You are so beautiful to me

My dearest Diet Coke,

You are so loyal and beautiful and I have repaid you by turning to another. I am deeply sorry for any pain I may have caused you. You have always been there for me. Even when I was in another country and couldn’t get iced tea, I could find you.

The Diet Dr Pepper was on sale, I am a whore for a good deal. I know this is just a fleeting affair. The Dr is always so elusive and fickle. Its mystery is what draws me in.  One day I will learn my lesson, and when he takes a hike I’ll turn to you and you’ll be there for me. I know you are my true love, my Imzadi.

Please forgive me, Diet Coke, I want to be your one and only. Will you let me?

Azuki Beans

I want to say, the much smaller container I had, was about $15.  I loved this scrub. But one day it was gone from The Body Shop and then, next I knew, The Body Shop was gone from the malls. Ever since it has been brewing in my head that it should be easy enough to find some beans and grind them into a powder to have this scrub once again.

azuki beans in the grinder

I did some Google work and found that this is a popular scrub in Japan. Women have been using it for years. During a trip today to Chinatown I found a bag of organic azuki beans. For $2.29 I got a 15 oz jar that is half full. There’s nearly an entire bag of beans still in my pantry.

ground up azuki ready for the jar

To make the scrub all you do is take the beans and put them in either a blender, food processor or if you have an extra coffee grinder, you can use that. I just happened to have an extra coffee grinder that I haven’t used yet, it was sparkly clean. I ground the beans up about a 1/4 cup at a time until it was a powder. Kind of a corn meal consistency. I transferred the powder to glass jar.

To use the scrub just place about a dime size amount into the palm of your hand, add a bit of water until it becomes a paste and then scrub your face. If you buy organic beans you’ll be sure there are no added chemicals. I’m so excited to start using this scrub. I found some mentions that you can also use this as a mask, by adding a bit more water and letting it dry on your face before washing it off. I will have to try that.

Do you have any natural beauty products you make or like to use? Any suggestions for someone with very oily skin? I’d love to hear what you do.

Smiley girl

This adorable little girl came for a visit last night. It was the highlight of my week. I was worried I’d get trapped at work until incredibly late and miss the incredibly short period of time I’d get to visit with her and her parents. Luckily, I was able to run out the door and make it home just as they were arriving.

Miss Violet was very interested in everything that was at her level. Things like pens, chip bag clips, books and cat toys were so incredibly exciting. She’d pick one up walk into the other room with it, set it on the floor and pick something else up. If anyone got a phone call or a text message on Wednesday night from me, that was actually from Violet. Although with the spotty reception in my apartment I’m sure nothing made it through (I’m sure I’ll see a very wacky charge on my next bill.)

Book or movie? Such a hard decision.

All thoughts of a possible “Violet’s in town tweet up” were pushed aside due to timing, and my wacky work hours. Leaving for work at 6:30am and getting home at 7pm or later just makes socializing extremely difficult. Hopefully they will visit again on a weekend and a much better gathering can be arranged. I’m sure Violet would love to hang with everyone. She’s already practicing for her teenage years on my cell phone and Sam’s cell phone. Nick is smart enough to keep his phone out of reach.

I can’t believe she’s walking already. And that blond wispy hair… such a cutie pie! Wednesday morning I set the crock pot up with a pot roast so when Sam & Nick arrived there’d be food ready for them to eat. The apartment smelled great when we walked in the door. Nick and Sam both were very pleased with the way the roast came out. I’m just glad it was good.

Checking the tweets, emails and texting her BFF

Mommy's Time Out

The whole conversation had me digging through my archives to find any posts about being drunk. In the process I discovered the early posts had no titles and that caused issues because there was no link to view the whole post. Last night was spent going through about 4 years of posts fixing that issue. Now the archives can be viewed in all their craptastic glory. In particular this post of drunken haiku from August of 2002. I believe that is the last time I was close to crap-toast drunk. Pitchers of margarita were involved in that evening.

Honestly though, I think the last time I was puking drunk was an evening out with friends that I no longer talk to at the shitty night club that had a very short existence in my south suburban hometown. I recall the next morning feeling like serious shit, being called by that “manager” I had at the used cd store who lied about why she wanted me to come in to work. Then I was trapped there the whole day feeling like death-warmed-over with no water or aspirin and wanting to vomit every 5 minutes. My Dad came by and brought me food, but yeah. I could have used a gallon or two of water and a nice lie down, rather than actual food. I think that night, was when I decided I’d never drink toward hangover ever again. Plus, that “manager” was a total bitch. She lied on several occasions about needing me to come fill in for her “for just a few minutes” while she took off to bang some guy, never to return. (I’m assuming she was banging the guys but yeah, she was always walking away with a guy.) So when I chose not to show up until the end of a shift, and then hand over my keys to quit, I really felt triumphant. Especially when I heard her shouting to the other girl who worked there on the verge of tears, “She just QUIT!?” heh…ahh to be 22 again and live with Dad.

So, dear readers, is there a time when getting crap-toast drunk is appropriate? Are we allowed one drunken night per month (year? week? decade?) depending on the occasion? Is there an occasion where drunk is OK? What do you think?

Microfleece Robe from Target

This is my new robe, but in plain black. I got it for 50% off at Target.

My family was never one to wear bathrobes. If I was cold I’d walk around wrapped in whatever blanket was handy. I’d even sit at the table wrapped in the blanket. My mother would sigh, roll her eyes and say, “You can’t be THAT cold!”  I’d reply, “Yes, I can and I am. Why do you think I’m wrapped in a blanket?”

If you saw me dressed as Arthur Dent for Halloween, you know I have a lovely purple checkered robe. But, it just wasn’t the warm and cozy robe I dreamed of.  When walking through Target on Black Friday, I saw a display of these Microfleece robes and I had to have one. Sure it’s a men’s robe, but that Microfleece is awesomly soft and warm and cuddly.  Plus, as a men’s robe it doesn’t have that stupid inside tie thing. I hate the extra tie on the inside of women’s robes. I tried the robe on over my jacket, figuring if it wraps around me in my coat, it is perfect. And it did, so it was, plus it was 1/2 price AND it comes down to my ankles!  This robe is BETTER than a Snuggie. This robe is AWESOME. It means I can turn down the heat and still be toasty warm. This robe discovery has been the best thing ever. Turning down the heat doesn’t just mean spending less on the gas bill, it also means I don’t have to keep turning up the TV volume. The heater is so loud I have to crank up the TV just to hear it.  So, if you have yet to discover the beauty that is The Robe, I highly recommend this one.

You Tube has two of my favorites rolled into one! Dr Who & Monty Python

Beautiful!