Look at these flowers!

These are Dahlias,

they are a fall flower,

and come in all shapes and sizes.

These come from my parents’ gardens…

Pick some up to brighten your home!

]]> http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2011/09/more-great-stuff-flowers-fall/feed/ 1 http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/09/how-can-i-be-40-and-not-know-this/ http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/09/how-can-i-be-40-and-not-know-this/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:52:49 +0000 http://bananablueberry.com/?p=1524 Okay, I turned 40 a few months ago…

How Did I NOT know this would happen when you put a little dishwashing liquid in your dishwasher,

INSTEAD of DISHWASHER detergent ??!!

It boggles the mind…

I just looked down,

yep, I got dressed by myself this morning.

I even took my son to school, got him off safe and happy,

yet when I got home-

This was the scene in my kitchen…

Hope you have a great day-

O yeah- Never, Never put dishwashing liquid in your DISHWASHER,

But you probably already knew that…

At Least the Floor is Clean !

]]> http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/09/how-can-i-be-40-and-not-know-this/feed/ 3 http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/07/im-sure-glad-my-son-is-riding-without-training-wheels-now-because-im-riding-a-bike-now-too/ http://bananablueberry.com/index.php/2010/07/im-sure-glad-my-son-is-riding-without-training-wheels-now-because-im-riding-a-bike-now-too/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:58:54 +0000 http://bananablueberry.com/?p=1478

The Schwinn 'June' Coaster Bike

I have not ridden a bike since childhood.

There- I said it.

I’ve never been ‘big’ into bikes (don’t throw stones, you mountain-bike-weekend-trip-enthusiasts!!).

But it’s funny how life can change in an instant, with a whimsical choice…

Our family went down to Bethany Beach a few weeks ago, while at the very same time- my son had just taken his training wheels off his bike.  I remembered that there was a bike rental shop right in the heart of Bethany and asked my son if he’d like to rent a 2-wheeler for the week, He LOVED the idea and in the next moment I decided that I would rent a bike, then my husband decided he would rent a bike too…

So we spent our Beach Week riding bikes as a family-

~A place I couldn’t imagine getting to in our lives back when I was cleaning up snot or vomit or changing diapers.  We were ‘that family’, riding along, with the ocean breeze at our backs, that you glance at and think, ‘Isn’t that nice?!’

I enjoyed it so much that I thought about getting a bike at home.  So then we packed up everything and drove back to ‘reality’ and left the beach behind.  I arrived home to find a week’s worth of mail in our entry way, even though I had  ‘stopped’ the mail… ‘Great’, I thought, as my son trounced through the catalogues and bills mangling up in a even bigger mess.  I reached down to gather a first pile up and on the top of the pile was a flier from Performance Bicycles (where we got my son’s bike) announcing they were having a huge sale- that weekend… (karma ?!).

The next day we all went to the bike store and I bought the Schwinn ‘June’ Coaster Bike (with automatic shifting!) and I love it…

and I LOVE that my son and I are riding our bikes together.

You’ve come a long way, baby!

Something I learned during the snowstorm:  Tell your children that it is a rule not to put magnets on your laptop.

Yep, my son put these TINY magnets on my MacBook and POOF!  It Broke.

Long Story Short:  The employees at the Apple Store are fantastic and gave me instructions on how to install a new hard drive and recover my files from my old hard drive- I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t do any of this- my husband did.

FYI- Apple will install a new hard drive for you for $210.  This is not a crazy price, but you can easily buy a very good hard drive for under a $100 and install it yourself.  The hard part was ‘recovering’ my old files from my broken hard drive.  APPLE WILL NOT DO THIS.  And I understand why now:  We recovered MOST of my files, but not all of them.  Apple basically doesn’t want the headache of customers saying, “But 3 out of the 350 files didn’t come through.”  They don’t want to be in that game.  And they don’t have to be.  I don’t blame them.  And like I said, they will tell YOU how to do it… And just one more thing: make an appointment online or call beforehand- then you don’t have to wait!

And just to reiterate:

No Magnets on Laptops!

Make it a Rule in Your House-

Wow, what a long way we have come.  Now, you an get the exact time on your phone, your TV, your computer screen… your car!

*It took me a few tries to even find this picture of an ‘old telephone’… with a cord!*

Funny!

I left my son and husband alone for mere moments in the living room.  Upon my return, my son pointed out the Halloween stickers  he stuck to -1. the living room wall, and 2. the glass pained door at the back of our living room that leads to our screened-in porch.

Incredulously, I looked at my husband, saying to him through my mom-vulcan-stare, aka-

“Why did you let our little guy stick halloween stickers to our painted walls and nice glass?”

His response:

“Stickers aren’t permanent.  Worst case scenario: we can get them off with a razor blade.”

Yes, a RAZOR BLADE.  I’m not kidding.  I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried…

So, both males, still thinking it’s no big deal, went into our computer room,

meanwhile, I gently pulled the stickers off THE WALL AND GLASS,

stuck them to A PIECE OF PAPER,

and wrote ‘Happy Halloween’ and put that up,

for a Halloween ‘decoration’…

Everyone wins

I still cannot believe I actually heard, “… worst case scenario: we can use a razor blade…”

I’m decluttering and organizing, as I LOVE TO DO.  And you know what I did yesterday? 

I REMOVED THE ‘DO NOT REMOVE THIS TAG’ TAGS FROM PILLOWS!  It makes life a little easier when changing sheets, it’s a little neater, and empowering… A LITTLE empowering, but empowering none-the-less.

Man, what new ‘efficiency-increasing’, fly-in-the-face-of-convention act will I perform today?  Who knows?!

I’m off to organize our art-supply-station…

There are lots of gnats around lately…

want to get rid of them?

If you are grilling out or playing or just sitting around in some adirondack chairs-

FILL UP  ZIPLOCK SANDWICH BAGS WITH WATER,

ALMOST  FULL, NOT ALL THE WAY.

Put these bags on tables, the arms of chairs, etc.

AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE IN THE SUN!

The scattering of light by the water in the bags confuses gnats and flies,

AND THUS, they stay away!

I haven’t tried this myself, because I haven’t had the need,

but if you have a sandwich bag, you can try it- FOR FREE.

Let me know your results

Happy De- Bugging !

I looked on the web about this and lots of people say it doesn’t work,

On the Other Hand, my mother, who does a lot of gardening, swears by it;

She wears two sheets when in the garden.

So the answer is: everyone’s skin is different and it may work for you,

So give it a try!

Or just use OFF! Familycare, Smooth & Dry- powder dry formula, like I do

So all my paper that had something on just 1 side, I put in this light blue box.  I kept using it and using it, recycling and recycling.  I put it in my printer whenever I’m printing stuff out just for myself- rough drafts, articles to read, lists, etc.

Now my ‘one sided’ paper box is empty, but here’s the good part-

IT TOOK 10 YEARS!… A decade?  Are you kidding me?  I’m so excited.  Now I’m realizing how very little paper I’ve bought in the past decade and how much of a difference my little recycling effort has made on my life and for the planet.

Happy (Belated) Earth Day!