T is for Christoper Titus #AtoZChallenge

I love to laugh. My favorite comedian - Christopher Titus. What I like about him is that his shows are so raw and personal.

His best show, in my opinion, is Norman Rockwell is Bleeding... wow... I laughed so hard, and then he made me cry, and then laugh some more. Powerful stuff, all about his life growing up, his dysfunctional family and meeting his wife.

I have a signed copy of the DVD - squeeeee! :)

Here's a taste:

"When you see the shit just about to hit the fan... you step to the side of the fan."

Yup

And then there's his definition of the word "retard" - wait, don't get offended. I promise you'll laugh, and you know some of these folks...

So, if you're looking for a laugh and to maybe feel a little better about your dysfunctional family or retarded friends or relatives, there's no one better than Titus. 

You can find Titus on Facebook and Twitter too. 

O is for OxiClean #AtoZChallenge

When I come across a product that I just love I try to spread the word. This one is ode to OxiClean. We live out in the country and use well water. The water tastes good, but it leaves a lot of calcium deposits and make our clothes - especially whites - look dingy.

On a whim I started adding OxiClean to the wash and WOW has it made a difference!! I had stopped buying whites because even with bleach they never stayed white, but I don't have that problem anymore. All of our clothes look so much better and even clothes that I had all but given up on are looking bright and clean!

I have also used OxiClean to clean the shower, the walls and other surfaces and it works great. Not good on glass though, so it does have its limitations.

So, if your clothes are starting to look drab, try it out. You can get it at Sam's Club in a big box for about $14. It's worth it and will last a long time!

FYI OxiClean didn't send me any free samples or otherwise influence this post. I just love the stuff. I haven't tried their other products (honestly, I didn't know about them until I went looking for a picture). Looks like they have clothes and dish washing detergents too - I should give them a try :)

H is for Hoover... how I love thee... #AtoZChallenge

I purchased a Hoover FloorMate about a year ago, and I absolutely love it.  I hate to mop my floors, but with this machine it's a breeze. My floors have never looked so good!

The FloorMate can vacuum, scrub hard floors and even dry them. You mix hot water with a cleaning solution and lay it down like you would with a carpet shampooer, scrubbers scrub the floor and suck the dirty water back up into a different tank.So, dirty water doesn't go back on your floors as it does with a traditional mop.

I will caution you that if you have dogs, or other furry animals, that you may not want to use it to vacuum - it can do the job, but the hair will likely get wet and cling to the scrubbers, insides, etc. Plus, the water tank is gross. So, with two dogs who shed constantly, I have determined it is best to vacuum with my regular vacuum first.

I rarely use the dryer on the machine, the floors really aren't that wet after scrubbing - there's a rubber squeegee in front of the scrubbers/vacuum that does a great job pulling up the water.

I have used this machine on the linoleum floors in my kitchen and bathrooms, as well as the wood floors in my den. Works great on both.

The machine is not heavy and the amount of effort required to scrub your floors is about the same as you'd put into vacuuming them.

So, if you're in the market for a new mop, get this instead. Your floors will look fantastic and you'll find yourself cleaning them more.

You can find this item on Amazon, or at your local Target or Walmart. I definitely recommend it!

*This review is not sponsored in any way :)
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Today's photo prompt is "priceless".

Arizona Sunsets are Priceless to me :)

My Ode to @BulldogBackup

After several years of backing up my computer about once a year maybe periodically, I decided to look into an online, automatic backup system. I stumbled across @BulldogBackup on Twitter and after checking out their website I signed up.

I am so glad that I did. Not only have they always been great to work with, but my computer died this week, taking my hard drive and thousands of pictures, songs, documents, history and dozens of other irreplaceable things with it. I tried to access the hard drive with my new computer... dead.

I would have hated to lose this picture
and about 12,000 or more like it. 

I cannot stress to you how important it is to get an online backup if you have digital pictures or other things on your computer that you wouldn't want to lose. In fact, earlier this week someone I follow on Twitter was very upset for just that reason - all her children's baby pictures were gone because her hard drive died.

I can already hear your excuses...

It's expensive... not really, Bulldog has very reasonable prices. Are your children's pictures worth $6.14 a month? Or $63.27 per year? I think so. And that's for unlimited space. Yes, you crazy picture-taking fool, unlimited.

It's hard to use... no, not at all. Yes, the initial backup took awhile, but the system allows you to throttle your upload and you can pause it if you need to and let it run overnight. Set up was a breeze and once you tell it what to back up, it automatically backs up new files and new revisions to existing documents. It even stores older versions. My system was backed up to right before it died - I didn't lose anything except the things I didn't tell it to backup (like my desktop - doh)

I backup on disk... that's great, but what if (God Forbid) your house were to burn down? Not only would your computer be gone, so would your backups. I think this thought alone was enough to convince me.

And the best part, their customer service is great. I was having problems today with restoring my files, so I emailed them. I got a response back almost immediately. They were very patient and helpful, and ultimately we got my issue resolved with very little hassle.

So seriously, get off your duff and get an online backup service. Do it now, don't wait until you have a problem. Some day you'll be so very thankful that you did it. I recommend Bulldog Backup.

Note: I'm not getting, or expecting, any perks for this post. It really is a great service, and deserves a "shout out" :)

Laugh your way to a better marriage

A few years ago someone sent me this hilarious clip by Mark Gungor called "A Tale of Two Brains"

It's so funny, because it's totally true. I have reenacted that scene so many times to friends, and they always get it. After digging around a little, I discovered that this is just one scene from a marriage seminar.

Now, I know what you're thinking... I hate marriage seminars. I don't need a marriage seminar. It's given by a Pastor? No way, I hate preachy stuff.

I get it, I'm the same way. However, we've owned this DVD set now for two and a half years and we watch it all the time. We recommend it to everyone. Mark Gungor does a fantastic job of keeping things funny, and totally spot on. And the entire seminar is not preachy at all.

He talks about sex, a lot. Like this clip about men's sex drive:

Your marriage doesn't have to be in trouble to get and enjoy this DVD. Watching it will help you communicate better. It explains mysteries like why women have to ask men to do things more than once, or why men can completely zone out and women typically can't.

A few weeks ago I was talking to some workmates and pulled from what Mark taught me when explaining why men and women talk about their problems - and how it's for totally different reasons. Men only talk about their problems if they want a solution - and that's why they're always offering us ladies unsolicited ones! Women talk about their problems because it helps them to figure out how they feel about what's going on. My male friend said "wow, that totally makes sense! I always knew I shouldn't talk or offer solutions when my wife was complaining about something, but never understood why that was!"

I cannot recommend Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage by Mark Gungor more. It's fantastic. It's funny. It's spot on. It will help you communicate better and understand each other better.

The Lady Bug Game

Recently I bought Angie The Lady Bug Game. Here's a short review.

The game is for kids aged 3 and up. There are small pieces, which seems to be the criteria for ages under 3. (I'm here to tell you that wanting to put everything in your mouth doesn't always stop at 3, but I digress).

It's very reasonably priced and actually quite a lot of fun. The game is simple enough for kids to grasp quickly, yet interesting enough to keep everyone involved until the end. There's no reading required, once the kids learn what the cards all mean (which didn't take long at all).

I find it to be enjoyable to play, which is good because I've played it several times a day since we got it.

I highly recommend this game for young children. It teaches them basic math skills, taking turns and how to win and lose well. And best of all, it's fun to play! :)