washing pillows

I'll tell you a secret about me: I absolutley HATE changing the sheets.  I don't know why, I just don't like it.  I love the feel of clean sheets.  I like to have clean sheets.  I even suck it up and change them (when hubby will help me) without too much fuss.  But I really don't like it.  And I really don't know why.

So, the first time someone mentioned cleaning their pillows to me, I thought, "Why on earth would I want to spend MORE time cleaning bed-related things?"

via

While thinking about pillow-related topics and how I probably wasn't being a good wife by not cleaning our bed pillows enough, I decided to do some internet research and found a couple of blog posts about washing/cleaning pillows.

This one suggests washing, then either hanging to dry or drying in the dryer on hot.  Sounds easy and wonderful, except that we live in an apartment building with less-than-stellar dryers.  It would take two dryer cycles to get them dry.  However, it's probably the best post on cleaning pillows that I've found so far!

Good Housekeeping says we should throw them in the washer if they start to smell. Ew. Smelly pillows.  Gross.  They also have ideas for cleaning foam pillows and feather pillows.

Of course, Martha always has the answer.  Apparently, I should be doing LOTS more with my pillows.  Dryer cycle once a month...wash them often... But, to be fair, I'm not nearly as concerned with pillows that sit perfectly fluffed on my bed as most people.  Perfectly fluffed pillows are not one of my top priorities in life.

Jillee over at One Good Thing managed to get the yellow off of her pillows, but I think if I just add a little extra Borax to my homemade laundry soap, it should take care of it.  Especially with newer pillows.  I'm not much of a bleach girl anymore.

This post on SleepBetter.org says we should throw out pillows after 18 months, but that seems like a very short amount of time.  Surely, if I'm better about cleaning them, I don't need to throw them out that soon.  However, that does mean I have to be better about cleaning.  Have you seen this infographic they did?  Color me disgusted. 

We've had our pillows for...a while.  After I told him about all these things, hubby volunteered to go to Target and get us new pillows.  I think I may have worried him with all the dirty pillow talk (hah!).  We can start over with these pillows and try regular washing.  Oh happy day?

Does anyone out there wash their pillows on a regular basis?  Am I the only one that didn't know I was supposed to wash them THAT often?

you learn

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn."

C. S. Lewis

Happy Fourth!

We'll be spending the day with a few of the presidents watching some baseball! 

Happy Fourth of July! 

no wrinkles for me, please

"Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles."

George Eliot

second 5k race recap

Saturday was my second 5k.  I'm sure none of you want to hear my race recap, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

Ran the Run for Hope 5k with hubby, who obviously ran much faster than me.  He may be a little rusty (according to him), but his years and years of soccer training tend to make an appearance as soon as he kicks it into serious gear.  He's able to run much faster than me with much less advance training.

I had mixed feelings about this one.  I was not at all prepared for the number of hills on the course.  Seriously, I didn't even know you could fit that many small-to-medium hills into a 5k course.  It was super painful, since I wasn't prepared.  I was extra winded, couldn't keep a steady time, and got the most painful stitch in my side of my life.

All that said, I did somehow (miracle of miracles!) manage to beat my previous time. Must have been doing something right.  Made it in 31:39. 

Yes, I know I'm still slow, but I'm pretty proud of that number.  I could have beat it by MUCH more if the course/hills hadn't half-defeated me and if I hadn't been almost doubled over in pain halfway through from the awful stitch in my side. Oh well.  I beat the girl in the neon top with perfectly fixed hair, who provided excellent motivation for the last half mile or so. (Who still has perfectly curled hair at the END of a race?! Not me. That's for sure.)

Next up, I want to try a 10k!

Happy Monday!

wimp?

 "Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?'"

--Peter Maher, two-time Olympic marathoner from Canada

Running my second 5k tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Boston

You know, when everyone was writing blog posts and news articles and personal reflections about the bombing of the Boston Marathon, I did not.  I didn't know what to write.  Was I qualified to say anything?  I've spent time in Boston and tried to get to know the city, but, though I went to college in Massachusetts, I was almost two hours from the capital city of the Commonwealth. Was I allowed to weigh in?

I had also just started running again, but I'm no where near qualified to write about runners and the pains of marathon runners suddenly caught off guard.  I've never run anything longer than a 5k.  I can't even imagine what the finish line to a marathon would even be like, let alone one so completely changed.

Lucky for me, staying quiet paid off.  A friend of mine put into words what I was hoping someone would: that this is not the way I remember Boston.  I will never ever remember Boston as The City Where That Guy Bombed the Marathon Once.  That's not Boston.

This is Boston.

Enjoy.