Special Day Off (!!!) -- New Hair Brush
First off, I managed to break my hair brush. I've had it forever and a day -- I can't even recall when I bought it. It was a Conair Tourmaline Ceramic brush. I got one like it, but slightly different. Then I got another Conair brush that's a Tourmaline Ionic with a Gelgrip. I like both, but still feel bad about my original hair brush! Hahaha. I don't know, I guess we get used to the brush that we use.
I also had a second hair brush in the house after breaking the Conair, but it was a Goody. Frankly, it's just not as good a brand.
My fun new buy is a Conair comb "Detangles" that is 'ideal for wet hair' -- but also seems to go through dry hair like a hot knife through butter! It's actually considered a 'shower comb.' I've never even heard of that before! You can use it to 'evenly distribute conditioner through hair.' Seriously??? I can't wait to give it a try.
It's amazing the trouble they go to with hair brushes, by the way: Tourmaline, a gemstone that naturally releases negative ions, is crushed into a fine powder and infused into the nylon bristles and ceramic barrels of Conair Tourmaline Ceramic brushes. The ions tighten the cuticle layer and seal in natural oils, reducing static electricity, leaving hair shiny and silky. Ceramic coating, a powder layered over the metal base of the brush, evenly distributes and holds heat longer, so hair dries faster. (Using a blow-dryer increases the natural benefits of tourmaline ionic and ceramic.)
Marilyn took today off work to make up for us working on Saturday. I slept in really late! But she got up really early, poor thing.
Anyway, we decided to go to the beach on Sauvie Island (our third time this summer). We stopped at Safeway in St. Johns. I wanted to get a cheese sandwich to take along. So we went to the deli.
Unfortunately the woman in the deli was quite rude. Marilyn was so upset she had to walk away. Anyway, all the sandwiches listed had meat -- and (as I said) I just wanted cheese.
An aside: Marilyn and I decided to observe Meat Free Week which runs September 24-30 (connected to Meat Free Monday which we've been observing all year long). That means we're avoiding meat in our food for this week.
Since my encephalitis, I don't always click that well. Yes, there was a chart -- but initially I didn't even know if she would make a meatless sandwich. It was a rather nasty situation.
Marilyn made it clear that we will NEVER be going to that deli again to get food. She was so unhappy with how I was treated.
She told me first thing that the cost of the sandwich would be the same as any with meat. I told her right off that price didn't matter, I just wanted a cheese sandwich.
She takes two pieces of white bread and puts a thin (very thin) layer of avocado on one piece. Then she puts ONE THIN SLICE of cheese on the bread. One! Marilyn is freaking out a bit by this point. Asking if I can get more cheese. The woman is saying each slice of cheese will be an extra fifty cents. I'm saying I don't care about the price (where have we heard that before???). Finally she adds more cheese.
Next I ask about olives -- they don't have black olives. But they have an olive spread, so I ask for that. She was going to give me some pepperoncini, but was out -- I say never mind. I want no lettuce. I got tomato and that was all. She seemed shocked, but eventually was pleasant with me after several nasty behaviors. And she ended up charging me $2.99 (well UNDER the price of the meat sandwiches), because she said I put 'so little' on my choice. Well, there you go!
But Marilyn was still upset as we left. And it certainly wasn't worth upsetting her!!!
It's like the Starbucks we go to (the drive through) that's on Lombard and closer to our home (than the one in St. Johns). There is a man who works there who is lovely! Such a pleasant person. And there's a woman who works there who clearly hates her job and is ALWAYS unpleasant, no matter what. It nearly keeps us away from that Starbucks (which we like so much) because, again, who should have to put up with people who make you feel bad?
It's only a sandwich. Or a cup of coffee. But if the server is nice you feel much better when you depart.
Then later in the day we got drinks from McDonalds. And we were remarking on how the people who work there always seem to be in good moods. They are always nice. They make you feel good during the few minutes you interact with them.
Marilyn and I try hard in the course of our work to make other people feel good. Hopefully we succeed most of the time. Nobody is nice all the time and everybody has bad days. But if you hate your job, it's probably time to move on and find a job you can like...
It was a BEAUTIFUL day -- blue skies and sunshine. We had our lovely blanket that June and Jim gave Marilyn for her birthday several years ago. It's weatherproof on the bottom and blue and white stripes and comfortable on the top. It folds up and has a strap for carrying and we LOVE it. And we had our sand buckets (I wanted to get more sand for one of my 'projects'). And a bag of snacks. And our bag with blankets we use as pillows and a towel we have for if we go in the water. And our Beatles bags with this and that.
Marilyn was reading out loud from the book "Clapton: The Autobiography" -- the story of the amazing Eric Clapton. What a WONDERFUL book! Both of us were struck by how well written this book is! It reads like a delightful novel.
Needless to say, this book has wonderful reviews from wonderful sources such as the Houston Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, the Boston Herald, the New York Times, USA Today and many more.
One review called him 'the guitarist extraordinaire' -- and that's certainly true to both Marilyn and me!
Anyway, I look forward to hearing more, hopefully soon. I can't wait!
Marilyn is typing away on a fanfic beside me as I blog on my computer in my home office. I really haven't done that much this year. I've been so sick and it's been so painful to sit up in this chair. No, it's not better, if you're asking. But I felt like giving it a try, anyway...
The Big Valley is on in the background (we have TVs all over our house, as most of you know). I was just commented on how good the acting was on that show (both the regulars and the guest stars). It has always been a favorite, but I think we appreciate it even more now. Just think of how many times we've seen each episode after all these years! It originally aired 1965 through 1969.
You know, I watch a combination of old and new TV. And I suppose it's a sign of age that I like to watch older TV shows. But it's now much easier to do so! There are so many channels on cable that allow us to see these series.
What I think I'll do is try sharing just one show at a time and discuss WHY I each one. I guess we'll say
my mention of "The Big Valley" is a start. We loved the Barkley family (still do!) and the actors who portrayed them. And we knew so many others who did, too. We were always delighted when we heard references to the series over the years. There were 112 episodes during the four seasons it was on TV (Season One: 1965-66, Season Two: 1966-67, Season Three: 1967-68, Season Four: 1968-69). I recall that we got really crazy about the show after it was officially off the air. We were watching it in the early 70's. It went to channel 12 locally, which was always a sort of 'extra' channel that ran a lot of reruns (we loved that!). There were some historical aspects that they got wrong that always bothered us, but for the most part they tried hard, considering the limitations of television budgets (something I didn't understand as much when I was younger -- which made me judge shows more harshly than I do now). Barbara Stanwyck must have been incredibly strong! She forced the people making the show to take her character Victoria and constantly make her stronger and stronger as the series progressed. Think of this, by the way: the character Heath was NEVER listed as 'Heath Barkley' in the credits -- because he was the bastard son of Thomas (Tom) Barkley! Yet Victoria comes to treat him just like one of her own children -- and he starts calling her Mother. There was still stigma then about being illegitimate, which is hard to believe now, I know. The series had incredible guest stars (see the full list by following the above link), which included: Katharine Ross, Ron Howard, Dennis Hopper, Martin Landau, John Carradine, Milton Berle, Maurice Eveans, Paul Fix, Tige Andrews, Robert Goulet, Michael Burns and many, many more! (So many it's impossible to list them all...) There were some really good stories that we've enjoyed enough to watch over and over, obviously.
We're heading to bed soon, so I should end. Aside from the fact that this is another huge (and pretty much boring) entry! Hahaha.
Colin attacked Johnnie this morning, I'm sorry to report. I guess there's no sign that they'll get along any time soon. But I still hope. Ultimately, Johnnie seemed content in my bedroom and if he has to be shut in all the time so be it. My bedroom is pretty big, really. There are two windows and I always make sure he can look out into the back yard. (I keep the blinds higher during the day and lower at night.) He has my bed with a comfortable (very soft) blanket on top. He has a huge pile of pillows he loves. He was his commode across the room -- the really nice one we got him! He has his own food and water bowls that I try to keep constantly filled. He has his toys on the bed and floor and some tissue paper if he wants to lie on that. He was other places to hide or play, including my big closet. We try to give him time each day to roam around the upstairs while we lock the other cats downstairs. The upstairs was originally the entire house, by the way, before previous owners added the downstairs family room and Marilyn's bedroom and huge walk-in closet. In other words, it's like having the run of an entire house, really.
Well, off to bed! Sleep well, friends...
I also had a second hair brush in the house after breaking the Conair, but it was a Goody. Frankly, it's just not as good a brand.
My fun new buy is a Conair comb "Detangles" that is 'ideal for wet hair' -- but also seems to go through dry hair like a hot knife through butter! It's actually considered a 'shower comb.' I've never even heard of that before! You can use it to 'evenly distribute conditioner through hair.' Seriously??? I can't wait to give it a try.
It's amazing the trouble they go to with hair brushes, by the way: Tourmaline, a gemstone that naturally releases negative ions, is crushed into a fine powder and infused into the nylon bristles and ceramic barrels of Conair Tourmaline Ceramic brushes. The ions tighten the cuticle layer and seal in natural oils, reducing static electricity, leaving hair shiny and silky. Ceramic coating, a powder layered over the metal base of the brush, evenly distributes and holds heat longer, so hair dries faster. (Using a blow-dryer increases the natural benefits of tourmaline ionic and ceramic.)
Marilyn took today off work to make up for us working on Saturday. I slept in really late! But she got up really early, poor thing.
Anyway, we decided to go to the beach on Sauvie Island (our third time this summer). We stopped at Safeway in St. Johns. I wanted to get a cheese sandwich to take along. So we went to the deli.
Unfortunately the woman in the deli was quite rude. Marilyn was so upset she had to walk away. Anyway, all the sandwiches listed had meat -- and (as I said) I just wanted cheese.
An aside: Marilyn and I decided to observe Meat Free Week which runs September 24-30 (connected to Meat Free Monday which we've been observing all year long). That means we're avoiding meat in our food for this week.
Since my encephalitis, I don't always click that well. Yes, there was a chart -- but initially I didn't even know if she would make a meatless sandwich. It was a rather nasty situation.
Marilyn made it clear that we will NEVER be going to that deli again to get food. She was so unhappy with how I was treated.
She told me first thing that the cost of the sandwich would be the same as any with meat. I told her right off that price didn't matter, I just wanted a cheese sandwich.
She takes two pieces of white bread and puts a thin (very thin) layer of avocado on one piece. Then she puts ONE THIN SLICE of cheese on the bread. One! Marilyn is freaking out a bit by this point. Asking if I can get more cheese. The woman is saying each slice of cheese will be an extra fifty cents. I'm saying I don't care about the price (where have we heard that before???). Finally she adds more cheese.
Next I ask about olives -- they don't have black olives. But they have an olive spread, so I ask for that. She was going to give me some pepperoncini, but was out -- I say never mind. I want no lettuce. I got tomato and that was all. She seemed shocked, but eventually was pleasant with me after several nasty behaviors. And she ended up charging me $2.99 (well UNDER the price of the meat sandwiches), because she said I put 'so little' on my choice. Well, there you go!
But Marilyn was still upset as we left. And it certainly wasn't worth upsetting her!!!
It's like the Starbucks we go to (the drive through) that's on Lombard and closer to our home (than the one in St. Johns). There is a man who works there who is lovely! Such a pleasant person. And there's a woman who works there who clearly hates her job and is ALWAYS unpleasant, no matter what. It nearly keeps us away from that Starbucks (which we like so much) because, again, who should have to put up with people who make you feel bad?
It's only a sandwich. Or a cup of coffee. But if the server is nice you feel much better when you depart.
Then later in the day we got drinks from McDonalds. And we were remarking on how the people who work there always seem to be in good moods. They are always nice. They make you feel good during the few minutes you interact with them.
Marilyn and I try hard in the course of our work to make other people feel good. Hopefully we succeed most of the time. Nobody is nice all the time and everybody has bad days. But if you hate your job, it's probably time to move on and find a job you can like...
It was a BEAUTIFUL day -- blue skies and sunshine. We had our lovely blanket that June and Jim gave Marilyn for her birthday several years ago. It's weatherproof on the bottom and blue and white stripes and comfortable on the top. It folds up and has a strap for carrying and we LOVE it. And we had our sand buckets (I wanted to get more sand for one of my 'projects'). And a bag of snacks. And our bag with blankets we use as pillows and a towel we have for if we go in the water. And our Beatles bags with this and that.
Marilyn was reading out loud from the book "Clapton: The Autobiography" -- the story of the amazing Eric Clapton. What a WONDERFUL book! Both of us were struck by how well written this book is! It reads like a delightful novel.
Needless to say, this book has wonderful reviews from wonderful sources such as the Houston Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Post, the Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone, the Boston Herald, the New York Times, USA Today and many more.
One review called him 'the guitarist extraordinaire' -- and that's certainly true to both Marilyn and me!
Anyway, I look forward to hearing more, hopefully soon. I can't wait!
Marilyn is typing away on a fanfic beside me as I blog on my computer in my home office. I really haven't done that much this year. I've been so sick and it's been so painful to sit up in this chair. No, it's not better, if you're asking. But I felt like giving it a try, anyway...
The Big Valley is on in the background (we have TVs all over our house, as most of you know). I was just commented on how good the acting was on that show (both the regulars and the guest stars). It has always been a favorite, but I think we appreciate it even more now. Just think of how many times we've seen each episode after all these years! It originally aired 1965 through 1969.
You know, I watch a combination of old and new TV. And I suppose it's a sign of age that I like to watch older TV shows. But it's now much easier to do so! There are so many channels on cable that allow us to see these series.
What I think I'll do is try sharing just one show at a time and discuss WHY I each one. I guess we'll say
my mention of "The Big Valley" is a start. We loved the Barkley family (still do!) and the actors who portrayed them. And we knew so many others who did, too. We were always delighted when we heard references to the series over the years. There were 112 episodes during the four seasons it was on TV (Season One: 1965-66, Season Two: 1966-67, Season Three: 1967-68, Season Four: 1968-69). I recall that we got really crazy about the show after it was officially off the air. We were watching it in the early 70's. It went to channel 12 locally, which was always a sort of 'extra' channel that ran a lot of reruns (we loved that!). There were some historical aspects that they got wrong that always bothered us, but for the most part they tried hard, considering the limitations of television budgets (something I didn't understand as much when I was younger -- which made me judge shows more harshly than I do now). Barbara Stanwyck must have been incredibly strong! She forced the people making the show to take her character Victoria and constantly make her stronger and stronger as the series progressed. Think of this, by the way: the character Heath was NEVER listed as 'Heath Barkley' in the credits -- because he was the bastard son of Thomas (Tom) Barkley! Yet Victoria comes to treat him just like one of her own children -- and he starts calling her Mother. There was still stigma then about being illegitimate, which is hard to believe now, I know. The series had incredible guest stars (see the full list by following the above link), which included: Katharine Ross, Ron Howard, Dennis Hopper, Martin Landau, John Carradine, Milton Berle, Maurice Eveans, Paul Fix, Tige Andrews, Robert Goulet, Michael Burns and many, many more! (So many it's impossible to list them all...) There were some really good stories that we've enjoyed enough to watch over and over, obviously.
We're heading to bed soon, so I should end. Aside from the fact that this is another huge (and pretty much boring) entry! Hahaha.
Colin attacked Johnnie this morning, I'm sorry to report. I guess there's no sign that they'll get along any time soon. But I still hope. Ultimately, Johnnie seemed content in my bedroom and if he has to be shut in all the time so be it. My bedroom is pretty big, really. There are two windows and I always make sure he can look out into the back yard. (I keep the blinds higher during the day and lower at night.) He has my bed with a comfortable (very soft) blanket on top. He has a huge pile of pillows he loves. He was his commode across the room -- the really nice one we got him! He has his own food and water bowls that I try to keep constantly filled. He has his toys on the bed and floor and some tissue paper if he wants to lie on that. He was other places to hide or play, including my big closet. We try to give him time each day to roam around the upstairs while we lock the other cats downstairs. The upstairs was originally the entire house, by the way, before previous owners added the downstairs family room and Marilyn's bedroom and huge walk-in closet. In other words, it's like having the run of an entire house, really.
Well, off to bed! Sleep well, friends...