cheerful
accomplishedSo it's been awhile since I posted anything. The game I've been playing (Township), let me know last week that I'd played every day for 100 days. My, how time flies when you're obsessed! I'm not a gamer! I generally play solitaire type games of mahjong and occasional boughts with various incarnations of Temple Run but that's usually it. I downloaded Township because it gave me free points in something else that I've long since deleted from my Kindle and immediately got hooked. Like staying up waaaay too late and even setting my alarm a couple of times in the middle of a work night to do something on it. So yeah, that's what I've been doing for the last 3+ months. *hangs head* But my shame is a sham because I'll be taking a break in a moment to update something!
I meant to do this update on New Year's Eve Day but I fiddled around with various things (not just Township! I was watching movies and catching up on TV shows!) but when I tried to go online I found out my internet was down. It stayed down for several hours and by the time it came back it was time to go to bed (and catch up on Township). And then all this last week I've been working my ass off because the store finally came to the realization that they'd been carving off the hours store wide just a little too much. And since our fiscal year ends in about 2 weeks and we're really under in hours they've been practically begging people to take more hours. I'm always up for that but since I had the first 2 days of the week off and my 10 days of vacation starts TODAY!, if I wanted to get in 40 hours it meant 4 really long days. And I took them.
So anyway, the year in review. 2017 is a little bit of an anomoly for me in that this is the first year in quite some time that I haven't ended with an agonized sigh and a fervent hope for womething vastly different in the new year. I'm actually fairly happy. I'd be happier with a full time job (even though I generally get 30+ hours each week) but I realized several months ago that I didn't want a full-time job at the expense of giving up the one I already have. I've spent too many years hating the job I had and I don't want to do it now even if it means I'm about to sign back up to do the plasma thing to make things easier financially. The salary I make right now would actually be quite adequate to live on if I hadn't run up the credit cards the last time I was unemployed (which I swore I would never do again but there you go).
Anyway, I like my job, I like the company I work for, I like the people I work with, I like my apartment, I have a car that works, good friends and groceries for me and Phoukathecat. I am a simple creature and life is good. For those of you have expressed displeasure with the passing year - I hear ya and I've been there and done that. I hope the new year brings you better things.
I don't really have any family left - none that I've seen or even talked to in years - but like I said, I have friends. I got a nice handful of lovely Holiday cards and some presents. I got a little box of fun things from dine right around Thanksgiving (which serendipitously also happened to be my birthday. (
dine, the pink lemonade flavor oil made some really yummy lip gloss and I have to keep rescuing the tiny chicken from Phouka who manages to find it no matter where I stash it.) I got a lovely hand painted picture frame from
spasticat and from a lady at work I got a bottle of what I'm calling Puerto Rican egg nog (even though there are no eggs). It has coconut cream (not milk), sweetened condensed milk and lots of rum. It's thick and decandently rich and I can practically feel my blood sugar rising with every sip so I have to stretch it out. But it is oh-so-good! Also,
dine gifted me with a year of Dreamwidth! I've been chomping at the bit to play with it and this weekend I'll do just that. I dropped my paid membership with LJ over a year ago for fairly obvious reasons but money was a little too tight to pay for a DW membership. Thank you
dine! That was so thoughtful of you!
I started my vacation today. 10 days! I have no firm plans whatsoever. Today is a total slacker day. I managed to sleep in - all the way to 5:30 am! I lounged in bed and alternately read, played Township and fended off Phouka who was indignant that breakfast was so late. When I finally crawled out of bed I fed the cat and then myself. I cooked nearly 1/2 a pound of bacon and ate the whole batch with a small stack of Lemon ricotta pancakes with homemade raspberry syrup (all relatively low carb if not really healthy). Then, between playing Township (what? I told you I was obsessed!) I watched a little TV. I both love and hate to watch Treehouse Masters. I'd love to live in a treehouse (and they do make some gorgeous ones) but the main guy (I think his name is Pete Nichols?) isobnoxiously doofy in the extreme and extremely irritating to watch. But he is an artist when it comes to luxury treehouses. I was also perusing the low carb recipes in the tabs I've kept open on my Kindle. I want to learn to make low carb eclairs and cream puffs with real pastry cream in them. Apparently making pastry cream is really quite simple. I also want to add a few low carb crackers to my repetoire including some sesame crackers. I've got a nice bag of sesame seeds I'm dying to use. I love darn near sesame anything.
And in conclusion: Over a week ago I responded to a meme in dine's journal about icons. So here I am, finally answering it and passing it on.
Reply to this post with "PORGS!"* and I will pick three of your icons for you to talk about in your own journal, and then keep the meme going by making this offer on your post.
These are the icons dine asked about. I haven't had to do anything like embed media in forever so I hope I don't screw this up.
This was a miscellaneous icon I picked up on LJ when I was in my icon heydey. I thought I wouldn't get that much use out of it since I'm more of a cat person but I find myself using it when I want to express affection or thanks.
Witch Griselda from the Bugs Bunny cartons. I made this icon. I created it when I started posting about my lotions and potions creations and needed something appropriate for the subject matter.
This icon was made as a blank by the talented and generous mystic_mirth - who I believe isn't really active anymore. I have quite a few of her icons and I love them all but this is one of my favorites. My name was added by the lovely myln. She's so talented with fonts and at my request she added my name to 3 different ones and they turned out so much better than anything I could have done. I use this gentle little pink pig and rose whenever I'm feeling happy and contented. Just look at the expression on that little pigs face! If that is contentment I don't know what is.
If anyone wants to play just drop me a comment. I promise I'm not going to disappear again. At least not for awhile. Now that I have a paid account to play with again I'm going to have fun!
Crap, I forgot that the formatting is borked on my DW. I'll need to contact TPTB and get their help to fix it now that I'm back.
This entry was originally posted at https://ixchel55.dreamwidth.org/36…. Please comment there using OpenID.Unfortunately, I can't go to bed yet, not if I want to be worth a damn tomorrow evening when I'm still at work until 7 pm. I need to stay up until at least 10 pm. That way I can wake up around 6-7 am, check my phone messages and see if I have a reprieve from working on a register because they've dumped a lot of price changes on us. They dumped over 500 today. There were 235 in Tools alone which is usually my bailiwick and I couldn't quite get all of them done before I left. There were about 40 left. If I don't get to go in early and avoid the dreaded registers I can hopefully go back to sleep for a bit or at least lounge in bed and drift. We'll see.
One of the Support Managers used to be the Dept Mgr in charge of deliveries and receiving. Now she's also in charge of the stocking crew which in a perfect world would mean she supervises but the crew is perpetually short staffed so she has to throw freight like her stocking crew. B has her detractors. She distinctly unpopular with some people but I've usually never had a problem with her. And last year the week before Christmas when the fuel pump crapped out in my car she very graciously gave me a ride to work and back home every night. But she can still be a little difficult. This morning she asked me to make a 7x10 sign for stacks of chairs in the vestibule. She knows how damn busy we are with price changes but I readily agreed since it would only take a couple of minutes. Later she was searching through tools and when I began scanning the section she asked where the Lennox tools were. I asked 'Which Lennox tools?' - 'Just the Lennox tools.' So I pointed to a metal stand that's half Lennox. She looked and said that wasn't it. 'Where's the Lennox section?' I told her there is no 'Lennox' section. She said yes there is. I said, 'Uh, no. There are several sections with lots of Lennox tools but no dedicated section for them.' Again she insisted that there was because she'd seen it. And she wandered away. I shrugged and went back to scanning. A few minutes later she comes by and again I ask what she's looking for. She says 'Lennox tools' and I damn near just turned and walked away. I sighed and said, 'Yeah, I get that, but what specifically because other than the guys that actually work in tools I spend more time there than anyone else. So I can probably help you find it.' She says she's looking for the 'Deal of the Day' (a single item that we sell for a discounted price each day). *facepalm* 'But what specifically is that?' Once she finally told me - and that was like pulling fucking teeth! - I led her right to it. B is great at telling you what to do but shit at asking for help. I could have saved her a 5-6 minute tour of Tool World and myself a lot of aggravation if she'd just told me what the hell she was looking for!
I'm supposed to be working 4 hours on Sat, and only until 10 am M-Th and then have off next Friday, Sat & Sun but since the accelerated price changes are supposed to continue through next Friday I'll bet you anything my long hours continue and that I won't have that 3 day weekend. I'm torn between 'Yay! Hours and a larger paycheck!' and really wanting that 3 day weekend.
Since my birthday is on Thanksgiving this year I know I'll have it off (we're actually closed on Thanksgiving!) No one can ask for Black Friday off so I've put in for some vacation days for the Sat through Wed before Thanksgiving. We'll see if it happens. I won't be too shocked if I'm turned down because I'm coming rather late to the vacation-days party. It would be nice but I'll just pick another block of time since I'm not basing my days off around anyone else's.
Well, if I'm going to stay awake until 10 pm - and my god, I feel like such an Old Fart saying that! - I need to get up and move around. So I think I'll go wash up the few dishes in the sink and make my lunch for tomorrow.
Damn, I hope I get an Eleventh Hour reprieve from working a cash register all day. Keep your fingers crossed.
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sleepyWell, the price changes at work have slowed down a bit. Monday there wasn't much of anything but then we had nearly 400 left over from last week. Tues it jumped back up to over 600 but we managed to get it down pretty good before I left for the day. Today there was hardly anything new. We still had nearly 400 but when I left at noon it was down to 90! We'll just have to see if they drop a bomb on us tomorrow. Unless they do drop a shit ton of price changes on us tomorrow I don't think anything will save me from having to work 11 am to 7 pm on a register Friday. I'm actually hoping for the price changes.
The chili and soup cook-off on Monday went a lot better than expected. They advertised the event for a couple of weeks before hand but they didn't put up the sign-up sheet so we could tell who was bringing what until last Thurs and then it was in a weird place so only 4 people signed up. There were probably 10 different styles of Texas-style chili of various flavors plus 7 or 8 other kinds of soup. Plus hot dogs and a lot of cornbread. My Mexican style chili con carne didn't go over that great simply because most people were eating the other types of chili that they were familiar with. Everyone who tried it said they liked it but it just wasn't the same old same old. The favorite was tied between a 'fiery' chili (which to me just tasted practically gritty with chili powder) and a really tasty cheeseburger soup. Second place was tied between a 'Cowboy' chili with bacon and molasses (I don't care for sweet chili either) and a very tasty potato-leek soup which was probably my favorite (along with my own). Besides Marquita bringing in 2 half sheet pans of her famous brownies, a sheet pan of pineapple cake and another half sheet pan of apple pecan cake (she wasn't even working that day and it was her birthday - she's always a sweetie that way), I brought in the only other dessert - a gooey orange bundt cake that went over very well.
I think I finally learned the secret of growing good green beans. I've gotten more in the last few days than I did all summer. I'm collecting them in the fridge and this weekend I'm giving myself a treat! I love them just steamed lightly and tossed with a little butter and salt and pepper.
My 'new-ish' neighbor across the hall seems like a nice enough guy except for one thing - well, one thing with two parts (but they're connected). Several times now I've come out at 3:45 in the morning to go to work and found him lurking outside, smoking. He stands there or sits there on the top step literally just outside my door (I could stand in my doorway and kick him down the stairs). He's out there in just basketball shorts with his big, white, hairy belly hanging out (which is something I don't need to see at ass-o'clock in the morning) and uses the stairs as his own personal ashtray. He doesn't leave his butts out there but he must smoke up a storm because the next two steps down are always covered in ashes which are really disgusting. I have to step in that shit and then track it into my apartment. I've taken my watering can out and rinsed the steps off several times but it's always covered again when I get home from work. I only have a flat little rubber door mat which isn't great for cleaning your shoes. I've started stepping over in front of his door and wiping my feet on his scrubby 'Welcome to the Man Cave' mat. I've thought about sweeping up the ashes and dumping them on his mat. Maybe he'd get a clue. Or is that too passive aggressive? I guess I'll just stick to scrubbing my feet on his mat. Why the hell can't he smoke out on his balcony and/or use an ashtray?
Whelp, time to wrap it all up and get ready for bed (2 am comes so damn early).
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grumpy
exhaustedWell, this was supposed to be a short, easy week for me with a 3 day weekend but that didn't turn out to be the case. In one respect my bank balance will be happy but I'm pretty pooped.
I was originally scheduled to work Mon-Thur, 4 am to 10 am with Fri, Sat & Sun off. I knew I'd probably work longer on Monday because Sharon was still on vacation and the price changes were all mine. But since I didn't have to spend the first 2-2.5 hours on my regular job (I don't do it on weekends and holidays) I could concentrate on the not too terribly many price changes and done with work by about 11:30. Sharon was back on Tues but out of the clear blue sky, instead of the normal 100-200 prices changes there were over 550! Sharon found out that the company is doing a push on price changes (mostly going up) from now until about the 9/22. We'll be getting approximately 500 price changes a day from now until then. The rules are that if you have over 250 price changes in a day you can let some slide until the next day but not the clearance or temporarily lowered ones, and then they have to be taken care of the next day. Well, there's only Sharon and myself. The man who used to work in the cash office and could have been a big help has retired. There's a young lady who knows how to do them but it's been probably 2 years since she's had to help and she has her own job. There's another lady whose job is a little floaty and varies but she needs to be taught and still has her own responsibilities. So yeah, just me and Sharon basically. On Wed, after doing my regular job, I volunteered, like an idiot, to tackle the fashion lighting. Most of fashion lighting also requires changing the price tag on the display thus doubling the number of tags. Add to that most of those displays require going up a ladder to reach them. I climbed that stinking ladder 25-30 times. I was so damn sore by the time I got home just before 2 pm and had a crappy night's rest because of it. We only got about halfway through the price changes so the remainder was added to Wed's total bringing it up to nearly 797. To top it all off I had to leave by my scheduled time of 10 on Wed because I had a mammogram scheduled (luckily across the street) at 10:15. True, I was out of there by about 11 am and could have gone back but I said screw it and came on home. My right knee and left hip were screaming at me!
On Thurs the price changes had risen to 986. I stayed until nearly 2 pm again and Sharon stayed until nearly 5 pm. I wasn't scheduled on Friday but I came in at my regular time. The price changes were actually down a little. Only 794! I stayed until nearly 2 pm again and when I left the number was down to a little under 500. I'm dreading what Monday will bring. They'll get their price changes done but in no way will it be on the company's timetable, and our store manager is fine with that. He cautioned us not to hurt ourselves. Quite the difference from the general manager of my last job.
So, I have today and most of tomorrow off but everyone has to show up from 6 am - 8 am tomorrow for the yearly, pre-Christmas season meeting. They give us breakfast (sausage patties, biscuits and sausage gravy, orange juice, coffee, white and chocolate milk) and we sit around and watch a slide show and listen to the managers recap the past year and talk about the 'new and exciting' things that will happen next year. It's tedious but it's still far above WallyWorld. Of course that wouldn't be hard.
I'm not doing much today. In a bit I'm going to close up the apartment, not only because it will start getting warm in here but because I have to run the dishwasher (which brings more heat and humidity) and I also need to do some cooking. On Monday we're having kind of a chili and soup pot luck and I volunteered to bring in a batch of Mexican style chili con carne (basically a bean soup with chunks of pork, onions, peppers and spices) and then tomorrow I'm making an orange bundt cake to take in. I put them beans in for a quick soak this morning but I have to rev up the pressure cooker for the package of pork neck bones (give it such a good, rich flavor) and then while the bones cool and I pick them I'll start cooking the rest of the soup with more pork stew meat and the beans. I also have a large batch of hand lotion base to make because I have two orders to fill. Then tomorrow is cake day and some laundry.
Next week is going to be a long one. I already had pretty much a full schedule with the addition of having to work 4 hours next Sat so only a 1 day weekend next week. Also, I've informed Sharon that I am scheduled next Fri from 11 am to 7 pm (boo!) but on a register so she needs to talk to management if she wants my help with the price changes which will still be piling up. It won't hurt my feelings at all to not be on a register. I'll have to remind her again on Monday. Aaaand, I'm getting a fever blister. It always appears like a pimple in the middle of my upper lip. I should go to the store for some Abreva (that shit's expensive but it really works) but I probably won't until tomorrow after the meeting.
I hope everyone affected by Harvey and in the path of Irma is safe. (And the fires in the northwest.) Two Lowe's employees in Huston lost everything. Their houses and all their possessions are basically gone, but they're safe. This payday when I go to Walmart to stock up I'm buying a couple of gift cards that will be sent specifically to them as well as donating through Lowe's. Lowe's is doubling all employee donations through the end of the year. Or would that be called tripling because whatever we donate they'll donate twice as much. Originally they were just going to match but then they stepped it up. We're also collecting and shipping donations of bottles of water. Sure, the company makes money off of the sale but the shipping is all on them which pretty much negates most of the profit. It makes me feel pretty good to work for a company that gives back to the community in so many ways (local projects that we do, Habitat for Humanity and then things like this). To give them their due, Walmart is pretty good at pitching in when help is needed in the community. If only they were as good to their own employees.
Also, I'm trying to get in touch with a friend I met through fandom back when I was a neophyte fangirl just discovering The Fast & the Furious. I've lost touch with her but I realized just last night that she lives not too far outside of Brownsville, TX on the Gulf coast. I checked and she lives further inland than I thought - nearly 70 miles - but has anyone heard anything from slavelabour?
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lazyIt was a long week. Or it just seemed that way. The lady I work most closely with is on vacation for the holiday weekend (as she always is) and while the price changes on Wed were a bitch, Thursday and Friday were OK. It's just that I'm not used to working full days except occasionally (though I'd like to be) and when I do work full time it can get a little tiring since my job requires me to be in constant motion. Although I much prefer that to standing in one place behind a register. Next week is a short week (only 4 days) with only 6 hours per day. Not good. But the week after is a full schedule again. So next weekend is 3 days off except I have to go in from 6 am to 8 am on Sunday for the store meeting with everyone else. At least I don't have to work later that day and have my entire day screwed up. One cashier has to come back at 10 am for her shift. Thank god there's only 1 meeting per year.
Just a little garden update: I mentioned last time that my cucumbers died a nasty death by tiny life sucking insect eggs. I pulled up some really skanking looking flower leftovers and then planted kale and various oriental veggies for cool weather crops. I have tiny green sprouts in all those pots! I had intended to take down one of the tomato plants today (which wouldn't be giving me any more tomatoes) but leaving the other for a bit more as there was one ripening tomato and a fairly good sized green one. I went out this morning and both tomatoes were half eaten! WFT? The squirrels never bother them and I couldn't figure out what had happened. Then I looked closer. There was a huge fucking green caterpillar that was nice and plump from eating my tomatoes. I looked it up and it's one of these fuckers. So now both tomato plants are gone along with that - frankly fascinating - voracious bug. I planted a second crop of green beans about a month ago and there should be a nice batch ready to pick tomorrow. Next year I have to remember to plant new beans every couple of weeks for a consistent crop. I'll also give more room to beans because they're a favorite and the climbing ones give me nice privacy on the balcony. I also repotted 4 mums (2 purple - although they're more lavender - a yellow and an orange) for some nice fall color. Usually, by the end of summer I'm ready to be done with the garden but this year I'm not. Maybe it's because of the milder weather, or the new hose so I don't have to haul watering cans or the fact that I had a plan in place, but I'm ready for another round of veggies!
I've gotten all of my chores done today so I can concentrate on lotions and potions tomorrow. I finally received the second shipment of lip balm flavors and I have about 10 orders to fill. The lip balm itself is already made, I just need to make the tiny batches which are very time-consuming. I think what I'm going to do is get a set of these 12 - 50 ml beakers. I have one and that's what I mix the little flavor batches in because they're so easy to pour from but it's a pain to continually keep cleaning it out. This way I'll be able to have ready-made batches of the favorite flavors on hand. I also have another order for shaving lotion and I'll make a double batch so I can hand out samples again. I've been handing out my simple little business cards to repeat customers and letting people know that it's never too early to start thinking about stocking stuffers or just a little, personalized present that you don't want to spend a lot of money on.
This is a pain! My mouse died. Uh...the computer mouse. My laptop has a touch pad but I'm not proficient in its use so I dug around and found my old mouse. I now remember why I replaced it. It still works so it's better than nothing but the wheel is defunct and it acts squirrely sometimes - sometimes the pointer is hypersensitive and other times it doesn't release the page but just jumps spastically around. *sigh* I guess it'll do until Monday when I get off work then I'll go to Walmart and get a cheap replacement. Cheap because even though I was paid yesterday and it was a decent check, it was mostly a rent check and then there was an extra bill that usually gets paid with the next check but because of the perpetual cycle of the every-two-weeks payday, this bill came due before I get the next paycheck. Now I have $2 in the bank. Good thing I have the money from my lotions and potions for miscellaneous spending and don't need much in the way of groceries right now.
Because this season of Game of Thrones was only 7 episodes long instead of 10 I was left unsatisfied. Don't get me wrong, it was a great season with lots of action, plot thickening and a kick-ass ending, but it really left me wanting more. So I'm rewatching all the previous seasons. I'm in the middle of season 2 and in retrospect, a lot of things are making a lot more sense. Next season is the last, though I was informed by a friend at work that there will be spin-offs. I must get more information!
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satisfiedYou have to understand that I am, by nature, a relatively lazy person. The majority of the time I will take the path of least resistance. As long as it's something I want to do.
Because I worked last Saturday this was supposed to be my 3 day weekend and it has been...mostly. My Asst Mgr caught me before I left work at 10 am on Tues to let me know that I could work up to 38 hours if I wanted. It would have been nice if he'd let me know earlier, even in the day or better yet the day before, but I know that isn't always possible. Anyway, I decided not to stay later on Tues because my sleep was crappy and I was running pretty much on zombie power. I determined I would work full shifts on Wed and Thur and maybe come in for awhile on Friday. Even though I was really looking forward to these 3 days completely off. The lady I work with, the anal retentive sometimes pain in the ass Sharon, wanted me to work half a day on Friday. That's so that she could be sure and get out early no matter how many price changes. I said I'd think about it but told her the next day I'd save 2 hours for Friday. She said 'Better make it 3'. I said I'd be in at 7 am, so I could sleep in, and that I was leaving at 9 am because I had errands to run. She said 'Three would be better.' I said she'd have me for 2 hours so she'd better plan accordingly. I figured 2 hours was a compromise - for myself, I didn't give a crap about her - I'd have a couple of more hours and it would jump-start me out of the house to get shit done because I know I'd sit on my ass until noon otherwise.
So I did my 2 hours on Friday. I had my alarm set for 5 am and woke up at 4 anyway because I was so tired the night before that I was asleep by about 7:30. I stopped at McDonald's for a rare, carb and grease laden breakfast (it was delicious) and I was done with work by 9:15 and on my way. My first stop was the Half Price Bookstore to sell the books that have been sitting in the back of my car for nearly 3 months. I got $60 and it wasn't even a full load! They were mostly history books which sell better than fiction (other than very current titles) or craft books. I went to the bank and replaced the $25 in dollar coins I had to swipe from my emergency piggy bank a couple of weeks ago. I went to Walmart to pick up a special order (more on that in a minute) and then I shot off to Aldi's to stock up and to another grocery to pick up something I can't get anywhere else. Luckily nearly all of these stops were pretty much in a straight line. I was home by 11 am and had the rest of the day to lounge, read fic and catch up on shows.
The only sugar-free preserves I really care for are apricot. The others just have an 'off' taste as far as I'm concerned, no matter the brand. My favorite is Polaner Sugar-Free Apricot with Fiber which Walmart used to carry but mysteriously stopped. They carry other flavors but not the apricot. I looked all over and couldn't find it. No joy. Then I decided to try Amazon! As you can see they do carry it but check out the price! $14.75 for one stinking 13.5 oz jar! Free shipping my ass! That's exorbitant! Then I decided to try Walmart online. They had it for the same price they sold it in the stores - $2.17 a jar and no shipping if it goes to the store I'm going to anyway. Sold! I ordered 3. I'm now a happy camper. I'm going to make myself some low carb, almond shortbread thumbprint cookies with both my apricot jam and I'm going to try and make the sugar-free raspberry chia preserves I've seen recipes for. Not today though.
So far this morning - even though, true to nature I sat on my ass until about 11 am - I've done my laundry, loaded the dish washer, stuffed all the crap that was under my kitchen sink that I had to drag out onto the floor over 2 weeks ago when maintenance had to work under there, gathered and took out the trash and finished clearing out 2 of the 5 pots on the balcony that I've seeded with mustard spinach, baby bok choy, a mix of Tuscano and Blue Curled kale and the Asian salad mix I enjoyed this spring. In a little bit I'm going to go sprinkle some mesclun mix in the bottoms of the many pots I have my climbing and bush beans in. I forgot to pick up a couple of the same pots of mums before I left work yesterday so I'm just going to get the hanging basket ready for them and plant them Monday when I get home. My cucumbers died a sad death about 3 weeks ago. After finding a way to save them the torture of powdery mildew in the spring and then bringing them back to bushy health after the short but intense heat wave that we had, I wasn't paying attention to them and something laid thousands of tiny eggs all over the tops and bottoms of the leaves and it just sucked the life right out of them. The insecticidal soap spray didn't do diddly squat for them. Next year I'm going with something stronger. I need to do research.
Even though the day is pretty darn nice I'm going to have to turn on the a/c for a while if I intend to continue my industrious streak - which I feel like. I know me and if the re4sult of my industry is me all hot and sweaty I'll opt for the couch and the fan anytime. I have to make 2 batches of lip balm (maybe 3 because I want to try a DIY Carmex rip-off) and scent at least 3 batches of lotion pear, wildberry and a hybrid pearberry (the lotion is already made) and I need to turn the oven on and make those stuffed peppers I didn't get around to last weekend. Luckily home grown veggies, unlike store bought ones that can be up to a week old by the time you buy them, stay crisp and fresh twice as long. I bought some hot Italian sausage to use along with some Parmesan and jalapeno-habanero jack cheese to top them with. As a shortcut, I'll use one of my favorite jar spaghetti sauces and then have the peppers with pasta. Tomorrow I need to make a pot of posole for next week since I'm working several full days (Sharon is taking off for a long holiday as usual). And this week I found out something I hadn't thought about before - I get vacation time! I knew I'd have a little but I guess I was going by Walmart's crappy policy for part-time people. I'll get 40 hours plus 24 hours for Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day since I work all of those holidays (for which I get time and a half). so I'll be able to take off a little block of days sometime this fall to prepare for the Silly Season and after Christmas to rest up. And hey! My birthday falls on Thanksgiving this year so at least I know I'll have that off.
OK, time to get back to work. I have to get all my chores done today so I can have a nice long chat with spasticat tomorrow and then do nothing the rest of the day except the pot of posole.
energeticMy sale of lip balm in a tube has taken off a lot faster than I anticipated. I'm only charging $1.50 for each but I think after the first round I'm going to raise it to $2 because those little bastards are hard to fill unless you're doing them in large batches! They're very labor intensive. But the ingredients I use are also pretty damn superior to what you'll find in the local drug store.
The oil combination was picked for the right amount of emollience and shine with no discernable taste.
fractionated coconut oil - very light (technically it's an ester), non-greasy feel and it has a long shelf life
sunflower oil - moisturizing, cell regeneration, and conditioning for the skin. Great in treatments for dry, weathered, aged, or damaged skin. Also has a long shelf life.
apricot kernel oil - softening, regenerating, and moisturizing properties, as well as some anti- inflammatory properties, thanks to the oleic acid. The linoleic acid offers support to barrier repair and can help with dry, itchy skin.
rice bran oil - good for sensitive, mature, or aging skin; a great emollient with softening and moisturizing properties
mango butter - it adds a thickness and creaminess to the lip balm but at the same time it has a drier feel than shea butter; moisturizes and aids in moisture retention; softening; antioxidant and anti- inflammatory as well as some antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal propertiesvitamin E oil - softening and a great antioxidant for your skin and to help extend the life of the product
beeswax and candelilla wax - for thickening obviously, otherwise you're just spreading salve on your lips. Candelilla wax is derived from a plant grown in northern Mexico and is harder than beeswax so you can use less wax in the product.
cera bellina - this is a modified beeswax that helps make the product smoother and eliminates the little granules you can get when using butters. When used solely with oils without other waxes it will actually create a type of gel. It's pretty cool stuff.
Several of the ladies expressed a desire for just a bare hint of color so I add Rose Red Mica powder which makes the lip balm look intensely pink in the tube but is actually quite translucent with just a barely-there hint of color and a tiny bit of shimmer. So you can have your lip balm naked or with a bare hint of color and shimmer.
Lastly there's the flavors! I use Lorann Hard Candy Flavor Oils and/or pure essential oils. Oh, and an oil based sweetener. Strangely enough, unless there's a sweetener in the lip balm, you'll smell the scent but you won't taste it. Actually, you won't taste it anyway but when you will taste the 'sweet' and smell the scent and your brain will convince your taste buds that you're actually tasting the flavor. The human brain is an amazing and devious thing. I trained to be a paramedic when I was much younger and one of the lessons I learned was not to give a person with CPD (chronic pulmonary disease) more than 2 mls of oxygen per minute. Know why? Because a healthy person breathes when the brain tells the body that they have too much carbon dioxide so you need to exhale. A person with CPD always has too much carbon dioxide in their body so they'd be panting and hyperventilating constantly. So the brain re-wires itself and instead tells a CPD sufferer to inhale when there's not enough oxygen in the body. If you saturate them with too much oxygen their brain will say 'eh, we have enough oxygen, you don't have to breath'. Like I said, amazing and devious. And it can also kill you! (This side track into medical technicalities brought to you by my amazing, devious and spastic brain!)
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