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Wednesday, July 09, 2014

Recap: Days 2 - 4 of Detox

To recap of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of my detox challenge, here is how those days went and what I consumed:

Sunday (Day2)

I didn't feel as stressed because I knew I'd be able to eat something (minus breads). My energy level seemed good and I wonder if that's because of the water from Saturday. I did have to pee a lot throughout the day - but not as much as I thought I would. My other bathroom use didn't increase.

One of my hopes in detoxing is, that by clearing my body of toxins, I will be more clearheaded. My illness messes with my brain and I'm praying that cleansing my body will give some relief from the fuzzy-headedness and the frustration that causes.
  • Coffee with flavored cream (at 6:30 a.m.)
  • 40 oz water
  • Snack of 1 oz plain goat cheese, 5 Triscut crackers, three pieces of pickled garlic, 1.5 oz of beef summer sausage (lunch at 3 p.m.)
  • 16 oz water (while cleaning and packing)
  • Coffee with flavored cream (around 4 p.m. because dinner isn't until 7 p.m.)
  • 1 cup collard gumbo (shrimp, tomato paste/sauce, okra), 1 small piece of hot water cornbread and  fried chicken wing  (Yeah, I said "fried"! It was a family dinner, sorry.)
  • 16 oz water before bed.
I almost think I ate too much food today. Even though I ate a very small amount at dinner and skipped the candied yams and sauce, I felt too full afterwards. I almost didn't have room for the last serving of water. I was really disappointed that this is the second day of not making the full 80 ounces of water.

Sausage, cheese, garlic, crackers
"Grammy's Gumbo"
Usually made with pork chops, not shrimp

Monday (Day 3)

Didn't feel as energized this morning. Probably has to do with feeling too full at bedtime. Noticed that my urine was super clear every time I got up to use the bathroom during the night - which was about four times! Maybe that's why I was a little groggy. Told myself that I am not going to eat as much today. Thinking I will stick to cheese and cracker snacks, and maybe a little bit of sausage.
  • Coffee with flavored cream at 7 a.m. (but not as much because of feeling so full already)
  • 16 oz water while running errands
  • Goat cheese, sausage, crackers and garlic for lunch around 1:30
  • 2 servings of water 16 oz each while making calls and folding clothes (feeling a little headache-y and tired, but not hungry)
  • 1/2 cup leftover gumbo at 4 p.m. (made my headache go away, but I'm still really tired)
  • About 1/2 ounce (3 slices) sausage and 8 oz of water for dinner at about 7 p.m.
  • Cup of chai tea at bedtime 
Felt really super tired all afternoon, but at least I wasn't running to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I did have to pee about every hour. And, yes, I realize that I am falling short on the water intake.

Tuesday (Day 4)

I woke up still feeling a little groggy and un-rested. This could be an effect of the water cleaning some of the toxins from my body. I hope.

One positive: my skin doesn't feel as dry as it usually does. This apartment holds heat like a roasting oven, so most nights I can almost feel the moisture being sucked out of my skin. The air is still super dry in here, but I don't feel the need to roll out of bed reaching for my body lotion.

Some of our out of town guests are leaving tonight so someone had the really good/really bad idea of meeting at Lucky Wishbone for a family lunch. (Any time family comes to visit there are 2 places on their list to eat: Lucky Wishbone and Arctic Roadrunner - both are burger joints.) I'm going to attempt to remove the bread from my Jumbo Burger, but I'm probably going to cheat.
  • Coffee. Yes, with flavored cream. Around 6:30 a.m. I'm so tired, I wanted to chew grounds right from the can.
  • 2 16 oz bottles of water, back to back, between 11:00 and 12:00
Here is where I feel off the wagon y'all: today we hit Lucky Wishbone. I stuck with just a burger (bread included) and then downed another bottle of water (about 12 oz). I babysat DJ from noon til about 4, then the whole family spent the rest of the day together. I just got home and it's almost 11 p.m.

The nieces and nephews (and my sis)

This kid. 'Nuff said.

We had a family seafood night

I stuck to crab and shrimp
And salad

I feel like I'm going to have to do much better with my water intake. This is ridiculous. How hard should it be to drink plenty of water? Apparently, I'm struggling with it. (I even went off and left my water bottle at the fam's tonight.) I am promising myself tonight that I'm going to do much better with the challenge in the next few days.

I'm still fatigued. If I'm not feeling better by the end of the week, I'm going to have to check with the docs to see what is going on. I don't need to get sick when I'm trying to get moved... My brain is a bit fuzzy, so I hope that I kept all this straight. I tried drafting a post for each of these past few days, but had to edit here and there. For now, goodnight.

Peace
--Free

Sunday, July 06, 2014

Getting My Goat

Since I mentioned my new-found love for goat cheese, I thought I'd post about it.

I love cheese, but I'm picky. I like cheddar, natural cheddar, Colby, cream, Havarti, and Brie. My previous favorite was Havarti. My new fave: goat.

I can't describe myself as being adventurous about food. I have to be able to stand looking at something if I'm going to eat it. I'll try things if they sound like they taste good. This is how I learned that "crudites" is just a fancy-sounding word for raw veggies. Chopped raw veggies are sometimes affordable, but if you slap that word "crudites" on the menu, forget it.

Goat cheese is not something I ever thought I'd like. Goat doesn't sound tasty to me because I grew up hearing that they eat any and every nasty thing they can get their teeth on. And it's cultural. I grew up with cow milk, so the idea of eating cheese made of goat milk (or even moose milk!) is one I had to creep up on.

A family friend came into town with my niece for a visit. For the Fourth of July, she made some beautiful trays of hors d'oeuvres: sausages, pickled veggies, olives (yay!), garlic (yay!), and different cheeses. She sweetened the normally tart goat cheese with a touch of honey.

Oh my heavens! That was the best cheese I have ever let touch my tongue. (Thank you, Jamie!)

So, while shopping yesterday, I wanted to get some more goat cheese. So many brands and labels... I chose one based on best price:

Tastes good plain or with honey
(or jam or marmalade)

Then I saw this one and just had to have it-



- but I was getting over my grocery budget (or whatever it is you want to call the miniscule amount of money I get to spend on food). My sister, bless her, got it for me as a treat. I love my sister. Now I love this cheese.

Probably because I'm not cultured enough (see what I did there?), I can't really describe the taste of this cheese. For both the plain and candied, I can say that they are really super creamy and richly textured. The one with the cranberries and orange peel has the tart under taste that is yummy with the fruits. I mixed the plain cheese one with a touch of honey. That was how I tried it at our get-together. What I can't wait to do is just try the cheese plain with no sweeteners.

What's nice is that, apparently, goat cheese has lots of nutritional benefits. Here's one person's experience with (and info on) goat's milk products.

Because I like the cheese so much, I want to try the milk. I've been using soy milk, but I'm always open to alternatives and choices when it comes to flavor and health benefits.

Maybe we need to try all of them?

flavor & preference count
I've read some good things about goat's milk being beneficial to bone health and the immune system. That's a huge plus for me. I'm not ready for sheep milk yet, but I think variety is good. The main considerations are health and tolerance. Flavor is a big plus. I'll try almost anything that's going to help me heal and feel better. I've tried lots of milks. I wasn't crazy about rice milk and I only like using coconut milk as a sweetener, recipe addition or for cosmetic uses. Almond milk is about the same as vanilla soy for me. I don't drink it, I just use it in cereals and smoothies.

Now that I'm hip to goat's cheese, I'm looking forward to using it on baking recipes. I just know that it's right up there with cream cheese as pastry filling or cake frosting.  As soon as I get settled in "Mayberry" and have the kitchen set up, I'm stocking up on the cheeses and milks.

Peace
--Free

Recap: Day One of Detox

(My morning-after recap of Day One - Saturday)

Everything was great until I finished off my first (and only) serving of coffee for the day. The whole time I was writing the intro post, I was feeling mostly very confident. I even wondered if I shouldn't be doing a 14-day challenge.

The first few hours zoomed by while I worked on sorting, packing and labeling boxes for storage. I downed 2 16-oz bottles of water while I did laundry. I was doing great.

Then I started craving a second coffee.

There are lots of days when I don't have a second cup of coffee and never think about it. Saturday was a day when I was thinking about my second coffee before I had finished the first one. It was a day when I began having involuntary fantasies about coffee. I almost had to take a cold shower to get my mind off of coffee.




I made it past the cravings by drinking more water. I was saving the prune juice for later. I decided that I could think of prune juice as a treat. Prune juice is dark like coffee, so I was hoping that I could satisfy my java cravings by visualizing the prune juice as very sweet, creamer-free coffee. How sad is that? Is that normal while in caffeine withdrawals, or is that bordering on needing-help-from-a-professional? (I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I was thinking of ways to add a few grains of coffee to my water just to tide me over. Thinking about it was just getting to be masochistic, so I put my tub of coffee where it was way out of my sight. I need to #SeekHelp.)

After around 2 in the afternoon, I was okay with just water. I wasn't even very hungry, which surprised me since I had been so physically busy all morning. When I was getting weary of the taste of water, I brushed my teeth. I love the taste of water after I brush my teeth. PRO: Helps that I hate the taste of coffee right after I brush. CON: what a waste of energy. What am I brushing off my teeth? The stains of cravings? Whatever.

I noticed something interesting about drinking so much water just partway through the day: I wasn't peeing a lot. Not nearly as much as I expected to, since there was no food intake to absorb any liquid... Maybe because of my java withdrawals, I spent a few minutes in the throes of a hallucination about my kidneys being damaged or my urethra being clogged by my junkie-like need for a hit of Yuban. My brain went into shock from all that damned water and fluoride and I swear I saw Juan Valdez out of the corner of my eye trying to hawk me some coffee like a beloved friend of the worst influence.

Yeah. Things were getting tricky.

The hardest part of the day was when I went shopping with my sister. It was late afternoon, I was starting to think about food more and more often. Bad time to be in the grocery store. If I could have focused more on all the wonderful food I was seeing, I might have given in. Thing is, I had to pee. Every ten minutes. I hate using public restrooms, but for the hour that we were in the store, I used up all the "rest" out of the "room"! I think my brain and bladder were playing Tag with each other. I'd see something edible that made my mouth water and my brain would Tag my bladder. At least being in the restroom so much kept me (temporarily) away from the temptations of food.

Now it's confession time. I slipped up once. Or twice, depending on how you count it.

I blame it on the olive bar at the store. I love olives. I love olives with pits. I love olives stuffed with garlic. I love garlic. This dang olive bar has all kinds of olives. And garlic. So I had an olive (just one) and some garlic (some = two). I hope there is an olive bar in Heaven.

To pay for my slip-up, I drank a whole 16 ounces of water as soon as we got to the car. Sixteen ounces of warm-from-sitting-in-a-hot-car water. Ugh. (And I chewed two pieces of gum. To save some vampires from my breath. My sister gave me the gum. She dang near shoved it into my mouth.)

So. I made it through Day One. I only made it to 3 seconds past 10:30 p.m. (because I hadn't had solid food since the same time the night before), but I made it. Then I broke my fast with a treat that my sister bought me: goat cheese. I never thought I could fall as in love with a cheese as I am with olives and garlic. I never thought I'd want anything to do with nourishment from a goat. (I'll tell you about the goat cheese in a separate post.)

I made myself drink another 16 ounces of water before I went to sleep. That brought my daily total to around 75 ounces. Short of the planned 88 ounces, but I'm okay with it. I'm just happy I made Day One of my challenge (except for the olives and garlic). By the way, I didn't drink the prune juice. I counted the olives and garlic as a replacement.

I had an epiphany while writing this post (as I start Day Two) where I identified my enemy as my habits, not my hunger. Just like everything in life.

I made it through Day One, mainly by keeping busy and focusing on how badly I want to feel well. I have this sarcoidosis that's disabled me, but I don't have to give the disease any more weapons.

My sleep last night would make Rip Van Winkle look like a coke addict. I dozed off knowing that morning was going to be the end of a rainbow where my coffee was waiting. Of course, I woke up about five times to visit the bathroom, but I had no trouble getting back to sleep each time.

This morning, I got out of bed so fast to get to my coffee maker that I almost pulled a ligament. By the way, this coffee... best coffee ever.



Peace
--Free

Saturday, July 05, 2014

My Natural Detox Challenge

The past week or so, my body and brain have been feeling sluggish. My water intake has dropped the last few days. Too much going on, what with moving, having my birthday, the Fourth of July celebrations, and family here for a visit from the States.

All of this (except the moving) has been fun, but is starting to wear on me. I think it's just stress and fatigue, so I am trying to cleanse myself from the inside out. I'm going to set myself a challenge to do a 7-day natural detox. I will update here about my progress.

No cheesecake? Well, that sucks.

When I looked at various detox "systems", I decided against anything involving pills and powders. I take enough prescribed meds as it is. This WikiHow lists several natural ways to cleanse the body. I took what I liked from parts of this list into what I think are the best for me:

  • Through healthy eating and drinking. I am going to be better about drinking lots of water and I'd like to give the Dandelion tea a try. The Burdock tea interests me, but I'm worried about how will taste... Still not giving up my coffee, but I can limit myself. 
  • Specific Cleanses. The only one of these that sound safe for me is the Green Tea Smoothie. Not as tasty-sounding as a Cheesecake Smoothie, but safe. There's no way in Hades I'd ever mess with a "salt-water flush". My blood-pressure would probably shoot up high enough to explode across the sky in sparkles. Drinking salt-water doesn't sound safe for anyone unless their doctor is present with some of those emergency paddles and an ER team.
  • Lifestyle Choices. No duh. When it comes to my lifestyle choices and managing my stress, I face challenges every 5 minutes. Water instead of coffee; green and leafy over creamy, sweet and gooey; walking away from an irritating situation instead of facing assault charges. 
Basically, all this is common-sense stuff. Very do-able. I call it "The Spirit is Willing" plan. My weak "flesh" is why I'm looking to detox in the first place.

 ~sigh~

Here's my self-challenge (starting today and ending on Friday the 11th):
Day 1 A (solid) food fast. I'm limiting my non-water liquids to 1 (12oz) coffee with flavored creamer; 12 oz of prune juice.
Day 2 - 4 No "simple" carbs, and no pasta (a "complex" carb). Adding tea to my fluid intake of 100 ounces. (Info on simple vs complex carbs)
Day 4 - 6 Limiting my white bread intake to 2 slices per day. Fluid: 100 ounces (water, teas, prune juice). Unless I'm working off too many calories running to the bathroom with "prune juice issues". Shut up.
 Day 7 Limiting myself to vegetables, fruits, prune juice and 1 8oz coffee with creamer. Fluid: 100 ounces.
Hopefully, on Day 8, I will feel better. During the challenge, I'll post on my mood and energy level and whatever effects I'm feeling.

By the way, about teas: I thought about using Dandelion tea and/or Burdock tea, but some of the warnings are worrying me. Green tea is one that I know is safe for me. I love chai tea, so I should learn to drink more in place of my massive amounts of coffee.

Add a good book & it's a prescription for depression




I figure this challenge is going to definitely be good for my body. That's what I figure. What I know is that I'm going to be resentful every time I see someone else chewing food that I can't have or drinking a really good cup of coffee after I've had my daily limit. What I am hoping is that I will be able to do adopt this challenge into my life on a regular basis. Drinking more water is definitely going to be a constant. I'm shooting for 80 ounces a day.

Also will decrease my lotion budget

I'm tired of being tired. I want to really work on getting well for the long-term. So... here I go, off to my challenge.

I'm almost to the bottom of my 12 ounces of coffee and I keep looking over at that gigantic bottle of prune juice I haven't opened yet. My water jug is waiting, but I refuse to think about it until I've licked my coffee mug free of every last drop of the International Delight Heath bar-flavored creamer. Every. Last. Drop.

Peace
--Free

Friday, July 04, 2014

What is Beautiful?

(Warning: My brain is tired today, so this post might ramble just a bit!)

There are a lot of us bloggers who feature cosmetics and clothes and, well, all things "beautiful". Male or female, all of us want to be liked, loved, attractive, appealing. It's just part of our in-built need to feel connected. If we feel attractive, we feel that we have something visible to offer others on a (shallow) immediate basis.

After scrolling through a bunch of photos the other day - photos of friends and family - something dawned on me: many of those people were posing and putting out a show-off-y vibe.

If you are on an online social network, just check out all the selfies by regular folk. (Celebrities don't count. Self-promotion is part of their resume.) Most of those selfies are of folk trying hard to look like they aren't trying hard to look really good. We've become a nation (world?) of desperate-to-be-beautiful people.

I bet most people don't find certain things "attractive":

  • Too much makeup
  • Too much skin
  • Too much weave
  • Too much posing
  • That stupid "duck face" thing people do
I really hate the duck face. That's a real sincere look, right?

We've distorted what is really most attractive in any person: being genuine.

When I see stories about this woman, who transformed herself into a doll image, I just wonder.

She's a living, breathing... Barbie?

And another one

Barbie & Ken?
What is going on here? (By the way, there is a suspicion of a tinge of racism in one of these cases. I don't think it's racism. I think it's complete body-image ignorance.)  I've read stories of people trying to change their appearance to downplay their racial features. That's some real self-hate there.

There are more of these "human Barbies" than I thought. Enough for a slideshow, apparently. I found a black "Barbie" without looking too hard. Their are no racial lines when it comes to distorted body images. 

I wonder about the sanity and character of a person who is attracted to a person who looks like a plastic doll.

Growing up, I used to have the normal (?) pre-pubescent fantasies of being with whichever boy was the cutest in my school, a popular band, or on a TV show. Because I did grow up (and because I had great parents and other role models), I learned to appreciate people for their whole selves: personality, character, and motivations.

I have made some mistakes in judging some people but, overall, I am mostly attracted to people who are comfortable with who they are and how they look.

What's beautiful?
  • A genuine smile
  • Kindness in the eyes
  • Intelligence
  • Humor
I am sometimes socially awkward, so I relate to that in other people. It's also really cool when someone is socially comfortable -despite their looks, bank account or connections (or lack of).

A lot of us are attracted to people for reasons we can't put our finger on. We explain our attraction to certain people by saying that "there's just something about" him/her.

Instead of buying into and promoting shallow attributes, we should learn to find that "certain something" that is in all of us.

Peace
--Free

Thank You, L'Oreal!

Have to do a shout out to L'Oreal. Because I participated in a survey on skin, hair and makeup (through their product testing site), they sent a lovely 'Thank You' gift in the form of this:

Just like getting an extra (belated) birthday gift!
(forgive the pic quality)




Wow. All stuff that I have been wanting to try.

What was included? Well, let's see...

Boy. I am just thrilled to have gotten over $100 worth of products. I think the two that I want to try first are the Kiehl's and the 5 Sec Blur.

I wasn't asked to review anything. This was just a gift for my having taken part in the survey. Of course, I will be reviewing each and every one of the products as soon as I get a chance to try them out! What I appreciate the most is that they paid attention to my survey and tailored my gift box to my specific preferences.

Who is a happy L'Oreal fan? Me, that's who. Yes, ma'am, I am. Not sure how participants are chosen but, go here to see about signing up.

Peace
--Free

Thursday, July 03, 2014

**REVIEW** Mineral Eye Gel by Adovia

Once again, I am having the chance to try a product by a favorite company. I'm not being generous with my praise for any other reason than I really enjoy everything I've enjoyed from the Adovia brand. They use Dead Sea minerals in their products and, apparently, it's doing good things for my skin. I'm 53 now, and I think my skin is pretty good, but my illness and the meds have taken a toll. I have to do a lot more to maintain moisture and fight off sun damage. I like that Adovia products have minerals and natural oils in them.

This time, I am using their Mineral Eye Gel. It's labeled as being ultra-light and quick absorbing to provide hydration all day.  Other claims are that the gel will reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles.






After a couple days' use, I can verify the claims of hydration are certainly true. I had to ask my family and friends about the lines and wrinkles. They tell me that I don't have a lot of those in the first place. Good. Thing is, I want to prevent as many signs of aging as I can, so I am going to keep using the gel.

Here is where I think the hydration comes in: this gel really is very hydrating. As soon as I used it around my eyes, I had to stop myself from dabbing some on the rest of my face. It's a little too pricey for me to over-use like that!

Made in Israel

Like what it's supposed to do

For all the skin creams and oils I have tried, I haven't specifically concentrated as much on the eye area. I once used an Avon eye cream, but found it to be too oily. I already have problems with my eyeliner and shadow oiling up. The Mineral Eye Gel is nice because I could feel the moisturizing effects immediately. I didn't have to use very much - which is nice because, like I said, the gel is pricey.

I let the gel "set" for a bit before I applied eyeliner and shadow. Really like that, while the area was still "hydrated", there was no oiliness to ruin my makeup. (I really do want to use this all over my face!)

As with most Adovia products that I've tried from Cleopatra's Choice, the ingredients are fairly straightforward:

Demineralised Water & Dead Sea Water, Stearic Acid, Propylene Glycol & Chamomile (Anthemis Nobilis) Extract & Algae Extract & Papaya (Carica Papaya) Extract & Aloe Vera (Barbadensis) Gel, Caprilyc/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Sweet Almond (Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis) Oil, Glycerin, Carbomer, Olive (Olea Europaea) Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Evening Primrose (Oenothera Biennis) Oil, Urea, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Keratin, Peach (Prunus Persica) Kernel Oil, Cornflower (Achinicea Pallida) Extract, Lactic Acid, Hydrolized Collagen, Benzoic Acid, Chlorphenesin, Dehydroacetic Acid, Benzalkonium Chloride, Propylparaben, Dead Sea Salt, Exotic Verbena (Litsea Citrata) Oil, Ginseng (Panax Ginseng) Extract, Soybean (Glycine Soja) Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Retinyl Palmitate (my emphasis)

The one thing missing in this (and other Cleopatra's Choice products I've used) is sunscreen. Granted, most of my foundation makeup includes sunscreen, but there are times when I go makeup-free.

As for the price, yes, it is up there, but the quality is so good that it's justified. The fact that it only takes a tiny dab of the gel to use around each eye means that the 30ml jar will last for weeks. Also, the standard 60-day return that Adovia offers is great if a customer decides they don't like the gel. You can also get this product on Amazon.

I like this one a lot. I like this one lots more than I like the Mineral Lift Serum.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE NOTICE: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

**REVIEW** Eco Filter Water Bottle

I'm doctor-ordered to drink LOTS of water. It's easier to follow those orders if I have a good, re-usable water bottle on hand. With that in mind, I was pleased when I got this for a birthday gift:

22 ounces
 It's the Eco Bottle by Smart Planet.

BPA Free
 The whole "BPA-free" thing has become a trend. I had no real idea what the fuss was about. Now I do. Trust me, my brain needs no more problems. Matter of fact, I need none of these problems.

Love the hook for carrying it
Funny story: The instructions told me how to prepare the filter. That went fine. Too bad there wasn't a "For Dummies" add-on telling me how to actually use the bottle for drinking. I spent the first ten minutes wondering why sucking on the spout only produced a mouthful of air and a tiny bit of water. I was trying to come up with a way to exchange the gift before it dawned on me to tip the bottle. You know, to actually treat it like what it is - a water bottle. (My niece almost begged me not to include that part in this post!)

If you are done laughing now (or just shaking your head), I can tell you that I love this gift.

I'm not the most eco-conscious person on the planet - or, for that matter, in my family. This bottle makes it easy for me to be better about that.

What I like most: the spout (now that I know how to use it!). It flips down when not in use. This is nice because I like to tote my bottle everywhere and I usually keep it in the satchel that I call a purse. Also, it's got a nice slim design and the little tap for carrying it easily. It's labelled as being good for 580 uses (or approximately six months). I'm looking at getting 88 ounces of water per day. I had to use a calculator to figure that 22oz each, 580 uses gives me 145 days of getting my 88 daily ounces before I will need to replace the filter.

The spout is open in this pic.
It flips down to prevent spills
While there isn't much else to say about the design, the total idea is very nice. It's a neat and handy way to get your filtered hydration. At 22 ounces, it holds more than the 16 ounces I was getting from my previous bottle (which was bigger around and harder to carry). This one fits in my car's cup holder. (By the way, Smart Planet also has a cool-looking squeeze bottle; an infuser bottle that I'd love to try; and, just because I'm a little bit "country" at heart, a Mason Jar type "drinking jar" that I just plain like the look of. Must be a lot of folks like me because the jar is currently showing as "sold out". Hah.

By the way, Alaska is one of those states with great water. The water here tastes so good, I can drink it for dessert. Other states should be half as lucky. I've lived in places in Texas and Arizona where tap water would put an industrial water filter through its paces. (I will never be completely convinced that the water in Texas isn't one of the factors that caused my illness!) I saw water that could be used to dye hair an odd shade of rust. One of the places in Texas had water so bad that I didn't even want to wash my clothes in it. In Arizona, I had to have our water delivered. That was one bill I cared about more than I did the mortgage. I couldn't afford to get a filter for the bathroom, but I learned to keep a jug of filtered water in the shower for rinsing. After I doused myself with the filtered water, I'd coat myself in baby oil. That was for the stench the shower water left behind. Horrible.

No offense to Texas or Arizona, but for beautiful states, you guys have some nasty water.

I'll be moving soon and I've heard the water is decent where I'm relocating. Still, I will keep this bottle handy.

Peace
--Free

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Birthday 2014 Anchorage

So... my family is big on birthdays. Today was mine. An Aussie friend of mine woke up at God knows what time to call me by 9:30 this morning to say "Happy Birthday, Tru. You are a darling." He probably passed right back out afterwards, but how sweet.

My niece +Gabrielle B got the jump on everyone & sent her birthday wishes (

My niece and sister really went out of their way to make this a special day for me. With everything else they have going on, they made sure I had a lovely party full of family and friends and good times. That was later. First, my sis had dialysis today, so after I dropped her off, I started my errands with a free (birthday) treat from Starbucks:

Espresso Frappe. Venti sized. Yum!
Then I spent time at the house with my sister and niece and DJ. I got to talk and text with all my Stateside brothers, aunts and cousins who wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday. One of my brothers kidded that I was turning 55. I reminded him that he is the older sibling. He backed off and suddenly remembered that I am not yet that old!

I really hope that my Facebook and G+ apps were behaving because I had a lot of people to thank for their kind wishes. My phone started dying before noon. I plugged it in for 2 hours without realizing the charger was not the right one for my phone :-(


DJ and I had a lot of fun today. He's getting so dang big now.

all those toys & he sits in a rubber bin...

he knows how to come in and out of house now...

him and that bin!
Then a longtime friend of mine and my sister's (who had spent the night) hung out and talked about days when we were all about 25 years younger than we are now. My sister was styling half & half on the hair today. She went bald for most of the food prep we did, then she sported one of her wigs for the actual party. I'll have to get all the pics from people who took them. My camera was dead for most of the afternoon.

After this delicious dinner...

Chicken & shrimp Pad Thai
... I got to ride with one of my friends in his rebuilt Mustang. Don't tell anyone, but we hit about a 100 mph three times on some empty boulevards. I haven't had that much fun in the passenger seat of a car since I got my first teenage kiss. My niece got video of us taking off. I'll have to get a copy.

Because I am leaving soon, the fam is going to be gifting me with cards and things I need once I get to "Mayberry". Because they are my family though, they got me this to take with me:

my birthstone
Now, it's getting late. I only had one glass of wine all evening. We have to be up early in the morning for chemo and all that biz.

I have an awesome group of people who love me and make me feel loved when I most need it. I'm so blessed that I don't even know where to start counting. I'm just going to thank God for another year of life & be thankful that I made it to 53.

Good night all.

Peace
--Free

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Mayberry of the Midwest

Still here in Alaska, but rushing to get prepped for life in Iowa.  A lot of people who know of my impending move are still a little curious about my reasons. All I can say is that no one can understand why I'm going unless they know where I've been for so many years.

My new town? I'll call it Mayberry of the Midwest. Mayberry. Not because it's small, quaint and country, but because it's everything I'm hoping it will be: small, quaint and country.

I'm looking to Mayberry for some physical, spiritual, social and financial healing. The last several years of living in Arizona, Texas and, back here, in Alaska have broken me in way that only God can fix. Living in a more affordable place is my first step to recovery.

Arizona ruined me financially; Texas broke my heart; and Alaska is too cold and expensive to give me anything I need in my life right now.  I want to be in a new place in my body and in my heart. I want the promises that sometimes a place can only offer a specific type of person at a certain time in their life.

What I've heard about "Mayberry" is that there is plenty of fresh air, a friendly (and sparse) population of church-going people. I've heard of old trees in the yards, unlocked doors on the residences. I envision being welcomed should I approach a neighbor for a borrowed cup of sugar. Okay, that might be pushing the technicolor dreams too hard. Still, I need a break from the harsh glare of the life I've been living.

I am looking forward to making a home for myself. A place to put my few belonging and enjoy them in peace. I want a home that makes me feel safe and calm and ready to go out and re-insert myself in the land of the working. I can't wait to put up family photographs and surround myself with cheap and precious furnishings. I am craving a a space to cook and dine in that is clean, cozy and functional. I want to sleep in comfort and quiet. Waking up in the morning to appreciation of simple blessings is another goal. I can't wait to plant a small garden, nurture potted plants and, maybe, have herbs and spices on my windowsill. This home that I dream of is full of fresh air and light, smelling of flowers (grown or sprayed from a can) and hope.

I suppose I am dreaming of a home and life that can be had anywhere, as long as one can afford it.

When I look back on the past seven to ten years of my life, I have memories of drudgery and resentment and a lack of cooperation from the people I aimed to please. Until I gained the dreams of Mayberry, my future was a dark cloud of being crowded and forced to go along to get along. I haven't been so much living a life to enjoy than just moving from day to day in survival  mode. Survival is like breathing: an automatic urge. Living is something only those with true hope and contentment can fully enjoy.

I don't wish on stars in the sky or rely on man-made promises. Stars burn out and men are only flawed and human. God, though, is a steady presence. He comes through every time. At the end of every road, in the darkest and loneliest of moods, He comes with hope and strength.  I've walked myself toward many bridges in this life of mine, but I have never been able to cross a single one of them without the Lord holding my hand.

So now, I begin this walk towards Mayberry. The bridge is a little rickety and, despite what I've heard, I'm not really sure what's on the other side. I'm just walking in faith.

Watch this space for stories of what I find on the other side. For now, goodnight.

Peace

--Free

Friday, June 27, 2014

**Quickie Post** Valley Radio News (Shocking. Not.)

This station bills itself as Mat-Su Valley's first news talk station.

1. The Valley has a rep here in Anchorage.
2. This station just added some negative juice to the rep.
3. Maybe I'm being touchy, but: my blog, my views.  I don't have a radio presence.

Never listened to this station before. Only listened by accident earlier today because I bumped the radio knob while plugging in my phone charger.

I tuned in just as the hosts were doing something called the "Hip Hop Review" segment. Apparently, they feel that parents need info on who and what their kids are listening to as far as music. Today the discussion was a highlight of news of some court-bound rappers. I agreed with what they had to say. I was a little put off by how they said it: mimicking the speech and speech patterns/slang of what they think rappers sound like.

Now, I am the biggest anti-thug, anti-violence person in my circle. I literally preach to the young people in my life about the madness of most "thug" music.

So, what's my problem with this segment that I heard? Not much. I'm just wondering if they have a segment on other types of music/artists who are such bad role models for kids. I won't be tuning back in to find out. I won't be tuning back in to that station. Ever.

Like I said, I don't have a radio presence. If I did, I wouldn't dare generalize the Mat-Su residents with the common stereotypes assigned to them. I know that they are not all pot-smoking/growing/dealing, wild-eyed nutcases, "trailer trash", lunatic fringe of the frozen North. I know that, but someone hearing a radio show that talks that talk might not know that.

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Day by Day Vitamin C Serum


This is the second Vitamin C Serum I have tried. The ingredients (and results) are very similar to the first serum I reviewed. This time, I am using the Vitamin C Serum from Day by Day Beauty.


 Not to be shallow, but the bottle is certainly the prettier one of the two. Also, I find that I like having a pump dispenser rather than the squeeze-dropper type.



The ingredients were so much the same that I had trouble finding the difference. This is good because one of the things I like in any product is simple ingredients:
Deionized Aqua (Water), Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf (Aloe), Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate (Vitamin C), Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), Cassia Angustifolia Seed Polysaccharide (Botanical Hyaluronic Acid), Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel), Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Carbomer, Arginine, Organic Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba Oil), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Phenoxy- ethanol, Ethyl Hexyl Glycerin, Organic Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola Extract), Organic Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail Plant Extract), Organic Pelagonium Gravoleons (Geranium Extract), Organic Taraxacum Officinale (Dandelion Extract


This Vitamin C serum is a little easier to apply because it's remain damp long enough to smooth onto the skin. The smell is almost non-existent - another plus.

Is it working? Well, it's good. Because I went straight from one very similar serum into using this one, I feel that I am getting benefits of continual use. This serum costs around $30 and can be ordered via the Day by Day site or from Amazon. Day by Day's customer services is really good. They offer 3 customer promises that are really appealing:
  1. Hassle-free returns
  2. Fast shipping
  3. Satisfaction guarantee
I can vouch for the fast shipping (and good packaging of the product). Because this one is the more expensive of the two serums, I would have to check for price breaks if I were to buy it. I do notice that I use a little less per application - due to the "wetter" formula. 

Do I like this? Yes. Will I continue using? Yes. Will I purchase in the future? Probably. Depends on price or sales. Like I said, it's a bit pricier than I can easily afford. Will I recommend it to friends? I have already.

Since I've used Vitamin C serums, I'm curious about how many other people have tried them. Unlike makeup and moisturizers, there aren't a lot of Vitamin C serums on the shelves of the well-known retailers I shop at. Of course, I haven't been paying much attention, but I will be now.

Peace
--Free

DISCLOSURE NOTICE:

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Annoyed by Advertising

As I am packing up, I spend lots of time watching shows on either Netflix or Hulu. Netflix is my favorite because I get to watch my shows ad-free. Hulu... Well, I wonder sometimes why I even bother to watch anything on Hulu. For one thing, they have this annoying habit of asking which ad I'd prefer viewing. Seriously? I'd prefer not having to use the Page Reload trick to skip the usual 5 commercials they show.

Are there ads that I don't mind? Sure. I liked the one with the little girl "driving" from the backseat while her dad does donuts in a parking lot. I liked it. The first twenty times I saw it. When I see it now, I find that adorable little girl to be an irritating brat I never want to see again.

I'm not just annoyed with TV ads. I hate almost any kind of advertising.

whatev
The worst advertisements are the ones that so clearly misrepresent the service of whatever company they hype. Capital One? Yeah, I want them in my wallet until I'm two days late with a payment. Bank of America? Well, they might want to sell themselves as a giant of customer service, but I've seen first-hand how lousy they are at employee relations... Such a joke.

Whenever Jennifer Aniston comes on to tell us how Aveeno is her secret weapon of beauty, I want to ask for a notarized statement of truth about the photoshop and makeup artists that are hiding behind the backdrop. Come on now. There's nothing wrong with a little vanity, but when you are lying to your fans about your "natural" beauty, I start seeing visions of Diane Keaton's and Ellen's un-photoshopped pics. Fight the battle of the wrinkles in the front lines next to me, but stop lying about your results.

Then there is the ad for some car. The prospective customer is hesitating over his purchase until he recalls all the good deals he's missed out on his life: dumping some now-famous actress because she was ugly; skipping out on the Twitter start-up because he didn't understand the 140 character idea... So, yeah, he better jump right on buying this new car. That's so stupid, all I can do is shake my head. The girl was an investment in love, the start-up was an investment in finances. The car? That's going to lose value the minute you get your car keys from the dealer.

Is it that ad agencies are lazy? Or do they just realize most of us pay only the most minor attention to anything we see or hear?

Tell you what, I was fascinated when someone took screen shots of all the fine print shown in minuscule font at the bottoms of most ads. I still needed to wear two pairs of glasses to see the enlarged shots of those. Once I saw them, I realized I'd need a top attorney, a linguistics expert and an inside man from Madison Avenue to interpret the fine print.

Why not just advertise what you're selling without all the lies, hoopla and spin? Just tell me that the candy tastes good. I don't need to believe it's going to make me see psychedelic colors or swim across the moon. I just want to know whether it's chocolate or not, does or does not have nuts, and maybe if I can buy it in a multi-pack or singles. If you're selling makeup, I only need to know if it's got sunscreen and what shades it comes in. Laundry soap: with bleach or without?

Car commercials are the most outrageous. Apparently, car companies are selling way more than a machine that goes forward, backwards and stops. I guess it's not a "car" if it doesn't talk to you or entertain you. Oh, and don't forget that any decent car must inspire drivers to play music inspired by Motown or 80's teen movies so that people pulling up alongside in traffic will want to dance and sing along with you and your car. Huh?

And what's with the people in the commercials? Where are all the folks that I can relate to? I've never seen people so happy to do dishes, laundry or other chores as the ones who appear in commercials. If we believe advertising, all our homes are full of light and sunshine and families who are nicely and neatly dressed enough to, well, appear in another ad.

Even the sort-of-cute ads by the popular nighttime cold medicine was a laughable jab at my self-esteem. You know the one - it showed people getting such a good night sleep that they were (supposedly) unconcerned with the way they looked. Yeah. Out of five or six people, there was one seriously real-life looking chick. She must have really had a cold at the time she filmed. The others - hah! - they could have been models for a pin-up calendar called "Sick and Sexy". (I might need to work on that title, but you get what I mean.)

I'm so sick of commercials now that, as I'm packing, I get the most stuff done the minute I hear an advertisement begin.

Maybe when ad agencies realize that they are starting to get stale with their "new and fresh" approach, they will just get back to basics. We really only need to know 3 things about any product: what it is, how much it costs, where we can buy it. Otherwise, it's all "adverse-tising".

I'm dreaming into a worm hole if I think even one advertiser gives a whit what I think. But, um, isn't that the whole point of their existence?

Peace
--Free

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

What I Learned from Taking Surveys


Survey says...
Because I belong to quite a few blogger/brand "influencer" sites (like SheSpeaks, BzzAgent, etc.), I participate in all kinds of surveys. Sometimes, I catch myself laughing at my own responses.

One survey asked about my health and fitness habits. I'm no stone cold couch potato, but I felt like one after I had to answer this question: "How many hours do you exercise in a week?" My answer choices were: 5-10 hours, 10-15 hours, 15-20 hours, more than 20 hours.

I was a little ashamed that, even if I count stretching the truth, there's no way I can cop to 5 hours per week. If I count the time I spend on the Glider and time spent chasing after DJ, plus any random sit-ups I get in before bedtime, I might be able to claim 3 hours. In a good week. Okay, it's really closer to 2, but chasing DJ should get extra points, right?

What I want to know is, who the heck with a real life and normal brain function has 20 hours a week to exercise?

I don't think I've spent a total of 20 hours in my lifetime even thinking about exercising. 20 hours a week is a part time job. Who has 20 hours a week just for exercise? Okay - who other than a celebrity who is paid to look impossibly fit two weeks after giving birth to a couple of kids? In the real world, there are mommies and daddies who don't get 20 hours of sleep in a week.

So yeah.

Another survey wanted to know about my non-food shopping habits. Apparently, most people (or at least the people who write these surveys) have way more disposable income than I do. My self-esteem crawled into a gutter and died a painful death when I realized I buy so few name-brand, top-label, better-known, coupon-resistant items that my razors are made in a country I had to look up on a map to be sure it was a real place.

Probably the funniest survey I ever took was one to do with travel. I gave up halfway through it when I realized that I was tempted to lie about the last time I took a planned vacation. To be strictly honest, I haven't "planned a vacation" in years. I have planned fleeing a crazy spouse. I have planned family emergencies. I have even planned a fake vacation to avoid a person who wrongly assumes we are friends and that I would want him staying with me for a couple of weeks.  That time I went to Rome. In my imagination. It was lovely. I plan to go back one day - when those plans involve an actual passport and suitcases.

I think I'm going to have to devise my own surveys, if I want to see questions that are more fitting to my life and lifestyle. Maybe I will post some of them on here one day. Just for kicks.

Peace
--Free

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Our Hair Obsession

What a bad combo: fire and hair. Right?




Apparently, this is about to become the latest thing in hair care. I'm pretty sure there are going to be people going into business, advertising their choice of candles and methods of burning. You know how it goes: some new thing comes along and everybody has to try it, buy it or sell it. Until the next "new" thing comes around.

When I think of hair and even just a too-hot curling iron, this image pops into my head:


No thank.

All someone has to do is tell us that a celebrity or model - or one of their friends, advisors or acquaintances - is doing something and we all go hop on the bandwagon. We don't care where the wagon is headed, but we're buying tickets to ride...

It's funny that the same news outlet that touts so many of these "trends" is just as quick to badmouth them.

The most bizarre thing that came up in a search or hair treatments is this one:

BULL +      
SEMEN +   

HAIR      


Okay, that sperm pic is more acceptable than a pic of semen, but... Yeah. There is a bull semen treatment for the hair. Apparently.

The $138 price didn't faze me. I was fazed enough by the idea of having semen in my hair. Come on, now!

The average person can come up with using just about anything in hair to treat different issues. Heh heh. Back when my cousins and I were young and wanted to moisturize and tame our styles, we used plain old lotion. I had never heard of using Nivea or Coca Cola. When someone named Jane suggested using a Pritt stick for unwanted curls, I had to look up what the heck a "Pritt stick" is.

This is a Pritt Stick

Also known as a glue stick
Well, there ya go.

If we aren't treating our hair, we are tormenting it. With heat and cold and slime and devices. When I look at some of the hairstyles that have come and gone (and come again), I remember one that I wore back when I was about 13. I'm not sure if the style had a name, but I called it the Unicorn. I pulled my hair, ponytail style, to the very top of my head, secured it with a rubberband. Instead of a "Pony", I twisted the hair so that it stood straight up. I'm sure I can find an image of something similar...

Okay, maybe it was just us crazy country gals doing that particular thing. I couldn't find a pic, but let's go back to passing hairstyles and just imagine this one...

Cool. Unless you have a 9 to 5

... except with just one of those braids sticking straight up into the air.

sigh

Out of all the hair trends and styles I've gone through in my life, I have to admit that I most like being "natural". I don't have to spend so much money on straightening and styling. For me, my naps are my get-up-and-go style. If I have to, I can jump out of the shower, spritz on some curl moisturizer and go start my day.

With relaxed hair, I had to either spend too much time on my hair before bed - curling or tying it up; or too much time on waking - styling or taming it. I don't even want to think about the chemicals used to relax it every six weeks or so. Lye or no-lye, something was doing the work of straightening hair that wanted to curl.

Now that I am moving to a more humid state, I'm hoping that my hair will be even happier. When I lived in England, I wore cornrows almost constantly and never even had to use moisturizer. My hair was in better shape than any other part of my life!

So, I'm working on losing the hair obsession. Though I might try the Pritt stick treatment. Just for kicks.

Peace
--Free