Update week is coming to an end, although, true story, I love a theme.

Quart jar coffee: My quart jar and straw combo from my zero waste emergency car kit have been getting quite a workout this week, thanks to hot temperatures and my never-ending thirst for Liquid Gold. I’ve been trying to pay attention to the kids in the coffee cart and their reaction to my jar, and I get one of two reactions consistently — they either tell me how cute and crafty my jar is (I’m not sure coffee qualifies as a craft, but if it does, sign me up!) OR they act like it’s totally normal and don’t say a word. I don’t mind either way. I mean, it’s nice to hear how adorable my (very plain) jar is, but it’s also nice to think that so many of us are taking reusables to get our coffee that it’s become too commonplace for comment.

Thank you, buzzfeed.com, for coming through when I forget to take a picture of my own dang coffee.

P.S. Logistics: I get my coffee, twist on the lid, and then add the straw when I get to work. The jar is too big to fit in my car’s cupholder, and the last thing I need is coffee everywhere but my mouth.

Uh, what’s up with my deodorant?: So … Okay, this is going to be awkward to write and read because we’re treading into too much info territory here, but I feel compelled to report honestly and fully. (Occupational hazard.)

My homemade deodorant is making me stink.

I’ve been doing a lot of research into why this is, and I’m still kind of at a loss. At first, I thought it was the peppermint oil I had added a couple of weeks ago on a whim. But when I googled “is peppermint oil making my armpits stink” (you guys, the things I type into that search engine … ), I found NOTHING that suggested that was actually the culprit.

Does peppermint oil cause skin irritation? Yep, apparently so. Does it help with digestive issues? Also found articles on that. Just huffing it to help with a stuffy nose? Also a (totally sketchy) thing. Headaches and other issues related to overuse? Sure.

But not ONE THING on it causing BO.

I’ve learned that it could be stress or diet. (I’m always stressed, and my diet never changes because of my food allergies.) That maybe it’s my body detoxing from years of purchased deodorant use. (I could buy that one if I had been a regular user. Admittedly, I am not … I just mostly use it in the summertime for obvious reasons. It’s always caused a lot of underarm irritation, which is why I’m traditionally sporadic with the stuff.) That body odor gets a bad rap and we should embrace it. (Uh … no.) That it could be bacterial, and apple cider vinegar might help (like applying it to your pits).

But all I really know for sure is this: I don’t usually smell bad, and yeah, okay, I have to stick my nose into my pits to smell anything, but I’m already that tall weird lady with the jars — I don’t want to be the tall weird lady with the BO.

Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? Because I’m scratching my head over here.

Thinkin’ ahead: Have I mentioned we have 30 blueberry bushes on our property? (Because that’s how many would fit in that space. Or that’s what Eric tells me.) We share them with Eric’s brother’s family, but still, that’s a lot of berries.

This variety is called “Chandler.” It only takes 8 to make a pie. 😉 That’s a quarter, by the way.

Which is amazing.

Anyway, I’ve been looking into my options for freezing the things, and although I’ve seen a lot of ideas ranging from reusing yogurt containers to milk cartons, I’ve also read how those are potentially not the best way to store precious cargo longterm. A couple of years ago I tried reusing cereal liners, but that was a bust — freezer burn and fast. I thought maybe I could try again using Eric’s FoodSaver (he used to grow a lot of hops, that’s another post for another time), but he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of potentially ruining it as cereal liners aren’t exactly recommended. Totally understandable.

So I’m just sticking with glass jars. Pros: I have a ton of them and they’re food-safe. Cons: They do not lay flat and stack like plastic bags. So they take up more room.

Another con is I’m trying to clean out the freezer in preparation for this year’s haul — I want to defrost it — which is hard to do when you’re sticking jars of blueberries in there all the time.

I do plan to make blueberry jam for holiday gifts, but my dishwasher is down for the count, and as that’s how I make sure my jars are squeaky clean, and as I am hypersensitive about potential anything in said jars, that’s not an option just yet.

Hey, Mom, can I use your kitchen?

Updates on updates: Monday’s comments on TP made me smile — you guys really are my tribe. I thought I’d get nailed on my TP hate, but what I got was understanding — and a great suggestion about bidets. I broached the subject with Abby while we were washing dishes Wednesday evening (she’s my sounding board because she’s brutally honest, so I can get an idea of how the rest of the Walker Four will take things), and she wasn’t as horrified by the thought as I’d expected, although she also wasn’t jacked. She was worried about what people would think when they came over and saw this weird contraption in the toilet, wondered exactly HOW it cleans, and vocalized a general feeling of being uncomfortable with the idea. Well, those are valid concerns. But not insurmountable.

I haven’t talked to anyone else in the family about it. (Eric will find out when he reads this post. Hi, darling!) But I’m totally … my interest is piqued. It’s not number one on my list (oh, God, I didn’t mean it like that), but it’s on the list.

… And I’ve decided it’s okay to retire my soap from Wednesday’s update since it’s causing me to breakout. It’s now in the shower. Thank you for reminding me that I don’t need to martyr myself for the sake of the project.

Zero waste pest control: Skilly got a mouse last night — in our room, gross — and didn’t bring it up to the bed to show us, as is his usual MO. (There’s nothing like being woken from a sound slumber at 2:30 a.m. with a half-dead mouse on your bed, being pounced on by an overzealous kitty.) I was like, Good boy, Skilly, that’s zero waste! He seems rather pleased that he’s helping the cause. (Okay, yeah, this is a stretch. BUT HE’S SO CUTE.)

Next up: A very zero waste Fourth of July. 🙂