One day, you’re sitting on the couch and something you need to take care of comes to mind. You think, “I’ll do it tomorrow” and the fuse on the candle is lit.

The longer you put off your thing, the more the need to do it melts into your brain. And then there’s another thing, and another thing, and another thing – and all the things gloop together in a very immovable blob. Sooner or later, you have procrastination melted all in and around your gray matter, seeping and hardening between the synapses, melding you ever more firmly to the floor. Or the couch. Or the bed.

You look again at the first thing you put off – perhaps it’s setting an appointment, or calling a friend, or cleaning the bathroom  – and it seems huge and fixed. Impossible to take care of. A monumental stain that, just yesterday, was nothing but a tiny drip you could have wiped up immediately. But now it has an entire day’s worth of other things you put off all piled on top of it.

So you stare at the thing for a while, and you hate it. You hide it under the rug and try to find another working solution, but the original mess is still there.

And exactly like real candle wax melted and hardened into your carpet, all you need is a little heat, a little pressure, and willingness to get rid of it forever.

So while we’re not going to tackle your procrastination tendencies (we can do that tomorrow or something), maybe learning how frickin’ amazingly easy it is to get candle wax out of the carpet will inspire you to apply a little heat and pressure to the other things you’ve been putting off. (You know, things like getting that candle wax out of the carpet.)

Remove Candle Wax From Your Carpet, Forever, In SECONDS

Last week, after hauling all of our furniture out of our old place, I discovered that blob (above) of candle wax sealed into the carpet.

(By “discovered,” I mean “remembered,” because I totally procrastinated and forgot about it.)

Visions of our deposit flushing down the toilet flashed through my brain, until I remembered that the internet is full of answers to all the unsolvable problems of the universe. And it turns out, this solution isn’t anything new – it’s plastered all over the place. But because I hadn’t heard of it before now, I thought perhaps some of you might benefit from this magical (and seriously INSTANT) solution that takes care of the problem forever and ever.

And let me tell you something, sisters and brothers, if taking care of everything in your life could be this much fun, we wouldn’t even understand what the word procrastination means.

So How Do You Get Candle Wax Out of the Carpet?

Here’s what you need (and, yes, this is EVERYTHING YOU NEED):

An iron and a paper bag (you could also use a paper towel, I’m sure).

Oh …

You also need hardened candle wax that’s melted into your carpet. However, I don’t suggest acquiring that unless you absolutely have to. And by “have to,” I mean, “accidentally made happen.” For as exciting as this cleaning job is, don’t purposely melt things into your carpet. Unless you want to. Who am I to judge?

The first thing I did was: I kind of picked at the candle wax and broke it up a bit with my fingernails. This isn’t a necessary step. I just did it. And then I vacuumed up the little pieces, until I had a spot that looked like this:

Next, you want to heat up your iron to a very low setting (I set mine on 3) and make sure it’s only hot enough to melt the wax, and not the synthetic fibers of your carpet (if your carpet has synthetic fibers).

This is also a great time to rip the bag into large-ish pieces until you only have one layer of paper.

Place the single-layer of paper bag over the spot o’ wax – making sure you’re not ironing in any ink from the bag onto the carpet.

Apply slight pressure over the wax areas – and you’ll immediately notice little spots of wax transferring from the carpet to the paper bag.

Don’t hold your iron over it for too long. Just little pushes and moves of the bag around the wax works really well.

I got the tingles watching these little spots of wax show up on the backside of the bag. It was magic. I had to take this show on the road.

Continue lightly pressing down and moving the iron and paper around the wax area until you no longer see spots showing up. You may need to use several pieces of paper bag to get it all out. I also kind of smushed the carpet down in places to get to the areas where the wax was nearly touching the floor.

The results?

Amazing. Like the wax never even existed. Good as new. Fresh and fancy.

(A little like your mind will be when you take care of the other things you’ve been putting off, right?)

Play the game with me!

Can you see it? Well, can you?

After I was done, I dragged Skip into the room and made him point to the area where it was. He couldn’t do it! And when we walked in with the leasing agent during the final walk through, I held my breath until she said, “Wow! Everything looks just absolutely perfect, Leslie.” (Also, she said that about the bathrooms which, by the way, I cleaned entirely with vinegar and water, but that’s another story.)

SUCCESS – and a slightly silly feeling for putting off cleaning that mess up for such a long time.

So, You See, A Little Heat and a Little Pressure …

… and there’s no job too procrastinated that your capable self can’t take care of.

So today, I challenge you to take a warm iron and a paper bag to just one – just one – thing in your life that you’ve been putting off for a while. See if you can’t find that magical moment when the wax of worry transfers to the paper bag of doing (you like my metaphors, don’t you?).

Even, and especially, if it’s getting candle wax out of your carpet.

Go be awesome.

At the time, I was fumbling around in the world of blogs. I was dipping my proverbial toes in the metaphorical pineapple juice, often for the first time right before I blogged it. Some of you were there with me then. A few of you remember the first header Crunchy Betty ever had.

I can’t believe you’re still with me …

(Yes, that is it. It was a photo I took of a woman’s mannequin head from an antique store in Kansas City. It was weird. I was weird. I am weird. Time to come clean about it.)

I’ve changed a lot in the last three years. My beliefs have changed. My reasons for doing things have changed.

This hasn’t always been easy for me, and I know it hasn’t ever been easy for those of you who read the blog. But you’re still here (or you’re here for the first time, and that’s awesome, too).

On August 1, 2010, I asked all 20 of my readers what they thought a Crunchy Betty was.

After I share with you some of my thoughts on what Crunchy Betty is now, where it’s been and where it’s going, I’m going to ask you similar questions. Your answers – your answers will become PART of what I share tomorrow in Boston.

In the original post, in which we talked about the defining aspects of being a “Crunchy Betty,” I said this:

Here are my thoughts – my original and evolving ones – on what constitutes a Crunchy Betty. I know, I know. It was my concept to begin with, but you people amaze me every day, and your input means as much to me as my own flitting ideas.

This has remained true throughout this whole 3-year journey. I am not what makes Crunchy Betty “Crunchy Betty” – you are. The way you experiment bravely. The way you charge ahead with embracing what’s natural and true, over what’s manufactured and synthetic – even in the face of potential questioning looks (or groans from your husbands). The way you take ideas – not just from me but from a thousand different sources – and run with them and find what works for you.

In truth, without any of your willingness and wonder, I’d just be some crazy lady sitting around with her face in a bowl full of fruit.

So, please, share at the end of this post. I’ll give you a specific question or two, but please feel free to say whatever it is that’s on your mind. Your input counts (more than mine does).

Where Crunchy Betty Was

As children, everything is an experiment. The way we walk and talk, how we learn to relate to other kids … even the act of smashing pebbles with a hammer becomes a brave and mighty treasure hunt.

When I was 5, I would mix together different shampoos and conditioners, singing and splashing, imagining I was creating a hair dye and suddenly I’d be blonde, or permed, or bald. I was convinced that the right combination of Suave and V05 would produce shocking results. It never did.

Then, at the age of 6, I told my mother I was going to start baking bread. And that’s what I did. Several loaves, all by myself, for no rhyme or reason. There’s a simple power in shaping a loaf, bringing it to life with your own bare hands. And my little fingers felt that power.

Of course, as we age, we lose that sense of wonderment of our own personal power – we forget the magic in experimenting with what we can do for ourselves. Jobs and bills and television and life get in the way. Experimenting becomes luxury, and then it becomes occasional whimsy, and then it just seems like a waste of time – especially when you can just run down to the store and buy whatever you need before the commercials are over.

When I started Crunchy Betty, it was with that whimsy – that magic of experimentation – in mind. When I began Crunchy Betty, it wasn’t about anything other than chatting about life and trying natural recipes and remedies.

Eventually, as more people hopped on board, I realized that this “crunchiness” wasn’t just whimsy – it could be a way of life. Most nights were spent falling asleep on a pile of books, while researching and reading about herbalism, aromatherapy, historical remedies, and conscious living. Most days were spent mixing together concoctions and smearing them everywhere – or eating them occasionally.

Many of us went no ‘poo, and tried the oil cleansing method. Or we challenged ourselves to smear honey on our faces and loved every second of it. Some of you fell in love with the Mocha Frappuccino Facial Mask, while others preferred fresh fruit facials or hot oil hair treatments. I wrote a book based on everything I’d tried and found success in when it comes to acne and breakouts. We cleaned our houses using ingredients from our cabinets and learned a few tricks with essential oils.

There were undeniable successes, and occasional failures. We laughed a lot, and then we cried. And then we kind of rolled our eyes. And then we laughed again.

Those were the good old days.

But I got off track, personally. What began as fun turned into a crusade in my head (even though I may not have always expressed it). I imagined we had enemies – like corporations and governments and naysayers.

I took a huge bite of the poison apple – the rancid fruit called fear.  I began thinking traumatic thoughts about how, if everyone didn’t change, things like global warming or pollution or cancer would kill us all. This was an important lesson: Because once you start going down the track of fear, you run yourself off the rails of peace.

What started as fun had turned into an agenda, a dogmatic belief system, a reason to create separation and enemies.

Those thoughts? That’s where my personal hypocrisy lived. Everywhere I turned, I couldn’t get away from the opposites, the kinks, the imperfections in everything we were doing. I’d read the occasional comments or emails complaining that something wasn’t working (even the single complaint, in a sea of successes, would send me into the depths of feeling like a failure). Everything came with a price, even though I was killing myself to find the sweet spots where we’d be free and clear and the world would be roses and kittens forever and ever.

I forgot we lived in a world of imperfection. A world of duality. A world where everything comes with the same price you put on it. If you’re rigid and unforgiving, the price will always be astronomical. I forgot that nothing is perfect – not modern medicine or herbal medicine, not natural beauty products or synthetic beauty products … not life. And because nothing is perfect, it’s all pretty gosh-darned amazing.

And then I came full circle.

What Crunchy Betty Is Now

From this day forward, I want to steer Crunchy Betty back on the course which it was originally designed to take. Now, though, I understand why I wanted it to be what I wanted it to be. I feel the tingle of the original loooove.

Burn this thought into your memory, because this is my truest, deepest intention.

Crunchy Betty is about experiencing the wonder that comes with personal discovery. The power you feel when you create what you need with your own two hands. It’s about journeying back to the intricate simplicity of nature (our nature and nature’s nature), as to become more grounded in our daily lives and more attuned to the amazing gifts that are around us at all times. The magic in herbs, in oils, in fruits and veggies, in the air and water, and even occasionally in things that others might consider “bad.”

It’s about sharing and learning – together. We support and nourish each other, because we know that by doing so, we support and nourish ourselves. And we learn – always, we learn, and I learn along with the rest of you at all times.

(And occasionally, it’s just about me. Because, let’s face it, I’m hilarious.)

It’s about having fun. Having a blast experimenting with nature. And if you’re not having fun when you’re experimenting, why do it at all?

You’ll notice it’s not about fear. It’s not about changing the world, or saving the world, or taking down the evil corporations, or warning others about poisons and cancer and wrinkles and angry birds. Those things (probably not the angry birds part, but who knows) will change themselves as we all become more grounded, full of awareness of the beauty around us, and recognize the peace we already have available within ourselves.

Those things – I promise – will take care of themselves without us adding fuel to the fire.

And these are a lot of words, so let me tell you where I envision our journey going, in concrete terms, in the future:

• There will be more and new homemade beauty, household cleaning, and home remedy recipes (as well as learning more about herbs and foods and essential oils). You will have fun. Or you will not. (You will have fun. The end.)
• There will be occasional posts where we talk about our own special brand of personal growth, the things we learn in taking personal responsibility, and how the world changes as we change the way we look at it
• How do you feel about the Crunchy Betty videos? (I’m prepared to do more, but only iff’n you want them.)
• We’ll start talking a little more often about products and things you might want to buy if you don’t feel like making them
• I will ask you many more questions and your feedback will forever be encouraged, so you will talk – to me and to each other (hey – this ain’t no free ride)
• Sometimes I will tell you stories, and you will laugh
• There will be another book (or perhaps four or five more books)
• You will be patient with me, as you always are, because I’m totally going to screw up sometimes (this I can promise you)

The truth is, as Crunchy Betty has grown into a readership of nearly 35,000 people, I’ve freaked out a bit. When you start realizing that you’re talking to a group that’s nearly 9 times the population of the town you grew up in, it starts to scare the holy living dingleberries out of you. So I’m going to stop thinking in terms of numbers, and start remembering that I’m talking to friends.

Because, in the end, that’s all I’ve ever wanted Crunchy Betty to be.

A whole bunch of friends, sitting around sipping wine and laughing about the food on our faces.

Now It’s Your Turn to Talk – Let Me Have It

It’s amazing how, when I sat down to write this whole post, it wasn’t going to be directed at you – the reader, the friend. It was just going to be a general story.

This, to me, speaks enormously of how important your participation and input is here (and if you actually read this far, I swear on everything that’s holy I have a gold star to send to you).

When I share the general gist of this post tomorrow, the most important part is going to be what you have to say here. So, please, don’t hold back.

• What one (or two) things about going “crunchy” (or natural) has changed your life for the better? (This doesn’t have to have anything to do with Crunchy Betty, btw.)
• What have you learned on Crunchy Betty that you’ll never forget?

And bonus question: What’s your favorite thing about Crunchy Betty? (This is really only for me. I want to know what you love, so I can do more of it.)

Thank you, my crunchistas (and cruncheros). You …

That’s all.

Just you.

They all …

Umm …

Me.

That is what they all have in common. Me, over the last week and a half.

You know how some blogs do Wordless Wednesday? Well, here’s my Thoughtless Thursday, because frankly, my dears, if there’s a brain left in my head after the last week and a half, I don’t know about it.

In the last 10 days, I have:

• Spent the afternoon at a farm (this was luxury)
• Packed an entire household
• Planned a trip to Boston (leaving tomorrow)
• Taken a cat in for emergency surgery (poor conehead)
• Moved an entire household
• Unpacked 50 of the 8001 boxes
• Given 30-odd doses of antibiotics and painkillers to a cat who’d rather see her medication on the walls and floors (most of the time she gets her way)
• Spent 10 hours (not an exaggeration) cleaning the old place, much of that on my knees and using a large bottle of vinegar
• Eaten a LOT of cold pizza
• Spent hours with my new friend Bruce, the contractor who’s fixing the leak we found, necessitating a huge hole dripping water from our ceiling
• Set up the new workspace for the Crunchy Betty’s Natural Market (okay, that’s only about halfway done, and it has to be finished by tomorrow)
• Slept (who am I kidding?)

Now I just have to:

• Write a presentation for Boston
• Pack for Boston
• Go to Boston
• Rock it in Boston
• Sleep
• Sleep
• Sleep
• Come home, save my poor seedlings from certain death, and create a utopian rooftop garden

I can do this.

In fact, later today I’ll be writing the presentation for Boston, which should include why Crunchy Betty exists, why I exist, where we’re all going, and how we’re going to take over the world. If my thoughts are coherent, I will post an excerpt of this presentation tomorrow morning. It seems like something you might want to know.

Here, though, for your viewing pleasure, are a few pictures that capture the essence of the last 10 days of my life:

This is a chicken in the dirt. Fairly obvious.

Later, that same chicken tried to eat my soul.

Goats are weird.

The previous photos were taken at my dear friend Diana’s farm (Lil’ Bit Farms), and I’ll share more about that trip soon. She’s graciously shared her favorite salve recipe, and I’ll be making some and posting the results of that next week (fingers crossed!).

That was Ju-Ni playing in the 8001 boxes before they were packed.

And before she found some errant foam rubber and decided it was food.

This is what a cat looks like after eating foam rubber. She has a 5-inch incision in her stomach now. Poor girl.

(She still looks like this. I’m calling her Co-Ni now instead of Ju-Ni. Get it? Co-Ni? Cone? Coney? Hahahahaha. I’m hilarious.)

This is the “before” picture of my new pantry. It’s a mess. Soon, I will channel my inner Martha and turn this into an oasis of foodstuffs (and I’ll share more before and after pictures).

If anyone has Inner Martha’s phone number, could you pass it along? I seem to have lost it over the last, oh, 38 years. I have the feeling this is going to be a very long distance telephone call.

30-ish of the 8001 boxes.

For a minute, I considered keeping it all as a postmodern industrial box and newspaper interior design theme.

Skip wasn’t pleased. So, he did this:

It’s all still a work in progress, but we’re getting there.

Um, I Mean “Thoughtful Thursday”

Lest you think I was complaining above about all I’ve done and all I have yet to do, I was.

For a second.

And then I was all, “But wait! There’s more!”

See, the truth is, in every single thing I listed above, I have about a thousand things to be grateful for in there. For instance:

• My cat, though a little Frankensteiny, is alive and well
• The old apartment was sparkling and perfect when I handed over the keys yesterday
• We snagged the.most.amazing townhome that I can’t wait to get messy with crunchy experiments and rooftop gardens
• No one died or committed first degree murder in the process of moving
• I held a baby goat (which you will see in a later blog post)
• We may not have an internet connection yet, but we have power, light, and water and also air (sometimes it’s hard to remember whether internet or air is more important)
• I’m GOING TO BOSTON TOMORROW TO SIT IN A ROOM WITH REID TRACY AND CHERYL RICHARDSON
• You. YOU. YOU, my dear friends. I am grateful for you and your willingness to look at my random photos.

And that is my Thoughtful Thursday.

By the way, if you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably already seen most of these pictures. Sorry for the repeat. (If you don’t, you should, because that’s where I’m going to chronicle my trip to Boston.)

See you tomorrow morning with Deep Thoughts About Crunchy Betty (which will need some audience participation, btw!). And then later … in Boston!

WHEW!

Ready ………. break! (Go team!)