Les produits

I am feeling French. :-)

I like to blame my hair and skin issues since I moved here on the water. The water has a smell to it; I have been told there is  a lot of iron in the water here; the water is very hard (but my house does have a water softener). So what to do?

My hair has been kinda stringy, and now that it is a little longer, the waviness is back. I felt like my hair was breaking a lot, so I tried Organix Coconut Milk anti-breakage serum. It worked pretty well as a leave-in treatment without making my hair greasy. So I tried the shampoo and conditioner. They are quite heavy (my Mom did not use them when she was here in the fall because her hair is so thin), but I rarely wash my hair every day, so it keeps my hair from getting too dry.

As for the waviness, well I tried Aussie Catch the Wave mousse per my curly-hair sister's recommendation. It keeps my hair from getting all frizzy, but does not make it hold as much "curl" as Frizz Ease mousse. When I straighten in, I like Got2b CrazySleek (and used to use this hair spray when I had shorter hair).

For my skin, I did not feel like the old-school Oil of Olay moisturizer was doing it. I started using witch hazel as a toner (and to wipe off any salt/minerals in the water after washing my face) and tried No. 7 Day Fluid moisturizer (with spf!) because my Mom saw it in a magazine at the doctor's office. I do not think my skin is significantly better, but it seems more balanced, so that is a start.

My nails have been peeling and tearing like crazy. I think this is mostly an unfortunate side effect of working in a lab, getting my hands wet all the time, wearing gloves, and also not having a dishwasher. My toe nails were pretty bad too, so who knows. I started being really good about wearing gloves when I do the dishes and to clean, but to no avail. I have Sally Hansen Hard as Nails nail polish that I really like, so I tried out the Sally Hansen product "for severe problem nails", try to take a vitamin most days, and try to moisturize my nails regularly. I think the worst of my nails is slowly growing out, so I make sure the gently file them every couple of days. I decided to start adding gelatin to smoothies, but the stuff online seems split as to whether this helps nails. We shall see!

Really?

Thank you "birtherists" for wasting our time. This article makes a lot of interesting and scary points. Half of Republicans believe Obama was not born in the U.S.? People still believe he is Muslim? Not that it should matter if he is - why not make a big deal out of it?

Well. The South is generally labeled as Christian, and God will punish people, yeah? While we are making ridiculous claims and being generally illogical and silly and wasting peoples' time, I will add to the callous ridiculousness of this world with a great sweeping example of judgment on a section of the country that is largely very devout Christians. So if you do not want to accept the leftist liberal claims of global climate change and the resulting severe weather patterns, how do Southern Christians explain the horrible weather and tragic loses they are experiencing?***

Get with the times. Obama is American. Let's move on to more important issues like unemployment, keeping our schools from going any further in a downward spiral, and the bipartisanship that is shoving a wedge down the middle-ish of our country.

*** No I do not believe the South is being punished in any way for anything. This was merely meant as an example of how easy it is to make hateful assertions. Then the media runs with it and famous people repeat it perpetuating the vicious cycle.

A swift kick

CF really just needs a swift kick in the butt to take that extra scary commitment step. I am not sure why a nearly 35-year old is capable of all but a big decision like moving or jewelry. As much as I post about his inability to be realistic with his expectations of life, he gets other stuff right (basically).

I got a bicycle for my birthday! I keep thinking about making him a summer-weight quilt for his coming up but do not want to make something he would not pick out himself. He jumps right in and spends money I told him not to on a bike.

He asks me what I want to do for my birthday, so I say this free day at a nature center and a brewery. It rains and is crappy, so he texts people in the area for some ideas and we spend an evening at a piano bar...after I made him go into a wine bar where it was warm while we wait for the piano place to open. Oh, and he drove me all around and did not complain about me sleeping in the car and finally figured out how to let me sleep in in on the weekend.

On top of the other cards, gifts, messages, posts, and emails I got, all-in-all a good birthday weekend!