Smooth as a baby's butt face masque

I have talked about this masque I made up from a bunch of different sources.  It uses turmeric powder, olive oil, milk/cream, honey, lemon juice, and chickpea flour.  It's very similar to the Indian Bridal masque thing but I added more ingredients.

Today I added coconut oil and fat free yogurt but left out the lemon juice because I don't have any.  Summer's coming though, I should have some shortly!  In any case, the added ingredients proved a little meh...

I'm sure they are fine but it made things too oily and the masque didn't dry up and stay on, I was like Mrs. Doubtfire with her cake frosting masque thing, haha.

In any case, should you try to do my masque thing I suggest you stop at the yogurt and the coconut oil.  Those are useful things but maybe not for this thing.  The coconut oil is better to eat and perhaps as general moisturizer but not for this masque.  My guess is the consistency is "soft like a cream" when I mixed it up so it made the texture normal but when applied to the face it melted the coconut oil (as it should have) and made the thing goopier.  Next time I do this I'll try with the yogurt and add back the lemon juice to see if that was it, but I'm thinking it was the coconut oil's consistency that made it droopy.  No biggie though.  My face is still smooth like a baby's butt so I'm not complaining.

Oh, one more thing.  If you have a streak like I do, put something on it so the turmeric doesn't come in contact with it.  I accidentally stained some of my streak yellow which is a bummer but I'll dye that piece the next time I do my roots.  No biggie on that either but just word to the wise.

Nervous? Try this...

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone... maybe a hot guy or a hot girl... or maybe someone way out of your league, at least in YOUR opinion.  So your hand start to sweat or you start to twitch...or if you're super nervous you start to shiver...
Maybe you're at an interview and the dude interviewing you is somehow super intimidating or you really want the job...
This is how you feel... regardless of what you actually look like:

We've all been there.  I once got so nervous I started shivering and I was like oh no, they can't see me like this.
Nothing says confidence like shivering from nerves!  Nooooooooot!!
So...  I did this little trick.
I sat up straight and leaned over.  I put my hands together in front of me.  Luckily there was a table so this didn't look so awkward.

It was something like the little hands in this, but with one hand more into the other and it formed a "circle" in the middle.

The circle is formed when your index and thumb come together and touch the fleshy part between your thumb and index finger.
That's where the magic happens.  You take that pose just a little lower and voila, you pinch that little fleshy part and your nerves will go away because now you're focusing on the "pain" you're causing to that fleshy part.
If you pinch it now, you can feel how "intense" it can get the more you pinch.
Imagine a loose version of this..

It should look relaxed, like your hands just happen to lie that way.  Not aggro like the real hand over fist and not clasping like you're about to die.  If I had four hands I would be able to take a photo for you but until that miracle happens, I hope I have described it enough so you get what I'm trying to say.
Now if you're standing and can't really do this, there's the hand in pocket pinch your leg method or if you have a worry stone, you can use that instead.
The point is to distract yourself from the nerves to feel something OTHER than nerves.
Try it.  Let me know if it works out for you too! :D

I just read a story about a 41 yr old woman who is unemployed and pregnant.

She was obsessed with the teen mom shows and thinking she could do it, as those girls can/do.  And this article struck a chord with me...

So...if I had ONE thing to say to this mother is PLEASE adopt out that baby!!!

I kept mine, much for the same reasons she said.  I wasn't going to go basket case because my mother and my ex both wanted me to abort the child.  I knew that was the wrong option in about 5 mins... maybe 10 like she said.

I thought about adoption but like her I said, who could love this child more than I can?  There's no way!!  I can't provide everything but love... love is enough!  Isn't it?  That's what they say in commercials anyway...

At the time, I was 22 and I believed those commercials and Hollywood moments.  What girl wouldn't?  That's all I had!  My "parents" if you can call them that, were anything but what the word was supposed to be.  They were my DNA donors at best.

In my mind, I might as well have been 15...the counselor I went to see thought I was.  They were ready to send me to a program for teenage mothers where I would learn all these things that for whatever reason, they only teach if you're a teenage mom but honestly I think ALL mom's should learn those things!

What to do when the child is screaming and you're tired...what to do when the kid wants something but you have no clue what it is...how do you not eat your own young when you think you've had enough?!  lol.  You know, the usual challenges in parenthood plus how to get a job and keep it when your time is now divided.

I digress...  the point is, I at 22 was no ready to be a mom as this lady is at 41 or the girls in the teen shows.  But hindsight is 20/20.

I love my child.  Would not trade her for the world. She IS my world.  If she died I would have nothing.  I honestly do not know how people handle the death of their kids and live on.  They're stronger than me, that's for sure...

I devoted my whole life to my kid.  Put her above any job or relationship or anything else while she was growing up.  I swore off men and was just a mom.  I was completely celibate 15 years or so.

But that wasn't enough...  I was never able to provide her with the things a child should have.  Her clothes and shoes weren't always new and she had to wear them til they died, pretty much.  She couldn't have bright shiny toys and often heard "we can't afford it" too many times.  She knew she was loved but had to deal with public school BS.  She had learning disabilities to boot and I would take her there but only because they had grants.  Without those, she would have been further behind.  Her education, however, was like other kids in the public school system, dismal at best.

I helped as much as I could and I encouraged her.  She graduated high school now and is off to state college.  I can't afford a "real" college but that's OK, she likes state and now a days it doesn't seem to matter where the piece of paper comes from, only that they have that diploma.

But none of things matter as much as never been able to provide a stable home with two parents who love her.  A dad who can put things into a different perspective than a mom can.  No dad to say to me, hon, you're emotional, let her do x y z, she'll be fine.  No dad to take her to father daughter dances or to have a special day or talk with things only a dad can say.

I'm a bit of a hybrid so I did the best I can.  We went out on father's day just the two of us (which is normal) but I played 'dad' that day.  I tried not to be so emotional and encouraged her to try different things. And still I see it's not enough.  I tried to tell her about boys and drugs and all that other stuff.  So far she's doing well...but still... I feel she's missing something.

I picked the wrong man to be her father and though we married it wasn't enough. *I* wasn't enough.  So until I die, that guilt will be with me.  And so is the shame and guilt I feel over being selfish.  I didn't think about HER.  I thought about ME.  How *I* would feel if I had adopt her out.  Never did I think about how she would feel growing up... unbalanced...or in a home where dad and male figures just do not exist.  How could I explain to her how a relationship works when she never even saw a man in the house?  How does she know how she should be treated if she's never seen it?  I've told her and she has a nice boyfriend now, but does she *really* know?  Or is he only nice when I'm around?

Anyway, this is my story.  I would tell her, adopt the baby out.  Save yourself the guilt and learn to live with the empty hole that no doubt, will be in your heart forever.

What do I think of Skinny Cow's Snickerdoodle Ice cream Sandwiches?

This is what the website says the thing looks like and how many calories, etc:

Funny enough, this kind of what the ice cream REALLY looks like.  Actually, I think the real thing looks better, oddly enough!  See what I mean?

 I was expecting meh as I normally do on "diet" foods but this thing is tasty!  I have had Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches before and they were OK but nothing to jump skips over.  This one, however, I'll do a few jumping jacks for and be happy.

It's not overly sweet, which normally is the death of me because I love sweets so if it isn't sweet, I tend to not like it.  But the cinnamon makes up for the lack of sweet.  The oatmeal cookies also give it flavour so while the ice cream it self isn't sweet, it has a nice balance between all the flavours.

I had to stop myself from eating the whole box!  I had two... one to take pictures with and one to just enjoy.  I will definitely be buying more of these things as long as they're still there!  I don't know if this is limited edition as in we're trying the flavour but we'll see so it may or may not go away.

I say give it go.  They're not that expensive and it's a nice treat you can feel kinda good about eating.  It's not a lot of calories or fat grams for the treat.  I tell you what... if you don't like it, send it my way and I'll eat them for you!  (Yeah OK so over night it with dry ice, but you get what I mean)

All in all a good thumbs up! :D

A store just perfect for people who are left-handed!

So my daughter was touring around San Francisco's Pier 39 during her school interim's Photography class when she came across the store called Lefty's.

I remember seeing it before and not thinking too much of it.  I'm a rightie, so all that stuff in there was funky but neat.  Nothing useful for me in it but I do remember going now I know how the left-handed people feel.  As a rightie, trying to use a leftie's scissor was interesting to say the least...  Who knew it made a difference, right?!  Well it does, because I could barely use the thing!

Anyway, month's later, I saw it again with my then boyfriend and I don't think we went into it too much but he's a left-handed person so I thought it was fun.

In any case, my daughter took a picture of it thinking of my now fiance'.

https://www.leftyslefthanded.com

I actually wrote them asking about left-handed mice.  Something, we righties take for granted.  See all those fancy mice with the buttons all up the sides?  You seen the gamer mice with all kinds of gadgets that make them look like robo-mice right?  No?  Well... if you were dating a gamer you would know...

In any case, the mouse I have has two buttons on the left side of it and it's so you can go forward or back on your browser.  Pretty simple, right?  Well, if you're a leftie, you can't use those buttons. Why?  Because they're on the wrong side.  You try clicking those buttons with your pinkie and/or ring finger... it's not easy... and uncomfortable to hold your mouse that way.  So... I asked Lefty's, do you guys sell mice?

Unfortunately, they don't.  They send me an email within a day (super prompt! I love that!!) saying that they used to carry them but not too many people bought them.

My guess is they (lefties) got used to going without, like my fiance' who has to buy the el cheapo mouse because that's the only one without the buttons.  But wouldn't it be nice if there were more options?  Well... as it turns out, there is!  Lefty's was kind enough to send me the name of the mouse for lefties.  If you're interested, drop me a line and I'll tell you.

What I love though is the customer service from Lefty's.  They could have just said no, sorry we don't.  Or they could have ignored me or wrote to me days later like some other companies I've "talked" to in the past.  They could have done many a things.

But they didn't.  They got back to me quickly and I appreciate that so much!  I'll find something to buy from them. 

It is SUPER nice to know that there are still companies out there with a heart.  Those that REALLY know what customer service is all about!  So, here's my shout out to Lefty's!  If you happen to be around Pier 39 give them a looksie. :)   Learn how to write with your left hand and be ambidextrous like I am. 

At the moment, I'm looking at the left-handed notebooks and realising how annoying (not to mention painful) it must be to write with that coil digging into your hand as you write.  I'll most likely end up buying the pruning shears.  I *do* have a hard time cutting with my right hand because sometimes you need a left handed angle and it just feels weird with the left hand, I have to twist my hand around so it cuts properly. 

I think I was originally a leftie, to be honest, but where I grew up, they weren't "allowed" so I was probably forced to be a rightie as a child.  In any case, I'm glad there's a store like Lefty's.  If anything, to help lefties out there! :D

Here's their website if you want to check them out online: https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/default.asp

Males Vs. Females... WHY are we still doing this?!

So I got into a rant/discussion about females and males, feminists and girls like me.

Girls like me I say because I'm not a feminist but I'm not into being unequal with males either.  I start off the rant saying I hate how feminists think all men suck.  I then have to apologise because I am HOPING not all feminists feel this way.

I want to say, I hate how PETA members do things like kill professors conducting animal experiments or freeing lab animals into the wilderness when said animals don't know how to hunt...how could they? they were raised in captivity...

I then have to apologise and say I'm HOPING not all PETA members think this way...

But my new rant has to do with women wanting men to be women.  This also sucks.

I have had soooo many girls complain that he "doesn't talk much" or "he's insensitive" or god forbid he's honest, "doesn't know when to shut up."

I hate female games.  I got dropped into a bucket when those were passed out I think because I get sucked into them too.  I'm too honest and I get yelled at or called names.

I feel like a man sometimes.  Yes you're too fat, god you look ugly in those clothes, I don't care if your grandma gave it to you, it's ugly...  Why are you wearing bright orange?  you look like a cheetoh...

Or ...  No I'm not mad, I just don't know what to say anymore...  You get mad when I say something anyway so why bother saying anything at all?  No I'm not shutting you down.  No I'm not hiding.  I simply have NOTHING to say on the matter (that wont make you angry.)

I'm a girl.. I feel like sh when I get hit with these games... no I DON'T know what the hell you're thinking.  No I can't read your mind simply because I'm a girl.  HOW was I supposed to know to do X behaviour or say X thing? Osmosis?!?  No I didn't get the hint...   SPIT IT OUT ALREADY... What the hell do you want?!?!

So if I'm feeling trapped to my own gender I can imagine how men feel.  They have NO CLUE at all why we girls act the way we do.  Why we talk so much about nothing or why we have to tell THE WHOLE WORLD everything but nothing.  Why we complain about things we have no intention of fixing.  Why girl talk goes on for days.  Why do we need the opinion of 20 other people to make decision?  Why we second guess ourselves so much or why we're so obsessed with insignificant things.  TBH I don't even know half the time... but I know that I do it.

I also know men speak when there's something to say.  They don't tend to say stuff for no reason but we women hate that so we force them to say stuff they don't think is necessary.  Guys do it, I suppose, to keep the peace.

A man isn't insensitive just because he can't tell you that you're gorgeous as you try to sausage your way into an outfit 3 sizes too small!  He shouldn't have to flatter your ego or lie to you... which of course gets him in trouble too because now he lied and that's some horrid sin these days.  Never mind that he did it to make you feel better!

I say let men be men.  They can't be women.  They like to scratch their balls because it feels good.  We have no clue why hurting yourself would feel good but WHATEVER...  We don't go around scratching our boobs, do we?  (the equivalent in orbital objects that isn't the eyes... lol.)  We don't understand why they're so visual that if a hot girl drops by he HAS to look at her.  It doesn't matter that he's just entertaining his visual, he's still with you, isn't he??  Can't a guy dream?  Shoot, we know you've done it with certain celebrities.  Let him have his fun too.  To be fair though, I CAN understand this one... I too like to at hot people.

Maybe we all just need to lighten up.  Accept each other as we are and quit trying to change everyone to fit our own mold... What do you think?  Maybe?

Network Marketing

So on Friday I get a text from a boss saying I don't need to come in on Monday but maybe the week after... this was after informing me on Wednesday...yes, three days before...that my hours were cut from 7 to 3 per day.

A text.  How tacky?  I heard of breakups through text.  I have even heard of divorces...but 'firings' I thought were a new low.  Well, I guess people's characters are just different.  I thought face to face firings were bad but this was an insult...no common decency.

Then again, what do I expect from the same woman who fired the last two people while they were on medical leave?  Right.  I'm like a lovesick puppy dog girl.  But she'll be different with me...   Right.

Needless to say, I was angry.  And from the start of this blog, I guess you could say I'm STILL angry...but not for long.

I will start a new day and a new week with this attitude:  I don't need a boss.  I don't need to waste my time with unappreciative people.  What I need is to keep my own damn money.  I need to keep my time as my own.  The time I spend working should be the time I get paid for and not have to give a boss a cut of my hard earned time and money.

Did you know that most of us only get pennies?  I saw my boss get profit margins of over $1000 a day for weeks.   Did I ever get to see any of that?  Of course not... I got the leftover peanuts after she had her numerous trips elsewhere, her payments for the house and Mercedes...he kids' school stuff and whatever else she did with them profits.

Out of those $5000 PLUS profit margins, my pay wasn't even 10 percent... 

Let's sit on that for a moment... not even TEN percent....




And who was at work every single day without missing ONE day.  Not even for a sick day?  Me.  Who stayed all 7 hours (sometimes more but usually not) because she was so scared of overtime that she never put me for a full 40 hour week? Me.

NOT EVEN TEN PERCENT!!!!

Had I said to her, hey look, you keep paying my salary but I'll only be here less than 10 percent of my time, she would have fired me on the spot.  No doubt.

So I woke up.  She pushed me to wake up.  I need to do something else.  I need to keep my money.  I need to make time my own.  If I'm helping someone make a 5000 plus profit, it's going to be just ME keeping it.

In comes network marketing...oh yes, that scary word... 

I'm not scared.  I know a kid less than 30 years of age making $2000 a week on his BAD week...and almost $25,000 a week on a good one.  He's not a brain surgeon, he's not this unattainable figure.  He's just a kid, like you and me.  A super nice kid too!  He's retired from his job, by the way...  sounds like a sweet deal to me!

I know another kid who's making $1000 a week PART TIME because he's a high school kid and has to go to school.  He doesn't even speak English or know how to write well.  I now know three other kids in Utah who own their own homes outright...  That's right, OUTRIGHT.  No mortgage to pay. Ever.  They're not even 25 yet!!!

The cat's got a point...I got this money thing all wrong.  I'm getting a fifth of what he's getting a week and I'm doing as much work as he but I'm giving away the rest of my money to this unappreciative boss.  NO MORE.

I'm thankful for the boss who showed me the light.  She had it right all along.  Work for yourself.  What I WON'T do is pay peanuts to my helpers and gauge my customers.  That's how she gets so much profit.  Not me.  I have higher ethics and morals than this Christian woman.  I believe people should get service and be charged accordingly, not gauged.  And I believe in equal pay for equal work.

You don't have to agree with me but here I go.  I'm going to make some calls now and I'm going to see just how this kid makes so much.  See you on the flip side!

If you want to join me on this ride, give me a holler but if not, that's OK too.  I'm going to see how the other side lives either way but if you're at all curious, hit me up at cnith2@gmail.com

DARE TO DREAM!!

Just like my book, In Dreams She Slept (available in Kindle) that I just published because of this wake up call, I'm going to dream out loud.