Gah - don't get me started on people being idiots about cats.

Our neighbors seem to think it fine to let them run around unsupervised outside by a busy road.  One gets run over, they get a new one and do the same ...grrrr.g

Well, I'm back.  Mom and I went to Georgia last week.  She had a conference and I went along for the food.  Simpsonwood has great food.

We had the worst luck with traffic.  We left Friday night and stopped at Princeton which has 7, count 'em, 7 hotels.  They were all full--I still don't know why, it's Princeton, WV for pity's sake.  Nothing goes on in Princeton, ever.  So we went down the road another 20 miles and found a Super 8 that only had smoking rooms with one bed available.  All the way at the end.  Where they're doing construction.  Where no-one can hear you scream.  I hummed the theme to Halloween while we were pulling the luggage to the room.  We weren't slaughtered, though, making it a good start to the trip.

Next day we had lunch at a fabulous BBQ place in North Carolina and went merrily on our way and ran smack into roadwork.  Roadwork on a Saturday afternoon in August on a heavily travelled interstate.  North Carolina, you suck.  It took us 2 hours to go 15 miles.  Luckily Mom had the audiobook for Huckleberry Finn in the car and we listened to that.  I love Mark Twain.

Finally we get to the Mall of Georgia.  We'd been there before, last Novemeber, and with one thing and another we only went to part of it.  It has 6 huge anchor stores and really, one big department store is much like another--or so I thought in my pre-hair obsession days.  I didn't realize or care before that Nordstrom is an anchor store but now I know that Nordstrom....is where the FICCARES live.  And they do, too.  It was a small tribe at Nordie's in Georgia--matte gold and silver, tortoise, black, black with hatchmarks, and a shiny gold with too many scratches to buy--but they came in all sizes.  Only $32 each, too, which is nothing for someone who likes LL SE sticks.  I bought 3--a tortoise, and a matte gold and silver.  The things do hold, don't they?  The large is a smidge small, but with that spring they work anyway.  I can finally wear a french tuck and they work nicely with a french twist.  One will hold up a half-bun but not a whole one.  I suppose I shouldn't complain. 

As far as I was concerned the trip was over but Mom wanted to go to her conference,  so on we went.  Nice supper and I watched Laura on the portable DVD (Simpsonwood doesn't have TV as of yet, which is fine since there's really nothing on.)

Monday:  Mom went to her meeting, I slept.  Great vacation so far.  9am--BANG BANG BANG "HOUSEKEEPING!!!!! KNOCK KNOCK!!!!  HOUSEKEEPING!!!"  I got up and peeped out the door, "We're fine, thanks."  Back to bed.  Mom comes in at 9:30 for a conference call, I go to the bathroom.  BANG BANG BANG  "HOUSEKEEPING!!!!!!  KNOCK KNOCK!!"  Mom leaves the call, tells them we're fine.  Back to bed.  9:49  BANG BANG BANG  Guess who?  I answer the door again.  "We're fine, thank you."  "Do you want towels?"  "No, we're fine."  Now I'm awake.  Bleah.  Watched Mary Tyler Moore and slowly got ready over 2 hours.  Bliss.  Mom volunteered me to help collate and stuff packets so I worked all afternoon.  Evening I did an S&D and we watched DVDs. (I didn't take my shea leave-in since I packed my red palm oil and it's more versatile.  Shea glues the splits together, let me tell you.  I broke the world record for splits and I S&D'd every evening while I was there.  I swear my hair would split while I was looking at it.  Very annoying.  Stupid hair.  I think it was just mad because it hasn't found a way to spit out the ficcare yet.)

Tuesday.  9am.  BANG BANG BANG  "HOUSEKEEPING!!!KNOCK KNOCK!!"  "We're fine, really, we don't need towels, I'll make the beds myself, we're fine, thanks."  Well, I"m up now.  Crap.  Nice long bath with a murder mystery then watched a little of The Matrix.  I tried to nap in the afternoon but I'm a hopeless napper.  I did rummage around the room and found the "Do Not Disturb" sign.  I hung it outside that night.

Wednesday.  8:45 am.  No housekeeping, but they start cutting the grass under our window.  With a push mower.  And the grass is wet.  I offically give up trying to sleep for the rest of the week.  I get more sleep with the cats dancing on my bladder.

....to be continued.....

Hey!  I'm glad you're back.  Sorry you had sucky roads.  I'll bet the lawn mowing fiends were enticed by your BP fragrances!
Good Luck w/Gory.

The prevous post was getting long, so this is a new entry for my new BPAL.   Ordered on 6/6/05, Click & Ship notification on 8/13/05, received on 8/18/05.  

5ml:  Two, Five, and Seven
Zombi
Old London
Lucy's Kiss
The Dormouse
Midway

Imps:  Delirium
Black Rose
Rose Cross
Maiden
House of Night
Whip
Jezebel
La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente
Jack
Burial
Moon Rose
Alice

Frimps:  Blood
Embalming Fluid
Hellfire
Nyarlathotep
Dirty
Jabberwocky
Gomorrah
Titania
Vixen
Sacred Whor e of Babylon
Queen Gertrude
March Hare
All Night Long
The Red Queen

Smells a-plenty!  
Reviews:

Rose Cross (rose and frankencense)  All I could smell was the frankencense all day until about 4pm when it finally turned into a beautiful mix of rose and frankencense.  Lovely, but not worth the wait.  Off to swaps.

Maiden (white tea, carnation, rose)  All carnation all morning and then morphed into a rose by noon.  Completely gone by 1pm.  Nice but a bit light for me and doesn't last long enough.  Swap.

Blood (dragon's blood, myrrh, cherry, clove)  I loved it in the bottle and on my skin for the first 2 minutes.  Then my skin ate everything but the clove.    I'm going to try it as a room scent or maybe in a scent locket before giving up on it, though.

Embalming fluid (white musk, green tea, aloe, lemon)  I love this; it smells remarkably like EA's Green Tea, only better.  It doesn't last long, so I probably won't get a big bottle but I'll use the imp.

Hellfire (pipe tobacco, leather, ambergris, black musk, incense)  Yuck and yuckier.  Swap.

Burial (juniper, patchouli, grave loam and floral offering to the dead)  Not bad, but it smelled a bit off.  I think it was the patchouli.  My chemistry doesn't like patchouli.  I'm going to give it another chance, though.

Dirty (fresh, crisp white linen)  Smells like my brother's cotton undershirts when he was a baby.   Very light with little staying power.  Not a big bottle scent but I'll use the imp.

March Hare (apricot and clove)  Once again, fabuous in the imp and for about 2 minutes, then my skin ate the apricot and left the clove.  Sigh.  Off to swaps.

Vixen (orange blossom, ginger, patchouli)  Further evidence that I don't like patchouli.  Patchouli is all I could smell with this and it seemed to last for hours.  I traded it for an imp of Morgause.

Jack (pumpkin, nutmeg, peach, clove)  I have never moaned when applying a fragrance until Jack.  It smells like pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie and butter and vanilla.....drool.  It's lightly spicy and thank heavens my skin doesn't amp the clove.  It makes me hungry but that might mean I just buy a 5 ml instead of 10.  

Old London (tea rose, twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness)  Perfect example why I should give each scent  2 chances.  First time it was acrid and smelled like black ashes for an hour or so then turned into heavy, cloying rose.  Yuck.  Since I'd blown cash on a 5 ml I tried it again and amazing!  It smells exactly like the description--rose, but not heavy or cloying, and a bit twisted.  Lovely!

The Dormouse (four teas, herbs, peony)  Not very long lasting and while I didn't hate it, I didn't love it either.  For a 5 ml I want love, or at least lust.  I traded it for a 5ml of Gluttony (unsniffed, but gluttony smells like Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel.)  If gluttony doesn't work for me I know someone who'll love it.

Your review of scents is intriguing!  I've never heard of BPAL, but you piqued my curiousity.  I just might have to try a few of those. 

Cynde

Hair:  First day hair is becoming more and more of a problem.  I'm wearing a ficcare twist and I've had to re-adjust it twice and finally I took the whole thing down a few minutes ago, braided it, and put it back up.  Grump.  When on vacation I thought I'd packed my CV shampoo bars but I only had the soap.  I used the soap the first night but it overconditioned my hair, so I used diluted shampoo and conditioner borrowed from Mom.  No major changes, and my hair dries faster when I use detergent rather than soap.  The soap is still faster and I like it better.

Cats:  Bogie was Clingy McClinger all weekend.  He'd jump up next to my pillow at 8 am and meeeROOOW to be petted.  I ate a broccoli and chicken Hot Pocket for dinner and guess who ended up with the chicken?

Rumpole spent all weekend lying on me because I couldn't defend myself (details under Agatha).  He got half of the chicken from my Hot Pocket.

Agatha is still unhappy but I bought a toy for her--a long strip of polar fleece on a stick with feathers on one end.  We play and love and then she hide under the table when it's time for her to return to the Kitty Suite.  She is eating a bit more, though.  Friday night I lay in the floor watching MTM on the portable DVD and threw my back out.  It took me 30 minutes to stand up.    I spent all weekend on the couch and I'm still walking with the cane.  But at least I'm walking which is more than I was doing on Saturday.

Gorey is feeling better.  He's eating again and Sunday he was chased by some dogs.  He's back, thank Heavens.  We petted and petted and petted this morning but I owe him more loving since I couldn't pet him this weekend.

BPAL:  Alice (milk, honey, rose, carnation, bergamot) today.  I've been wanting a carnation scent and I think this may be it.  It's a more complicated scent than Maiden which just smelled like a single white carnation--this smells like a bunch of carnations and other flowers and a warmth and spiciness underneath.  I think this will be a nice spring fragrance so I might order a bottle in January.
Saturday I tried Jezebel (honey, roses, orange blossom, sandalwood) but it smelled a bit off to me.  I'll try it again.
Last night I tried Moon Rose (rose and moonflower and midnight dew)--A nice, light rose scent but not outstanding enough to order a big bottle.

Donning my yoga teacher mantle:

Getting off the floor from a prone position w/o straining your back:

Lie on your back w/your knees bent.  Place your right hand on the back of your neck and roll onto your right side.  Place left hand on floor in front of you.  As you inhale, push your left hand against the floor lifting up a bit and as you exhale press up using both arms.  Allow your arms to "walk" your back into an upright position.  This makes your arms do the work, not your back.  I recommend this technique for anytime you've been lying down-getting out of bed in the morning as well as getting off the floor.

Good Luck!!