hehehe You guys are too funny.    *hugs for my long-locked family*

Hair: Pampered? Oh yes. Yesterday was something of a "spa day." I made time for another blended conditioning treatment and face masque simultaneously, and rinsed both off at the same time. Also killed off the rest of my Pro-V Deep Fortifying Treatment in the process.
    Today, I noticed that I was running low on Daily Moisture Renewal conditioner. Since I was going to be out shopping anyway, I figured that I might as well get new hair stuff now. In keeping with the "replace everything with Restoratives" idea, I got 2 bottles of Restoratives Breakage Defense conditioner and a jar of Time Renewal Replenishing Mask. Also got a new light conditioner: Suave Juicy Green Apple.
    Since my current shower cap had a major hole in it that was letting all kinds of water in, I picked up some new shower caps as well.

Hair routine for today was the usual. CWC + Restoratives leave-in crème. Didn't use enough of the latter, so my hair feels a bit "off." I also didn't braid it today. 

Health: Yeah right. After spending 2 days at Disneyland, my family stopped at a Claim Jumper (not the local one that my guy & sister work at) on the way home and brought me back some kind of ungodly-looking chocolate blob that my mother said was a...calzone?    I guess in its original form, it was something like a folded dessert pizza. I didn't care for it and my mother didn't either, yet she was the one who encouraged me to try it. Sort of a "This is gross! Taste it!" kind of thing.    In any case, I only had a few small bites.
    As for my illness, all that remains is some chest congestion and the ever-present cough. But due to the fact that I have the suckiest sinuses on earth, these symptoms are near constant and almost "normal" for me, even when I'm well. 

Love: Ahh, back on track (at least for the most part) with my bartending babe. I think that he just doesn't realize when he takes things a bit too far...that's when I have to pull out the ruler and the sharp tongue and commence violent lashings with both for the sake of integrity. And K is just twisted enough that he enjoys it. Man, are we a pair... 

Life: Yesterday was an extremely productive day. I'm sure that I can't even list all of the things that I got done - I'm just glad they're done! My bedchamber is looking much better for it too. Everything clean...that's how I like it.
    Today, I got most of my Christmas shopping done. Both my sister and K are taken care of, my mother mostly is...no idea what I'm going to get for my father, but mother says that she has something for "us kids" to give him. If so, yays...I might not have to worry. Still cannot pay bills or put my bank account back in the black. God, please don't let them shut off our water at Christmas time! 

Anyway, that's all for now. Peace.

hehe LD. My mother thought that I might like the calzone thing because it had chocolate in it and she knows that I like chocolate (like being a grave understatement, of course!).    All of my life, she has let me try different foods whether she liked them or not. Whether I liked them or whether I gagged was up to me. Don't even get me started about mushrooms... 

Hair: Another CWC routine. Used more Restoratives leave-in crème today than yesterday and my hair seems to appreciate it. Finally emptied my bottle of DMR conditioner (yes!! Never again!). Will detangle and all that jazz during my break as usual. I brought 2 hairties with me from home - 1 to keep in the drawer at my desk, just in case I forget to bring one to work, and 1 just to use today. I prefer to be prepared.
 
While I was cleaning my jewelry armoire this morning, a few strands at my hairline got caught on a drawer pull and yanked out.    I didn't know how serious the damage was until later, when I found the hairs still stuck in the drawer pull. There must have been at least 3 or 4 of them in there. Ow.

Other: My face was recovered enough today for a much-needed exfoliation. Thank the heavens for St. Ives gentle scrub.

My chamber is cleaning up nicely. I still need to dust the ceiling fan, clean the hope chest and finally address the top of the big armoire, which hasn't been touched in years.    Everything else is done. I even vacuumed again, as I find it necessary to do so every few days. Being clean is just my nature. I can't function otherwise.    Besides, my room is quite small with so much big furniture in there.

Last night, I rolled $10.50 in coins and put it in my purse to deposit with the rest of my "loose cash" this morning. Also emptied the few dollars in my savings account into my checking. Every little bit helps, though I'm still dreadfully overdrawn. 
    Car payment will just have to have a late fee attached. And God only knows what will happen with the water bill. *sigh* Maybe I'll just see what my bank will do if I write a few bad checks... 

Also took an Advil PM before bed...slept 9 hours without waking once! Bloody amazing. Although, I think I had a strange dream about former love interest Mr. Clueless, ie. The Distant One hooking up with a mutual friend from the other forum that the 3 of us are all members of. In the dream, I remember being not the least bit surprised, as I was aware of his feelings for her before, during and after my involvement with him. Indeed, it would not surprise me if she is now involved with him as I once was. Poor girl. 

Whoa, I just noticed that there is a strange white spot on the end of my thumb where it is burned.
   
And my boss just walked past my office and whispered, "Just remember, it's always better the next day." Encouraging...one can only hope.

More later.

MTB: 7:00 is nothing. I have to get up at 5:00 once or twice a week when I'm scheduled for a morning shift at work. Bleh. I hate mornings. 
    When I was a kid, I never had skin allergies of any kind - I could wear Christmas ornaments as earrings and think nothing of it. lol But recently, I've become totally allergic to surgical steel and therefore can only wear fashion earrings for a few hours at a time.
    Pantene Restoratives can be found anywhere. I get mine from Target usually. And no, they're not "natural" and they contain cones. I am a strict and avid user of Pantene products and right now, I'm into the Breakage Defense collection. I never use natural products because they don't contain cones, which my hair needs, and they usually contain oil, which my skin doesn't tolerate at all.

Trisha & Curlgirl: hehehe Bad news doesn't stand a chance against you two. 

Hair: Clarified today, and used Breakage Defense conditioner. No leave-in's as usual for a clarifying day. Air dried, will braid during my break, yada yada.
    Ok, I have to get this off of my chest: I've been using Breakage Defense conditioner for 2 days now and am already having my doubts.    The chemical burn on my neck and down my back is one thing, but I've also noticed more tangles after my hair dries. It could be that the cone content in Restoratives just isn't high enough, and if that's the case, then I'll just have to go back to Ice Shine on a permanent basis. Ice Shine conditioner has the highest cone content of any Pantene product.

Also, I've been fooling around with the idea of trying other brands like Biosilk and Enjoy. Neither of them contain cones, so I would probably just be setting myself up for a tangle nightmare, but I'm morbidly curious about both now. Maybe next year I'll give both a whirl just to get it out of my system. Maggie did a similar thing with Alterna products last year, I think, so it could be my turn this time. 

Life: Just made some honey vanilla chamomile tea...and am running on about 1200 mg's of ibuprofen. Aunt Flo is back, but I'm not about to let her ruin my week. 

Tonight's the shopping/movie outing with K. He told me last night that he wants to try and see The Golden Compass when we're done shopping. hehe Mr. Cheesy Fantasy Flick. 
    Yesterday, he got a new - and very short - haircut.    I haven't seen it in person yet, and granted, I'd love him if he had no hair at all, but let's be honest: I like long hair! I like a little something to run my fingers through and play with when the urge strikes. Again, oh well.

Christmas is in 6 days and I still don't have anything for my father. I'd like to get him a few things for his bass guitar, but gear is so much like hair stuff it's not funny. I'd be worried about getting the wrong thing. Perhaps my mother can help. And speaking of her, I still need to get her another butter dish. I already bought a formal glass one, but I'd like to get a more casual type as well.

Ok...break time.

Hair: Simple CWC + leave-in crème. Hair is down for the moment. I might braid it when I get home and I might not.

I have decided to collect and save all decent hairs that fall out of my scalp naturally and gather them together into a lock that I can give to K. Last time, I learned the hard way that no guy is worth cutting your hair for because he will probably just leave you anyway. That's the unfortunate reality of it. But I see no harm in making a lock out of hair that falls out on its own. If K flakes out on me before I've finished, I will just stop making it. heh He tells me not to think like that...but hey, I'm a realist. I've had my heart broken too many times to pretend it's "happily ever after" every time. Man, does that sound faithless... 

Life: All bills are now officially overdue and my account is frozen. My boss gave me his company giftcard a few days ago and that's literally all that I have to live on. What a $#*%@# way to end the year.    Of course I know that it could be worse. I'd probably kill myself if not for K. Well ok, maybe not, but I'd think about it. 

Speaking of our sheltered, dark hero, I am taking him shopping tonight at the outlet center in the mountains where I usually go to just unwind. It's a very spiritual place for me anyway, but Christmas time puts an extra layer of magic on everything. I don't think he's ever been in that area, and if he has, it's been a long time. If we're really lucky, there might even be snow. 

Well, it's 5:00 - time to close down the office and pick up my dad from work. Peace.

BB: Why does it not surprise me at all that you would have some experience with this?    Thanx for the Post-It note tip! It's working really well! 

Hair: On the suckier side, someone threw away the hair that I was saving when the office was cleaned yesterday.    So today I've had to start all over again. Good news is, I've already harvested 5 hairs and saved them between 2 Post-It notes.

Didn't have time for the usual Friday conditioning treatment today, which p***es me off, but I guess I'll just try and make up for it with a heavy EVOO treatment tonight. Today was just a regular CWC, and I didn't even have time to put the leave-in crème in either.    It's already dry and combed, so when my break comes, I'll just braid it and forget about it. Grrrrrr!

Other: Today seems to be the crappiest day ever.    One of those days where absolutely nothing goes right. Had I not been able to launder my sheets, the entire day would have been, well, a wash.    It doesn't help, either, that every customer that has called in to my work has been the world's biggest moron. I seriously have no hope for the future of this world - its people are far too stupid to do anything but destroy it along with themselves.

*ahem* So the outlet center was something of a bust. Neither K or I bought anything there and ended up just going to one of the local malls. There also wasn't any snow, but a lot of light drizzle. The weather was the same in our area of town and the drizzle had become rain by the time we'd finished shopping. It was kind of an adventure running from the mall to my car, getting all of the doors unlocked, tossing our stuff into the backseat and then climbing in ourselves before the real downpour started. hehe It's little moments like that that I live for.

So anyway, I'm going to another mall after work today to finish shopping for my mother. I still have nothing for my father and Christmas is now just 4 days away.    Talk about cutting it close. It was so much better last year...and I hope next year is better too! 

Fortunately, its' the last work day before a 4-day weekend and I have a full tank of gas thanks to my father. Oh yeah, and the water to our house hasn't been shut off even though I still haven't paid the bill. Thank heaven for small miracles, I guess...

Christmas: Ended up being great, even despite the fact that everyone was broke. I still ended up with a ton of stuff and everyone seemed to like what I got them. The evening was spent at my aunt & uncle's place and K had just arrived at our house when we returned home for the last gift exchange of the day.

A few of the things that I got from the family:

• a cool mist humidifier
• a new stereo
• a Sunsilk product pack + 3 lipglosses
• a new shirt for work
• 2 Glade flameless candles
• a soooooft new robe & slippers
• a bloody ton of giftcards!
• jewelry
• a black velour track suit with the Cheshire Cat embroidered on top & bottom

And from K:

• a Nightmare Before Christmas dry erase calendar, candleholder, keychain and gloves
• some really pretty (and very gothic) black jewelry
• an animé fairy day planner
• a freaking $50 Macy's giftcard (hello!)
• a haunted places b&w calendar
  
  That's all I can remember for the moment at least. It was a good day.  
  
  Hair: Clarified today and conditioned with Restoratives Breakage Defense conditioner. Left it in under my shower cap until the end of my shower and once again, that seemed to work beautifully. I think I'll just keep doing it that way on clarifying days.
     No leave-in's as usual. The air has been terribly dry lately (ie. lots of static!), so I want to get my hair combed & braided ASAP.
     I also need to find the list of hair resolutions that I'm making for next year.
  
  Life: K has been feeling under the weather for awhile. He has to work both of his jobs on NYE, so I think I might go and watch my dad's band play that night. At least it's something to do.
     My b-day is 13 days away. I hope that K is not sick for it because I want to do something rather crazy. hehe