Matchmaking Blake Shelton?

For anyone who didn't see last night's finale of The Voice, turn away now... or not, since you've probably already read on Facebook who the winner was.

For those who did watch it, what did you think of the performance by Danielle Bradbury and Hunter Hayes? I for one was watching thinking to myself that perhaps Blacke Shelton is a bit of an amateur matchmaker...

They make a great looking couple and with the heated glances they were throwing each other throughout the performance, I wouldn't be surprised if Danielle and Hunter soon become an item.

Summer Fun For Toddlers

Summer officially begins later this month and with the warmer weather comes some unique opportunities to entertain the little ones outside of the home. If you're a parent of toddlers, you may be looking for some entertainment ideas. Here's what I've come up with to keep my brood of 2 happy and active once the warm weather returns.

1.) Sidewalk chalk - Not only is this stuff fun to draw with, you can also make games with it like hopscotch. Or, you can draw out a track for a bike or toy car, you can practice writing letters, or even work on identifying shapes. The activities depend on the age of your child, but the possibilities are endless. If the day is really hot, you can take out the hose to clean off your canvas, spray the kids down and then have more fun when it dries.

2.) Plants - Plants themselves aren't very fun, but toddlers are great gardeners. Teach them how to pick peas or beans and you'll have entertainment with a purpose. My two love love love to help harvest vegetables, plant seeds and do anything garden-related.

3.) Pools - Just a little kiddie pool or a water table on the back deck can be a lot of fun. You don't need anything huge for fun, and actually in my experience smaller pools work better. They fit on the deck and they are just as much fun for the little ones. I'm thinking of investing in an outdoor rug to go under the pool (one that can get wet) to protect their tootsies from the hot deck.

4.) Paint Something - When the weather is warm, it's easy to strip down to the diapers or swimming suits and have fun painting. When the masterpiece is complete, throw them in the pool or the sprinkler to get clean.

5.) Nature Walk - Your backyard can be a great place for your toddler to explore nature. Make a list of things to find and explore along the way. In our yard, that could include the following: a strawberry, a honeysuckle, a flower, a puddle, a rock, a willow tree and a bug. Take your time and look around as you walk the yard, you'll be surprised how much "nature" you have nearby.

6.) Bubbles - This one is pretty self explanatory. Bubbles are fun, period.

7.) Have a Picnic - Go for a picnic in the backyard with your kids. It's a fun way to turn something ordinary into something exciting and the best part is that you'll always be near bathrooms, sinks and other comforts of home. Not up for packing a full meal outside? Take a Popsicle or other treat instead and enjoy some play-time and dessert in the fresh air.

There are plenty of ordinary, fun things you can do in your backyard. Even if you don't have a lot of toys, a big swing set or other comfort items, you can still show your kids a great time outdoors.

Businesses Calling Over Yelp Reviews

I had an interesting experience today that I feel is worth sharing.

Recently, a bad review was left for a business under my Yelp account. I'm not the only one that has access to that account, but since it's my name and last initial I guess it doesn't really matter.

Anyway, today I got a call from a restricted number. I answered it (don't ask me why) and it was the business that had the bad review. They had used the information on yelp (name, last initial and date of review) along with a few details about the review to surmise who it was and find my phone number in my patient file (it's a vet, by the way).

Then they proceeded to call me about the review and tell me that they didn't appreciate it. Well, I didn't appreciate the long wait, the bad service, the foolish billing practices or the phone call regarding my Yelp review. They maintained during the call that they wanted to "make sure I was happy" because customers are "lifeblood of their practice". However, the tone and other things she was saying weren't meshing well with that sentiment.

Then it hit me. She didn't want me to be happy - she was just angling for a 5-star review!

So I asked what she wanted me to do and she repeated the line about wanting me to be happy, blah blah blah. It was like a broken record that's slightly threatening and 100% condescending. I wound up removing the review (because she seemed like a big enough bitch to turn it into a legal issue -- I'm telling you they are straight up unpleasant.), but I did "edit" the post to say that it was edited because they called and wanted it removed. I left the 2-star rating, though considered giving it 1-star.

I also left a blurb about not appreciating her using my Yelp info to call me and harass me. I mentioned too how suspicious it was that there were only 4 and 5-star reviews. Maybe the threatening phone calls work after all?

So what's your take on this? Should businesses use contact information in their files to call customers about Yelp reviews? Should they ask or insinuate that bad reviews be removed to protect their reputations? Does the threat of harassment ever prevent you from leaving a bad review?

In my opinion, if people can't feel comfortable leaving bad reviews on Yelp, the site will become useless. The point of Yelp is to give your opinion and your version of your experience with a company. If you have to change it, sugar coat it or act like it was something it wasn't, doesn't that undermine the spirit of Yelp? Furthermore, I feel like I gave them my phone number to use for contacting me regarding care of my animal - not stalking me down about a Yelp review. In my opinion they misused trusted information and violated customer privacy. If I wanted to chat about my bad service, I would have bellied up to the front desk or called them.

Why do Good Things Happen to Bad People

Today I've found myself wondering why it always seems like good things happen to bad people. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about - the freeloading brother that winds up with a nicer house than you or who isn't saddled with debt because he's lived off his parents/grandparents for his whole life, or the psycho killer that winds up getting life in prison while their victim is either dead or maimed for life.

It seems like everywhere you look there are horrible people that have things handed to them over and over and the good people keep excusing it saying, "they'll get theirs eventually" or "they don't have it as good as it seems." Yes. They do. And no, they won't get theirs eventually. I look at it like this - prison for a psycho isn't that bad. They get to make friends that are just as twisted and weird as they are. For every person that's gone to prison and came out saying how it put them on the path to the straight and narrow, there are 5 others that said they made connections, learned new techniques and were welcomed into a whole network of weirdos on the inside. The difference is that the people who were changed weren't in for the worst crimes to begin with and they are the ones singing the praises of the prison system the loudest. The ones who made their connections and became worse after going to prison aren't running around bragging about it because that would give away their future plans.

Now, for the crowd that believes an eternity in Hell is punishment enough for the bad people in the world, I beg to differ. Who do you think is tempting these people to begin with? Once a killer goes to Hell, you can bet he gets preferential treatment over someone who commits minor sins or doesn't believe in God to begin with. Who do you think the devil keeps at his right hand (well, it's probably his left hand)? A man who walked out on his family to be with the woman he was having an affair with or Adam Lanza? I'm betting it's the latter.

Not to get all preachy, but there really doesn't seem to be a punishment for these people. If being evil and bad is really an ingrained quality and something these people enjoy, their eternal damnation is more like a day at a really twisted version of Disney Land rather than a punishment.

So what's the answer? I have no idea. All I know is that good things keep happening to bad people and it's starting to feel like the balance between good and evil is shifting in favor of evil in this world with absolutely no repercussions. The good always tell each other to turn the other cheek, let God be the judge, etc. etc. while repeating that we need to leave the world better than we found it. How can we do that without any tools at our disposal? I can see how that may have worked when the balance was weighed heavily in favor of the good.

I really have no idea what's going to happen, but I hope enough people wake up and stop being so PC before it's too late.

Cleaning Tip: Hardwood Floors

Sorry in advance for this post being so short - I've been incredibly busy lately and haven't had a lot of time to post to the blog, but I wanted to put up this quick post about a cleaning tip.

If you have hardwood floors in your home, especially new ones, you've probably discovered that not all cleaning products are created alike. I discovered this the hard way. I have new (about a year old) flooring that came pre-finished. I was using Mr. Clean floor cleaner (the orange one that you dilute) in a refillable O'Cedar mop to clean them on a daily basis. I thought it was working great and my floors smelled awesome.... until they didn't. That cleaner doesn't work on hardwood floors. It builds up and forms a sticky layer that makes your shoes, socks and everything else stick. Not only would feet stick, but so would dirt, pet hair and anything my kids dropped. It was nasty.

I noticed it did the same thing in tiled areas.

So I searched the internet for a solution and found several popular DIY cleaners consisting of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and just about anything you can find in your medicine cabinet or under the sink. I didn't want to make a DIY cleaner with a lot of ingredients that may or may not work, so I kept searching...

Then I found a post that changed my life.

Vinegar. That's it. That's the secret. Just a little bit of vinegar diluted in a lot of water will clean the floors better than anything you can buy. I was skeptical, but since vinegar is cheap and I clean with it anyway, I went ahead and tried it. Rinsing the old Mr. Clean (oh the irony) concoction out of my mop was the hardest part.

The vinegar solution worked like a charm. It cut through the layers of sticky, nasty, grossness on my floors and redeemed them. It took a few moppings for it to get all of the sticky off, but it did work. My husband was home the first time and complained of an overly strong vinegar smell, but I didn't mind it too much. It kind of smelled like salad for a while. After about 1/2 an hour it was gone and the floors were beautiful again.

The only thing I didn't like is that it didn't leave that shine like other floor cleaners do. It just cleaned them. No fuss, no muss. I guess I can give up the shine if it means losing the sticky feeling and using a product that's natural and safe.

If you have hardwood floors, you should try this! It works, it's cheap, and it's safe. What better combination could you ask for?

Facebook Sell and Swap

I'm writing this post as a confession. I am addicted to the local Facebook Sell and Swap page.

My local group has over 1,000 members and the atmosphere is sort of like a fast-paced auction house... minus the bidding. There's an unwritten rule that you can't outbid someone. Or maybe it is written? Who knows. The rules are there, but they aren't very clear on the money portion of the page - I don't know if I could outbid someone who wrote "interested" before me.

Anyway, the site moves super fast and the items are so varied that it's hard to not check back every 5 minutes. You start feeling like you're going to miss something if you don't look. It drives my husband crazy that I'm always on it, but he loves the deals I find.

I've also started trying to sell stuff on the site, but I don't have anything really great to sell, so my stuff sits untouched. Or maybe it's because I made an album? It seems like people don't really like albums - they prefer pictures to just appear on the wall, even if one person posts 15 things. Maybe I'll try a new approach and bump individual items. Who knows! I'll find what works, that's for sure!

I've decided to try and only spend what I make off the site, so hopefully my items start selling soon!!! Are you addicted to Facebook sell and swap pages? Did you even know they existed? If not, do a search and look for one in your area!!!

More Sister-in-law Drama

I'm somewhat pleased to report that it seems my sister-in-law's venomous nature is not just reserved for myself or other adult members of the family. She is now striking out at my father-in-law's girlfriend's daughter. Bravo FIB, you've outdone yourself once again.

The latest is that the little girl (she's 8) was riding her bike with friends around the portion of the compound that my sister-in-law occupies and the FIB felt the need to yell at her and her friends who weren't hurting anything and were just doing what 8 year olds do. Apparently reference was made to it being "her" property and "her house" etc. etc..

They pay a ridiculous pittance of rent on the place, and the FIB's sense of entitlement grants her the right to determine who is or is not allowed within 100 feet of the garage apartment. Thus, she has decided that the only souls granted access to the immediate vicinity surrounding casa del bitch is her family (immediate and extended, though the same does not apply for my brother-in-law's family) and her "friends" who quite frankly are more screwed up than she is. Imagine a prostitute looking for love in all the wrong places and you'll have an idea of what her friends are like. Shells of human beings with zero self-esteem and about as much common sense as a potato.

Anyway, nobody said anything to her. My father-in-law who dotes on the 8-year old girl didn't say squat about the incident and the girls mother obviously isn't in a place to say anything and the FIB wouldn't listen even if she did.

I reported the incident to my husband and I'm sure he just ignored me and decided to think about her tits which are apparently made of gold or something as no male is able to say boo to this girl about her ridiculously troll-like personality. It's amazing. I feel like I should just become the worlds biggest whore to get a little respect in this family. Have a couple kids that are obviously not my husbands and then maybe everyone will pander to my whims regardless of how outrageous they are. I honestly don't get it.

If either my brother-in-law or sister-in-law ever read this, they will know immediately it's about them. Good.

WAKE UP YOU TWITBALLS. You act like spoiled brats (more so her than him, though I blame my brother-in-law entirely for allowing the troll to infect the family) and I for one hope you both get what's coming to you in very short order. Oh, and dear brother-in-law, get a paternity test for each of your children. You're welcome for the tip.