Beauty

[rnmom]

My Navy and Exclamation colognes have both arrived. It's been so many years since I smelled either one, but I do believe they smell the same as I remember them. By the time I got them it was later in the evening after I got home from work and I was about to head to bed, so I just sprayed a bit on the sleeve of my jammies to try. I think I'm going to enjoy them, I just need to have a day at home to use them and get the full experience!  Now I need to look into getting another bottle of Poison, but that is much more expensive. I might have to actually go out and do a sniff test of that one first before I shell out the money for that. That would be more like a birthday or christmas gift, not something I would buy just because. 

[just bee]

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@rnmom wrote:

justbee- I guess I don't have the sentimental gene, because I just don't hang onto a lot of items from my past. I have a few small things from when I was a kid, some wedding items, few things from when the kids were babies, few things from my mom. I don't think I'd have any trouble getting rid of 90% of my stuff and retiring to Florida. Actually, that is my dream someday too! I'd love to winter in Florida, or another warm state, maybe come back up north in the summer. I live in Michigan and absolutely hate winter.  I'd give anything to be a snowbird!! Have a small house up north and one down south and sell the big house. Or live in an RV. Or a tiny house. It's not practical now, with little kids and jobs, etc,  but maybe someday.  Now just to convince my hubby. 

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Sounds like your job is to teach the kids ComPacting skills now so that they won't be burdened down the road.  It's funny -- most people I know dream about moving to Florida or Hawaii.  I think about Wyoming or Alaska!  One thing I do appreciate about New Mexico is that we have four distinct seasons in Albuquerque.  Gotta have four seasons.  Always the dream of a white Christmas.

Almost summer and I'm already thinking about winter!

[just bee]

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@rnmom wrote:

islandgirl67- I'll have to check out the missminimalist website. I think I'd enjoy being a minimalist. I dislike clutter immensely as a general rule, I don't like items out on display, I like things tucked away, and I hate crowded drawers, etc. However, with a hubby and two young boys, it's pretty much impossible right now. And my hubby is a saver, so there is only so much I can do. The kids are typical kids. They're actually pretty good about letting stuff go that they no longer use. I try to declutter on a fairly regular basis at least, to keep stuff from piling up too much, but I get SO sick of shuffling stuff around, organizing, handling stuff, etc. Sometimes that feels like all I ever do is move stuff and take care of stuff. And it's not usually even mine! Ah, the joys of being a wife and mom!

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Better-half is a minimalist.  We moved here with all my art objects and framed art and he prefers stark walls and bare surfaces.  I have put decorative items out and a toss pillow or two and slowly these things have disappeared and ended up in the storage room.  A few years ago he surprised me with a large curio cabinet to corral my Oaxacan art (I have a spider, mosquito, ant, scorpion, snake and a few other creatures).  But the bulk of the art -- framed prints, dustibles -- are all sitting in that spare room.  He hates that I have so many houseplants.  Slowly they've been pushed to designated rooms.  I like white ceilings and woodwork and color on the walls -- and a different color in each room.  He prefers the same neutral color throughout the house.  He compromised a few years ago and painted the two bathrooms with bold colors and even textured the walls in the master bathroom.  I am "allowed" only a couple artsy refrigerator magnets and they are on the side, not the front, of the fridge.  Still, we coexist without bloodshed.

[just bee]

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@rnmom wrote:

My Navy and Exclamation colognes have both arrived. It's been so many years since I smelled either one, but I do believe they smell the same as I remember them. By the time I got them it was later in the evening after I got home from work and I was about to head to bed, so I just sprayed a bit on the sleeve of my jammies to try. I think I'm going to enjoy them, I just need to have a day at home to use them and get the full experience!  Now I need to look into getting another bottle of Poison, but that is much more expensive. I might have to actually go out and do a sniff test of that one first before I shell out the money for that. That would be more like a birthday or christmas gift, not something I would buy just because. 

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Yes, Poison would be an investment.  Tread lightly.  It may take some time for you and the fragrances to adjust to one another.  I sprayed on some Navy yesterday and ran it past Better-half.  He thought it was okay, but not as good as "the others."  It's definitely more subtle and I do detect some vanilla and spice.  But there are powerful floral and powder aspects that make it different.  Has a soapy quality.  Not bad at all.

Report back after you've decided if they're still for you. 

[dosey]

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@rnmom wrote:

justbee- I guess I don't have the sentimental gene, because I just don't hang onto a lot of items from my past. I have a few small things from when I was a kid, some wedding items, few things from when the kids were babies, few things from my mom. I don't think I'd have any trouble getting rid of 90% of my stuff and retiring to Florida. Actually, that is my dream someday too! I'd love to winter in Florida, or another warm state, maybe come back up north in the summer. I live in Michigan and absolutely hate winter.  I'd give anything to be a snowbird!! Have a small house up north and one down south and sell the big house. Or live in an RV. Or a tiny house. It's not practical now, with little kids and jobs, etc,  but maybe someday.  Now just to convince my hubby. 

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Moving to Florida is a dream that is definitely possible!!  Start planning now.  You can do it!

[dosey]

This has been the busiest May ever, and it is only half over!

First, I used up a leave-in dry oil for the hair and a Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer.  Except for being too dark, I really liked the lip shimmer and might repurchase a lighter color.  Before I do that, I have two other tinted lip balms to finish.

Guess what happened to me and my husband.  Our credit card was counterfeited.  Here's the story.

Last month, the credit card company did not receive our payment.  When I called, Chase was very nice and refunded us the interest and late payment fee.  (I also learned when I called that I can make a payment over the phone using our checking account number and routing number.)  Anyway, I paid the balance and thought everything was settled.  Well, last week Chase sent me an e-mail stating that they had declined a $106.66 charge at Publix Supermarket.  I looked at my receipts to make sure that I did not use my credit card by mistake instead of my debit card but could not find a receipt for this amount, and my husband did not buy anything at Publix.

I called Chase and suggested that maybe someone was placing an on-line order and keyed the wrong credit card number.  Then, the representative told me that it was a swiped purchase in Jupiter, Florida!  We think that someone stole my payment and made a card for themselves.  Because Chase was on top of things and declined the purchase immediately, whoever had the card did not try to use it, again.  So I canceled the card.

This has made me rethink how I manage our finances.  Suzy Orman has stated that she never uses a debit card.  Our bank is very good, but they might not have caught a supermarket purchase.  Chase did because it was in Florida, and they did not see any evidence of us traveling to Florida.  We use our debit card locally all the time.  If I could get my husband on board, I want to stop using our debit card and, even though this happened with our credit card, start using our credit card for everything and keep track of all the purchases to make sure we do not spend too much and can pay it off each month.

What do you think?  Do you use your debit card?  I hate to think what would have happened if our debit card had been counterfeited.

Barn Owl talk:  Did you see that the site has posted the starvation warning?  I am so nervous for the youngest two owlets.  They are TINY!  I hope they make it.  Their siblings seem to really like them, and Mom is feeding them.  Fingers crossed!!!

[PAlady]

dosey -  I have been rethinking the using of my debit card.  I have started using my creditcard more and more.  It is a habit to just whip out the debitcard when making a purchase, so now I need to retrain myself and use cash or credit..  Of course, if I go to credit for purchases I will have to be more careful keeping track of what I owe.  Nothing is worse than receiving your creditcard bill and going -- Wow, did I really spend that much?  I have done that a couple times lately with my online creditcard.  Really need to get my shopping under control again.  Good luck with your credit breach - hope to wasn't too bad.

[Beauty$Junkie]

Dosey, thanks for sharing your experience with your debit card.  The only time I had been using my debit card was at Aldi.  I was so happy when they started accepting credit cards.  Our credit card was recently hacked after we had traveled to Miami.  My husband used the card for business expenses, but we never lost the card.  Shortly after returning home, the credit card people called on a Sunday morning, questioning charges/use up in NY.  The thing that set off the alarm was having to enter the zip code at the gas station.  When we looked at the online activity, we had over $500 pending that we had not made.  We are assuming that someone copied the numbers when we used the card, but we really do not know.  You sure have to be really vigilant.

[FindingMyJoy]

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@rnmom wrote:

justbee- I guess I don't have the sentimental gene, because I just don't hang onto a lot of items from my past. I have a few small things from when I was a kid, some wedding items, few things from when the kids were babies, few things from my mom. I don't think I'd have any trouble getting rid of 90% of my stuff and retiring to Florida. Actually, that is my dream someday too! I'd love to winter in Florida, or another warm state, maybe come back up north in the summer. I live in Michigan and absolutely hate winter.  I'd give anything to be a snowbird!! Have a small house up north and one down south and sell the big house. Or live in an RV. Or a tiny house. It's not practical now, with little kids and jobs, etc,  but maybe someday.  Now just to convince my hubby. 

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I live in Minnesota and love the 4 seasons....but....sometimes winter just seems way too long. It would be ideal to be a snowbird January-March. Get to enjoy a white Christmas but avoid the drab long boring stretch until Spring comes.

If Florida doesn't work out, maybe JustBee will let us pitch a tent in her yard? LOL  Although now that I think about it more, I think I remember her telling horrible stories about huge creeper crawlers. One good thing about living where it has hard freezes - the bugs can't get that big.

[FindingMyJoy]

Dosey - I use my debit card a lot. Last year, when Target had their big credit card issue where customers information was stolen, I demanded that my bank give me a new card. Originally, they told me they wouldn't do it. That they have a strong policy on being able to refund members quickly if there is a breach. I had looked thru my records and found that I had shopped at Target 4 times during the time of the breach. No way was I going to wait and see if it was breached.

Before my FL trip, I let my bank know I was traveling in FL. However, the first time I tried to use my debit card at a Walmart, it rejected!! Right away after the rejection, I had a phone call from the bank fraud dept asking if I had tried to use my card at FL Walmart. I said I had....apparently eventhough I had alerted them of my trip, the swipe at Walmart triggered a fraud alert due to Walmart is often a first stop for thiefs to try out a debit card to see if it works!! Since Walmart is so common and often you can use the self check out, it's easy for a thief to try out a card to see if it's working for small purchases then they can move on to a bigger one.

I do have a major rule about using ATMs - I only use ATMs located at a physical bank. I never use any little ATM that some places have for convenience. I've seen too many news stories where it shows how easy it is for someone to tamper with the card slot so they can collect card info.