Today is National Coffee Day. Being a non-coffee drinker, this holiday nearly passed by without my acknowledging it. To help those that do drink coffee celebrate this day, a comment contest is in order.

Each legit comment(no spam, trackbacks) to this post or any post on Geeky Housewife between today and Wednesday, October 1, 2008 will earn you one entry into a random for a $5 Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf gift card. There will be five winners chosen from a random drawing.

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is celebrating its 45th birthday. The gift cards can be used to buy homemade items, coffees, or teas either at a store or online.

Winners will be drawn Thursday October 2nd. Winners will be contacted through email by me and will need to provide an address so the cards can be sent to them.

I must confess that the baby bug has bitten me. I find myself really wanting another little one sometime soon. Today I’ve spent a good deal of time daydreaming about having another baby and what all we would need. One product that I had wanted to get when Raegan was born was a swaddle blanket. Babies loved to be swaddled and held close. It’s amazing how it calms and soothes a baby to have them wrapped up tightly.

You can do a swaddle with a normal blanket, but it isn’t necessarily easy. I remember the nurses could swaddle Rae in record time. Of course, I guess if it’s something you do everyday then it can become second nature. For new Moms like me it can be challenging, though. That’s why swaddle blankets was one product I really wanted to have for Rae. Sadly I couldn’t find any until she was a little older and out of the swaddling stage.

This cute Swaddle Me Blanket would have been a perfect choice since it’s easy to operate. It’s soft and comes in a really cute pattern. This could definitely be a unisex baby gift. This one uses Velcro to keep the baby wrapped up in this uniquely designed blanket. The baby fits into a pocket and the you wrap the ‘arms’ of the blanket around the baby. It will definitely keep the little one wrapped tightly, giving him a sense of security.

This will be an item that I will definitely use if I have another baby as it the swaddle blanket is much easier to use than a traditional blanket for swaddling purposes.

It might be a little late to actually call it spring cleaning but here in the south you have to take your pleasant days when you can. Spring gets way too hot way too fast to get any major overhaul cleaning done. Today, I plan to do some projects that I have been putting off for months mainly because it’s been too hot to tackle them.

Before I begin cleaning, I want to de-clutter. The problem with de-cluttering is that I usually make more of a mess than I clean up. Well at least in the beginning stages of de-cluttering as I sort through all of our stuff. This time I’m prepared as I bought several plastic storage boxes(18 gallons for $4 a piece. can’t beat that) that should greatly help to keep things organized while I sort through our stuff.

This little project will probably last for several days but hopefully at the end we will have much less stuff and a better idea of where all of our stuff is so when we need it we can find it.

Now here is a fun game that we play practically daily at our house. It’s called “Have you seen my..” We are always either looking for belts, wallets, keys, Woody and Buzz dolls, dinosaurs, puppies, my mind, etc.

Now finding items for my husband is pretty simple as he is a creature of habit. His stuff is usually in one of the three places he leaves things. But with Raegan, now her toys can be just about anywhere. She is always finding new spots to stuff toys in like cabinets, wood stove, backpacks, or just plain toss it outside.

The first place I look when looking for lost items is the last place I remember seeing it. Sometimes this works but it’s rare for anything to stay in the same place with a three-year-old around. If it’s something that was in reach of Raegan, I begin to search her favorite stash spots. Of course, sometimes she gets tired of something and will just drop it in the middle of the floor.

I’ve decided that the best way to search for something that Rae had last is to get down to her level to look for it. It’s amazing how changing perspective can really help you find stuff. While this method isn’t always fruitful, it has helped to locate shoes, small toys, and other items that had rolled or been pushed under furniture.

Also a good way to find lost items is to stop looking for them. It’s amazing how once we stop looking that we will stumble upon what we just spent three hours looking for. Terrible advice, I know, but it works a lot of the time.

It was actually pleasant this morning that you could stand to be outside. These cool mornings make me long for fall weather and a deck with a view. Our deck needs some work and some furniture with a few fire pits to add some real ambiance.

Right now we have little on our deck. I’m not sure how much furniture we will be adding to it as there are a few repairs that need to be done. Some boards are rotten and need to be replaced. We also need to add a door to keep the three-year-old from roaming away. It’s all things on the fall to do list. You know the one. The list of things that need to be done when the weather is cooler outside. So, basically we will have about two weeks to do everything since we have a very short autumn season here in Mississippi. Well that is when we have fall at all.

Hopefully we can get some things done to make our deck look better. It would be nice to fully enjoy it this fall.

Do you spend a lot of time looking through acne products to find one that will work for you? My husband sometimes gets adult acne, so we’ve recently bought him some acne products to help with outbreaks. But did you know that eating certain foods can also help your acne?

Reading this article on good foods for your acne makes me want to try some. Cucumber is on the list because they contain vitamins A and C. They are also in the same family as watermelons. My husband loves cucumbers, so this one we will have to give a try next time he feels an outbreak coming up.

It’s an interesting idea to fight acne with foods that are good for us. But I guess it does make sense that if we eat what is good for us then that can help fight imperfections in our body.

As you may have noticed, I do a few product reviews on my blog. It’s something I enjoy doing and love taking my own photos of the product to use with my posts. The problem is that I live in chaos and finding an uncluttered section to take a picture can be quite challenging. So this weekend I’ve decided to make a lightbox.

I’m going to use this cardboard box, a box cutter, and some white poster board to create a lightbox. I found instructions for it at Instructables.com and will have to find them again before I actually start the project.

Hopefully it won’t take long to do this as I would like to try it out this weekend. The instructions seemed easy enough, but I guess it will all depend upon how handy I am with a box cutter. On second thought, I might be better off just buying a lightbox instead.

Meet my new favorite product. The Lysol air neutralizer keeps my home smelling fresh all day. Best of all I don’t have to do anything. What a great concept.

The neutralizer hangs on the wall or can sit on a shelf. Install the two AA batteries and load the Lysol neutralizer can. Then set the timer to either 9, 18, or 36 minutes. That’s how often the neutralizer will spray. I set mine to 36 minutes. I do have to admit that the first few days I nearly came unglued everything the thing sprayed but once I got used to the noise, I don’t jump nearly as often.

There are other scents other than the one that comes with the neutralizer. Each can can last up to 2 months. You can also spray it anytime by pressing the button on the front.

The neutralizer works well and is helping to keep the house smelling fresh. I like the smell of freshness in the house but never remember to spray and candles are out of the question with the three year old(she likes to blow them out). So, the Lysol air neutralizer fills a need in our home and works great.