Well skeptic Sarah has once again been proven wrong. See Damien signed up for a service called Pay Per Post at blog network thinking he could make a few extra bucks while blogging. Needless to say I wasn’t so certain it was a sure thing. When he was approved for his first post which was to pay him $20 I was impressed, but then he got a $15 referral credit from someone who signed up from his link, and another $5 for a second post. Within a week he had earned $40, so I decided I would try it out. It turns out you can take up to two opportunities per day deciding for yourself what type of post will fit your specific blog or writing style. You submit a link, and wait until the closing date of the topic signed up for, to get paid. Now it may not be a means to quitting your job, but this can certainly provide a few extra bucks for some sort of event. In fact when I was a kid we crushed aluminum cans to earn extra family money for trips or eating out. This is much easier than that. I figure if Damien can make $20-$30 per month by casually taking a post here and there, and I do the same, within a year we will have over $500 for a trip. Pretty darned sweet since we are sitting here blogging anyways. Now I won’t feel as bad about the laundry piling up all around since after all, I am earning vacation funds right?

Is there a rule that says whenever you have loads of stuff to do you should instead waste your time away on something else? I ask because my week is jam packed with an enormous “to do” list, yet here I sit, not doing any of it. Here is a glimpse at my week.

• Gather all necessary documents to apply for a substitute position (done)
• Get finger printed for above stated job
• Fill out and address birthday invitations for 3rd birthday party coming up
• Get homework done for class one (due Wednesday)
• Finish homework and study for final exam for class two (due Thursday)
• Get to the store for diapers as the littlest Riley has only 1 left
• Make dinner multiple times this week since I have yet to do any mass cooking for the freezer this month
• etc. etc. etc

Now that you have seen my rather boring list of things to do, I would like to share what I did instead this morning with toys piling up around me and Blues Clues chiming in the back ground.

Yep, I decided I would try to make my own flowers for my first decorated cake. Mind you the party isn’t for nearly two weeks yet, but I couldn’t shake the notion of conquering the darned flowers. Surely I had a back up plan to run to a bakery and buy a sheet of flowers if this flopped, but I am very excited to say that I successfully made two flowers on my first try and am fairly certain I will get them the way I want them on the day of the event.

I’m not sure if bringing a third child into our home tripled the amount of stains we see, or if mom got tired of trying to prevent them when everything else got chaotic, either way stains have taken over the Riley home. As a result I am dedicating my Thursday Thirteen to a variety of methods for getting rid of different types of stains. Feel free to add to the list in your comments if you have any brilliant removal tips of your own as I can always use new ideas.

1. White Vinegar- Apparently this is the fix all cleaner. I knew that it removes laundry stains, carpet stains, and coffee stains from cups and pots. But after reading this article I’m thinking I need a few gallons of this stuff on hand.*

2. WD-40 & Dish soap for crayon marks- If you happen to be one of the many who have love magic erasers, skip this one over. For myself those crumbly sponges have really started to bug me, so for crayon marks on a painted wall simply spray them with a bit of WD-40, and wipe them away. Then of course you’ll need a hint of dish soap to clean off the WD-40, but then…Viola, your walls are clean.

3. If an obnoxious youngster paints on the wall with a rather obvious second color that won’t come off, paint over it.

4. Alka- Seltzer- Drop a couple of tabs in your toilet if you have a ring and the seltzer will magically make it disappear (or prevent the stain to begin with by using Clorox toilet bowl tablets).

5. For the kitchen and laundry I tend to count on good ol’ reliable bleach. Just make sure to wear your rags or you will inevitably lean against a counter and ruin an outfit.

6. Oxy Clean- If you get a carpet stain or stains or your clothes use a bit of this cleaner and it does a pretty good job of getting the stains out. Note: this stuff is far more effective on fresh stains, but I managed to severely fade out two rather large coffee stains left behind by dh on the carpet.

7. If the carpet stain resists peroxide, oxyclean, vinegar, and anything else you can think of, buy an area rug.

8. Soak your whites in Biz overnight. The next morning set them to wash as usual and they will look almost new without the dull look that some of your whites may have acquired over time. Now if you have a front loading machine like myself you may need to take over a bathtub, but it works just as well.

9. Peroxide- I am thinking this works on the same principles as oxyclean. Mix it up with a bit of baking soda making a paste and scrub stains away.

10. Bath Stains- Break out the soft scrub. I know you were probably hoping for something more convenient here, but I have yet to see a bathtub ring that could resist soft scrub. Also new products on the market for showers work great (that is if you remember to spray them after every single shower).

11. Windex- This is right up there with white vinegar removing ink stains, carpet stains, and of course hard water stains.

12. Oil stains? If you change your own oil or spring a leak, break out the kitty litter. Be generous when sprinkling this over your stain, let it absorb overnight and just sweep it up the next day.

13. When all else fails and you are completely inundated with stains, sale the house and buy a new wardrobe.

*For any of the above methods always try on a small inconspicuous spot first lest you goof up and destroy it all together