Beauty

[just bee]

Must get going today.  I agreed to work OT tomorrow so I have to get something done with my limited days off.  Today it's walking the dog before it gets too warm, watering the roses and voting.

I think I've figured out who I'm voting for and today is the final day of early voting.  This will actually work out well.  I can vote, start drinking, but avoid drinking too much because I have to get up early and go to work.

One beef: I couldn't vote until today because it's taken me this long to research the NM candidates.  The people running for Treasurer have no online presence.  I finally found a little information about the candidates and I'm glad I was persistent.  The person I thought was female (based on name) is actually a male.

I know many voters just pick the name they like better.  I actually want to know something about the person who's getting my vote.  Of course, I actually know who and what is on the ballot before I go in to vote.

Like California, NM's primary is this Tuesday.

One more cup of tea and then the dog and I are off.  As for HEP, Better-half and I were discussing food plans for the summer.  Part of that will involve making changes in where we've been shopping.  Is anyone happy with their food shopping choices?  If so, I'm jealous!

[just bee]

I'm posting a victory.  Alegria added a slew of new designs to its closeout page a couple weeks ago and I browsed.  There were several pairs that caught my eye.  But I took a deep breath and then looked at the Leaning Tower of Shoe in the bedroom.  I take that back.  It's not the Leaning Tower anymore.  No, it's a lot more stable now because it's the Twin Towers of Shoe.

By waiting, I have saved myself a purchase.  My size has sold out in every design I coveted.  Whew.  That was close.

Like many of you, I'm started to get those emails: "Hey, loser!  You aren't even opening your email, so why are we wasting our time sending it to you?"  I think some charities and companies I once supported are turning on me.

Bath & Body Works emails me about every fifteen minutes.  My last purchase was in 2011.  Mostly Vanilla Bean Noel lotions and creams... which are still sitting, unused, in the closet.

But this week I looked at their website.  Why?  Because I'm using one of their products in the shower and I like it.  It's been discontinued (for years, I might add), and now that I've looked at the site I see that most of my B&BW products have been retired.  Most of my products are officially in the toiletries nursing home.

I see they've totally redesigned their packaging.  Where have I been?

[just bee]

Update: Rocky and Dottie are napping in the nest box and the weather in Italy, Texas might be improving starting tomorrow.

One of our residents at the hospital has contributed to my animal cam addiction.  She says her mother is addicted to this one:

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/great-dane-service-puppies-puppy-hill

I can see why.  Yesterday I watched them watch Mom Swiffering.  Something I should be doing instead of watching the Danes.

Ah, but there is nothing like a Dane.  Nothing in the world.  There is nothing you can name that is anything like a Dane.

I need to go water the roses now.

[dosey]

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@rnmom wrote:

As far as ComPacting goes, I've been pretty much flush over here. Some items have been coming in, some items have been going out. I've tossed several products that I just don't care for, especially makeup, but I've also bought some replacements. I've also used up some items. I want to try to go cruelty free as much as possible, so the makeup I've bought has been Physicians Formula so far, and I've tossed some Benefit, Sephora, Covergirl. I still have a lot of those brands here, but I tossed the items that I didn't really like anyway. 

I'm trying to find a replacement for my Ponds cleanser too and ordered some oils and facial wash from Vitacost to try. Ponds is basically just mineral oil anyway, so I'm going to try and switch to coconut oil or joboba/castor oil, etc. and see if it works as well and will be cruelty free. 

It's a work in progress for sure, but I'm getting there! By the end of the year I'd love to be just down to products that i use and love and don't have to worry about ComPacting anymore. I've been doing this for a couple of years now too and it's wearing on me. I'm just about ready to toss everything and start over with just the basics!

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FYI.  While coconut oil has some fantastic uses, I found that it causes my skin to break out.  Jojoba oil does not.

[dosey]

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@just bee wrote:

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@dosey wrote:

Just bee, I have an apple corer/slicer like the ones you posted.  Isn't that a handy little thing?  One good press and the job is done.

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I guess I don't understand why someone would spend so much on packaged apple slices when it's more economical to slice your apples with this amazing kitchen tool.  I love gadgets!

We give our patients sack lunches and recently started adding apples and oranges which, of course, end up in the trash.  I drive around Albuquerque -- a city in one of the poorest states in the union -- and I see whole apples discarded on sidewalks.  When Honeycrisps are $16.97 at Costco and I have to choose a cheaper apple, it makes me ill to see perfectly good produce wasted on city streets.

Again, it's the end of Western civilization as we know it.

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Our school district "forces" kids who buy a school lunch to take a piece of fruit, usually an apple.  The fruit ends up in the trash.

[just bee]

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@dosey wrote:

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@rnmom wrote:

As far as ComPacting goes, I've been pretty much flush over here. Some items have been coming in, some items have been going out. I've tossed several products that I just don't care for, especially makeup, but I've also bought some replacements. I've also used up some items. I want to try to go cruelty free as much as possible, so the makeup I've bought has been Physicians Formula so far, and I've tossed some Benefit, Sephora, Covergirl. I still have a lot of those brands here, but I tossed the items that I didn't really like anyway. 

I'm trying to find a replacement for my Ponds cleanser too and ordered some oils and facial wash from Vitacost to try. Ponds is basically just mineral oil anyway, so I'm going to try and switch to coconut oil or joboba/castor oil, etc. and see if it works as well and will be cruelty free. 

It's a work in progress for sure, but I'm getting there! By the end of the year I'd love to be just down to products that i use and love and don't have to worry about ComPacting anymore. I've been doing this for a couple of years now too and it's wearing on me. I'm just about ready to toss everything and start over with just the basics!

---

FYI.  While coconut oil has some fantastic uses, I found that it causes my skin to break out.  Jojoba oil does not.

---

I decided to wait and water the roses tonight.  It's already a little too warm.  So, while I'm sitting here, girding my loins for the voting that awaits me, I'll fritter my time...  (No, no.  Not an apple fritter.  Although that sounds pretty good right now.)

I have managed to avoid coconut oil during this craze.  I love coconut so I'm surprised I didn't jump on that bandwagon, too.  Jojoba is a good choice because it is so versatile and it has a long shelf life.

[just bee]

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@dosey wrote:

---

@just bee wrote:

---

@dosey wrote:

Just bee, I have an apple corer/slicer like the ones you posted.  Isn't that a handy little thing?  One good press and the job is done.

---

I guess I don't understand why someone would spend so much on packaged apple slices when it's more economical to slice your apples with this amazing kitchen tool.  I love gadgets!

We give our patients sack lunches and recently started adding apples and oranges which, of course, end up in the trash.  I drive around Albuquerque -- a city in one of the poorest states in the union -- and I see whole apples discarded on sidewalks.  When Honeycrisps are $16.97 at Costco and I have to choose a cheaper apple, it makes me ill to see perfectly good produce wasted on city streets.

Again, it's the end of Western civilization as we know it.

---

Our school district "forces" kids who buy a school lunch to take a piece of fruit, usually an apple.  The fruit ends up in the trash.

---

Every child should have an Italian mother.  Watching kids waste their school lunches when I was a kid was offensive enough; now that I'm an adult it's bad just thinking about it.  Makes me want to hand out slaps.

I work with kids, as well as adults, in psych and I can say with all confidence that the concept of parenthood is 99% dead.  When I hear "one-percenters" I think not of the upper income folks; instead, I think they're referring to the remaining parents in the world.  There are a few left.  Not where I live, of course, but I've heard they have been spotted in some parts of the country.

[dosey]

HEP - No!  There are not a lot of good food choices.  Moldy blackberries, wrinkled green beans, rock-hard peaches, expensive seafood.  Thank goodness the canteloupe and watermelon are tastey.

I've read some of the Less is More and Bold Lipcolor threads.  It puzzles me how I can look in the mirror bare-faced and think "Okay.  Not bad.  A little tweeking with cosmetics will make me socially acceptable."  Only when carefully applied.  Too much makeup or the wrong colors (too dark, too light, or unnatural colors), and I look hideous/ridiculous.

I took an eyeshadow inventory.  After throwing some away, giving some to DD, and using a few (very few), this is what remains.

2 new, never opened quads

2 singles

1 duo

1 nine shadow palette--what I am using daily (1 empty pan, 3 with visible      pan, 3 with small dents, and 2 that will probably not be used)

1 nine shadow shimmer strip

That is not bad considering what I started with, but what remains will last for years.  It has helped letting go of a lot.

[dosey]

---

@just bee wrote:

---

@dosey wrote:

---

@just bee wrote:

---

@dosey wrote:

Just bee, I have an apple corer/slicer like the ones you posted.  Isn't that a handy little thing?  One good press and the job is done.

---

I guess I don't understand why someone would spend so much on packaged apple slices when it's more economical to slice your apples with this amazing kitchen tool.  I love gadgets!

We give our patients sack lunches and recently started adding apples and oranges which, of course, end up in the trash.  I drive around Albuquerque -- a city in one of the poorest states in the union -- and I see whole apples discarded on sidewalks.  When Honeycrisps are $16.97 at Costco and I have to choose a cheaper apple, it makes me ill to see perfectly good produce wasted on city streets.

Again, it's the end of Western civilization as we know it.

---

Our school district "forces" kids who buy a school lunch to take a piece of fruit, usually an apple.  The fruit ends up in the trash.

---

Every child should have an Italian mother.  Watching kids waste their school lunches when I was a kid was offensive enough; now that I'm an adult it's bad just thinking about it.  Makes me want to hand out slaps.

I work with kids, as well as adults, in psych and I can say with all confidence that the concept of parenthood is 99% dead.  When I hear "one-percenters" I think not of the upper income folks; instead, I think they're referring to the remaining parents in the world.  There are a few left.  Not where I live, of course, but I've heard they have been spotted in some parts of the country.

---

The apples aren't wasted completely.  DS tells me that the custodian retrieves a few from the trash.  Do you know how sad that statement makes me?  My throat is starting to hurt because I am about to cry.

[just bee]

---

@dosey wrote:

HEP - No!  There are not a lot of good food choices.  Moldy blackberries, wrinkled green beans, rock-hard peaches, expensive seafood.  Thank goodness the canteloupe and watermelon are tastey.

I've read some of the Less is More and Bold Lipcolor threads.  It puzzles me how I can look in the mirror bare-faced and think "Okay.  Not bad.  A little tweeking with cosmetics will make me socially acceptable."  Only when carefully applied.  Too much makeup or the wrong colors (too dark, too light, or unnatural colors), and I look hideous/ridiculous.

I took an eyeshadow inventory.  After throwing some away, giving some to DD, and using a few (very few), this is what remains.

2 new, never opened quads

2 singles

1 duo

1 nine shadow palette--what I am using daily (1 empty pan, 3 with visible      pan, 3 with small dents, and 2 that will probably not be used)

1 nine shadow shimmer strip

That is not bad considering what I started with, but what remains will last for years.  It has helped letting go of a lot.

---

Better-half wants to leave NM, but I can't help think that wherever we go the problems will be the same.  The food is sad.  Our produce looks like it fell off the back of a truck.  And then run over by a texter.  I hear ya about the seafood.  I remember my mother would prepare seafood for me when I was little because she knew I loved it.  My siblings were not fans.  She would buy halibut.  I look at halibut prices today and I wonder how I was ever able to experience it.  It couldn't have been so out of reach in the 60s.  I roll my cart past it in the store and get dewy-eyed.

Regarding lip color.  I collected all those mood lip colors -- the ones that change color on your lips?  Don't know what it says about my mood or my chemistry, but every one of them turned into my least favorite color: Purple.  I look odd with purple lips.  I also looked odd with brown lips, but that didn't stop me from wearing brown lipstick.

I have been told that women should match their lipstick color to a specific part of their bodies.  Hmmm.  How do I post this?  Let's just say that this body part is attached to a body part that is attached to your torso.

I don't know who it was who did the research on this, but that's a whole nuther topic.