Miscellaneous Update

I have been hard-pressed for time lately, as business for my web design company picks up. Here's my latest updates:

I've used the face product kit, and I really like it. It's not perfumed, my flaky skin stopped flaking, I have less pimples and even I could tell that my face tone was more even after. I did definitely look younger. At least to me :) Very nice stuff. I'm not wrinkled enough to notice an 88% reduction in my visible wrinkles, at 38 years old. :)

The fairies are still at work in my dishwasher. Even my roommates appreciate them. We'll leave milk and cookies in the dishwasher for them. I can't eat the cookies anyway.

I love the way my hair looks and feels -- rather than limp and lifeless, it's shiny and has terrific body. Either that or this is the best haircut I've ever had. Naah -- it's the shampoo & conditioner, because it's the actual texture of my hair that's better.

I gave in and cleaned the rest of the range hood :) No one else took me up on the challenge. (I had cleaned a small part of the range hood with the degreaser, hoping someone would get annoyed and clean the rest....I am not the world's best housekeeper, it's not my calling.)

I wrote a serious article about toxic cleaners on my website.

Next I'll write an article about my experiences with asthma. I was diagnosed asthmatic last fall, 2 weeks after an asthma attack almost put me into the hospital -- without health insurance! My resistance to go the hospital could have killed me, but since I lived and managed my asthma attack without transport, I've (financially) saved my family. An emergency room visit would have been a disaster. It's not fun to be uninsured, welcome to the norm for the middle classes, especially self-employed. 2 weeks later, my health coverage finally went through and I could see a doctor and get medication. One really really scary asthma attack is enough for a lifetime.

If I end up losing my health coverage again, I now have a health plan option to check out through Your Green Club. Thank goodness there's an inexpensive alternative. As my income increases, it's inevitable that I'll lose my current coverage.

I apologize for the disjointed email: I wanted to make sure to write something before I bury my nose back into a job proposal again. Thanks for visiting!

How's the shampoo?

Mom said "If the hand wash is this good, I wonder how good their shampoo is!" or something to that effect, and I had tried samples of the shampoo. Now I own the shampoo, and used the first combo -- the smaller bottles are for occasional use to remove the residue of products from the hair and do a deep-conditioning.

My hair the next day feels great. Soft, healthy and clean. There's a scalp nutrient that comes separately. I didn't bother with the hairspray, I don't use hairspray often enough to warrant owning it.

My scalp had been itching, and I think I may have been developing an allergic reaction to the normal shampoo. Today, after 2 days of using the scalp nutrient, no itches, flaking, etc.

I'm trying out all types of products, having a lot of fun with it. I hope you're having fun too!

My first (real) diet plan

Ok, today my weight loss plan starter kit arrived and I'm ready to take a plunge. [Product name and company logo smudged out on purpose.]



It was like opening a box for an Apple laptop -- an experience in design. I dutifully put the battery into the pedometer, used the enclosed measuring tape to measure my waist & hip size -- wonder if I should measure bust, thighs, or arms, too....I can't enter my weight in the charts or the software because I don't have a scale, so I guess I should give in and buy one, just for curiosity's sake.

Then it was time to have a shake. I washed the shake cup. I measured a cup of (organic) milk (I have only 1% -- need to get skim!) into the cup ("Is that ALL?") and went to add some protein shake powder into the cup. Opening the canister could have been easier, but I managed that.

Then it was time for the scoop. Scoop? "2 scoops of powder." Yeah, that implies a scoop. So I tapped the powder around, with inevitable small dust clouds and breath-holding (I'm not supposed to BREATHE the protein powder!) and then I had to make the plunge. I stuck a finger in and pushed around, located the scoop, and managed to dig it out with minimal mess and a powdery finger.

2 scoops of powder into the cup, screwed on the cap, put on the two safety belts (there are closures for the drinking hole and the airhole), and shake shake shake.....hrm, a little powder on the sides, shake shake shake....hrm, it's a tiny bit but I can't get it into the liquid ....shake shake shake aw fergettit. Must have gotten powder on the freshly washed side of the cup.

Well, here I am about to take a sip.... I better gulp to get it over with faster. Oh -- that's pretty good. It's heavy (probably should be), and a little powdery but what do you want from something so full of protein? (16g) But it actually tastes good. Like real vanilla. Almost -- dare I say it -- like the flavor (not the temperature) of ice cream. I'll enjoy blending it with frozen mango or banana in the summer. Mmmm. Ok, that was good. I was really hungry. I still feel a tiny bit empty but since there's actually some protein powder and drink stuck to the container, I'm going to wash the pill I'm supposed to have with it down with a water rinse of the container.

...addendum: This was about 1pm. About 5-10 minutes later, I felt full. At about 3:30 I was hungry again, and I had the chocolate snack bar because lately I've been grazing on chocolate chips. So I figured this early in the plan, I better make sure I get a chocolate fix. The chocolate bar is sufficiently large -- not large, just sufficiently large :) and the taste is fine. It's not like a terrific brownie, but it is much better than a brownie (a la mode) I had at an ice cream parlor at one point. That brownie was not worthy of the name. So I can certainly live with this chocolate snack bar in place of that brownie.

Now off to see about a scale. More later...

40-inch-waist, 48-inch-hips -- and counting. [ed - got the scale: 197lbs, size 18 (almost 20). Goals: size 12 or 135lbs. Whatever looks and feels the best.]