Random Chatter: 7/17/18

One of my sisters was coming for a visit recently, and I was motivated to clean the house.  Rather, I wanted to be motivated to clean the house, but was having trouble getting going, so I decided I would buy a new bottle of fancy all-purpose cleaner to see if that would help motivate me to clean.  And it totally did!

I used this little bottle all morning long and cleaned things that haven’t been cleaned in forever.  It was amazing to me how well it actually cleaned things like my tile backsplash, which gets wiped down during kitchen cleanup but rarely with an actual cleaner.

I mentioned this to a friend one day and afterward, she told me that our conversation had motivated her to use a similar cleaner and how much better it performed than her normal homemade vinegar cleaners.  I totally agree with this – I’ve said for years that anyone who says that baking soda cleans as well as Comet can’t have actually used Comet in quite awhile. (I used to believe that same thing until I actually tried Comet again.)  I totally get that regular use of lots of chemical cleaners isn’t great but man, every once in awhile it’s nice to use something that works really great!

The other day I picked up what I thought was a piece of trash in our entryway and screamed a bit when I realized it was a moth – a gigantic moth, six inches across!  We have some people in our household who are scared of any sort of moth and it’s somewhat of a joke just how bad that fear is, but this one was so big that I would have freaked out if it had been flying around, too.

It was mostly dead when I found it and I have no idea how it got in, though we’ve had a bat in the house before so apparently winged creatures can find their way in.  I looked it up and I’m pretty sure it’s a Black Witch Moth, which can appear here when the winds carry it north.  It’s the largest moth species in North America.  You can read more about its life in Colorado in this PDF from Colorado State.  Pretty crazy!

I’m going to say something about the next generation that will make me sound old, but I don’t care.  I do not understand the preference for FaceTime calls versus regular phone calls.  Not at all.  I’m just barely counted in the millennial generation and I’ve often said the one thing about me that is definitely millennial is that I much prefer texting or emailing to talking on the phone.  However, I have noticed that there are an awful lot of millennials and younger who do things like talk to their friends via FaceTime, and I just don’t get it.

I hate the feeling of wanting to watch the person’s face, but knowing that the camera setup makes it look like you’re not looking at them.  I couldn’t stand talking to someone on speakerphone so that everyone can hear both sides of the conversation.  (I’m sure you could wear earbuds to change that, but I don’t see many people doing that.)

And let’s not forget about the fact that people can, you know, see you when you’re FaceTiming and I rarely feel like the phone-video look is a good one for me when I do have my hair done and some mascara on, much less when I have been having a leisurely summer day and did neither of those things.

Well, anyway.  Now I feel the need to divulge that I’m “only” thirty-three (ok, almost thirty-four) because I sound like an old fogey, and maybe that’s what I’m becoming! :)

We spent some time in Buena Vista recently, and did a 5-mile (roundtrip) hike to the former Interlaken Resort on Twin Lakes.

It was a beautiful hike and an easy trail, and a hike with a destination that’s more than a great view at the end is always good with kids.  I’ll probably write a blog post about it at some point, but if you’re in that area this summer, you should check it out!