Amazing little device!

This little guy is my newest favorite little toy. Yes, it is a nursery white noise maker.

It plays a little bit of a noise over and over. It has white noise, rain, ocean and heartbeat. The heartbeat is cheesy, more like a clock's tick-tock. I prefer the ocean. If the rain had gentle thunder it would be perfect.

After a week of using this, I think I'm sleeping better. When I wake up in the middle of the night I listen for it rather than trying to figure out why I woke up in the first place. Honestly, it is so quiet in my house at night that I needed something going on.

The bad news is it takes batteries, 3 AAA to be precise. I like rechargable batteries, but they recommend you charge in even groups of 2, so I have to wait until I use up 4 to recharge.

The good news is, well, it's little and doesn't take up a lot of space on the bed stand.  It cost less than $10 at the local Tuesday Morning. That works for me!

Bottom line is, try one of these cheapy units to see if white noise is for you, before you invest in the more expensive models down at the Sharper Image. You may be happy with little cheapy here.

Is buying every mop inevitable?

I mopped the kitchen and the bathroom using my 2nd favorite mop. Well, maybe my 3rd favorite mop. This time I used a Libman string type mop that my daughter left behind. It sort of has a wringer on it.

Anyway, with this mop I decided to use really hot water, not the lukewarm stuff that comes out of the faucet. My "hot" water is 107, can you believe it? Anyway I put some warm water in the bucket and a kettle full of boiling water. There, that bumped it up to 138 F.

After doing the kitchen and the bathroom (separate buckets, fresh hot water), I sat down and watched a little TV. What do you know, they are selling the spin mop on the Home Shopping Network. I have been resisting that for several years now, but I just got up and ordered it. I'm ready to try the next best thing.

My favorite mop is the Swiffer Wet Jet. It just bugs me to have to buy the pads and the soap from them, however. Plus, it sometimes leaves the floor sticky. I also like the Rubbermaid version of that, with a refillable bottle and cloth pads.  But when I need the floor really, super duper clean I go back to the old-fashioned string mop.

Expect a review after I've used it a few times. But that may take a while since I don't mop nearly often enough. I'm too busy trying to resist stuff on the Internet and television.

My mother's old photo album

This last week I went "home" to Bartow to the funeral of my uncle Jack. While we were there, my Aunt Marion gave me my mother's old photo album. She must have had it since 1974 when my grandmother died.

When we opened the bag to look at it, we immediately recognized the cover. Really, who would lean against a cactus?

Anyway, there is no back on it and the pages are crumbling apart. I took pictures of all the pages in case anyone wants to try to identify any of the Martin clan or friends.

You can see it here:

http://s59.beta.photobucket.com/user/melonhead-06/library/EmmyLu%20photos

Now, I will scan all the photos, and remount these into a new album. I have the album all picked out, but I have to decide on plain black pages like the original, or pretty patterned paper like in modern scrapbooks. I'm awaiting feedback from any and all.

Here is my grandmother and her four children. My mother is on the far right.