Routines

I am pretty routine about how I live my life. It’s almost downright predictable. I will work. I will tweet. I will FB. I will (occasionally) blog. LOL! So, the people I am closest with know this about me.

If I’m going to make a change in the routine, I will generally give someone a heads up. Like, when I go on my social networking hiatus. “Hey y’all, don’t worry about me, I’ll be gone for the month of January” – people see that and they know not to worry.

I remember a few times when Serenity_23 was in her hiatus for Lent, and folks didn’t know. I would get tweets or text messages asking if she was ok.

There is a group of people I follow on twitter. We all follow each other. If one goes MIA, I will inevitably see a tweet asking, “where’s so and so?”

It reminds me of when I first moved to Charlotte. My big sister, aka Big Dolly (my dad used to call us all Dolly, lol) would call me every Friday to make sure I was ok. Seriously. Every Friday. This was before social networking. We’re talking 1999. I had a home phone with an answering machine. I didn’t even have a cell phone. That was our routine. If I wasn’t home, the message was inevitably, “I’m just checking in…make sure you call me back so I know you’re ok.”

That was our routine. And I made sure I called her back. I did not want her going all John Walsh America’s Most Wanted on me. I can just imagine CMPD rolling up on my door. LOL!

I say all that to say, that I appreciate this social network I have. Some of whom I’ve never even laid eyes on, who would take the time to check on little ol’ me to see if I’m ok. Because they know my routine, and if I break it, something may be wrong.

So, thank you. Your efforts are not in vain. 🙂

House Hunters on Hold

So, the house hunt is on pause. Our realtor has kidney stones. Bless his heart! I hope they’re small enough to pass and not need surgery. Either way, he’s gonna be in pain. We like him so we’ll wait. We have a few months leeway, since our lease isn’t up until 9/30.

In other news, the bestest husband ever greeted me with this surprise when I got home:

A dress and some tops from NY & Co. I have really been trying to stay out of that store, because I tend to lose my mind in there. I was saying that I needed some tops for spring, and he took it and ran with it. 🙂 And he was super savvy with it – several red line and sale items! Just how I would’ve shopped. He picked everything himself.

He also got a lawn mower today. Our yard was looking a little “Jungle Book.” Per our lease, we are responsible for the maintenance. I have a feeling this will become CH’s chore until he leaves for his summer in NY. LOL

This has been a sad week for our country. Honestly, while I like to be informed, I find that the news – and social media displays of the news – tend to overwhelm me at times like this. I really haven’t been watching much news this year. Between HH and twitter I tend to stay informed. I just struggle when I let a lot of negativity in. Which conflicts with my feelings that a responsible adult would be well versed in the goings and comings of the world. I guess twitter is my way of reconciling those two things.

Now HH? When I come home (on his days off) he’s watching local news, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, and even Faux Fox News. I usually leave him in the living room with that. He tells me what I need to know.

They are about to realign some units at work. There will be casualty units and then litigation/large loss units. Given that my current unit lead is a lawyer, I know he’s going to end up with a litigation unit. Which means I won’t get to stay under him. This seriously makes me sad. Like, teary eyed sad. He has made this first year awesome. I don’t want to work under anyone else! Ugh. It’s not that I can’t, because I can pretty much work with anyone. I just plain don’t want to. Oh well. Change is a part of life. I’m continuing to roll with it.

Sunday in the Spring

We are finally getting spring-like temperatures around here! It feels good! And even though the pollen has my skin and scalp itching, I am enjoying the view:

Spring is a time of renewal and changes. We come out of our winter shells and start exercising outside. People renew commitments to fitness and health.

Today my 30 minutes of exercise will be spent in a yoga class. It’ll actually be more like 75 minutes. I’ll take the bonus time. Tomorrow afternoon, if the workday doesn’t beat me up too bad, I’d like to hit the pool.

HH is in the kitchen giving CH a haircut, and then he’ll be leaving for work. He’s been driving home every night, instead of staying at the motel near the job. It’s cheaper. I do enjoy seeing him every morning, and not just two days a week. It does wreak havoc on my sleep when he comes in at 1:00am. I figure it’s a small price to pay.

CH was on spring break this week. He seems to have thought his chores were on spring break, too. Uh, no. Considering setting up a debit card account for him to teach him about money management. We would put his allowance money into the account. Right now, he doesn’t really get an allowance. If there’s something he wants to do, we give him the cash if we agree. I like the idea of the allowance, and tying it to completion of chores. Still trying to get HH 100% on board. LOL!

Looking forward to this next season in our lives, for a variety of reasons. Welcome, Spring! 🙂

23 and a Half

I posted today on FB, about how I took a 30 minute walk around my neighborhood. I said I’d like to visit the pool tomorrow, and that it’d be nice to get in 30 minutes of activity a day for the next week.

Then my friend Bob posted this video link in the comments.

If you can, watch the entire video. He cites different studies, but the main message is, the best thing you can do for yourself is get 30 minutes of exercise in per day.

I think I can do that! I have a treadmill, so at the very least I can get a walk in, be it rain or shine. I’ll try to mix in other activities as well, but walking is the least I can do.

What about you? Can you commit 30 minutes of your day to your health? 🙂

Make My Funk the P-Funk…

As in P for Pit. Arm pit, that is. LOL!

So, I sweat a lot. I can’t use any ol’ deodorant. Back in 2010, when I first started to chuck my products full of chemicals, I tried various forms of natural deodorant. First I tried The Crystal. For those of you not familiar with it, this is what it looks like (although they now have sprays and other forms):

The Crystal is mineral salts. You apply to a slightly damp arm pit, and it’s supposed to form a barrier that will stop the formation of odor causing bacteria. At some point, there probably was a barrier there, but because I am prone to sweating, I would sweat it right off. Or my clothes would rub it off. Either way, I ended up funky before the day was over. No bueno! The Crystal was a fail, for me.

Next, I tried Tom’s Natural deodorant. Even the strongest one they had would not take me though an entire day. I’d be in the bathroom wiping and re-applying. Definitely a hassle.

Enter Oyin Handmade’s Funk Butter, my savior:

The ingredients: baking soda, cornstarch, shea butter, coconut oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, kaolin clay, calendula and chamomile powders (and fragrance, if you get a scented one).

I found that the fragrance irritated my skin, so I went with unscented. I would order in bulk, 5 or 6 tins at a time. Because I had to order online, I was also paying shipping and handling. It adds up. I did love it, but I wanted to try and find something I could get locally. At this point, it appeared the baking soda was the key for me. I definitely wanted more. I have been able to use this through workouts and hot yoga with no issues.

A couple of weeks ago, I found a shop here that sells all kinds of natural products. While they sell Oyin hair products, they don’t sell the Funk Butter. Instead, I spied this on the shelf and decided to give it a try:

The ingredients: organic arrowroot powder, organic extra virgin coconut oil, and organic essential oils.

I wish they had an unscented one, because not everyone can tolerate essential oils. I really, really, really wanted this to work. It’s very powdery (is at a word? LOL) and even though it’s in a deodorant stick form, you still have to work it in with your fingers.

Unfortunately, arrowroot was not my friend. Towards the end of the day it definitely started to wear off. I liked the texture and the fact that its not exfoliating/abrasive like baking soda, but it just did not work for me.

A this point, I knew I needed to go back to baking soda & cornstarch, but I didn’t want to order online. I googled and found this recipe. Her site is very informative. Definitely a must read if you want to try this.

The basis of the recipe is:
6-8 tbsp of virgin coconut oil (solid form)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup cornstarch

I ended up adding Shea butter (about 1/4 cup) as well as T-50 vitamin E oil. My mixture is more “liquid” than hers, but I think it lends itself better to spreading with your fingertips. I think that’s because I had to melt the Shea butter down, and I went ahead and melted the coconut oil with it. In her recipe she does not melt the coconut oil.

I ended up making a double portion and adding a few drops of lavender essential oil. I put it on last night after showering and slept though the night with no issues. I’ve made it all the way through the work day and no issues.

So happy to have found a way to make my own and save money in the process. Yay! If you decide to try this recipe, let me know how it works.

P.S.: Do note that baking soda can be abrasive, so if you have sensitive skin, do a test patch. Also, DO NOT smear this on right after shaving. The Pit Putty actually gives the same warning. I can tell you from personal experience that it’s not a good idea. LOL!