How He Loves Us...

David Crowder has an interesting and unique voice. Here he is in this video live at KLOVE radio station. Ignore the chit chat in the beginning and listen to the song.

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. John 15:13

Oh, how he loves my friends, how he loves.

Pia is going home??

What??? Sorry America, you got it wrong. Pia is one of the best singers on the American Idol show. I will say that I think what happened is people (me) did not vote for her because everyone assumed she would stay in the competition. I did not vote for her, sorry Pia.

And the beat goes on...

Go Green!

We talked about organics, let's talk about green cleaning. I have started to try to go green with laundry detergent, dish detergent, cleaning my kitchen floors(I use a wonderful steamer, no cleaners just very hot steam) and vacuuming with a HEPA vacuum. It's not just about the environment, it's about the toxicity in the cleaning products that are on the market. Your health is at stake. So today in my local newspaper, The Record, they had great information about getting started and creating your own cleaners. I will be clipping this info and posting it on my fridge along with the previous post about organics. Here is what the paper posted;

Getting Started
Remove shoes when inside (we do this!! So many germs on your shoes)
Use portable air filters
Use filters for tap water and shower (We use Aquasana shower filters, chlorine inhalation is very bad for you, this takes out the chlorine not to mention the other crud in the water, we also use this at our kitchen sink for purified water, also by Aquasana)
Switch to natural cleaning products (Expensive but worth it but you can make your own)
Dust and mop regularly, use a vacuum with a HEPA filter(We use the vacuum)
Green plants naturally detoxify the air (Need to get more plants)
DO NOT WRAP OR REHEAT FOOD IN PLASTIC. (My caps, this is so bad for you, it has been studied that possibly breast cancer comes from a certain plastic that is heated and gets in your food)
Don't reuse plastic water bottles (Same reason)(We use stainless steel containers for our water) Look at the the recycling numbers on the bottom; Nos. 1, 2,4 and 5 are considered safe
-Kara Yorio

Do it Yourself
Air Freshener
Boil cinnamon and cloves and let the steam circulate
Put 1/2 cup of borax at the bottom of garbage pails (I like this idea)
Place a box of baking soda in the fridge to absorb smells(A time tested idea)

All Purpose Cleaner
Mix 1 tsp. borax, 2 TBSP. vinegar or lemon juice, 5 drops of essential oil and two cups of hot water (Vinegar has so many uses!)

Floor Cleaner
Vinyl floors: mix 1/2 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup borax and 1 gallon of hot water (we use the steam cleaner on our ceramic tile)
Wood floors: Use a vegetable soap such as castile soap or Murphy Oil Soap

Furniture and Floor Polish
Mix 2 parts olive oil, 1 part white vinegar and essential oil for scent
Mix a few drops of lemon juice for each pint of mineral oil

Glass Cleaner
Mix 1/8 cup white vinegar 1 cup of water and use a spray bottle

Mold and Mildew Cleaner
Mix 1 tsp borax, 3 TBSP white vinegar and 2 cups of hot water. Spray on surface and scrub off mold. To inhibit mold growth, spray a few more times, but do not wipe off. (I am going to try this)

Tub and Tile Scouring Powder
Mix 1 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of borax, sprinkle on area and scrub with warm water

Source: "Cleanse Your Body, Clear your Mind" by Jeffrey A. Morrison, M.D.

**Please note that I have not read the above book, the above tips were posted in the newspaper and I thought valuable information about natural cleaners. I do not know anything about the book or the author.

Go Green, your health depends on it!!!

Elton John and American Idol

Last night American Idol highlighted Elton John songs. When I was a very young girl, I loved Elton John. The Idol contestants sang many of my favorite songs. My favorite for the night was Haley, she sang Bennie and the Jets and did a great job. For those who watched the show, did you not love the red baby grand piano! James Durbin lit one on fire in his segment of Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting.

So, here is some inside information... when I was 11 years my father took me to an Elton John concert at Madison Square Garden. 11 years old!!! What was he thinking!!! Elton came out as the Statue of Liberty and said, Here's to you New York. Kiki Dee was there and did their duet, Don't Go Breaking My Heart. It was one of my memorable nights, why, because my daddy took me to see Elton John. He sat there and listened to me sing along and I am sure watched all the people that night. He loved to people watch, he found people fascinating and he talked to EVERYONE. I am quite sure the Italian relatives thought he was nuts, he did not care. I was his baby girl and he only wanted me to be happy. The best daddy in the whole world!!! I miss him more and more as I get older, he passed away in 1996. Tomorrow, March 31st would have been his 82nd birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy, thanks for the memories.

Quotes

Alas for those that never sing, But die with all their music in them!
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
-Victor Hugo

Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
-Psalm 33:2-3

Bill Ervolino

Happy Sunday!! I love to read Bill Ervolino in The Record on Thursdays and Sundays. He is Italian and writes the funniest stories about his Italian family. The post below is his latest article and I was laughing because this is how my family is. It's all about the envelope and how much to put in. For those who are not Italian, I am so sorry for you, HA!

Ervolino: Family finds joy in the endless recycling of cash gifts
Sunday, March 27, 2011
LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY MARCH 27, 2011, 10:03 AM

By BILL ERVOLINO
COLUMNIST

My parents can't tell you what they had for lunch yesterday but they can tell you what my mother's cousin Annabelle gave them as a wedding present in 1949.

Or, was it 1948?

"Isn't that funny?" my mother asked last weekend. "I can never remember what year we got married."

But: "Annabelle and her husband put $25 in the envelope."

"Annabelle and George?" I asked.

"No, George was her second husband. Her first husband was ... oh, who remembers? The one with the funny nose."

When I was growing up, the word "gifts" only came up at Christmas. For every other occasion, we used "envelopes."

Weddings? Envelopes. Anniversaries? Envelopes.

We even brought envelopes to funerals.

"Oh, Aunt Marie, I'm so sorry for your loss. But ... here's $75!"

I was reminded of this last Saturday, as my family prepared to surprise my sister-in-law Joyce on the occasion of her 50th birthday — which [ahem] isn't until May.

I'm not sure what the bigger surprise was: that Joyce's sister Carol was throwing this lavish bash at all, or that she was throwing it two months before Joyce's birthday.

As Carol explained: "Joyce said she absolutely did not want a party. If we tried to do it, and planned it closer to her birthday, she wouldn't have come. So we decided to do it in March."

Fine. Whatever. Let's just get this over with.

I knew what time I had to be there. I knew what I was wearing. And I knew what I had to yell: "Surprise! Don't blame us! It's all Carol's fault!"

The only other matter yet to be determined was The Envelope.

In the early '90s, my gift-phobic family had an infallible formula for birthdays: Everybody gave everybody else $50. I gave my mother $50 on her birthday. She gave my brother $50 on his birthday. He gave my father $50 on his birthday. And so on and so forth.

Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

In retrospect, I'm not even sure why we bothered going to the bank to withdraw the cash we put in these envelopes. We could have just passed a wet tea bag around the table and, by the end of the year, still wound up with the same amount of money in our pockets.

Eventually, though, the $50 was raised to $100. Then, to further complicate matters, my niece was born.

The following year, my brother and Joyce gave me a combined gift of $300, even though I had only given them $100 each.

"What's this?" I asked, as three crisp $100 bills fluttered into my lap.

As Joyce explained, "It's $100 from me, $100 from your brother and $100 from Talia."

"From Talia?" I asked, incredulously. "Please don't tell me she's working already. I just changed her diaper 10 minutes ago."

"Well, of course not," Joyce replied. "But you give to her and ... what are we supposed to do?"

Things were equally confusing last weekend. Since Joyce gave me a nice (non-surprise) party for my 50th birthday, I had no idea what to give her for hers, since I didn't know what she spent on the party. My mother had already decided, though: She and my father were giving a check for $500.

Dad thought a check was tacky. "Give it to her in $50 bills," he said.

"Cash?" my mother screamed. "I'm not bringing an envelope with all that money in it to a restaurant!"

This argument raged on, with lots of yelling, snide remarks, banging frying pans etc.

Eventually, my brother Donald intervened. "I know my wife," he said to my parents. "If you give her a check, she won't cash it."

My mother later discussed this with me, mulled it over and finally decided, "Donald's right. I hate the idea of walking around with all of that cash in an envelope, but ..."

"Fine," I replied. "Just stop TALKING about it."

"And, what about you?" my mother continued. "Do you know what you're putting in the envelope?"

"I'm still not sure," I said. "It's been a bad month, expense-wise. I was just going to give her a check for $200. But if she's not going to cash it, I may as well give her a check for $250."

My mother rolled her eyes. "Do you need money? I have $250 under the plant in the dining room."

"Is that your emergency money?" I asked.

"No, that's my mad money. My emergency money is in a plastic bag behind the refrigerator."

As it turned out, my brother was wrong: Joyce deposited my $250 check and returned my parents' cash.

"She left it on my dining room table on Sunday," Mom said.

In an envelope.

E-mail: ervolino@northjersey.com

Go Organic

I am a big fan of organic, anything organic. Mostly fruits and veggies. My local newspaper had an article about organic foods and I thought I would pass this on to you, my faithful reader. I try to buy organic when I can (can be pricey) but if I am unable, I use a product called Veggie Wash to rinse them with. Do we really want to ingest pesticide contaminated foods? I think not. One thing I will not compromise on is apples, they must be organic. Think Meryl Streep a few years back and her report on apples. Most supermarkets sell organic produce, shop around for the best prices. So here is the info from the newspaper;

The Dirty Dozen - The most pesticide-contaminated fruits and veggies:
Celery, peaches, strawberries,apples, blueberries, nectarines, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, kale/collard greens, potatoes, imported grapes

The Clean 15 - The least pesticide-contaminated fruits and veggies:
Onions, avocado, sweet corn, pineapple, mangoes, sweet peas, asparagus, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapefruit, sweet potato, honeydew melon

I have this list posted on my fridge, go organic!