Vroom Vroom

I think I've hinted several times that "Mama got a new toy". It's something special and mostly for me. I just love it.

It's hardworking ...

Small, but mighty ...

Voraciously independent ...

A real busy little bee ...

It's a robot ...

Just for me ...

A Roomba!

Sometimes I feel a little guilty when the Roomba vacuum is running because it's working and I'm not. I love how it gets under furniture. It's so easy just to let it work while I do something else. It really does a good job too. It picks up all kinds of dirt and debris. My floors have never looked so good.
I use the Roomba on the carpet in the living room and bedrooms and the vinyl flooring in the kitchen. I've also used it on bathroom rugs and an indoor/outdoor rug in the laundry room. I've used it several times in Emily's room, but only once in my bedroom. Sadly, my bedroom floor hasn't been clear enough to run the Roomba since then. Just being real with ya'll ...
I got the 530 model which goes back to its charging base when it finishes the cleaning cycle or the battery gets low. It's such a nice feature. My Roomba "sleeps" under an end table and I don't even have to put it away when it's done cleaning.
That's my kind of cleaning!

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Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter Update - 2 months

It's been about two months since Emily and I planted our Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter.

We water the tomato plant every day or two now and we fertilize with Miracle Gro about every week or two. The plant is growing, but it's not as big as I thought it would be at this point. I think it looks a bit unhealthy too. Sometimes I find yellow or brown leaves on it.

My mother-in-law says that she pours coffee or coke on her plants every day. Maybe I should try this?

Day One

Day 39

Day 52

So what do you think? Have you tried anything on your tomato plants that seemed to work?

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Does it work? Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter

I've been wanting to try the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter for quite some time. It's one of those As Seen on TV products that look like it might actually work. And who doesn't love fresh home-grown tomatoes.

This weekend, we were at Home Depot and they had some of these gadgets in the garden center. Mike saw them too and asked if I wanted to get one. Of course I do!

So we picked one up and I read on the box that you have to buy a tomato plant to put in it and some potting soil. We browsed the tomato selections and ended up picking a Better Boy tomato. This is a variety that my Granddaddy grew in his garden.


When we got home, Emily and I potted up the tomato plant in the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter. It was a very windy day and, unfortunately, Emily was sitting down-wind from the planter and all the potting mix. It ended up getting all over her and in her hair. Whoops!

So you take off the planter's cap and remove the split sponge that's in the bottom of the planter. I let Emily hold our sponge and she ended up breaking it in two pieces, but it worked okay anyway. You insert the tomato plant from the bottom and then put the split sponge around the stem. Then you push the sponge down into the bottom of the planter. This is how the plant is held into place.

After the plant and sponge were firmly plugging the bottom hole, we started adding potting soil to the planter. The directions said to fill it to within two inches of the top, but ours was not quite that full.
We hung the planter on a shepherd's hook in the backyard then added water to the top of the bag. Unfortunately, it was so so windy outside and our poor tomato plant was being whipped around. I hope it survives the night.

The instruction pamphlet says to water the plant often and to fertilize it every two weeks at first and then ever 10 days and then every few days.

I'll let you know how it goes ....

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Self-Inflicted Earache

The other week, I bought an earwax removal kit. (If ears or wax or anything related to either topic grosses you out, feel free to stop reading here.)

I wasn't really having an problem, but I always have quite a bit of ear wax. And besides that, we have recently figured out that we're going to end up with quite a bit of money left in our flexible spending account when the plan year ends in June. So I noticed an earwax removal kit was on the FSA-eligible list and I went out and bought one.

That very night, I decided to try out that earwax removal kit. I read the directions carefully ...

• Tilt head sideways and place 5 to 10 drops into ear. Fine, no big deal. Mom did this to me quite a few times as a kid so it's nothing new.




• Keep drops in ear for several minutes by keeping head tilted or placing cotton in the ear. Okay, tilting ... feels weird and kinda cloggy but I can handle this.

I do this on the first ear and then waaaait for several minutes ... then I hold a piece of tissue over my ear and let it drain as I do the same to the other ear. I waaaait again and then drain the second ear. That wasn't so bad ... a little oily feeling, but no big deal.

I go to bed about an hour after this, but wake up a few hours later with a really bad earache in one ear. I turn over to the other side, hoping that will ease the pain. No such luck. I spend the rest of the time tossing and turning from side to side, trying to find a comfortable position.

When I woke up the next morning, I still had the earache. It was mostly better by the end of the day, but then I followed the rest of the directions ...

• Use twice daily for up to 4 days if needed... Sheesh!

I just hope this works because I don't want to have to do the final direction ...

• Any wax remaining after the 4-day treatment may be removed by gently flushing the ear with warm (body temperature-water, using a soft bulb syringe. Gulp!

So .. does it work? I guess we'll see in 2 more days.

Here's to hoping I don't wake up with another self-inflicted earache tonight.

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