Thursday, March 30, 2006
So Tired...
All I can say is... "I am so tired." This week has been so emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting... And now I think I'm too tired to keep writing this message. I'll write more later...
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Ouch! That hurt!
So this week has been absolutely crazy at work. We are moving a 40-50 person staffed office to another location, and the ministry I work with is also moving across campus. It has been nuts. It was all very predictable but that didn't make it any less stressful. My boss was on edge, I had way too much to do and not enough time to do it, and it was really cold this week (unseasonably cold) which made me bitter about getting out of bed in the morning. But HALLELUJAH! I made it through! And a bonus was that at the end of the week I found out the our H.R. dept had decided that since the movers would be moving stuff on Monday, that we would just get in their way if we were there so she told us to take the day off! YEAH for ME! I could really use a day off.
Friday night was fun. I went to a friend's house and hung out and did girlie stuff. We washed our faces and tried out some new skin care products that a friend of hers is selling. I tried a mask on my face and followed up with some sort of night cream. I liked it, though not enough to pay almost $55 for the combination of the wash, mask, and cream! I think I'll definitely stick with Melalueca's skincare line - great quality -reasonable prices! But never the less, I had a really good time and enjoyed meeting a couple of new people.
But here is the reason for the title... I decided that I was going to try waxing today. I went to salon near the house, and for a small fee they will wax your legs (or anything else you wish). I chose to only do half my legs (from the knee down). Can I just say... OUCH! That hurts! Supposedly it will keep you from having to shave for several weeks, we'll see. But the worst part is that when I got home I realized that they'd missed some spots! Darn that! If I'm going to endure such pain I at least want a good job done - a thorough job. good grief. Oh well. If it turns out that I really enjoy not shaving for a couple of weeks than I may try it again (but at a different salon) and I'll know to make sure they get it all. I also got a pedicure - at least that was nice... I got to sit in one of those massage chairs while she worked on my toes. I love a good massage.
Ok, well, now I've shared all... probably more than you wanted to know so I think I'll go now. Hurray for Saturdays!
Friday night was fun. I went to a friend's house and hung out and did girlie stuff. We washed our faces and tried out some new skin care products that a friend of hers is selling. I tried a mask on my face and followed up with some sort of night cream. I liked it, though not enough to pay almost $55 for the combination of the wash, mask, and cream! I think I'll definitely stick with Melalueca's skincare line - great quality -reasonable prices! But never the less, I had a really good time and enjoyed meeting a couple of new people.
But here is the reason for the title... I decided that I was going to try waxing today. I went to salon near the house, and for a small fee they will wax your legs (or anything else you wish). I chose to only do half my legs (from the knee down). Can I just say... OUCH! That hurts! Supposedly it will keep you from having to shave for several weeks, we'll see. But the worst part is that when I got home I realized that they'd missed some spots! Darn that! If I'm going to endure such pain I at least want a good job done - a thorough job. good grief. Oh well. If it turns out that I really enjoy not shaving for a couple of weeks than I may try it again (but at a different salon) and I'll know to make sure they get it all. I also got a pedicure - at least that was nice... I got to sit in one of those massage chairs while she worked on my toes. I love a good massage.
Ok, well, now I've shared all... probably more than you wanted to know so I think I'll go now. Hurray for Saturdays!
Saturday, March 18, 2006
A New Life Lesson
Ok, so I had new experience today, one that I'm kinda thinking I don't really want to have again...
On that note, have you ever tried to bathe your cat? For those who are unaware, Chris and I have two adorable cats (we call them "the babies"). Their names are Micah and Cali. Micah is mostly my cat (he was a bottle-feeder so he thinks that I really am his mother) and Cali is mostly "daddy's girl." Anyway - Micah has had some sort of skin irritation on his back and it has cause little flakes (like dandruff or something) so I thought maybe it would help if he had a bath. You know soothe the irritated skin. Now I'm no fool, I knew cat-bathing is not a well-like sport, but Chris and I did some research about it online and were well prepared to give it a shot. So this afternoon we filled the tub a little bit (maybe 5 or 6 inches) with warm water and had PLENTY of towels ready (might I just say it's a good thing too) and set about the bathing process. We shut ourselves with both cats into the tiny bathroom upstairs and started with Cali. We picked her first because she is the stupid one and wouldn't know one way or the other. Micah on the other hand is very intelligent and we didn't want him to think we were picking on him... we wanted him to watch Cali and see that she came out fine.
Cali squirmed like a worm the whole time. I eventually just grabbed a towel and put it in the tub with her and used it to hold firmly to her back legs (the only ones with claws) while Chris tried to speak calming words to her and hold on to her front end and head. I have to say this arrangement worked relatively well. She looked a bit like a drowned rat but other than the squirming she was just scared. Okay, really scared. So we took her out and dried her off a bit and braced ourselves for Micah. Oh boy. So in he goes... and... out he goes... so we put him back in trying to get a hold of his hind legs the way we did Cali - but see Micah is smart and he stubborn so he's a fighter. He tried biting Chris's arm and thrashing about - soaked Chris and I both. Eventually I managed to get a good scrub of pet shampoo on his back where the irritation was. We managed to get most of the visible soap off but he jumped out again... so we waited a minute and had to put him back in! Poor little guy. By this time, though he is visibly exhausted he continues to fight - so exhausted tht we can hear him panting a bit. So I have a bucket of warm water and have to slosh it all over him (freaking him out more) in order to get the soap out.
Finally the drama is over and he and I are BOTH tramatized. I held him in a towel for a few minutes and talked softly to him until I could see that his heart-rate had dropped back down to normal. Plus I was soaked and my muscles were a bit shaky myself from the struggle. So I put him down and thought I'd dry him a bit but he would have none of it so I just had to leave him to his own divises (he wasn't soaked or anything just damper than I would have liked). I must say he and Cali both looked like a couple of drowned rats.
So Chris and I cleaned up the bath got all the fur out of the tub and let the babies out of the bathroom. They seem okay - but I'm just hoping they haven't developed some sort of personal vendetta against us now. So overall, quite the experience for all of us. Not something I am anxious to try again.
Moral of the story? When your cat has a skin irritation, take him to the vet and let the vet deal with it.
On that note, have you ever tried to bathe your cat? For those who are unaware, Chris and I have two adorable cats (we call them "the babies"). Their names are Micah and Cali. Micah is mostly my cat (he was a bottle-feeder so he thinks that I really am his mother) and Cali is mostly "daddy's girl." Anyway - Micah has had some sort of skin irritation on his back and it has cause little flakes (like dandruff or something) so I thought maybe it would help if he had a bath. You know soothe the irritated skin. Now I'm no fool, I knew cat-bathing is not a well-like sport, but Chris and I did some research about it online and were well prepared to give it a shot. So this afternoon we filled the tub a little bit (maybe 5 or 6 inches) with warm water and had PLENTY of towels ready (might I just say it's a good thing too) and set about the bathing process. We shut ourselves with both cats into the tiny bathroom upstairs and started with Cali. We picked her first because she is the stupid one and wouldn't know one way or the other. Micah on the other hand is very intelligent and we didn't want him to think we were picking on him... we wanted him to watch Cali and see that she came out fine.
Cali squirmed like a worm the whole time. I eventually just grabbed a towel and put it in the tub with her and used it to hold firmly to her back legs (the only ones with claws) while Chris tried to speak calming words to her and hold on to her front end and head. I have to say this arrangement worked relatively well. She looked a bit like a drowned rat but other than the squirming she was just scared. Okay, really scared. So we took her out and dried her off a bit and braced ourselves for Micah. Oh boy. So in he goes... and... out he goes... so we put him back in trying to get a hold of his hind legs the way we did Cali - but see Micah is smart and he stubborn so he's a fighter. He tried biting Chris's arm and thrashing about - soaked Chris and I both. Eventually I managed to get a good scrub of pet shampoo on his back where the irritation was. We managed to get most of the visible soap off but he jumped out again... so we waited a minute and had to put him back in! Poor little guy. By this time, though he is visibly exhausted he continues to fight - so exhausted tht we can hear him panting a bit. So I have a bucket of warm water and have to slosh it all over him (freaking him out more) in order to get the soap out.
Finally the drama is over and he and I are BOTH tramatized. I held him in a towel for a few minutes and talked softly to him until I could see that his heart-rate had dropped back down to normal. Plus I was soaked and my muscles were a bit shaky myself from the struggle. So I put him down and thought I'd dry him a bit but he would have none of it so I just had to leave him to his own divises (he wasn't soaked or anything just damper than I would have liked). I must say he and Cali both looked like a couple of drowned rats.
So Chris and I cleaned up the bath got all the fur out of the tub and let the babies out of the bathroom. They seem okay - but I'm just hoping they haven't developed some sort of personal vendetta against us now. So overall, quite the experience for all of us. Not something I am anxious to try again.
Moral of the story? When your cat has a skin irritation, take him to the vet and let the vet deal with it.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Can I just say???
I am so glad that it's FRIDAY! Thank you Lord for making weekends! Oh how we need them. Fortunately for me, I think this weekend will prove to be a relatively slow one... which is always nice after a busy week. Next weekend may prove to be not so restful.
The Making of Jam
Sooo... the jam-making last night... overall, it was a good and positive experience for me.
I will admit that I was a little disappointed by the how "runny" the jam turned out, but on the other hand, I was THRILLED that all of my jars came out in once piece (no cracks in the glass or anything) and were properly sealed! I did some research online about canning and making jellies/jams and found that my grandmother's recipe was lacking "pectin" a gelatinizing (sp?) ingredient. (things that make you go "hmmm....") (by the way - in case you are curious, this is a great website about canning and pick your own fruits and veggies - although there are many more out there - http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm) Okay, well, here are a few photos of my experience.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Strawberry Picking
So Tuesday I went strawberry picking with the youth from my church... what fun we had. I still can't believe that between the two of us, Chris and I picked 11 lbs of strawberries! On the way home we saw a patch of wildflowers and since my car had all girls (except Chris who got to be our photographer) we stopped for a photo shoot. I have included some pics for your enjoyment!
So you may be wondering what on earth I'm going to do with 11 pounds of strawberries... glad you asked my friend, glad you asked. I'm going to make jam! I remember as a kid helping my grandma make strawberry jam for my brother and I. And oh how I loved her strawberry jam (and putting that jam on her delicious pikelets)(pikelets are an Aussie thing - they are kinda like mini pancakes but better)! Anyway, so I am going to attempt to make strawberry jam using her recipe. We'll see how it goes. Now for the rest of the berries, I have given some away and have stored some in the freezer for later. In the mean time, we're eating fresh strawberries all the time, we're making smoothies with them, we're putting them in salads, we're putting them with ice cream - whatever we can think of!
Friday, March 10, 2006
The 1st of Many
Ok, my first blog entry... wow... am I really doing this? I really have to wonder who will be reading this... maybe my mum, and my husband... but other than that? Oh well, this blog is for my own enjoyment and whomever is interested in reading. (Hopefully I will be interesting) Ok I'm rambling so I'll close this post now by saying: Ciao!
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