CTWW - Could you shower in 5 min?

This Week's Challenge:

We're going to revisit our original challenge which is designed to save water. If you've been with us from the beginning and have already accomplished this challenge, feel free to "up the ante" on the rest of us. Here you go:

This week take only showers and limit them to no more than 5 minutes each.

Or ...

If this is something you already do, please share other water saving ideas with us.

UP THE ANTE: Argentum Vulgaris challenges us to take a 3-minute shower and further save water by peeing in the shower. Oh My Goodness!!

"CALL" THE ANTE AND RAISE IT ONE: Brian challenges us as follows: "When you take a shower do so with the coldest water you can stand. This will save you money because your water heater will not run as much plus it is better for the environment because...well, your water heater will not run as much." WhooHoo ... it is ON!

oh boy.  I do not do well with this one.   I'm a girl..I workout. I have 2 legs. I have 2 legs that need to be shaved almost every day because I'll be out and about in shorts.  How do you girls do it?  I've tried shaving by sitting on the side of the tub but then I just get cold and that doesn't work well for shaving.

I will admit that if I don't have to wash my hair or shave, I can be in and out of the shower in 5 min.  I can't handle it when I have to shave and/or wash my hair.

What's worse is that there are several days a week when I take two showers since I take one in the morning before work and then again at night after I've done a workout.  The good thing is that the 2nd shower is usually around 5 min.

This week, I'll make the effort to wash my hair faster..shave faster (without cutting myself of course) and possibly taking those 2nd showers even faster.   Wish me luck.

oh..and interested on your thoughts on that first Up the Ante.  Is it gross to pee in the shower?   Or is it not so bad? Interested to see what the majority of us American's think.

CTWW - no plastic?

I'm a "tad" late in getting out my Change the World Wednesday post for last Wednesday.    Here's the challenge as it was given to us last week:


This Week's Challenge:

So ... are you ready for another challenge? How about a tough challenge ... a real tough challenge ... one that will definitely "test your metal"? Are you up for it? I know that you are. Here it is:

This week refuse to buy anything which is, or which comes in, plastic. Instead, opt for Eco-friendly items and packaging ... or do without.

UP THE ANTE: Jessica is upping the ante and challenges us to make our own reusable, bulk product bags. You can see her efforts HERE. Whose going to take her up on her challenge?? Thanks, Jessica!


I didn't actually read the challenge last week.  However, I did go grocery shopping on Thursday and admit that I 1)brought my own bags to the grocery store and 2) that includes re-usable bags for produce.     I believe a couple things might have come in plastic (cheese and milk and bread) but most of what I bought was not in plastic.   I' going to keep this challenge in mind though for when I head to the store this week when I shop for the pool party we are having Saturday.  I'm interested to see how well I can do.

Carpenter for hire

Earlier this summer Husband and I started working on the landscaping in the backyard by the pool.  We started in April and continued to work on it through May and most of June.   I meant to do a post on this too, in fact I thought I did until I went looking for it.  Expect that one soon!  

With the landscaping now looking nice we have a nice spot for some furniture.  Currently we have a table and 4 chairs that were left by the previous owners.  It's not the best, but it was free so we kept it.  We started talking about getting a canopy and some sofa's for by the pool.  We also talked about need some lounge chairs since the ones given to us when we first moved in are both broken. I guess that's what you get when it's not a good brand, it breaks after 3 years.   After pricing out a lot of this, we thought we should wait.

Until, I saw directions for a lounge chair on the Ana-White website.  I'm a long time follower of this lady.  She draws up plans to build tables and beds and bookcases, etc.  They seem to be pretty easy to follow, a lot of people comment that they have never built anything but were able to X item thanks to her.   I emailed Husband the info for the lounge chair and suggested we try to build it.  Oddly, he agreed.  Let me remind you that this is a guy who never even used a drill or mowed the lawn before we got married.  Sure, we've done a ton of home renovations, but to actually build something? Could we do it? Could he do it?

We decided to start with a workbench.  I found plans on the same website and figured this would be a good way to get our feet wet and if we are going to build other things we would need one. It should be much easier to build a workbench than a lounge.  Husband built the workbench, by himself, on weekend morning.  I don't know how long it took him but it was only a couple of hours. I don't remember why I didn't help him, other than that I think he started it on Sunday morning while I was running and finished it not long after I got back.  I didn't even realize he was working on it till he found me to tell me he finished it.

I could have sworn I took photo's of it right after he finished it, but I can't find them. Instead you get this one..which was taken last weekend after he made the chairs and, as you can see, already started to use it.

We set out to buy the furniture for the lounge and this time I didn't even pretend I was going to help build it. I just helped carry the supplies to the basement and left him alone.  He finished it this past Saturday.  We then went out on Sunday and bought the materials for a second one, and he finished it within 1.5 hours.  I'm amazed and proud of him.    Before you see the pictures, please excuse the mess and that they kinda suck. The lounges are currently in the unfinished area still since we still need to seal them before putting them outside.  The mess on the floor..the previous owners let their kids do that and we haven't bothered repainting the floor.    Psst..don't forget you can click on the photo for a bigger image.

I can't wait to get these sealed and to get some cushions for them.  They will look so nice outside!

And don't worry, now that I know Husband can build things, I've already given him plans for a craft table. He looked at them and said "oh, this will be easy."  I can't wait!  I also caught him measuring the dining room, and then the kitchen table the other day. when I asked what he was doing he said "Seeing how big a dining room table I could make."  (yes..there is no furniture in our dining room).

As far as cost, was it really worth it?   I did a quick search online and wooden outdoor lounge chairs can be found for as low as $185.  The first trip for supplies to build a lounge chair we spent $170.  We also bought a couple of tools that were not exactly required but would make the job easier.  The trip for the second chair we spent $59.09.   I would say it was definitely worth it.  Sure, the chairs might not be fancy smancy but they look nice and we like them.    Plus, Husband is incredibly proud that he actually did this on his own.