How did mothers ever get a whole day of our own, start to finish? If you left it up to most of the super-busy women I know, Mother’s Day would get squeezed into two minutes every hour for a few days in a row, threaded between the soccer drop-offs, meetings at the office, and grocery shopping. Imagine...It's a whole, dawn-to-dusk day: 24 hours. 1,440 minutes. 86,400 seconds. 

I'm about to dig in and get my hands dirty. Nope, that’s not an expression. I am embarking on an epic journey of gardening fun. Considering that the last thing I tried to grow (basil) died because I failed to remember to water it, this endeavor that I am attempting seems to be full of challenges from the beginning.

Our home of 30 years went on the market last Friday. And even though we filled a debris box with stuff over a month ago, I can see that I'm not going to want to move a lot of what's left, either.

So I got organized and made a list of what I want to get rid of and how: sell, donate or dispose of. I also did some homework and made a list of resources.

If decluttering is on your "spring cleaning" list, you'll find my resources helpful. You'll find them here, in my April newsletter.

I’m writing this as I drink a cup of coffee in a renewable, compostable cup, and the label reads, “You’re making a difference!”

It’s funny how a cup can provide such encouragement. I have been wondering during the month of April whether I have made a significant dent in preserving our earth as my family and I pledged to join Scott’s Brand Four-Week Test Drive to use hybrid paper products. When I set a goal, I like to not only achieve it but go above and beyond and surpass my goal two-fold.

My makeup bag is a whole lot greener after I raised its GoodGuide rating from a 5.1 to a 6.9 with one trip to Target!  Here's how I did it and why you should challenge yourself to do the same:

In case you don't know, GoodGuide is a website that rates thousands of household and beauty products on a scale of 0-10 based on safety, health and greenness.  The higher the rating, the better the product is for you and the environment.

Sometimes I run out of ideas for keeping my son busy, especially when I need him to entertain himself (primary example: when I am working from home). As all of you moms of toddlers know, the mere idea of a two-and-a-half year old boy sitting still for more than five minutes at a time is a pipe dream at best. It’s certainly not for any shortage of toys or TV shows, those things just don’t keep him engaged. So I found something that works wonders: I made a special box of arts and crafts that he can do independently.

I can honestly say that as an adult, I have never given much of a thought to earth day, earth month, etc…In fact, Lexi’s Daisy troop met earlier in the month to plant some small trees that had been donated to them. I remember thinking, “Oh, I have more important things to do today…” That was only a few weeks ago, and I regret that I didn’t take Lexi to participate in that activity. My husband and I love taking her to the park and enjoying the outdoors, but we’ve led a pretty indifferent life around how we can impact our world.

What is your Green Dream?

Happy Earth Day to my fellow brothers and sisters of our beautiful planet Earth!

At Merry Maids, we know it is imperative to provide great cleaning that is also safe. Our line of maintenance products, Shineffective, was designed for the environment to keep you and your family safe. A clean house has cleaner air because we care not only about the planet but also about the people and animals that inhabit it.

What do I do first?

I have a confession to make: I am OBESESSED with monthly surprise health/beauty/kids’ stuff boxes. I don’t gamble or play the lotto.  But when it comes to taking a chance on trying out new products, you might as well sign me up for Gambler’s Anonymous!