Fur the love of the babies

Haha, that was an awful pun, I apologize.

Anyway, we obviously love our fur babies like crazy. They are such spoiled little sweeties, there isn't much they go without.  Today I would like to talk a little about some products that make our life a little easier with the "kids".

First up, the Rok Strap Leash. This baby is amazing, especially if you have a puller. Pepper and Murphy are both pullers and we use this to help control them on walks. There is rubber in the leash to absorb the shock of them when they pull. It's pretty funny when they get really excited and they spring back like a bungee jumper.

 

DogCasino

 DogFinder

Next up: Nin Ottosson Dog Puzzles. We have the two pictured above and they are amazing. We have two super smart dogs that tend to get bored and when they get bored they destroy things. These puzzles require the dogs to figure out how to get the treats out from either drawers or under the bones. It's really fun to watch them try to figure it out and get so excited when they find it. Plus it stimulates them mentally and tires them out a little bit.

Last but not least, the Breeze Litter System. We only recently switched to this system but so far I love it. I hate cleaning up the loose litter all over the floor, we also hate cleaning the litter boxes. What is awesome about this system is that the pads in the bottom absorb the urine (and smell!) and need changed once a week and the pellets get changed once a month!!! Seriously, couldn't have asked for a better system.

So those are some of our favorite things, fur baby edition.

My favorite things: Gadgets

This is a continuation of "my favorite things series." For this one Andy and I both put our heads together and thought of the most used gadgets around the house.

1. iRobot Roomba 560 Series

• What it is: This is our daily vacuum, with just the push of a button (or not, see below) it will vacuum the whole living room.
• Why we love it: Hello! It's a vacuum that runs by itself! It's seriously amazingly fun just to watch but it does a great job at picking up animal hair. Bonus is that I can program it to run at a certain time of the day for each day of the week. Example: Monday schedule to run at 10AM, Tuesday to run at 9AM.

2. HoMedics SoundSpa Premier AM/FM Clock Radio

• What it is: It is an alarm clock with a built it sound machine.
• Why we love it: I have such issues with sleep. I grew up down the street from train tracks so I am use to falling asleep with a lot of noise. Before we got this alarm clock we would have to sleep with a heater or fan on all night just so I could fall asleep. Andy wasn't exactly thrilled with that scenario. Now I just push a button and fall asleep to my choice of sound. It's marvelous.

3.  Nintendo Wii

• What it is: I'm going out on a limb here and assume you don't live under a rock and you know what a Wii is.
• Why we love it: It's one of our favorite things to do together and a great way to pass the time. We have used it quite a few times when we have had people over as well.  Plus it doubles as a work out system for me!

4. HTC Evo (My phone) iPhone 3g (Andy's Phone)

• What they are: Our main means of communication with the outside world.
• Why we love them: Our phones are crazy awesome. Navigation, social networking, web, and of course the actual phones. These get the most use our of any gadget in our house. 

5. Califone 1005 Record Player with built in speaker for Education and Instruction

• What it is: Does anyone remember those large, black, circular disks with grooves (call records) that when a needle glides over the surface it plays music? Yeah, this thing plays those.
• Why we love it: This is more Andy's thing so I'm turning over to him. ... You really can't get much better than vinyl when it comes to music. The scratchiness adds a whole new level to the music. Elvis knew it; that's why his music sounded so much better on Sun than RCA. But anyhow, I love the vinyl, and this record player is REALLY good quality. Guess that's what you get for it being specifically for speech and auditory therapy. 

So there you have it, the most used gadgets in the SalTal household. More favorite things to come in the future. See you again tomorrow...I hope!

My Favorite Things: Cleaning Products Pt 2

I apologize for my skimpy post yesterday. I swear I had the whole thing written out and saved, I was just awaiting editorial approval (read: Andy had to read through it). I think Blogger might have just hated me yesterday, I had to re-write that post twice already so when I go home and it wasn't here I was in no mood to write it again. Anyway, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yes, the last four cleaning products that I can't live without.

2. Pledge Fabric Sweeper

• What it does: Swoosh it across whatever fabric you have in mind (couches, chairs, blankets etc.) and it picks up that pesky fur.
• Why I love it: Four fur babies, 'nuff said. But seriously, when I don't feel like lugging the vacuum around the house to clean things this really gets the job done.

3. Bounce Dryer Bar

• What it does: It keeps my clothes and laundry static free and smelling fresh.
• Why I love it: I always forget to put in a dryer sheet or fabric softener. This convenient little bar sticks right into your dryer so you never have to worry about, well not entirely true, it needs replaced every couple of months.

4. Swiffer Dusters

• What it does: It dusts. Duh. Well it also captures the dust and doesn't spread it around.
• Why I love it: I abhor dusting. It is probably my least favorite chore. These little duster cloths really get the job done and keep the dust from flying around. 

5. Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel

• What it does: A little glob of gel in the toilet and it cleans with every flush. When it disappears you add another glob.
• Why I love it: It really keeps the toilets clean and it's easy to know when it needs to be replaced. Bonus is the smell is nice and fresh. 

There you have it, my favorite cleaning products. They make my household a little easier to clean.

So what are your favorite cleaning products and why?

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Cleaning Products pt 1

I want to preface this post  by saying these are my own personal opinions and am in no way getting paid by any of these companies to endorse these products (I wish!). Moving on, I really hope that The Sound of Music soundtrack is running through your head the rest of the day because I won't be able to get it out of mine for the rest of the day. I decided today that I want to do a series of my favorite things, I have a few different categories of products and things that I love and use everyday that I thought would be nice to share.

Today's post is going to be about the cleaning products that make my life easier. This has become vitally important lately because with my two jobs I'm getting home 3 or more hours later than Andy on weeknights and I have to also work weekends, which means our time together is precious. Most of these products save me time, energy and work pretty well which is why I love them.

1.  The Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner

• How it works: Basically, the user (moi) presses the button after the last shower of the day, then shower cleaning solution is sprayed through a rotating nozzle. Voila! The shower is clean!
•  My Thoughts: I'm a big fan of this product, I got it pretty much as soon as it came out. It's really easy to use (just push a button) and it works pretty well. It doesn't replace the need for a good scrub every once in a while but it does mean I don't need to scrub the shower once a week 

...Okay guys, I had an entire post here, with five items, it was here ready to post after I got home from work, but apparently I'm having technical difficulties. I'm too exhausted to re-write today so the remaining 2-5 items will be on the blog tomorrow. Thanks for the patience!