Christmas dinner and chlorine filters

Today was the Christmas dinner at church. After sleeping through the service (while I was hopping up and down to take pictures), Nessie was an absolute angel during dinner. She didn't fit under the table or my folding chair, so she was in the aisle. There were kids on either side of us, screaming with glee and dropping food, and Nessie hung out and watched. When the kids would come over and get verrrrry close, she'd watch me until it was too much for her and then she'd turn and Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiick a frosting covered face. Quite a change from the puppy who could barely contain herself when kids were 20' away!

And tonight I finally ordered a shower filter. http://www.naturallyskintastic.com/ It's vitamin C based - since I'm most concerned about the chlorine, this seemed a great fit! From what I can tell, this is an organic solution and removes the most chlorine, no matter the flow rate or water temperature. The downside is that it doesn't remove other stuff. I'm also not sure if you have to replace the whole thing or if there is a cartridge of some sort. Guess I'll find out. And as long as I was shopping, I finally got a real trickle valve, too. No more wasting or shutting the water all the way off to soap up and/or shave!

Catching up on laundry

Today I finally did some laundry (my first since returning home). I have to say, vacationing with family is great as my laundry was all done before I left to return home! Anyway, I began using the vinegar rinse and so far love the softness of my clothes. I also started hanging more clothes to dry. The water will moisturize the air and, of course, it saves on electricity. I'm almost out of detergent (if you don't count the four bottles I got from coupons) and as soon as the dispenser is empty, I plan on trying the castile/soda/borax liquid soap.

The dogs are SO enjoying the snow (and their fenced in area - I can't wait to make a bigger one next year!). Today we went to Noel and Alberta's house. Snow, the white German Shepherd Dog, was visiting so there were 5 dogs in the back yard romping around. Great fun was had by all!! My two have been snoozing for a few hours now. A tired dog is a good dog :-)

Paxton gets "tapped"

The tough times have hit us all. Paxton was let go from his "job" at the dentist's today. Unfortunately there were some patients who were concerned about a dog in the office. He sure enjoyed it while it lasted, and I'm sure something new will come along. Back to job hunting for the boy!

Today Tracie and I made laundry soap. It was as easy as advertised! (I found several recipes but this is my fav cause she's so COMPLETE! - http://frugallygreen.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-make-your-own-laundry-soap.html :-) We used Ivory soap. I think I'll change the soap base when I make mine because I'm not fond of the smell of Ivory and because they use tallow. I'll use the soap flakes (http://www.soap-flakes.com/) or Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap. I'm close to running out of my current detergent so I'm ready to experiment.