Okay, fun and games are over! I am back to the serious business of writing my blog. I hope everyone had a wonderful summer! We had a great summer and it was over too quickly, isn't it always?
We got back last week from Long Beach, IN on Lake Michigan (and yes, I am still unpacking and doing laundry!) and my black car was parked outside under a tree (read BIRDS) for the two week duration and it was filthy. I mean it was so dirty even I noticed and felt embarrassed driving around in my dusty, so-sticky-from-sap-I-couldn't-put-down-my-driver's-side-window, bird poop covered car. For the first time in a long time I considered washing my car myself. It would save me money and it would be better for the environment, right? It turns out I was wrong (gasp). Environmentally at least, it turns out that car washes conserve more water and their run off goes into the sewer system where it is treated and cleaned. When you wash your car at home, that dirty, greasy water goes right into the storm sewer and right into our lakes, rivers and oceans without being treated. Plus washing at home uses about 3 times more water than a car wash.
Thank goodness I researched before getting out the pail and bucket! Me in a wet t-shirt washing my car in the driveway (nobody needs to see that!)
TIP FOR TODAY Want whiter teeth?
Don't go to the dentist for the expensive trays and laser whitening. Go to Target and buy a night guard. The kind that you put in hot water and mold to your teeth. Buy one for the top and the bottom, they are about $15 each. Then go to your dentist's office, or any dental office, and get a tube of their teeth whitening bleach--they all sell it. My dentist sells it for $10 a tube and you get 4-5 uses from it. They will give your instructions on how to use the bleach. Then go home and follow the directions for your "night guards" and viola! Dental trays! True, they are not as tight a fit as they would be from the dentist and they are definitely bulkier BUT they are about $200 less expensive and they WORK. I accidentally threw away my $250 whitening trays from the dentist (DON'T ASK) but still had some of the bleach tubes left over. Then after a visit to said dentist, I was told I was grinding my teeth (no surprise there, if you don't de-stress in other ways, oh say like exercising or meditating or throwing things, turns out you might be a clencher or a grinder) and they would outfit me with a night guard for about $400! Yikes! Then the hygienist told me I could try the over the counter night guards form Walgreen's or Target. I love going to Target so I made that my next stop after the dentist and bought their Target brand dental guard. I think it has helped with the clenching and grinding, I seem to sleep a bit better. Then one evening getting my head gear on for bed, it hit me, let's try the bleach in this baby (I only bought a tray for my upper teeth) and over the last 3 months I have been using this method my teeth are just as white as when I was using the more expensive trays. I think the key is to get the bleach from the dentist and not use the OTC stuff--I did try that and couldn't tell a difference. The only caveat to my method might be that you will have to do the top tray and then the bottom tray, both at once might be a bit bulky. But if you are like me and have a big mouth, who knows? Happy bleaching and let me know your results!
