Quick update

I am so sorry! I am really falling out of the loop of blogging. Just haven't really felt much like doing it lately- plus have been really busy helping George's daughter with her new apartment and getting things in line for our upcoming trip to the center- less than 2 weeks away!!!
I have also been reconnecting with good, old friends through another venue, and I am really having a blast and spending a lot of time on there catching up, so that is eating up all my online time.
I am sorry to have abandoned you guys- but for a while I will probably be a little MIA. I will try to catch your blogs and keep up with what is going on with everyone.
I will try to post updates about our trip, though!! You've all helped us so much to get the word out- you definitely deserve to be kept in the loop!!
We reserved our rental car the other night, and we've received all the directions from the center of how to get to and from everything.
It's all falling into place!
:-D

Coconut!!

A curly girl's new best friend:
COCONUT OIL!
I am using Nutiva, organic, extra-virgin, cold-pressed, unprocessed coconut oil as a hair oil to leave in my hair overnight... and it is AMAZING!! (not to mention smells sooooo delicious!!!).
I have been doing some reading about coconut oil- we have been cooking with it for a while now, as well as using it in place of butter for some things. It is so delicious and so good for you.
Now I am moving into using it as a personal care product.
Right now, I smell like a Mound's Bar.
YUM!!

On a less aromatic but still very good note- we FINALLY close tomorrow for our refinance. What a relief!! (especially with all the "doomsday" going on- but I try to keep politics out of my blog... so let's leave it at that).

So, anyway- I am on a bit of a journey to start replacing my hair care and skin care products with ones that are organic and free of chemicals. My friend, Claudia, over at the paris apartment (great blog, by the way!) has really inspired me, and as a fellow "curly girl" we have been emailing about our hair. She gets the whole "bane of my existence" thing- she even used that phrase and I've been saying that my whole life!!! haha! Definitely kindred spirits in the hair department. So, with some newfound inspiration, I am determined to find some alternatives to this chemical world in which we live, and care for my body a little bit better.
I will try to share bits of this with you as I go along...

Book Club, Anyone??

I really, really, really want to be part of a book club!!!
I've always dreamed of having book club with a group of gals, sitting around, talking sipping coffee or wine and eating desserts and cheese (you know- like in the books).
Special gals. Gals I could talk to about anything- who I could trust.
But do you know how hard it is to find a group like that?!?! I had a group of friends like that in high school, and I had a group of friends like that about 12 years ago.
Now, I don't really have any friends like that. Friends that are sort of "on my page" and available, and enjoy hanging out once in a while.
Everyone seems to have their own lives and be so caught up in it- and making time for friends seems to be so hard- and I get so exhausted trying to drum up a get-together. I'd like something that is just ON the schedule and everyone involved is committed to, and that's that. No hard work. Just friends wanting to enjoy friends.

Where are the girlfriend groups?!?!

And I guess it doesn't have to be a BOOK club. It could be a movie club. A brunch club. A coffee club. Just something with some women I connect with where we sit and talk.
Girl time.

Does anyone participate in something like this??
Do tell!!

Terrifying but True

There is a show that comes on in the mornings now on CBS called The Drs. It's very interesting- although a hypochondriac like me probably should NOT be watching it.

One of the most interesting things about it is they bring on people who are dealing with real-life health crises and tell their story.
Monday morning, the story was of a family with 2 beautiful twin girls, Addie and Cassie, who are 4 years old...
...and they have Alzheimer's.

Apparently there is an extremely rare form of genetic childhood Alzheimer's called Niemann-Pick Type C.

These little girls can't remember their colors, their abc's, Humpty-Dumpty- and they are starting to forget how to walk, and they will eventually not even remember how to swallow.
Life expectancy is only in the teens right now.
There is no cure.

Please, watch their story. And if you can help this family somehow, even if just by spreading the word, please do.

Since this IS a blog about lipstick and coffee...

What is your favorite lipstick brand/color??

Mine is Cover Girl Outlast, and my newest fav color is BURGUNDY (#544).
It's a deep purpley-plummy burgundy. Just gorgeous for fall.

Not for the faint-hearted, which, when it comes to lipstick, I definitely am NOT.
I feel so pretty in this color!!!!
(I also found a nail polish to match to boot!! Bitten Plum by Maybelline!)

Remember- it's all about purples this fall!

What is your favorite specialtie coffee??

Mine is a drink called Tonially Raspberry at this cute little coffee shop up the road from us called Perk on the Pike. We meet friends there nearly every Friday night- and I always get it!!
It's espresso, white chocolate, and raspberry, topped with loads of whipped cream and drizzled with more raspberry.
DELISH!!!

Things to do when bored...

Many of you may not have this problem. You still have kids at home and are just struggling to find time to BREATHE, let alone figure out what to do with "down time". Others of you have very demanding full-time jobs that keep you hopping at work and off work. Others of you are extremely driven, stimulated people who have to be TOLD to slow down and take a break and never seem to run out of things to do.

Then, there's people like me.

So, I do things like.... do searches for what to do when bored!

yeah.

And here are some things, in case you happen to be like me and would be interested, that I came up with, that actually are a bit creative-juice stirring:

• Workout
• Create a web site (a good one)
• Read a good book
• Draw a picture
• Find a food recipe online and try to make it
• Learn to play (insert instrument here)
• Join a sport
• Watch movies
• Write a book
• Redesign a room
• Plant a garden
• Take a class

Any other ideas out there??

Think I may go pick up my flute....

My sister.... (yep, another one!)

I actually have 5 sisters, total. 3 of which are my heart because we grew up together in the same house all our lives. We had sort of a yours', mine, and ours' situation with our parents.
Technically, I have 1 whole sister, 2 halves, and 2 steps. Although the whole and the halves are my wholes as far as I'm concerned. And I happen to be the oldest of the bunch.

So, you've met my beautiful baby sister, and you've met my amazing, giving birth on the side of the road sister.... (yes, this actually happened- watch the news video)....
...now meet my only truly full sister- only 14 months apart, we've known each other our entire lives.

She is such a goof. She always has been. She makes me laugh so hard whenever I see her, and we email each other while she's at work on days I am home, and she loves to remind me of all the stupid things I did as a kid (that I try to forget!!) and make me laugh my coffee out my nose.

Like... the time I thought I was shrinking in the bathtub. yeah. don't ask.

She is also the mother of two beautiful girls, my nieces, a divorced mom doing it all on her own, and doing a great job that is really, really hard. And she can still laugh like THAT.

I am extremely proud of her.

She is beautiful. She is funny. She is smart.

She is my sister.

And I am so glad.

BORED!!

Okay. It was inevitable.

I'm getting BORED with my blog.

It has looked the same for, what, several months now?!?!

And is it the impression I want to give off of who I am???? Who I REALLY am?!?!?!

I don't know!!!!!!!!!

I feel like I am having a blog identity crisis.....

AN HOUR LATER....

Ok! I feel better now!!! I needed to "redecorate" just a bit. Got that out of my system. Crisis averted.

Whew.

Whatcha think?!?!?!

You've been waiting soooo patiently...

So I'm finally going to post some pictures!!

Remember I told you about the printer's tray I am going to paint? Well, I decided I am going to paint it green, and then paint it white, and then sand it lightly to let the green show through here and there so it looks aged and sort of shabby. I think that will be the right look for the room.

And remember I told you about that darling little blown glass vase I found to put in it?? Here it is!! All 2 inches of it!!! Isn't it precious?!?!?! I adore it.

Now, remember that basement project we were working on day and night to get ready for our appraisal??

Well, it paid off, because our appraisal came back great!


Then we found out we had to do a termite inspection (yikes!) and we passed that with flying colors, too!! We should be able to close for our refinance SOON. What a relief that will be.


Then I will be able to breathe. haha!

So, here's the basement.... the before and afters follow each other... first a before, then an after.... I can't figure out how to get text and pictures to work together for me. That's probably the ONLY heartache I have with Blogger!!


Anyway, I digress. So what you see is UGLY WALL.... PRETTY WALL (well, for a basement, you know- in an 120 year old house!!).

The picture of the pegboard was taken before I loaded it up- and now we have pegboard on the stairway wall, too.

Have I told you how much I love pegboard??!?!

A Hair Raising Post

I FINALLY did it!!!

I COLORED MY HAIR!!!!

What color, you ask???

Well, as the great Professor 'Iggins would say....

"Brown, brown, brown!"

(for those of you wondering what in the world I'm referring to- watch My Fair Lady!!)

I decided to use a permanent, hoping that I won't have to color my entire head but maybe once or twice a year, and just do root touch-ups here-on out. Usually I use a semi-permanent, but my logic is that it would seem that it would be better for my hair to use something that doesn't fade (at least not intentionally- I know even permanent will fade out eventually) and only do it once or twice a year, vs. every 4- 6 months over my whole head. Maybe do glazes every now and then to freshen up my whole head in between.

So. I went with Clairol Perfect 10. Espresso, of course!

It comes with this handy little comb attachment that in theory you comb through your hair and evenly distribute the color. It worked so-so.
I think I managed to get pretty good coverage, though.
But it stunk to high-heaven and burned my eyes!!! Yipes!!!
The absolute worst part- and the part that keeps me procrastinating this whole business every time- is the RINSING. Oh, how I HATE the rinsing. My head is full of thick, curly, long hair and it takes FOREVER to rinse. Ugh. I stand in the shower for probably 20 minutes just rinsing, and my fingernails turn brown.
Yuck!

But, enough whining. These are the things we endure to remain gorgeous, right?!?!

Also, I have to admit, I was pretty surprised that my poll revealed that the majority of you are salon product snobs and will use only salon products!!!!!

For the record. Last night I bought Suave.

That Ol' Ripple Just Won't Stop!!!

Well, I am BLOWN AWAY at how widespread one little pebble's ripple effect really can become- and I have learned/been reminded through all this that people are so good and kind and want to help others. It's just part of who we are!!
Not ALL people... I realize that.
But most.
That I have found to be true.
And I am thankful to be sharing this world with those people.

City Girl let me know that she posted about us on her blog last week, and that we have a friend in her corner!!!! Thank you so much!!!

She also let me know about Cherrye who, WOW!!!, has this amazing looking blog and it's all Italian and she's a writer!!! I just hopped over there, and my eyes boggled!!! Anyway, she also picked up the torch and posted about us yesterday!!!

I can't wait to do more reading on both of these generous gals' blogs... but I should be getting ready for work!!! SO I will have to table that pleasure until tonight...

I do have one more quick mention... I am trying to "track down" someone who donated to our fund, but then I was unable to reply to their email with the cookbook link- it keeps coming back undeliverable. I have this person's name, but I don't want to post it on blogworld....
SO. If you purchased 5 copies of the cookbook on September 15th at 11:07 a.m. and your first and last initials are P.R. PLEASE contact me, perhaps with a different email?, so that I can send you the cookbook link!!! :-D

Thank you!!!!!

BLOWN away!!!

Just a quick post to say-
Wow!!! Cincinnati had a HUGE windstorm yesterday!!! The worst I've seen since living here (if you discount tornadoes, that is). Winds up to 75 mph!! It lasted nearly 8 hours.
Trees were falling all over the place, and a few looked verrrry scary around our house, but thankfully we didn't get ANY damage- just a big mess. A few neighbors had trees fall on their homes, though. :-(
Power was out all over the Tri-State. We were out for 30 hours.
We just got back on. Hooray!!!
Hubby and I have been outside raking and picking up leaves and branches and burning stuff in the firepit. The power came on while we were out there, so I am happy to report- I CAN SHOWER!!!!
I can only imagine what the people in the southern/western states are dealing with. They definitely need our prayers.
I'll try to visit and respond to comments SOON.
Right now... off to the shower!!!

Yeah, Baby!!!

Okay, for the record, I am NOT a fan of Austin Powers, but his trademark exclamation is kinda fun, and very appropriate for this post!

Today I visited an upscale yet very thrifty resale shop that I had been told about for YEARS, and still had yet to go. Today was the day.

So, I walk in the door- immediately see the shoe rack, so of course I make a beeline straight for it...

and there, awaiting my arrival are two pairs of shoes, both of which I have been really, really, really, REALLY wanting!!! In perfect condition, in my size!!!

Jackpot #1- Silver toned sandals with fun beadwork!! A good label, with a bit of a heel. $4.00!!

















Jackpot #2- the BIGGIE!! I have been wanting a pair of boots like this forever, and just haven't taken the time/given myself permission to go buy a pair. And there they were. I couldn't believe no one else had grabbed them!!! As soon as I picked them up, a woman asked me "are you going to buy those?" I sweetly replied


YEAH BABY!!!!!!!


Not really, but that's what I was thinking when I said "Yes."


$12.00!! A little high on my scale of thrift store find pricing, but I HAD to have them.

My baby sister....

She's so amazing!

She's travelled the world, put herself through college, lived internationally, become an accomplished horsewoman, written a novel, broken more hearts than she'd like to admit, yet remains sweet and true to herself.

And she's only 25.

I wish I was Matt...

Excuse me- I'll be right back!

That's what I have been saying all day at work as I tried to drink more water... and made a lot more potty runs!!
BUT. I did manage to drink 2 glassfuls of water this morning BEFORE I had my morning coffee, and I have to say- I did feel more alert!!

I also got a good night's rest last night because I took a sleep aid.
Kori- take a sleep aid!! You need to rest your mind and your soul, girl!!

I am so excited that I have so many people wanting to get on board with me!!! yay!!! I need the support. Please nag me about drinking my water.

Leah, I love the idea of the Crystal Lite in the water... may consider that, although a slice of lemon often does the trick for me.

So, with all of you holding me accountable, I am really hoping to make this more of a habit and less of a chore.

Glub, glub!!!

Oh, Yeah......

Oh!! I almost forgot! Got a little sidetracked there.... ahem....

We got the number for our appraisal today and it was GOOOOOOD!!!!!!!!

Yippee- Hooray- Hoohoooo!!!!!!

Thank you, Lord!!!!!

YAWN!!!

Lately, I have been feeling tired all-the-time. And not just sleepy, but like a bone-tired fatique. When I got home from work this evening, and got out of my car, I could barely put one foot in front of the other. The way I describe it is "I feel too old to be this young." It's weird.
And of course, being the hypochondriac that I am, and with all the crap our family has endured health-wise... I've already diagnosed myself with at least 3 terminal illnesses.
sigh.
However, I am going to be positive, and assume that I am most likely NOT dying, and instead just suffering from some anxiety which is causing restless sleep.

AND, something I just read about-
I am most likely dehydrated!!

"While I was reading through a course recently, I saw a reason for why you may be feeling tired.The suggestion to increase your energy was such a simple idea and one you probably don’t even think about.What is it?
Drink more water.
I discovered that most of us are chronically dehydrated and don't even know it. Some of the symptoms of dehydration are: brain fog, fatigue, and exhaustion. Sound familiar?"

I hardly ever drink water.
I drink lots of coffee. Lots. Too much, probably.
I drink wine. Not much.
But definitely not much water. At all. Some days I go all day without a sip.

So, I did a little googling, and here is a formula I came across for the amount of water one should drink each day:

Take your weight in pounds and divide it by 2.
Take the result and divide this by 8 (for 8 ounces of water)
This number is the approximate number of 8 oz glasses of water you should be drinking daily.

Example: 150 pounds / 2 = 75 / 8 = 9.375 or about 9.5 glasses of water each day.

The article also suggests drinking several glasses of water upon arising every morning.

I'm going to try it.
Anyone else struggling with not drinking enough water??
Want to pal up with me??

Another friend in our corner!!!

I am just so touched by people who do this.

And doesn't she just look like someone you'd love to know?!?!

Thank you, Dorothy!!! From the bottom of my heart.

You just can't have too many friends!!!!

p.s. be sure to participate in my latest survey!! ---> ---> --->

The Duck Story

OK, I have been meaning to blog this for a long time and I just haven't felt inspired to sit down and type it all out. But I am going to try to do that now. My only regret is that I have no photographs and especially no video of this particular event in my life.

I'm sure we would have won the $1,000,000.00 America's Funniest Home Video Award if we did.

You be the judge...

Shortly after I married George and became instant mom to his two youngest kids, we were still living in Winchester, VA- both our home town.
Every year, Winchester puts on the famous Apple Blossom Festival. It's a huge deal in our little town- and a whole lot of fun. There is a carnival complete with rides and games and the whole shebang.

So, one evening of the festival, the kids and I are in the park, walking from the rides to the duck pond nearby.
As we are walking along the duck pond, we notice a little group of fuzzy ducklings paddling around right by the edge of the pond.
They were soooo cute, and, of course, who can resist reaching down and picking one up?!?

So I did.

I'm holding this little ball of peeping fluff in my cupped hands and slightly bending over so the kids can look at it, and we're all oohing and aahing over it...

When all of a sudden...



POW!



Something slams into my chest so hard it knocks my breathe out!!



I drop the little duckling and before I know what is happening-



something has clamped down hard onto my NOSE!!!




I have a mother duck with her feet planted on my chest,

her beak chomped down on my nose,

and furiously flapping her wings!!!!


Without even thinking, I instantly react.

I do the only thing any reasonable person would do.



I PUNCH her right in the chest and knock her off of me!!!!



She goes back to her ducklings, and leaves me standing there,

shaking,

my eyes watering,

rubbing my nose,

totally stunned.


I then look up and notice that all around us people have stopped and are just-

STARING at us.


The kids are looking up at me with their eyes and mouths wide open.


When I can finally breathe we start to walk away....

laughing hysterically!!!



What's the motto of this story??
Leave the babies ALONE.

Mamas mean business.

Whew! Finally!!!

The appraiser was here this morning!!!
We've been working toward this goal for nearly 3 weeks.
He was so nice, and so complimentary of our home!!! Please pray he's as favorable toward us on paper as he was in person! :-D
We should find out in a few days what the number is. We live in an older neighborhood, so it can go either way- especially in this housing market right now.
SO. Now that we're no longer striving to make everything "just so" for the appraiser... think I may go spray paint that printer's tray I talked about before!!
I know, I know. when am I going to post pictures?!?!
Here's the thing- my office is on the 3rd floor.
I keep my purse (which contains my camera) on the 1st floor.
So many times I find myself up on the 3rd floor goofing off on the computer, and think about uploading my pics- only I don't really want to climb back DOWN to the 1st floor to get the camera and then climb back UP to the 3rd floor to upload them.
sigh.
It's a dilemma.
I will try to remember to grab it next time I'm on the 1st and put it on the steps to remind me to carry it up with me.
:-)

The Ripple Continues!

I am always so amazed when I find posts about our fundraising way out there in internet-land by people I don't know at all- but care enough to take the time to post about us and spread the word even further!!

http://margeauxj.blogspot.com:80/2008/07/for-love-of-george.html

I LOVE the title of her post, too!!!

A curly girl's new best friend?

This morning I decided to try Jason's Natural Hi-Shine Styling Gel on my wet hair- and only that. So I worked it in, then combed it through, then scrunched a little, and let it air dry. I had the best hair day I've had in.... a really, really, really long time. My hair wasn't frizzy or boofy- and today was disgustingly hot and humid and muggy (gotta love Cincinnati weather. ugh!). I even got a compliment on my hair- and it's been a long time since that has happened!!!
I may have found my product!!! And only ONE!!! woohoo!! (I'm all about simplifying life).

We have plane tickets!!!

Just finished the agonizing task of finding the best price on the internet for the nanosecond!!! I had 2 tickets secured with the "perfect" times- and by the time I put in all the info and chose our seats and all that fun stuff... it shot up nearly $100!!! So had to start again. GRRRR!!!
But, I typed FAST- figured I'd reserve seats later or just take whatever and be happy I HAVE a seat for that price- and got it. WHEW!!! Just in the nick of time, I'm sure.
:-D
We're going to California, people!!!

p.s.

This is what I ended up getting with a gift card a good friend gave me for my birthday to Bed, Bath, & Beyond. I had a really hard time narrowing it down- I had about 4 things picked out that I wanted- and I settled on this.

So cute & soft!!!

Trying to Catch Up...

Happy Labor Day!! I hope everyone is enjoying their 3-day weekend.

Let me try to catch up here...

First things first- BON VOYAGE to my avid ghostreading friend, Debbie! She is flying away to Hawaii tomorrow, that lucky girl!!! You have a GREAT time!!!!

Secondly- I was awarded by my bloggy friend, Ronda, this super-fun award!!!













Now my job is to send the love out to 7 of MY favorite blogs!
So, here we go! (in no particular order)

• Razor Family Farms
• Ada's Decorating Blog
• Shelli's Blog
• Down a Red Dirt Lane
• Life as a CFer's Wife
• The Painted House
• A Soft Place to Land

Okay, this was really hard to narrow it down to only seven!!! If you're not on my list it doesn't mean I don't love you, too!!! Hop over and give these girls a visit- and leave some comment love!

So have fun with this award and here are your instructions:

1. The winner can put the logo on her/his blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

Can you even believe it's already September?!?! The summer whooshed by- and in no time at all we will be in California at the Treatment Center!! Please keep that whole thing in prayer for us.

We have pretty much finished up the basement project!!! Hooray!!! What a lot of work- but totally worth it. Today I am working on catching up laundry and George is putting up some overhead lighting that we want up for the appraisal- which I HOPE is happening tomorrow. I am trying not to be anxious about that, but I will be a lot more relaxed once we know what our home appraises at and how much we'll be getting. I don't like being in limbo.

On another exciting front- we are going to have a link on a local celebrity radio host's website for our Friends of George fundraiser cookbook!!! It should be up on Tuesday (tomorrow) since today is a holiday. I will post the link once I see it's up. George's oldest daughter called the radio cooking show "Cooking With Marilyn" on Saturday to tell Marilyn Harris about our fundraiser and the cookbook and Marilyn told her she would put a link on her website with a paragraph about George. We were so excited!!! George & I listened in while she was on the air. She did a great job- so cool and collected.

I will leave you with this: http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

teehee!