You know, the usual blog stuff. Except that I've got WAYYYY too many thoughts, lots of griping, and complaining on life in general. Because of course...only MY opinion matters.
Showing posts with label Health and Beauty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health and Beauty. Show all posts
The nice thing about working for a big company is that they give a crap about your well-being. Not because they care about your well being, period, but they care about your well-being because it costs them less in the long run.
At today's health fair I got the hookup on a free flu shot (after all, I'm so cheap, if they gave the flu itself away for free I'd take it) and a "biometric screening".
I discovered that I'm 1.5" taller than I thought I was (I'm slightly over 5'4. Go figure).
My dinner every night this week
All of my measurements were within the "yay! good!" range. The nurse told me that I'm "blessed" and that if I'm exercising, then I'm definitely in the peak of health.
If you had met me 8 years ago, you would have met someone who was a gym rat obsessed with eating salad. Today I count lifting the gas pump to my car as lifting weights. With Halloween, I found myself eating a crap ton of Almond Joys for breakfast. I'm back to weaning myself off of Diet Pepsi. In an effort to clear out my freezer, I'm eating all of the cheese curds ever given to me from friends visiting from Wisconsin or Ottawa (yes, that includes 5-year old cheese curds. Those things never get old. Ever.) by eating Poutine almost every night this week (fries, cheese curds gravy).
The healthiest thing I've done all year is that this week, I've decided to actually open the bottle of vitamins that has been on my desk at work. And by "on my desk", I mean, RIGHT in front of my keyboard, between my 2 monitors. Until Monday, it made a great paperweight for imaginary papers.
If the above pic isn't enough to make you quit smoking, then I don't think anything will. No one should be in the same category as this douchebag. I'm half inclined to dye my hair blond just to make sure I have one less thing in common with him.
On another note, when you have EIGHT kids who look up to you (maybe one day they're learn not to) and may emulate you shudder then maybe that should be inspiration enough to quit smoking. Oh that and the press already rips on you, do you really want to give them fodder? The only thing that could make this picture worse would be an Ed Hardy tshirt.
In fact, instead of a warning label on a pack of smokes, just put the above pic. Let's be real, even *I* would be more afraid of being like Jon Gosselin than lung cancer, bad skin, nasty-smelling clothes, and smoker's cough combined.
Something MUST be wrong with me. It's not like I don't have the words in my brain. For some reason, lately I've been too lazy to type them out. 2 years ago, my brain would have burst if I didn't write in a blog. Now...meh. My thoughts don't seem as important.
Wah wah!
There's something interesting that happes as you delve deeper into your 30s. It's safe to say i was ahead of the curve in terms of wrinkle and other "curse-ed you time and your effects of aging, i'm waving my fist in the air!". Paranoid, sure, call it what you want. When i was 20 i remembered how at 5 years old i vowed to start using wrinkle cream. When i was 25, i had a quarterlife crisis. And i've had a series of crises ever since. At 29 I had botox. Twice.
When you're in your 30s, everyone else finally catches up. You're not the only one lamenting cellulite despite the exercise you do. You're not the only one freaking out over a few grey hairs. You tell people you buy wrinkles cream, they compare it to what they use.
Which, as you can guess, has spawned a whole new series of aging freakouts for me. Before at least people would say "you don't need that!"...now, when people are doing the same as you, then you REALLY know the aging countdown has begun.
Sadly the older I get the less money I seem to have for discretionary spending. (Is that even the correct use of "discretionary spending"? I'm looking for the grownup way of saying "fun money").
Here's what I'm on now: Alternating between Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 (okay, i didn't buy this, i got this bottle for free otherwise i probably wouldn't use it...but it's pretty good) and Oil of Olay Regenerist Serum...if Consumers Reports says it's the best, even better than Creme de la Mer, i'm down for it. I also use La Roche Posay SPF 45 to 60, which you can't get in the states.
I just added some Origins eye cream containing some foreign, patent-pending fancy shmancy crap. I wasn't thinking too much about eye creams, figuring just slathering on the regular stuff everywhere would be fine.
Oh how wrong I was.
I generally don't buy sunglasses that are too dark because I'm retarded and dark glasses = hard to tell stop light colors. How I would know this I don't know, since I've never owned dark sunglasses. I've had my polarized ray bans for years, so there's never been any reason to change them.
The other day though I shrieked in horror when i looked at my reflection in the car mirror: the wrinkles made by squinting weren't unwrinkling.
This is a problem.
A big one.
it takes awhile after i've gone back inside for the squinty wrinkles to go away. Now you can't get botox anywhere inside your eye socket, otherwise i'd sell a kidney and start that process again. I suppose if i do it on my upper cheekbone it might sorta work, but that's not normal I don't think.
So...for now...gonna keep dousing myself with this Origins stuff and research optimal eye cream usage. Or wait until Consumers Reports tells me what to do.
I'm almost 32 and I realized that my quarter-life crisis has been at a slow and steady pace since I was around 28.
All this bitching, all this griping...it all makes sense now! Before I was merely an annoying chick who was never satisfied and felt the need to let the whole world know her complaints. BUT NOW...it has been solved! I've just been going through a crisis, but at such a slow pace that I didn't realize it.
At least men in their 40s and 50s wake up and buy cars. Sadly, I can't do that. And I actually like my car. In fact, I love Eleanor. She has been good to me. Eleanor, baby, I'm sorry I haven't washed you in like 2 months. I know baby. A car is a reflection of its owner, and right now I look pretty hygienically unsound.
So what's a girl to do when she realizes that she's gone though the stupid fun years of her life and doesn't know what to do as a grownup?
Oh sure...there's all the grownup things. Job. 401k. House. No...house PAYMENTS. Sending out way too many holiday cards in December on behalf of "us". Laundry. Proper nutrition.
But there's a shift in mentality that needs to take place. I feel like each chapter of our lives is represented by an entrance. Well, I haven't crossed the doorway. I've just been chillin' on the front porch so that I can keep my eye on the door from my Oh Look Sweet Freedom I'm On My Own Now! This Is Going To Rock Years. It's like turning my head and charging through that doorway indicates that I should bet that person. The kind that in every year earlier in your life, you never wanted to become. The one who talks mortgages (already do), bills(already do), weather (already do), and politics (already do although I aim to be as ignorant as possible with the exception of socialized healthcare which i feel damn passionately about...wtf in the States we pay more per capita for healthcare yet the #1 reason for bankruptcy is healthcare costs. Ahhh my tangent...I'll bring it back in now).
Listen, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not cool. I've never been cool. I just want ONE opportunity to be cool and then I promise I'll turn my head from peering into that party house that represents youth. So what constitutes "cool"? We don't want to be the 32yo equivalent of the douchebag old guy who gets a new corvette, or even worse, a new miata.
Options include:
Tattoos
Everyone's got one now. So I think at this rate if I got one I become a crazy conformist. And it's just so...permanent. I have NOTHING on me that's permanent other than scars, and I desperately slather Mederma and prescription scar cream in hopes of one day miraculously waking up to flawless skin. Why am I paying to have that occur? Although...the cheesy "made in Canada" logo that people in Canada get would seem pretty nifty and different when you live in the States. But still...getting a tattoo would make me feel like it's the body part equivalent of getting a miata (not for others...but for me, since it's so out of character). The whole point of why it was cool once upon a time was the pain factor combined with the stigma of doing something so ooohhhh "wrong" to your body in a permanent fashion. I'm sure there's plenty of nerds to tattoo "Hello World" or "void foo(int a)" so really...I'll pass.
Splurge on an expensive grownup purse
There comes a time in every woman's life when she splurges and gets that one designer bag she's dying for. Guys, don't even TRY to understand this. And lord knows, I've provided many a slobbery goo over the pretty things I've seen here in Orange County. But my paranoia exceeds my desire, and my fear of being robbed prevents me from ever starting a "nice expensive prettttyyy purse fund so that I can stop justifying why I have 25 non-designer bags that although they're cute and functional, it's just not the same". I don't think I would get robbed for the purse. I think I would just get robbed, period. Regardless if my purse were Hermes or Target, I can still get robbed. The last thing I want is to be negotiating with a robber "For real, take the CONTENTS of the purse. Take my wallet, take my cell. Just leave me my purse and my lipgloss. Please."
Get a whole new hair-do
Been there, done that. Spent forever feeling like Eva Longoria's ugly sister. While my hair still looks better, all it does is make me feel that I should have been visiting Henry the Stylist years ago.
Pursue a Master's degree
This falls under the "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up". Well the other parts of life that involve bills make this not so much an option (well, everything's an option. But the risks/consequences/stress aren't worth the potential outcome of it providing me with what I'd want). Plus I once looked up the whole thing of having my Canadian degree scoped out to see if it fits whatever requirements, and that just seemed like one big pain in the ass. It was 4 years of hell at horrific Ottawa U, I'd like to not revisit that past in order to attempt a future degree.
Plastic Surgery
Well I haven't had plastic surgery, but I did get a "cosmetic procedure" a few times. And it was AWESOME. Like...for real...I can't speak enough on the merits of injecting food poisoning into your face. God bless the team that used this for medical purposes only to discover their patients were lookin' mighty fine. Sadly it's a little hard to justify the cost vs. the frequency it needs to be done. Sigh. I've got syringes from my cat's insulin and plenty of meat I can let sit on the counter...can't I just scoop up some of the moldy goo, inject it into my forehead, and see what fun ensues?
So what's a girl with a delayed quarter-life crisis to do?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ha you thought I had an answer? Hardly. Probably just a good ol' fashioned bitch slapping session with someone finally PUSHING me through that entryway into grownup world.
Facebook users, original link can be found here in case you care.
No spoilers here, unless you're hardcore and don't even watch previews.
Everyone's got a season of Star Trek they like (if you don't...well...what can I say. You probably have
a life.), mine's always been the old skool cheesy initial series. Captain Kirk being paunchy yet still a ladies/mutants/aliens' man has always been endearing.
Plus, The Trouble with Tribbles ( full episode here ) was absolutely brilliant.
That being said, I'm not a fan of the movies because it's just plain depressing. Big screen old guys playing characters from their former days of glory doesn't impress me.
Finding out JJ Abrams was doing a prequel of sorts gave me everything I wanted: old skool crew combined with youth. It's a win-win.
The movie's got exactly what you'd expect in terms of action and drama. The usual schpiel of bad guy coming after the crew, bad guy getting the upper hand, then when it seems all hope is lost Kirk saves the day with some bold gutsy move. Did that spoil it? It's not like you didn't know they'd live, since it's a prequel.
I gotta admit, the script is brilliant. I don't care how much CG you toss in a movie, if the script is balls then to me the whole movie just seems like moviemakers bank on general audience stupidity. The combo of drama vs. comedic timing is effing fantastic. Which is no easy feat for for actors who have to play other actors playing well-known characters.
The scene stealer is Karl Urban as Bones McCoy. Perfect swagger, perfect crankiness, perfect deadpan delivery ("My ex-wife got the planet in the divorce. I have nothing left except my bones."). In fact, he should have his own movie, Bones ER. Then Dr. G
reen and Dr. Carter can show up as sidekicks. Also gotta give props to Simon Pegg as Scotty, except...well...he's Simon Pegg. Of course he's going to be amazing. In fact...Simon Pegg should make a cameo on Bones ER as a headstrong patient who insists on taking matters in his own hands despite the Doc Bones' orders. Hilarity ensues.
There's a few things that irked me. Like, somewhere between his youth to the future, Spock gets braces. Starfleet must have fantastic healthcare insurance.
And initially I was all "ohhhhhh Chris Pine...dark hair...blue eyes...ohhh"...well by the end of the movie, not so hot. He's got horrific skin (chemical peel please!) and he's got this huge mole near his right ear which I spent most of the movie thinking it was just a remnant from all the fights he gets in. I'm just sayin'....Spock eventually gets braces, I sure hope Cap'n Kirk gets some outpatient skin work done.
I was hoping they'd glow like this...but I got scammed.
So overall...I actually give the movie an A for nostalgia and great writing...but a D for frame-by-frame photoshopping of Spock and Kirk.
For FB readers, original post here (not that it matters, everyone comments in FB anyway):
Just as I've come to terms with the glaring grey hair that I see on the left side of my head when I hunt it down in the mirror, I've been experiencing another human body wonder: Blepharospasm.
Aka, uncontrollable eye twitching. Which leads me to wonder, why anyone would want to control eye twitching. The past 3 days my left eye (linked to the grey hair perhaps? That f*cker is causing me all sorts of problems) keeps twitching, and it's freaking me the eff out.
Apparently it's tied to stress, fatigue, and caffeine.
Well I've reduced my caffeine, so it can't be that. However the catch-22 is that that's of course going to lead to fatigue.
So i'm going to blame it on stress. I'm definitely much more stressed than usual, but not to the extent where my body should start experiencing UNCONTROLLABLE EYE TWITCHING WHAT THE EFF!
Should go away in a week. Allegedly. According to the internet. Why doesn't the internet come with a guarantee of credibility?! Gahhhhh!
Yes, I have a stupid 24HF membership, mostly because they're just convenient...no matter wher eyou are, there's probably a 24HF nearby.
They're TOTALLY the McDonald's of gyms...they suck, they're not even healthy, but they work in a pinch when you don't have much of an alternative. GOD i hate them. And yet, I give them my money (I prepaid so going forward, it's just $50/year for the rest of my life. How on $50 they can maintain their always-broken equipment is beyond me).
Anyway, I went to their website to check out a class time and saw this spelling error: request copy of aggrement
Are you f*cking kidding me?! THEY MAKE ENOUGH MONEY OFF DOUCHEBAGS FALLING FOR THEIR STUPID PROMOS...you can't afford a copywriter who has better writing skills than a highschool dropout?!
GOD this crap annoys me. Stop paying celebrities to do your ads and maybe hire someone qualified to do your marketing materials. And to add to that, f*cking stop being a bunch of cheap bastards and turn down the temperature in your gyms, it's so hot in almost all locations you're lucky people don't pass out.
OH and to finally add: get on the consistency planet and add the little TV listening doodad to your cardio equipment. MP3 players, especially iPods, don't have FM tuners...I'll take your "tune into 97.3" sign and shove it up your ass next time I want to watch something on TV but can't hear it.
Hmmm I guess for all my ranting I should go back to the gym...I've dawdled for numerous reasons, some of it being that I hate the people who only go in Jan/Feb...they just make it more crowded for the rest of us.
This list is still a work in process...gimme your feedback and I'LL decide where they fall on the list!
So as requested, here's my list of sexiest women. The list is divided in three: 1. The women who are just flat out HOT and SEXY. 2. Women who were hot at some point or under abnormal circumstances. 3. Women who are SO not sexy but everyone thinks they are.
The women who are just flat out HOT and SEXY Aishwarya Rai Don't know who she is? She's the single most gorgeous woman walking this earth. In face, she shouldn't be walking...she should be on some throne carried by Adonises (what's the plural for that?) while fed grapes. She's the reason it sucks to be HALF-Indian: she can pull off the dark skin, light eyes thing...if I had darker skin I'd totally rock the hazel contact lenses. Still not convinced? Put the following video on mute and watch her work her mojo:
Megan Fox She's the 2nd most sexy woman alive. She's very similar in appearance to Angelina Jolie, minus the age, stretch marks, and do-gooding crap. Even her admission that she was obsessed with a (female) stripper is sexy. I'll take her stalking me any day! (Bring along Brian Austin Green too...)
Jennifer Connelly Does this woman ever age? Clearly no, which is why she's #3 on my list. I would kill for her nose. This nose is perfection. Obviously what I find attractive in men is what I find attractive in women too: dark hair, light eyes.
Women who were hot at some point or under abnormal circumstances In no particular order: Tina Fey Only recently, since the birth of her kid would I say she's sexy. It's like she channeled her inner nerd and finally figured out how to balance it into hotness.
Miranda Kerr I don't know why she's dating Orlando Bloom. He's such a douche. She is exactly what a Victoria's Secret model should be: young, bubbly, flirty, giggly...and again, dark hair with blue eyes.
Adriana Lima: I actually don't LIKE her, she annoys me, but she's got the sexy thing down.
Leighton Meester GOD what I wouldn't kill to be her. She's so flawless. She should forever keep her hair brown, as a blond she looks too washed out and forgettable.
Mila Kunis She's got this crazy exotic thing going on, I feel like she could walk in a bar, demand every guy to buy her a drink, and they'd drool at her feet begging for more.
Jessica Biel when she's exercising You wouldn't think thos normally, but on the Red Carpet I find her to be kind of fug. But when she's just vegging out on the beach or exercising, she is the most flawless female ever. Either way, I'd kill for her ass. She just has this cool confidence that looks sexy.
Jessica Alba pre baby This is a no-brainer. But since she gave birth, it remains to be seen if she'll be able to bounce back to her sexiness. What i like about her is that she WORKS at that body, she doesn't claim to be naturally thin or anything retarded like that.
Kendra Wilkinson only in photos We all know girl is annoying as f*ck (although I bet she'd be super fun to party with). And her hair is naturally frizzy. But give her a team of stylists and makeup artists and she smolders. She's got the sickest body...at least she's athletic.
Carmen Electra circa 2000 She's lookin' rough these days. But a small lifetime ago, this girl was IT. Dark hair, blue eyes, flirty look that screamed for more. Plus Prince saw something in her, so she MUST be sexy.
Pam Anderson circa 2000 I adore Pam. I really do. I can't say she's sexy anymore since her skin is pretty jacked up from partying, age, babies, Tommy, the sun...but how can you not find sexy a woman who makes fun of herself, enjoys being naked, AND loves animals?
Bridget Bardot circa...her youth Today, this woman should crawl under a rock and die. Or be smashed by a rock. She's racist and is pro-animal cruelty. But you can't deny she exhuded sex.
Angelina Jolie anytime from Mr & Mrs Smith and earlier...but after Hackers (i.e. post nose job, pre babies) There's a window where this woman was at the peak of her a-game. Those lips, those eyes, the eyebrows...perfection. She looked like she wanted sex AND would eat the man after, arachnid-style. The reason she's not in the "regular" list is because this whole baby thing jacked up her body, then her mom died and she got too thin, and now I feel like she's look "witchy" with her aging skin combined with the high eyebrow arch.
Kathleen turner circa Jessica Rabbit C'mon. Jessica Rabbit. Need i say more?
NOT: Keira Knightly: girl has the most amazing cheekbones on the planet, but she has a weird overbite/lisp thing that bugs me. I'll add her to the "sexy" list when she eats a few burgers and fixes her speech impediment. And how is this dress in hollywood history!? It was NOT flattering.
Scarlett Johansson: damn this girl BUGS me. She's a complete butterface. Her body is bangin', but her lips lack a true definition (there's no "cupid's bow"), which is just gross.And no, it's not jealousy over having my man Ryan. She's seriously FUG.
Elle Macpherson: how was this woman ever attractive? She is so mannish it kills me.
Heidi Klum: she's gorgeous, but not SEXY. I feel like she'd start yodelling in the middle of sex. No one wants to hear that. No one.
Alessandra Ambrosia: ugh she's just gross.
Marilyn Monroe: okay, hear me out on this one. She's gorgeous. She's a legend. No one, EVER, will be like her. BUT...I went through a phase where I was reading biographies on her and I feel like her vulnerability and nuttiness interally remove my ability to see her as "sexy" in photos and videos. Every time I see her I feel like she needs a teddy bear, a hug, and a straightjacket. The last thing that girl should have been was a sex symbol. Gorgeous? Yes. Sexy? That's like calling a child "sexy".
In this economy, how are there still office drones? I don't understand. I just don't. I get why DMV employees are retarded...they're government employees who's comparable-McDonald's-level job is protected. But in the private sector? Come on now. Really. Come on.
My conversation with the Office Drone at Bristol Park Medical in Mission Viejo went something like this:
Me: Hi, I'd like to make an apt with Dr. X. Office Drone: ((gets my info))
Me: I need it anytime after Dec 1, the first appointment of the day please. Any day works. Office Drone: I can do Dec 4th at 8:15. Me: perfect. Don't you need to know what this is for? Office Drone: What's this for? Me: I need one of those "Well WOman" exam thingies. Office Drone: You want what? Me: uhh i can't really yell it. I'm at work. A yearly woman's exam. Office Drone: OHHH. The "Well Woman" exam. Me: yes (isn't that what i said?!) Office Drone:When was your last one? Me: December or January. It doesn't matter. I have new insurance. Office Drone: Well i can look it up. Let me see....
Me: But i have NEW INSURANCE. It doesn't MATTER. Office Drone: Oh that's right, new insurance, it doesn't matter. (laughs at herself). So you don't need a physical.
Me: I dont' know...i mean, i just want to get checked out. Annual exam. Office Drone: Well that doesn't include a pap. Me: okay well I want that too.
Office Drone: Well the Well Woman's exam doesn't include bloodwork. Me: Well okay can't I have both then? I want everything checked out! Office Drone: i can't schedule all of that on the 4th, there's not enough time. Me: FINE then let's get a NEW date. ANY DAY WORKS.
Office Drone: Now when was your last exam... Me: IT DOESN"T MATTER I HAVE NEW INSURANCE Office Drone:You have new insurance? Me: YES. It doesn't matter. Office Drone: Okay so how about we schedule a physical exam, with a pap. Me: GREAT! Office Drone: How's December 16th at 8:15? Me: Perfect. Done.
Office Drone: Are you on any medications? Me: nope. Office Drone: Okay.....(starts looking up something) Me: (anticipating her "fast for 12 hours beforehand schpiel") Office Drone: Fast for 12 hours beforehand, water is okay. Me: (thinking)you can't tell me you had to LOOK THAT UP when you work in a doctor's office. Office Drone:See you then!
Damn that woman better be glad she's employed in this tough economy.
I've decided to chart my aging through the years (in case later i might want a record of it...or my kids, if they want to know the exact years their body will fall apart)...my latest beefs are the spider veins in my calves. I RARELY, if ever (I mean, maybe 2x a year) cross my legs because I read as a teenager never to do that.
Well, my calves have them. And it's pissing me off. Yay for Age 31 Woes.
It takes ALOT to gross me out. Alot. I watch Dr. 90210, surgery shows, whatever. I love watching my blood being taken. I would love to SEE a surgery take place.
But when it comes to spider/varicose vein options, i get the heebie jeebies. If i have to do this, I'm going to seriously vomit my intestinal track.
I just looked up the solution to spider veins and now i'm seriously squirming in my seat, tensing my muscles, and i'm ready to cry I'm so effing freaked out.
Sclerotherapy This is the most common treatment for both spider veins and varicose veins. The doctor injects a solution into the vein that causes the vein walls to swell, stick together, and seal shut. This stops the flow of blood and the vein turns into scar tissue. In a few weeks, the vein should fade. The same vein may need to be treated more than once.
This treatment is very effective if done the right way. Most patients can expect a 50% to 90% improvement. Microsclerotherapy uses special solutions and injection techniques that increase the success rate for removal of spider veins. Sclerotherapy does not require anesthesia, and can be done in the doctor's office.
Possible side effects include:
Temporary stinging or painful cramps where the injection was made Temporary red raised patches of skin where the injection was made Temporary small skin sores where the injection was made Temporary bruises where the injection was made Spots around the treated vein that usually disappear Brown lines around the treated vein that usually disappear Groups of fine red blood vessels around the treated vein that usually disappear The treated vein can also become inflamed or develop lumps of clotted blood. This is not dangerous. Applying heat and taking aspirin or antibiotics can relieve inflammation. Lumps of coagulated blood can be drained.
why does the human body f*cking suck?! Or more importantly, MINE?!
So far this is my list of ailments per age: early 20s: cellulite (i mean, BAD cellulite) 28: forehead wrinkes, signs of age on hands 29: crow's feet, thinning eyelashes 30: thinning hair, undereye wrinkles that DONT shrink back after squinting (and i wear sunglasses diligently! WTF!) 31: spider veins
In order to pre-emptively avoid freaking out over more things, i've taken the following actions: 1. I will just keep dying my hair. I will go postal if i see a grey hair. Might as well just do it now. 2. I've started waxing my chin. Now i don't have anything there, thank GOD, but i once had a bunch of older women telling me that that's a massive thing that happens when you get old. Granted, they were in their late 50s, but who knows when that facial chin hair situation started. I'd rather not deal with one day finding it OR even worse, not even REALIZING i have it. So i'm just going to slather my face with wax regularly and if nothing comes off, great. If so, well, at least i nipped it in the bud before i'm 60.
Attempting to preserve your youth is ALOT of effing work, costs alot of effing money (yay for free samples from plastic surgeons' offices), and TIME which is the hardest of all things to comes by.
Oh, i've also started using the bottle of Phyto-Axil that I bought kraig like 7 years ago from when we started dating. Figured it's in a pressurized can so it can't go bad...
You can do it Sabina..U can train to be a marathon runner... try a half marathon 1st. Come on goal by your 35th birthday :)
I will defer to Carrie to answer why I will not even be able to do a half marathon. (her experience coming from someone who did a marathon AND as someone who did a piddly 5k with me)
and to whatever she says, let me add: marathons do jack up your body...I have a jacked up knee (it burns after 10 minutes of running), you lose your toes, you get chafing and bloody, and it's super hard on the joints. Ummm...I'm too vain to do any activity that can cause any of those results.
If there was a 100% guarantee Ryan Reynolds will be there, then I'll reconsider :P
Maybe because the end is nigh on my 31st year, i'm starting to really, REALLY freak out about getting old.
It all started when i was 18...but that was a bit easier 'cause that's legal drinking age in Canada.
Then turning 20 was hard because I remember when I was 5 I told myself "when i get old, when i turn 20, i'm going to use creams like mom does". I seriously went a bit postal. But...there's only so much postal you can go when you're in university.
25 was hard because...well now you're in your mid-20s. 26 was hard because i was no longer "just turned mid 20s". 27 was hard because I could no longer ride on the coattails of 25 like i did when i was 26. 28 was hard because I was now "late 20s" 29 was hard because it was my last year in my 20s. 30 was hard because...well hello, I was 30. And not at all where i wanted to be in my life. PLUS...let's be real. When you're in your teens and 20s, your 30s are considered old. All things young and stupid must officially be over.
When you're 30, you can't wear sparkly blue eyeshadow clubbing unless it's hallowe'en.
31 wasn't so bad, mostly because I freaked out so much the previous few years, i sort of got it out of my system.
Now the number doesn't bug me anymore...I'm over it.
What REALLY bugs me are the physical changes.
Cellulite seems to grow exponentially each year. And I'm in the same weight range as I was in highschool.
Botox is too expensive, but it was the best preventative thing I had ever done. If there's ONE thing i could do every 6 months, that would be it.
I use Oil of Olay Regenerist because it got the highest reviews on Consumer Reports. If i use CR to buy my washer, dryer, and car...damn right i'm going to trust it for my skin.
I started dying my hair when I moved to California because the sun here lightens my natural color a few shades...so I just dye it back to the roots color. NOW...i've realized this is the perfect way to never have to face when i get grey hair. Seriously the odd time I've thought i've seen a grey hair, I went beserk. Best to treat hair dye as botox: preventative. (except in this case, it's preventing mental insanity).
Probably the best solution long term has been getting a prescription for Tetracycline...i'm horrible at taking it, but damn if my skin isn't flawless when i use it. All parents should take their teen for a prescription. I gave some of mine to Kraig's nephew and within a week his face was all cleared up. AND you don't build resistance to it like cipro. AND it's covered under insurance. Golden.
There's a few more "projects" related to aging that i need to tackle: 1. Wrinkles. Can't afford botox...and there's only so much Oil of Olay that can be slathered on.
2. The undereye situation. I used to be VERY self-conscious over teh dark circles under my eyes (thanks Dad...inherited those from the Indian side of me). But i noticed from the NY pics that I've got "furrows" now under the dark circles...I can use concealer for the circles, but i can't cover up deep grooves.
3. My thinning hair. Argh even Syl noticed it when she came here...compared to highschool, it's soooo much less. The culprit is definitely the daily blowdrying...plus the horrible diet i've had this year (damn job hopping and stress). So i'm working on that by eating better now finally, taking vitamins, and avoiding the blow dryer.
4. My thinning eyelashes. This I blame on mascara. I only started wearing it when i moved to SoCal...i was quite anti-mascara because when you see somene go WITHOUT, they look like ass. I just didn't want to give people the view of how i WOULD look...but then I got vain and started using it daily. i'm trying to now just use it on the very tips of my eyelashes.
To tackle item 4, i did a massive MASSIVE splurge: i got Age Intervention. That sh*t better work (it got recalled but they brought it back...naturally without the working ingredient that also jacked up people's eyes).
Why is it that women work their asses off to preserve their beauty but guys do JACK?! They don't fix their newfound nose hair, their newfound earhair, their additional back hair, their lack of head hair, their skin, everything. Unless their married and their wives make them. So bloody annoying. Plus they get overweight, they just have to go to the gym for a week and suddenly their all buff.
So anyway, this was my news flash. My age doesn't but me as much anymore. AGING now really, really bugs me. Spread the news.
A few random, random thoughts for this last day of June:
1. I just realized I missed my brother's birthday. Dammit.
2. I'm seriously the clumsiest person alive. I wish i had a nickel for every time I smacked my car door on my forehead. Today, leaving PetSmart, i did it yet again. My skull probably has bizarro grooves in it as a result being whacked so many times. I once did it close to my eye, mymother insisted I had a boyfriend who was beating me. No, no, I really am just THAT clumsy.
3. Okay, NOW i think the cost of gas is starting to bug me. I held up a good fight, and tried to think that it was worse in the 1970s. But now i'm much more aware of how many times I"m gassing up, and this Excessive California Driving situation is killing my wallet's mojo.
4. Pizza Dude's pizza tastes nowhere near as good at the Z Pizza in Ladera Ranch.
5. A ton of people I know got laid off today, and layoffs = anxiety for me. Bad bad memories of going through it myself. I seriously think we've been gypped that there's been two recessions this decade. Ugh, i think I'm going to have a hard time getting to sleep tonight as a result of the layoff news.
6. Carrie's going to kill me, but I haven't really been watering the flowers she's got in my backyard.
7. Why hasn't anyone invented any of the following: a) teleportation b) cure for cellulite (or really, MY cellulite) c) kitty litter that requires me to never clean...EVER. The Littermaid doesn't count. d) a better frickin' TSA system at the airport? What are we, Amish?!
8. Humans have evolved a ton over the past few years, centuries, whatever...why does it still take 9 months to createa baby? Haven't we refined the process so its more efficient and the whole thing can be whittled down to say, 3 weeks?
9. I went to a charity even on Sunday, and I've noticed that charity dinner/brunches/meals always involve some sort of prayer. The intonation or whatever the f*ck its called. This makes my blood boil so much, it makes me NOT want to give to whatever charity i'm there for. If you think its not a big deal, imagine if you were at some charity event and Osama Bin Laden gave the little prayer. You'd be kind of freaked out and worried a lightening bolt would come down on you if you even acknowledged what he said. Sorta how i feel. Can't we separate Church and Charity?!
Yeahhhh...take a look at the bottom of the page to the HELOC paydown...three digits! The goal was to pay down $15k in 2007, and it's almost done.
Not that it makes a diff...this was the recommendation of Countrywide last year (to pay down $30k of my home equity loan before the rest of the loan is set to switch over at the end of 2009, i.e: pay down 15k per year for two years). Realistically, I think I'd need to pay down another $70k if I had to refinance tomorrow.
So seriously, please...just everyone foreclose already! Get it over with! Let's get the worst of it over with.
In other news, I switched jobs again. As usual, not going to post details here but if you want to know the scoop, email me. If you don't know my email, then GOOD...I don't want no stalkers anyway!
A few seriously random thoughts:
- hummus from Daphne's is like magic in my mouth. It's mouth porn.
- I can't WAIT for the next iteration of America's Best Dance Crew. The last round was absolutely incredible.
- Diet Pepsi trumps Diet Coke all the way
- I'm so annoyed that Barrack Obama hand bumping his wife is actually considered a news-worthy story
- I fantasize on so many levels how much things would be better if I just won a $100k lottery. That's it. That's all I need. I'd LIKE more, but beggers can't be choosers, and $100k after taxes would be wonderful.
- I think I found a grey hair today. I was FREAKING out. I'm going to play ignorant until this weekend, then I'm going to go on a rampage. Getting grey hair is a million times worse than a wrinkle...it's like finding out you're in menopause. But at least menopause isn't displayed all over your scalp for the whole world to see how old you are.
Going to take a nap now. I actually get home at a decent time now where I can nap! Justin can bring sexy back, but I'm bringing napping back!
So did some web surfing crap and came across this: Job-related stress is extremely common. According to the Jobs Rated Almanac, the five most stressful jobs are: 1. President of the United States 2. Firefighter 3. Senior corporate executive 4. Race car driver 5. Taxi driver The five least stressful jobs, according to the Jobs Rated Almanac, are: 1. Medical records technician 2. Janitor 3. Forklift operator 4. Musical instrument repairer 5. Florist
I think it bothers me a bit that a medical records technician's job isn't stressful...you SHOULD be stressed. Keeps you on your a-game. That being said, I once was item #5 (although being 14 years old nothing is stressful...oh wait, this is me we'er talking about. The only job that I felt wasn't stressful was Le Chateau, because I was there for so long and I was the quickest person on the cash register...so when the store got crazy busy, i was automatically put on the cash register which is easy monkey work).
Naturally being a florist isn't stressful...although I sucked at floral arrangements and the only thing I could do properly was a simple bouquet of a dozen roses (with or without baby's breath, although I preferred to make it without). Other than not being able to arrange anything in a vase, the only other thing that bugged me was that my hands were marred from the roses' thorns...it'd say I had a ratio of 60:40 skin to holes on my palms. Which even then wouldn't be so bad if part of the job didn't involve packaging our own floral preservative, which was like pouring battery acid on all those wounds.
In other news, my Costco membership is expiring and I really don't feel like doling out another $50 for a membership (seriously, I hate costco. Almost as much as I hate 24HF. You have to save $50 just to break even. And their prices are NOT that great...i've compared them elsewhere. I just go for the stuff that's costco-specific) until BBQ season. So last night I went on a huge grocery store spree and ended up talking to the cashier about how much people spend at costco.
She said that people easily blow $10-$15K, mostly because they're buying TVs and stuff. But then we started talking about the jewelry section...when i never really noticed because it's not like I'm going to buy anything and my goal with Costco is to get in and out asap (the longer you're there, the more you spend). She said that one time someone bought a $100K ring. It was 22 carats. They had to get the police to escort them out. Nuts!
And seems like bigwig executives buy jewelry there all the time. So I went again today at lunch and checked out the jewelry section...nothing was $100K, but there WAS a pair of diamond earrings...for $56K. FIFTY SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS...at Costco. I think they were a little over 2 carats. Most of the diamond stuff they had averaged between $2K to $15K. I just can't get over that you can buy a bulk box of detergent...and a pair of earrings that cost more than my car (and heck, i bought my car brand new!).
On to money matters...
So in February I have a CD that's finally expiring. Effing Bank of America...the rate was so crummy. I believe I put in around $3000 and earned $483 in interest. Gasp. Such a huge amount (grumble. I think the crummy rate was 3%, which hardly keeps up with inflation). Anyway, so my debate when it expires has been: 1. Put the $3K towards the HELOC loan, put the rest in the botox fund (it's been awhile since i had it done). 2. Put the $3K towards the HELOC loan, get laser teeth whitening. I am obsessed with teeth, especially my own (naturally), and the past 2 years of drinking diet pepsi has stained them IMO. 3. Put a little under $3K towards teh HELOC loan, get a decent frickin' laptop.
Let's break this down. I went to the dentist today (my dentist kicks ASS. She works at another office and on Wednesday she's going to be working on Brad, Angelina, and all fifty of their kids) and she was like "you're nuts, you're teeth are white, you're fine. Just use the bleaching trays you already have" (another reason why i love my dentist: 'cause they don't sell me crap to make a buck). And the hygienist agreed. But...i personally LIKE teeth that are milk- or paper-white. I've invested alot into my teeth (as have my parents) and if they have to glow to get attention, so be it. There's very few things I like about myself...my teeth deserve center stage.
But...well if she thinks it's not worth it, then fine.
I was going to forego the botox, but this morning I looked in the mirror and I think i wrinkled my forehead IN MY SLEEP. And it's making my whole face look haggard. The only problem with botox is that you do have to maintain it...granted, the mroe you do it the less you have to get it done (i.e. down to 1x/year), but until then it's kinda pricey.
So that leaves the laptop. Which is the smart choice, assuming that I verifythe bootlegged s/w I have (Office 2003, Dreamweaver, etc) works on Vista since that's all you can pretty much get (and i'll i'd want...i wouldn't want to get a laptop with XP only to later upgrade it to Vista since hardware with Vista pre-installed was designed specifically for it. I'm not f*king around with microsoft).
THEN...i was scoping out HP laptops (my favs are HP or Sony Vaio laptops...HP because that printer of mine was kickass and it sens a message ot me about the reliability, Vaio because i had one once for work and loved it), their mousepad track thingy is awful. So...we'll see.
