coming over tonight and we’re going whale watching this weekend for my birthday (yay whales!) something else came to celebrate. Bees! Yes, those wonderful little creatures decided our house is an awesome place to live. And by wonderful little creatures I really mean evil little pain in the asses. I know our house is nice and we love it, I just had no idea the bees would feel the same way. Specifically about our living room wall. They found a small crevice and moved themselves right in.

As for what kind of bees they are, the collective guess is they’re yellow jackets. Although we’ve gone from yellow jackets to wasps to hornets to carpenter bees back to yellow jackets. Honestly, we really have no idea what they are except that they are living in our wall and are very enthusiastically unwanted. So we decided to be good DIYers and take care of it with store bought spray. When they barely even twitched at the first one my hubby tried again. And again it didn’t work. After a third spray and still the bees were buzzing around we gave in and called a pest control company. We should have just started there.

Besides being bees with good taste (ignore the toot of my own horn) and apparently bionic since they can survive sprays made to kill them, they also have stage fright. When the pest control guy showed up I led him to the hole and we waited. Even though they always flying around especially near my head not a single one was to be found. He then returned to his car to get his little mirror one arrived and entered the hole. It was the one and only bee that surfaced while he was here and it was when he wasn’t looking. Of course! It’s like the little things knew their killer had arrived and stayed away. Stupid bees. So based on my description and where they made their nest he said they were more than likely yellow jackets but he can’t know for sure without seeing them.

So in two days they will be returning with their killer dust that will be blown into the wall and kill the bees. He said the entire nest will be killed off within three days of the dust being deployed. Yay! I’m not a big fan of sharing my home with bees. They can consider this their eviction notice.

If I believed in omens, I would be worried right now.

I’ve finally decided to give in and start packing although the entire idea totally stresses me out. I detest moving mostly because we did it so often when I was younger. I hate the idea of watching my life be reduced to a cardboard box. The only fun part is getting the new home but it’s short lived when the cardboard boxes follow you and now you have to put your entire life back together. It’s a like some screwed up life sized jigsaw puzzle and I’ve never liked puzzles. I’m also an obsessive labeler to the point where pretty much everything in the box is written on the outside. My husband thinks it’s crazy since his idea of labeling is “kitchen,” and mine is an actual list of what things from the kitchen are hiding behind the brown boxes from hell. Basically, I’ve banned him from labeling at all.

Even though we don’t have a set closing date yet and we’re still waiting for proof of termite treatment (from 3 years ago) from the owner that the inspector is demanding I’ve decided to let the what-ifs go and start packing the non-essentials. This means our office/guest bedroom because there’s nothing all that important to daily life in there. Well, except some paperwork but that can easily find a new home in the meantime.

Once I agreed to start packing is when the omen-if-there-were-such-a-thing came in. We headed out to get some cardboard boxes on Saturday and basically the skies opened up. I don’t mean it sprinkled and we all just ignored it. No, I mean buckets of water came pouring from the sky where if you even thought about opening your car door you were already soaked through to your skin. Not to mention it was also humid so basically it was a bad mood inducing day. So there we are to get cardboard boxes that enjoy disintegrating when wet when monsoon season decided to make an appearance. Did I mention it hasn’t actually rained here in weeks? Yeah, it was fantastic timing and I refused to get out of the car which means only Hubby actually got wet because he refused to use my bright pink umbrella.

Somehow we actually caught a short break in the rain to get them into the car so the trip wasn’t a total loss. It didn’t actually stop raining though; it went from full on monsoon to steady rain. It still wasn’t a good situation but it was better then the alternative we were facing. So after all that we then had to bring the boxes into our apartment and find a place to store them. They’ve been here since then still in the folded state and I haven’t packed a thing. I will, I swear, I just can’t guarantee exactly when that will happen. I’m hoping for tomorrow but don’t hold your breath because you’ll most likely die and I don’t want that on my hands. I also don’t really know where to start even though I’ve narrowed down a room to begin with. That’s another one of my packing issues, I never know what to pack first and it just gives me a headache. So you can picture me standing in our office/guest room looking around wondering what corner to attack first.

Any moving/packing tips? I’m hoping to avoid the stressful side of moving as much as possible so I can enjoy it but I haven’t invented that magic potion yet. If you have, then please send it my way.

The TV wants us all to die.

Have you watched the History channel lately? Personally, I love watching ‘Ice Road Truckers’. It’s kind of like watching a car wreck though. I spend the entire episode thinking “these guys are seriously insane,” yet I can’t resist watching. Things like that make me question my own sanity but that’s probably an issue for another post. Anyway, the channel has been previewing this new show and just the concept is a little beyond creepy. The new show is called “Life After People” and it’s supposed to show us what the world as we know it today will be like when we all die off. Yes, we’re dead and plants and animals have taken over. We’re apparently supposed to watch and be amazed according to the show tagline, but I think it’s a little lost on me.

Before you say it, I get that it’s supposed to be educational and interesting but I also think it’s freaky. The entire show is to constantly remind us that we will all just die one day and the world will be left completely human-less. Then animals and plants take over our buildings and eat our cats and dogs (yes, the show actually says this!) Can we get anymore depressing then this for a TV show? Honestly, why would I want to watch a show that is telling me, “Uh, when you and every human go extinct the tiger at the zoo will escape and eat your dog.” Great. Now the species that’s on the brink of extinction is going to kill our little furry friends that we love and cherish. Screw you history channel. I really don’t need to think about this.

This is a perfect example where ignorance is bliss and I’m totally all for it. I know I won’t be around forever and I’ve more or less accepted that. I still expect someone to take care of my little fur-babies when I kick the bucket though. How do you prepare your 10 pound dog to survive a world where a tiger is kicking it in its backyard? Someone needs to come up with some serious doggy/tiger defense classes or something.

This is how the show sees our world literally falling apart.

Two weeks after people: Animals will break out of the zoo desperate for food. This is where our poor little fur-babies become lunch.

One month after people: Los Angeles will dry up from lack of water supply that we won’t be there to control. Because we’re dead.

One month after people: Washington D.C. floods because we’re too dead to keep the water at bay.

Six months after people: Mosquitoes have taken over the world. Kind of glad I’m not around for that.

Ten years after people: Los Angeles burns to the ground. Fan-freaking-tastic.

One thousand years after people: The eastern coast is now one with the ocean. Anyone care for a swim? Oh never mind, YOU’RE DEAD!

Basically, if you’ve seen the movie ‘I Am Legend’, it’s kind of like that. Except there’s no flesh eating zombies and no Will Smith to admire. Other then that, it’s a perfect example of what our Earth will become when we all mysteriously die at the same exact moment, according to this seriously depressing show. I only watched the movie for Will Smith, so since he’s not in the show to do shirtless pull-ups then I’m going to have to pass.

If you have some weird obsession with humans going extinct and monkeys, elephants and ivy plants ruling the world then be my guest. I, on the other hand am content with the thought that when I die there will be people around to care for all the Fidos and Fluffys of the world.

Now excuse me while I go watch The Golden Girls.

Mother Nature says to be green! She's even more important then that Simon guy that always tells us what to do!

It’s Earth Day! Did you know that? It’s a good day to inform people about ways they can be green and help the planet, but we really all should be doing things everyday! Here’s what I do to help my little part of the planet. I’m not perfect and there’s a lot more I could or should do but here’s how my list goes so far.

My Green List: - I recycle. - I only use cold water when doing laundry. - I always do full loads for laundry and dishes in the dishwasher. - I turn lights off when I’m not using them – so whenever I leave the room or apartment. - I use energy efficient light bulbs. - Any electronics or appliances we buy (or will buy for our house) are energy star rated. - I only use reusable bags when grocery shopping and any store I go too. I have a very cute little collection. - I keep the thermostat turned down low for heat and higher for AC to save energy but still be comfortable. - All my bills are set to be “paperless” so I only get online statements. Only two bills actually come in the mail and it’s because they don’t offer a “paperless” feature (dumb gas and electric company). - I try to take as quick of a shower as I can but sometimes I will take longer then needed to relax, but only occasionally! - I turn off the sink when brushing my teeth and only turn it back on when needed (saves gallons of water)! - I never litter and will pick up things to throw them away that other people tossed aside. - I use “green” cleaning products as much as possible and I’m surprised at how well they work compared to the original formulas. - I have a water filter attached to my sink to use as drinking and cooking water instead of using bottled (when I need bottled for something I always recycle the bottle).

That’s everything I can think of at the moment. If I think of more I’ll come back to add but I’m pretty sure this covers it all. When my husband and I move into our new house we plan to add even more things to our list like installing efficient water flow faucets, toilets and showerheads (the things we can’t control in our apartment). We also plan to build a deck in the backyard and want to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. Any improvements we make we will try our hardest to make it energy efficient and use planet friendly materials. We also plan to use no VOC paint (it doesn’t have the fumes normal paint does) when we paint inside and out.

My husband also has plans to install a solar powered water heater and has already looked into installation costs and requirements. We would love to have solar panels on our roof at some point as well, but it depends on the requirements for the panels in relation to the house location and size as well as laws in the area.

So there’s my little part and hopes to do more. We also plan to buy a hybrid for our next car (I really love the Prius in red or black)!

Happy Earth Day and be kind to our awesome planet!

=)

My state punishes you more for recycling here then littering!

You should recycle, everyone knows that. Not everyone does it, but most everyone admits that it’s better to recycle then to just throw it all away. We all also know that it’s wrong to litter (that means you, litterbugs!) and you will be fined if you’re caught. BUT, my wonderful state fines you much higher for bringing your recyclables from out of state then they will if you just throw it out of your car window. Yup, we’re special like that.

I just learned this today which proves that there’s always something new to learn about your lawmakers and their wacked out ideas. I was heading down (or up depending on how you look at it, whatever) the highway and was coming up on the exit for our recycling center. It has the longest name ever (six words in total – maybe they should have recycled some of those letters), but that’s not really important to my point. Anyway, at the entrance of the exit there was a sign that stated the following:

“State law prohibits dumping of out of state garbage. All violators will be fined a penalty of $5,000.”

The amount of the fine was in bright red just so they really got their point across. I saw it, commented about it (as usual) but was more then ready to forget about it. That was until several feet up the highway when we passed a ‘no littering’ sign. I’ve passed these things millions of times and have seen the fine posted enough times that I should know what it says. However, I’m good to the planet and don’t litter so I guess it just doesn’t stick. I learned (well, re-learned I guess) that the law and fines are as followed:

“NO LITTERING! Violators will be fined from $55 to $500.”

Hmmph. So, if someone decides to bring their junk to my state (for whatever reason they can think of) they will promptly be fined five thousand dollars, just for wanting to recycle here instead of where they live. If they just throw it out onto the ground somewhere else in the state (even right OUTSIDE the recycling center’s property line) they could only be charged fifty-five dollars. Even if they get the full fine of five hundred, they still get nothing compared if they crossed into the recycling center itself. How crazy is that?!

I get that we don’t want every other’s state’s stuff since we have enough of our own, but why do litterbugs get off so easy compared to people actually trying to bring their stuff where it can be repurposed? They’re being green! They want their junk to be recycled and turned into something useful instead of being eyesores on the side of the road. Talk about being severely punished for being the “good guy”. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be a fine since we can’t let everyone and their sister bring stuff from out of state, but why do the irresponsible people just tossing it on the ground get off easier? Why are they only out a small amount when the people bringing it to the proper place get slammed with a high fine?

My state is seriously backwards. They say they want you to recycle, especially larger items that need to be brought directly to the recycling center but yet they make it as difficult as they can. In a previous post I mentioned the very limited schedule they have. You can only drop off one Saturday a month and just between the hours of 8am – 12pm. That’s it! Then if you happen not to be a resident and want to recycle you have to pay a large fine (and keep your crap). Yet, we give minor punishments to people who litter and cause damage to the environment and wildlife, not to mention it makes the roadways look bad.

They seriously need to step up the littering fines and be more flexible on their “drop off hours”!

PS: My laptop totally shut down on me in the middle of writing this post and it brought back my work! I didn’t even save yet but it didn’t delete what I wrote! YAY!! Good thing since there was no way I was re-writing all this crap again.

Goopy ooze from brown balls of stink cleans your laundry....?

Picture of Soap Nuts.
Pop quiz: What do you use to clean your clothes and linens when doing laundry? Time’s up! Everyone have their answer? Many of you probably said laundry detergent or listed the brand you like to use. Are you ready for an idea from left field (on my field anyway)?

How about washing your laundry with sun dried fruit, and only those pieces with NO detergent, fabric softener, bleach or dryer sheets? Yes, I’m being totally serious. Would you use it? Are you now thinking I’m completely nuts and worrying that I smell god awful? Don’t worry; I use normal soap for my clothes and my clothes smell spring fresh!

I’m totally not making any of this up. I accidently came across a company that sells a small fruit from trees grown only in India, Indonesia and Nepal. They’re called SOAP NUTS (actual fruit name – not company name). I feel the need to point out that they are neither soap nor a nut, but for some reason that’s their name. Makes a whole lot of sense huh? Anyway, these small fruits are sun-dried (like yummy sun-dried tomatoes only you don’t eat them) and de-seeded then used in your washing machine to clean your clothes. I’m totally not shitting you!

The site was completely legit and very enthusiastic about their funny little product. They gush how they clean your clothes without using chemicals or fragrances. I don’t really get how the whole thing really cleans your clothes but I’ll explain how they supposedly work.

Step 1: Place several of these odd and dirty looking brown/black “shells” into a little cloth baggy.

Step 2: Toss said baggy into your washing machine and NO other cleaning products.

Step 3: Set to wash in warm or hot water and rinse in cold water (that would be adding more steps for my washer since I would have to manually turn it off, reset water temp then turn it back on just the rinse cycle. Laundry sucks enough with out all that!) Oh, it says to leave the baggy with the soap nuts in for the rinse cycle although I don’t get why.

Step 4: Remove clothes from washer and little baggy and toss clothes into dryer with NO dryer sheets.

They claim that after all this you will have completely clean and soft clothes. I’m kind of left saying “HUHH?” I mean laundry is pretty basic but one of the key elements is soap/detergent, otherwise you’re just wetting and drying the clothes for nothing! According to people who use this stuff, a substance called “saponin” is what is supposed to be cleaning your fabrics. Uh huh.

It’s supposed to be a historical version of soap and I get that maybe it might have some qualities that may clean some things, but come on people! Could you really trust these little dried fruit things to make your clothes feel all clean and fresh? Would you feel just as satisfied wearing them after using these instead of your trusted detergent sitting in your laundry room? I wouldn’t and would just want to rewash everything before I felt they were clean to wear (I think being a slight germaphobe might have something to do it).

Here’s the really gross part though! The stuff that is supposed to be cleaning your clothes is described as a “honey like liquid”. Uh, ew? Plus they warn that you may see black marks on the baggy after the wash is finished. Oh yeah, that screams clean in my book! They also admit that the fruit/nut, whatever it is, actually has a “noticeable pungent smell”. It’s claimed that just the nuts will smell this way, but the clothes won’t. I find that a bit hard to believe, but whatever!

The final crazy thing is that they’re supposed to be all natural and great for the environment, you know, they’re “green”. BUT, you have to use warm or hot water in order for the goopy ooze to release from the brown balls of stink and “clean” your laundry. So, you have to use more energy and your hot water to wash whatever load it is, just for these fruit/nuts. What happened to using cold water for your laundry to save energy and hot water? Isn’t that what’s recommended to be environmentally friendly?

I call bullshit! I tend to lose that game though, so maybe I’m totally wrong and completely talking out of my ass but I still don’t want those little things rolling around with my clothes that I want clean.

I’ll stick with my laundry detergent that I know and love, thank you very much!

Spring sprung a leak and I'm totally not happy about it.

Do you ever get the feeling that Mother Nature is trying to screw with you? I do and many would say that means I’m clinically insane but it doesn’t change the fact that this spring season has been like one non-stop rain storm. Winter totally sucked and I was all like “I can’t wait for spring”. Now spring is here and it brought the monsoon season along with it. I know the whole ‘April showers bring May flowers’ crap but come on, how much rain do the flowers really need anyway? A few good showers and we’re done right? At least in my world it would be. No one would want to live there though because it would probably turn out to be a desert if I had any control over when it rains. But hey, I would be dry!

It’s not like it’s the nice gentle rain that doesn’t get in your way either. No, it’s the lets screw up peoples day kind of rain. The almost black skies with whistling wind and sheets of rain all damn day, and I don’t even live in the tornado section of the country! Actually here, the word tornado and dangerous thunder storms are totally the other part of the country’s problem. We get thunder and lighting but it lasts a whole ten minutes and you don’t even get the good bone rattling ones everyone is waiting for. Instead it just rains day after day and just a cloudy sky is considered “nice”. I might be crazy (ok, forget the ‘might be’) but a day where you see nothing but clouds and the sun is a distant memory doesn’t count as a nice day in my book, but hey my world is a desert, remember? So what do I know?

Maybe I wouldn’t hate the rain so much if I could actually use my totally cute bright pink umbrella more often, but I can’t. Rain here means wind so using your umbrella is like saying you think it looks better inside out! I think mine is just far too cute to let that happen so it stays dry in my purse while I bitch and moan about being wet.

New rule, it can only rain at night (even though that would probably screw a lot of things up).