A while back I wrote "Housework is Dangerous" for my Blog "Under My Fingertips" over on Deaf Insight.

I still think housework is dangerous! Late last night one of the dogs got into the bathroom trash and shredded tissue waste all over our bedroom floor (a favorite pastime of theirs). I just swept up the majority of it and waited until today to vacuum. So, I lugged out the Tri-Star again (yes it still works!) and started vacuuming. 

Soon I noticed the same "pile" was not getting picked up. "Great, the vacuum's broken" First I check the basket to see if it wasn't full, it wasn't. Then I sat down on the floor and took a look at the rotating head. Yep, it needs a "haircut", I pull out all the hair and string and whatnot. It's still not working, sit down again and feel around inside the head, dammit it's plugged up. I remembered Randy had just bought a package of skewers, so off I go to the kitchen. Well...they were RIGHT here!! After a 5 minute fruitless hunt, I send off a quick text to Randy. "In the Garage" he replies, so off I go, found 'em! I get a wooden skewer out and sit down on the floor again with the "enemy". After a sparring battle I manage to wrestle some debris loose enough to "reach" so I mindlessly put the skewer between my teeth to hold. I quickly remembered that it was just recently deep in the bowels of dirt. *Hack! Hack! Spit* After ten minutes of wrestling, the vacuum is now clear and working! I'm glad I only have one carpeted room to deal with (the kids do their own).

Seriously, companies should hire me in their Product Testing department. I'd find EVERY fault with their products! 

"R & D Department - Please use thicker gauge rubber coating on all vacuum cords from now on. The Deafblind tester ran over the cord and stripped it down to the wiring"

"Swiffer Wet Jet Instructions - Do not use Jet Spray near cats to avoid any injuries to user"

"iRobot Instructions - Do not use in rooms that are pet "accident" areas. The robot will pick these up and smear it all around it's perimeter"

Yeah, I've avoided any major catastrophes and the house is clean.....for now....

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

As a Stay at Home Mom working with one income, I'm always looking for ways to save money.

I found these great ways to save money without having to spend a lot of time coupon clipping and such.

4 Ways to Save on your Grocery Budget


1. Saving Money while Planning:

• Make a menu for the week, or for the month.
• Plan for leftovers or double the recipes.
• Plan a few meatless meals (meat's expensive!)
• Use no-name brands for cooking and spice it up yourself.
• Have a set budget money amount & stick to it.

2. Saving while Shopping:

• Don't go shopping while hungry & bring your own drink.
• Check store flyers for sales and coupons to match your list only.
• Buy meat in bulk, bone in, skin on. It's cheaper to cut & prep it yourself. (besides I think the bones add a lot of flavor).
• Stick to your list.
• Keep track of the amounts and add it up to stay within your budget.

3. Saving Money after the Grocery Trip:

• Use several shopping Apps to "earn money" with your receipts (such as Walmart's Savings Catcher)
• Put your spare change in a "jar" and that will grow over time too (enough for a week's worth of groceries).
• Make note of where things were cheaper as you shopped (Such as Walgreen's Milk is about $1 cheaper than most grocery stores).

4. Saving Money at Home:

• Let nothing go to waste. Find recipes to use up the leftovers.
• See how little you can get away with. Just because the instructions say use "1 Cupful" of laundry doesn't mean less can't clean as well.
• Consider rewashables. Instead of spending $$ on paper towels and the like, use washcloths & rags instead.
• Identify your most expensive buys and then see if you can make it from scratch instead and if it's cheaper to do so.

All this can be done without the hassle of couponing, which on some weeks I just forget to do! So just remember don't stress over it too much, and your kids won't care if you have to serve Kraft Dinner for a while when things are tight.

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

Hubby brings home a lot of various kinds of cheeses that were donated to his Agency. State law maintains that any food cannot be served past it's expiration date. Well to us, the expiration date is a "suggestion" and a lot of food is "still good".

One day he brings home a whole bag of "Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese", just look at them all!

So, off I go to Pinterest and search for recipes and found one for Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies. Well it's really "Blueberry Vanilla Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies" now, but that's too long....

Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies
Makes about 36 Cookies


2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1/3 Cup (3 oz.) Goat Cheese, room temperature
6 Tablespoons Butter, melted
1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Large Egg
2 Tablespoons Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (Since there was already Vanilla in the cheese, I halved this, if you're using regular goat cheese, use 1 teaspoon)
Nonpareil sprinkles or sanding sugar (optional)

Note the "f" and "s" on the containers, just a low vision trick I use to differentiate the flour and sugar.

Yeah, doesn't look appealing here.....but patience my grasshopper....

Hang in there, almost done....

There we are!!

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use foil and spray nonstick on it.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
In mixer bowl combine the sugar, goat cheese and melted butter until smooth.
Mix in oil, milk, egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
Fold in flour mixture until no dry mixture remains.
(Optional Step) Pour Sprinkles or Sugar into a small bowl.
Dough should be soft but workable. Scoop out about a Tablespoon of dough, roll in the sprinkles/sugar and arrange on baking sheet with 2 inches of space between cookies.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until just set and slightly cracked.
Cool on baking sheet for about 3 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!!

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

When we were house hunting last year I came across Zillow and loved their website and App. It's clear and easy to read, great for a low vision person like me, and their search feature and filters are so easy to use. When I found houses I was interested in, I could email the Realtor directly, which again helps a deaf person like me. We found a great Realtor and was able to just email back and forth and embed a listing from Zillow to him and say "we want to see this one".

So if you're searching for a home, or rental, check out Zillow, and their App too.

Happy Househunting!

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

When spring is in the air, there is this sudden urge to go and start fresh. Unsurprisingly,many people direct their  thoughts to sprucing up their  homes.  Nothing feels better than coming home to a clean, refreshed and modernized place that offers protection, rest and all conveniences you can imagine. Changing the interior is just a few steps away; before you get there you need to consider a few things. Here is what you need to get you started. Take a close look.

Check out the Trends for Interior Painting...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jinkazamah/2439866544/

…and figure out for yourself whether they are worth trying. Decide whether your new project will follow these trends or whether you want to stick to a more standard design. This is a perfect moment to drastically change your home interior if this is what you want. Of course, you can always stick with a light interior makeover that will brighten up your home.

Select a Color

There are several questions you need to ask yourself when picking a color for your interior painting project. What are your top three favorite colors? Do you prefer bright or dark colors? How likely are you to experiment? What is the mood you want to create? Or what impression do you want to make? It can be a little discouraging to select a color out of tens of thousands of options available on the market. Here are a few suggestions:

Bedroom – this is the room you go to when you need to rest, which is why it makes perfect sense to use neutral or soothing colors such as grays, cream, green, blue, violet, etc. This will create you a perfect restful mood.

Kitchen – select bright colors that will make your cooking adventures more passionate and more frequent. If you are brave enough, why not try using bold colors?

Playroom – is there a playroom in your home? This is the room you can let your imagination run wild. Pick bright, cheerful colors that will stimulate your children's interest in the games, although they probably don't need much encouragement when it comes to games.

Living areas – you can either use open, bright or dark colors or soothing colors. It depends on how you want your living room to look like and what mood you aspire to create for your loved ones as well as your visitors.

Select a Contractor

Unless you want to complete the project by yourself, you need to choose a professional painting company to get the job done. You can't go wrong either way. It totally depends on your skills and goals. Are you ready to spend so much time and energy on this project or do you prefer using a professional contractor instead that will do the work for you? If you would rather hire a painting company, you should probably do some research before you make a decision.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ikkoskinen/3576704874/

Buy Supplies

If you want to carry out the project all by yourself, step by step, consider buying all the necessary supplies, starting from paint brushes, finish, paint, sponges, rags and other things. You probably already have some of them, so before you head for the store, make sure you go through your kitchen and basement cabinets and drawers.

Once you have it all figured out, start by emptying the rooms and preparing the surfaces. Cover all floors with newspapers so that you don't have to spend a whole week scrubbing and cleaning. Make sure you remove every coat of old paint before applying fresh ones. Enjoy the time spent painting your interior. It will be worth the effort.

The article is contributed by Anna Aamone who is a manager of Loft Converting W9

You may remember my post a while back about Mocking the Deaf Community where I ranted about the Medeas Movie hiring a hearing person for a deaf role. Well guess what? It happened again!! A new movie called Avenged hired a hearing person for a deaf role. 

Some of y'all may think "what's the big deal?" Well it's a Cultural thing.... many of us in the Deaf (capital D) community feel that hearing actors and actresses, no matter how good they are, cannot fathom the emotions and experiences of being deaf. It's much more than "pretending not to hear". 

We already know it's "Taboo" for a Caucasian actor to portray in an African-American role. The opposite seems true for LGBT roles, some actors feel that if they take on a gay role that they'll be pigeon-holed into only those types of roles (homophobic B.S. if you ask me).

Another reason for the backlash is that there are countless number of Deaf Actors and Actresses who are very talented and are striving for the limited number of available roles and yet they get passed over. Whether it's because of ignorance and not recognizing that there are Deaf actors and actresses out there; or whether it's selfishness and "it'll be easier to communicate with a hearing actor". 

Whatever the reason, I'm telling all the Directors, Producers, Talent Agencies, and Headhunters - A Hearing Actor will never understand the depth of discrimination, barriers, struggles, perseverance and accomplishments of a Deaf person....ever!

So if you're looking to fill a Deaf role, please look up some Deaf Talent (#deaftalent on Twitter).

Tracy,
One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon