A Non-Toxic Home Environment

I've been a fan of safe, non-toxic, cleaning products for awhile now.  I kind of fell into it by accident after I  became acquainted with  environmentally safe cleaning and personal care products through a business associate. I've been using these kinds of products for awhile now (like 15 years!).


I'm so used to non-toxic products around me in my home that I can physically tell when I come into contact with products that have chemicals b/c my body reacts to them.  For instance, when I walk down a supermarket isle with the laundry detergents and household cleaners, I can smell it very strongly and my throat starts to feel funny and my head begins to hurt.  I can tell when I am drinking from a glass that has been washed with a soap that has chlorine in it because I smell it on the glass and taste it.  I can tell when someone sprays an "air freshener" with chemicals in it vs. an air freshener that is natural. It's true that once you go natural, you then realize what you were exposing yourself and your loved ones to and you don't want to go back.


However, it wasn't always like this .  My dear mom always used Lysol in the bathroom when cleaning.  We used Tide for laundry detergent and Palmolive dish soap for dishes.  And  I always had a problem with eczema.  So much so that I had to be treated with prescription creams.  I always had ear infections and sinus problems as well.   Since I've moved to safer ingredients in my home, these problems are thankfully non-existent! (I have enough to deal with, thanks!)


I have since found out that detergents have high levels of chlorine and other chemicals in them.  Chlorine is  very harsh on skin and not good to breath in or ingested.  Even pesticides creep into cleaning products and hide there with long names, that no one is familiar with.  After all, home cleaning products and personal care products aren't regulated.  The words carcinogen and neurotoxin have been tossed around in association with household cleaners and thankfully, I think people are becoming aware that they need to take their safety and health into their own hands.  Because of the increased consumer awareness, we have more choices at our fingertips.  This consumer awareness hasn't come cheap, though.  Just a couple of examples are:
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• Since 1980, asthma has increased by 600%. The Canadian Lung Association and the Asthma Society of Canada identify common household cleaners and cosmetics as triggers. 

• There are more than 3 million poisonings every year and household cleaners are the number one cause of poisoning of children.  

It was just a month ago, in my own community, that two little girls died because there were pesticides in the home and the girls were unknowingly exposed.  I can't even imagine the parents' anguish, when they learned that this was the cause and they were the ones who had the pesticide put in.  

And just last week, I went to get my hair cut at a beauty school that was being remodeled.  They were putting finish on the flooring and there was no ventilation at all.  The fumes were overwhelming for me.  The girl who was doing my hair was about 2 months pregnant and she wasn't saying a thing, probably thinking that she shouldn't make a big deal about it.  Well, I said something.  I told her that she had an unborn baby to think about and these fumes were obviously very strong and overpowering and dangerous.  She then told me that she felt like she was going to faint.  I  told the supervisor about how both she and I were feeling. After one phone call to another supervisor, I was rescheduled to come back at which time I will be comped for my haircut and the pregnant stylist was given permission to go home until the fumes weren't as potent  She gratefully accepted.  But we certainly need to speak up and be proactive about what we will and will not have around us in our own environments. 



I urge you to think about what you use in your home and make a difference by saying NO to toxic chemicals in all their forms and instead, use either homemade or certified non-toxic cleaners.

Quotes From The Oscars

The Oscars will be starting in 1 hour!  I'm excited and hope that Sandra Bullock gets an award because I love her and think she deserves an award this year.   I know that she has some amazing competition, like Meryl Streep, whom I also love, but I'm still crossing my fingers!  Go Sandra~Here are some interesting past quotes from the Oscars!

• "I do think I'm lucky I met Michael. Not just Michael Douglas the actor and producer with two Oscars on the shelf, but Michael Douglas, the love of my life. I really do think it was meant to happen." -Catherine Zeta Jones

• "I WANTED to do my hair like that (on her curly hair at the Oscars).  Sometimes people just don't get things until months later."  - Jennifer Lopez

Side note:  If the word diva was ever exemplified, it would be with these two ladies, Celine and Jennifer!

• "I have records in gold, in platinum, I have two Oscars, I have Grammys and so on."  -Celine Dion

• "In Hollywood, she's revered, she gets nominated for Oscars, but I've never heard anyone in the public or among my friends say, 'Oh, I love Winona Ryder.' " -Jennifer Lopez

• "Welcome to the 77th and last Oscars!"  -Chris Rock

• "I'd be lying if I haven't made a version of this speech before. I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror and this would have been a shampoo bottle. Well it's not a shampoo bottle now."  -Kate Winslet

• "This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here, his peers within an industry he so loved."  - Heath Ledger's Father

• Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one."  -Penelope Cruz

• "This award touches my heart and the very depth of my soul because of who the award is from and those who will benefit. The humility I feel is staggering, and I know it will stay with me for the rest of my life." - Jerry Lewis, accepting an Oscar for humanitarian work

• "I don't know what I did in this life to deserve all of this. I'm just a girl from a trailer park that had a dream."  -Hilary Swank

• "When I was 19 years old, I was the number one star of the world for two years.  When I was 40, nobody wanted me.  I couldn't get a job."  -Mickey Rooney

• "As a little kid I lived in the projects, and you're the people I watched.  You're the people who made me want to be an actor.  I'm so proud to be here!"  -Whoopi Goldberg

Well, I could go on and on, but the Oscars will be starting soon and I'm at my Dad's place. My Dad doesn't have Tivo!  See you soon!
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smArtee Art Prints

I recently was the lucky recipient of a set of 3 beautiful 5 X 7 art prints, all signed by Robin, the owner and mastermind behind the shop on Etsy called smArtee by smArtee.  Thanks so much to Trendy Treehouse and Mommy's Memorandum for the great giveaway.

I was so impressed with the vibrant and rich colors that Robin uses and her talent in general.  I remember looking at these prints and thinking, "Helena, it's not very often that you see artwork and say to yourself, I really love that."  But that time I did, and so I entered the giveaway.  What are the odds I would win twice?  But that's exactly what happened.  And so now, I've got three prints to put up on my wall in a little theme. The top painting is called, 'Two in A Crazy World', and of course I have the two beautiful birds on the bottom.

I think that we're all thrown into a world that is just so fast-paced and full of change. Many times we don't even have the time to think about our decisions and why we're making them. We have to do things basically with our own best judgment because no one before us has ever had to go through some of the things we go through today.  I look at the painting on the top and the kaleidescope of color and I have to think, yes it's crazy, but it's also so beautiful.  If I can even take just a moment to stop and just catch my breath, like these two birds, I think I will be ready to jump back onto the merry-go-round.

I anticipate that I will hear more of Robin and her great work.  I hope you will all go check out her work and give her a thumbs up on Etsy!

The Skill of Knowing How To Tick People Off!

You know it's true! We all get annoyed or ticked off by things that people do. But have you ever just wanted to intentionally tick someone off because you feel like being a brat? Sometimes I do, I admit it. That way, I'm not the only one in a bad mood. I know we're all incredibly busy and so really don't have time to worry about ticking others off.  But when you just have that really bad day.........Here are some great ideas to do just that!

• Specify that your drive-through order is "TO-GO."

• Insist on keeping your car windshield wipers running in all weather conditions "to keep them tuned up."

• Reply to everything someone says with "that's what you think."

• Highlight irrelevant information in scientific papers and "cc" them to your boss.

• Make beeping noises when a large person backs up

• Finish all your sentences with the words "in accordance with prophesy."

• Signal that a conversation is over by clamping your hands over your ears and grimacing.

• Adjust the tint on your TV so that all the people are green, and insist to others that you "like it that way."

• Decline to be seated at a restaurant, and simply eat their complimentary mints at the cash register.

• TYPE ALL IN UPPERCASE.

• type only in lowercase.

• Buy a large quantity of orange traffic cones and reroute whole streets.

• Ask people what gender they are.

• While making presentations, occasionally bob your head like a parakeet.

• Sit in your front yard pointing a hair dryer at passing cars to see if they slow down.

• Go to a poetry recital and ask why each poem doesn't rhyme.

• Ask your co-workers mysterious questions and then scribble their answers in a notebook. Mutter something about "psychological profiles."

I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I do.  Do you have anything that is sure to annoy or tick someone off?  Would love to hear!

A Renew Lotion And Body Wash Giveaway! CLOSED

Here it is!  My Renew Lotion and Body Wash Giveaway!  As I have mentioned before, this is the lotion I swear by and haven't found anything yet that compares to it!  See for yourself!  I am giving away a Renew Duo!  Someone will enjoy an 8 oz bottle of Renew and matching body wash, containing the same formulation as the lotion.  You will love it, I promise!  Here's a little bit of background:  Renew Lotion is part of the personal care line of products from one of my favorite companies, Melaleuca!  These are products that are very high-quality with no fillers, harmful chemicals, or poor quality ingredients. All their products are manufactured on site and go through well over 300 individual quality control checks. Renew lotion has been independently tested by a world-renowned clinical laboratory with double-blind tests and the results were amazing.  It was tested against Eucerin, the brand most doctors recommend and Renew's strongest competitor.  The studies took place during harsh winter conditions--an irritant for severely dry skin--in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  The results were quite impressive!  After 24 hours, there was an 88% improvement in visual dryness, 78% improvement in roughness, and similar results in smoother skin, moisture improvement, moisture retention and improvement after 7 days of no use!  Eucerin, by comparison, failed dismally.  Renew has a proprietary list of ingredients like, Malaysian glycerin (a plant form of glycerin, much more gentle on the skin vs. animal-based glycerin which can be irritating), Allantoin (the scientific name for comfrey, a healing herb), and T36-C5 brand Melaleuca oil (an extremely high quality tea tree oil).  Together these ingredients go down under the top layer of your skin to bring healing power from underneath all the way to the top.

The Renew Body Wash contains the same moisturizing technology that powers Renew lotion, plus skin-soothing Vitamin E!  Follow your bath or shower with Renew Lotion and your skin will be amaaaazing!

GET IT:
Get both Renew Lotion and Body was for retail price of $29.99 plus shipping and tax by calling Melaleuca ordering department at 1-800-282-3000.  Please tell them that I referred you and give them my name, Helena Lemon and id # 8014717669.  For a 30%  or more discount, become a Melaleuca Preferred Customer!  Go to my website, click on 'get more information', and mark the box that says 'I Need to improve my overall health and wellness!' I will make sure you are taken care of from there!


WIN IT! 
Winner will receive one each of Renew lotion and body wash to be delivered to them via UPS.  Available entries are below and should each be listed with a separate comment: 

• Follow me on Twitter(or on my sidebar-1 entry)
• Follow me on Networked Blogs (on my sidebar- 1entry)
• Friend me on Facebook (1 entry)
• Follow me on Google Friend (on my sidebar - 1 entry)
• Tweet this giveaway (please include @xocaisgood in your tweet)  You can tweet once per day at one entry per tweet! 
• Blog about this giveaway and provide a link back to here! (3 extra entries if blogged before 3/07/10, otherwise 1 entry)!
•  New!  (5 entries) Sign up for My Likes! Please enter a separate comment for each entry!

This contest ends on 3/12/10 at 11:59 AM MST.  A winner will be chosen at random by random.org number generator.  The winner will be e-mailed and asked for mailing info and preferred lip flavors.  Please respond no later than 48 hours after notification or another winner will be chosen!  E-mail address must be available on your blog, profile, or in your comments.  Good luck and thanks for being beautiful bloggers!  

True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 59

Result: 48 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

The winner of this giveaway is #48  

Weekend Confessions

Oh I wish I could tell you that I had confessions to make.  But unfortunately, my weekend was pretty non-eventful, although I think I can drum up at least 1 activity worth mentioning for Friday, Saturday and Sunday! 

Friday - The hubs and I went out to lunch at Zupa's!  I always order the 'Nuts About Berries' Salad with Maple Vinaigrette dressing and one of their soups. This time I ordered the Crab Bisque. It was delicious! We then proceeded to Costco, where we looked at camera's and actually picked one out. It's a Lumix and has more stuff than my old camera did. For one thing, I needed a larger LCD screen so I can see what I'm taking a picture of.  But I won't be using it until I read the user's manual from cover to cover. 

Saturday - We went and played disc golf.  I think I mentioned this already in another post.  After that we watched all our dvd'd t.v. stuff that we like--Survivor, The Good Wife, Lost, the Olympics, that's about it!

Sunday - I was at my Dad's and I cooked for the family.  I've been benefiting greatly from giveaways lately.  I used the last bit of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to make Stuffed Pepper Soup.  They really liked it!  I'm going to be ordering more of that stuff!  I took a few pictures of my son, because he finally got his braces out. He's actually had them in for about 5 years, because of a "jaw problem".  I'm not sure what they even meant.  His jaw always looked fine to me.  But he looks mighty handsome now, I will say!  (Just Mom's opinion!)

Just A Giveaway Thank You!

Before I go and hit the hay, I must mention my fun delivery today of some Ouchies Bandages, courtesy of Girly Girl Giveaways!  Thanks so much!  I heart you!  I know these are for little kids, but since I found a use for them, can I have them for me?  You see, I'm a disc golf player, as I might have mentioned before, because my husband loves to play,and it's our together time as a couple!  Good thing we both really like it! 

The one thing I notice about it is that when I throw the disc, it tends to tear up the end of my middle finger!  So bandages are the perfect thing to protect it!  Here is a picture of me heading out to the course just today, because there was a bit of sun and it was a tropical 40 degrees outside!  I had my ouchies band-aid on too.  Doesn't it look so sporty? Yeah, I know! 

My Trip To Jail Story

A few years ago, my husband and I were not in very good financial condition.  We had both been through divorces that had left each of us penniless.  We just happened to be nice people who got suckered because we truly didn't believe that people we had been married to for years would turn around and do every underhanded thing, both legal and illegal, to leave us in such a horrible position.  We have since recovered and have moved on with our lives, but at the time it was so hard, not only financially, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually as well.  I found that because of the additional stress that had been piled on us, our lives were even more taxed and we didn't always make the best decisions that might help us more speedily recover from our financial woes.

I left my husband in charge of our auto insurance and basically all of our car needs.  We drove my old Toyota Camry and his Ford Explorer.  Well, one day I found that the insurance had lapsed.  I told myself that he would soon pay it and that things would be fine.  I kept driving.  One day I was driving, my mind elsewhere, and I ended up speeding in a school zone.  The cop pulled me over and ticketed me for speeding and for no insurance. Yikes!  I had no choice but to pay it. I was a little late with my payments because I had no extra money for tickets.  I told my husband that the insurance needed to be paid. ASAP!


I had the typical Mom responsibilities for my son, who was with us. He was doing after school activities like football, scouts, etc. etc. and I was the chauffeur!  One day, I was going back home after dropping my son off at football practice.  I stopped at a red light.  The light changed to green.  The car in front of me pulled ahead and I, again my mind elsewhere, started out at a brisk pace!  Well, the driver of the car in front of me was a new driver learning to drive a stick shift!  His car totally stalled out without warning and I plowed into his back bumper!  Our big Explorer was totally fine. But I can't say the same for their car.  Someone called a cop, and I called my dear husband.  I told him what had happened and he proceeded to tell me that there was still no insurance on the car!  I just remember telling him that he might want to check the county jail if he didn't hear from me soon.


The ride to the jail was surreal.  My hands were handcuffed behind me and I was looking at the back of the police officer through a barred metal barrier.  This is not how I see myself.  A convict being hauled to jail? Now I personally know how it feels and it ain't fun!  Luckily, I was soon bailed out and several years later, there is no sign at all of this traumatic experience on my driving record, just on my psyche.

So what have I learned from all of this?  It is this: You may have never ever been stopped or ticketed in this life. But the day you go without insurance is the day all hell will break loose!  So to avoid that, I've got one great suggestion!  Always have insurance, if only for liabilities!  


The first and most important aspect of finding auto insurance is to become educated in the different kinds of auto insurance one can purchase.  Do you know the differences between liability, collision, comprehensive, theft policies, or no fault? Make sure that you are insured with at least liability insurance.  That is all.

Photo Credit

Sun Shades Lip Balm Giveaway!

To celebrate my own recent delivery of the cutest Call Me Cards ever by Stuck on You, I thought I'd offer my own giveaway in appreciation!  ♥


Spring is just around the corner, I keep telling myself.  ☻And Spring is actually the time when the sun's rays are most powerful and have the most punch.  The UVB and UVA rays are at their strongest.  Many people are fooled by this because it still feels cool outside and so they neglect to properly protect their skin.


I'd like to share a product line in a company called Melaleuca. Sun Shades is the line that has everything to do with being out in the sun.  They have after-sun care, sunscreen, and SPF 15 lip balm.  The sunscreen uses a unique form of zinc oxide that rubs in clear, so there is no white or colored residue.  It is the best sunscreen I have ever used - not greasy or smelling of chemicals.  My skin stays moist and unburned.



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"Experts say the best protection against UVA is a sunscreen that includes zinc oxide, titanium dioxide or avobenzone. Consumers should also look for those that are water-resistant and have an SPF of 30 or better, indicating strong protection against UVB rays, and apply liberally and often."  -Linda Johnson, Associated Press

Another great Sun Shades product is their lip balm. It contains melanin, your natural lip protector.  It also has natural moisturizers like jojoba oil, cocoa butter and beeswax.  There are no fillers or harmful chemicals.  It actually rejuvenates my lips when I use it.  It is a must-have product at my house.  I never get chapped or dry lips when I have Sun Shades lip balm on hand!

--> Lips contain very little melanin—the natural skin pigment that helps screen out the sun’s harmful rays. With SPF 15, Sun Shades lip balms pamper and protect your lips with natural moisturizers like jojoba oil, cocoa butter, and beeswax. Antioxidant vitamin E fights free radicals while T36-C5® Melaleuca Oil penetrates and soothes. These lip-smacking balms “weatherproof ” your lips and help keep them soft.

 Available in Harvest Berry, Mountain Mint, Vanilla Bean, Sugar & Spice and Piña Colada flavors, Sun Shades lip balm moisturize and protect your lips for hours

GET IT:  Get a 3-pack at retail cost of $8.50 plus shipping and tax by calling Melaleuca ordering department at 1-800-282-3000.  Please tell them that I referred you and give them my name, Helena Lemon and id # 8014717669.  

Win It:  Winner chooses 3 flavors of their choice to be delivered to them via UPS.  Available entries are below and should each be listed with a separate comment:

• Tell me what you do take care of your lips
• Follow me on Twitter (or on my sidebar)
• Follow me on Networked Blogs (on my sidebar)
• Friend me on Facebook 
• Follow me on Google Friend (on my sidebar)
• Tweet this giveaway (please include @Melahelen in your tweet)  You can tweet once per day! 
• Blog about this giveaway and provide a link back to here! (3 extra entries if blogged before 2/19/10)

This contest ends on 2/26/10 at 11:59 AM MST.  A winner will be chosen at random by random.org number generator.  The winner will be e-mailed and asked for mailing info and preferred lip flavors.  Please respond no later than 48 hours after notification or another winner will be chosen!  E-mail address must be available on your blog, profile, or in your comments.  Good luck and thanks for being beautiful bloggers!  

This Giveaway is open to US 

Winner - #50! Tessica!

I Wanted To Show Off My Win!

Just wanted to thank MNMSpecial Giveaways and Stuck On You USA for this giveaway win!  The little Call Me Cards I chose are adorable and are durable so they can stay in a purse or pocket without getting bent, wrinkled or faded!  Thanks so much!

Also, I'm in the market for a new camera. The above shot needs some help. Any suggestions for something practical, easy, but high quality?  My Sony Cyber Shot 4.1 Mega Pixels has pretty much fulfilled it's destiny and I'm ready for something new!