**REVIEW** Zinus 12 Inch Green Tea Memory Foam Mattress

 Since I cannot update the Amazon review for this, I figured I'd make this post.

I got this bed over 5 years ago when I moved here. It's the best mattress I have ever slept on - better than in any luxury hotel or some wealthy person's home I've spent time in. This thing is still as firm (not hard) as when it was brand new. It's a green tea memory foam mattress.

It actually did arrive like this! The instructions were to unroll it and let it "decompress" for 1 to 3 days. Yeah, well, I'd been sleeping on a pallet of blankets for over a week. I let this sit open for about 16 hours before I had my family set it up on the frame!!!

The Zinus frame 
now costs as much as the bed did.
I paid about $90 at the time.

By the way, I really do love this frame. It's minimalist and sturdy. And sits high enough that the bed linens don't (usually) touch the floor. One of my nephews even made up the bed for my first night in it...

I don't think I just went to sleep. It was more like I lapsed into a kind of semi-comatose state of bliss.

Every now and then, I will take a peek at what other queen-sized mattresses cost and the prices are ridiculous. This one was a steal at under $200 (lightning deal or something) and is still a great deal at the current price of around $350.

A couple of things about this mattress:

• You can't flip it - well, you can but you're not meant to. The mattress is encased in a nice, thick zip enclosure that is not meant to be removed and is made to sort of velcro to the frame. The flipside is much more firm (almost too firm) and I know because I tested that out. At any rate, I don't need to flip it. I simply rotate it every now and then because I tend to sleep to one side of the center. #singlelifeprivileges
• At 62.5 pounds, it's much heavier than any "regular" mattress I've owned. Every time I rotate it, I count it as 2 days' worth of exercise.
• I learned from experience that the mattress has good "motion isolation". Other than sleeping, I do almost every stationary thing sitting on my bed - writing, reading, and watching videos. I have a wooden bed table where I sit my computer and cup of coffee. I can almost jump on the bed without spilling that coffee.
• The foam definitely has good bounce-back or shape recovery. After sitting on one side for a couple of months, I can rotate the mattress and the "worn spot" recovers its original shape and firmness.
• The "tea" part truly does work to keep the mattress fresh. I'm not a stinky person but a regular mattress will hold odors from normal night sweats and other normal body residues. 
• I'm not sure if I buy into the claims that the green tea infusion helps sleep. I think I rest better overnight because of my comfort level on this mattress. Who really knows?

I spent more money on the mattress and bed frame than any other furnishing when I moved here - and I got them both on a huge sale. I mean, people, I have a futon sofa sleeper! Cheap, cheap, cheap. But like I said, I use my bed more than any other furniture. This was such a worthwhile purchase. When I got them, as I said, I'm sure they were on sale so I paid under $300 for both. I don't know if it will qualify as #BIFL (buy it for life) but it's definitely a buy it, buy it, buy it.

If God is willing and I'm living in another 5 years, I will do an update.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: No, I am not being paid for this review. I wish!

Chasing the Perfect Dark Roast Coffee

 Hi. My name is Free and I am a coffeeholic.

When I gave up smoking a few years back, I thought I wouldn't enjoy coffee as much. Wrong. Coffee has become my main addiction. Sometimes, that can be a problem. For instance, the only time I have trouble with intermittent fasting is during that last 30 to 40 minutes before I can have my coffee with sweet cream. It's kind of sad. I go into special ops mode to avoid even looking into the kitchen. Otherwise, I catch sight of the coffee pot and get tempted. 

My apartment is barely big enough to cuss a cat in (as my mama would say) so the coffee machine is visible from everywhere except behind the closed doors of the bedroom or bathroom. There are times I try not to come out of the bedroom until I can have my morning coffee. Once, near the end of a 24-hour fast, I started to hallucinate about that first cup of brew.

I usually spend those stressful last minutes of a fast just pretending that coffee is not even a thing. I will avoid looking toward the kitchen as I get ready for the morning. I keep my head averted as I go through the apartment - opening the blinds and turning on plant lights and the humidifier -doing the general morning stuff. At that time of day, my muscles are still half asleep and I'm like mud flowing uphill. But when my phone chimes to let me know that my 16 (or 18 or 20 or 24) hours of fasting are ... I'm moving at warp speed toward that coffee pot. No kidding. 

Nothing smells or tastes as good as that very first sip of morning coffee. 

It's not just the first cup. Any time of day, I love a good cup of coffee. And a dark roast is preferred - probably because I have to have sweetened creamer with mine. I love a good cup of coffee more than I ever loved any kind of food.  

In my opinion, the best coffee is strong and rich. I love a little bit of dark chocolate flavor coming through the brew. I'm not talking bitter or burnt but just enough chocolate "bite" to hit the back of my throat. 

What I absolutely hate is a weak cup of coffee. Especially coffee that is so weak that you can't make it stronger without getting a taste like bad office coffee. I'm talking about coffee that is nasty in a non-descript way. The old, rank, stale coffee you get in the lobby of a car dealership or emergency room. 

Lately, I've been trying to find a brand of ground coffee to replace the Gevalia I've been drinking on the regular. I'm not crazy about all the Gevalia coffees like I used to be. They changed something since I used to get that subscription service way back in the day. Remember back when you could get a free coffee pot if you signed up for a monthly delivery of Gevalia? That's how I discovered the brand but that has to have been 20 years ago or more. There'd be these little subscription cards inserted in a lot of the women's magazines.

These days, the only Gevalia I love is the Dark Gold Roast. I was usually able to find the 11-ounce bag for about 11 bucks and change (or around $0.90/oz). That Gold Roast is tasty. It's extra bold and has the chocolate/brown syrup notes that are so yummy. However, that particular roast has just gotten too unreliable in availability. I think they might be phasing it out or something...

So.

I've been on the hunt for a new favorite brand of ground coffee. Coffee that I can afford, can easily find and don't have to work too hard to make. Price is important. I drink at least 7 cups a day so I cannot be playing around with anything that's going to cost more than it should. I've found a couple roasts I like. I just have to figure out how to work a regular purchase into my grocery budget.

Here's what I've tried so far:

1. Kaladi Brothers Waykan (Guatamala). $17.95lb or $1.12/oz. This is definitely a favorite, and it's from my favorite roaster - an Alaska-based roaster. However, it only comes as whole bean. I like freshly ground coffee but I don't always have the time, energy, or motivation. (I still might get the occasional bag though.) Notes, according to Kaladi are "warming spices, raisins, and chocolate". That sounds about right to me. This is what made me fall in love with Guatemalan coffee.
2. Jim's Organic Sweet Love. 11 ounces for $12.34 or 1.12/oz The first time I had this, it tasted so good that I set up a Subscribe & Save. It's much better than the Gevalia. The problem is that I go through the bag too quickly (for the price). It reminds me a lot of the Waykan except I get a lot more of the chocolate note. The brand describes it this way:  "Ambrosian aroma with full-bodied, smoky taste". 
3. Tim Horton's Dark Roast. 12 ounces for $7.59 or $0.63/oz. First of all, that price... Second of all, I happen to find Canadian-made products of all kinds to be of a higher quality overall. Having lived in Alaska all those years, I've driven through Canada many times. Everything I bought there - from aspirin to coffee - was just top quality compared to American-made stuff.  I think the last time Yuban coffee still tasted good was when I bought it in Canada. Anyway... Tim Horton's coffee is tasty. It's not as richly flavored as the K.B.'s or Jim's but it's good. The description I found from Horton's is simply "Rich and full-flavored". I think they are being modest.  Elsewhere, I found this description of the flavor: "subtle notes of chocolate, cedar, and even hints of fruit and floral characteristics". 
4.  Fresh Roasted Coffee's Dark Guatemalan Huehuetenango. 32 ounces for $26.99 or $0.84/oz. This is the next one I am trying. That price is good but I worry about ordering in a 2-lb bag. I will have to let you know what I think when I try it. I wanted it because of the price and because it's another Guatemalan. The brand describes the flavor profile this way: "Full bodied with dark chocolate notes. A bold and spicy body, and a smooth finish. A wonderfully rich dark roast with little to no acidity" except they used a lot of capital letters. The worrisome thing is that of over 3000 Amazon reviews for the brand, none is for this Huehuetenango. Oh boy.

Since I need to get something for my daily brew, I came up with a plan:

If I love the Guatemalan Huehuetenango, I will order that every 3rd month since it's a 2-pound bag. If not, I will do a Sub & Save on the Tim Horton's monthly and Sub & Save on the Sweet Love every 4 months as a treat. Of course, I will order some of the K.B.'s a couple of times a year as a treat. I'm done with the Gevalia. As I was writing this post, I checked and see that it's currently unavailable. Again. I've only been able to find it twice out of the past 2 and a half months.

By the way, because I am intermittent fasting (it's been over 8 weeks now), my grocery list tends to be lighter. I'm not baking every week or cooking larger meals. I haven't fixed spaghetti in at least 4 weeks now. So all this cutback on groceries leaves a little room in the budget for a decent coffee. If only I could learn to drink coffee black...

I will continue to be on the hunt for a dark roast coffee with that chocolatey, rich, sweet taste to it. Let me know if y'all have any suggestions.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I seriously do NOT like Starbucks coffee. How did it get to be so popular? Just saying.

Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen Pizza Dough

 Since Aldi is so much cheaper than the local Hyvee (and I mean so much cheaper!) it's my preferred Instacart store. Of course, Walmart is also cheaper than Hyvee and has a wider variety than either Aldi or Hyvee in every department. What Walmart does not have is a frustration-free membership program...

Anyway, I love my local Aldi store and have ever since I discovered their core brands. I'm not crazy about their line of coffee creamers but the ground coffee's not bad at all. It's the coffee that I keep around for any visitors who are not as picky about their java as I am. But the Aldi brand I love the most is Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen.

If you have never tried one of the MCPK take-and-bake pizzas, you may have heard not-so-great things about them. But, if you use a few tricks when baking the pies, you have no idea what you're missing. When I went through a period of the blues, I would order a couple of those to have around. I would only fix half or a 4th of pizza at a time (the 16-inch pizzas barely fit my oven and done fit any of my pizza pans). 

As I said, you have to put a little spin on the basic baking technique with these pizzas. Personally, I like a crispier crust and bottom to my pie. I will sprinkle a little Italian seasoning and maybe some bacon bits on top of the pie, then oil the baking pan and the pizza crust with a little EVOO before baking. I find that EVOO works better for a crisp and chewy crust than I get when using butter.)  I'm having flashbacks of joy just thinking about it.

To be honest, though, because they are so huge, the take-and-bake pizzas are a little much when I'm not battling the blues. Having a much smaller option is possible if I make my own. Have you ever made pizza dough? I have and it was a nightmare. It's supposed to be so easy but... I can bake bread so I'm not sure what my problem is with pizza dough. By the time I get the dough ready, I'm out of the mood for the pizza. Well, Mama Cozzi has solved that dilemma...

This is a photo from Instacart because
my dough is frozen into a weird lump right now.

This dough is so versatile and I can sometimes get 3 small pizza crusts from the one 16-ounce bag. Depending on what I'm using the dough for, I can get a week's worth of snacks and nibbles from one bag. I've made pizza, garlic knots, and some weird-looking little pepperoni and mozzarella monstrosities that look horrible but taste amazing. Here are some recipe ideas from elsewhere.

The best thing is the price: $1.95 for the 16-ounce bag of dough. (Someone on Reddit says they found it for $0.95 so the price might depend on the store location.) Considering the fact that I can get at least 3 personal-sized crusts from one bag, I'm not complaining.

This dough keeps well in the freezer but I find that once you thaw it in the fridge, it's best to use it within a week unless you seal it really well. If I open and don't use a whole bag, I heat-seal the rest in an airtight bag. I usually use the rest of a bag within a couple of weeks at the longest. Also, I can use a whole bag to make garlic knots, freeze them to thaw and bake at my leisure.

Garlic knots

Not only is this dough perfect for pizza and other savory dishes but I've been able to use it with fruit and fruit spreads. I think the best sweet treat I made with the dough was a sort of baked peach rollup. You know, one of the tasty monstrosities I mentioned. I just rolled out the dough, brushed it with a little butter, and sprinkled it with a cinnamon-sugar mix before adding some peaches (small-chopped and well-drained) and rolling up into a log. I brushed the outer crust with a little butter halfway through baking, then sprinkled more of the sprinkle mix on top as soon as it came out of the oven. That was yummy. Next time, I plan to try incorporating some cream cheese into the recipe.

7-in pan pizza

When I'm feeling lazy, I go really simple by making some seasoned strips to nibble on. I roll out some of the dough and cut it into short, narrow strips. I brush the strips with a little EVOO and use whatever seasoning want - usually some Mrs. Dash garlic and herb or whatever and maybe a little sea salt - before I bake them up. I will eat them with a dipping sauce of Prego, Ragu, or whatever tomato-based product is on hand. 

That's what I mean when I say the dough is versatile. Now that I'm regularly doing intermittent fasting and only have so many hours in which to eat, I really like being able to whip up a quick meal. I just make sure that I keep some mozzarella, some pepperoni or ground sausage, and a sauce base around. 

Anyway, I just wanted to post about the dough. It's great for singles or families. Personally, I used to keep eggs and tuna around for quick meals. I'd make eggs and tuna for sandwiches or have eggs with rice or eggs and pancakes or waffles. That was before eggs became so pricey. The last time we were at the store, my brother joked that he was going to buy and raise chickens. At least, I think he was joking.

Well, I have to go move some dough from the freezer to thaw in the fridge. Tomorrow I'm making spinach and mushroom pie.

Peace

--Free

Losing Our Motivation (to be or think or speak)

 Let me just vent, please. I have so much stuff to get off my mind. I'm so tired of "culture" and "social media" and the general wastefulness of brain power by everyday people. It's my opinion that all our technological progress is being wasted on so much that is meaningless. 

• Stop focusing on random, dancing and singing and the see-me, see-me, and wanna-be-me crap. If I see one more #nextlevel post about someone showing off their skill at rocking out or rapping or "sick" dance moving...
• Detox from Facebook and TikTok and Instagram for at least 3 hours a day. Where are people finding the time to post a photo of every meal they eat or every move they make or every thought they have in a day? Do you folks have anyone you talk to just one on one without sharing the conversation with the rest of social media?
  
  
  

• With access to the internet and all the wonderful technology we now have, how many people are using it to learn and grow and improve themselves as individuals? (I know that there are a lot of people using it for useless entertainment and brain-frying distractions.
• While all the attention is focused on the 85-95% of us doing makeup videos, true crime podcasts, and non-news news shows, there are people still trying to learn how to actually think critically and dialogue productively about meaningful things. No one hears so much about that. We hear more about MAGA and BLM and being "woke" or being Christian nationalists than we do about people trying to be peaceful and calm and neighborly. 
• If you are Christian, stop thinking that this world is the "Kingdom".
• If you are anti-Christian, stop thinking that all Christians are every Christian.
• If you are Christian, stop thinking that all non-Christians are any more sinful than yourself.
• If you are non-Christian, stop thinking that every Christian hates you. 
• Stop saying that you are anti-this or anti-that and work on being a better individual citizen.
• We have too many wanna-be revolutionists and feminists and "bros". Be a person first.
  
• While so many of you are learning lyrics to the latest raps and songs, who is reading classic literature, the Bible, and history? Who is learning a second language (I'm talking to my fellow Americans)? Who is learning why math is important - or biology or economics or physics?
• For all of you who talk about "my body, my choice", are you treating your body with respect? For those of you talking about being anti-abortion, are you taking care of unwanted children - or the hungry, wounded, traumatized children?
• Of those who call themselves Christians, are you reading the Bible? Studying the Bible? Trying to understand the message of the Bible? Or are you just sitting in a pulpit and listening to whatever someone else tells you about the Bible?
• For those of you who think of yourselves as beautiful/handsome, what does that matter in the final scheme of things? Are you helping anyone with that attribute? What would you do if you lost that attribute?
• For the so-called "influencers" - what are you influencing? How are you using your influence in any positive or meaningful way?
• If you are a "Have", are you content - or do you want more? And why or why not?
• If you are "Have Not", what do you really want more of - other than food and shelter and kindness? Why?
• For all of you living the bulk of your lives via the internet, what would you do without it? Could you do without it? Could you be happy without it?
• When is the last time you lived a phone-free life - even just for a few hours?
• 
  What was the last positive thing you did for someone other than yourself?
• When was the last time you spent time just thinking - not reading or eating or distracting yourself with devices and material things?
• Do you think of yourself as unique? What's the last thing you did unselfconsciously? When is the last time that you didn't dress or act out of being trendy or out of being totally rebellious to society?

I rant about these things and I am guilty of some of them myself. But I'm so tired of everyone losing themselves to trends. 

It's not "trendy" to speak your mind anymore. It's not trendy to say how you really feel about something. (I'm not talking to the people who are rude and call it being "blunt".)

Somehow, in our society, it no longer seems that it's okay for people with opposing opinions to have a discussion about anything without there being a fight. 

People have forgotten how to debate in a thoughtful and meaningful way. That's because we all have to apologize for or violently defend every viewpoint.

Recently, I saw (for the zillionth time) saw a post in a forum about the effect of "billions and billions of years" of evolution. My instinct was to voice my disbelief in evolution (I hold a Christian and biblical worldview of all creation) but I didn't include my comment on the post. Why? Because I would have been verbally attacked for my views. No one would have engaged me in a debate about why I believe as I do. There would likely not have been a civil or thoughtful back-and-forth discussion. Ideally, we should be able to voice our views and walk away (whether or agreeing or not) with something to think about on both sides.

Since we do have the internet and all these social media platforms, I wish we wouldn't waste them on thoughtless and meaningless things. I wish that there was more robust and honest discussions happening - more content that exercised our brains instead of our sarcasm or hidden-behind-a-keyboard bullying. 

Because I am tired of being pinned down by whatever this society is becoming, I am going to do another post where I voice my opinions and viewpoints - no matter who they might offend. I won't be doing this to offend. I will be doing this because I think it should be a thing. Anyone is free to agree or disagree - because that should be a thing. I hope that everyone who reads the post will - even in private - consider thoughtfully why they agree or disagree.

Since this rant is mostly about the internet, I will leave you with this:

Q: How many of you know where, how, and why the internet started? Here's a teaser: It has to do with CERN.

A: Click Here (for the long answer)  Or here, for the simplified version.

I can't change how other people behave and interact but I can change how I behave and interact. It starts now.

Peace

--Free

Chrome Gel Nails With Eyeshadow

Because I am now obsessed with doing gel manicures at home, I absolutely wanted to try doing a chrome/shimmer look. The thing is nail powders are so pricey - apparently only because some are called "nail powder"!

As I mentioned in another post, I remembered that I have an old (like 7 or 8 years old) shimmer shadow in a deep copper bronze with a tiny touch of gold. I'm not big on using makeup but I hate to throw out pretty things. Plus, this belonged to my late sister.

This color is so gorgeous, right? 

This is a Sally Hansen brand

I would never be bold enough to wear that color but my sister would. For me, it's a perfect color for chrome nails. And I thought I was such a frugal genius for thinking of this but... the method has been around for a while! See? I'm not the only cheap thrifty gal out here.

Anyway, I learned a couple of things my first time doing this:

1. Apparently, powder shadow is the best. I'm not sure what happens with sticks or creams or other formats. I don't have any of those around to test.
2. Because I don't like the way heavy glitter polish felt on my nails (without adding a heavy top coat), I personally recommend using a shimmer-not-glitter powder. Mine is a very fine shimmer powder, thank goodness.
3. You have to use a base, of course, but you also need to get the powder to stick to your color polish. I did a top coat over the base to apply the eyeshadow and I use a no-wipe top coat so the eyeshadow just slid right off. In the end, I used a color under the powder. Basically, the eyeshadow won't stick to a very slick base. Or at least, it won't hold a lot of the color.
4. The color your choose to use as a base for the eyeshadow makes a big difference in the final chrome color effect. You'll see what I mean in a moment.
5. By the way, thankfully, the shadow did not leach onto the brush or into the bottle when I applied the top coat. I was worried about that. And, yes, you need to...
6. ... finish with a nice top coat. It adds shine, of course, and it seals the eyeshadow from staining things or rubbing off.
7. Do wipe down your cuticles, fingers, and all your hand with some alcohol or oil. The eyeshadow - because it is a shimmer - was all over my fingers when I finished.

Okay. For my experiment, I used a bronze-gold eyeshadow. For a base color, I used a medium burgundy - except for on one finger where I used my jet black color.

with the burgundy base color

I thought I would prefer the black as a base but, nope, the burgundy base was prettier in my opinion. The black base made the shimmer look much more flat bronze with a green tinge that I don't like at all. The burgundy resulted in a copper bronze that is really pretty and just overall more "chrome-like". The thing is, the base color does come through a little. That's why the black base gave such a different result.  (It was hard to get a good photo because I did the black base on my dominant hand. I had to try to get a photo using my left hand and bad lighting!)

black as a base color on the left finger

Learning about the base color effect is a good thing because I do have gel polish in shades that, by themselves are too light - or too pink or orange or whatever - for my skin tone. The shimmer shadow I have will be great with those as a base. 

I hate my hands because they have always looked old but I love, love, love this chrome polish look on my nails. It's said that wearing perfume and pretty underwear just makes a woman feel more beautiful. I will add having a pretty manicure to that list. And heels. Heels always make me feel pretty.

The main thing I will say about doing a chrome manicure with eyeshadow is that it can be messy. I was prepared. I put down a towel and had plenty of wet wipes and alcohol nearby. But the results are prettier than the photos show. It's well worth the initial mess. I will probably never bother to buy a powder specifically for nails (what kind of ripoff marketing is that?) unless it's cheaper than plain old eyeshadow.

On Amazon, I found lots of shimmer shadows (like this this 5-color palette) from Wet 'n Wild for around $3.20 (around $0.60 per color) and there are some $0.99 single shimmer pans from that brand. Since I'm using them on my nails and not anywhere on my face, I wouldn't mind really cheaping out and finding some Dollar Store palettes. So, go wild and chrome up. Maybe one day, I will try using non-shimmer eyeshadow on my nails.

Peace

--Free

** BTW - as old as that eyeshadow is, I was able to track down that it's a Sally Hansen product. There are still some colors on Amazon but I couldn't find this bronze shade. I did find something that looks identical. Knowing my sister, she didn't pay more than 4 or 5 bucks for the one she bought!

For Gel Nail Newbies (from a gel nail newbie)

 When I posted about using gel nail polish in memory of my late niece, I didn't get into the details.  If you saw my that post, you can tell that my niece was a naturally artistic person. She did her nails herself - even when she used lengthening tips! And she also had beautiful hands...

And steady hands!

See? She was a lefty so her right hand here looks amazing.

Anyway...

This post is all about what I'd tell someone who is trying gel polish for the first time.

You need some basic supplies.

builder gel kit under $10

Because gel polish is nothing like lacquer, you need some things you might not just have in your beauty box. No one told me this and I had to learn as I went so... I recommend having at a minimum:

• Gel polish - liquid or cream. Color polish is where can stay on a deep budget. (It's the base and top coats where you won't want to totally cheap out! I started with the cheapest but most decent polishes I could find from a couple of well-known brands: Beetles and Modelones. I also got some black polish that I love from the GAOY brand and some jelly polish from Blaico. I really like all of them. I tried and returned a cream palette from Sedbuwza. I found a cream palette from MEFA that is decent. Overall, so far I prefer liquid over cream for opacity and ease of use. (Keep in mind that colors are tricky. What you see on the product page might not be what you get for real. Check reviews because a lot of people post about what the shades look like on actual nails and in home lighting.) BTW, this might help with differences between types of polishes.
• 100% acetone. Regular polish remover will not work on gel polish. (Here are a dermatologist's tips for

  

  So cheap at Walmart

  removing with acetone.)
• Cotton balls or cotton pads to use with the acetone. I find that poly balls don't work as well. Cotton balls are the most economical, IMO.
• Nail files. You need a regular one, one to buff down ridges, one to smooth the top of the nail, and one strong one to file down the top coat of gel polish. Filing down the top layer of gel polish makes it easier to remove the rest with acetone. Or...
• A peelable base coat. This makes it much easier to remove polish (no filing) and I usually only have to use acetone to clean up any color residue. I also find that this is easier on my nails since I change my color often. (This peelable base is the one I use and really like.)
• "No-wipe" Base and top coat polish. "No wipe" means not having to wipe the tacky residue of cured polish with alcohol. I just happened to luck out when I bought my base/top coat set and it was the no-wipe kind. NOTE: Even with a polish of so-so quality, the top coat is the main thing, IMO. It will determine shine and set the entire nail. My top coat is excellent.
• Cuticle oil. Or any good kind of oil to nourish your nails and cuticles. To be honest, it seems that most cuticle oils are made of a combo of oils - safflower, jojoba, flax, etc. I started out using some marula oil and I have used olive oil diluted with grapeseed oil. Don't get caught up in the brands and bottles and cuteness. But you do need to take really good care of your nails. The polish and acetone can be stressing to them.

  

  No wipe base/top + cuticle oil

• Brushes. Good gel polish application has a lot to do with the brushes you use. And do NOT get caught up spending a lot of money on brushes made "just for gel". I bought a pack of 7 art brushes for just over two dollars. They came in various sizes and work perfectly. Just make sure the brushes are good. I got these and you might even find some cheaper at a local store. Now, if you get into doing gel "art" stuff, you might need to find finer-sized or specialty brushes.
• Tin foil or "nail clips". These are for securing the acetone-soaked cotton on your nails long enough to dissolve the gel when removing it. I tried foil and it's awkward and pricey. I got some good (but fairly cheap) clips. It was a good bargain because the kit included some papers, a couple of nail files, and a "cuticle peeler". The peeler is used to peel the dissolved gel from your nails if needed. The papers taught me that I prefer using cotton for the acetone!

  

  54W for around $10

• *NOT A NECESSITY* Tape. There is tape used to keep your polish from going onto the sides. I'm a messy manicurist but I am not yet using tape. I can remove any mess with acetone. However, tape looks to be really useful for doing artful stripes and lines on your nails.
• Sunscreen and lotion. I use sunscreen before using the UV lamp. Also, I am a lotion fanatic when it comes to my body. Now that I am using a UV lamp on my nails, I go heavy on the hand lotion.
• Patience, patience, and more patience. I have a cheaper UV lamp so it takes a bit longer to completely cure polish. That's fine. That's why I make sure to use sunscreen.

That should get you started before you turn into a complete product junkie!

Of course, I have discovered a couple of things that I wanted to try...

in addition to the basics:

• 

  3 coats of Blaico Jelly Gel
  

  "Jelly" gel colors. Okay. I actually bought my set of jelly polish by accident. I just saw colors I liked and only realized when I got them that they are jelly. Jelly is a milky-looking kind of finish. The color is buildable. There are photos somewhere in this post of how my jelly manicure looked like.
• Chrome/metallic polish. This is sooo pretty in photos. When I couldn't find a chrome color that I liked, I thought of a gold chrome eyeshadow I have somewhere. Looking it up, I learned that, yes, Virginia, you can use powder eyeshadow on gel nails. So there! (In the very next post, I will discuss my experience using this technique...) 
• Match your eyes & nails. It's not just chrome shadow that you can use. You can apparently use any kind of powder shadow to color your nails. There are a lot of YouTube how-to videos out there. To be honest, I didn't know that you could use eyeshadow to color with lacquer polish also. 
• Builder gel. I won't go deep into this until I have used it but... Apparently, this is great for adding shape to your nails and giving them more strength for the length of the manicure. I have flat nail beds and would like more of a curve to the center. I can't wait to see if I can do this using builder gel. You can also use builder gel along with false nail tips to create more length. 
• Ombre nails just involve using stripes of different colors before using a top coat to kind of blur the lines. Who knew?

Tips, time & and money-savers:

• Always apply gel polish in coats as thin as you can. Because it doesn't dry without UV light, I find that if I need to, I can use a clean brush to wipe down excess gel before drying. Applying thin coats is really best if you are building color.
• Wipe any gel off your skin before drying. I have not had problems but I have read reviews where some people do get an itch or irritation. I wrap the tip of a toothpick in cotton and use acetone to remove any gel from my edges and cuticles before drying.
• Another reason not to get the gel on the edges: when it dries, you have a "lift" piece that makes it too easy to pull the polish loose. (I hope that makes sense!) The gel will peel and lift if you pick at the edges.
• Know that most people recommend not using lacquer ("regular") polish with gel polish. Some people say that you can do so and some people say that it causes drying problems. My opinion: I use gel because it dries faster and lasts longer so there is no need for lacquer. So far, any colors of polish I like in lacquer, I can find in gel polish. So... up to you.
• Remember what I said about not getting caught up in labels? Not only can you spend more buying brushes that are labeled as being for gel. The same goes for finding cotton pads and tools. Just look for basic stuff and leave "gel nails" out of the search criteria.
• Not only can you do powder eyeshadow for chrome/metallic nails, but also look for cheaper brands. It's just because I am cheap that I thought of using my eyeshadow. I realized that it looked exactly like the chrome nail powders. Look for cheap palettes from e.l.f., l.a. colors, Wet 'n Wild, etc. I would even recommend checking the Dollar Store and the sale bins at Walmart for this. I won't put cheap stuff on my skin but I will use them in polish for my nails (which are protected by a base coat).
• When looking for chrome powders, search for "shimmer" and "metallic" and more things come up. 
• I personally don't like thick glitter in nail polish. I find that I have to do a heavy top coat to keep the residue from scratching and pulling at fabrics I touch. I recommend looking for eyeshadows with fine glitter - if you are going to use glitter at all.
• If you buy from Amazon or some other popular online stores, make sure to look for off-site reviews. I like adding "Reddit" to the end of any search. Reviews and feedback on Reddit tend to be a lot more honest and less self-conscious.
• If you are shopping on Amazon, don't be afraid to look at lesser-known brands. Remember, you can usually return things. (Make sure to read the product's return policy notes!) I did have that fail and return with the cream polish but I turned around and found another small brand item that works fine.

One thing that using gel polish forces me to do more regularly is to take care of my nails. I take better care of my cuticles for sure. 

I hope that this was helpful to the newbies out there. I am having a lot of fun doing my nails - more than when I used slow-drying lacquer. You can get started with the basics for under $35 - and that's cheaper than most visits to a nail salon.

Peace

--Free

P.S.: I recommend starting with cheaper items until you get the hang of applying gel. Just don't skimp too hard on the base and top coats!

Forgive any bad editing. I was working on this over 2 days and changed up some things.

Using Gel Polish

 When my niece passed away the other week, I wanted to do something to remind me of her. When she wanted to remember a loved one, she would get a small tattoo. That's not my thing. I thought about coloring my hair purple or pink or blue - because she loved coloring her hair! That's not my thing either. 

She could work this purple wig!

What I finally came up with was doing something cute and different with my nails. That's something that she'd like. Of course, she was an artiste. With her hair and makeup and nails and life...

See what I mean? She was just beautiful, inside and out.

As for my non-artistic self... I don't often paint my nails because I hate dealing with polish that takes so long to dry or that takes more than a million coats to look nice. Then I thought of how another of my nieces gets her nails done at the salon. I hate nail salons. They are pricey and inconvenient for the hermit in me! So...

Gel nails are cute. And I can do them at home for myself. They sure are more affordable. Plus, when I looked into how to use gel polish, I loved that it dries quicker and lasts longer than regular (or lacquer) polish. That sounded like my kind of thing.

I found all different kinds of gel polish online. Who knew??? They come in both liquid and cream formats. Oh boy. As a matter of fact, I had to spend hours just figuring out which would be better to use and how to use gel polish at all...

I ended up getting a super-cheap cream palette and a set of colors in the liquid format. Then I found out that I needed both a gel base and a top coat - and a UV lamp. OH BOY.

Thankfully, I found liquid gel, a cream palette, and the base/top set all for under $25. I had to really do some shopping around, let me tell you that. Apparently, gel nail kits can get way up there in price.

Anyway.

This is my first try at doing my nails. I chose a jet-black liquid polish paired with some glittery cream polish. They turned out pretty good for my first time out:

I started with the black polish

The cream palette has glitter polish!

I added a little sparkle

And, yeah, I didn't do the best job of painting but I don't think it's that bad for the first time. Gel polish takes some practice to use. For one thing, the gel liquid has a different viscosity than regular polish. It feels thicker and seems to coat the brush heavier. No matter how much I swiped the brush, the liquid ran down the applicator and onto the brush. It's really weird. But I do like it.

I found a UV lamp for such a cheap price that I wasn't sure it would work. It was under 10 bucks. As a backup, I got a second lamp (for 16 bucks & there went my budget plan)  that I would return if it was not as good as the cheaper one. Guess what? The cheap lamp works SO much better. I realized that the cheap lamp is 54W while the other one is only 40W. I sent the 40W lamp back

So... I really like using gel polish. I will probably never go back to using regular lacquer. Using gel takes way less time and is really lasting.  I've done my nails more than once now. I hope I'm getting better at it.

I am getting better

Whenever I tried using lacquer, I had to set aside at least half an hour for every coat of polish I used. And I always, always, always made a mess. It's the drying time that kills me. As soon as I got my nails painted, I would have to scratch an itch, use the bathroom, or do something to mess up the not-dry polish. With gel, I just paint and light it up for about 2 minutes. And when gel dries (or "cures") it's seriously done. And that brings up something else.

Removing gel is much more work than putting it on in the first place. It's a process that requires 100% acetone and some way to keep the acetone on the polish long enough to dissolve it. If I had not found a workaround to the process, I would probably not like gel polish as much as I do.

Without the peelable base coat, removing gel polish requires filing the top coat down, then finding a way to keep acetone-soaked cotton on the nails long enough to let it work. I tried doing this by wrapping foil over the cotton on my fingertips. That's folly supreme. The foil kept falling off and, besides, foil is not that cheap. I ended up spending a couple more dollars for some of these clips that hold the cotton on your nails. 

~sigh~

To make removing the polish easier, I found a peelable base coat. That stuff is amazing. Still, there's always a bit of residue of polish. That's fine. I just use acetone, cotton, and clips. Easy peasy.

So. Yes. Gel polish is pretty cool. Of course, now I have accumulated the UV lamp, 2 liquid color sets, the cream palette, base and top coat, acetone, and clips. I've had to restrain myself from getting the nail art gels! I don't need another product addiction. 

Most of all, I like being able to wear polishes to remember my niece. One day, I hope to get some colors that she would use - bright pink or blue or some other kind of loud and electric color. When I get better at using the gel, I just might get some of the nail art kits. Maybe write out the letters in her name on my nails.

I still cannot believe she is gone. I hope I can think of her one day without feeling this ache in my heart.

Peace

--Free

When Your World Stops

 We lost one of my nieces this weekend. I'm not sad for her because she got saved about a year ago. I'm sad for all of us she left behind. I'm sad for her twin brother. I teased her once by calling them "wombmates". 

What is so hard to deal with when Death takes someone you love is that the world goes on - with or without you. The morning that I was told my niece had passed, I was struggling to understand why UPS was still running packages and people were walking down the street, talking and enjoying their lives. 

I got so irritated every time an email notification chimed or when I could hear my neighbors going down the halls talking and laughing and living life like my niece no longer can.

I couldn't sleep so I stayed up doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen and doing anything to keep from thinking about my niece not being here. Every now and then, when I could hear the sounds of life happening, I wanted to yell for everyone to just stop.

But the world doesn't stop for you to mourn. When a rich person, homeless or hopeless person or famous person, or a royal person dies, the world spins on and on and on.  Death is death and there are no red carpets on the way out of here. 

All we have is the remembrance of love given and accepted. We have photographs and videos and memories. But that person is gone. They aren't going to be worried anymore about laundry,  mail or work, or loneliness. All the things they owned won't matter. All the shoulda, woulda, and coulda things won't matter. Nothing matters but the love they got and gave while they were here.

One day soon - but not for a while - I will wake up and not feel like I do today. One day, my niece's twin will be able to think of her without feeling like he's been orphaned. One day, our family will get together and share our stories and memories of my niece. One day we will cry because we miss her but we will feel so blessed that we had her.

This day, niece, you are in Paradise with the Lord.

Peace

--Free

Doing IF Again (and can talk about it now)

I didn't want to talk about my current intermittent fasting until I knew I could stick with it. Well, it's been 39 days (or since Sept 14th) and I am down 18.6 pounds. Yes, I am using a weight loss tracking app. 

I started out doing the 16:4 plan and have been altering it to fit my life. The day before yesterday I felt strong enough to switch to the 20:4 plan. I really want to reach my goal weight by the end of the winter season.

What made me try IF again? I don't know. My big ol' bathroom mirror?

LOL. But seriously tho...

I think I was just feeling ready this time. And my appetite has been changing in recent months. And I was feeling unhappy with my weight. Really unhappy. 

After trying every kind of way to lose some extra pounds over the past 3 years, I was ready to give up. I had decided that my age (61), my health issues, and my low willpower had lost the battle for me. I was so upset about it that I had a small breakdown during an appointment with my nephrologist.

Losing weight is beneficial in the fight against CKD and for general wellness. Losing weight is incredibly difficult for some of us. The older you get the more difficult it gets. And, for me, that's been very frustrating.

I was not over-eating. During the past year, my daily calorie intake was around 2200 each day. Yeah - not great but a big cut down from 2300-2400 I'd slid up to in recent years. I was walking or riding an exercise bike a couple of times a week and I had cut back on sodium, potassium, and phosphorus. (My labs have been excellent.) I wasn't eating out, nor was I eating a lot of junk. But I can cook. And I like to cook. I can also bake. And I like that too.

Back to my public emotional breakdown.

Dr. T. let me whine about the yo-yo-ing up and down by 5 or 6 pounds. While he listened, he was scratching down some notes on the back of my lab report. He asked me a couple of questions while I talked. What time do I generally go to bed and and wake up? Why am I not resting well? Am I drinking enough water and cutting back on caffeine? I told him and finished whining. He finished scribbling, then he handed me his notes. 

I have kept that piece of paper because it changed everything for me. Almost immediately. But at first, I scoffed. As I said, I have tried intermittent fasting. I've tried it more than once - and it didn't work. I've tried the Keto diet, and the Mediterranean, and I even dang near went vegetarian for a minute. Why should I bother with IF again?

My doctor told me to trust him. He says that I was probably practicing IF wrong. He says that when we think of making changes in how and what we eat, we have to make it work -  for us.

This is that life-changing (or at least body-changing) piece of paper:

Dr. Fung's videos are useful

I have insomnia so my sleep schedule is insane but I generally get into bed around 10:30-11:00pm. I told the doc that I get up at 6:00-6:30am - sometimes 7. (In actuality, I was getting up between 5:30 and 6 most days and I don't know why I didn't want to tell him that.) The doctor wanted me to think about my personal schedule and lifestyle. He was right. It makes a huge difference.

As you can see, the doctor had me breaking 2100 calories up during the day. I gave his schedule a try for a couple of days, then modified it. Like he said, I had to make this work for me. 

The doctor also recommended getting more rest (maybe he knows I lied?) so I'm getting up now around 7-7:30  but I'm not a breakfast person (I'm a coffee person). Also, I don't like eating meals late at night. This is what I came up with on Day 3:

I'd get up and drink water until I have my first calories (aka my morning coffee with sweet cream!). I never had a full 700 calories because I just cannot usually deal with food before lunchtime. Every blue moon, I might have a muffin or some toast. Once I have my morning shot of java, I'm a happy gal. 

From 2 to 4 is when I would have my main meal. I got into a routine of having a piece of chicken with a piece of buttered bread sprinkled with herbs. I would use my 1200 calories and any leftover from the morning 700 allowance.

From 5 to 6 is when I would fit in any last snack or nibbles.

Garlic knots
from Mama Cozzi's dough

In between my meals, I drank a lot of water, maybe a Fresca or diet tonic water. Those are the only diet drinks I can stand. I hate the taste of fake sugar! I even got into the habit of drinking herbal tea - citrus or anything tangy are my favorites.

I adhered to this routine for almost two weeks. I would look forward mostly to my morning coffee and that lunch meal. I didn't really feel a need to snack. At some point, I realized, I didn't even need a heavy lunch. I switched from chicken to pasta with a little sauce to broccoli and pasta to rice with some butter and seasonings. 

One day, I decided that I didn't even that want much to eat. I got some summer sausage and cheese and Ritz crackers. That's what I would eat during the day. I cut back to one cup of coffee and started drinking more seltzer water and herbal tea. 

Pizza from Mama Cozzi's
dough

Basically, for the last couple of weeks, I have been having what I call "nibble meals".  I think my body has reset itself as far as appetite. I now eat what I crave and if I'm not hungry, I don't eat just because it's mealtime.

When I do want something, I have it. If I'm not hungry, I don't eat.

The other week, I found these packs of take-and-bake pizza dough. I will fix a couple of breadsticks with it or make a small pan pizza. I love making garlic knots with the dough. My whole grocery shopping routine has changed. Some of what I have been keeping & rotating on my grocery list:

• Mama Cozzi's Pizza Kitchen Pizza Dough
• Beef summer sausage (snack)
• Pizza sauce
• Broccoli florets
• Mixed vegetables (to eat with rice)
• White rice
• Alfredo sauce
• Ritz Crackers (snack)
• Tuna (canned in water)
• Mozzarella cheese shredded
• Mild cheddar block
• Chicken thighs (these cook up SO good in the Foodi)
• Gelato bites (dessert)
• Dark chocolate bar
• Cheese dip (to eat with bread stick/pizza)
• Frozen blueberries (for smoothies/ice cream)
• Macadamia milk
• Cashew milk
• Bread (cottage or thick-cut white)
• Spring water
• Diet tonic water (I can stand this but not diet cola)
• Fresca
• Ground coffee
• Instant espresso
• Sweetened condensed milk (for rice pudding)
• Rhodes cinnamon rolls (dessert)

There are days when I am okay with just having some cheese and crackers. And there are days when I try to eat the world in just a few hours.

When I say that my attitude toward food has changed, I'm serious. There was a time when I could not keep a bag of Rhodes cinnamon rolls for more than a week. They come with 12 rolls in a bag, people. There is a bag in my freezer that's been there for at least 13 days now. Same for the gelato bites I found at Aldi's. Folks, there were days when I had to remind myself to eat something. 

That was all before I made another change to the fasting plan.

It had been 32 days since I was in my doc's office, whining. I won't tell you what I clocked in at, weight-wise, but I will say that I had come down 16.3 pounds. 

Then something cool happened while I was looking for an app to help me track my fasting hours. I found one and it listed the various fasting plans. For the amount of weight I want to lose over the winter, the app suggested trying the 20:4 plan.

Uh... I guess my goal is a little bit "aggressive"... I mean, 20:4 is, well eating for 4 hours and fasting for 20. Wow.

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle such a short window of being able to eat. It's not that I want a lot to eat but I am used to having a lot more hours in which to eat. But I really want to get to my goal weight as soon (and healthily) as I can.

So far, the only hard thing about the 20:4 plan is that, with my sleep schedule, I don't get my first coffee until around 11 in the morning. Three and a half to four hours is a looong time to wait for my first cup of coffee with cream. And I stop all calories at 2:30 or 3. I tried staging my eating hours from 10 to 2 but that only works if I want more coffee than food. But I have been managing to do the 20:4 plan for a couple of days now. 

As I work on this post, I keep glancing at the tracker which tells me how long I have left to fast. I need to ignore that tracker! Right now there are still 13 hours of fasting time left. That is 13 hours until I can have coffee. Yeah. I do need to stop looking at the tracker until I have just 15 minutes left. By then, I am getting out my cup and the sweet cream and watching for the coffee to start brewing...

But this is working. It's working so well that I'm just mad I didn't start sooner. I'm not saying it's easy. It's not but it is doable. I don't even care when other people are eating and I can't join in. I just drink black coffee and pray.

This made me laugh so hard!

One key thing: I don't check my weight like a fanatic (anymore). I really fought to ignore my bathroom scale for the first 3 weeks. I remember someone once saying that we should judge our weight-loss success by how we feel and not what the scale reads. I highly recommend using that little tactic! Now, I only check every few days so that I can update the tracker app.

When you lose weight, you notice things you weren't paying attention to. For most of my life - up til I was about 30 - I was one of those thin people who never really gained weight and never had to think about what I ate, but I've been fat long enough now that I'd forgotten some good things about being my correct weight. 

These days, I feel more comfortable in every way. When I lost the first 10 or 12 pounds, I could see the change in my face. At 18 pounds down, I can tell how much better my clothes fit and feel. It is almost shocking to see the change in numbers when I look at the loss history on the app. I felt the results before I saw the scale.

When I put on my pants, nothing is tight, puckled up, or rolled. My thighs don't touch when I walk. My breathing is better. I don't cringe when I catch sight of my naked body in the mirror. I'm not exactly prancing around (yet), but I'm not instantly depressed at the sight. 

I have a couple of cute Dollar General dresses that I got when I moved here in 2017. When I first bought them, they made me feel pretty and comfortable. For the past couple of years, I only wore them because they were still kind of loose. That was 35 pounds ago, people. The other day, I put one of the dresses on and realized that I felt pretty in it - not just comfortable. Same with some other pieces of clothing that I tried on for the first time in a while. 

If I really want to see how gaining 35 pounds has changed me, I can just look at the wear and tear on some of my pants. The inseams are worn and the waistbands are stretched out. Just imagine how I will feel when I'm down almost double that 35 pounds!

The biggest sign that I am doing something right came when my brother and sister-in-law commented on the changes. They had taken me to that doctor's appointment. When they saw me a couple of weeks later, my SIL wanted to know what I had been doing to lose weight. My SIL has since signed up with NOOM. I can't afford that. I will stick with what is working. Intermittent fasting (or any eating plan/diet) is all about attitude.

Finally - I do realize that photographs are the best for showing a change. I am putting together a set of pictures. Luckily, I have some full-body shots from reviews I've done for some clothes. I will be doing a photo post when I hit my final goal. My first goal is about 17 pounds away but my final goal is to get back to my 2012 weight. If God is willing to let me see the day, I plan to go into next summer needing a bunch of smaller clothes...

Peace

--Free