As a high schooler back in Manchester, England. I wore a school uniform M-F. On the weekends I had about 2-3 outfits. It was England so summer clothes were kind of nonexistent. Too chilly for shorts and tees. That said, my mother must have done washing 24-7 to keep up with my distinct lack of clothes. How did she do it? And, she had only a washing machine. No dryer. It was mild enough most of the year to hang clothes on the washing line. On cold days, I have no idea what she did with the wet clothes.

Now that I do laundry for 5 people I worship at the temple of my washer and dryer. Neither are top of the line, but both appliances do the job well. The only time I run in to problems is when I choose not to do laundry.

This week and last and the week before last I was in laundry crisis mode. When I am in this mode, I do what is needed. First up: pants. Kids and adults need pants. Next up: Towels. We have two swimmers and go through a ton of beach towels. Next: Shirts and sweaters. Trailing in last place are the items we have a ton of…underwear and socks. My kids are inundated with socks from one set of grandparents, but I am not so overflowing with socks.

Laundry was at crisis mode as Monday. I delved deep in to my sock drawer and found a scant few pairs of socks. On Monday I wore Christmas fuzzy socks. Tuesday it was “Let’s wear a pair of ski socks.” Today I wore a pair of my daughter’s volleyball socks. Tonight, it was “Do the laundry or tomorrow’s sock choice will be a teeny pair of my 8-year-old’s socks!” Yikes.

I ventured to my subterranean basement. Crossed over the piles of toys and games in the playroom. Vaulted over a lone wooden, now abandoned stable. Stepped carefully over a box or three of books. Managed not to crash my tootsies in to a chair leg. Before stumbling on Mount Laundry. My specific mission was tackling Sock Peak. I grabbed a bottle of Tide Coldwater and set about conquering Sock Peak.

Tide Coldwater was just what I needed to tackle the disparate and multi-hued socks. I found dress socks — brown, black, and blue; athletic socks — ankle, short, knee; little kid socks; wild and crazy volleyball knee socks; and of course the ever-present stack of odd socks. Where do all the other socks? Why am I left with 35 odd socks??

As I looked in to the washing machine, at all the disparate and multi colored and many varieties of socks, I wondered how Tide Coldwater would do. I am happy to report that Tide Coldwater did a number on the socks. Gone were the stinky, grubby, and seen better days socks and instead I had a heaping washer full of fragrant, clean, and ready-to-wear socks.

I was sent Tide Coldwater to facilitate my review. I was given a gift card as compensation from Tide/SheSpeaks. The views expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

You know how it is. You find a notepad. Select a working pen. Gather your thoughts. Put pen to paper. Take a breath. Get totally overwhelmed. Take another deeper breath. Decide what needs to go first. Make the first notation on your to do list. Make a second entry. Third entry. Fourth. Fifth. Tenth entry. Eleventh. Seventeenth. Twentieth entry. Start hyperventilating for realz.

If you are like me, just writing the to do list is overwhelming and satisfying at the same time. By penning the lengthy to dos, you get a sense of the enormity of the work ahead of you. You can be upset by the sheer magnitude of the list and invigorated by having a written record of what you need to do.

A week and a half ago I penned my to do list AKA “the novel.” I sat on the list for a moment or two or three or maybe even four before attacking the list full force. With only a few weeks to go til Christmas, I was leaving nothing to chance.

Item #1: Buy gifts for local family…delegated to my husband since each day he drives past the store I planned to shop at. Item #1 = Done.

Item #2 through #8: Work tasks that only I could attend to. Items #2-#8 = some done, some partially done, some to be done. Same old, same old. But, I have it under control.

Item #9: Blog header. Hmmm. A graphic designer I am not. A good, very good blogging friend created a header for me and transferred my blog from Blogger to WP. This friend? She’s a keeper. I splurged on a new domain name a few weeks ago. I probably need a new blog header like a hole in the head, but what can I say? I caught the “I need a new blog to express all the thoughts that are floating in my head” bug.

So, Item #9 had me wondering. Who would I hire to do the blog header? I don’t know many graphic designers. Recently I reviewed Zaarly. Zaarly is a cool, new site where you can post what you need. Post your to do list one item at a time. You can also post items you have for sale. I gave Zaarly a whirl.

My first Zaarly item was a call for someone to haul away a broken bedframe, old paint cans a plenty, and a coule of old monitors. No takers at $25. Raised the price on Zaarly to $50. Still not takers.  The problem could be that I live off the beaten path…probably too far away for someone who hauls stuff for a living.

My next idea was to post about the blog header. I guessed correctly that I would get a number of hits from graphic designer-types willing to help me. Over the course of a few days, the hits have come thick and fast. Started conversations with 3 of the graphic designers. Got a sense that one of the designers was a little too green about the gills. I have minimal graphic experience. I need a serious amount of hand holding. 

After talking back and forth with three of the designers, I drafted a detailed list of what I am looking for with my blog header. I’m ready to see what the designer creates for me. Thanks to Zaarly I was able to find someone who could do a to-do item for me. And with the schedule that I have going right now both at work and at home, any help I can find is golden.

Signing up for Zaarly is easy.

• Use my link to sign up.
• For everyone who signs up for a Zaarly account, Zaarly will donate $1 to Feeding America.
• Follow @Zaarly on Twitter.
• Like Zaarly on Facebook.

I was compensated with a gift card for using Zaarly to get tasks done. The opinions expressed in the post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

I’m the worst person to buy for. I buy few clothes for myself as my tastes and specifications are very limited. I can search racks and racks at a clothing store and find only one or maybe two items that I can tolerate. I don’t play video games. I don’t listen to music on my iTouch. I read, but again I can be picky about what I want to read. I love watching movies, but often purchase any movies I want. In short, I’m hard to buy for.

I recently heard about a site that is not a site where you can buy gifts, but it is a site where you can post a job that needs to be done, or an item that needs to be found. As a hard-to-buy for person, what I would really like is for someone to do something on the household “Honey Do” list. Now that would a gift come true!

You know the list of tasks around your house that are not urgent, but need to be done? The timeframe for these tasks is not specified. In my home, it is “needs to be done sometime after all the important and crisis tasks” are done. So the tasks remain not done…forever.

I have had 2 computers with monitors stored in my garage since 2010. Maybe earlier. Neither computer works. Both hard drives have been scrubbed. But, there the computers sit. Why? well, one of these days I will have a free moment to load up the computers and take both to the local dump. While I am at it, I’ll take the broken bedframe, old cans of paint, etc. My local trash service will not pick up computers, paint, or other toxic items.

So, in the name of “let’s get something crossed off my to do task list” I want to tell you about Zaarly.com. Zaarly is a site where you can post about a task you need to get done. You post what the task is — I posted asking for someone to haul my computers, bedframe, and paint to the dump. All I need to do is wait until someone is willing to do my task. A few weeks ago I posted about wanting to find a price on a camera…within hours I received an answer to my question. Stop back to hear more.

While you get ready for the holidays, think about those tasks around the house that you need to do, but would rather have someone else do them. Post to Zaarly and sit back and wait for someone else to do the job on your to do list!

Use Zaarly to find DJs, moving help, personal trainers, pet services, and so much more.

• Sign up for Zaarly using my link.
• With every signup, Zaarly will with every sign up donate $1 to Feeding America.
• Like Zaarly on Facebook.
• Follow @Zaarly on Twitter.
• Use the Zaarly app on Facebook.

I was compensated for writing this post by Zaarly and Blogger Connection. The views expressed in this post are my own. I follow the tenets of Blog With Integrity.

Yesterday I was lamenting the nonappearance of the dinnertime fairy. Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a little fairy swoop in. Come up with a dinner menu for the week. Buy the food. Cook the food. Set the table. Clean up after the meal. In short do everything. Aaahhhh, a mom can dream can’t she?

So, tonight was one of those nights. The night where I played catchup almost all day. First — I caught up on sleep by dozing and watching Dr. Phil and dozing after putting all three on school buses. Second — I caught up on work after an enjoyable lunchtime spent having lunch with my son at school for American Education Week and watching him perform in his class’ puppet show. Third and finally — I caught up on the early evening homework, “How was your day?,” “Don’t forget to do your chores?, and “Hey, I haven’t heard you practice your cello in a while?”after a late afternoon of work.

Some of think ice cream is dinner. What?!

The result? Dinner was still undecided. No fairy godmother popped out of my pantry with a fully made dinner in one hand and a ladle in the other hand, waving me off. No dinnertime fairy said, “Don’t worry about dinner…I have it all worked out…” Nope. it was just me staring at the inside of the freezer willing dinner to appear and cook itself. No such thing happened until I dragged a bag of breaded chicken, a bag of seasoned french fries, and a can of peas in the kitchen. 30 minutes later. DINNER!

So, what did you have for dinner tonight?

I left a comment on FireMom’s post about the Bounce Dryer Bar. I didn’t leave a one word or a one line comment. No, not me. I left a long comment. Now in fairness to me I was answering a writing prompt. The type of writing prompt where I felt compelled to spill it. And spill it I did.

Now I should also point out that the writing prompt was one of the entry methods for a giveaway on FireMom’s blog. The contest is sponsored by BlogHer and Bounce. The prizes: a $50 Visa Card and a Bounce Dryer bar. And so you can see why I couldn’t help myself from answering the burning question…What was your worst laundry woe?

For a person who has as many issues with cooking as I do, you would think that I would be equally unskilled with laundry. You would be wrong. While I may cook up a storm — literally — in the kitchen. When it comes to laundry, I have had very few laundry disasters. In reverse order…

• I washed my son’s favorite t-shirt — a white shirt with a picture of a monkey playing a guitar — with a load of red shirts. Result: A pink t-shirt.
• I washed a brand new shirt of my daughter’s from Forever 21. Result: the shirt has a small brown mark on the shoulder that cannot be removed. I’ve noticed other marks…I think there may be an exposed edge in the dryer.
• I dried my daughter’s volleyball team shirt instead of hanging it to dry. Result: the lettering on the shirt started to flake a little.
• And finally…

My worst laundry woe still stings. It was the 80s. I was obsessed with all things Benetton. In fact I shopped at all of the Benetton branded stores — in England, my home country; in Italy, the country where I visited when my family lived there; and the U.S., where I went to college.

I purchased a very delicate crew neck sweater in robin’s egg blue from a Benetton in Milan. I dithered and debated on whether to buy the sweater as it was a little expensive on my college student budget. Or perhaps…and more likely my parents paid for the sweater or it was purchased as an early Christmas gift.

Whatever the circumstance, I loved that sweater. After much in-decision, I bought it. Soon I had paired the sweater with a number of pants. Skirts….hey it was the 80s and skirts were in. Scarves, too.

I washed it. To my horror when I pulled out the delicate sweater from the washer, I noticed that the arms on the sweater had stretched to about 4 feet in length…each. The body of the sweater had shrunk to the size of the body of a small child. I stood staring at the sweater before realizing that no amount of washing or drying would get the sweater back to its original size. And I didn’t even dry it!

I put the now teeny tiny sweater with the insanely long octopus arms in a large, untidy bundle in the corner of my closet. Shortly, thereafter the sweater was placed in the trash, but only when I was ready to let go of it.

So, what are you waiting for? You’ve read my post. So the next thing you need to do is click on over and enter the contest on FireMom’s blog. Well, what are you waiting for. Click >> HERE.

Choices. We all have to make choices. This morning I dithered and dallied and dragged my heels on making a choice. I won’t even get in to what the choice was. It was relatively minor. I should have debated a few minutes, made a decision, and moved on with my day. Instead, I dallied and dithered…

Some decisions are harder to make not because you are worried about making the wrong decision. The problem is more that you have too many options to choose from. Like what stain to remove.

Yes, I said stain. Five people. 17 years in this home — we’re the first owners. Wear and tear of everything in this house. In this home there are stains aplenty. So, when I was asked to review a type of stain removing cleaning pad from a well known manufacturer of vacuums and carpet cleaners, I knew I could find a stain. The problem…which stain to choose?!

After much consideration and running from room to room to see which carpet looked the worst. Fun task, not. I chose the very much trafficked area from the backdoor through the family room to the kitchen. We don’t wear shoes in the house, but you would never know it from the state of the carpet. Let’s just say I won’t be posting pics.

The  family room carpet is in need of a cleaning, but I have been putting it off as I hope to get hardwood floors in the near future. In the meantime, I opened the individually wrapped Bissell Stomp ‘N Go pad. The pad is soft and moist on one side with a plastic backing to the other side. The instructions are easy…

• Vacuum the carpet to remove any excess dirt and debris.
• Place the Bissell Stomp ‘N Go pad on the area to be cleaned.
• Press down on the pad with your shoe. If you wore just a sock, your foot would get a little wet.
• I found that I could move back and forth over the pad without moving the pad around.
  
• Leave the Bissell Stomp ‘N Go pad on the stained area for 30 minutes.
• Vacuum the area after removing the pad.
  

The area I chose looks much better — not spotless, but less grime-y. The Bissell Stomp ‘N Go pad took off the top layer of grime leaving just a few ingrained spots of dirt probably from wear and tear of 17 years of people walking back and forth to the back door. I might hit these stains with the pad again to see if I can lift more dirt and grime. Again I’m too embarrassed to post the before stain and the after shot of the soiled Bissell Stomp ‘N Go pad. Trust me when I say that the pad was put through its paces.

The Bissell Stomp ‘N Go pads:

• Stomp out tough stains.
• Remove tough set-in stains like red wine, food stains, fruit juice, pet messes, mud/dirt, and more.
• Leaves carpet smelling fresh.
• Each box contains 5 individually wrapped, pre-moistened pads.
• Each box of 5 pads costs $4.99 from the Bissell site, but I am not sure how much the box of pads retail for in stores.

I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of BISSELL and received product samples and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

On the rack. Off the peg. Fits like a glove. Stylish. These are all terms that make me think of fashion.

I would dearly love to get all “Project Runway” when shopping for clothes. I’d love to “Make it work” a la Tim Gunn. But the reality is that shopping online or in a store for clothes is challenging for a plus-size person. In fact, I think that this is the first time I have described myself in print as plus size.

I’m not in denial. I’m well aware of what my scale reads and of what size I wear. It is just that I approach shopping for clothes as a though walking on a landmine. I tip toe carefully from one potential style no-no to the next. Clothes in a catalog or on a website may look OK. Clothes that I try on in the store may be a good fit. But, finding clothes that fit AND that I like is a test.

This is why I am excited to announce that this fall, Lane Bryant and sister brands Sonsi, Catherines and Fashion Bug, are launching a breakthrough technology. With this new tool, shopping for clothes is a cakewalk for plus size women. Why is this? The next tool solves, because it solves the fit issue.

I was skeptical at first, but the new online tool developed by Sonsi is truly helpful in the search for clothes that fit. I fiddled with the tool for just a couple of minutes. Choosing this shirt. In that colr. Matched up with a paid of pants. Oh, and don’t forget a bag. And jewelry. Voila and a lovely outfit appeared on the screen.

What I liked about the tool is that I was able to choose from not just one, but a number of plus-size fashion stores. In just a few minutes, I created an outfit I named “Blogging Event Outfit.” I need outfits like this that I can dress up with jewelry or dress down with a cardigan. I chose a long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirt since I go to events cold and warm weathers.

This post was made possible by Mom Spark Media. I was compensated for my time investment and work on this campaign.

Coffee. Juice. Soy Sauce. Lasagna. What do these 4 items have in common besides tasting good? Stains and lots of them.

Ever try to get juice out of a kid’s shirt? Or a pasta sauce stain out of a crisp white blouse? Yeah, good luck with that! Juice, soy sauce, and spaghetti sauce are almost impossible to remove.

Watch how these folks find out about stains…and have fun in the process. Can washing be fun? Is making a mess fun? You bet.

goo.gl/YWO3T

The contest will be active until Friday, September 16th and the winner will be announced Monday, September 19th.

I will be compensated for this post through a promotional incentive from Clorox Service Company and Big Fuel Communication, LLC for telling moms about Clorox 2 Mommy Blogger Challenge. The views expressed in the post are my own.

I’m not what you would call a super-duper housewife. I clean when I have to do. I declutter when the mood strikes. The problem is that I never know when a cleaning mood will strike.

This weekend was one of those times. I saw an opportunity to not only declutter but do it with other people. The other people were my kids and husband. The husband was easy to get on board. He has wanted to declutter the playroom for a while. The kids were a harder sell but we left them no choice. Head down to the basement…or else.”Or else” is a good motivator…it turns out!

Once down in the playroom in the basement we set to work. Now in our family, I am the crazy, anal retentive type who must reunite toys with all pieces, doodads, widgets, people, and anything else you might want to imagine before sending the toy to the Good Will or consignment pile. My oldest was all for chucking everything in to boxes or a trash bag. But, I instructed the kids to declutter the Musings from Me way…

Here’s how we decluttered part of the playroom:

• I assigned each kid the task of sorting through one toy.
• I assigned each task to each kid so that there would be no arguments.
• So the breakdown of tasks by kid/age group was as follows…

- The Teen found all the track and pieces to the Geo Trax set.

- The Tween searched high and low for all the Star Wars guys (are there any Star Wars gals except Princess Leia and Padme?!).

- The Kid found all the large trucks and front end loaders and helicopters.

- The Husband found all the dressup clothes.

- And me? I found all the Hot Wheels racetrack pieces. Oh and I sorted through the cars bin to sift through Stars Wars figures, Silly Bandz, fake jewelry, and anything else that was mixed in with the cars.

• I had each person put the items that they had found in a Rubbermaid or plastic tub labeled with the name of the toy “Army Men” or “Geo Trax.”

With the Geo Trax track, buildings, and railway and road vehicles nicely stacked in a box, I released the Teen. She was grateful to escape the basement to clean her room. Now that’s some decluttering dedication. In the face of having to clean no matter what she chose her bedroom!

The Tween, the Kid, the Husband, and I delved further in to the basement.

• I searched and sifted and dredged through the laundry room for any toys that I had stashed for possible consigning. The Kid and I decided which toys he wanted to get rid of.
• The Tween found all the army men and cleaned up the High School Musical House and assorted Troys, Barbies, and Sharpays.
• The Husband and I measured the room for the addition of our family room furniture.

The process for moving furniture to the playroom has been a long time in coming. We’re finally ready to get new furniture for the family room. The kids will gain a more comfortable seating area for watching movies and playing games. Our current chairs consist of the old glider from the days of babies…a fuzzy purple chair…a low-to-the ground deck chair from Justice…2 low on beans bean bag chairs…and a teeny chair that was designed for a very small child. So new seating is a welcome addition to the playroom.

In order to get the new seating in to the room, decluttering is a must. I titled this post…Back-to-School Edition as I want to get the kids in to the mindset of keeping tidy rooms in whatever room they are in. I think the final straw was finding an oven glove on  the coffee table in the family room. Why? No one seemed to know why it was there or admit to moving it. Sigh.

What are you doing to get ready for the new school year?