Fun Times Hiking

A lizard on the trail

Hiking is one of our favorite outdoor activities. Lucky for us since there are endless options for hiking in our part of the U.S., specifically, San Diego County. In one day, we could, theoretically, hike in the mountains, in the deserts, at the beach, in the valleys, you name it. We've hiked several times and in several locations the first time we lived here from 1999-2003 and a few times since we moved back a year ago. This last time, we decided to go to Mission Trails Regional Park. We've been here lots of times, but it's such a large preserve, approximately 5800 acres according to their website that we still haven't hiked all the available trails. This time around, we hiked the Old Mission Dam and then we hiked the Oak Canyon Trail/Fortuna Mountain trail. This hike is rated a 3 which means that it's moderately challenging but not impossible for the average person. From start to finish, we hiked six miles total. The elevation gain was only about 300 feet though which isn't too bad. It was a great workout is what it was.

On the hike, we saw several types of lizards, lots of birds (we even saw a mating pair of hummingbirds) and two different snakes. The first snake was very thin, very long, and it was swimming in the San Diego river eating bugs. It was pretty nifty. The second snake we saw was the biggest snake I have ever seen outside of a zoo. We were walking along when all of a sudden, the youngest started having a fit and said that there was a snake on the trail. Sure enough, we look ahead and there is a big ol rattlesnake crossing the trail in front of us. We noticed it when it was about ten feet ahead. That is the closest any of us have come to a dangerous animal in nature. That we know of, lol. It was freaky and none of us wanted to walk past where it had disappeared into some brush, but unless we wanted to turn around, that was our only choice. We gave the snake a few minutes to move away from the trail (we hoped) and then walked as far as we could on the other side, lol. It sure made for an interesting hike.

We're hoping we can get a few more hikes in before it starts to get too hot.

Burn Out and Taking Time Off

The Pier at Avila Beach, CA

Burnout, specifically where work is concerned, is such a real thing. I pretty basically worked without a break for three years straight. I do my best to take weekends off like a normal person and most major holidays, but when you have your own business, it's hard to take true time away. For many reasons. First and foremost, when I take time off, I don't get paid. It's not like I have a vacation plan, lol. I only get paid for the actual hours that I work and I certainly don't get paid vacations. Secondly, it's just hard for me to step back and let things slide. I have a responsibility to my clients and they have expectations.

In the last three years, the family has taken two vacations to the Outer Banks and one trip to Ohio, and I also flew to Ohio by myself to be with my dad when he had surgery a while back. During each of these events, I either had work to do or school work to do or both. During our family trip to Ohio, I took a business call in the middle of a corn field. When I was at the hospital with my dad, I took a call outside of his room in the hallway. Working from home and being a business owner has made it incredibly difficult for me to separate my work life and my personal life. Even when I'm not actively working or "on the clock", I'm thinking about things that I need to do for my clients. It kind of sucks, to be honest and it resulted in burnout. I hated my business, the work I was doing, and my clients. I was unhappy all the time and I started having insomnia again, and migraines. I hadn't really felt like that since Vermont.

So, I took some real time off. The Mister and I took an honest to god vacation to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary earlier this month. I gave my clients plenty of notice, (one of them had a year's notice and still bitched and complained when it came time for me to "leave".) both of us left our laptops home, and we went away by ourselves for a week to Paso Robles, CA and then another week just to be home and off of work. I didn't check my email, personal, business or otherwise, the entire two weeks. It was fantastic. Out of this world, fabulous, straight out of a dream, GREAT! We ate too much fantabulous food, drank too much wine, lounged by the pool and read books, and generally we were lazy slugs. We stayed out as late as we wanted each night and slept in as late as we wanted each morning. I can't even remember a time when I had absolutely no responsibilities. Oh. I forgot to mention that our mothers (yes, you read that right) flew out from Ohio to stay with the girls the first week while we were in Paso Robles. So that first week, we were able to do what we wanted, when we wanted, without having to worry about work or school, or about getting dinner on the table for the kids. I need to remember to do this more often than once every three years, lol.

How's the burnout? Well, to be frank, the jury is still out on that. Personally, outside of my business, I'm feeling fab. Then, when I sit down in my office to take care of client tasks, I start to wonder in which direction am I headed. Do I still like the work that I do? I'm starting to wonder if my vacation, rather than solving the burnout issue, it gave me some perspective instead. Time will tell.

Oh. In addition to the pic at the top, I have uploaded vacation pictures to my Facebook account if you'd like to see them. Central California is beautiful.

Shut Up and Don't Nag Me About This

The title...My exact words to the Oldest child when she asked for the umpteenth time if she could get her face pierced. When she turns 18 and moves out on her own, she can pierce herself until the cows come home. Until then, nuh uh. Maybe this makes me old. Maybe this makes me unyielding. Maybe this makes me judgmental and no fun. I can live with that. The Mister happens to agree with me 100% on this. United we stand. She can pierce her ears however she'd like, but no body piercings and certainly nothing on her face. I don't think a 14 year old can grasp the ramifications of what a facial piercing means and how it permanently scars. I'm stodgy. I'm boring. Again...I can live with it.

The Wrath of Mom

You know how I hate Mondays, right? Well, tomorrow is going to be a particularly rough one.

We have to get up at around 3-3:30 am so that we can have the oldest child at the airport by 4:30. Why? She is taking a class trip to Washington, D.C., Gettysburg, PA, and NYC this week. I am very much the nervous mom. I can't believe that I'm sending my child clear across the country without me or her dad. And just so ya know. The first person that tells me she'll be fine and laughs at my mom-ness is going to get my foot up their butt. Seriously. I'm sure she's going to have the most absolute wonderful time with her friends and see some fabulous historical sites, but I will worry nonetheless. I just hope she gets lots of great pictures.

After we get back from the airport, the Mister has a 6:30 meeting at work and I have one from 10-11 and another from 11-noon. I can't imagine, after having to get up at the time of the morning, that I will remember what happens at either of these meetings let alone be of any use at them. Good thing I have a nice supply of coffee in the house.

I can't believe that if I were to go to bed right now, I'd have to get up again in 8 hours. The sun hasn't even gone down all the way.

Welcome Back! We're Staying Put

This is a long overdue post. The Mister arrived home from Afghanistan safe and sound February 27th. If we are Facebook friends, friends IRL, or family, you already know. But for those of you that don't want to be friends with me on Facebook :( this is news to you. The homecoming was pretty neat. Their flight didn't get back until about 9:30 at night so I wasn't expecting anything special at the base but there ended up being a band and lots of people and fanfare so it was nifty.

As for our contest, the Mister won by less than 1/2 a percent. He opted to get a new set of golf clubs as his prize. I have to wait until at least May 27th before I can buy a new purse, lol. I made up for it by buying some new sunglasses though. ;) Honestly, I was disappointed and surprised that I lost. He ate ice cream every day for dessert and had steak every Sunday and barely worked out. I, on the other hand, dieted and ran at least 12 miles a week on my elliptical machine and I also did aerobics at least once a week. I really expected to win. AND!!!!! Since he's been home, I've gained freaking four pounds back. Sheesh, gosh, and holy freaking moly! I am so not happy about that. He's such a bad influence, lol.

Also, we had decided that we were moving out of base housing while he was deployed. Our property was vandalized twice in three months. Not to mention that base housing just sucks in general. So, one day after the Mister touched down on home soil, we started looking for a new house. We didn't really tell too many people about this because I didn't want to get a certain somebody's hopes up. Now I'm glad that I didn't because finding a rental that would accept our two Boxers was harder than I thought it would be. So, we gave up and decided to stick it out in base housing for a while. I finally unpacked the rest of our boxes this past week. An entire year here and we still hadn't finished unpacking. I think this contributed to our overall feeling of dissatisfaction with our living situation. All of the things that makes a home a home, knickknacks, whatnots, photographs, etc., we had left packed up in boxes. Living like that gives you (at least it does me) a feeling of instability and being temporary. I missed my things and I'm glad they're out and about now.

Anyway, that about brings everyone up to speed. The youngest is doing well. The oldest is taking her 8th grade trip to Washington D.C. and NYC next week. The Mister is back to work. And I'm up to my same old shenanigans.

Multitaskers Unite!

Random picture: OBX, NC

There are some people who believe that multitasking is a myth. They think that a person's perceived ability to do more than one thing at a time and do those things well is, well, untrue. On the other side of the coin, there are people who believe that they can do more than one task at a time, give each task the attention that it needs, and complete each task on time and satisfactorily. I happen to be in this camp. As a mom, student, business owner, and sometimes single parent, I have to be able to multitask or nothing gets done. There are times when I'm doing things for myself, personally, while completing tasks for clients at the same time. Or I'm conducting research for a paper while having my eye on Facebook. When I'm watching TV I am always doing something else at the same time whether it's internal planning in my head or crocheting the Oldest Child's blanket that I promised her. However, there are certain things that I have to devote my attention to 100%.

For instance, if I'm reading, I am definitely NOT paying attention to whatever you're saying to me. I may even respond to you out loud, but I have no idea what you said or even what I just said to you. Same thing goes if I'm typing. I have to pay attention to what I'm typing or whatever I'm saying will make no sense whatsoever. I also have a really hard time paying attention to a phone conversation if I'm doing something else at the same time.

So, do you believe in multitasking or do you think people are just fooling themselves into believing that they can do more than one thing at a time?

Foot Woes

("Random Picture" This is a rain storm that I could see in the distance from my backyard.)

Yesterday was a bad day for my left foot. First thing yesterday, I dropped a baby gate (for use with my misbehaving dogs) on my foot. I'm sure my neighbors heard me cursing about that. It hurts to walk on it and to wiggle my toes. Then, I was leaving last night to pick up the oldest child from a school thing. When I was trying to lock the front door, the screen door swung shut on me, hit my heel and scraped the skin off. Again, pretty sure I entertained my neighbors with some colorful language. Lucky for me, I prefer to wear flip flops because putting my left foot in a shoe right now is out of the question.

I think this was my karma for trying to take the day off of work yesterday. I have one particular client where the hours I work for them is capped per month. I still get paid if I go over, but I try to stay within the confines of my contract with them. I'm already 5 hours over that cap and with a meeting that I have today, I'll be 6 hours over. There are still 4 days left in the month and my inbox for them is filling up with e-mails that I can't just ignore for even four days.

In other news...

I got an email yesterday from the Mister's Family Readiness Office with the subject line, "HOMECOMING!" So, we're in the home stretch. The funny thing is, in the email they give us dates when to expect them to come home. Then, they remind us of Operational Security (OPSEC) which is basically not giving away any information that could undermine security. Yet, they send this information out to hundreds, literally, of unsecured e-mail accounts and in the next sentence, tell us not to post the information to social media websites, lol. I'm sorry, but I find that ironic. A woman that I work with, just yesterday, had her Gmail account hacked. It happens. All the time. If the powers that be want to keep secrets, sending them out in unsecured e-mails is not the way to do it. I'm also not dumb or naive enough to think that the info they sent in that e-mail is entirely accurate and for just that reason. Blah. Whatev.

An Open Letter

I found this on my computer today while I was looking for another file. I wrote it some time ago, October'ish maybe, but I like what I had to say and it's definitely still relevant to how I continue to feel. Seeing a light at the end of this deployment tunnel, maybe it's good to sit back and reflect. I know there are people that are going to read this and think it was directed at them. Oh well. That's life's lemons and it is what it is. ;)

An Open Letter to Whom it May Concern,

Life is full of challenges, ups, downs, good times, bad times, accomplishments, and failures. If we didn’t have the negatives, how could we appreciate the positives? I honestly believe this. However, I still stand by my opinion that making lemonade out of life’s lemons is utter bull. Sometimes it just isn’t possible and sometimes, you have no control over the amount or size of the lemons that are hurled at you at blinding speeds. That being said, how you handle the bad stuff is reflective of who you are and most people are made up of more than just one ingredient. We’re strong, we’re weak, we’re vindictive, we’re complacent, we’re kind, we’re cruel, we’re happy, and we’re bitchy. We’re all these things, none of these things, some of these things, and more than these things.

Since my husband has deployed, I’ve constantly dealt with people asking me how I am. At first, I just answered politely, forgot about it, and moved on. Then I started getting offended. Does everyone expect me to just lose my mind and sit around and cry all day? Aren’t I strong enough, adult enough, and a good enough parent to hold things together for my kids, my husband, and myself for a few months? Yes. Yes, I am. I’m not going to lie and say that I haven’t had my moments of anger and sadness. I’ve cried a few times. But you know what? Under normal circumstances, I’m moody and emotional! I’m not really all that different because my husband is deployed except that maybe I have lower lows. And wouldn’t I be some kind of automaton or, at the very least, wouldn’t there be something wrong with our relationship if I didn’t care that my husband is half way around the world from my kids and me? (At the end of the deployment, I don't really care when people ask me this anymore. But I didn't want to edit the original contents.)

You know what else? It’s rough being a pseudo-single parent. I wonder if it’d be easier if I just didn’t have anyone to miss along with having to handle things on my own. I don’t have an answer to that one. This deployment has certainly had its challenges that our first one did not.

In addition to dealing with an emotional 14-year-old girl who is missing her dad and testing her boundaries, I also have an 11 year old with ADHD and significant learning disabilities and developmental delays. My dogs have both had health issues and have cost me an arm and a leg. My car needs a break job. My extended family has more than its share of health issues that have just cropped up. I live in a house and in a neighborhood that I despise. I have legal issues that have come up that will affect our life for the next ten years at the least. I’m running my own business and trying to expand it. I’m taking college courses that are very challenging this semester. I have insomnia and headaches 5 out of 7 days a week. My husband is deployed to a warzone. Pfft.

All in all, deployments are for the birds. They suck and I hate them and I would never suggest going through one as a means of entertainment. But that’s life. So the eff what? My experiences don’t make yours any more or less important, life changing, or whatever. No matter what you’re currently struggling with, it is impacting your life and therefore, significant to you. My life and the contents therein, don’t take away from you and they don’t, and shouldn’t be, compared to see which of us has the biggest bruise. I don’t pretend to be inside your head and I would appreciate the same in return. You know the saying about walking a mile in another person’s shoes? Well, you’re not in my shoes. Unless you’ve lived my life exactly and perfectly from birth, you can’t truly know what I’m experiencing and more importantly, how it’s making me feel. And for the love of Pete, don’t pity me. I don’t need or want pity and it pisses me off. Talk to me like a normal person or don’t bother talking to me at all. I’m not a thing to be pitied and that’s insulting.

In the grand scheme of things, when I look at the big picture, my life is pretty darn good. Sure, there are things that I would change, but that just gives me something to work towards. Challenges are to be met head on so that you can feel good about yourself when you overcome them. Deployments are challenging. 14-year-old girls are challenging. Learning disabilities are challenging. News that comes in certified letters is also challenging. I’ll deal with all of these things as they come along. Sure, I’ll lose sleep but I’ll keep the makers of Excedrin in business (and eventually, whomever makes ulcer meds, lol). My greatest hope is that I’ll be a positive example to my girls. That would be a true accomplishment. I won’t achieve this by belittling someone else’s problems though or by being a bad friend, bad wife, or bad mom. I hope that when my girls look back on this that they remember that while we were at each other’s throats on occasion, we also came through the other side having gotten our dogs healthy, relying on our friends when we needed a shoulder, being a shoulder to our friends when they needed one, and we became closer to each other by holding each other up. Even though their dad was gone and we missed him terribly, we still laughed every day even if we cried too.

Being Touchy Feely

This has been one of the top news stories the past few weeks: Pat downs and full body scans at the airport. I usually stay away from overly hot topics, but since I will be flying next May, I have an opinion on this one.

First of all, I would much rather be scanned than touched by strangers. I don't care that TSA are professionals and they're trained. So are prostitutes. I don't want them touching me either. I am not and never have been a touchy feely type of person. I hug friends and family but not people that I don't know very well or don't like. I don't like shaking hands either when it comes right down to it. I certainly don't want strangers rubbing all over me, and yes, the TSA people do that from what I've seen on the news, especially in full view of lines of other strangers. I can count on one hand how many people have touched my boobs: my husband and my doctors. That's it. The thought of TSA people doing so in public sets my nerves on end. I will definitely opt for the full body scanners when the time comes. I will wear the most simplest clothing that I can find to do my very best that nothing looks suspicious on the scans so that I won't have to have a pat down in addition to the scan.

I've seen lots of people that say that if you don't like the scans and pat downs, then take a bus or drive yourself. That's a very narrow opinion if you ask me. You can't take a bus overseas and I can't imagine taking myself and my kids on a bus from California to Ohio in the case of an emergency or something. The Mister and I are taking a 15th anniversary vacation to Fiji in May. You can't drive to Fiji from the United States. Should I opt to just stay home?

When it comes to my kids, I will definitely avoid flying whenever possible. I really don't like the thought of strangers rubbing their hands over my children. My youngest, who doesn't have "normal" reactions to strangers, this will be a real problem for her and it makes me wonder if parents of other special needs kids have or will have the same sorts of problems when it comes to this issue too.

Something else that bugs me about this is where does it stop? It used to be that we just had to pass through metal detectors and send our carry on luggage through an x-ray machine. 9/11 happened and airport screenings really stepped up. It made it so that getting from your car to boarding your plane takes 2 hours now. We have to take our shoes off (which I find weird but not overly so, btw) and all other manner of things at the gate. Then came along full body scanners and now we have to be subjected to being touched by strangers. What happens when some reporter or someone else trying to make a point, gets past the new security and onto a plane carrying things they shouldn't have been allowed to take on the plane? I see a future of naked people walking around the airport and anal probes. I have to wonder how much I am exaggerating here, if at all...

Hello Old Friend

Our Thursday meme brought to you courtesy of Booking Through Thursday

Who would you rather borrow from? Your library? Or a Friend?

(Or don’t your friends trust you to return their books?)

And, DO you return books you borrow?

I don't borrow books. I think if I were to borrow books from friends, I would return them...eventually. However, almost every single time I (or anyone in my household) checks out books from the library, they are returned late. The same thing goes if we ever rent a movie or video game. We just have a block when it comes to returning borrowed items on time. I would much rather just buy my books, especially since I consider my books to be a collection, than borrow them from the library only to rack up fines and return them late.

In the same vein, I can only think of one or two people to whom I would loan my books and trust them to return them to me in a timely fashion. I can recall lending books to someone only to have the person return my books to me three years later. I've also loaned books out and NEVER gotten them back. At this point, if I give someone a book from my collection, it is with the understanding that I never want the book back and don't expect to ever see it again. I'm firm about it and not afraid to say no to a loan request, and have, either. ;)

I Knew It Wouldn't Last

So I'm all out of the running for NaBloPoMo. I figured I wouldn't make it to the end, but this year, it was out of my hands. My Internet connection has been spotty to say the least for almost a week now. As a result, I've had to turn in homework late, answer work emails days after I get them, and drop out of NaBloPoMo. I'm completely frustrated. I called Time Warner and they verified that I was having problems with my connection saying that my modem wasn't receiving info (No! Really?!?). I had a tech out on Friday and he blamed the problem on my wireless router. The wireless router tech blamed my Internet connection. I'm inclined to believe the router people because I've never had as many connectivity problems as I've had with Time Warner. We've had several issues with our connection since we moved here. We also have continuous problems with our cable too. For instance, my on screen guide doesn't work on my downstairs DVR box. My DVR also regularly will record only the first 10 minutes or so of a show. My HD channels tile so badly that I can't watch them occasionally too. Thus far, I'm am not impressed with Time Warner.

In other news...

As you may or may not have read in a previous post, the Mister and I are having a weight loss competition. So far, he's beating me by about 2%. We both decided to boost our weight loss with supplements. I don't know if you have had any experience with weight loss supplements but they suck. They work, but with side effects which suck. I'm not promoting them so I'm not giving names and don't ask. Do your own due diligence should you decide to try them out. The ones we both opted to try out have large amounts of caffeine in them. This means that we can't ingest any other forms of caffeine while taking them. No chocolate, no coffee, and certainly no soda. I haven't had any liquid caffeine in over a month. That's the longest I've ever gone probably since I was a toddler, lol. Lucky for me, I don't crave chocolate so that's not a big deal. However, I love my soda and coffee so it's been a challenge to give them up. I know. There's decaf but I don't believe in decaf. It's all or nothing for me.

Another result of our challenge is that I have given up fast food. I admit, I was a fast food junkie. If you've never watched Supersize Me, you should and you will understand how fast food can be an addiction. But you know what? I don't miss it at all. I feel really good about eating healthier. The biggest challenge of giving up fast food is that the kids don't understand it and they constantly ask to eat out. I need to sit them down and make them watch Supersize Me. I actually have it on DVD so I just might do that. The problem with making kids understand why eating bad food is bad for you, is that they are young and thinking about the long term ramifications of eating unhealthy food is beyond them. My dad has had so many procedures for heart disease that I've just about lost count. The Mister's family also has a history of heart disease. My kids have it coming at them from both sides. I need to change their eating habits now while they're still healthy and while I still have any influence in that area, lol.

On Having a Good Day and a Quiet Evening

I had a great day today. I sat out on my patio and enjoyed the heat. I only lasted ten minutes before I had to go in though. Highs in the 90's today. I love the heat, especially in November, heheh. I also got caught up on some work today. AND, the Mister called. He's doing well. His biggest complaint is being bored. In a war zone, I would think bored is better than the alternative.

As for my evening, the youngest's mouth got her sent to her room and the oldest is at the high school for band practice. It's just ME in my clean house relaxing with no kids to bug me. Heaven.

Swimming in November

We've been having beautiful weather here in SoCal. Considering the downright chilly summer we had, I'm enjoying the warmth. We're having a mild Santa Ana so our high for today was 88 and the forecasted high for the next two days is 92. I LOVE it. It was so nice that the kids went the neighborhood pool for 2 hours after school today.

Oh. And last night, (for those of you that aren't Facebook friends) the oldest child put regular dish soap in the dishwasher. The dishwasher was so full of bubbles that you couldn't even see the dishes inside and suds were running across the floor. It was pretty funny looking back. At the time, I just couldn't believe that she'd do something so silly. We had dishwasher tabs for pete's sake. Kids.

Should I? Can I?

November is supposed to be National Blog Posting Month. I don't even think I attempted it last year with moving and other stuff. I don't remember. Should I attempt it this year? With the Mister gone, I have even less to say than under normal circumstances, lol. But, whatev.

Today, I wasted a good part of my morning trying to buy passes to Comic Con 2011. They went on sale this morning at 9 am PDT. I was online at 8:30 and had the page open, my credit card standing by, and I watched the clock waiting for 9 am to roll around. It took something like 15 minutes just for the page to refresh. I was on two computers trying to get the website to work. It was so overloaded that it took about 45 minutes just to get to the first registration page. I typed in my info, hit "next" and then the next page wouldn't load. I did this until 10'ish when I checked their FaceBook page and saw the message, "We are aware of the current server issues and are working on a resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience." The comments on their page were quite funny. I certainly wasn't the only person who was frustrated. Anyway, at about 10:30, they posted another message saying they were still trying to fix the problem and to check back on the 8th for more info about when tickets would go back on sale. I was pretty disappointed. 2011 is the first year that I will have a chance to go and I can't even get the tickets, lol. The biggest gathering of geeks and they are brought low by technical issues on their website. Ironic, I think.

So closes my first post of the 2010 NaBloPoMo. ;)

Handy Tip

I’ve been searching for a solution to a certain problem of mine for the better part of a decade. Researching soap making websites, I finally ran across something that made a lot of sense to me, knowing what I know about how soap is made. What’s my problem?

I’ve had issues with my face breaking out. It’s worse than it ever was when I was a teenager. It first started when the Mister deployed to Japan in 2002. Everyone told me that it was stress. Well, maybe that’s what triggered it, I don’t know, but it never went away. In the years since, I’ve tried everything from face washes, astringents, and scrubs that you buy at Target to the more expensive varieties you can buy at high end department stores. I’ve had prescriptions from doctors. I even tried Proactive and NONE of it made much of a difference. The only thing I didn’t try was a prescription for antibiotics because the side effects I get from them are worse than acne, believe me.

Then, a few months ago, before we moved to California, I ran across a website that had an alternative-type solution. At first I was skeptical until I stopped to think of the soap making process and then it made perfect sense to me and I decided to try it out. I waited a bit to make sure it wasn’t a fluke before posting about my results. I still get the occasional spot here and there especially when my hormone levels are up and down (if you know what I mean) but for the most part, I’m extremely happy. So, what the heck did I try??? Oil. I’ll be more specific.

I went out and bought an empty travel bottle at Target. It cost me $2.99 I think. Then, I made a solution that was 50/50 Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Castor Oil. You can try out different oils and different amounts BUT, the castor oil is a must. The other oil can vary. For instance, you could try sunflower oil. If you have oily skin, try a 30% castor, 70% EVOO mix. If you have dry skin, try a 10% castor, 90% EVOO mix. I’ve been using a 50/50 mix with great results. This is the method:

1. Put a quarter-sized amount of oil in your palm. Using the fingertips of your other hand, spread a thin layer of oil over your entire face.
2. Next, put some more oil in your palm (enough to thoroughly cover your hands but not enough that it’s dripping) and rub your hands together. Use your hands to massage the oil into your face. Relax your facial muscles and use upward, circular motions.
3. Take a washcloth and using the warmest water you can stand, get the washcloth wet, and wring out the excess water. Place the washcloth over your face. Relax and breathe in the steam. When the washcloth has cooled, use it to wipe the oil off, again, in an upward circular motion.
4. Rinse the washcloth and repeat step #3.

That’s it. You don’t need to wash the oil off with soap. The thin film of oil you leave behind acts as a moisturizer. This is my nighttime routine. In the morning, I cleanse my face with a cotton ball and an astringent. This is basically because some habits die hard and it also makes me feel like my face is totally clean to start the day. I also use the nighttime oil to remove eye makeup. It works just as good as store bought eye makeup remover unless you use waterproof mascara. That’s a little tougher to remove. If you find your skin drying out, use less castor oil or try this method every other day. I can’t say how it works using it more than once a day because I’ve never done that.

Not only is this a great way to relax at the end of the day, it’s all natural, and it’s very inexpensive. I don’t know about you, but I always have EVOO in the house. I think a large bottle of castor oil is 3 or 4 dollars. Use a good extra virgin olive oil. The more yellow and less green that it is, the better the quality. Another tip that I do but isn’t necessary, I wash my washcloth with my favorite scented soap prior to placing it over my face. That way, when I’m relaxing and breathing,  I am inhaling a scent that I also find relaxing and pleasing to me.

If you decide to try it out, I’d love to hear your results, good or bad. As someone who has suffered with adult onset acne, I was thrilled to my toes to finally find something that works and I can feel good about using it because it’s all natural.

Bailey's Saga or The Murphy's Law of Deployments

The original surgery

If you’re familiar at all with deployments, you know, if something will go wrong, it’ll go wrong during a deployment. The Mister’s other deployment, I temporarily lost my eyesight in my right eye. That’s real fun when you’re alone with two kids. This deployment, my dog Bailey has been keeping me stressed out.

On September 24^th, I took Bailey to the vet for a pre-spay checkup and to have one lump and two bumps checked out. One common health issue of Boxers is that they get skin bumps and lumps, some of which turn out to be cancer. One bump was nothing and the rather large lump under her front armpit was just a fatty cyst. However, the other bump had the vet worried that it was cancer. She recommended that it be removed and biopsied. Not wanting to take chances, I agreed to have this procedure done the same day Bailey got her spay.

September 28^th, I dropped Bailey off at the vet bright and early and scheduled to pick her up at 4:30 the same afternoon. Everything went off without a hitch. I was pretty shocked at the size of the incision where the bump was removed. It was the size of a pencil eraser yet the incision was about three inches long. When I picked her up, she was still recovering from the anesthesia and pain meds. She cracked the girls and I up running into things and leaving her tongue poking out of her mouth for several hours. She looked like she had partied hard the night before, lol.

It's hard to tell, but this was right after her 1st surgery. She's loopy here, lol.

On October 2^nd, I noticed that Bailey’s bump incision was looking kinda red and it was oozing more than it had been so I took her to the Pet ER to have her checked out. They said the incision actually looked pretty good but that I should make sure and keep her follow up appointment I had scheduled on October 8^th. By the time I got her into the vet on the 8^th, the incision was infected. Instead of getting her stitches removed, they sent me home with antibiotics and instructions to wash the area with a warm washcloth 2-4 times a day and to bring her back in on the 11^th for a recheck. However, I noticed on the 9^th that her incision had a gap in it about the size of a penny and whenever I applied pressure to wipe it with a washcloth, fluid flowed out of it to the point it was dripping on the floor (sorry, TMI, I know.) I don’t really consider myself to have a squeamish stomach, but this was pushing my limits. It was all I could do not to puke on the floor. So, I called the Pet ER and described what was going on. They told me to stop washing it and instead apply a warm washcloth inside of a ziplock bag as a warm compress. So I did this and by Sunday afternoon, her incision was almost completely open from end to end. By this point, I’d had enough and I trooped her to the Pet ER. After sitting in the waiting room for almost 2 hours, the vet finally looked at her and said that she needed another procedure. The infection wasn’t allowing her incision to heal and had caused it to gape open instead. So, he had to clean out the infection, create new edges on each side of her incision, and then apply dual-layered sutures to close it back up. Oh. And he put in a drain, which was just lovely. I spent almost the entire day on Sunday at the Pet ER. I am totally thankful that I even have one nearby.

Now, it’s three days after the second procedure.

The incision now, 10/13

I took Bailey into her regular vet for another wound check today. She’s doing so well that they were able to take the drain out. The vet apologized profusely for everything that I’ve had to go through with this ordeal. It’s been over 2 weeks (13 days to be exact) and Bailey still isn’t healed. I have to take her back again on the 18^th to hopefully have the stitches removed provided nothing else goes wrong.

This was almost more than I could take. I’ve had Bailey at the vet’s 5 times in the last 20 days, two of which were weekend runs to the Pet ER for a total cost (thus far) of $1500.00 give or take a couple dollars. I guess for three surgeries and three different medications, that’s not so bad. I’m hoping and keeping my fingers crossed, that this is my deployment “thing”. I’ve paid my dues to the angry deployment gods and will now be left alone in peace to wait for my husband to come home. Sounds fair, right?

7 Things I Did to Take Back Sunday

Having the Mister gone this past week has been an adjustment. I find myself getting sentimental over the dumbest things. For instance, I can't make myself erase our last Blackberry Messenger conversation off of my phone even though it makes me sad to see the little red "x" next to his name that means "Contact is Unreachable". It's pathetic, I know.

The girls have been really good all week. I don't think anyone believes me when I tell them that all three of us are doing okay, but we are. Every once in a while, I catch the oldest being too quiet or staring off into space and I know she's thinking about her dad and today, the youngest told me she was missing her dad. Still, over all, we're getting in lots of girl time, just the three of us.

Today, Sunday, I decided that I was going to take Sundays just for me. All week long, I work and take care of the house, kids, dogs, and whatnot. I've decided that Saturdays are going to be my commissary days and little shopping excursions for the girls. That's what we did this past Saturday. But Sundays, I've decided that they're going to be days that I get to do whatever it is that I want to do. I think I need a bit of time to ease into this new idea because this is what I did on my first "Me Sunday".

1. I did my laundry. Again, I got all sentimental because some of the Mister's clothes were still in the hamper.
2. I changed the sheets on my bed.
3. I helped the girls with their chores.
4. I vacuumed the downstairs, the upstairs hallway, and my bedroom.
5. I cleaned the downstairs half bath.
6. I hung wall decorations (it only took me 6 months) in the living room, entry way, and downstairs half bath.
7. I cooked dinner.

Maybe by next Sunday I'll have figured out how to relax. ;)

The Great Sandbox Challenge

The Mister left on his deployment yesterday. When I got home from dropping him off on base, (which, btw, I was up at 1:30 AM!!! because of it.) the first thing I did was go to our room. When I hit the switch to turn on the overhead light, the bulb blew. I really hope that’s not indicative of what this deployment is going to be like for me, lol. I think deployments are what made Murphy’s Law a thing.

Anyway, I was able to talk to him last night from the airport in Bangor, Maine. He was leaving the country from there. :( I’m not sure when I’ll hear from him next. Today is his birthday. I’m sure, while it’s not an ideal situation, it’s one he’ll never forget. ;)

So, what does my post title have to do with anything? Well, the Mister and I have a bet going on while he’s deployed…The person who loses the most body weight percentage wins a prize. The prize that I have picked out is a new purse and the prize the Mister has picked out is a bicycle. The rules are that I cannot buy a new purse while he’s deployed which really SUCKS! but he won’t have an opportunity to buy a new bicycle so it’s fair. Also, the loser has to wait a minimum of three months to buy the prize that they lost because let’s face it, I will buy a new purse eventually, lmao. Now, he has somewhat of an unfair advantage. While in The Sandbox, he has to wear a bullet proof vest which weighs 35 pounds. Add 100 degree heat to that, and he’ll lose weight just walking around. However, we both want to lose approximately the same amount of weight which means that if we both reach our goal, I will lose the greater body weight percentage because I weigh less than him.

I really want to win!! Buying a purse, guilt free, would be a nice change of pace, heheh. I need motivation! Nag/ask me about it. Nag me here, on Facebook, Twitter, on the phone, nag me in the snail mail. I’m really good at getting started with exercise and eating right, but I lose motivation and fall off the wagon after about 3 months. With the holidays coming up, this is going to be a real challenge for me. I want to wiiiiinnnnnn!!!! Can you imagine the trash talk I will get from the Mister if I lose? Plus, that would be 9+ months without a new purse. Ouch!

Wish me luck on both fronts. ;)

Countdown from Ten

I found this on Lady Banana's blog. You know how I'm a sucker for a meme. If you choose to participate too, leave me a comment so I can read your post.

Ten hows:

1. How did you get one of your scars? I have a circular scar on my forehead from the chicken pox.
2. How did you celebrate your last birthday? Jennifer came out and stayed over for my birthday. It was pretty great.
3. How are you feeling at this moment? Tired. A bit irritated. Anxious.
4. How did your night go last night? Well, it took me forever to fall asleep. Once I did, I was out until the Mister's alarm went off this morning.
5. How did you do in high school? Ok. I coulda done better but I was lazy.
6. How did you get the shirt you’re wearing? I stole it out of the Mister's closet.
7. How often do you see your best friend(s)? Every day. Until he deploys.
8. How much money did you spend last month? Geez. Who knows? All my bills were paid so that's all that matters.
9. How old do you want to be when you get married? I've been married for 14+ years.
10. How old will you be at your next birthday? 34.

Nine whats:

1. Your mothers name? Sherry
2. What did you do last weekend? We had Thanksgiving dinner. Yeah. You read that right.
3. What is the most important part of your life? My husband and my kids.
4. What would you rather be doing? Than what? I like my work although one or two of my clients need beat. Still, I could always use a vacation.
5. What did you last cry over? Don't laugh, but I just bawled watching The Deadliest Catch.
6. What always makes you feel better when you’re upset? Yelling at someone. Listening to angry music as loud as I can get it.
7. What’s the most important thing you look for in a significant other? Someone to be my partner in life. I got what I was looking for. ;)
8. What are you worried about? Right now, school starting for the youngest and the Mister deploying. I'll be alright but I worry about them.
9. What did you have for breakfast? Nothing

Eight yous:

1. Have you ever liked someone who had a girlfriend/boyfriend? Not to my recent recollection.
2. Have you ever had your heartbroken? Yeah
3. Have you ever been out of the country? I've been to Mexico several times and to the Bahamas. I've been close enough to Canada to see it but have never crossed the border.
4. Have you ever done something outrageously dumb? Yes. Recently enough that I'm still working on fixing it.
5. Have you ever been back stabbed by a friend? Yeah
6. Have you ever had sex on the beach? I've had the shot but I've not done the actual act on a beach.
7. Have you ever dated someone younger than you? The Mister is 70 days younger than me.
8. Have you ever read an entire book in one day? Yes. Lots.

Seven whos:

1. Who was the last person you saw? The Mister. He's sitting next to me.
2. Who was the last person you texted? The Mister. I BBM'd him though.
3. Who was the last person you hung out with? The Mister and the kids.
4. Who was the last person to call you? A client.
5. Who did you last hug? The Mister
6. Who is the last person who texted you? The Mister. He BBM'd me though.
7. Who was the last person you said “I love you” to? The Mister

Six wheres:

1. Where does your best friend(s) live? With me, in the desert, in Texas, in Ohio. Am I forgetting anyone?
2. Where did you last go? Gaetano's and Albertsons
3. Where did you last hang out? My office.
4. Where do you go to school? UMUC
5. Where is your favorite place to be? The beach
6. Where did you sleep last night? In my bed.

Five dos:

1. Do you think anyone likes you? Sure
2. Do you ever wish you were someone else? Nah
3. Do you know the muffin man? Nope
4. Does the future scare you? Not really. Not anymore.
5. Do your parents know about your blog? Yeah. I don't know if they read it though.

Four whys:

1. Why are you best friends with your best friend? I'm married to him.
2. Why did you get into Blogging? Lots of reasons.
3. Why did your parents give you the name you have? If I remember correctly, my mom said she got my name off of a soap opera.
4. Why are you doing this survey? Because it's easy content.

Three ifs:

1. If you could have one super power what would it be? To fly or be able to transport myself from place to place.
2. If you could go back in time and change one thing, would you? One thing? It'd be hard to choose.
3. If you were stranded on a deserted island and could bring 1 thing, what would you bring? One thing? My cell phone. Everywhere has signal nowadays. ;)

Two would-you-evers:

1. Would you ever get back together with any of your ex’s if they asked you? No
2. Would you ever shave your head to save someone you love? To save them? Well, yeah. Hair grows back and I could always buy a wig until it did.

One last question:

1. Are you happy with your life right now? About 75% of it.

A Look at Military Life

1. Military wives are fat, lazy, and dumb.
2. Military wives cheat on their husbands.
3. Military wives are gossips.
4. Military wives have no ambition.

You know what? Those four things are true. They are also false. They can also be applied to military husbands, civilian wives, civilian husbands, and to just about anyone or no one. It’s just something to keep in mind.

One thing that really annoys me about living in base housing (I know, I know. Everything annoys me about living in base housing. I’ve said so before.) is that when I have maintenance come out, they treat me like I’m an idiot and talk down to me. I recently had them out because the igniter went out on my oven and it wouldn’t light. They pull out the stove to replace it and there was a piece of beef pot roast underneath it. Yuck, right? Well the guy hauls it out and makes a production over it. You know what? I’ve only lived here for five months and I haven’t made a pot roast of any variety in that time. It was my understanding that these places were cleaned before we moved in but I guess not.

Also, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week, maintenance has knocked on my door wanting to come in to fix an upstairs screen in a window. I didn’t call them but you can see it from the street. We’ve been running the AC so I haven’t been too concerned about it. The thing is, is that they come here unexpectedly and without an appointment and just figure that any old time of the day, I’ll be available to let them in. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not available. I work during the day and when I’m on the phone with a client, I just can’t tell them to hold on while I answer the door. It’s like they just assume that I’m sitting my lazy butt on the sofa watching soap operas all day waiting for them to come and light up my life. It’s vastly irritating. So, I called maintenance today, put in requests for three different things in addition to the upstairs window and told them to be here after 2 pm tomorrow. One of the things that needs to be fixed are the vertical blinds on the sliding patio doors. They won’t open. When I described the problem, the lady asked me, “Are they all turned in the same direction?” GEEZ! Like that’s not the very first thing I tried!! I also called the main housing office and told them that I want the brush that is outside of my fence in the canyon cleared away because it is within the “100 feet of defensible space” you’re supposed to have cleared around your house for fires but outside of the area we are responsible for keeping mowed.

We’re going to look for someplace else to live when the Mister gets back from his deployment. Oh yeah. For those of you that don’t follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter, the Mister is going on his first combat deployment soon. It’s ok. I’m not freaking out. I have base housing maintenance to take care of things while he’s gone. ::snort:: Seriously though. The girls and I will manage and he’ll be running computers the whole time he’s gone. Deployments are part of the military life and we deal with them. All I ask is that people don’t try and visit me while he’s gone. It’s nothing personal. I just try and keep things as normal as possible for the kids and I can't do that with houseguests. No matter who it is or how long they stay or what the circumstances are, houseguests are stressful for me. Whatever entertaining gene that my grandmother has, it didn’t get passed down to me. I know that there are people who will take this personally but it’s all in your head. I will say no if you ask, so don’t make me be mean.

Now, I’m off to make my will. Who wants the kids?