Blogging Can Literally Change Your Life
For anyone who say blogging can’t make a difference, I offer up my life because it sure as hell has changed mine. And no, I’m not talking about publishing or the friendships I’ve made or meeting the president. I’m talking about shaving my legs.
In the shower.
Until this blog post, I shaved my legs as a separate activity. Sometimes I shaved pre-shower, but most of the time, I shaved at night and showered in the morning. Big waste of water, big waste of time. I hated shaving my legs and would often go days without doing it. Hence why I would call shaving my legs after one of those periods of time “hacking through the forest.”
I decided to try this newfangled shaving-in-the-shower idea, and though it has taken me about two weeks to fall into a rhythm and decide where to prop up my leg so it doesn’t continue to get wet once I slather on the shaving cream, it has changed. my. life. I now have silky smooth legs every day without a lot of effort. I don’t have to tell the kids that we can’t go to the pool because Mommy is rocking a Bigfoot look. I don’t have to wear jeans in 90-degree heat. I now do that because I want my pants to stick to my sweaty limbs, not because I feel that I must protect the public’s eyes from my Mediterranean turf mat legs.
Why didn’t anyone share this with me before this point? We’re supposed to be a sisterhood, a sorority of hair removers, but not one woman has ever floated this idea by me.
I know what you’re thinking: why didn’t this naturally occur to me WITHOUT needing it spelled out? That is an excellent question, and maybe it goes hand in hand with my inability to pass Candy Crush levels. I’m just not that bright. Or, as the woman at my grandmother’s nursing home said, “it’s a different kind of smart.”
Anyway, my life is different now. And blogging changed it. So thank you. Thank you wise women of the Internet.
Uh… and what else are y’all doing that I obviously am not? Give me your best lifehack.
Mine is that I keep cleaning supplies in every room, so I rarely formally clean. I just walk in a room, use the supplies, and then sit down to do whatever I was entering the room to do. Hence why cleaning never stresses me out.
26 comments
I’ve been making my kids unload the dishwasher, which isn’t a life hack, per se, but a task I don’t love and one that is finite enough for them. (Straighten the play room –> not finite.)
Swearing by a pool bag this summer (towels + goggles + sunscreen). Add a snack and we go.
I line all my baking dishes and pans with foil or parchment paper – so I very rarely have to scrub the remnants of food out of a pan. Brownies and cakes slide right out. I can make dozens of cookies without washing baking sheets in between. If I’m making pie crust I roll it out onto parchment so it won’t stick, and I’m making something messy I cover my counters and counter-top appliances. It saves a ton of time in clean-up and a lot of frustration.
I keep a trashcan in my car. Its a small Rubbermaid Pitcher and I put an old plastic shopping bag in it. It keeps my car so much cleaner just because I have somewhere to immedietly toss little bits of trash.
I keep a leash and dog snacks in the car in case I find a lost dog.
I also prepare meatballs to keep in freezer, that way if a potluck, or someone comes visit me at last minute, I can do spaghetti, swedish meatballs or bbq meatball subs.
I always run out of shampoo first if I get a shampoo that’s not a 2-in-1 sorta deal. When that happens, I use the extra conditioner on my legs instead of shaving cream. Works like a charm.
And when I bake, if its anything that’s creates a lot of grease, I line the baking tray with foil and when it cools, it makes cleanup a million times easier. Just take the foil off and throw it in the garbage. If you keep kosher this might not help you, but its a life saver with bacon which I never fry anymore because its easier to bake this way. Hubby’s friend acted like I solved world peace when he seen me do this.
I guess when you grow up in a house with 5 women and 1 bathroom, you learn to spend your bathroom time as efficiently as possible. It was hard enough to get in there to pee without someone barging in – forget about extraneous bathing time.
Let’s see, life hacks…well, my aunt always recommended keeping a book in the car for those times when you’d get caught by a train or some other unexpected wait. Thanks to the Kindle app on my phone, I can take a book with me everywhere. I don’t know – it’s hard to say what I do differently since I don’t have the context of someone else’s methods. But I do know that we occasionally get into the “You do it that way?” “You DON’T do it that way?” discussions when I’m with my sisters.
I can’t think of any to add right now but I do keep some cleaning supplies around the house and am now going to hijack your idea of keeping them all over so that I can just clean when I have a few extra minutes. Love it. It’s going to be difficult with the vacuum, however…
I thought of a cleaning one that I use all the time – peroxide takes blood out of fabric. And other organic stains, but blood is really the big one because we’ve got 3 boys, one who’s a bleeder. Works like magic. That and vinegar (eliminates odors from fabrics) have changed my laundry world.
Hmmm, can’t think of any major life hacks myself. I make homemade waffles and freeze them, rather than buying store pre-made (healthier and cheaper). But that doesn’t seem like much of a hack, lol. I use a vinegar/water solution to mop my floors because it’s non-toxic, and it’s cheaper than buying branded mixes.
Thanks to another blogger (the late Nancy), I wear a nude bra under a white T-shirt instead of a white one like I did all my life.
ANDmom may have just changed my life. We’re at my MIL’s and the oldest just wipedbloody nosebleed all over white damask slippered couch while sleeping. Sigh. We are going to be really popular by the time we leave! But maybe peroxide will save the day!
My life hacks:
Not only do I keep a spray bottle of vinegar handy as the only consistent cleaning solution in my house, I also put orange and other citrus peels in the bottle to give it a citrusy smell.
No major life hacks here, but I am looking forward to trying out the cleaning supplies one in the post as well as several of the ones in the comments. Thanks!
And you can even skip the shaving cream if you use a Venus Spa razor. Which I do. In the shower. But not every day … hmm …
My life hack is meal planning, I guess. I plan the week’s worth of meals before I shop so that I can use all of the perishable groceries that week. I cook on the weekends for the week, as much as possible. And I also cook at night for the next day, so all I have to do is reheat things. Or I prep as much as I can so that all I have to do is throw together the last minute ingredients. I don’t know if it’s a hack, but it’s all I’ve got.
I am not so efficient in household chores, really.
I tend to overstock on certain items that are consumed consistently, and it irritates me to run out out of them. I can count eight unused tubes of toothpaste in my store (I do not know if that is not such a big deal there). Soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, we may die of hunger but we would die clean.
I pick up kid’s next change (outfit) and keep it out much before it is actually due to be used. What Figlia will wear at night after bath has been picked up in the morning itself. It saves me a lot of time at the due moment. The next morning outfit is picked out the night before.
I am slowly coming out of my dark ages, apparently, because I am discovering just how much easier my life is with modern technology. Kindle increased my reading at leat three times this year. The airfryer made my cooking easier and frying healthier (it really does require very little to no oil at all for frying, afreakingmazing!). I can even bake in the darn thingie with silicone dishes that fit the basket! And I have discovered swiftkey, the app that made phone texting or whatsapp-ing a piece of cake (unless auto-correct makes you write silly things). You may all already know this, but as I said, this is like a renaissance to me, and excuse for gaping, I am just slow in catching up with this modern gadget world.
Otherwise, I think I have no real lifehack.
I keep tissues, scissors, a notepad, pen and pencil in every room. That way, if the need to use them strikes, I don’t have to go searching. I can remove a tag or cut coupons anywhere. I can write a note to myself or fill out a form. And, I can sneeze, cough or kill a bug with the tissues. It saves a lot of time and I don’t have to hunt for the items.
I thought of a few more:
When we eat meat, I use a small plastic shopping bag to dispose of the store wrapping around the meat and take that small bag directly to the trashcans in the garage. This saves the house from smelling like raw meat and we don’t waste an entire big trash bag.
I do something similar to what Kimberly said regarding shaving with hair conditioner, only I do this specifically when I’m traveling. It saves space and time and I don’t have to pack a separate shaving cream. Plus, it does make your legs extra smooth.
I also keep a folder on my computer for “pictures to print”. When I unload pictures from my camera cards, I sort them into the various folders based on people or places that the photos include and I also choose the ones that I want to print to either scrapbook, frame or give away. Before I did this, when it came time to get them printed, I always forgot which ones to send off to be printed and it took me hours to go through each folder and choose the ones I wanted. Now, it only takes an extra minute or two each time I unload the pics from my camera and, when a good sale at one of my favorite online photo printing stores is available, I have an entire folder of pictures all set to upload to the site and print within a few minutes. Big time saver.
When I was really struggling with whether to continue to pursue baby #2 and how someone posted a comment, “What are you afraid of” that changed everything. It planted the seed that became a visit with my RE and the use of donated embryos which led to our 2nd son.
In terms of savers:
I keep our swim bag packed with snacks, my son’s swimsuit (for swim lessons), and towels so it is always ready to go.
Same with the diaper bag. It is always stocked so when I have to run out I don’t have to wonder if there are diapers/wipes/food/bowl/spoon/bib/pacifier/toys/change of clothes/burp cloth in it.
I keep back-ups of our most oft used shower products (shower gel (I have a big refill bottle), shampoo, face cleanser) and back-ups of my facial moisturizer, and eye make-up remover pads.
We have a present box where we store potential presents for family members, and a few generic ones for emergency gift events. It means that when a birthday/christmas roll around we don’t have t do too much in terms of present giving.
When I want to read my kindle in the bath, i put it in a ziploc baggie- still able to turn pages, but less likely to get it wet. (baths are for soaking, not for washing)
I wish I could keep cleaning supplies in every room! But my house is 200+ years old, and not only is there not a place to put cleaning supplies in every room, but I need different cleaning supplies in every room. I have four different devices just for cleaning the floors, and that isn’t counting the steam cleaner for the carpets. But I do have a grab n go cleaning basket on both the first and second floor now, which has made things easier.
I really kicked ass at breastfeeding and sleep training, but other than those things I’ve got nothing. That and a really good trick for progesterone shots.
I am definitely shaving my legs with conditioner tomorrow. Thanks guys!
-I actually prefer moisturizing shower gel to conditioner since it stays on better.
-Programmable remote to consolidate the tv/cable/bluray/surround collection. Of course if that remote gets misplaced, it’s disaster but otherwise it’s much simpler now that it’s properly setup.
-Keep hair brushes and ties in the downstairs bathroom for quick mid-day use.
-It was like a lightbulb moment for me when I realized it was easier to keep the cords for my electronics (laptop/camera/kindle/mp3) where I use them, then leave them with DH’s stuff in his office where they had a tendency to always be in the last place I looked despite my certainty that I had left them in the first location.
-Always put my purse in the same place at home when I walk in the door, when I plug my cell phone in to charge, I drop it into my purse on the charger so I don’t forget it. My keys also have a designated spot in my purse so they are always at hand.
I turn all the hangers around in my closet so that the open side faces out and once I wear something I put it back normally (open side towards the back of the closet). After a season or a few months – I can easily see what clothes are not in my rotation….and I consider getting rid of them. (Though I truly start to feel bad for the clothes I don’t often wear and will put them on out of pity so they don’t get donated.)
And, I have an empty box set up in a closet that I put anything that I come across that I want to donate so that when the charities call us to see if we have any items – I know where they are quickly.
I keep a plastic grocery bag coiled and tied in a knot in my purse for when I need to keep something dry or for when something gets gross.
Way late on this, but I echo the suggestion to keep scissors in as many rooms as possible, especially the kitchen. Those seem to be the tool I use the most.
I’m awesome at keeping clutter to a minimum. The trick, given to me by a professional, is to tidy up every day. Which I do. So there’s no major, hours long clean and purge that needs to be done. I do this every night after everyone has gone to bed. This keeps me on top of bills, household duties, shopping lists, etc etc. I also “style” our downstairs with flowers, and seasonal pillows I switch out. A pretty house makes me happy, and those are easy pretty fixes.
Also, I always have the kids backpacks and lunches ready the night before. Big time and stress saver.
If anyone has any lifehacks about how to stay on top of the laundry, I’m all ears…
– Rub your fingers on a stainless steel spoon under cold running water to get fresh garlic smell off.
– Light a candle with a match before chopping onion to absorb the fumes (keep a candle on the counter for this).
– Citrus rinds down the garbage disposal to make the sink smell good, and ice to keep the blades sharp.
– Wax paper under all raw meat for easy cleanup.
– Put avocados in a paper bag with a banana to ripen overnight.
Notice all my tips are food related?