Do You Do this?

I'm sick thanks in large part to the summer cold my son has and his poor hygiene skills.  Let's face it, I can only nag him so much to wash his hands and when he has this disgusting habit of sticking his fingers up to his nose and then dragging them down his face to his mouth..gak... I'm doomed.

So now I'm sick.  What started with a tickle has grown into fullblown sinus/cough/chest whatchamacallit the I need Nyquil to sleep cold.  So while hubs heads off to work, I've been trying to figure out how to entertain three kids and still flop on the couch as it seems only sitting still for a while relieves the need to hack.

All I can think about is lying down and taking a nap.  Do I round up the kids, lock the doors, put the t.v. on and head for the couch?  No.  I clean the house.  Seriously.  Day 1 of being sick finds me sweeping, spot mopping, doing the laundry, emptying the dishwasher and de-cluttering.  I literally had sweat pouring down my face.  Why? Because I won't feel so guilty sitting on my arse if my house is somewhat clean.  After all, it should look like I've made some attempt to keep tidy when hubs comes home.  Because you know, it doesn't matter how crappy you feel, you always get the feeling that they never quite get it and that you're just being a whiner.  Unlike a man cold, which is serious people.

Have you seen this commercial?




It's funny because it's true.  Hubs doesn't get it though ;)

Anyways,  how about you.  Do you feel guilty not doing your regular routine when you're sick or do you say to heck with it and take some down time guilt free?

Zeemaid

Arm & Hammer Cold Water - Coupon Alert

I've posted about my experiences with Arm &  Hammer liquid laundry detergent a few times now and so most of you know that I think this is a great product.  Easy on your clothes, smells wonderful and oh yeah, it gets your clothes clean. ;)

So it's no different with Arm & Hammer's new Cold Water Liquid Laundry Detergent.  

I have to admit that in my quest to get my familiy's clothes really clean, I've been turning more and more to warm/hot water washes.  I know, I know.  Not only does it increase my energy bills but it's not great for the environment.  So with more and more companies producing detergents that work just as well in cold water, I'm glad to see Arm & Hammer doing the same.

Arm & Hammer Ultra Last Clumping Cat Litter - Review

I am fortunate in that the cleaning of all things litter related falls to my husband.  Of course, I flat out refused to deal with it but still he's a dear all the same.  The litter detail is bad enough with one cat but when we got the second cat (hubs idea by the way), we definitely needed extra help in combating the odors. Especially since we don't get to cleaning the litter box everyday.  Arm & Hammer's new Ultra Last Clumping Cat Litter is formulated to beat the daily scoop by providing long lasting odour control.   

It's been a couple of weeks since we (and by we I mean hubs) switched out our old litter for Arm & Hammer's new Ultra Last.  What I have noticed is that the odour has been under control especially in this hot weather.  Most of the time I don't notice the litter box unless I'm in the same room with it.  What hubs has noticed is that the litter seems dryer and clumps better.  He's found it easy to use and the litter gives off a fresh scent as he's scooping which helps make an unpleasant job a little more pleasant.  I've also noticed less litter on the floor everyday although any litter on the floor is still too much and I don't think we're ever going to get away from that.  

Initially, we had a hard time finding the Ultra Last litter at the stores in our area but recently Wal-Mart has been advertising it in their flyers so I know they've picked it up now.  Definitely worth trying out! 

The all new ARM & HAMMER® Ultra Last™ Clumping Cat Litter features:.

•  ARM & HAMMER® Baking Soda coated granules and special odor neutralizers that continuously eliminate even the worst litter box odors

•  Provides immediate and long lasting odour protection, even if the litter box isn’t scooped every day

•  Moisture activated fresh scent deodorizes the litter every time the cat uses the litter box

• Rock solid clumps allow for easy removal of the source of odors

Available at retailers across Canada   Sizes: 6.4 kg – SRP: $6.99 - $8.99   

12.7 kg – SRP: $13.99 - $15.99

For more pet care tips visit www.armandhammer.ca

How about you?  Who does litter duty in your house? 

Zeemaid

*disclosure  - As always the reviews and opinions contained herein are my own and reflect my true opinions.  No other compensation for this post was received other than receiving a box of the litter to try out.*

Hey Coffee, Coffee – A Tassimo Review

A week or so ago I wrote a post titled Gas Station Coffee is Just fine For Me.  Well, who would have thought that that little rant would lead to me reviewing the latest Tassimo T55 in my own home. 


And let’s just say…. I’m in love.

Oh how I’ve longed to have one of these one cup brewers for quite some time, so when my store sold I bought the el cheapo travel sized version from Tassimo’s competitor. (We won’t name names here but it rhymes with *cough* smeurig.)  Sure it was fun, we had a variety of flavours to try out but it did fall a little short expectations wise.  It just didn’t taste as wonderful as the coffee we had tried at friends.  Not to mention the water just did not get hot enough which resulted in my boiling the kettle first and then adding the hot water to resevoir.

In fairness, this could be due to the fact that it’s marketed as a “travel-sized” brewer since it only holds one cup’s worth of water at a time.

Not so with the Tassimo T55.  First impressions were that it was sleek and compact.  I was expecting something a little bit bigger and was relieved that this brewer was not going to take up a lot of counter real estate.  I also was impressed with the packaging.  It too was compact with no fluff or filler to deal with. 

I have to admit it took some time to clean and set this baby up .  First it had to run through some sort of cleaning cycle 4 times and then the water filter (yes it has it’s own water filter) needed to have water run through it three times.  But oh, it was so worth it.  We bought Tassimo’s latte coffee which comes with 8 t-discs of coffee and 8 t-discs of milk.  It was so smooth and so delicious we absolutely loved it.  I really do think the water filtration helps with the coffee flavour since it helps filter out things like chlorine.  Besides the flavour the next biggest question is… did it get hot enough?  It definitely did, as it was steaming the milk I could see the steam rising from the machine.   I do wonder a little what exactly is in the “milk” because it doesn’t require refrigeration and it states specifically not to do so or freeze it for that matter.  Still it does taste delicious. 

I almost forgot to mention that another cool feature of this machine is that you can specify cup size.  Of course, I want to max out my pleasure from this baby and so far every cup I’ve made has been the “larger” cup.  It has a holder that you can use to raise or lower you cup up towards the dispenser so there isn’t any backsplash.  It comes completely out for larger cups and so far I’m thinking it might just stay that way.  For now anyways. 

Of course, hubs and I couldn't help doing the math. The average cup of coffee works out to between 50 – 75 cents depending on where you buy your t-discs.  Now if are a 100 cup a day coffee drinker, like my mother, sure this really isn’t the affordable way to go.  However, if you drink just one or two cups a day or have a bad coffee shop latte habit, this brewer will definitely save you money.  Priced at roughly just over a dollar, we’re talking about some serious savings. 

Check out Tassimo.com for more information on their machines and the variety of flavours.  Right now they have an offer going o:n:  when you spend over $60.00 the shipping is free.  Or you could enter to win your own Tassimo T55 brewer by stopping by Tassimo’s Facebook page. Right now Tassimo Canada is giving away one brewer a day plus $100 worth of T-Discs until August 24th.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to trying out other flavours of coffee and am planning on taking the Tassimo T55 with us camping.  I know, right?  We may not have a fancy smancy trailer but darn it we will have good coffee!

So… what’s in your cup?

Zeemaid

*disclosure – In the Mommy Trenches received the above product for the purposes of conducting this review and did not receive any other compensation.  As always the opinions expressed herein are those of Zeemaid and reflect her true thoughts and experiences with the product*

A Mermaid Birthday Party

E had her "fake birthday" at the end of the school year.  I say "fake" because her real birthday is in the middle of the summer and I decided at the beginning of her school career that it would be much simpler to have her "school friend" party at the school year end rather than trying to track down people in the middle of the summer.  If you've been a regular reader, you will know what a hard time we've been having with parties the past couple of years.  See Birthday Parties Suck from last year.

So we were thrilled when not only all the girls came but we ended up a couple of extra kids. It figures that every other year I had prepared goody bags for as many invitations as we had given out and been disappointed in the no shows. This year I was determined to only buy enough for those that said they were coming for sure. So I had to scramble a bit to get extra bags done up and E had to give up hers but I was so pleased to be put in that position for once that I didn’t mind at all.

Mysterious little Package and a Snoop

A week or so ago I came across a wrapper on my 9 year old's dresser.  My first thought was crap, I must have forgotten to throw it away or alternatively she saw in the garbage can in my bathroom, thought it looked interesting and grabbed.  Either way I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, I simply took it off her desk and threw it away (after showing hubs what I found, of course).  End of story or so I thought.

We are expecting company this weekend so I am on a de-clutter and get things put away campaign. We've been pretty slack this summer and nothing gets a bedroom quite so clean and organized unless mom is right there the entire time knee deep in toys, discarded underwear and other junk.  Is it just my kids who find the weirdest places to put their dirty underwear?