Things that amaze me

Besides the ridiculosity of the weather in Dallas right now... Seriously. It was 70 degrees two days ago, dipped down below freezing overnight with 6 inches of snow, and will be back to 65 tomorrow. I really just don't understand it.
Anyways, Thursday was match day and much celebration ensued. This led to the inevitable minor wine spills on fabric and carpet and myself. Luckily, we've figured out by now what works for stains, which leads to my post. Cleaning products that amaze me.
1. Oxy-clean. Adding it to laundry is great, but it really shines for hard-core stain and mess cleanup if you add it to boiling water. Boiling water with oxy-clean will get wine out of upholstery, and is the sole reason that we may be able to get our pet deposit back (Reagan is well-trained, but there have been 2 times when he has gotten, ahem, ill when Ethan and I were both at work/school. Boiling water, adding oxy-clean, then going over it with a rug-doctor erases any memory of mishap)
2. Tide stain pen. spot of wine or coffee on your shirt? gone. I have no idea how it works.
3. Bar-Keeper's friend. When made into a paste, gets rid of those random gray streaks that occur when metal hits porcelain, gets rid of baked-on brown stains on glass baking dishes, cleans off the thingies under our burners, and has revitalized a thrift-store brass serving tray from the 60's that I got for about $4.
4. Febreze. I have used this on my hair in the past before Dallas bars went smoke-free. works wonders.
5. Magic Eraser. If anything is dingy that should be white, this usually takes care of it.

Of course, some of the best products are old-school, and may have been something your grandma used. Castile soap mixed with baking soda makes a great scrubber, Ketchup will shine up copper and stainless steel, And if you drop an egg on the kitchen floor you can pour table salt over it and sweep it all up...I am a huge klutz, and have used this trick many times :). I've also heard that newspapers are superior to paper towels for wiping down glass with glass cleaner (I have not tried this myself, as I haven't seen a newspaper in several months).

In other news, I became an aunt TWICE within a week. My nephew Mason was born on a Monday, and my niece Win was born the following Friday (two different moms, not really bizarre twins!). I of course forgot my camera when we went to see Mason, but here is a picture of Win. I think she looks a little like me, but with her Daddy's nose.


Also, for those wondering, I matched at UTSW in general surgery. I will save the details of that for a different post