beware of flat rate boxes.

You have heard me say a jillion times that I am a huge fan of the USPS Priority Mail Boxes.  The envelopes and boxes are "free" with a mailing - and you can take a supply home to keep in your office.  You can even order specialty sizes from usps.com and they will deliver them to your door.

But buyer beware.  Be careful which boxes you choose! DO NOT use a flat-rate box if you are not mailing something HEAVY because you are being charged a "flat-rate" no matter what you put in the box.  For example, my sister just sent me three rather small bottles of my favorite Mary Kay eye makeup remover. She put them in the above "large flat rate" priority mail box.  Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. It cost her a "flat-rate" of $15.45 to mail this lightweight package.  If she would have used the flat-rate ENVELOPE it would have cost her $5.15!  If she would have used a regular non-flat-rate box, I am guessing she would have paid about $7.

The bottom line is:

ONLY use the flat-rate boxes if you are mailing a stack of books or jars of jelly.

Whenever possible, see if what you are mailing fits in the Flat-rate ENVELOPE because you can mail anything you can fit inside of it for $5.15.  And it does not have to stay "flat". It can be as bumpy or lumpy as you want, and long as you can get it sealed.

Make it a priority to make thoughtful decisions next time you are mailing a package at the USPS.

must-have gloves.

Find yourself a hardware store and treat yourself to what will be your favorite gardening gloves!  These new "Muddy Mate" gloves by Boss are amazing.  They give you gripping power and dexterity all while keeping the dirt out! I have never had gloves perform like this.

And for the record, what new grandma could refuse the cherry tomatoes named "sweet baby girl"!

 Mother Rabbit says: Even if it is a pot on your porch - PLANT SOMETHING.  It is a unique pleasure to plant a tiny seed and then watch it grow.  Happy Gardening!

purse wipes.

Mother Rabbit is a big fan of flushable wipes.  Mother Rabbit appreciates clean things and one of my mantras is "have wipes, will travel".  I purchase this particular purse-size version in the travel-size aisle at Target for $1.   Besides the obvious, I enjoy using them to wipe off my hands after pushing a shopping cart or maneuvering a public place.  Did you know that the germ-iest place on an airplane is the fold-down tray?  Not for me, because I always give it a quick wipe.  The purse wipes also come in handy when a spill happens.  Recently in a supermarket checkout lane the woman next to me dropped a container of sour-cream-looking-stuff on her sandal-ed foot.  Luckily, she was standing next to me.  She was profoundly grateful to have someone hand her a series of moist wipes, and before long she could exit the store gracefully.
I recommend seeing how handy you could be with your own set of traveling purse wipes.

lululemon.

Lululemon is an athletic wear company out of Canada that is all the rage.  When I started teaching the Ultimate Cardio class at Anytime Fitness in Oakland my girls told me that I needed some Lulu.  So on my last trip to Dallas I made my first Lululemon purchases and I am supposedly looking much more hip.  But the real scoop on what makes the Lululemon workout pants worth the extra $ is how they make your behind look.  (I do not feel like Mother Rabbit should say "butt" on her blog.)  I guess I passed that test because daughter #3 said "Mom, those look great on you... you don't have an old lady butt anymore."  I think that was a complement...

Anyway, my intention in sharing about Lulu was not so you could be tuned in to how much more shapely I might be looking at workout time, but because with every Lululemon purchase you receive a handy workout bag.  Not only that, but the bag is covered with verbiage that is worth repeating, and Mother Rabbit did want to share some of these wise words. Here are a few of my favorites:

SWEAT once a day to regenerate your skin.

BREATHE DEEPLY and appreciate the moment. 

Stress is related to 99% of all illness.

Your OUTLOOK ON LIFE is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.

Friends are more important than money.

DANCE, SING, FLOSS & TRAVEL.

Waking up two days in a row uninspired? CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Sunscreen absorbed into your skin might be worse than sunshine.  GET THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE.

Do one thing a day that scares you.

Observe a plant before & after watering and relate these benefits to your body and brain.

biz wins.

Mother Rabbit had the privilege of doing some Grandma Bunny duty over the past month.  Lucky me.  I remembered when raising my little bunnies that Biz is what I depended on to remove baby poo stains as well as any food related 'situations'.  Now a days it seems to me that you see OxiClean in more prevalent spots in the marketplace for pre-soaking.

I am here to say that OxiClean does not work as well as Biz on breast fed diaper disasters. This is fresh research ladies.  I tried them both.  Only Biz lifted the stains on those darling little outfits. Biz wins for my baby girl... then and now.

a rested mother is a happy mother.

This is one of my mantras.  For mothers of all ages.  I feel compelled to say it again because I had the privilege of being with my daughter following the birth of her first daughter.  One of my most important tasks was to remind her of the classic advice for new mothers: Sleep when your baby sleeps.

Nothing helps one handle the stresses of life like a good night's sleep or a good nap. Period.

rub it out.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes your feet will ache in a certain spot? My suggestion: Spend some time massaging the area with your favorite lotion.  I keep a lovely smelling moisturizing lotion in the drawer of my nightstand for this very purpose.  As you know, our bodies were fearfully & wonderfully made in such a way that all the points in our feet connect to particular organs and body areas via the nervous system.  The study of this is called Reflexology and it is an amazing science.  While it would be fascinating to study this in detail, I am merely suggesting that you respect your feet and listen when they are talking to you. My feet "talk" to me most often when I am in bed, or should I clarify that is when I can "hear" them. 

I do not usually worry about what particular body part might be ailing when my feet ache in a particular area, I just concentrate on spending some time thoughtfully massaging the soreness.  Have you ever experienced how relaxing it is to rub your feet at night before tucking them under the covers? Try it. You'll like it.