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By bethany (dreadlock girl), May 21, 2009 22:52

Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home
No-Nonsense Advice That Will Inspire You to Clean Like the Dickens
by Thelma A. Meyer
239 pages
Cleaning, Home Economics
Publisher Wellness Central
March 2009

There is nothing better than a job well done, and especially if it is a job you don’t like doing. That is the case (for me at least) with cleaning. I am great at tidying up but cleaning is another matter, unless I am in the middle of a great audio book that I can pop into the earbuds on my ipod. I was happy to grab this book right up when I read “No-Nonsense Advice that will inspire you to clean like the Dickens” because I really need some a ton of inspiration. I have now given the book a two month trial, and  I can tell you that this little chartreuse book worked its magic on my entire family, well at least the adults in this family!

Mrs. Meyer’s goes through all the stuff you need to know and just leaves out the rest. Giving hundreds of great tips and ideas for keeping it all clean. Each chapter in Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home is dedicated to one room, and the chapter goes over everything in that room and how to keep it up and keep it clean. I love the “What to Clean and When” portion especially (p. 21). Mrs. Meyers discloses how to conquer all the grime by allotting daily, weekly and once or twice a year chores.  For me it made me get the bigger picture and understand how I CAN DO IT! I can get a handle day by day and a step at a time.

Another thing that really helped me understand her methods and direction was that she had nine kids, yes NINE! That right there should let you know that she is big on getting things done, and getting them done well and also- skipping the fuss of cleaning things that don’t need to be cleaned.  I am all for that, and I don’t even have nine kids!

This book has personally impacted us big time in real life application. Since Mrs. Meyer’s came into our home, the house has been visibly cleaner. The biggest change? Well, that I know how often I really should be cleaning the bathroom, kitchen, counters, sweeping, and mopping. This is thanks to her easy to follow charts, lists and quick tips, they make me feel like I have a handle on it all.  The before Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home and after is not even comparable.

What will sound crazy is that I am not spending that much more time (if any at all), I am just much more focused on what needs to be done instead of cleaning the same things over and not cleaning what really should be cleaned. Another miracle is since I stared getting the inside of the house more efficiently, my hubby has organized all the outdoor areas, and cleaned them, ahem…including a complete overhaul of the garage and attic. Yes, Mrs. Meyer’s does work miracles, miracles in the form of inspiration. I can’t say enough about this book, if you are stuck in a rut, or just don’t know where to start, or don’t care about fussy cleaning….Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home is the  perfect No-Nonsense book for you!

*The author would like to emphasize that the book does not push her products. (And I can personally verify that that is true)

Giveaway Details:

Win a copy of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home
Get one entry for each of the following:
*Comment on this post
*Tweet about this post/giveaway and let me know you did (through another comment, or a tweet reply to me)
This giveaway will be open through 30th of May.
Winner’s address must be located within the US or Canada, no P.O boxes please.
(I apologise to those of you who this excludes, sorry )

Take my word for it, you want this book, so please enter the giveaway!!!

Comments (2)

By bethany (dreadlock girl), May 17, 2009 19:25

Guide To Pirate Parenting
by Tim Bete
136 pages
Humor, Parenting, Non-Fiction
Cold Tree Press (April 1, 2007)
My personal rating: 70/100

Comments (10)

By bethany dreadlock girl, May 6, 2009 02:29

The Little Road Trip Handbook
by Erin McHugh
192 pages
Travel & Reference
Sterling
(May 5, 2009)

The Little Road Trip Handbook is packed with ideas for your very next road trip! There are so many sections in the handbook to rave about. If you have ever been on a road trip you will know that generally the trip is not the fun part, but McHugh argues that it really should be the fun part. That the, ” American Road Trip isn’t just a pastime it’s a birthright, a necessity, a rite of passage, and even in the teeth of spiraling fuel costs, it’s a way of life” (p. x introduction). It is made perfectly to fit in your glove box, as it is a smaller sized book. But don’t let that lead you to believe it isn’t filled from front to back with tips, tricks and plans, because it most certainly is. This little amazing book packs the punch that it promises! If you tick with it you will get from point A to point B in perfect harmony with your surroundings and so much better prepared than the last time.

Because there is so much in it that I would like any potential travelers to see, I am going to post the chapters to give an idea of what I am so excited about:

Part One: Pre-Ignition Check
1. It’s All About the Car
2. What are you packing
3. 10 Things You Must Never Bring On A Road Trip
4. Saving the Benjamins (and Lincolns and Washingtons too)
5. The Ultimate Road Trip Music, Movies, and Books
6. What Is (And Isn’t ) A Road Trip

Part Two: Trippers: Choosing Your Dream Team
7. The Interview
8. Tripmates and Their Positions
9. Road Trip Etiquette
10. The Frequent Tripping reward Points Program

Part Thee: Road Rules
11. The 10 Commandments of the Road
12. Expenses
13. Take it to the Limit (But No More!!)
14. Foolish Laws from the 50 States

Part Four: Roadside Attractions
15. As Long as We’re Out

Part Five: Tips for Trippers
16. Road Games
17. On the Radio
18. Excuses, Excuses!
19. Worst Case Trip Scenarios (and How to Solve Them)
20. The 10 Classic Road Trip Cars of All Time
21. 10 Things You Should Never Pay For

Part Six: End of the Road
22. Home Again

How do I feel about this book? The only thing that I am annoyed at is that McHugh didn’t publish it while I was in high school. It would have saved me so much grief. Growing up we traveled A LOT. We traveled for so many reasons, one that my mom is from Southern Jersey and my dad is from Oregon, and two that we were missionaries. I can most certainly agree with Erin McHugh that the journey should be part of the trip, and a fun part at that, because so much of the trip is actually the travel. So, anyway we traveled across the country from Oregon to New Jersey 4 whole whopping round trips-of-a-lot (yes, so that does make 8 times across the US!). Two of the times that were the worst of all, my dad had to fly over to get there sooner and My mom, my little brother and I got to make the trip alone. We did it in a little Toyota Tercel hatchback from the 80’s with a u-haul trailer. Oh, if you are confused by why that would be difficult: imagine a little short lady that can barely see over the steering wheel and is also a bad (very distracted) driver. And to top it off we brought our dog. Miserable.

So you see (imagine me holding up a brand new shinny copy of The Little Road Trip Handbook that you see above and gesturing to it like only Vanna could) if we had had this book, we would have known what we were in for, not only because my mother wanted to stop at every historical monument (such as: the first sidewalk, the biggest pancake, the smallest mountain) that there was a road sign for but because we violated the rules of the journey. If my brother and I would have had this book then, we would have known to leave mom behind, ditch the pooch and make the trip ourselves!!! Oh, that would have been a joy! But because we broke rules 1 and 3 of the “10 Things You Must Never Bring On A Road Trip” we are scared for life. Where were you when we needed you, McHugh?!?!

However even if McHugh wasn’t around then, she is now and so is The Little Road Trip Handbook, no worries I’ll live another road trip the right way (and hopefully another one down to Book Group Expo in October)! And McHugh, it is good for you I am not the type to hold grudges. Even if I were, I don’t think I could after reading and loving The Little Road Trip Handbook. A must own for anyone who loves to make the rubber meet the road.

Do you have a fun/horrid road trip story to share? I’d love to commiserate with you! What about a road trip you dream about but have never been on? I dream of so many….most of them in a VW van. Now that I have The Little Road Trip Handbook all I need is that van.

About the Author:

Erin McHugh started her wanderlust Road Tripping years as a college student in a variety of fast cars. Eventually she turned to the working life and publishing industry, where she has held a number of executive positions. Finding she could keep her opinions to herself no longer, Erin turned to writing; she has published more than a dozen books on a wide variety of subjects, and also appears frequently in Time Out New York. She lives in Manhattan and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, a road trip of 203 miles, door to door.

Comments (5)

By bethany dreadlock girl, April 2, 2009 02:54

How to Mess Up Your Child’s Life
Proven Strategies & Practical Tips
by Olivia and Kurt Bruner
Authors of Playstation Nation
208 pages
FaithWords (March 25, 2009)

Written to equip every parent to be a master at creating the perfect messed up kid, granting each parent the ability to destroy their child mind, body and soul. Olivia and Kurt Bruner’s book How To Mess Up Your Child’s Life is an intensely humours book on how to create and perfect the kid who we’ve all seen, the one we’ve wished was our own: the one who constantly feels entitled to all his birthday gifts and does not know the words ‘thank you’, the little girl who throws a fit to get her way and her parents happily give in, the grown man who pushes an elderly woman out of his way because he needs to get there first. Yes, we have all seen and admired these people, and wished for them in our own lives and now with the genius help of Oliver and Kurt Bruner you too can have children who are the envy of messed up!

Not really, no. Well you could…but I am guessing you got the sarcasm in those above lines (you did right??) So, this book is genius, but because it is funny, filled with truth and very insightful, on what NOT to do just as much as on what TO do. I have read Doctor Dobson, and other such gurus before, but this book is by far my favourite parenting book to date. It really is displayed and explained in a way that makes sense! Olivia and Kurt break down the chapters into “the seven deadly sins” of which they explain all other sins stem out of. At the end of each chapter there is are activities to reinforce the attitudes in your children, movies to watch to help them understand, and goofy games and things to do as a family to help you all grasp the darkness of each sin.

Just so you get a taste, I’ll list the chapters:

Chapter One: Nurturing an Enormous Ego
(Deadly Sin: Pride)
Chapter Two: Inspiring Lasting Discontent
(Deadly Sin: Envy)
Chapter Three: Encouraging an Expressive Temper
(Deadly Sin: Anger)
Chapter Four: Feeding a Voracious Appetite
(Deadly Sin: Gluttony)
Chapter Five: Discouraging Frivolous Generosity
(Deadly Sin: Greed)
Chapter Six: Fostering Total Dependence
(Deadly Sin: Sloth)
Chapter Seven: Condoning Sensual Gratification
(Deadly Sin: Lust)
Chapter Eight: Instilling Faith
(Whatever You Do, Don’t!)

Personally I got more out of this book in understanding kids, and myself than any other book. I loved the style and thought it was really funny. How To Mess Up Your Child’s Life is written in a way that really made sense to me and to which I could relate to. It wasn’t all about creating the perfect child, making him perfect in all aspects. It is more a molding and modeling and allowing the growth to be the fruit rather than what was demanded. I feel it attacks the key issues and leaves the rest. As a parent I am constantly working on choosing the battles that are actually important (versus the fact that a child is just really getting on my nerves) and Olivia and Kent really hit it home in this one. Highly recommended.

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By bethany dreadlock girl, March 21, 2009 04:33

Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life
by Gail Blanke
304 pages
Self Help, Cleaning
Springboard Press
Published 20th, March, 2009

Throw out fifty things? That sounds easy until you understand that your whole magazine collection counts as one, your dried up nail polish bottles that clutter up a whole shelf also count as one, your sock drawer filled with miss matched socks and single gloves, yep you guessed it, one. However room through room the articles add up as you go from bedroom, to bathroom, living room, dining room and finally to the horrors of your attic and garage.

This is a new approach in that it doesn’t just stop there. Gail Blanke, a life coach and internationally known motivational speaker takes you through all four stages in which you release yourself from more and more stuff that really making you feel heavier. Her four parts are: Getting Rid of the Physical Stuff, Your office Pairing Down the Professional Clutter, Attacking Mental Mess, and Stepping into the Clearing. The first two are possessions, the second two stages are getting rid of unwanted mental mess or feelings, labels and poor self image.

Her main slogan throughout Throw Out Fifty Things is: if it doesn’t make you feel good, get rid of it. I was a little shocked the first time that she mentioned that you don’t need to go on value, worth or purpose, that even if you use it-and yet it makes you cringe, get rid of it! That is different than where I was thinking this all would go. I am very practical, and I have never thought that things that have no purpose should remain to collect dust while things that you use (even if you hate them) should be gotten rid of, but I see the logic in it after reading this book. That you should surround yourself with pleasing environments, places and rooms that you enjoy, that you want to be in, and clothes that you feel good when you wear.

After just looking at the title, I was nervous that she wanted people to actually ‘throw out’ all the stuff. But that is really not what Gail intends, she makes sure that you understand that you should only actually throw away things that are broken, useless, or something to which pieces or parts are missing. The rest of the stuff can go to someone else who will love it, to a secondhand store, or you could resell it to get some of your money back. I appreciated her practical take on that. And throughout the book Gail Blanke makes it a point to discuss green methods of discarding pait, batteries, an old AC, and other such toxic waste items.

What did I get out of it? Well, I got the crazy urge to clean my house and get rid of things that I had been holding on to for no reason other than that I didn’t know what to do with them (or felt guilted into holding on to!!!). Gail mentions that if it is a very hard decision, that means you just need to get rid of it, and that most of the time we don’t get rid of stuff, but we just move it around our homes and garages. That rang a bell with me, we have been shuffling junk for SO LONG! I am in the ‘get it out of here’ mode and now I know how to attack the problem thanks to Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke. It sure does make me feel a lot better inside when I get my junk out the door. This was a very helpful, and practical guide to getting rid of things. If you want to throw out your junk but can’t seem to figure out the practical aspects of the process, or just aren’t motivated to do it, read this!

If you want to jump on the bandwagon, it has its own website!:
Throw Out Fifty Things

What is the one thing that you would love to get rid of, but feel guilty about??? This may be horrible to say, but for me it is my wedding dress, it takes up so much room and I will never wear it again, I want to re purpose it, but it was my mother-in-laws wedding dress and I don’t know if I should ask her first or just do it. All I want to do is make it shorter, and dye it so that I could wear it…is that horrible?

What is your one thing?

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By bethany dreadlock girl, March 14, 2009 20:31

Get Positively Beautiful: The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Gorgeous
by Carmindy Makeup Artist of TLC’s What Not to Wear
227 pages
Beauty/ Cosmetics

A new approach to what all of us women have to work with every day, Carmindy’s book is designed to focus on a persons strengths by enhancing them. Get Positively Beautiful is meant to be a makeup book with the bonus of a good mindset. The goal of this distinct makeup book is for each individual to discover her greatest assets, strongest features and to focus on her unique and natural beauty. Everyone is different so comparisons in this book are out! Carmindy gives step-by-step guidance on how to discover what you already have going for you. There is another section in the book with before and after photos of regular women, who when the importance is placed on their strengths and not covering up everything in tons of makeup, they end up looking natural and stunning in that confidence of possessed beauty.

I adore Carmindy, I used to have cable and watch her on TLC, she was my favourite part of the show as she is incredibly positive and reassuring to the women. She sheds a new light on makeup, and that is how to focus on what makes you beautiful already, which seriously is not common among all those famous rockstars in So Cal. She is a gem of a gal, who makes women realize their potential and see themselves as truly beautiful in their own unique way.

As much as I am not a true cosmetic enthusiast, his book works really well for me, even the list in the back of good producs (with a scale of price as well) to purchase that are recommended. I pretty much do the same thing every day, but after reading this book I am excited to try out some of the spiffy ideas she uses. There is just something amazing about Carmindy, and this book really does let that shine through, I see something different in her which comes through just as strongly in Get Positively Beautiful as it does on TV. And there are tons of amazing tips to use too!!

Personal cosmetic routine: my make up routine takes me a max of 2 minutes. I do a tad bit of dark brown eyeliner, mascara, under eye lightening and a little pink blush. After two kids, I have gotten down to the basics of cosmetics, I don’t do all the foundations and stuff because they make me feel made up and strange. My sister-in-law was convinced that this was due to me using cheap makeup, so she powdered and buffed my face with her spendy stuff. Not any different, well it looked better, but still it was to much for me.

What is your routine? What are your must haves when it comes to makeup?

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By bethany dreadlock girl, March 11, 2009 16:00

Work in Progress: An Unfinished Woman’s Guide to Grace
by Kristin Armstrong
Published by Faith Words
144 Pages
Women’s Self-Help

Because we should all be THAT WOMAN. Yes, the woman who walks into a room and exudes love, peace, joy and grace to everyone. However we are all on the road there, none has completely arrived, although some are much closer to the goal than others.In Work In Progress: An Unfinished Woman’s Guide To Grace, Kristin Armstrong goes over what she believes to be the essential key traits in making the way toward that goal. She writes a chapter for each of the qualities: Beauty, Confidence, Softness, Trust, Truth, Generosity, Forgiveness, Courage, Wisdom, Authenticity, and Freedom.

There is nothing that helps a person want to jump in with two feet more than another who is doing it and cheering you on to do the same. I found in Kristin Armstrong a woman who is not proud or flaunting, she makes it a point to show her weakness, to be real and to walk in humility all of which are traits which attracted me to her. This is a great book with key points to which all women in this quest towards grace would certainly feel they can relate to. I enjoyed reading it.

My favourite chapters where those on Wisdom and Authenticity as those are two of the traits I admire the most and would most long to be recognized for. I know that it takes time and endurance and self control to walk the road to Grace, and yes I am definitely and unfinished woman. This book, Work in Progress is just another step in pursuit of that goal, and I really enjoyed this leg of that race.

I also must say that while Lance Armstrong was in his winning streak (what was it 7 years in a row, even with battling cancer!?!) I watched him while I lived in Spain with admiration, as he was the kindred spirit of an American that I could route for. My family LIVED the Tour de France, we loved Motorola and then U.S Postal and yes, Lance was our hero. After reading this book, I got a chance to see into Kristin Armstrong’s life and perspective.No matter the pain they have gone though, they are both heroes, in different ways, but yet they are. Lance as far as an athlete goes, is an extraordinary man, Krisitn well, she is an athlete too but I admire her most for her courage and devotion to God throughout the divorce and raising up of their children. I loved getting the perspective on her that I now have, as well as learning from her how to grow and mature in grace.

Which traits do you value the most in someone?

Giveaway!
I have a copy to giveaway! Write a comment on this post by the 18th of March and you’ll be included. Sorry no PO Boxes, and only US and Canada addresses please.

Author Website: Kristin Armstrong
Funny Commercial with Kristin Armstrong:

(and I must say that when I was training, it is true I know it sounds weird, but I would get home and chug milk. It sounds gross, but it must have been that calcium that my body craved)