Oh, Goodie, A Snow Day!!

Anyone who knows me (or reads this blog, for that matter) knows how much I enjoy a snow day. As a child, I waited anxiously for that magical announcement on a snowy morning that school was closed for the day. Now, at 54, I still watch for that magical announcement to scroll across the bottom of the television screen.

Yesterday morning, I was happily surprised to see our announcement change from "snow schedule" (2-hour delay) to "CLOSED"!! *YAY!*

Now, what to do with my snow day.....I consider them a gift, not to be wasted. I spent the first part of my day doing household chores. Less to do over the weekend! I called Mom & Dad (currently in Pigeon Forge) to see what kind of weather they were having (cold, but no snow to speak of). They were enjoying a chili bake for lunch. That made me crave one as well, so I made one for my lunch, too.

The afternoon was spent knitting and watching things I'd TiVo'd this week and hadn't watched yet. As I rummaged in my "pantry" kitchen cabinet for canned chili for the chili bake, I ran across some applesauce and apple cider I'd bought some time ago with the intention of making apple butter in the CrockPot. So, I went online to find the recipe that had set off the initial purchase and assembled everything I needed. I put everything in as directed and let it cook all night. This morning I awoke to the heavenly aroma of cinnamon and cloves, all mixed in with freshly-brewed coffee (my coffeemaker has an automatic timer). It was just GLORIOUS!

The apple butter is still cooking, thickening gradually. I hope it turns out well. If it does, I'll make it from time to time just to make the apartment smell like it smells right now.

My plans for today? I want to rearrange my dining area a little. I changed things in there several months ago and have never really liked it, so I'm going to change them again. That should keep me out of mischief for awhile. Then later, I have more knitting to finish up. It's awfully cold outside today (17 degrees as I'm writing this), so there's no incentive to go out. I think I'll get my apple butter finished up, move the dining room around a bit, then throw a DuraFlame in the fireplace and pile up in the recliner with Meggie, my knitting, and the remote control. Ahhhhhhhhhh....gotta love a snowy Saturday!

A Good, Restful Friday

It was a restful day. And boy, did I need it! It was an ugly, awful week at work and I was very glad to see it end.

I had intended to do a lot of household things today, but didn't feel well when I got up this morning. My best guess is it was a combination of allergies and exhaustion. So, I decided to just do whatever I felt like doing and let the rest of it WAIT. I lazed about this morning, having a leisurely breakfast and playing a little Scrabble on Pogo.com. They are actually running tournament rated games there, and it's a lot of fun.

As it turned out, I did feel better this afternoon after spending the morning resting. So I managed to get several things accomplished. In addition to doing some household stuff, I got my sewing machine out and used an old pair of jeans to make storage bags for the tent poles and stakes for my new tent. The tent came with bags for them, but I decided that denim would probably hold up better than the nylon bags provided. Also, if the denim bags get muddy I can toss them in the washer. *G*

Next week is the first camping trip with the new tent, and I'm anxious to get it all set up and staked out for the first time. On the news this morning I noticed that they're predicting a 30% chance of rain during the trip, but I don't care. It'll give me a chance to be sure the new tent doesn't have any leaks. *LOL*

This afternoon I caved in on my resolution to go "shampoo-free". I'd cleansed my hair with the baking soda solution three times in the last week. It actually looked, smelled and felt clean, so there were no complaints from me there. My big problem was that my psoriasis kicked into high gear. The area where my psoriasis breaks out is on my scalp, right at my hairline above my forehead. This afternoon, the red patch was so sore I couldn't even touch it.

Admittedly, the outbreak may have been caused by the high-tension week I had at the office (my dermatologist says that my psoriasis is stress-induced). However, in any case, I needed to use my prescription shampoo to get the outbreak under control. So it looks like the baking soda hair cleansing routine isn't going to be possible for me. Oh well. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Well, I'm a little tired so I think I'll call it a night. I'm sure Meg won't argue with that at all. *LOL*

Is It Friday Yet? Not Hardly.

Dang, what a week it's been so far. I've put in three of my four 10-hour days, but I feel like I'm already on overtime!!

This has been one of those weeks of having to hound people to do what they should have done without being reminded. That's just a waste of time and energy as far as I'm concerned. If ONE MORE PERSON tells me how "busy" they've been, I might snap!!

Oh well. One more day and it's over for a few. And next week will be a short one for me because I'm taking an extra day off on Thursday to go to the woods again. *YAY!* I NEED IT.

A brief update on going shampoo-free. So far I've cleansed my hair twice with the baking soda solution, only using the vinegar solution rinse once. My hair actually looks as clean as it does when I use shampoo. Once really nice effect: even when my hair gets sweaty (which it tends to do just about every time I set foot outside), it doesn't have that icky sweaty smell. Interesting. We'll see how it goes.

Well, since I'm completely bushed, I'll cut this post a bit short. More later in the week.

Shampoo Free? Honestly??

I just happened across a post on a blog that referred me to another blog entry from December 2004 about going shampoo-free: http://babyslime.livejournal.com/174054.html. Here's the gist of it:

1. Commerical shampoo is harsh and costly
2. It's a detergent which strips necessary natural oils from your hair, causing it to be brittle and damaged.
3. It can contain potentially harmful stuff (granted, in very low levels that probably won't hurt you anyway)

So, how do you go shampoo free?

1. Use one tablespooon of baking soda in a cup of warm or hot water. If you need to increase the amount because your hair is long or thick, be sure to increase it in the same ratio (2 tablespoons of baking soda in 2 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of baking soda in 3 cups of water, etc.)
2. Put it in a recycled shampoo bottle and apply it to your hair with warm water.
3. The mix should not be gritty and should be a liquid.
4. Let the mix sit on your hair for about a minute, then rinse with warm water.
5. Every 2 to 3 washes, follow the baking soda cleansing with an apple cider vinegar rinse as follows: Make up a solution of 2 to 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in 1 cup of water. Apply to wet hair, massage into scalp, and rinse off with cold water.

So why am I even considering this? I have what my dermatologist refers to as "stress-induced psoriasis". This manifests as a red scaly patch on my hairline above my forehead. Not only is it unsightly, but during flare-ups it actually HURTS. There've been times (during unusually high-stress times at work) that my scalp has hurt so bad that I'd have to grit my teeth while brushing my hair. The dermatologist gave me a prescription for some really expensive prescription shampoo. It removed the scaling and relieves the inflammation for brief periods of time. Sometimes only a day or two.

So I'd love to find a natural approach to cleansing my hair and scalp and reducing the scaling and inflammation of the psoriasis.

I'm off to the shower now to try it out. I'll keep you posted.

Homemade Hair Conditioner

Okay, it SEEMED like a good idea. I have so many allergies that I try to avoid extra chemicals on my body if I can. I use unscented soap, unscented shampoo, unscented (or lightly scented) detergents and fabric softeners, and clean with baking soda and vinegar as much as I can.

I'm letting my hair grow, and lately I seemed to have a lot of flyaway split ends. Any time I go to have the ends "trimmed", I lose at least an inch of growth, so I was trying to avoid that route a bit longer.

So, I Googled "homemade hair conditioner" and found what looked like a very promising recipe: 2 beaten egg yolks, 1/2 cup of vinegar, and 1/3 cup of olive oil. You mix it all together, slather it on your hair, leave it for 30 minutes, and shampoo it out. So I measured, mixed, slathered, waited, and shampooed.....and shampooed.....and shampooed.....and shampooed. YUCK.

I guess it was a success in the area of conditioning.....my hair is (after FOUR SHAMPOO SESSIONS) hanging limply and is conditioned within an inch of its life. This morning I finally gave up after the fourth shampoo (2 last night and 2 this morning), dried and fluffed it as much as it would fluff (which wasn't much), and went on to work. All day I've been hiding in my office (AKA "The Dungeon") as much as possible and hoping I don't get called to an unexpected meeting with any of the Powers That Be.

So, if you have really dry, damaged hair and don't mind your hair hanging in greasy ropes for a few days, go ahead and use the recipe above. Oh well, not the first hair disaster I've been through, and most likely not the last. At least my hair didn't fall out.....yet.....where's that pocket mirror I keep in my desk???