Busy

We kept my nephew this week.  My sister and BIL planned a trip and school ended up going longer than usual because we had so many snow days this year.  So I got him off to school and back.  We didn't get to do the fun stuff like go to the amusement park or pool, because he was in school in the day and DH works nights this quarter.  He was kinda bummed.  Such a good kid.  I love him so much.  Little Boy Blue feels like he's his brother.  Blue kept telling me how sad he was that nephew was going to spend the last day with the grandparents.  So sweet.
Today was Little Boy Blue's last soccer game.  His preschool teacher lives in the neighboring town.  She had emailed me and when I mentioned what we'd bee up to, she said she'd like to see him play.  She brought her two kids and we went to a playground after.  LBB is good and tired.  He's playing in the tub now just outside my door.  He was so happy to see his teacher.  He just loves her.  I'll say it again- I wish she could be his teacher forever.
Little Boy Blue and I made laundry soap this week while nephew was in school.  I saw the recipe on the internet and it seemed like a good idea.  It works, too.  It didn't get a coffee stain completely out, but I wash in cold water.  I've only ever been able to get stains out with Tide.  We've used Tide Free since LBB was a baby.  He's still sensitive to perfumes and so forth, but seems like he's not been as bad this year.  The homemade laundry soap hasn't bothered him.  So the good thing is it's very cheap to make many batches, approximately 2 gallons each .  It cost me about $12 dollars to get the first items.  And I'd spend about $3 more to get enough soap to mix with my remaining washing soda and borax. There's no plastic bottle to discard.  We do recycle, and I buy large containers to use less packaging.  But with this we are using our old laundry detergent bottle and not buying more so that's a plus.  It works as well as any cheap laundry detergent.  While reading about making laundry soap, I learned a few things about how to make less soap do a better job.  Basically you fill the washer and agitate it before adding clothes, then let them soak.  This is how my grandmother did it when she finally got a washing machine.  I've been doing this with good results, I just have to watch the water level.  For example, I fill it to "medium" with cool water and switch to "super" once the clothes are in and let it finish filling.  Then I run it on the soak cycle.  Because our washer has a water level sensor.  The negative is that it does contain phosphates.   Tide does not.  Many commercial brands do not.  I'll use the stuff I bought until it's gone.  After all, if I throw it away it goes into the environment undiluted and with no purpose.  But I'll go back to Tide Free and use even less.  So I learned something. 
Lastly, the guy I went through Fire School and Paramedic training with died this week.  I went to his viewing yesterday and it sucked.  His wife remembered me and I didn't think she would.  We did help them move way back then, and I was the only woman in the class, so maybe that was it.  She was sweet and strong and I admire that.  She and their kids are in my thoughts a lot lately.  Rookie school was crappy, and meant to be.  It's like boot camp with accelerated college courses thrown in: Not a lot of happy memories.  You just get through it.  But I remember him as being a good guy all around.  He'd worked his way up to Batalion Chief for a smaller town and went back through Rookie school in his 30's for our larger city, because our city paid well and had good benefits.  He never mentioned this though, unlike a few guys who liked to brag about their previous fire experience.  It eventually came out because firefighters tend to know each other, through the grapevine, as we were about to graduate.  He kept his head down and got through the crap, because that's just how he was.  Not a braggart, not a goof.  Quiet and kind, but with a sense of humor, too.  That's how I remember him.