Wen It Just Doesn't Work

Many people might not know this about me but I have a secret addiction to infomercials... I know... It's sad. I don't know what it is about the infomercial that sucks me in. It could be the "but wait there's more!" or even the "you'll never find anything like this!" that really gets me but I could be flipping through channels, find an infomercial and all the sudden it's a half hour later and the next one is starting.

Anyway, I have always been able to say that while I do love them, I have never purchased anything (while the infomercial is on TV). And I guess I can still say that. Last year I bought TurboFire, a BeachBody workout and I absolutely LOVE it (but I bought it on Craig's List for almost half the listed price).

Then a few weeks ago we were at the mall and I stopped in at the Bare Minerals store. I have never worn makeup (only for special occasions) but I thought I would check it out and- I LOVE it!

When I purchased the Bare Minerals they added me to their mailing lists and I began getting emails from other companies including Wen. Wen hair care products claim to be "conditioning cleansers" without any harsh chemicals that strip your hair. So I decided to give it a try- what the heck? There's a money back guarantee if I'm not satisfied so I bought it. BIG MISTAKE

So Sunday after my workout I used it as directed. Monday I didn't wash my hair (don't worry...). Tuesday I showered again after my morning workout and my hair looked dark, but I thought I would keep with the Wen to see if it became better. After my workout on Wednesday, my hair looked disgusting! It looked like I had not showered in weeks. It smelled nice but looked very dirty.

This morning after my workout I went back to my old shampoo and my hair was so happy! It looks and feels so much better. I dare even say it is much softer.

The Wen is going back tomorrow. It is not worth the money, although I am going to try to save the styling gel and leave in conditioner, as long as I can find some travel containers. My hair was not created for Wen. Maybe I should stay away from products that can't be purchased in stores...

A Change is in the (H)air

Today has been a great day for me! Bobby worked overtime and I always feel like I accomplish more when he's at work. When I got home this morning I made myself some French toast and it was so good! Then after a short nap I ran 2 miles on the treadmill and after cleaning up I met my cousin for lunch at Hacienda. It was so nice to just sit and talk- girls afternoon out. Then I did something I haven't done in a long time: CUT MY HAIR!!! It has been two years since I actually went to the salon and had my hair professionally cut (my aunt trimmed the dead ends off my hair this summer at the lake but she didn't take very much off) and I thought it was time. So I went to Cheveux on Mishawaka Ave in South Bend and Trisha took great care of me. I told her I wanted to donate it to Locks of Love and she was very happy to measure it out - and that was it. She measured out 10 inches, cut and then probably took 1-2 more to even it out. It feels so different!

And here's the final look! It's super short (at least it feels that way) and I'm still trying to get used to it but I like it! I was talking to my mom and we both think the last time my hair was this short was when I was in middle school... so...uhhh...1996 ish...

And tonight, to make my day even better, I made some very good hummus. My neighbor gave me the recipe and it was fantastic! What a great end to the day!!

Happy Turkey Day!! (Thankful Thursday)

Happy Turkey Day to all! I hope that everyone had a great day full of family, friends and everything there is to be thankful for. I am thankful for so many things so I thought I would post a Thankful Thursday post on this very special day.

I am very thankful for my family. I have a wonderful, thoughtful husband that is so great. I have been sick for the past few days and he has taken good care of me. Today, we started our day at Bobby's parents at a large gathering of his mom's family (and when I say large it was actually small. Today there were about 40 people at his parents and if everyone would have been there it would have been closer to 70-80). We then went to my aunt and uncles for a very nice gathering of my (much) smaller family. We played Left, Right, Center and mom ended up winning $30.00! What a great win!

I can't express how thankful I am for my freedom and the men and women who have dedicated and sacrificed their lives to the preservation of that freedom. I love that I live in a country where I am not censored and the only limits are those that I impose upon myself.

I am thankful for my job. In a time when there are family's struggling to make ends meet, I have a career that I can count on.

And even though I can not include everything, (this may sound silly) I am very thankful for Sophie and Lucky. Every morning when I come home from work they are waiting for me at the door and they let me know how much they love me. While I've been sick this week, they've stayed with me to keep me company and cared for me in their own ways. They always know if I'm having a bad day- they are such good kids!

This was a great Thanksgiving. We had an enjoyable day with our families and, as always, the food was fantastic! I hope everyone has fun Black-Friday shopping!

November!

I can't believe this year is almost over! Last night we went to a friends wedding and my husbands cousin reminded me that I hadn't blogged in a while- thanks Paula! So, here's the update:

Bobby's doing well at work and is glad to be back. He's on the ambo and surviving but ready to go back to the engine.

We held our annual Pumpkin Carving Party and it went well. I was really behind this year; I didn't send out invitations and ended up having to send out a mass text a few weeks before. I was so unprepared for the party (funny since I set the date and time and Halloween comes at the same time every year) that I didn't have any of my fall/Halloween decorations out until the day before.

Saturday (11-5), my mom and I went to the Indiana Dunes to see the South Bend Elkhart Audubon Society's private presentation of Saw-whet Owl banding. The Saw-whet Owl is a very small owl that travels through Indiana on it's migration to warmer climates. This presentation was very interesting and we were even able to pet the owl- she was very soft!

A few days ago Bobby and I took a trip to our favorite Indiana getaway- Nashville (Brown County), Indiana. We rented a beautiful "cabin" that was on 10 acres and had a small fishing pond. We went down on Sunday and started our vacation by visiting the Indiana Raptor Center located in Nashville. Lori and Patty were great! We learned so much and got to see the most beautiful birds. We saw a Kestrel, owls, vultures, falcons, hawks and the most beautiful Bald Eagles. That was SO amazing! We toured the facility, watched the birds eat and were offered knowledge of the birds and what the facility does to teach the public and rehab/release injured animals back to the wild. These ladies were amazing!

Monday morning we were eating breakfast on the front porch and had a wonderful show. We saw so many birds- I was in bird overload! I didn't know where to look and just when I thought I saw something in the tree I would hear another bird and look in that direction. It was great! If this place was so busy in the fall I wonder what it's like in the Spring when the migrating birds are headed north. We've already started talking about our Spring trip to Nashville.

On Tuesday we packed up and thought we would toss a line one last time into the pond to try and catch something. The previous day was unsuccessful and we both wanted to leave having caught something. So we fished for about 25 minutes on our way out and NOTHING! Not even a bite! but just as Bobby shut his door a fish jumped in the pond, kinda like a big HA HA from the fish. Bobby was not too happy. After we turned in our key we went to the Brown County State Park and decided to do a trail before we left. The park is beautiful and a must see! There is so much to do: hiking, horseback riding, camping, a swimming pool (summer) and the lodge in the park has an indoor water park. I think we will try to stay in the park on our next trip.

Even though we had a great time and we are already planning our next trip to Nashville, it was nice to be home. I missed the "kids" and there's nothing like your own bed. Now, I just have to get used to this silly Eastern time change. I HATE that it gets dark so early in the winter.

And So It Ends

Another summer has ended. Dislike. I ended up with a vacation day last Friday and another on Wednesday so last Thursday we headed up to the lake after I got off work. It was 90's, hot and swimming weather. Friday was even hotter- we had the air conditioning on in the cottage. Then some storms moved through on Saturday and we had the windows open. By Sunday we were in sweatshirts and Monday the heat was on. We have crazy weather in the Midwest! I am very sad to see the end of summer. So much has changed from last year. It makes me wonder how much things will change next year. I am headed up tomorrow morning and we are gong to try to get the boats out... Another end... I think it makes me so sad because I know what's ahead: cold, snowy, short days. Did I mention cold?

Wednesday, Bobby got cleared to go back to work September 18th. WooHoo!!! I know he's ready to get into a routine. So much so that he's already started going to bed earlier and waking up at a reasonable time.

Is it bad that I'm ready for spring? I like the fall- the cool, crisp days and the leaves changing (not the cold, damp, rainy day) so I think we should go from (nice) fall to an extended spring. Boooo winter!

I Guess We Have a Boring Life

Yes, I know I said I was going to post more often but there's nothing really new. I had a nice vacation at the lake and didn't want to go back to work. Bobby has been lucky and has spent a lot of time up there this year (even though he says he is ready to go back to work I secretly think he likes living at the lake). The lake has been REALLY warm- 88 degrees- soooo nice. So we have very boring lives- nothing new.

Blogging is so Hard to do

I'm not sure why I find it so difficult to keep this blog updated. Whenever I think about posting I always get distracted- stupid Facebook! Anyway, here's the short, very short, version of our lives since April.

The first part of May Bobby and I took a holiday in Chicago. We stayed at this beautiful B&B, The Villa D'Cita and had dinner at Geja's, a fondue restaurant that was WONDERFUL! Then on our way home we stopped in Portage and saw Thor on the 3D IMAX. It was a nice little get-away.

We have been spending a lot of time at the lake. I have seen a lot of interesting birds, a Rose Breasted Grosbeak, a Redheaded Woodpecker and we even saw a Bald Eagle fly overhead last week. I start my vacation tomorrow and am looking forward to many hot days at the lake.

Bobby saw the doctor last week and has been officially released to begin strength training. I know he is ready to start back to work and is looking forward to a change in his daily routine.

My partner and his wife sold their house and are in the buying mode, which has become contagious. I have been looking at houses and am ready to get out of Mishawaka. I made a list (I love lists) of things I would like to do to the house to get it ready to put on the market and started we cleaning out yesterday. We have so much stuff! I am almost overwhelmed with all the boxes and things that need to go to storage (or the trash) before we can even think about a realtor. And as I'm "cleaning" I seem to be making a bigger mess because now I have several piles on the basement floor- Goodwill, garage sale, library donation, Better World Books donation, trash, save... Holy cow! I just need to stay positive and not become discouraged.

So, that's us in a nutshell. Yes, we have boring lives, which could be good- I'm not complaining. As I have said many times before, I hope to start blogging more, but you can see how that has gone.

That Time Again

It's that time again!!! LAKE season! Wednesday, Bobby and I went up to the lake so I could do a little work (he's not much help with one arm but he tries). All I wanted to do was hang my bird feeders and pull out some Day Lilly's because I want to plant a Hummingbird/Butterfly flower mix.

My mom once said that if there was a statement that described Bobby it would be, "Bobby rigged a system," or, "Bobby rigged it up" and for anyone that knows him knows how true this is. And he came through with his "systems" when it came to hanging my feeders. He set up a pulley system for my feeders by the house so it is easier for me to fill them. He told me how to hang them and I got up on the ladder and he supervised/directed.

Then, when I was hanging my new feeder, using a similar method as the others, I didn't secure the wire enough to the tree and when the ring took the weight of the feeder (it held 6.3 pounds of food!) the wire gave way from the tree and my feeder crashed to the ground, breaking into several pieces. Very sad, but my own fault. I was not thinking when I was twisting the wire to the tree and didn't secure it enough.

So, my feeders were hung, at least some of them, but I only got about 1/3 of the Lilly's pulled out. As far as I can determine they have been there forever! The bulbs are deep and there are so many! The plan is to try again tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will be nice and I can work in the yard.

While we were there I could hear some of the birds have already returned. I could hear Purple Martins but didn't see any and none had taken residence in the Martin house that we put up last year. I can't wait to see if we have any new birds!

When Did I Become Like My Parents?

It's funny how people say they don't want to be like their parents but somehow, no matter what, we end up taking on the traits of them. I have wonderful parents. I am very blessed that my parents have always been around, are very caring and have taught me many important life lessons.

For years my parents have been feeding the stray cats in their neighborhood and for about the past 3 or 4 years they have had raccoons that have come to the food bowl to partake in the evening meal. Now, you know it's bad when you go over to your parents and your dad informs you that the raccoons like Jelly Belly, Jelly Beans- but just the pineapple ones. After he had been feeding the family of raccoons, or The Coonies, as he named them (Rosemary and George), he discovered that they would let him pet them. So now anytime we are over at my parents we have to check the food bowl to see if there are any visitors and if they do arrive, we enjoy feeding them too.

Well, somehow Bobby and I have become like my parents. In the fall Bobby made a food trough so we could feed our stray cats. For about the past two weeks we have noticed some nightly visitors to our house and now have four raccoons that eat at our house. So every time we walk up the steps from the basement or walk into the kitchen we have to check to see if anyone is eating. Last night we sat in the hot tub and had to be VERY quiet just in case someone decided to visit. Somehow I was very lucky in the parent department.

I guess if I have to be like someone, it might as well be like my parents. Come to think of it, maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoy my birds so much.

A Week Later

It has been a little over a week since Bobby had his surgery and he is doing well. He is still in pain but has taken himself off of the pain meds. However, his bicep has started spasming, which was expected, and is a little more painful that he anticipated. He is bored and is having a hard time sitting and relaxing since he has been doing that since November. He has his first appointment on Monday with the doctor so hopefully he will be cleared to drive. He just wants to get out of the house for a while and have the freedom to decide when to do that. You don't realize how nice it is to be able to just get up and go whenever you want to until you are forced to give up the keys.

Someone Needs to Post More

Why am I so bad at this? Every time I think about posting I get distracted and start doing something else- I should be better at this!

I wanted to post a quick update on todays events. Bobby had surgery again today on his right shoulder. Somehow, somewhere, something happened and when he went to get released to go back to work it was discovered that he had a full tear in his rotator cuff. So after being off since November, it was back to the table and will be six more months off work.

His surgery wasn't until 12:45 and everything was right on time. The anesthesiologist was in the room at 12:30 to begin the meds, gave him the nerve block and they took him back right after. The Dr. said the surgery went well and he is very confident that everything was fixed (again). (The pictures of the tear were amazing! I can't believe it was so big- no wonder Bobby was in so much pain!)

But we got home and he was feeling good enough to sit on the porch with his cooling machine (this really cool device that has a wrap that goes around his shoulder and has 43o water circulating through it- a safer way to ice) while I went and filled his prescriptions. He seems to be feeling better than last time; at least he is in a better mood. Hopefully he can get some sleep. I have to make sure I can keep him medicated because when that nerve block wears off in a few hours I'm sure he will be hurting. Please keep us in your prayers.

Fun February? Not So Much...

February has been an interesting month. Bobby and I were looking forward to his return to work but it turns out that he is going to need another surgery. He had been experiencing some sharp pain in his shoulder and I thought it was just the healing process but when he went in for his final check up the doctor thought differently. After some poking around, he discovered that Bobby's bicep tendon was extremely inflamed and when it did not reduce with a cortisone shot- to surgery he goes. So Dr. Ratigan is going to do some sub scapular repair and a bicep tenotomy which means (at least) another three months out of work... Bobby has an MRI on Monday to see if the surgery can be done orthoscopically or if the doctor needs to open his shoulder up to do the repairs.

You know you've been in the cold too long when you walk outside and think, "Hey, it's kinda warm out here!" and when you look at the thermometer in the car it reads 22 degrees. I am really ready for the spring. We visited a store the other day and were looking at their bird feeders, houses and seed- I'm ready to feed my birds again! Hopefully it will get warmer soon so we can at least clean out the Martin house and start feeding the Orioles. Summer, summer, summertime!

I will post when we know anything about Bobby's next surgery. I'm sure it will be out patient and I know it will be a long recovery. Just when he was ready to get back to work too...

Someone Call a Doctor, I Think I've Gone Crazy!

Well, I did it. Tonight after dinner I signed up for my first race, the Sunburst half marathon. I have always wanted to run a marathon but every time I start to train I feel as though the goal is too large, get discouraged and quit my training. But now I have a goal, I've paid an entrance fee and I have 19 weeks to train for this little "jog" around the city. My friend Sarah has been kind enough to sign up with me so I am not completely crazy alone.

You might be wondering, why a half marathon? Why not a 5k, or a 10k? Well, because I think I can do it. I believe that if I put my mind to it, I will achieve this goal. And it's all mind over matter, right? I have 19 weeks, 19!, and, as of the 18th, 137 days to prepare myself. I can do it!

Would Anyone Like A FlatTop?

Last night Bobby and I met some good friends for dinner at the new FlatTop Grill in Mishawaka and let me say, it was wonderful! A few years ago I went to the Mongolian BBQ in K-zoo and liked it so when I heard about this new place, it was a must try.

You start by filling your bowl with rice or noodles, veggies, add some different sauces and then choose your meat. Then you can turn your dish into a unique experience by adding bread, moo shoo wraps, lettuce wraps, tofu and even shrimp to your meal. Set your bowls on the counter and the chefs cook it up for you on a huge griddle. Your stir-fry is brought to the table- enjoy!

One of the many great things is since you make it yourself, if it's not good, go make another bowl. The difference between an all you can eat bar and a single bowl was $1, so why not? There were plenty of choices- veggie, meat and sauces. And if you were unsure of which sauce to pick, there's a sauce person that allows you to sample- who doesn't like to sample?

We really enjoyed our meal. I really liked that we weren't rushed and that we could sit, visit and taste our food. I guess they offer a breakfast bar on the weekends and I am very excited to try it soon. You can make omelets, scrambles, pancakes, french toast and don't forget the bacon and sausage. Someday we will try breakfast, we just have to make sure we are able to crawl out of bed early enough, since breakfast ends at 11. Restaurant

A Winter Wonderland

According to WNDU, the airport reports that since Thursday, we have received 38.6 inches of snow. Before I left from work on Saturday morning, I cleaned off my car (6:30). As I went to leave at 7, I had to do it again. When I got home from work Saturday morning I had to wade through the snow that was mid calf. CRAZY!

So yesterday afternoon, Bobby and I went over to his parents to pick up the snow blower. As we were driving through the city of South Bend, I was really surprised to see so many people out walking around in the street. I guess I think that if the sidewalks are not clear and have that much snow on them, I probably wouldn't go out in the snow. But hey, that's me.

The main roads were pretty clear but the side roads were not. People were driving on the side streets down the center of the road, trying to stay in the ruts, and when we would meet on the road they were not very quick to get over.

After we left his parents we went over to his grandma's to dig her out. It was amazing to see all the snow that had fallen. Bobby said that he had been there the night before and used the snow blower to try to get ahead of the snowfall. Hard to believe from the picture.

Right now the snow has stopped and the sun [was] shining. Hopefully we are done with the snow for a bit- when is spring?

My Husband's a Winner!

Well, we already knew that, at least I did. But today when I got home from the gym he said, "Hey, come here and listen to this," and he hands me his phone. As I'm listening, I recognize the radio DJ and then I hear him say, "What's your name?" and it was Bobby! While I was gone, B100, the local country radio station, played movie trivia and Bobby knew the answer! So he won 4 tickets to the RV show that's sometime in the near future. Should be fun!

My Great Husband

For Christmas, Bobby said he wanted to make me a bird feeder to put up at the lake in the summer. Last night he presented me with a beautiful feeder that he made. I am so lucky- he is such a thoughtful guy!

I love it! I think it's so cute! I can't wait to hang it up at the lake in the spring.