The Goddess Professor Speaks

I grew up in a house that faithfully  relied on Bounce dryer sheets when washing clothes.  I never really questioned the habit as I was taught load the clothes, add the detergent, put in a dryer sheet, put the clothes in, start the dryer.  At various times, the laundry detergent we used varied, but it always Bounce dryer sheets... always!  As I aged and started buying my own laundry stuff, I had to switch to the cheaper sheets.  The clothes didn't smell Bounce awesome, but they were static free-- well mostly. In fact, the Bounce sheets and smell are such a part of my parent's house that my dad washed and returned to us a blanket we left at his house that still smelled like Bounce  months  later.  Although I'd had to switch the cheaper, not-so-long lasting sheets that usually reduced static, getting that awesome smelling blanket back reminded me of the house I grew up in, the warm, nice smelling clothes fresh out the dryer. So, as I've shifted to DIY-ing, I've b

Upon seeing a poll in The Journal.ie , I started thinking deeper about Apple's tax mess (that has recently come to light despite going on for years):                  if it wasn't Ireland, it would've been some place else.   It's possible Apple chose Ireland to avoid the typical tax-havens (Cayman Islands, Switzerland, etc.), and therefore, "legally" get away with not paying taxes here.  Apple has seriously been on the cutting edge of things lately, so why not be on the cutting edge of tax evading? It annoys me to no end that what Apple did is technically legal, and therefore, they very likely won't be punished in any way.  And what would their punishment be--pay a fine?  Big damn whoop!  Just like that hefty  fine the banks had to pay for their part in the foreclosure nightmare (and ultimately, global financial meltdown).  Never mind that many states used that money to plug budgetary holes , which meant people actually hurt by the foreclosure nig

My most recent lesson in DIY-ing... soap may not always thicken as the recipe says it should. After trying for TWO days to get my homemade liquid soap to thicken, I finally had success today by simply putting it in a foam pump dispenser. Two days ago, I set out to make a liquid soap from this easy recipe: grated bar of castile soap and heated water.  As you can see on the linked page, the recipe calls for two 5 oz bars of castile soap and 1 gallon of water.  Well, since my bars of soap were 4 ounces each and I didn't have a container to hold a gallon of soap once it was made, I winged it a bit.  I used one 4 ounce bar and 56 ounces of water.  (My empty old liquid soap container was 56 ounces, so why not?!)  This did NOT turn out as I hoped it would. Beyond those adjustments, I followed the directions from the page I found to a tee:  heating the water, grating the soap, combining the grated soap and heated water, and letting it sit for 24 hours.   Twenty-four hours later and

Mother's Day is a day I approach with trepidation each year because I never know what my emotional state will be. I'm thankful to say that I awoke this afternoon (yes, afternoon!) to find my phone FILLED with messages of cheer from many friends.   I went to bed last night with the thoughts of the awesome Mother's Day card my hubs sent to me. I was greeted by my precious son with a cheerful Mother's Day wish. I miss my mother daily, but I know that she's proud of who I am today.  So, to all of the mothers, surrogate mothers, aunt-mothers, godmothers, father-mothers and everyone in between, I pray you have a fantabulously blessed day.  And I want to remind everyone to cherish the people in your lives right now rather than waiting until they've passed on to heap tons of praise onto their memory.  Love them while their here and make sure they know it. That is all! :-) Be well and blessed.