Easy peasy mostly green best shower/tub cleaner EVER!

When I tell people I make cleaners and deodorants and laundry soaps and such I hear lots of how do you have time or wow that's crazy or I love it or why? But what I tell them is what I do is easy. I mean ridiculously easy. Like it takes less time to make some of this stuff than it does to watch Jeopardy.
The answer to the why question is easy. Because it is healthier and greener and so much better for me and the ones that I love and who doesn't want that?

Somewhere along the way someone told us these processed chemical laden cleaners and products were better for us than the natural ones we had been using...and we believed it.

I want to get back to a time when we take 5 minutes or less to put together cleaners that work just as well and sometimes better than the crap we buy at the store and I want to start by sharing a recipe for a shower cleaner that will blow your mind.

What you need.

- an empty spray bottle (I reused one)
- white vinegar
- blue dawn dish soap

Equal parts dawn and vinegar.

Yep that's it. In all honesty I usually use less Dawn and more vinegar and it does a great job.

One recipe I found say heat the vinegar and feel free to do so, but I never use it all after heating it and so I use it room temp too and it seems to work just fine this way too.

Spray it in your shower and wait about 30 minutes and wipe down. Please note and please be careful the tub/shower will be slippery, but what would you expect when you spray it down with dish soap? So please don't slip and fall and hurt yourself and get mad. You HAVE been warned. Also you may have an intense desire for fish and chips to go with the vinegar, this is perfectly normal.

BAM! THAT'S IT!!!

I also use this to clean the stove and microwave and countertops and anything greasy. It would probably make a kick ass pre-treater for clothes wit any type of grease stain.

Granted this one uses Dawn and it is not chemical free, but it does clean birds and sea life after oil spills so it is not super duper evil in my book.

****WARNING****

This makes surfaces slippery! If you choose to use it on any surface you stand on please make sure to thoroughly clean up all cleaner residue!!! 

Confessions of a lip balm addict...

My name is Mo and I have a problem...a problem with chapstick, lip balm, burt's, lip smackers, medicated, plain, honey, menthol, cherry I like it all and I can't stop, especially in the dark and cold depressing winters here in Upstate - New York.

So what is this hippie chickie supposed to do? This stuff can be expensive. And I lose it. All. The. Time. Or I wash it and that goes over well...

After a wee bit of research which includes many hours of in depth research on pinterest (I love all you creative types - so many amazing ideas!). I found about 8,000 different recipes for homemade lip balm. The next task is do I have all the ingredients in the house and if not can I piece together a recipe from what I have and what I like best from several of the ideas.

My recipe was something like this:
one quarter to one third ounce of bees wax from the local farmers market
a few tablespoons of coconut oil
a few capsules of vitmin E
a few drops of peppermint essential oil

Pre lip balm.

I set up a double boiler and melted the bees wax then added the coconut oil. Stirred it all together and popped open the vitamin E and squeezed it in and lastly added the peppermint oil (which I can't even tell is in there).

The melted stuff in the double boiler.

This project had been on my radar for a bit so we have been saving used tubes which I boiled and cleaned and then refilled with my new concoction. This small amount that I made filled all of the empty tubes I had and there is still a mess left over. Hopefully I will be able to find more containers locally that  can be used.

The tubes-cleaned, and refilled.

My review = AWESOME!

A glimpse in to my inner hippie - makin' stuff!

So much free time. 

Now that I don't have my days jam packed with long runs, and speed work and hydrating I find I have time for other stuff...like real stuff...like life stuff. There is also a household ban on electronic devices in the house during the week after 5:00 pm (unless it is work related or text or phone calls) which has also allowed me to be more creative and slightly more organized.

If you know me even a little you know I am a tree hugging, recycling, garden growing, vegetarian, hippie chick. What you may not know is how we are trying to purge so many nasty chemical filled products from the house and from our bodies.  So we make stuff. Some conventional and self serving and some because if you read labels it might scare you with what goes into that crap.

Okay so here are a few of the recent creations (let me know if you want to know about one of these and I will try to get to it in a timely manner).

In no particular order:

- laundry soap
- shampoo
- conditioner
- sauerkraut
- kimchi
- eye moisturizer
- lip balm
- kombucha
- bread
- mozzarella cheese
- shower cleaner
- hardwood floor cleaner
- canned home grown tomatoes
- mint jelly

I am sure there are more, but I am totally drawing a blank.

I have been trying to photo document the making of these creations but have missed some of the early ones and when we need to replenish I will try to take pics.

I will start with an easy one. Today I made an eye cream. Super duper easy. Super duper good for you.
Oh and I am what is called a dump cooker and the same goes for these creations. I just kinda wing it...(sorry Clara)

Coconut oil & vitamin E. Yep there you have it. That's it. Easy is what I do.
I melted a few tablespoons of good quality coconut oil (it is solid below 80ish something degrees) and stirred in 4 vitamin E capsules that I drained into the melted coconut oil. I then put it all in a cleaned out glass jar that formerly housed a sugar body scrub.

Two ingredients and a jar. That's it. No gunk. No junk. Just good for you all natural eye cream.

Done.

A few thoughts - Running from the back of the pack.

This post goes out to all of you that run. 

Fast or Slow. Long or short distance. This is especially for all of you race directors or those who help plan or sponsor or volunteer or support a runner - celebrate slow!

I want to talk for a moment about running in the back of the pack. Being slow isn't a curse. It isn't something to be ashamed of and it isn't something that should be punished or disregarded.

We work just as hard and sometimes harder than those that running is more natural. We push, push, push, push, do hill workouts, and do short speed interval and long speed intervals. We do tempo runs and we sweat just like everyone else oh and we cry. Some of you have been witness to my mental and physical break downs. We don't all look like runners. Some of us are older, or short, or fat, or skinny, or injured, or sick in some way that doesn't show...we are diabetic, or battling mental demons, we are strong, and we broken, but we keep going day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.

I am not taking anything away from the quicker runners and am only speaking from my humble perspective. I admire you. I love watching you run. You make it beautiful. I am jealous. I want to be a gazelle not a rhino.

Here is where I get ticked off...

I have had more than one person say you did a marathon? You mean a 10k? Or you mean a half marathon? NO I DON'T MEAN EITHER OF THOSE. I RAN A MARATHON. A WHOLE MARATHON. 26.2 LONG, HOT, PAINFUL MILES. ALL OF THEM NOT HALF NOT OR SOME SMALLER PORTION. AND YES I AM YELLING.

I have also had well meaning people tell me they are amazed at how much exercise I do and that I am not much smaller than I am. I am not tiny, but I am fit. I see my doctor regularly and I have stellar bloodwork. On paper I am the model of health, but no I am not tiny. 

Okay and my last rant.

My race rant.

I trained for my race for about 28 weeks. I did not just decide to DO a Marathon a few weeks prior. I did months of base runs and speedwork and long long long runs. I did my research and chose a race that was not only slow runner friendly, but also walker friendly. There was only one cut off point and I would need to maintain a 16 minute mile pace up until about mile 22. 

I maintained somewhere between a 13-15 minute mile pace for the majority of the race. I made it to the cut off point with a little time to spare. As I have mentioned in my other posts my feet blistered. So my last 3.5 miles or so were much slower and the pace was about 19 minute miles, but since we had passed the sweep point it didn't much matter because I was going to finish.

Here are the parts of the race that really hurt as a back of the pack runner...and I wasn't last and I had actually passed people.

When the race brags about having each mile marked with different groups to cheer on the runners and when I get to several of the mile markers the tents are deserted or the groups are breaking them down it hurts. I was doubting myself. Why was it that the back of the pack runners are not receiving the same fanfare? I know that many of these  stations are manned by volunteers, but have them come in shifts...have them manned until the cut off point is reached. Celebrate Slow! Now the tents that were still manned were awesome and I appreciate each and every one of those volunteers that waited and cheered and shook those cowbells.

The back of the pack is thin. Sometimes there are very big gaps between runners. I am sure this isn't the most thrilling part of the race, but it is the most thrilling for us.

When I crossed the finish line, a good portion of the volunteers there, were there because they had come with me. My entourage (I have always wanted to say that) consisted of 15 people from 6 states and more than half of them had volunteered. I didn't expect masses of people, but it was even thinner than I had anticipated. The race store was closed. The race barriers were being broken down. By the time I waddled over to where the post race party was being held it was a ghost town. The only food available for the runners was BBQ - I don't eat meat. I asked if there was anything for a vegetarian...and was told there was pasta salad but it would cost me $3. Three dollars. Really? I just ran 26.2 flippin miles. I didn't bring my wallet. Oh and then they were out so it didn't really matter anyway. The beer truck was still there, but it was packed up and pulled out not more than ten minutes after I got there. All I wanted was something to eat, a beer and a place to sit, but the chairs had all been put up. We had to get our own chairs and put them back after we watched the food area close and the beer truck drive away. 

I felt that I was an afterthought. My accomplishment was not as important as those that finished in four or five hours. This was my first marathon. This may be my only marathon. I wanted to feel this was as big a deal as I thought it was. If you are going to advertise being walker friendly...those that cross the line last should feel as special as those that finish first. We were out there for seven plus hours. Moving. Running. Walking. Crying. In pain. For seven plus hours. We deserve all the same rewards. 

This was the seventh year of this particular race, not the first. The finish times from last year are similar to this year. This shouldn't have been a surprise.

I filled out the post race survey with my concerns and I also emailed the organizers. My response was basically we will take it into consideration for next year. I feel like my concerns have been swept unter the rug and I am still a wee bit angry. 

I think that is all. 

Please don't pity the people at the back...cheer for us, motivate us and celebrate our accomplishments - BECAUSE WE ARE RUNNERS TOO!