Domestic Geek

My whole life I've believed (brain-washed, more like it) that the products made by corporations had to be better (better than what, I didn't know). Ever since a friend of mine opened my eyes to the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and having read the corporate lies/justifications as to why they use them, the wool started coming off my eyes. With the relatively recent introduction of genetically modified foods into our systems via the lovely folks at Monsanto, I'm trying to give big corporations as few of my hard-earned dollars as possible.

A few years ago, I figured out that commercial cough syrups did nothing more than keep you sick longer. I found a home-made cough remedy that really works for me. More recently, I found that a simple mixture of apple cider vinegar, baking soda, water and sugar did wonders for heartburn (stuff that Tums or Rolaids couldn't quickly relieve). I quit buying commercial cleaners for the toilet and the shower. Turns out white vinegar & baking soda works wonders there, too. I've still been buying Formula 409, though, and realized I really believed it was the only thing that would cut through the grease on my stove. Well, guess what? I used the vinegar/baking soda solution on it today and it worked so well, my stove actually squeaked it was so clean.

A few weeks ago, I made the yummiest fajitas for dinner. Not only were the ingredients all-natural and organic where possible, I even made the seasoning from scratch. No more need to buy those super-expensive seasoning packets that have a lot of unnecessary crap/sodium in them.

So, do any of you reading this have any tips for commercial product replacements that work really well? I'd love to hear them!

I tend to have 50 bazillion open tabs in my browser (totally drives Marcus crazy). Since it's usually stuff I find interesting or important, I leave them open until my poor computer can't handle it anymore. It's time to dump some, so here's the list of open tabs I need to close and move on:

• Free "Learn to speak Pirate" course - in case you need to brush up for Talk Like a Pirate Day on Sept. 19th
• Top 10 Things to do in Colorado before you die
• Nourish - What's the Story of your Food
• Lewas Designs - Vinyl Wall art & stickers
• Holstee Manifesto
• DIY Stinky Feet Foot Soak
• StarTrek.com Store
• Free Vector Maps
• A site listing Hallmark Star Trek Ornaments so I can figure out which ones I'm missing
• Worm Compost Bins

Craft-related:

• Sizeable list of tutorials: bags ?K pouches & purses
• what sellers should bring to a craft fair
• Cross-Stitch Finishing Techniques
• Crochet Higby Skeleton Doll
• Cross-Stitching an Apple Logo
• Knitting Bag Tutorial
• PictureCraftwork - Online Cross-stitch Charter
• Drawstring Bag Tutorial
• Tutorial : Creating a Basic Fabric Repeating Pattern for Spoonflower
• Silk Screening Supplies: RIP software
• Ackfeld Wire - sells really cool wire hangers for quilts, etc.
• Embroidered Clock
• MacStitch - Finally - a Mac Cross-stitching program (also does knitting charts)

Recipes/Cooking/Baking:

• Martha Stewart Meatballs
• Pioneer Woman Cheesy Beer Bread
• Chicken Fajitas - used homemade spice mix (no packets)
• Pi cookie cutter - need to get this to make cookies next March 14th
• Bake at 350 - Amazing Cookies!

Marcus bought me a Kindle for Christmas this year. I absolutely love it and it has brought back the passion for reading that I once had (when I was young, my nose was always in a book). I've read more books in the first part of this year than I have in the last 5 years combined. It's sad how I've let reading slip, but I totally see how it happened. Being laid off and relatively poor for a while meant cutting books out of the budget, then my recent desire to downsize my life and my clutter left me not wanting physical books around. My obsessive game-playing on Facebook squandered valuable reading time. Then there was my new obsession with knitting. I know that there is the public library, but I really have a moral opposition to them (except for reference material). Authors make their livelihood by selling books and I feel really guilty borrowing novels from living authors there.

Right now, I'm reading a book by Wendy McClure called The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement. I'm not going to go into why, as those thoughts are better kept to myself. It has rekindled my desire to know more about Laura Ingalls Wilder, though. I've visited the Little House site in Independence, Kansas and the Wilder Home in Mansfield, Missouri. I've got plans to go to some of the other sites.

I think I've always been fascinated by Laura Ingalls because she represents a simpler way of life. I'm well aware that "the old days" was not an ideal existence, yet I yearn to get out of the big city. Marcus and I have dreams of one day living on land in South Dakota. I want to raise my own chickens and grow my own food. When I was younger, I loved sewing on my mother's antique Singer because that's how it used to be done (don't get me wrong - I love my computerized sewing and embroidery machines now), but I always felt connected to the past in some small way when I used it. Weird, I know. Sometimes I wish that old machine was close by so I could run it, but it resides with my sister out in California. If Marcus and I ever do get settled someplace permanent, I'd love to find one of those old machines.

*sigh* Well, I'd better wrap this up because it's almost time to head off to work.

We had a really cool spring storm start up the night before last. Marcus and I both really love it when it is raining or snowing, so when we heard the rain start up again, we headed for the front door.

Now, I think I've written here before about our trials with raccoons around here. When Marcus opened the front door, one of those damned critters was on our front porch. It took off, so Marcus opened the screen door and I poked my head around him so I could see out. Suddenly, I was in terrible pain. The raccoon had come charging back and Marcus had quickly slammed the door closed; unfortunately, my head and the door could not take up the same physical space. I think I'm OK, I just have had a doozy of a headache the last couple of days. Part of that is probably the weather change and it being spring, too. If I wasn't already taking time off later this month, I'd would have called in sick yesterday . I was so not in the mood to deal with THE STUPID at work (and the people at work didn't disappoint).

On a brighter note, the watermelon self-striping sock yarn I pre-ordered from knitpurlgurl on etsy arrived! I've been wanting watermelon sock yarn forever. I've been stalking one seller, but I always miss when she puts stuff up for sale. My friend, Ruth, told me about knitpurlgurl and that she also sells a watermelon yarn from time to time. I was clicking through my etsy favorites one day and saw that she was taking pre-orders for it, so I finally purchased one. Yay!



I didn't realize when I ordered it that knitpurlgurl was from Colorado Springs (saw the return address on the package when Marcus got it out of the mail box). Also, I love the little touches added: the watermelon jolly rancher and the little watermelon wedge stitch marker. Very clever!

Now, if only I didn't have to work so I could stay home and start knitting it up.

...the weekend after next.

I've known for quite a while that my glasses perscription needed to be updated. I broke one pair last year up in South Dakota and the lenses on my current pair are scratched and hazy. I have to break out the magnifying glass to read instructions and have been increasing the font size on my computer. Yesterday morning at work, my supervisor handed me a xerox printout to read and I couldn't. Granted, the copy was faint, but I just couldn't make it out. I was ridiculed. Lame.

I made an eye appointment after I went back to my office. I still had the paper in my purse from when I talked to human resources about our vision provider three months ago. Fortunately, I found a place close to my house that offers Saturday appointments.

I realized that my current perscription is almost 5 years old. These are the glasses I got between getting laid off the last time and getting my current job.

The lamest part? It's not that I couldn't afford it. I have insurance that will cover most of it. It's that I've been a big, lazy procrastinator.

It is time.