House Cleaning Tip #2

Cleaning out the fridge is not fun. It is usually time consuming and sometimes gross. I used to stay on top of mine by cleaning it out thoroughly bi-weekly, but have found the following much easier.

I usually go grocery shopping twice a week. The fridge is usually getting a little sparse prior to purchasing the new groceries. This is the ideal time to give it a quick wipe down. Before I leave the house (either the night before or in the morning) I wipe out whatever drawers or shelves are pretty empty. Then by the time I get home they are dry and can have the new stuff put right in/on. If you aren't someone who plans your shopping, anytime that your drawer/shelf is semi empty swish the stuff around and give it a wipe.

They key here is that you don't have to empty the whole fridge and do it in one shot. Doing at a section at a time gives the same clean results . . .Going to get milk, wipe down the shelf where the existing milk is. Getting some fruit wipe out the fruit drawer. If you clean one area at a time, it will never be a major undertaking and will never get dirty either!

House Cleaning Tip #1

You dust your house, you vacuum, mop and Windex. Standing at 5'7" the house looks spotless. Then you sit down with your child to play and notice a whole other world of dust!

I know as a mother when you sit down you have a different view of furniture and can see all sorts of things that you don't when you are standing to clean. If you have kids or even if you don't but have friends with kids chances are they will all be sitting on your floor to play next time they are over. Take a minute when you are cleaning to sit down and have a look around. Is there cobwebs between the chair legs? Do your chair legs have splatters of some sort on them? Is there dust on your baseboards? Is there dust balls under your couch? You get the idea.

I know this sounds random but it is only when company is over do you notice all these random things that you feel the need to attend to immediately. It can make the difference of your house looking spot clean or truly clean!

A Memorable Trip to the Doctor's Office

Today I went in for a physical. Nothing exciting there. I really wasn't thinking of all the... shall we say 'intricate details' of a medical. If I had I probably wouldn't have brought company in the form of a 3 year old. Yes the baby was there as well, but at 10 months he really could care less about what is going on. To really get a laugh you have to picture yourself in my shoes or I guess without shoes in this case.

As soon as we entered the room and the nurse pulled out the paper gown I froze in my tracks. How could I have been so foolish as to forget the medical attire or lack there of. So as I start to disrobe my 3 year old starts yelling "NO MOM! No No your girl bits! No one can see your girl bits".  I explained to him that the doctor was just going to check my scar (I had a C-section with my second child) and when the doctor came in he could watch a movie on his portable DVD player. (Luckily this was in the car and when I realized what was about to go down went and got it. Better he watch a Thomas movie then a 'horror' show live!)  He was content with that answer and went back to playing.

The doctor came in, greeted us and sat down. My son giggled grabbed my bra from under the stroller, wound up and pitched it at my doctor's head. It hit him right square in the forehead then fell onto his lap. My doctor rocks. He simply made a joke that he "never has had that thrown at him...in his office anyways" and then went back to the check up. I on the other hand could not stop laughing.

The rest of the check up went smoothly as both boys settled in to watch the Thomas movie. With the exception of low blood pressure I got out of there with a clean bill of health and only a shred of my dignity stripped away.

Hot Yoga

About 5 years ago I tried hot yoga maybe 3 times. I really liked it but at the time the class schedule was not conducive to my work schedule so I did not continue to do it. I did enjoy it and found that the extra heat did make a difference in my flexibility. I also feel like I get a more strenuous workout, although this could be an illusion. It is hard not to think you are working harder then regular yoga when you are sweating up a storm. Never the less I think it does offer a greater cardio workout then traditional yoga.

If you are not familiar with hot yoga, it is yoga done in a room that is kept between 95-110 degrees. Around here they are generally not hotter then 100. The warmth is said to increase flexibility as well as release toxins from the body. Of course it also provides all the other goodies yoga does; de-stress, improve energy, help posture, increase flexibility, etc.

I recently have joined Yoga Shack for their 40 day trial period. I am loving it! The instructors are helpful and friendly. The facilities are clean and have lots of character. There is free parking near by. They have on average 55 classes per week, so there is bound to be a few that work for you. After I have taken a few more classes I will report more.

Tamarine Resturant

It is seldom my husband and I go out for dinner. Between the kids bedtimes, his soccer games & practice, work and what ever else is going on, months go by and we haven't gone out to dine. I really don't mind at all, but occasionally it is nice to try something different.

The kids and us where invited out for a party the other evening at the Tamerine Restaurant, here in London. It was my first time being there (no shocker there) and I quite enjoyed it. The decor is was stylish and full of clean lines, making it fresh looking. It was clean, a definate must in my book. The staff is super friendly, kind and very efficient. We had a 3 year old and 9 month old in tow and not once did they make a face or roll their eyes at them. (We were there for about 3 1/2 hours. My son sat still  for about 4 of those minutes.)

Now for the food! I had the Spicy Lemongrass Chicken and hubby had Pad Thai. My dish was spicy without being uncomfortably hot. The mushrooms and chicken were cooked to perfection and the noodles were not over or under done. The Pad Thai was the best I have ever had! I always add Hoisen sauce and had no desire to with this particular one because the spices were perfect!

We will go back and I recommend you checking it out too!

Shorts... Or Lack Thereof

I am in desperate need of some summer shorts. None of my shorts fit great, but that doesn't mean much since I find shorts to be ill fitting in general. They seem to have bigger hips then pants do, or they have odd pockets. Mine are all sliding off and I think they look a tad 'momish'.

I have been shopping but all the ones I see are either long (those I have and are satisfied with) or so short that I couldn't bend over in the playground without exposing my 'girl bits' (as my son calls them). So the search continues.

If anyone knows of some cute, well fitting mid - short (but not obscene) shorts send me a comment!

Blogging Not Forsaken . . .

No I haven't forsaken my blogging! We recently had a flood in our basement that has caused a total gutting of the carpet and some bulkheads. Since the water came from the fridge (the line that carries water to the ice maker got a  hole in it) they also removed a large section of tiles under our fridge.

Needless to say I have my large fridge sitting in the middle of my cooking area, making my cooking more of a chore compared to the usual joy I get from it. This is the week I am getting back into the blogging, so stay tuned!