La Diosa & Curlgirl: Thanx.    It's only 3%, but better than nothin'.

Hair: Saturday, I was alone all day, so I did another WTC. Sunday was the usual CWC routine & I added just a wee bit of baby oil gel to the ends. Today, I clarified. No leave-in's as usual. Aaaand...

My hairstix arrived today!    They're quite lovely (thank you, Susan!), so I think I'm going to try them out when I get a break here.
    Having known in advance that the packaging tubes were very difficult to open, I was prepared to bring out the big guns...er, blades. When my sister's buck knife failed and I couldn't find my switchblade, I resorted to a kitchen knife. Even then, it took awhile to saw through the cardboard. 

The Weekend: Listened to The Smiths' album, The Queen Is Dead. Equally snarky and morose...and Vicar In A Tutu is the funniest song I've heard in awhile.

Sunday evening, I watched The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. OMG funny! I'd never seen it before.

I also got the chance to do a little shopping...and came home with 2 new eyeshadows, 2 new bracelets and a boatload of Godiva. And I lost 2 lbs. after eating it all.    Only me, I swear...

Thought For The Day: Morrissey is sexy. 

Trisha: Amen. And who knew that Danny Kaye had such a great body?   

Work: Ugh.    Yesterday was a frenzy. Today, I have paperwork that I don't know what to do with AND drummer boy came to check the extinguishers in my building. I was in the conference room when he arrived, and I saw part of his blue uniform from the doorway, so I pretended to straighten things up until he was gone. *sigh*
    Yes, it still affects me a little. Though I wouldn't say it necessarily hurts, but there's still some sort of residual matter there.
   
Health: Ehh. Almost 9 lbs. overweight, but I just can't seem to make myself adhere to another junk food strike just yet. And I've been power walking intermittently, but the motivation just isn't there lately. 

In a week, my new piercings should be fully healed. I'm impressed and relieved that my ears haven't rejected them as they have in the past. I had a feeling that the hollow needles would help. 

Faaashion, Dahling: Today, my new hairstix got their first compliment.    I wore them to the office today and when my break person arrived, she gushed about how "neat" they looked and how her mother and aunt used to wear hairstix in years past. hehe

Also, I tried out my new Sephora eyeshadow yesterday and am very pleased to report that it works just as well as Urban Decay, if not better! Plus, they offer more colors & finishes, so I'll definitely be switching. 

It has also come to my attention recently that I'm in dire need of new pants. The jeans I've been sporting for the past 2 years have served their purpose. Time to class things up a little. 

Hair: Still doing the usual CWC's. I use Restoratives Detangling Leave-In Crème on the length every day. Yesterday, I spritzed the ends with shine spray since I had to leave my hair down for measuring. Today, I used a drop of baby oil gel on the ends and underside strands, then bunned it all up and secured with my new hairstix.
    I do worry about wearing my hair in a bun though, since it seemed to cause some horrendous breakage a few years ago.    It will probably be a very occasional thing.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to do scalp massages every day for the last 6 months of the year. Well, here we are on the 2nd day and I haven't done any. So that's what I plan to do when I get home.

Just 1 more day of Hair, Skin & Nails vitamins before the bottle is empty. Then I never have to worry about supplements again, and it's just as well since they don't seem to benefit my hair in any way.

Life: My buddy R came over yesterday evening, quite unexpectedly. Not that I'm complaining.    Job prospects now seem to be pouring in for him, despite the recession, which is great. He also got a new cell phone. Things seem to be looking up.

Anyway, a few more hours at the office before I can go home and do a scalp massage...while playing some relaxing music and reminding myself what a loser drummer boy is. 

Cheers!

Hair: Didn't get to do the usual Friday WTC since the 'rents were home (holiday), so I just did a heavy EVOO treatment on Thursday night and hoped for the best. The routine for Friday & today has been the usual CWC with Detangling Leave-In Crème. Style has been limited to a single braid since I've been fairly busy.

Things That Didn't Happen: My sis & I never made it out for sushi downtown. But there will be another time, I suppose.
   I also haven't gotten around to doing a new manicure yet. And it's just as well, I suppose, because I've been thinking about using a dark plum color anyway.

Things That Did Happen: My sister, her bf, and I went to the county fair as planned. We saw a giant horse among other animals...and we walked through landscape displays, looked at prize-winning roses, shopped, saw a hypnosis show and went on a couple of rides. It was pretty fun.  
   While we were there, I bought a cute little tabletop fountain that has a basic box bottom and a rock formation that looks like a tiny mountain with a hole in the center. Inside of that, the water spins a crackled glass ball while an LED light glows beneath it and changes colors. I just got it set up a few hours ago and it looks totally freakin' awesome.  
    Anyway, when we got home, we watched fireworks on the roof and then drove through Del Taco. When my parents got home, we all zoned out in front of the TV for awhile, then went to bed. All in all, a pretty good 4th. 

Today, I've been tearing down wallpaper in the hallway, which my parents suspect was original to the house in 1970.    So naturally, it's been a complete pain in the arse.
   The 'rents also brought in a few paint samples and had me choose one for the bathroom that I share with my sister. It's getting a much needed overhaul as well. heh I swear, this old house is in a near constant state of demo/reno, it seems.    But I can't wait for both projects to be done. The spaces will look so much better!
   Speaking of which, I think they have woken up from their afternoon nap, so I guess I'd better go and see what else they need me to do.

Hair: Well, no overnight EVOO treatment since my sleep cap was still in the hamper. And no clarifying routine this morning since I'm almost out of Pantene Purity shampoo.    So, I washed the entire length with Restoratives Breakage Defense shampoo and followed with an ACV rinse. After squeezing the water out with a towel, I applied Time Renewal Replenishing Mask to the length and left it in for an hour. Then, rinsed and conditioned again with Breakage Defense conditioner.
    That, combined with all of the shaving and exfoliating that I also had to do, made for a pretty intense shower day. But it was all very needed. And I'm glad that I got to make up for the conditioning treatment that I missed on Friday. Ahh...

I'll save the clarifying for tomorrow...which means that I'll have to squeeze a trip to Target in between work and band practice. Must have my Purity shampoo.

In a few weeks, I'll have to get another huge bottle of vinegar from the grocery store, and I think I'll switch back to the distilled, white variety.
    I think that I also had a funny dream a few nights ago about not being able to find the right can of black olives at the grocery...so I think I'll pick one up with the vinegar...just to prove that I can. 

Other Stuff: Not 100% sure if dad or I will make it to practice tonight. He had 3 gigs over the weekend and his voice is shot, plus today was a huge work day for him. Mother may have been right in her skepticism (though I'll never let her know that) about whether dad would feel like practicing the rock opera project.
    Plus, the boys are planning a barbecue as usual and my father has been suffering from a hiatal hernia, which makes it difficult for him to digest solid foods. Grilled goods would be way too tempting.
    And if he doesn't go, then I might not either. I have difficulty backing out of Lizard's driveway at night.    Stupid reason, I know, but my poor Rainey doesn't need any more scrapes or dings.    She's only 2 years old.

So the soup du jour is Italian wedding style...paired with fruit snacks and a granola bar. I'm trying to get better about bringing food to work with me so I don't have to grab something on the way. That's always expensive and usually unhealthy. I'd rather keep my body thin and my wallet fat instead of the other way around. 

A few product switches that I have recently decided on:
Crest Pro Health rinse instead of Listerine
Chapstick instead of Blistex
Campbell's instead of Progresso
Degree instead of Secret
Sephora instead of Urban Decay

Anyway, I'm off to make a late car payment. Oops. 

La Diosa:    I can put away their regular tacos like nobody's business! My other favorite things to get there have always been the deluxe del combo burritos, macho nachos, regular nachos and mmm, shakes!

Quote:

lol That's how I am with Listerine. I've got an enormous bottle of the green stuff that's thankfully almost gone. That antiseptic taste, bleh! No thanx.    More importantly, though, as an avid straight edger, I'm not comfortable using a mouthwash that contains alcohol.

Music: Last night's practice was indeed cancelled. The next one is on Thursday, so I've been gearing up for that. I finally have the harmonies to the 7th song down. 'Bout freaking time! I'd been struggling with it since I started singing with this band.
   The only bummer about Thursday is that our rhythm guitar player, Grateful Ed, will be on vacation. And yes, almost everyone in the band has nicknames, and some of us even have 2:

Lizard/Maximus - lead singer, usual bass player and writer of the rock opera
Boscoe/Picus - lead guitar player (Johnny Cash's former guitar player) and writer of the rock opera
Cowboy - usual lead guitar player, occasional bass player, occasional rhythm guitar player, backup vocalist and father of yours truly
Grateful Ed - rhythm guitar player, occasional backup vocalist
Moonpie - keyboard/synth player and backup vocalist
Midnight Angel/Little Sis - yours truly, a mere backup vocalist
(and the drummer doesn't have a nickname)

Hair: Clarified today. Ahhh. 2nd day without any leave-in's though, and I don't suppose my hair is very happy about that.
   I also couldn't do a heavy EVOO treatment last night either because, gosh darnitall, my sleep cap was still in the hamper. But I've washed it today.
   
Anyway, in about 20 minutes, my break person should be here, so I'll be able to escape the madness of my desk and weave my hair into the usual braid.

Oh yes, and my hairstix are no longer in my possession, which bothers me a bit. I put them in my sister's hair a few days ago and I guess she wore them to her bf's house and I've not seen them since.    Need to get those back ASAP.

Other: Must remember to call my friend R when I get home. He called me on the 3rd and I still haven't returned his call. I don't want to be one of "those" kinds of friends.  

Today is also my half birthday.