Tuesday, June 27, 2006

'Nuther vacation log

Last Friday, cutie girl woke up with a huge swollen upper lip. It didn't get worse, so we waited until Monday to take her to the doctor, because it was still there. She has a huge welt/thingy on her upper gum, protruding out quite far, and it was bleeding. Eeew! The doctor said it was not infected, and told me to administer Children's ibuprofen and come back in a week.

Well, just since we've been doing the ibuprofen, her mood has improved considerably, as have her sleeping habits. Imagine that: pain relief means better sleep and disposition. Who woulda known?

Also, today the swelling is down considerably. Maybe we won't have to go back on Monday, after all. It was traumatic for her last time--3 people holding her down while she screamed. Yeah, I don't want to revisit that.

I've been making soap. My fatigue has impacted my practice--I made a mistake measuring last night, so I have to re-batch that tonight. Grrr. I can't unleash lye-heavy soap onto the public, though. Lye-heavy=bad. Fatty=good.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Summer Vacation Log

Well, summer vacation is in full swing. Time for an update, I guess. I feel like summer is slipping through my fingers. I can't find time to actually relax. I crave time completely alone, and I have none, really. It's difficult to find. I suppose I should schedule it.

Which I did, yesterday. Yeah, it's only 20 minutes, but I'm scheduled for an appointment with a psychic, two Fridays from now. Hee. It ought to be enlightening, and, of course, frivolous, which is what I need.

I suppose scheduling to have lunch with friends would be a good idea. Take a little time and get my feet done. Etc. Etc.

I've been spending a lot of time making soap and lip balm. Hope it pays off. Gotta make that extra credit card payment soon.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Toiletry


Today I needed a break from everybody. I've finally been getting some sleep, but since doing that, my body only wants more. I'm tired all day, now. Depression? Recovery from the school year? Who knows?

In any case, I was on the internet, and papa was watching the cutie, and I was looking at crafty things. And then I thought, "You should just go to the craft store. It is summer, you know."

So I told papa and cutie that I was going out.

However, I didn't go to the craft store. I went to Cost Plus World Marketplace. I must say, I am disappointed in their soap selection. They aren't importing handmade soaps anymore. They are all "made exclusively for Cost Plus" by some company in California. They used to have French soaps and Scottish soaps--no more. Furthermore, many of the soaps they carry are glycerin-based, and not handmade. *sigh*

After that, I went to the Cherry Creek Mall, which is right next door. I bought myself a pair of new Crocs--the flip-flop style you see above, only with a white footbed and light blue, um...outer parts.

Anyway, before I bought the shoes, I had to visit the ladies' room. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Cherry Creek has always had the best toilet stalls ever. I went in there, and closed the door, and hung my purse on the very thoughtful hook. I locked the door. I then strode to the toilet, which was a full 3 feet from the door. There is a LOT of room in those toilet stalls. And with the door locked, nobody's going to bother you. I thought to myself, the person who needed some solitude, " I could stay in here all day and read a book, and nobody would know." It was a very comforting thought. Furthermore, the stall for people with disabilities is so large, a mother with a large stroller could fit in there, comfortably. They do have a family restroom that is spacious, as well, but in a pinch someone could use that stall. Or they could set it up as a small office.

With my new Crocs in hand, I walked on and found myself in front of the "handmade" soap store. I guess most of their soap is, indeed, handmade. I found some that wasn't, but whatever. They had good stuff, mostly. I bought a sugar scrub, thinking I can reproduce it for myself. I don't think I want to sell them, as there are preservative issues involved.

But I bet I can recreate it close enough that I'll be happy with it. I need to use it on my feet. They are currently hideous.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

OMG!


Online marketing easy strategy number 1 (one):

Always, always, ALWAYS put a link to your book/soap/whatever in your email signature line.

This week, my website link was posted to a writing newsletter, unbeknownst to me. I sent the editor an email, thanking her for a good idea she had, and that I pursued. It seems she included every single part of my email, including the website link and book link.

Of course, she's a publisher, so she knows how important these links are.

I HEART ANGELA HOY! If you are a writer, you should too. Go join the WritersWeekly newsletter and forum. It's great networking, great fun, and run by a great gal.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Nobody knows this.

Nobody knows how depressed I can get in the early days of summer.

I suspect I'm not the only teacher that feels this way, which is why I'm revealing it. It takes me a long while to shed the stress of the school year. Since it ends very suddenly, and summer begins very suddenly, the transition can be tough. I still feel the need to fill my days to the brim. I still feel the need to work 12 hours each day, at least. I still feel like I should fall into bed each night, so exhausted that I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.

And so I schedule things--all the things that didn't get finished during the school year. Banking, cleaning, shredding junk mail, sorting laundry for the goodwill, gardening projects, etc. etc. It all gets very big and looms very large, and then I have something to stress out about.

At which point, I start to get very depressed.

I'm used to being under a tremendous amount of stress, and I'm used to working a tremendous amount each day, so that when I sit and think, "I should be relaxing," I can't relax, because my list is so long. I think, "No time for that--there's too much to finish."

I have no balance in my life during the school year, and I don't have much balance in the summer anymore, either. It's far better than last year, however, when I was working for the university--that was far worse.

So today, I haven't done much in the way of anything. I did unmold the soap I made last night, and cleaned my mold and prepared it for tonight's soap. Otherwise...I've put in a load of laundry, and played with my daughter, and had a lengthy, in-person conversation with a friend. Watered the tomatoes. Made some mac and cheese for the cutie.

I'm still depressed, though. I feel trapped.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Beast, Shmeast.


Oh, brother. Here we go.

I saw a HUGE write-up in the Rocky Mountain News today, about , of all things, tomorrow's date. June 6, 2006. If written numerically, 06.06.06.


May I be the first to say



WHOOOPITY-DING-DONG.


This is the most ridiculous excuse for getting worked up that I can imgaine. Don't we remember Y2K? Don't we remember what happened? That's right: NOTHING!

Nothing happened. The calendar turned. No earthquakes. No fire and brimstone, for certain. No end-of-the-world. Not even an end of the internet!

And now, this. Now we have talk of women scheduling C-sections so that their babies won't be born on that date. I don't know if that's true, it's just something I've read, and I can't imagine if a news story actually can establish it as fact. However, I wouldn't put it past some people.

I hope my feelings are clear: this is LUDICROUS. We are all going to get up tomorrow, brush our teeth, shower or not, and go about our day. Nothing untoward is going to happen that is out of the ordinary. No spawn of "Satan" is going to spring out of the ground, and begin wreaking havoc on the masses.

Nope. Not gonna happen. Absolutely ridiculous.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Egocentric



So I was at a baby shower today, and we began discussing different neighborhoods in Denver. Blah blah blah, my neighborhood is mentioned, and someone asked, "Is that the King Soopers with all the Jesus candles?"

"Um....I guess so?" I answered. And next was the moment when I showed my egocentrism:

"Don't all the grocery stores have the Jesus candles?"

"Um.....NOOO0OOOOOOOooooo, they don't!" was the ubiquitous answer. Well. I didn't know that. Because, apparently, if they sell Jesus candles in my grocery store, they sell them in all stores. Silly me, forgetting about "target markets" and such.

THEN the conversation changed to the Jesus candle, and whether or not they make Hindu candles that look like the Jesus candles, but have the Hindu gods on them. As you can see above, they do.

I'm gonna get me some tomorrow.