moisturizer advice?
I need the internetz help! I want your recommendations on moisturizers. I’m in the market for a new one, and frankly I’m tired of buying them, using them for a month, hating them, and having to try another one, and another one…you get it.
I just don’t have the time or the money to experiment right now! I don’t know if I should stay with Loreal Future E, which is the one I’ve used for the last few months. I didn’t hate it and I didn’t love it, but it’s better than anything else I’ve ever used. I was also thinking about trying Cetaphil’s facial moisturizer since I like the cleanser but I really want to know if there’s something better out there I’m missing.
Here’s my criteria:
- Must have an SPF. I have enough sun damage on my face, I don’t need any more, and I know I won’t use a separate sunscreen.
- Must be light weight. I hate the sticky gooey stuff!
- Can’t use Oil of Olay or Mary Kay products, both make me break out very badly.
- I have both oily and flaky skin, dang that combination!
- Not overly expensive, as in, I’m not going to go to Macy’s and drop $50 on a little pot of cream, ya know?
So can you help me? At least tell me what you use, and why you like it? Help a sister out!
Filed Under shopping Tagged cosmetics, moisturizer, products, shopping
a do-over
When I was younger I had lots of ideas about what I wanted to be when I grew up. For a long time I thought I would be a veterinarian because I loved animals, then in high school my dream was to be an engineer to be like my father, then when I started college I wanted to be a lawyer only because it sounded cool, and I couldn’t think of anything better.
I wasn’t there long before I realized that I wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer, for sure. When it came time to make a real decision I just couldn’t do it. Eventually I majored in US History because it was there. It felt sort of right. I loved history, and the fantasy of working behind the scenes in a musty, dusty museum filled my mind.
Well, guess what? Museum jobs were few and far between, and paid terribly. And were not nearly as romantic as I’d imagined. Blech.
So what else do you do with a History degree? Not much apparently. Teach? Soooo not for me. That’s become only more evident as I get older!
I held a lot of different jobs over the years, and eventually landed a job as a photo editor in a group of history magazines. It was pretty perfect for me for quite some time. Then, after I had the boy, I started thinking about other ways to earn a living than going to a job every day. It took some time, but I was very lucky and fell in to doing freelance photo editing for a large children’s book publisher. Even after moving back to New Hampshire I’ve been able to continue to work for them remotely. Right now I have the best of both worlds, I make a little bit of money, but I get to stay home with my boy.
As fortunate as I am, sometimes I wonder what could have been. Not about my family, I wouldn’t change them for anything. But if I could have a career do-over what would it be?
If I had known myself better at 18 years old, if I had known what my life interests would be now, I would probably have been a meteorologist. To be exact, I’d be….a Storm Chaser! Show me some green on a radar and I’ll sit there for hours and analyze it, with The Weather Channel on in the background. Have mercy, I am such a dork.
Someday, after my boy is on his own, I like to think DH and I will sell everything we own, including our house, and buy a big RV. I imagine outfitting it with all the latest technology. What? We’re both computer dorks! I want my own Doppler dammit! We’re going to be that old couple, who drive all around the country all the time, only we’ll be following the storms. I’d just love to help forecast the bad ones, and maybe even make a difference. Naive? Maybe, but I think it’s nice dream to have.
If you had a job or school do-over, would you change anything? Knowing what you know now would you have taken a different career path or stayed the same course?
it must be monday
Good god it’s 8:30 am and I’m already done with this day.
Let’s recap the timeline of events for you shall we?
12:30 am – Awakened by DH’s snoring. He has massive allergies and although it’s been really good lately, last night was as bad as it gets. Give up and move to the guest room. Of course I can’t go back to sleep until I go pee.
2:30 am – Awakened by the boy, crying because he peed in his bed. This is an extremely rare occurrence for him. Generally only happening a couple times a year and only when he’s extremely tired. I can’t bear to change the sheets and the mattress cover since to do so requires pulling off all 200 stuffed animals on the bed. Decide to do it tomorrow and let him come to the guest room with me. After I go pee, again.
3:30am – Finally go back to sleep.
5:30am – Awakened by the sound of cat puking on the floor near me. As soon as I move he runs and pukes more in the hall. Deja vu? No, I’m in just hell. And have to pee again.
6:00am – Hear DH get up for the day.
6:30am – Cute little boy next to me wakes up and snuggles in close. Highlight of the day.
6:45am – Cute little boy decides to go see daddy. Luckily I know Daddy will feed him breakfast.
7:10am – DH wakes me up. Gotta get the boy ready for school. (After I pee!)
8:00am – Walk down to the bus stop. It’s scheduled to arrive at 8:08 but is usually there at 8:05.
8:16am – Bus has still not come yet. Did I somehow miss it? Give up and walk back up the damn hill to the house. Resign myself to driving him in. Late.
8:20am – See bus pass by the intersection as I pull up to it.
8:22am – Can’t catch up in time for the next stop.
8:23am – Frantically beep horn as I pull up at the next bus stop. I hit panic button on keychain and can’t turn it off. Wake up neighborhood! Thank god bus driver waits. Bus was late due to mechanical difficulties. She is very sorry. I adore her. Boy gets on bus.
8:26am – Finally get coffee. Think about cleaning up cat puke and pee sheets. Blog instead. Do I have time for a nap before I have to pick him up at 11am? I’d better not, the way this day is going, I might not wake up in time. Crap.
I hope the rest of you are having a better day than I am. If you’re not, feel free to vent!
Filed Under humor, the cat Tagged bus, kindergarten, school, the boy
the other book list
Lest you all think I’m pretentious after seeing my list of must read books, today I will give you my list of favorite books/series that are not classics, that I don’t think everyone should read, and that I’m kinda embarrassed to admit to loving. But hey, is there anything that makes a better blog post than a little embarrassment? I think not!
You know that other list was a lot of books that I had to read for high school and college, or books that shaped me as a child. Most of them I haven’t picked up in a long time. I love them, and I would re-read them all anytime, however, my reading choices these days are, shall we say, a little less intellectual.
I think I started reading pulp regularly about 8 or 9 years ago. I can’t blame the boy since he’s only 5, I blame the job I was in at the time. I worked for a group of history magazines as a photo editor. I had to read the articles and find the appropriate pictures for publication. When I say I had to read the articles, I mean I had to read and understand them. Some of these were deep, theoretical essays, using a whole new (to me) military style language. Some were battle dissections, and I had to be sure I had the right units and insignia represented at all times. My brain was overflowing with new, difficult material all the time. Information overload.
The last thing I wanted to do when I got home at night was read yet more historical analysis, or even grand literature, or really, pretty much anything that made me think very hard.
I still read voraciously, but I read a ton of trash. I went through my historical romance phase, my chick lit phase, my crappy scifi phase, my vampire phase, and my mystery phase. Don’t tell me you haven’t done this too! Please? Well, okay, except for my English Teacher sister who never ever reads crap. I’ve tried to bring her over to the dark side and she still likes reading Beowulf better.
Anyway! Long story to rationalize my terrible reading habits, eh? Oh, the guilt! The wasted hours! Tough. I love my junk fiction and I’m not going to give it up.
So here is my list of my favorite fiction novels/series (in no particular order) that most of you will laugh at. Unless you secretly read like me and haven’t admitted it yet. (Please tell me I’m not alone!)
- The Riftwar Saga – Raymond Feist. One of these books, Magician was included in my first list, but it’s really not complete without the full trilogy. This is my favorite series of books, ever.
- The Vampire Chronicles – Anne Rice. Now technically this series is something like 12 books long now, but I only really get into the first four originals.
- The MacGregor Series – Nora Roberts. I love Nora Roberts. Yes, these are romance novels, don’t judge me. There aren’t many romance authors I will still read, but she is one of them. I think I’ve read everything she’s written and I own most of them, but the MacGregor books are my all time favorites.
- Confessions of a Shopaholic – Sophie Kinsella. I laughed so hard at this book I had to do kegels. I didn’t particularly like the sequels, but definitely adored this one.
- Stephanie Plum Series – Janet Evanovich. These are laugh out loud mysteries about a chick bounty hunter. DH always knows I’m reading one of these (there’s 14 so far) when he finds me laughing hysterically to myself.
- Ill Wind – Rachel Caine. The first book of the Weather Warden series, and my favorite of the bunch. Smart, sexy and supernatural.
- Hannah Swenson Mysteries – Joanne Fluke. Mix cookies and murder and sugar sweet characters and you have this series. Kinda silly but I can’t help how much I enjoy them!
- Eye of the World – Robert Jordan. First book in the Wheel of Time science fantasy series. Seriously wordy but very entertaining. The later books in series bog down a bit in the elaborate storylines, but this first one was fantastic.
- Manhunting – Jennifer Crusie. I didn’t know which one of Crusies’s novels to pick so I picked her first one. I’m hooked, her writing is funny and clever and her characters are adorable.
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams. Well if it didn’t make it onto the other list, it definitely had to be here! Love it. Love it. Love it. Thank you DH for introducing it to me way back when we first met. If you’ve never had a chance to hear it as a book on tape, do it. It is fantastic to listen to as much as it is to read.
I’m looking back at this list and it occurs to me that I seem to really like books in series. I think I gravitate toward them because when I find characters I love, I don’t ever want the story to end!
Okay now, your turn. What do you really like to read? Recommend something good for me in comments. Obviously I like all genres and I need something new to try!
again with the bullets
Yep, it’s one of those days – better to write bullets than nothing at all!
- I wrote 99% of a post yesterday, just before all hell broke loose with work. I got so busy with my mini crisis I forgot to save the freaking post before I closed the window. *crying*
- Thank god for coffee.
- I was smart yesterday and made a double pot of coffee so today I have iced coffee without having to do any work. Why didn’t I think of this before now?!
- My house looks like a volcano erupted and spewed craft items. Suddenly the boy is into cutting up little bits of paper and cardboard, coloring them, and gluing and taping them back together, mostly into robot shapes. I’m not allowed to throw away any of his trash treasures.
- Kindergarten is going really well. He only cried once, that first day on the bus. That was the last time I cried too. I love having a couple hours alone every day!
- Unfortunately, the boy does a great job at mimicking his teacher. It sounds a lot like the “wah wah wah wah” from the Charlie Brown cartoons. We try really hard not to laugh. Cause, you know, that would encourage it or something.
- No, we don’t have an answer about the bus stop yet. I’ve resigned myself to driving him to school as soon as snow flies.
- God, I love these chilly nights. I’ve been sleeping really well these last two weeks. Thank god.
- I could do without the hot hot days though. So done.
- My friend Nicole took us to the cutest beach ever on Monday. I’m not telling any of you where this adorable little gem is. Unless you bribe me. I accept paypal or chocolate delivered to my doorstep.
- I desperately need to go to the grocery store. I just can’t seem to get it done. We have no eggs, no butter, no meat, barely a slice of bread. NO PAPER TOWELS. It is impossible to live in a house with a kid and not have paper towels.
- Okay, so the volcano didn’t just spew craft supplies, it spewed dirty laundry and dirty dishes too. *hangs head in shame*
- Soccer starts on Saturday. Two months of screwed up weekends. Again. Why do we do this to ourselves?
- Do y’all see my train of thought pattern here? Or am I the only that actually understands my unwritten segues?
- Sigh. It’s past 9 am now. The penguins are squawking at me. Must go back to work.
Maybe, maybe tomorrow I’ll have a real post. If I can stand to rewrite the lost one. Ugh.