Just Call Me Susie Homemaker

Alex went to Alabama with the baseball team this weekend, but I lucked into hosting an out-of-town guest, so I didn't have to spend the weekend alone.  Cha-ching!  A former coworker from Little Rock was in town for Spring Market, a fundraiser for the local Junior League.  She rented space for a booth and needed a place to stay while she was in the area.  I happily offered up our guest room, excited for the chance to have some company for a few days.

Since Tisha spent close to 30 hours at the event over the weekend, I had a lot of time to do things around the house on Saturday and Sunday.  I decided it would be a great time to try out a recipe for homemade laundry detergent that one of my blog friends (Thanks, Amy!) shared a few weeks ago.  Off I went to the grocery store on Saturday afternoon, with plans to stock up on some fresh fruits and veggies while picking up ingredients (borax, washing soda, and a laundry bar) for the detergent too.  It took three stores to find the laundry bar, but I was pretty excited to find everything and looked forward to trying it out on Sunday.

Saturday night, Tisha and I met at Waterfront Grill for dinner, and I told her all about our project for the next morning.  She was totally intrigued and insisted we try the recipe as soon as we got home.  I was a little worried about starting the project so late in the evening (8 pm), since the recipe called for letting the mix sit for 4 hours before whipping it to the proper consistency.  But, I couldn't resist either, so we went for it.  We stumbled across Stuck in Love via Netflix, which kept us occupied for just enough time that the mix could settle properly.

So here are two pictures of the finished product:

It's the coolest thing!  We tried it on a load of sheets and towels this morning, and I'm pretty sure it did the job just fine.  I can't wait to do the math on how much the batch actually cost.  According to the original recipe, it averages to something like $1.75 for almost 200 loads of laundry.  You can't beat that!

With my Sunday project complete earlier than planned, I decided to embrace my inner wifeyness by spending the day cooking up a couple of meals for the freezer.  I made a batch of tortellini, which I was able to package into three individual-size containers, and one larger container that I popped in the freezer.  Then, I made two batches of gumbo, packaged into four freezer containers too.  This will be great for evenings when I have to work late or Alex is out of town.  Per Alex's request, I also made a batch of chicken salad for lunch sandwiches during the week.

After all of that, I settled in for a lovely evening indulging in what may perhaps be my newest Netflix addiction, Orange is the New Black.  Ever heard of it?  The kitties were unimpressed, obviously.

That's all for now.  Here's to the start of yet another work week...
-Lauren