Carpet Cleaner.. Yes.. It Work's..

If I have talked to you then you probably know I am pretty close to being unemployed.  Which means my super cheap frugal lifestyle has to be a little more cheaper even more frugal.  I have been making my own laundry detergent, liquid fabric softener, multi-purpose cleaner, and window cleaner (yes, sometimes I do clean windows) for close to a year now.  Slowly adding new products into the money saver column.

Well remember this guy??



Yes.. The totally bad ass senior citizen end of life vomiting and diarrhea all over the carpet dog??
Last week he had another episode of vomiting for two days.  It wasn't bad when I was at home but when the partially employed actually gets to work they have to leave Mr. Pukeface home alone all day long.


I am a little embarrassed by the photo below.  My dog yakked this pile up about a week ago.  The problem is, I was busy, and then I ran out of shampoo for the carpet cleaning the downstairs carpets.  This spot happened to be in the extra bedroom.  So I vacuumed up the chunks and shut the door. 

 

Finally today I mixed up a recipe for carpet cleaner.  I figure week old vomit, what better to try it on and see if it really works.  I did have to go and buy one ingredient but that was less than $2.00.  A regular bottle of carpet shampoo is probably between $6 and $10 depending on the brand and type that you buy.  It was worth a shot.

 

Here we go:

1 1/2 quarts of HOT not boiling water (If my math is correct that is 6 cups)



1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide
1 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar
1 1/2 Tablespoons dish soap

Mix these up and pour it in. 

This recipe was originally for a little green machine or something like that but I doubled the recipe and it all fit into my carpet cleaner.

The original recipe called for some essential oils for some scent but I did not use them.  For one it costs money to buy that and second this smells fresh and that is all I care about.


Looks clean, Smells fresh.  Bring it on Mr. Pukehead.  I dare you!

****This recipe was modified from the one I found on this website: http://www.survivingthestores.com/homemade-carpet-cleaner-shampoo-recipe-non-toxic-machines.html

 

Pulled Pork Pizza..

Yes.  I am now that girl that talks about her food.  I mean, who doesn't want to know what I eat?  Here's the deal.  About a month or two ago I decided to make a pork roast in the crock pot, add some BBQ, and pre-plan to throw some in the freezer for later.  I just pulled a bag out of the freezer a few days ago and after eating 3 sandwiches, I am sick of it.  I was avoiding homework doing a quick search for pulled pork on the Internet to see what else I could make with it.  Wa-La.. Pulled Pork Pizza.  I have no clue where this came from but the recipe is all mine, if you can call it that.

It goes something like this:

Crust
Pulled Pork
Shredded Cheese
Onion

I prefer the cheap powdered pizza crust mixes in the pouch that you only have to add water too.  Mix that up and press it in the pan (Don't forget to spray your hands with cooking spray first).  Put the crust in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Layer on the pulled pork, I pre-heated this in the microwave before putting it on the crust.  Then I added cheese.  I had Colby/jack in the fridge, but whatever orange cheese you prefer.  I LOVE red onions.  Totally optional.  I then Baked it at the temperature per crust directions.

Simple.  Easy.  Delicious.

Finally.. The Outside Has Begun..

I bought my house just shy of four years ago.  It was a foreclosure and needed some TLC.  It was in pretty good condition for a forclosure, mainly cosmetic touches but some actual "big" stuff was needed.  One of those things was painting the outside of the house.  It was gonna be a beast of a job and I knew I had to hire it out to get it done right.  That is the reason it took me four years to get it done.
First, let me just say that I am NOT super awesome and didn't take any full house view before pictures.  So, instead you will get some close up's of how bad it was.


This is the South side of the house next to the basement door.  AND since my house is special, see that white layer of paint?  That's oil based paint which shold not have been painted over with Latex which it was and so it did again.

This is the East side of the house, 95% of the lower exterior was in this shape, probably a random 30% on the rest of the house

Maybe this was the right thing to do, or maybe I just fell for it but I paid the extra money to have the cracks "recemented".  I don't remember the technical term.  Don't Judge!

Here is a preview after the first day of painting and the third or fourth day of work.  Just in case you can't tell, the left is the new color, the right the old color.  Also, I welcome St. Patty's day all year round except for during Halloween and Christmas.

Same view but more of the South side of the house.  Much better than the other close up above!

Back Yard view.  I Plan on painting the columns in front of the back door white for sure.  I am thinking white railings on the deck and maybe staining the floor and sides of the deck.

Street View.  Obviously the garage needs to get done next.

So, heres the questions of the day.  I am not going to replace the decks.  Unless someone wants to pay for it to get done, go to the township for approval, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Should the railings and posts on the front and back deck need to be white now?  Should I put the shutters back up?  Should I stain the floors and sides of the deck?  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment and tell me what you think I should do!

St. Patty's Day 2012...

Yes, This posting is a little bit late.  Excuse is, I couldn't find the cable to upload the pictures from my phone.  Anyways, it's about time I tell you about my trip.  I went to see my friend Monika in Gainesville Florida.  I couldn't take time off from work so I flew in Thursday and flew home at the butt-crack of dawn Sunday morning.  Thursday after getting picked up from the airport Monika and I stopped at a little Mexican restaurant (after a few failed stops) and got some semi-shady food.  However, the margaritas were nice.  We then had a few drinks (I introduced her to marshmallow vodka and root beer, you should try it) and had a little chat before turning in for the night. 

Friday, we went to a little pool and hung out.  It was a steamy 90 something degrees that weekend.  I think that Michigan's weather was about the same.  What are the chances.  I thought that I was going to get a taste of summer and rub it in everyone's faces and they had the same weather.

We went out for supper downtown Gainesville where I got to meet Monika's new crew.  The story of the night was "seriously, you don't have any oranges?"  Yes, I couldn't get over it.  We then went to a local bar where I found a random helmet.  Please, do NOT leave your helmet laying around unattended.  I will put it on!

 The next day we traveled to Jacksonville because that is where my flight left the following day at 6am or something ridiculous like that.  Monika did some research and there was this outside Irish music festival with dancing, drinks, fireworks, green fountain, etc.  Of course, that is where we went!

Monika and I enjoying the day.

Monika and her Plus One :)

 So here we are M & M back together for the weekend.  I won't bore you with the rest of the fantastic details, I will say that I don't get to see this girl enough.  It was a great weekend and busy weekend.  Next time I hope to stay a little longer than I did.  It just wasn't enough time away from home.

Another One In The Books..

Creative writing is something that I did not want to take.  I suck at writing.  Hence the few followers of this blog and minimal comments to my entries.  However, it was the lesser of the evils for the english cluster or whatever elective category it was.  The first 3 weeks started off just fine, making up stories and such.  Then it turned to poetry.  UGGGGGGG! I hate poetry.  While I didn't find it hard to pull a poem out of my arse it was the discussing and responding and discussing the poems. 

Do I really care if there are 20 different types of poems? 
NO. 
Do I know the difference now between the types of poems? 
NO. 
Did I have to look each type of poem up when I had to talk about it? 
YES. 
Multiple times for each entry?
YES.
Now, lets not say this was all crap as I did like to read other peoples poems and respond.  I however wish that I could say, yes I like it, or, no I don't and then list the reasons why.  I suck at picking out why it did or did not follow a certain pattern.  Oh well.. Another class in the books, pending final grades that is!

Mind Your Own Business B...

Im having plumbing issues in my kitchen again. So.. I had to make a quick trip to the Home Depot.  Seriously.. 4 minute trip, in and out.  I usually don't take Max along when it is 80 degrees out but, since I knew exactly what I needed and what isle it was in, I figured I could leave the car running and it would be just fine.
As I am walking out of the store there is this lady who is about 10 feet away from the front passenger side of my car.  She is kind of bent over and cock eyed looking in my car.  Please don't do that.  EVER!   Max thinks you are going to give him some lovin' and proceeds to flip out!
So, I ask her, "is there some there something wrong?"
"No, I was just looking at your dog," the dumb bitch said as she finally walks away.
Yes. Good choice.  Walk away.  I WILL go off on you. 
This is a dog.  Not a child.  If it were a child it would not be left unattended in my car.  He is just happy he gets to go for a car ride.  I am not going to endanger my dog's life in public.  My car is keyless so I can leave my car running without the keys inside my car and if someone tries to steal it, it will lock up and shut off. 
So... the point of all this is if you are in Grand Haven and you see my dog in my car.  Just walk away, UNLESS you want to snatch him and take him home with you.  Don't judge.  He usually is asleep in the back seat if no one pesters him through the window.  He is just fine!

But I'm Saving Money..

I have been on the hunt to "save" money lately.  Ultimately that means I got to spend a little too.  I decided that I didn't want to do homework today so I should got out to garage sales.  This is my haul.

1.  Vineyard Vines bag. $1.  I never heard of it but I looked it up online and to get a new bag that size it is $96 or $98
2.  M&M Beach Party for Wii.  $2
3.  Shaun White Snowboarding Road Trip for Wii.  $5
4.  Tuesdays with Morrie book, hardcover.  $0.50.  I heard this was good.  Maybe someday I will read it. 
5.  3 shirts for me, Roxy, Hurley, Express.  $1.50 for all of them.
6.  The Wandering Smurf book in perfect condition.  $0.10.  (Currently on ebay the highest bid is $12.50)

7.  A small bag from Aeropastle.  $1.
8.  Ginormous stack of scrapbook paper.  $4.
9.  A dog halloween shirt.  $0.25.  (For my future dog nephew Toby)
10.  7 girl shirts and 1 girl skirt.  $5.
11. Shrek 2 DVD.   $1
12.  Monster energy drink, the purple and blue kind.  $2.34.  Gotta have shopping fuel!

Not too bad for $25.19.  It was fun.  However, all the good sales are tomorrow when I work.  Boo!