Beauty

[dosey]

Sundrops, I think you have received some great advice from the ComPacters. Have a safe trip. I hope you find a place that will take your dog. Imagine. Some places rent to college students but won't allow dogs. Silly.

Oshare-girl, Thank you for your kind words about my DD. She is a sweetie! Also, the salmon was delicious, but I had to be creative. The grocery store usually has marinated salmon ready for broiling. This time they did not, so I bought plain salmon with the idea that I would marinate it in a pineapple juice/soy sauce/ginger marinade. When I arrived home I realized that I forgot to buy a can of pineapple tidbits, so I mixed up some orange juice and soy sauce (50-50) and poured it over the salmon. It marinated for only 1 1/2 hours because my family was hungry and not willing to wait any longer. It was delicious! I am going to do this again and give the salmon 4 hours to marinate.

Daysdee, Congrats on the big purge. And good luck, DL2843, with your living room.

PAlady and aprilskies, These threads get me going, too. So much excitement over beauty things. I love it all, especially skincare and cosmetics. I am still working on my pan project - three eye shadows. Like you, aprilskies, I have now accepted that I want to enjoy the things I have, so I am using these three eye shadows most days. But one or two days per week, I will use something else. Also, I have stopped writing down suggestions from the board with the exception of a few days ago. Someone recommended a new Dove root lifter. I am looking for a replacement for my expensive Bamboo volume spray. It is $25 for four ounces, and I am almost out. (Why is it that the things we want to last are the things that get used up to quickest?) The Dove root lifter was $6 for more than three ounces. It is a clear liquid that is almost like water, just like the Bamboo spray. While it is not an exact duplicate and has a scent that fades, it gave my hair nice lift at the crown. (Not a real crown, although I would love it if someone would treat me like a princess!) So I am happy I discovered this product on these boards. I will continue using it and hope it proves to be a good substitute for Bamboo on rainy days.

I received the Isomers products that I ordered. So far, I am happy with everything. When I put the things in my bathroom, a bit of sadness shot through me because the stuff took up some of the space I had cleared. Also, I think I heard a grumble from my husband when he opened the bathroom cabinet, but he said nothing directly to me. It could have been an "I'm-tired" grumble. I am committed to using these things before buying anything else and have been avoiding the shopping channels and stores. I haven't bought any spring clothes and have reduced my sugary snacks over the last few days. It is better for me to reduce than try to quit cold turkey.

Have a great weekend!!

[Oshare-girl]

On 4/4/2015 DL2843 said: Oshare-girl I too have been working on trying to understand how long various products last. I have discovered that I use at least 16 oz of body lotion each month. I brought an opened and used Josie Maran color stick with me to work to use as a blush and sometime lip product. After a 130 days of use I still have quite a bit of product left. It has started to dry out and get lumpy. I cannot understand why make-up products come in such large sizes. Spring break starts today. I am hoping to go from storeroom to living room. Wish me luck ??

Wishing you much luck! Slowly I have changed to where I am more excited to finish something than to buy something. I have lost the shopping thrill. I am seeing that when I used to stock up on my favorite products: 1. Lost interest in it before I finished the original one so I didn't even want to use my back up and 2. Products do go bad, even powder products. Now that I am finally able to start using some of my back stash of powder foundation, eyeshadows and blushes, they don't perform as well as when I first bought them. I used to think I was being a smart shopper by not buying cream products because I knew they had limited shelf lives. But I rationalized that the powder stuff could last forever. Nope, they get "hard pan" spots and become drier and less "buttery". I keep reminding myself of this when see a favorite product on sale. No more stocking up for me. I also discovered a new brand called Stowaway Cosmetics that makes "right sized" basics. They believe that cosmetics should come in smaller packages so that they can be taken with us easily and used up before they expire. I've tried the BB Cream which is .85 oz and the Creaseless Concealer which is .15 oz. it's almost like the creators are part of our ComPacting community. When I use up my stash I would like to purchase only travel/mini sizes. I think that's the only way I could actually use things up. A mini lipstick which is one third the full size lasted me 2 months, a blush that was half the full size wasn't even finished after 5 months.

[just bee]

On 4/3/2015 geezerette said:

On 4/2/2015 just bee said:

On 4/2/2015 sundrops said: Thanks for your concern, geezerette. We have already called a real estate agency. While they don't deal in rentals, they gave us 2 places that do. Those places are the ones that said our dog is on the undesirable list. They can help us when we get there. There is a mobile home park that also could be a possibility. I spoke with them. Our dog is bigger than they allow, but since she is older, they said that is in her favor. If we can't find a rental, we will probably fly back out in June and buy a place. We hate to buy in a rush. We want to rent our first year there and learn the area better. I will post when we return and let you guys know what happened.

When we moved out here I had a hundred pound Boxer. She looked like a brindle Bullmastiff. Old. We should have rented but we rushed into making a lot of important and expensive decisions instead. I like this house, but it was probably a mistake for us to buy it. I still think if we had rented first we wouldn't have stayed in Albuquerque.

This is really the wrong house and wrong neighborhood for us. Right now I can hear the neighbors' kids shrieking and I'm afraid to look outside and see what they're destroying. Part of me wants to sell it all and find a smaller place in a geezer community that bans children.

Don't rush into this. It's imperative that you get to know the area before you commit to anything. A rental might not be ideal, but it's not permanent, either.

Worse, we took my Boxer to a vet when we moved here who completely misdiagnosed her illness. Give yourself time to find the right neighborhood, the right neighbors and the right vet.

I could have written much of this myself, as almost the same thing happened when we moved in reverse--from the southwest back east. We had property and investments here that we needed to disperse (getting old and needing to get our affairs in order), and we didn't know whether to stay here or sell out and move somewhere else in the desert. At the time our dog was middle-aged, but somewhat fragile health-wise. We debated for months renting or buying a place in town or building out on our property. We ended up building. And like justbee, if we had gone with the town house, we would have left here within the first year, given the circumstances of what happened to the area during that time. As it is now, even though we didn't go overboard with the house, we have a goodly amount invested in it, the economy is not good here, so to sell out would be not only time consuming, but pretty much guaranteed a financial loss.

And what happened to our little dog with a new vet here was also almost identical to justbee's experience. She had surgery that just about killed her as well as other physical ailments that I attribute to the geographical change. We lost her a few months ago. I'm not saying that moving here killed her or even shortened her life (she was 14 years old when she passed, after all), but I will always believe if we had stayed in the desert her last years would have at least been more comfortable.

sundrops, I'm not saying that any of this would happen to you. I know the position you're in and the pressure you feel. Sometimes there just is no good solution. You might find just the perfect place once you get to Albuquerque, you never know. All you can do is to make the best decision with the information and ability you have at the time.

Separated at birth, I tell ya.

[DL2843]

Hello All. The storeroom to living room project has been interesting. So far I have spent 11.5 hours on the room. I am 1/2 way done. I find it difficult to follow Kondo's principles, although I understand them better. She believes that you need to gather everything alike together and then purge, purge purge or as she frames it "keep, keep, keep, items that bring you joy." After all that keeping then you organize. I am organizing, cleaning, and keeping at the same time which does make the process long. It just seems silly to me that if I am pulling out all of these storage containers that I would put them back without cleaning the walls and vacuuming. I also find that she does not address items that are practical, but completely joyless. For example, I have a 3-4 inch pile of loose leaf notebook paper. No one takes it in my area if it is not new in an unopened package. Paper does not bring me joy, but I do use it every once in a while. Folders are the same. I do use them a couple of times a year, but I have more than I need. Blank notecards at least an 8 inch pile. At least every one has a matching envelope. I took time to organize all of that. My funny moment came with bookmarks. I counted 60 that I could find. Funny how quickly those accumulate. I kept 21. Still more than I need. Oh well.

[geezerette]

On 4/6/2015 just bee said:

On 4/3/2015 geezerette said:

On 4/2/2015 just bee said:

On 4/2/2015 sundrops said: Thanks for your concern, geezerette. We have already called a real estate agency. While they don't deal in rentals, they gave us 2 places that do. Those places are the ones that said our dog is on the undesirable list. They can help us when we get there. There is a mobile home park that also could be a possibility. I spoke with them. Our dog is bigger than they allow, but since she is older, they said that is in her favor. If we can't find a rental, we will probably fly back out in June and buy a place. We hate to buy in a rush. We want to rent our first year there and learn the area better. I will post when we return and let you guys know what happened.

When we moved out here I had a hundred pound Boxer. She looked like a brindle Bullmastiff. Old. We should have rented but we rushed into making a lot of important and expensive decisions instead. I like this house, but it was probably a mistake for us to buy it. I still think if we had rented first we wouldn't have stayed in Albuquerque.

This is really the wrong house and wrong neighborhood for us. Right now I can hear the neighbors' kids shrieking and I'm afraid to look outside and see what they're destroying. Part of me wants to sell it all and find a smaller place in a geezer community that bans children.

Don't rush into this. It's imperative that you get to know the area before you commit to anything. A rental might not be ideal, but it's not permanent, either.

Worse, we took my Boxer to a vet when we moved here who completely misdiagnosed her illness. Give yourself time to find the right neighborhood, the right neighbors and the right vet.

I could have written much of this myself, as almost the same thing happened when we moved in reverse--from the southwest back east. We had property and investments here that we needed to disperse (getting old and needing to get our affairs in order), and we didn't know whether to stay here or sell out and move somewhere else in the desert. At the time our dog was middle-aged, but somewhat fragile health-wise. We debated for months renting or buying a place in town or building out on our property. We ended up building. And like justbee, if we had gone with the town house, we would have left here within the first year, given the circumstances of what happened to the area during that time. As it is now, even though we didn't go overboard with the house, we have a goodly amount invested in it, the economy is not good here, so to sell out would be not only time consuming, but pretty much guaranteed a financial loss.

And what happened to our little dog with a new vet here was also almost identical to justbee's experience. She had surgery that just about killed her as well as other physical ailments that I attribute to the geographical change. We lost her a few months ago. I'm not saying that moving here killed her or even shortened her life (she was 14 years old when she passed, after all), but I will always believe if we had stayed in the desert her last years would have at least been more comfortable.

sundrops, I'm not saying that any of this would happen to you. I know the position you're in and the pressure you feel. Sometimes there just is no good solution. You might find just the perfect place once you get to Albuquerque, you never know. All you can do is to make the best decision with the information and ability you have at the time.

Separated at birth, I tell ya.

And it's probably just as well. If we hadn't been separated, I'm sure we would have given our mother fits!!

[just bee]

On 4/7/2015 geezerette said:

On 4/6/2015 just bee said:

On 4/3/2015 geezerette said:

On 4/2/2015 just bee said:

On 4/2/2015 sundrops said: Thanks for your concern, geezerette. We have already called a real estate agency. While they don't deal in rentals, they gave us 2 places that do. Those places are the ones that said our dog is on the undesirable list. They can help us when we get there. There is a mobile home park that also could be a possibility. I spoke with them. Our dog is bigger than they allow, but since she is older, they said that is in her favor. If we can't find a rental, we will probably fly back out in June and buy a place. We hate to buy in a rush. We want to rent our first year there and learn the area better. I will post when we return and let you guys know what happened.

When we moved out here I had a hundred pound Boxer. She looked like a brindle Bullmastiff. Old. We should have rented but we rushed into making a lot of important and expensive decisions instead. I like this house, but it was probably a mistake for us to buy it. I still think if we had rented first we wouldn't have stayed in Albuquerque.

This is really the wrong house and wrong neighborhood for us. Right now I can hear the neighbors' kids shrieking and I'm afraid to look outside and see what they're destroying. Part of me wants to sell it all and find a smaller place in a geezer community that bans children.

Don't rush into this. It's imperative that you get to know the area before you commit to anything. A rental might not be ideal, but it's not permanent, either.

Worse, we took my Boxer to a vet when we moved here who completely misdiagnosed her illness. Give yourself time to find the right neighborhood, the right neighbors and the right vet.

I could have written much of this myself, as almost the same thing happened when we moved in reverse--from the southwest back east. We had property and investments here that we needed to disperse (getting old and needing to get our affairs in order), and we didn't know whether to stay here or sell out and move somewhere else in the desert. At the time our dog was middle-aged, but somewhat fragile health-wise. We debated for months renting or buying a place in town or building out on our property. We ended up building. And like justbee, if we had gone with the town house, we would have left here within the first year, given the circumstances of what happened to the area during that time. As it is now, even though we didn't go overboard with the house, we have a goodly amount invested in it, the economy is not good here, so to sell out would be not only time consuming, but pretty much guaranteed a financial loss.

And what happened to our little dog with a new vet here was also almost identical to justbee's experience. She had surgery that just about killed her as well as other physical ailments that I attribute to the geographical change. We lost her a few months ago. I'm not saying that moving here killed her or even shortened her life (she was 14 years old when she passed, after all), but I will always believe if we had stayed in the desert her last years would have at least been more comfortable.

sundrops, I'm not saying that any of this would happen to you. I know the position you're in and the pressure you feel. Sometimes there just is no good solution. You might find just the perfect place once you get to Albuquerque, you never know. All you can do is to make the best decision with the information and ability you have at the time.

Separated at birth, I tell ya.

And it's probably just as well. If we hadn't been separated, I'm sure we would have given our mother fits!!

[DL2843]

Hello All. Between the living room (storage shed depending how one views it) and my bedroom I have spent a minimum of 20 hours managing/cleaning stuff. I spent another 6 hours in the yard. This experience combined with experiences two of my friends are going through really has me questioning the role of stuff in my life.

[aprilskies]

On 4/9/2015 DL2843 said: Hello All. Between the living room (storage shed depending how one views it) and my bedroom I have spent a minimum of 20 hours managing/cleaning stuff. I spent another 6 hours in the yard. This experience combined with experiences two of my friends are going through really has me questioning the role of stuff in my life.

I totally totally agree. I am tired of managing it, I am tired of going through it and deciding what to do with it, I am tired of organizing it and I am tired of thinking about it. It will take a while to go through the rest of it but I have put it off for now. But, I at least have gone through 50% of it overall, if not a little bit more. Lately, I have been doing things lightly but know I need to really start attacking it again.

[aprilskies]

Yesterday, I had a rude awakening. Nothing that I didn't know or realize before, however, it hit me different this time. I suppose because I was doing so well for so long. I have been putting off buying a new computer for one reason or another. Maybe because the one I want is a bit expensive and I have been trying to think if I really need that type of computer. Well, anyway, yesterday it dawned on me that the money I have put into skincare and mu the last several months, would of paid for most of the computer and my life better served. Not that it is an either/or situation, however, the computer would of been a more mindful choice and something that would of served me for years. It really does seem so innocuous when you think it is only 30, 40, or 60 here and there. It adds up quickly. I was so annoyed with myself because how many times can I possibly make the same type of mistakes.

So far in the month of April, I have avoided 3-4 purchases because I remind myself that April is a very low-buy month. So, I think I am on my way back. Truly ladies, shopping tied to emotions is a bad thing.

[geezerette]

On 4/9/2015 aprilskies said:

On 4/9/2015 DL2843 said: Hello All. Between the living room (storage shed depending how one views it) and my bedroom I have spent a minimum of 20 hours managing/cleaning stuff. I spent another 6 hours in the yard. This experience combined with experiences two of my friends are going through really has me questioning the role of stuff in my life.

I totally totally agree. I am tired of managing it, I am tired of going through it and deciding what to do with it, I am tired of organizing it and I am tired of thinking about it. It will take a while to go through the rest of it but I have put it off for now. But, I at least have gone through 50% of it overall, if not a little bit more. Lately, I have been doing things lightly but know I need to really start attacking it again.

I agree with both of you. As I age and experience more of what I have now taken to calling "real" life, I am finding more and more of the same as you both. Oh, I certainly appreciate my creature comforts and am not about to give them up, but the little extras I've indulged myself with for the past many years have added up to closets, drawers and an attic full of stuff I don't need, use or even remember I have. Not even to mention all the things I've thrown away or donated during those years.

Not only is it all a pain in the neck, I'm getting to the age where I'm realizing that proverbial "You can't take it with you" stage. And the money gone because of it all! Sometimes I think to myself about a particular bunch of items, a group of purses or scarves for instance, of the ones I don't use or have gotten rid of: how much more money would I have today if I hadn't indulged myself and bought them. Besides, my money sitting in the bank account sure is a lot less trouble than all those 'things' I don't use! (Even if it isn't worth what it used to be!)