My little girl has very sensitive skin. I use Purex Free and Clear laundry detergent since everything else seems to break her out. But my husband missed fabric softener since he loves the smell of it. I, on the other hand, can take or leave fabric softener as it seems to always be too heavy of a scent for my liking.

When I saw the Purex hypoallergenic fabric softener, I was excited to try it. I thought this might could give my husband his beloved fabric softener and it wouldn’t bother my daughter’s sensitive skin. So I tried it on a couple of load of clothes. I must say that I like it. The scent is not as strong as normal fabric softener. It also doesn’t leave a residue on my clothes.

The husband seems to like it. I don’t use it that often but he does. Even though I like it, I’m just not a fabric softener fan. I will use it more in the winter to help cut down static cling.

I am glad that I have found a fabric softener we can use without worry about how it will affect the girl.

On my short wish list is a dishwasher. I get so tired of doing dishes day in and day out. Well let’s be honest here. I may do dishes once a day – on those days that I cook. Until recently we didn’t have a tall refrigerator but was using a dorm sized one. So we drank a lot of can drinks and used very few glasses. So my point is that we weren’t using a lot of dishes. Now that has changed and so I’m back to really wanting a dishwasher.

But my whole point of this post is to not to talk about a dishwasher but to talk about a cleaning product I bought for doing dishes. It’s made by Celo. It’s a scrubbing pad that holds dish liquid soap.

I bought it for two reasons – I thought it was cute and from what I read I gathered it would clean well without having to apply a lot of elbow grease.

So after filling it with soap, I put it to test on my cast iron skillet that had some hard food residue on the bottom. (I should know by now to rinse out pots and pans immediately after cooking) I was excited to see that it worked very well without much force by me.

I’ve had one of these before. It just wasn’t made by Celo. It was so handy between dish washings when you need only to wash a few things.

I was pleased with how well it work because the pad isn’t that abrasive. It works like it says it does and anything that makes doing dishes a little easier, I support 100 percent.

With my share of our tax return money, I bought something that I’ve been wanting for the past year – a sub-mini notebook. Ever since I heard about these babies, I’ve really wanted one but always talked myself out of buying one. After all, I already have a perfectly good PC and laptop. Why do I need another laptop? I finally broke down and bought one. My reasoning was that I wanted something smaller and that was easier to use on the go. I went with the Acer Aspire One. Here it is side by side with my Toshiba laptop.

The keyboard is smaller than my laptop keyboard and does take a little to get used to. The screen is smaller. I had wanted a sub-mini laptop to surf the Internet and for blogging. So for these two tasks, it’s perfect.

I had bought the Acer with the 6 cell battery. It has a battery life of 5 and a half hours compared to 2 1/2 with the 3 cell battery. I sit with my Acer and watch TV. It fits nicely on my lap with plenty of room for the three-year-old when she wants to sit with me. The Acer does get warm but not nearly as warm as my Toshiba seems to get at times. My sub-mini has a 160GB hard drive and has at least two USB ports and an SD memory card slot. The fan almost immediately cuts on when using it and for the most part stays on – making me think I might have to use a cooling pad with the Acer.

The sub mini boots up in less than 1 minute and boots up from standby in less than 10 seconds. This was another reason I wanted one of these. When I have an idea I want to type, every second lost is that idea slipping further away from me.

The size of the Acer Aspire One is awesome. It fits into my purse and with the long battery life means that I can use it almost all day on one charge.

Overall I’m very happy with the Acer Aspire One. I wish I had bought one sooner as I’m seeing a lot of benefits to having a smaller laptop.

Skin MD Natural is a skin shielding lotion that works wonders. I don’t really care for lotions but Skin MD goes on so smoothly and absorbs so fast that I really can’t tell that I’ve put any on. Usually my hands feel greasy after putting on lotion but not with Skin MD. That’s why I was really excited to try another Skin MD product – Skin MD SPF 15.

Living in the south, we have a lot of sunny, hot days. It’s important to protect your skin. Skin MD SPF 15 does both – shields and protects my skin. It’s a little creamier than the regular Skin MD but goes on just as easily and clean. It’s become part of my morning routine.

Skin MD without a doubt is my favorite lotion. It works well and leaves no residue. Having the SPF 15 version will also keep my skin protected from the sun.

The Swiffer Sweeper is a product that has truly changed how I clean for the better. Although I write about household and cleaning tips, I hate to clean. That’s why I love products that make it easier.

I remember when the Swiffer Sweeper first hit the market. I looked everywhere for one but they were always sold out. Finally I found a Scotch version of the Swiffer and got it. It worked well but after about a year I couldn’t find the refills anymore. It was an important lesson that when and innovative product comes onto the market to buy that brand.

I did finally get a Swiffer Sweeper and have enjoyed it ever since. It makes cleaning so easy and fast. The sweeper picks up so much that the broom misses. Sometimes after I sweep I Swiffer especially when the little one was crawling around on the floor. The wet pads really help to clean the floor when you don’t have time to mop. It’s very light-weight and a breeze to push around the floor. Even the three-year-old enjoys using the Swiffer. So any product that makes cleaning ‘fun’ I’m all for it.

The Swiffer pivots around corners and under tight spots. Of course I don’t think I’ve tried a Swiffer product I have been disappointed with its performance.

But don’t take my word for it. Do you want your own Swiffer Sweeper? Well we’re giving one away. Just leave a comment(no spam please) on this post to be entered into the random drawing that will take place around noon on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009. Open to U.S. and Canadian residents. The winner will be emailed and also posted on the Geeky Housewife blog.

This week I’ve been snacking on some Everybody’s Nuts pistachios. I must say that I have never been a fan of pistachios but gave these a try. Now I can’t stop snacking on them.

Like most nuts, a handful seems to satisfy me. They are easy to open and are full of flavor. Pistachios are also a healthy snack full of antioxidants and fiber. Each ounce of pistachios has 3 grams of fiber. They are also an excellent source of Vitamin B6 and other B vitamins. People have been eating pistachios for thousands of years. Did you know that pistachios are one of the two nuts that are mentioned in the Bible? (Genesis 43:11)

I have been really enjoying the pistachios lately. And since they have nutritional value, I don’t have to feel so guilty about enjoying a handful every day.

One chore I do not look forward to is cleaning the bathroom. It is something I do first just to get it out of the way. When it comes to cleaning the bathroom, I like fast solutions that work well. When I first heard about Scrubbing Bubbles product Action Scrubbers, I knew it was something I would be interested in giving a try.

The starter kit comes with the green handle and four scrubbing pads. Stick the pad onto the green handle and wet thoroughly. Now you are ready to clean. When the soap stops flowing, re-wet the pad to get more. It cleans well. I love that each time I clean I start with a clean pad. I’ve tried cleaning with sponges and hate it. They are never ‘clean’ except for the first time you use them. It’s great to have that new sponge clean every time you clean.

The best thing about the Action Scrubbers is that they are husband approved. I loved those products that the husband likes when it comes to cleaning because he is more like to use it. That means that I don’t have to do all the cleaning. This is one product I will make sure to have in the house at all times.

My laptop is something that I use everyday for at least a few hours. My desktop is hardly ever used because everything I need is on my laptop. I do like to carry it with me when we travel or to work. But I find my regular laptop case is bulky, heavy, and cumbersome.

When asked if I would like to review Designer Sleeves, I was intrigued by the sleekness and look of the product. It seemed a great alternative to my bulky laptop case, so I agreed to try it.

I love the feel of the material. It’s waterproof and is wetsuit grade Neoprene. It also provides some padding in case, Lord forbid, I drop my laptop. There is also a nice pocket on the side to hold a power cord or my portable hard drive. My laptop fits nicely into the sleeve and is the perfect size for carrying it like a book. It’s so much easier to cart around this way especially on short trips where all I really need is my laptop. I have a tendency is use my laptop bag as an extra luggage bag, filling it with books, magazines, the DS, and other small items.

Also I just love the design. So very pretty. It’s one of those bags that is functional yet looks good enough to take anywhere. You can get the designer sleeves with a strap, too. I think I prefer it without the strap as it is very easy and comfortable to carry it around.

The Designer Sleeve is the perfect way to tote around a laptop without having to tote around a huge laptop bag. It’s been very handy for laptop storage and travel.

To say that we are a tech family is putting it lightly. We have more computers than there are people that live in our household. Our favorite gifts are video games, board games, or computer accessories. So it is not surprising that Rae likes video games. In fact, she loves the Nintendo DS and even understands some games pretty well.

With that background knowledge, it should come as no surprise that we usually buy Rae toys that have some sort of learning/tech behind them. When asked if I would like to become part of the Vtech Demo team(well me and Rae that is), I thought it would be a fun experience for us both especially since we(Rae and I) were quite familiar with a lot of Vtech products.

Rae loves the Lightning McQueen Learning Laptop. She calls it her ‘po-puter’ and likes to watch movies on it. She’s referring to the starting animation. She is a little young for the laptop as it has a recommended age of 4-7 years. She just turned three but she still enjoys it a lot especially the games – imagine that. You access the games by pressing one of the three cars next to the keyboard. We play the learning games together and it creates a great learning experience that is also fun.

One thing I like about the Lightning McQueen Learning Laptop is its design. With the lid closed it looks like Lightning McQueen. Once you open it, you can remove the tire mouse that has easy to click buttons on it.

Also the display is very clear and big. There is an opening animation when you turn on the laptop. Raegan calls it a movie. The screen size is perfect to see what is going on. The audio is clear as well and you can understand every word spoken.

There are three games on it that feature the cars from the movie. To start the games, you just press one of the three characters from The Cars movie. There are also several learning activities that you use the keyboard to play. Games either deal with words, math, or logic.

The learning laptop has been a fun way to help Rae learn and something she readily enjoys playing with. The laptop keeps her entertained while helping her learn. Plus it’s very striking and feature-rich of fun games and activities.

During the holidays, it’s nice to be able to laugh at the situations that seem to creep up year after year. Christmas Sucks is a new book that is a practical guide with comic relief to how to handle these very unique holiday happenings.

Joanne Kimes, who is the author of Christmas Sucks and Pregnancy Sucks, shares several funny antidotes in her latest book. Chapters cover everything from the office Christmas parties to Black Friday to loser gifts(a personal favorite section). Kimes touches on practically every subject and situation that we find ourselves in this holiday. Have you ever wondered the proper etiquette for re-gifting? It’s amazing how often we get gifts that just aren’t us. It’s also a subject Kimes tackles with humor and good advice.

Christmas Sucks – What to do when fruitcake, family, and finding the perfect gift make you miserable is a great read. It’s also pretty fast, which is always a plus in my book. I found this book – all 144 pages – to be a total delight. I love that the author mixes humor in with practical advice. She also does a great job of touching on every subject imaginable related to the holidays. After reading the book, I feel a little less stressed out. Maybe there is something reassuring knowing that everyone else is facing the same dreaded office parties and insane mall crowds that I am.

But don’t just take my word for it. I’m giving away a copy of Christmas Sucks to one of you. All you need to do is comment on this post with what you are either most looking forward to or dreading this holiday season. I’ll randomly draw Monday, December 8th for the winner. Deadline for entries will be Sunday, December 7th. The winner will then have 5 days to respond(I will email the winner December 8th and post here at GH) or I will draw for a new winner.

If you don’t win Christmas Sucks, you can ask Santa for it. At a retail price of $9.95, it might just be affordable for any Secret Santa you got roped into doing this holiday, too.