Why I love the holidays

No, I haven't broken yet. You will find no Christmas spirit here. I generally hate this time of year because I can't get out of the house without being put in mortal danger by rushing, oblivious shoppers. I enjoy the time I spend with my families and while giving and receiving presents is fun, the food and company are generally preferred by me. Oh, and if the spirit involves spirits, I am doubly in!

One of the best things about being in crafting communities is seeing how other crafters celebrate the holidays. I think this is going down as one of my favorite ideas. And since it involves tigers, I'll definitely be needing one of those.

http://gizmodo.com/5113090/macabre-plush-toys-are-perfect-xmas-gift-for-future-psychokillers

Pet Lovers Swap

Just received my Craftster swap partner yesterday. Partner is a proud owner of a baby Siamese named Ari. Ari sounds like he has a lot in common with my cat, Honey, so I look forward to crafting for him. She said no wool, unless it's purpose is to be killed by said cat. I'm thinking a Homespun blanket and a few cat toys, maybe bowls if I get antsy.

Christmas

Most...MOST of the presents I PLANNED on making are complete. I have a whole Rubbermaid bin dedicated to them. I plan on taking pictures this week and posting them on Craftster.org and my Flickr account. I should make a game out of it. Put up a slideshow and make everyone guess.

Clean and Soft

I may have overdone the baking soda "paste" yesterday. I measured a 1/4 cup of baking soda and added water until it because baking soda-water. It seemed to be quite a lot more than previously, so my measurement must have been way off. However, it was much easier to spread over my scalp than before. I first massaged my scalp with finger tips, then with a wet wash cloth before rinsing.

Since it was Sunday, I also rinsed with a cup of apple cider vinegar. Now, this seemed to leave my wet hair sticky. In order to keep my waves, I didn't comb my hair. When it dried the scalp was clean and free of oil. My hair is soft and light and full of body. It's amazing to think a week ago today I was going to give the whole thing up.

Shampoo-less Progress

Last night marked three weeks since I gave up using shampoo and conditioner. Tuesday I was pretty disappointed with the process. Have you ever tried to spread a teaspoon of dry baking soda over your wet scalp? Not a fun process.

Yesterday, I put probably a 1/4 cup of baking soda in a large cup I keep in the shower and dampened it in order to make a "paste". Said "paste" was more like a liquid, but nevertheless, I turned the cup upside down and plopped it on my head. I used my fingertips to massage it over my scalp, then wet a washcloth and used that to massage my scalp, too. I rinsed, but skipped the vinegar this time. It was still easy to comb.

Once it dried, my hair wasn't oily or sticky at all. It was clean and actually shimmered in the sunlight (I don't care if it was from baking soda residue, it freaking shimmered!). Today, it's just as nice, if a little flat from blowdrying yesterday.

Yay! I love progress.

Disneyland Pics Are Up!

The Disneyland pics are up on my Flickr account. Still waiting on some pics from the 'rents however!

Disneyland 2008 Set

Worst Blogger Ever

Okay okay, I try, I really do try to be good, but between two blogs and a handful of social networking sites, it gets hard!

So, personal updates:

Boston Tea Party
The coffee to tea process is going well. I woke up at four this morning feeling well-rested and enjoyed my tea (nevermind that my cat, Honey, put be back to half-sleep). I did treat myself to a pumpkin spice latte, also, but I felt fine before that, honest I did!

Poo-less
Tomorrow evening marks two weeks from the time I consciously decided to give up my addiction to shampoo and conditioner. Last week was a bit nasty, however, I have seen a vast improvement. I used baking soda/apple cider solutions on Sunday afternoon, and the top of my head (where the baking soda was applied) feels very clean and soft. Baking soda paste is a bit hard to apply and move around, so I'll need to work on that. I am very excited by this progress! My facial skin is even improving. Yay for that alone!

Meatfree
No, not quite meat free and I don't know if I ever will be, but eating less meat and more healthy and wholesome foods has been going much better. More energy, less bloating, and general mood continues to improve. And some of it's yummy and some of it is disastrous.

Now You See Me...
Still don't have the photos from Disneyland uploaded to Flickr, but I will chase the camera master this evening!

Owls!

A friend shared this video with me. Apparently it was introduced to her by her intro to psychology professor for no reason.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/Owls/

WTF? Thoughts?

Kitchen Experiments

Made some yummy black bean burgers from Epicurious. They were slightly spicy (the recipe called for chunky salsa, hot sauce, and cumin) and extremely flavorful. A little bit of mozarella and yellow mustard brings the flavors together well. There are only 5 or 6 ingredients called for and the whole thing takes 15 to 20 minutes from start to finish. Even the hubby loved them (and said he'd have to try making them once, which means they'll resemble nothing of the original recipe but be yummy all the same).

Also tried going poo-less for the first time. I'll have to be consistent in order to reap the rewards, but I am looking forward to going plastic and chemical free!

Beginnings

All my friends started one, so I'm going to start one too!

Seriously, I need a cohesive blog to post things that I make. Craftster is great but message boards can be disjointed; LiveJournal is addicting but better for journal bits; and then there's Flickr which is again a disorganized mass of pictures which aren't always "in order". So, yeah. And all my friends have blogs :P