…there is fresh baked, homemade bread. 

It’s just one of those calming smells. 

Takes the edge off.

Dear Craigslist Shopper Extraordinaire,

I have thoughtfully put together a page on my blog to sum up everything we have for sale so you don’t have to wade through every single post on Craigslist to find my awesome stuff that could soon be yours if you want and you pay me money.  If you are not a Craigslister this letter can still be for you. Just look at the stuff and email me about it if there is anything here you didn’t know you had to have and you want to pay me money for it. Or you can just ignore it and pretend like you never saw it. 

Money is a pretty important factor here, you might be able to tell.

I commend you, Craiglister, on being such a smart and savvy Craigslist user.  Your attention to post detail and your desire to purchase my used things instead of going to Walmart, my biggest competitor, is quite commendable.  You should be so proud of yourself.  Reward yourself with a cookie.  Or a piece of celery if you’re on a diet.

There are two more things for sale that I haven’t posted pictures of yet and it is making me feel like a complete loser that I have failed to take photographs of them. I’m so disappointed in myself but my foot is asleep and I can’t rightly walk to the laundry room and start snapping pictures with my foot all tingling uncomfortably.  I’ll just have to get one later.

The items I have for sale that aren’t pictured below are a Kenmore Elite front loading washer and matching dryer in charcoal and I want $700 for it.  That’s firm. Firm like a ripe fruit.  These bad boys work awesome and I’m not going to let them go for any less than $700.  They are both plugged in and working so you can see them in all their fascinating action before you decide to buy. And since I know you’re wondering why I want to get rid of such an awesome set I’ll tell you.  We have a family of ten and $700 is about what it will cost me to get two reliable large capacity washer and dryer sets.  Yes, we do that much laundry. 
And then my 10 year old has a 29 gallon fish tank with nice wooden cabinet stand and mature plecostomus for $105.  All necessary items included – filter, decor, lighted hood, and other stuff. 

EDIT: I have finally gotten a picture of the aquarium and have it posted below.  Yes, it is okay for you to feel proud of me.

As for the stuff pictured, I have added a short description under each picture, along with the price we’re asking. 

29 gal Fish Tank/Aquarium with cabinet stand w/ Pleco. $105

Minolta Film Camera - $30

Large Wash Basin and Pitcher - $15

Headworn Microphone - Audio-technica - barely used - $50

Coffee and End Table. Icebox style - $25

Contact me about anything listed.  Or don’t if you don’t want to.  Either way, have a good day.  But you’ll probably have an even better day if you buy my awesome stuff.

Oops.  I don’t know what I was thinking but I totally forgot to do my day 16 no poo update.

So, here it is on day 17.  We’ll just go ahead and call it day 16 and be good with that. I’ll post a picture later today, as I didn’t take one yesterday. 

Quick recap -
Because I’m frugal (along with a ton other reasons, like I’m a little crazy) I’ve decided to experiment with no poo hair washing.  That means no shampoo or conditioners.  At. All.

I’ll be posting updates on days 2, 4, 8, 16, one month, then monthly from there on out until I hit 6 months

Or until I quit because I realized it was a stupid thing to try.

Today is day 16.

My hair is getting softer, though the just showered texture still feels funny – I’m getting used to it. 
We went camping and my no poo experiment almost took a detour… well, let’s just say I thought about shampooing a couple times.  Not going totally back to shampoo – just using it once to get the campfire smell out.  However, I didn’t succumb and just did a baking soda scrub when I got home.  After that my hair was so soft and a lot less frizzy and had no residual camping side effects. 

Speaking of frizz, I haven’t had to use nearly as much gunk to keep it from frizzing.  In fact, yesterday I went without any products at all and my hair didn’t frizz but a tiny bit!  My natural waves are really starting to show without any effort on my part. 

So far all is good.  I’m quite happy with all this no pooing. 

I’ll post a picture later, like I said before.   And my next update will be on Day 30.

There was an incident the other day.  We unintentionally offended another person. 

You’ve heard the story.  Big dog on leash.  Little dog on leash (but leash not attached to anything) runs to play with big dog.  Big dog’s owner gets angry – and rightly so.  I should have never put my daughter’s Jack Russel’s leash down.  He plays loud.  I can see how it might sound as if his intentions are to harm.

Totally my fault.

What transpired after the fact was just shy of unbelievable. As my 14 year old daughter ran to grab her little dog the lady swore at her saying some very nasty things.  Things my daughter has never heard anybody say to anybody before.  In all this, however, it was clear that lady had no concern for her dog.  In all her anger she never once bent down to pet or check her dog for injury – she didn’t even cease her walking – just kept a steady pace towards us, then continued past us to go down a trail.

It only took a short moment for me.  The protective mother in me wanted to do bodily harm, but I chose a more subdued road, explaining how sorry I was for not hanging on to our little dog’s lead, but that there was no excuse for speaking to a child in such an ugly manner.

Nothing pleasant came out of the other lady’s mouth. 

I got to thinking later how I had handled things and I was satisfied that I had not reacted wrongly.  Though, I now see how a different reaction on my part could have been more beneficial to everybody.

My selfish motives always beat me to the punch.  I didn’t like that my daughter was being cursed at.  However, if I had put myself aside and noticed the twisted look of anguish on the other lady’s face…

I should have smiled
I should have pet her dog, told her how beautiful he was, asked his name
I should have double checked that her pet was okay
I should have recognized how visibly upset up she was
I should have shown compassion

I could have disarmed her.

The lady wasn’t necessarily reacting to this particular situation.  She was more likely reacting to life in general.  Her face spoke of sadness, bitterness, and lifelessness.   It would have suited the situation better had my reaction to her been one of love, instead of self-righteousness.

Why is it that my best reaction is never the best course of action?  

Will I ever ace this test?